cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanical Properties of Tank Car Steels Retired From the Fleet

As a consequence of recent accidents involving the release of hazardous materials (hazmat), the structural integrity and crashworthiness of railroad tank cars have come under scrutiny. Particular attention has been given to the older portion of the fleet that was built prior to steel normalization requirements instituted in 1989. This paper describes a laboratory testing program to examine the mechanical properties of steel samples obtained from tank cars that were retired from the fleet. The test program consisted of two parts: (1) material characterization comprised of chemical, tensile and Charpy V-notch (CVN) impact energy and (2) high-rate fracture toughness testing. In total, steel samples from 34 tank cars were received and tested. These 34 tank cars yielded 61 different pre-1989 TC128-B conditions (40 shell and 21 head samples), three tank cars yielded seven different post-1989 TC128-B conditions (four shell and three head samples), and six tank cars yielded other material (A212, A515, and A285 steel) conditions (six shell and five head samples). The vast majority of the TC128-B samples extracted from retired tank cars met current TC128-B material specifications. Elemental composition requirements were satisfied in 97 percent of the population whereas the required tensile properties were satisfied in 82 percent of the population. Interpretation of the high-rate fracture toughness tests required dividing the pre-1989 fleet into quartiles that depended on year of manufacture or age, and testing three tank cars per quartile. Considering the high-rate fracture toughness results at 0oF for the pre-1989 fleet, 100 percent of the oldest two quartiles, 58 percent of the second youngest quartile, and 83 percent of the youngest quartile exhibited adequate or better fracture toughness (defined as toughness greater than 50 ksi√in). Highrate fracture toughness at –50oF was adequate for 83 percent of two quartiles (the youngest and second oldest), but the other two quartiles exhibited lower toughness with only 33 (2 nd
Therapist-Supported Online Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Adult Anxiety.

Therapist-supported online CBT is more effective than no treatment and as effective as face-to-face CBT for reducing overall anxiety as well as symptoms, and improving quality of life in adults with anxiety disorders.
Nomenclature and Keys

Throughout history, as man has needed to communicate about specific plants, he has given each such plant a common name. These common names were usually applied only to local plants of medicinal, religious, or economic importance, but the name given was seldom based on any actual botanical characteristics. They were neither applied in a systematic way, nor was there any conscious attempt to use the names to indicate relationship between plants. Therefore, the common name for a particular plant often varied, and still does, from one locality to another; or conversely, a particular common name might apply to several different plants in different areas. “Buttercup,” for example, might refer to a member of the genus Ranunculus or to a member of the unrelated genus Narcissus.
God Beyond Borders: Interreligious Learning Among Faith Communities. By Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2014. 212 pp., $24 (paperback).

Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook's God Beyond Borders paints for students, scholars, laity, and clergy an accessible and descriptive picture of the landscape of current interreligious learning