cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structure of Adeno-Associated Virus Serotype 8, a Gene Therapy Vector

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are being developed as gene therapy vectors, and their efficacy could be improved by a detailed understanding of their viral capsid structures. AAV serotype 8 (AAV8) shows a significantly greater liver transduction efficiency than those of other serotypes, which has resulted in efforts to develop this virus as a gene therapy vector for hemophilia A and familial hypercholesterolemia. Pseudotyping studies show that the differential tissue tropism and transduction efficiencies exhibited by the AAVs result from differences in their capsid viral protein (VP) amino acids. Towards identifying the structural features underpinning these disparities, we report the crystal structure of the AAV8 viral capsid determined to 2.6-A resolution. The overall topology of its common overlapping VP is similar to that previously reported for the crystal structures of AAV2 and AAV4, with an eight-stranded β-barrel and long loops between the β-strands. The most significant structural differences between AAV8 and AAV2 (the best-characterized serotype) are located on the capsid surface at protrusions surrounding the two-, three-, and fivefold axes at residues reported to control transduction efficiency and antibody recognition for AAV2. In addition, a comparison of the AAV8 and AAV2 capsid surface amino acids showed a reduced distribution of basic charge for AAV8 at the mapped AAV2 heparin sulfate receptor binding region, consistent with an observed non-heparin-binding phenotype for AAV8. Thus, this AAV8 structure provides an additional platform for mutagenesis efforts to characterize AAV capsid regions responsible for differential cellular tropism, transduction, and antigenicity for these promising gene therapy vectors.
Connecting schools to the world via the Internet: do the walls come tumbling down or just get lower?

The paper reports the results of a four year study of a project designed to bring the Internet to a large urban school district with the explicit purpose of breaking down barriers between the schools and the outside world. The study was conducted using qualitative research methods including extensive observation in classrooms and other sites, the conduct of over 200 interviews with administrators, teachers, students, and the collection of a wide variety of archival materials. Data were analyzed using established methods (M. Hewstone and M. Huberman, 1984; A. Strauss and J. Corbin, 1990). Use of the Internet made possible a substantial amount of contact between students and the outside world. However, problems arose that prevented students from using the Internet as readily and productively as originally envisioned. These problems can be conceptualized as flowing from mismatches in schedules, goals, and norms either between the schools and the outside world or inside of the schools.
Structural intervention of gene regulatory networks by general rank-k matrix perturbation

One of the ultimate objectives of studying gene regulatory networks is to derive potential intervention strategies to avoid aberrant cellular behavior. Boolean networks (BNs) and their stochastic extension, probabilistic Boolean networks (PBNs), provide a convenient framework to design different types of intervention strategies. In this paper, we focus on studying structural intervention, in which we perturb regulatory Boolean functions to alter the long-term network dynamics to obtain desirable behavior. Specifically, we extend our previous work that derives optimal structural intervention for rank-1 function perturbations to more general solutions for arbitrary rank-k function perturbations. The analytic solution is derived using the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury (SMW) formula. We apply the derived structural intervention to a mutated mammalian cell cycle network. Our results show that our intervention strategy correctly identifies the main targets to stop uncontrolled cell growth in the mutated cell cycle network.
Development of foliation and fold interference patterns produced by sedimentary processes

Penecontemporaneous folds, lineations, foliation, and fold interference patterns are found in part of the Pigeon Point Formation, a turbidite sequence occurring along the central California coast. These structures are associated with slumped sheets, and they formed while the rocks were largely unlithified. The foliation, which is commonly roughly axial planar to folds, is clearly shown in the hinges of slump folds and is defined by preferred alignment of inequant grains and silt-sand domains, the latter having formed from disrupted bedding laminae. Models that attempt to explain the genesis of penecontemporaneous foliation involve simple load compaction superimposed on pre-existing slump folds (model 1) or rotation of grains facilitated by slump folding (model 2). Evidence from this study indicates that a modified version of model 2 is commonly active. It is suggested that a critical content of interstitial water is necessary, whereby sufficient water pressure can build to decrease grain cohesion and induce liquefaction of layers. Further compaction in the hinge areas of slump folds then expels water during slumping such that preferred alignment of silt-sand domains and inequant grains is facilitated. All three of the basic fold interference patterns normally attributed to “hard rock” folding occur in these slumped sheets and, along with foliation and related structures, strongly resemble features generated by tectonic movement. These structures can persist into the higher metamorphic grades, where they may be misidentified as evidence for early repeated folding. In this case, the structural history of that part of the orogen may be reported as more complicated than it actually is.
Investigation of vocal jitter and glottal flow spectrum as possible cues for depression and near-term suicidal risk

Among the many clinical decisions that psychiatrists must make, assessment of a patient's risk of committing suicide is definitely among the most important, complex, and demanding. When reviewing his clinical experience, one of the authors observed that successful predictions of suicidality were often based on the patient's voice independent of content. The voices of suicidal patients judged to be high-risk near-term exhibited unique qualities, which distinguished them from nonsuicidal patients. We investigated the discriminating power of two excitation-based speech parameters, vocal jitter and glottal flow spectrum, for distinguishing among high-risk near-term suicidal, major depressed, and nonsuicidal patients. Our sample consisted of ten high-risk near-term suicidal patients, ten major depressed patients, and ten nondepressed control subjects. As a result of two sample statistical analyses, mean vocal jitter was found to be a significant discriminator only between suicidal and nondepressed control groups (p<0.05). The slope of the glottal flow spectrum, on the other hand, was a significant discriminator between all three groups (p<0.05). A maximum likelihood classifier, developed by combining the a posteriori probabilities of these two features, yielded correct classification scores of 85% between near-term suicidal patients and nondepressed controls, 90% between depressed patients and nondepressed controls, and 75% between near-term suicidal patients and depressed patients. These preliminary classification results support the hypothesized link between phonation and near-term suicidal risk. However, validation of the proposed measures on a larger sample size is necessary.
Synchronization Clocks for Ultra-Low Power Wireless Networks

An effective method to reduce radio power consumption in applications whose average data rates fall below the maximum data rate capabilities of the underlying radio is to duty-cycle the radio front ends between bursts of data transmission. Doing so in a network, however, requires careful synchronization amongst cooperating radios, often requiring ultra-low-power, yet precise and stable clocks. Such synchronization clocks can be implemented as low frequency crystal oscillators, temperature compensated crystal oscillators, MEMS oscillators, or integrated oscillators. Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages. It is important to understand both the expected system duty cycle and temperature variation as well as the required form factor, cost, and power consumption to know which clock source is most appropriate for the application. This chapter discusses these trade-offs along with several design examples.
Veracruz 1519. Los hombres de Cortés

Aunque las comparaciones son siempre odiosas, resulta dificil no considerar lado a lado dos libros sobre el mismo documento publicados a un ano escaso el uno del otro. Ambos examinan el texto origi...
Fault diagnosis of differential-algebraic systems

A large class of engineering systems are modeled by coupled differential and algebraic equations (DAE). Due to the singular nature of the algebraic equations, DAE systems do not satisfy the standard state-space description and require special techniques. So far, the literature has concentrated mostly on the numerical analysis and control of DAE systems. This paper investigates the problem of health monitoring and robust fault diagnosis of DAE systems. The main contributions are the design and analysis of a numerically feasible learning scheme for robust and stable fault diagnosis of DAE systems. The proposed fault diagnosis architecture monitors the physical system for any off-nominal behavior using nonlinear modeling techniques and learning algorithms. Online approximators, in the form of neural networks, are utilized in the detection of faults and in the derivation of models for the fault function, which can be used for fault isolation, fault identification, and fault accommodation. The stability and robustness properties of the fault diagnosis scheme are investigated. A simulation example illustrating the ability of the proposed fault diagnosis architecture to detect faults in a chemical reactive flash is presented.
A Case of True Interest

(1986). A Case of True Interest. The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 247-248.
Stability of the Axisymmetric State of a Pneumatic Envelope with Applications to Tension Cone Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators

Many structures have an axis of rotational symmetry and under certain loading conditions, a stress analysis of the complete structure S can be facilitated by restricting the analysis to a fundamental section SF with appropriate boundary conditions. Using the symmetry ofS and the analytical results forSF , one obtains an analysis of the complete structure S. This approach signicantly reduces the number of degrees of freedom and expedites a fast computation of geometry and stress distribution that may be needed for trade studies in an initial design phase. However, even thoughSF is a stable local minimum within the class of symmetric congurations, S need not be stable within the larger class of feasible congurations without symmetry. In the case of a thin compliant inatable membrane that relies on dierential pressure to maintain the desired symmetric shape, stability can be very sensitive to certain design parameters. To illustrate this phenomenon, we consider two structures: a pumpkin-shaped scientic balloon and a tension cone inatable aerodynamic decelerator (IAD). Using the instance when an axisymmetric state changes from stable to unstable, we are able to estimate the minimum deployment pressure in an ascending pumpkin balloon and the torus collapse pressure in a tension-cone IAD. In both cases, good correlation is found between analytical predictions and available experimental data.
Accounting for Finite-Number Effects on Cluster Size Distributions in Simulations of Equilibrium Aggregation

An approach is given to analyze aggregate size distributions obtained from simulations of a fixed number N of monomers undergoing reversible self-assembly. Equilibrium distributions are derived from size-dependent equilibrium association constants by appropriately weighted sums over all partitions of N monomers into aggregates. Conversely, equilibrium association constants can be obtained from an iterative fit to a finite-N equilibrium distribution. Model data for a micelle-forming system are used to show how results from simulations containing few micelles can yield infinite-N limiting distributions. A strategy is also suggested to exploit small-N effects on aggregate size distributions to enhance sampling of critical clusters in determination of nucleation free energy functions.
Nucleation and Stochiometry Dependence of Rutile-TiO2(001)/GaN(0001) Thin Films Grown by Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

In this work we explore both the initial nucleation and the stoichiometry of rutile-TiO2(001) grown on wurtzite GaN(0001) by radio-frequency O2-plasma molecular beam epitaxy. Two studies are performed; in the first, the dependence of the growth on stoichiometry (Ti-rich and O-rich) is observed using reflection high energy electron diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. In the second study we examine the effect of different initial nucleation surfaces (i.e. Ga-terminated and excess Ga-terminated) and compare the interfaces and bulk crystallinity of the TiO2(001) films grown on top of these surfaces. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements show a better interface for TiO2(001)/Ga-terminated - GaN(0001) as compared to the TiO2(001)/excess Ga-terminated- GaN(0001).
Acetylation and methylation of histones in pernicious anemia.

Acetylation and methylation of erythroid histones was investigated in two patients with pernicious anemia before and after treatment with vitamin B 12 in vivo. It was found that vitamin B 12 facilitated both acetylation and methylation of histones. Electrophoresis of amino acids obtained from histone hydrolysates prior to treatment with vitamin B 12 demonstrated that lysine was present as I-lysine. After treatment with vitamin B 12 , most of the lysine appeared as methyl-I-lysine. Whether this biochemical lesion is specific for vitamin B 12 deficiency or also occurs in folic acid deficiency awaits future studies.
A Reservoir Balancing Constraint with Applications to Bike-Sharing

A global CP constraint is presented which improves the propagation of reservoir constraints on cumulative resources in schedules with optional tasks. The global constraint is incorporated in a CP approach to solve a Single-Commodity Pickup and Delivery Problem: the Bicycle Rebalancing Problem with Time-Windows and heterogeneous fleet. This problem was recently introduced at the 2015 ACP Summer School on Constraint Programming competition. The resulting CP approach outperforms a Branch-and-Bound approach derived from two closely related problems. In addition, the CP approach presented in this paper resulted in a first place position in the competition.
Molecular Characterization of a Novel 3' Mutation in RUNX1 in a New Pedigree with Familial Platelet Disorder.

Abstract 1626 Poster Board I-652 Introduction Familial Platelet Disorder with Propensity to Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (FPD/AML; OMIM 601399) is a rare disorder with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern characterized by varying degrees of thrombocytopenia, clinical bleeding due to platelet dysfunction, and an increased risk of developing myeloid malignancy. To date, twenty-six families with this disorder have been described and all carry germline RUNX1 mutations as the causative genetic abnormality. The spectrum of RUNX1 mutations includes point mutations within the RUNT domain and frameshift and termination mutations throughout the body of the gene. Here we report identification of a new family with FPD with a novel nonsense mutation resulting in premature protein termination at amino acid 388. Patients and Methods Our four generation pedigree includes a mother (II:4) diagnosed with dysplasia and normal karyotype acute myeloid leukemia now in remission after a matched sibling allogeneic stem cell transplant, and her daughter (III:2) with thrombocytopenia since childhood, excessive bleeding with childbirth, and 5q- syndrome diagnosed at 37 years old. Genomic DNA was obtained from all available family members, and RUNX1 cDNA (transcription variants a through c) was sequenced. In addition, RUNX1 cDNA was analyzed for second mutations in bone marrow samples from both patients at the time of diagnosis of their initial bone marrow malignancy. Results RUNX1 sequencing of germline DNA revealed heterozygosity for a novel nonsense mutation in exon 8 (c.1163C>A), which is predicted to result in premature protein truncation (p.Ser388X). Full sequencing of RUNX1 cDNA from II:49s AML does not show any secondary mutations. Our current efforts include full sequencing of RUNX1 cDNA from III:29s bone marrow malignancy as well as functional studies of the truncated protein. Conclusions We have identified a novel 39 RUNX1 mutation within exon 8, which is predicted to result in premature protein truncation at amino acid 388. To date, this is the most distal mutation identified in an FPD/AML pedigree. The identification of this mutation suggests that the last 100 amino acids, which are known to contain the RUNX1 inhibition domain, contribute an essential function. Further characterization of this RUNX1 mutation and its encoded truncated protein may yield insight into RUNX19s role in leukemogenesis in FPD and de novo AML. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The Effects of Intraurethral Lidocaine Anesthetic and Patient Anxiety on Pain Perception During Cystoscopy

AbstractDespite current practice there is no evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of intraurethral lidocaine gel as an anesthetic for rigid cystoscopy. To evaluate the usefulness of lidocaine in decreasing pain associated with cystoscopy, we performed a prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study comparing lidocaine gel with a water based lubricant. The effects of pre-procedure anxiety and prior experience with cystoscopy on pain perception were also evaluated. Physician perception of pain experienced by the patient was compared with the actual pain experienced.We found no decrease in pain perception in men or women following lidocaine gel instillation with a 5 or 10-minute dwell time compared to instillation of the plain lubricant. Increased pre-procedure anxiety correlated with increased pain perception in women. Personal experience with prior cystoscopic procedures significantly decreased the current pain perception in men. Physicians underestimated the patient pain perception in all groups...
Black Otherfathering in the Educational Experiences of Black Males in a Single-Sex Urban High School.

Background/ContextA good deal of research has been written about the problems and challenges facing Black male youth in their educational endeavors, ranging from academic performances, aspirations,...
Distributed sketched subspace clustering for large-scale datasets

Subspace clustering has been a successful tool for unsupervised classification of high-dimensional and generally non linearly separable data. However, state-of-the-art subspace clustering algorithms do not scale well as the number of data increases. The present paper puts forth a distributed subspace clustering scheme for high-volume data based on random projections. Additionally, the method can cope with corrupted data. Performance of the novel scheme is assessed via numerical tests, and is compared with state-of-the-art subspace clustering methods.
The state of charge balancing techniques for electrical vehicle charging stations with cascaded H-bridge multilevel converters

In this paper, two state-of-charge (SOC) balancing techniques are proposed for an electrical vehicle charging station which is based on a grid-tied cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel converter. The first proposed technique uses the redundant states of the CHB converter to generate different AC voltages to balance the SOCs of the CHB cells. For the first proposed technique, the active power injected to the CHB converter is calculated and the optimal switching state that can regulate the SOCs of batteries is designed before switching transitions. In the second proposed technique, the information of AC input current is employed to design the switching states at each quarter of the period. As shown in this paper, the two proposed techniques can regulate the SOCs of the multilevel converter much faster than two conventional techniques in literature without increasing cost or complexity of the converter. This can increase the battery charging speed on the grid-tied converter. The experiments are conducted on a 7-level CHB converter to validate the two proposed techniques.
Laryngopharyngeal Reflux: Current Concepts on Etiology and Pathophysiology and Its Role in Dysphagia

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is one of the most commonly encountered chronic inflammatory conditions of the larynx. The lack of a unifying consensus regarding diagnosis and management makes it difficult to relate laryngeal disorders and dysphagia to this disease entity, particularly for an otolaryngologist. This article reviews diagnosis and management of LPR from an otolaryngological and gastroenterological perspective by reconciling current trends in the literature. More sophisticated testing via multichannel pH probes as well as the implementation of pepsin assays has potential in diagnosing LPR. This will hopefully more clearly delineate this disease entity, in the setting of dysphagia. Dysphagia and LPR both have significant overlap with numerous disease entities. Though there is little literature to address outcomes in treatment and management of dysphagia in the setting of LPR, few studies show that managing LPR-related dysphagia may improve with surgical intervention if there is no improvement with conservative management.
Complementary and Integrative Treatments: Facial Cosmetic Enhancement

Complementary and integrative medicine is particularly popular among patients undergoing facial cosmetic enhancement. This article reviews the efficacy of the most commonly practiced integrative therapies among this surgical population, with a focus on the most current literature regarding the application or potential for application of these treatments to benefit patients undergoing facial aesthetic surgery. Adverse effects of the most popular herbal and dietary supplements are also reviewed. Finally, the potential for interaction among integrative treatments as well as with conventional pharmacologic therapy is discussed.
Coevolution of the Biosphere and Climate

This article summarizes the current state of knowledge of global biogeochemical cycles that are especially relevant to climate and its coevolution with life. Following definitions of essential terminology is a short history of the essential concepts, including the first formulation of biogeochemical cycles by Vernadsky and Gaia theory founded by Lovelock and Margulis, followed by a survey of the carbon biogeochemical cycle operating on different timescales, from short term to long term. The long-term carbon cycle is dominated by carbonate–silicate geochemical cycle and its biotic mediation, especially the biotic enhancement of weathering. The article concludes with a discussion of the aspects of the cycles of oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur especially relevant to climate, and overall implications of the long-term carbon cycle to biospheric evolution. Over geologic time, climate and life coevolved as a tightly coupled system, constrained by abiotic factors (varying solar luminosity, and the crust’s tectonic and impact history). Self-regulation of this coupled system is a property of geophysiology, a central aspect of the evolution of biogeochemical cycles including the coevolution of the biosphere and climate over geologic time. Temperature has apparently played a critical role as a constraint on organismal evolution, along with atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide.
One Faculty Meeting at Leipzig

This key chapter describes in a full detail Van der Waerden’s and Heisenberg’s 1935 heroics in publicly speaking against firing of Jewish professors at Leipzig. It also presents a compromise Heisenberg struck with Himmler, eerily reminding the contract of Dr. Faust with the Devil.
Differential associations between appendicular and axial marrow adipose tissue with bone microarchitecture in adolescents and young adults with obesity.

Abstract Marrow adipose tissue (MAT) in humans is distributed differentially across age and skeletal site. We have shown impaired microarchitecture and reduced bone strength at appendicular sites in conditions associated with high MAT of the axial skeleton in adults (including conditions of over- and undernutrition). Data are lacking regarding differences in MAT content of the appendicular versus the axial skeleton, and its relationship with bone microarchitecture and strength. Furthermore, data are conspicuously lacking in adolescents, a time when hematopoietic marrow is progressively converted to fatty marrow. The purpose of our study was to examine differential associations between appendicular (distal tibia) and axial (lumbar spine) MAT and bone microarchitecture and strength estimates of the distal tibia in adolescents with obesity. We hypothesized that compared to MAT of the axial skeleton (lumbar spine), MAT of the appendicular skeleton (distal tibia) would show stronger associations with bone microarchitecture and strength estimates of the appendicular skeleton (distal tibia). We evaluated 32 adolescents and young adults (27 females) with obesity; with a mean age of 17.8 ± 2.1 years and median body mass index (BMI) of 41.34 kg/m2, who underwent dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for total fat mass, proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the distal tibia and 4th lumbar vertebra for MAT, high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) of the distal tibia for volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and microarchitecture, and micro finite element analysis (FEA) for distal tibial strength estimates. Linear correlations between bone parameters and MAT were determined using the Spearman or Pearson methods, depending on data distribution. Lumbar spine MAT was inversely associated with age (r = −0.36; p = 0.037). Total and trabecular vBMD and trabecular number at the distal tibia were inversely associated with MAT at the distal tibia (r = −0.39, p = 0.025; r = −0.51, p = 0.003; r = −0.42, p = 0.015 respectively) but not with lumbar spine MAT (r = −0.19, p = 0.27; r = −0.18, p = 0.3; r = 0.005, p = 0.97 respectively). In adolescents and young adults with obesity, the associations between MAT and appendicular bone parameters differ depending on the site of MAT assessment i.e. axial vs. appendicular. Studies evaluating these endpoints in adolescents and young adults with obesity should take the site of MAT assessment into consideration.
To Telescope or Not To Telescope

With the rapidly growing number of Internet-accessible and Internet-controlled research-grade telescopes becoming available, astronomy educators are rushing to create authentic research-programs for students that leverage these new resources. To date, the most successful programs are those that focus on upper-level science-focused students or highly talented high school students with the unifying end-product goal of published research papers. Discipline-based astronomy education researchers have not yet fully vetted the educational benefits of using these Internet-telescopes, although some early work points toward positive impacts. At the same time, large-enrollment astronomy educators interested in how to scale the use of remotely controlled telescopes and robotically controlled telescopes for large number of non-science majoring students and future teachers are finding few usable classroom-ready solutions. At this point in the evolution of robotic and remote controlled telescopes for formal education, astronomy educators are tacitly assuming that all students should benefit from using telescopes in any form, yet the risk-benefit analysis has not been thoroughly debated within the community to ascertain if the time and energy required for the broader community of all students to use telescopes is worth it.
Comment on Umpierrez and Klonoff. Diabetes Technology Update: Use of Insulin Pumps and Continuous Glucose Monitoring in the Hospital. Diabetes Care 2018;41:1579-1589.

We read the interesting literature review article by Umpierrez and Klonoff (1) on the use of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring in the hospital. Figure 1 in the article gives recommendations on the changes to pump therapy with imaging studies. It suggests that for patients managed with an insulin pump in the hospital who are having an MRI, the pump and metal infusion set should be removed. It also suggests that when having an X-ray or CT …
Suicide etiology in youth: Differences and similarities by sexual and gender minority status

Abstract Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals are at steeply elevated risk for suicide, particularly in adolescence and young adulthood. Evidence on suicide risk factors specific to SGM youth is emerging, but an integrated understanding of the etiology of suicide that accounts for both commonalities and differences between SGM and non-SMG youth is lacking. Using 2018 data from a social media-based sample of SGM (n = 175) and non-SGM (n = 310) youth ages 14–21, we assess the role of constructs from the general-population-based interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide and the SGM-specific minority stress theory in suicide ideation and attempt. Parental support was a strong protective factor shared across the SGM and non-SGM youth samples. The role of other factors, such as racial/ethnic identity, differed by group. Implications for suicide prevention and intervention in schools and other settings that include both SGM- and non-SGM youth are discussed.
Neck Pain and Lower Back Pain.

Neck pain is the fourth leading cause of disability. Acute neck pain largely resolves within 2 months. History and physical examination play a key role in ruling out some of the more serious causes for neck pain. The evidence for pharmacologic interventions for acute and chronic musculoskeletal neck pain is limited. Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability and productivity loss. Consultation with a physical medicine and rehabilitation spine specialist within 48 hours for acute pain and within 10 days for all patients with lower back pain may significantly decrease rate of surgical interventions and increase patient satisfaction.
U.S. Investors’ Understanding of Workplace Policies and Practices and the Need to Change Them: Progress and Future Efforts

There have been increasing efforts by investors to spur disclosure of companies' workplace-related policies and practices. This paper provides a "case of first impression" assessment of the state of the field of such efforts among U.S. investors. Part I describes attributes of some of the important actors - investors and investor-related organizations - in the field, including their goals, their particular focus on workplace-related issues, and the standards/frameworks/criteria for what should be disclosed relevant to such an analysis. Part II offers a characterization of the success of efforts in the field to date and details challenges posed to making further progress. Part III provides suggestions and ideas about how those challenges might be might.
Reconciling Forum-Selection and Choice-of-Law Clauses

When a contract includes both a forum-selection clause and a choice-of-law clause, which sovereign’s law governs the forum-selection clause? Does the seised court first apply its own law to the forum-selection clause or does it look first to the parties’ chosen law to enforce and interpret the forum-selection clause? It is a chicken-or-egg conundrum. On the basis of case law and policy arguments, I argue that lex fori governs the enforceability and validity of the forum-selection agreement. But the whole chosen law, if there is a choice-of-law clause, or the whole law of the chosen court, if there is no choice-of-law clause, should apply to interpretation or construction of the forum-selection agreement.
The Dishonesty of Informed Consent Rituals.

The Dishonesty of Informed Consent Rituals Out of respect for patient autonomy, we ritually inform patients of self-evident risks, even as we mock the very idea of informed consent by routinely pre...
Genome-wide studies of time of day in the brain: Design and analysis

Transcriptome profiling at different times of day is powerful for studying circadian regulation in model organisms and humans. To date, 24 h profiles from many tissue types suggest that about half ...
Trends in exceedances of the ozone air quality standard in the continental United States, 1980–1998

Abstract In 1997, the United States National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone was revised from a 1-h average of 0.12 parts per million (ppm) to an 8-h average of 0.08 ppm. Analysis of ozone data for the ensemble of the contiguous United States and for the period 1980–1998 shows that the average number of summer days per year in exceedance of the new standard is in the range 8–24 in the Northeast and in Texas, and 12–73 in southern California. The probability of exceedance increases with temperature and exceeds 20% in the Northeast for daily maximum temperatures above 305 K. We present the results of several different approaches to analyzing the long-term trends in the old and new standards over the continental United States from 1980 to 1998. Daily temperature data are used to resolve meteorological variability and isolate the effects of changes in anthropogenic emissions. Significant negative trends are found in the Northeast urban corridor, in the Los Angeles Basin and on the western bank of Lake Michigan. Temperature segregation enhances the detection of negative trends. Positive trends occur at isolated sites, mostly in the Southeast; a strong positive trend is found in Nashville (Tennessee). There is some evidence that, except in the Southwest, air quality improvements from the 1980s to the 1990s have leveled off in the past decade.
What Justifies the Allocation of Scarce Health Care Resources to Patients with Disorders of Consciousness: Response to Commentaries

Care and management of patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) are ethically challenging. Among the most difficult challenges is determining what justifies the allocation of scarce health ca...
An Economic Framework for Determining Systemically Important Financial Institutions

Proposes an economic framework similar to that in Circular A-4 for the designation of systemically important financial institutions (SIFI). This proposal was an Honorable Mention for the MIT Center for Finance and Policy and the Harvard Crowd Innovation Laboratory,“What is a Systemically Important Financial Institution?” contest. The contest was launched to generate new proposals to specify sets of criteria that regulators should apply to designate a financial institution as systemically important. Submissions were limited to 1000 words.
Assembling Nitrogen-rich, thermally Stable, and insensitive energetic materials by polycyclization

Abstract In pursuit of energetic materials which have equal energies and thermal stabilities, but lower sensitivities compared with hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX), a new fused N-heterocyclic framework, ditriazolo-1,2,4,5-tetrazine, 7 was designed and synthesized. Compound 7 exhibits a favorable decomposition temperature of 247 °C benefiting from its good aromaticity which was studied by nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS) and isochemical shielding surfaces (ICSS). Combined with moderate detonation properties (vD, 8544 m s−1; P, 27.3 GPa) and low sensitivities (IS, >40 J; FS, >360 N), 7 may potentially be useful as a secondary energetic in practical applications to replace RDX. Hydrazinium salt 12 has a thermal stability of 221 °C, and excellent detonation properties (vD, 9088 m s−1; P, 32.3 GPa), which are comparable with those of HMX. These contributions highlight the fused N-heterocyclic framework as a potential energetic backbone and provide new thinking to the chemistry of polycyclic heterocycles.
Computer simulation of the human thoracic aorta to evaluate the possible role of smoking in atherogenesis.

An impaired oxygen delivery to arterial wall tissue has been implicated as one factor in the atherogenic process (Getz et al., 1969). The arterial wall has a precarious O2 supply because its luminal side is completely avascular. Thus, the only supply of O2 to the avascular tissue zone is by diffusion over rather long distances from two sources: (1) the arterial blood flowing within the lumen and (2) the blood flowing within the vasa vasorum, the microcirculation of the outer portion of the wall.
Sensors, Actuators, and Their Interfaces: A multidisciplinary introduction

As sensors and actuators are normally not (and have not been) treated in academic curricula as a subject in its own right; many students and current professionals often find themselves limited in their knowledge and dealing with topics and issues based on material they may have never encountered. Until now. This book brings sensors, actuators and interfaces out of obscurity and integrates them for multiple disciplines including electrical, mechanical, chemical, and biomedical engineering. Real world cases, worked examples, and problem sets with selected answers provide both fundamental understanding and how industry develops sensor systems. Students and professionals from any of these disciplines will easily learn the foundational concepts and then be able to apply them to cross-discipline requirements. The idea is simple. A sensor system in general is made of three components: 1.Inputs (sensors) 2.Outputs (actuators) 3.Processor (the unit to which the inputs and outputs are connected and performs all, or the most, tasks needed to interface them). Sensors, Actuators, and their Interfaces focuses on the broad area of detection, outlining and simplifying the understanding of theory behind sensing and actuation. It is an invaluable textbook for undergraduate and graduate level courses, as well as a reference for professionals who were never afforded the opportunity to take an introductory course.
Virtual Team Members for Team Training

This paper reports on the use of an intelligent agent framework (called CAST-ITT) for implementing a team training system. CAST (Collaborative Agents Simulating Teamwork) provides the underlying model of teamwork and agents to simulate virtual team members. CAST-ITT (Intelligent Team Trainer) uses CAST to also monitor trainees, and support performance assessment and coaching for the purposes of evaluating the performance of a trainee as a member of a team. We demonstrate that a team training system can be built that uses CAST-ITT with good performance and can be used for achieving real world training objectives.
Implications of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-g-poly(ethylene glycol) with codissolved brain-derived neurotrophic factor injectable scaffold on motor function recovery rate following cervical dorsolateral funiculotomy in the rat

Object In a follow-up study to their prior work, the authors evaluated a novel delivery system for a previously established treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI), based on a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), lightly cross-linked with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) injectable scaffold. The primary aim of this work was to assess the recovery of both spontaneous and skilled forelimb function following a cervical dorsolateral funiculotomy in the rat. This injury ablates the rubrospinal tract (RST) but spares the dorsal and ventral corticospinal tract and can severely impair reaching and grasping abilities. Methods Animals received an implant of either PNIPAAm-g-PEG or PNIPAAm-g-PEG + brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The single-pellet reach-to-grasp task and the staircase-reaching task were used to assess skilled motor function associated with reaching and grasping abilities, and the cylinder task was used to assess spontaneous motor function, both before and after injury. Results Because BDNF can ...
TRANSIMS Implementation for a Small Network and Comparison with Enhanced Four-Step Model

Travel demand forecasting is a major tool to assist decision makers in transportation planning. While the conventional four-step trip-based approach is the dominant method to perform travel demand analysis, behavioral advances have been made in the past decade. This paper proposes and applies an enhancemnt to the four-step travel demand analysis model called Sub-TAZ. Furthermore, as an initial step toward activity-based models, a TRANSIMS Track-1 approach is implemented utilizing a detailed network developed in Sub-TAZ approach. The conventional four-step, Sub-TAZ, and TRANSIMS models were estimated in a small case study for Fort Meade, Maryland, with zonal trip tables. The models were calibrated and validated for the base year (2005), and the forecasted results for the year (2010) were compared to actual ground counts of traffic volume and speed. The study evaluated the forecasting ability of TRANSIMS versus the conventional and enhanced four-step models and provided critical observations concerning strategies for the further implementation of TRANSIMS.BACKGROUND Traffic pattern prediction is necessary for infrastructure improvement, and travel demand modeling provides tools to forecast travel patterns under various conditions. This modeling involves a series of mathematical equations that represent how people make travel choices. Traditional travel demand models use the four-step method, which was introduced in the 1950s and has been used widely in transportation planning. Although the four-step method has been practical in producing aggregate forecasts, it has some shortcomings. For example, in short-range planning networks, existing and newly constructed roads become congested much faster than forecasted (TRB 2007) and the performance of current four-step models is not always satisfactory. Additionally, these models are not behavioral in nature and as a result they are unable to represent the time chosen for travel, travelers’ responses to demand policies (e.g., toll roads, road pricing, and transit vouchers), non-motorized
The Nation's Transportation System as a Security Challenge

By its very nature, the transportation system is vulnerable to disruption that can result in significant economic costs. This article examines several characteristics of a transportation system, which present challenges from a security perspective. These characteristics include the extent of the system and thus its vulnerability to attack; the network characteristics of travel paths, critical links and choke points, and the time lag associated with infusion of biological agents inserted into passenger flows that result in a widespread diffusion throughout the system; transportation facilities acting as ports of entry to international passenger and freight flows; the important linkages between transportation use and other societal goals, such as economic development, environmental quality, and public health; the long time to recover from major disruptions due to the infrastructure focus of network design; the dependency on command and control systems to manage system operations; and the institutional complexity associated with all of the different agencies and groups involved with decision making and system management. The Atlanta metropolitan area is used as an example to illustrate these characteristics of the transportation system. The article concludes that the transportation system is too vulnerable to hope for 100% security; however, through rigorous vulnerability and risk assessment efforts, the most important parts of this system can be protected. The challenge to transportation and security officials is to develop a collaborative process for developing and using a security-conscious approach toward transportation planning and decision making. Keywords: transportation system characteristics; system vulnerability; critical infrastructure
Principles of Interaction in Language Learning.

Several new approaches toward the study of first language ac quisition have been developed during the last two decades. Chomsky (1957) formulated the principles of generative grammar, while the experimental analysis of language performance was enriched through new methods by Berko (1958). The closer integration of cognitive psychology and language development dates back to Piaget (1926) and Vygotsky (1962).1 Their work and the most recent summary of the field by McNeil (1970a) led to important new insights into the probable principles of language learning. Extensive data collections of child language were made by Brown and Bellugi (1964), Miller and Ervin (1964), Weir (1962), and many others. All investigators agree that most, if not all, of language development is based upon learning by the child from adult models. Authors like Lenneberg (1964) or McNeil (1970b) are prone to posit some inborn universal principles as a basis for the acquisition of language. Yet they still accept, that the specific language acquired by the individual child has to be derived by learning from the child's environment. There exist, however, only few studies of the specific interactions between the adult and the child, which lead to language acquisition. Imitation through expansion by the parent and imitation through reduction by the child were described by Brown and Bellugi (1964). Cazden (1965) studied the respective effectiveness of imitation through expansion and modeling in an experimental setting. Whereas the previous au thors concentrated only upon language interactions. Bloom (1968) also used nonlinguistic information from the situational and be havioral context to analyze the development of language skills and Cazden (1970) stresses in her recent survey the situational impact on language behavior. Only a small percentage of all verbal interac tions between the adult and the child can be categorized under the hitherto established principles as even a cursory survey of transcribed protocols proves. More intensive studies of child-mother interaction seem, therefore, indispensable. The primary purpose of the present investigation is to concentrate on these interactions between the adult and the child. Besides verbal interaction, nonverbal aspects of the situation are included in the
Predicting fear of heights, snakes, and public speaking from multimodal classical conditioning events.

Background: Two hundred fifty one men and women participated in a study of the prediction of fear of heights, snakes, and public speaking by providing retrospective accounts of multimodal classical conditioning events involving those stimuli. The fears selected for study represent those believed by some to be innate (i.e., heights), prepared (i.e., snakes), and purely experientially learned (i.e., public speaking). This study evaluated the extent to which classical conditioning experiences in direct, observational, and verbal modes contributed to the prediction of the current level of fear severity. Materials/Methods Subjects were asked to describe their current level of fear and to estimate their experience with fear response-augmenting events (first- and higher-order aversive pairings) and fear response-moderating events (first- and higher-order appetitive pairings, and pre- and post-conditioning neutral presentations) in direct, observational, and verbal modes. Results: For each stimulus, fear was predictable from direct response-augmenting events and prediction was enhanced by the inclusion of response-moderating events. Furthermore, for each fear, maximum prediction was attained by the addition of variables tapping experiences in the observation-al and/or verbal modes. Conclusions: Conclusions are offered regarding the importance of including response-augmenting and response-moderating events in all three modes in both research and clinical applications of classical conditioning.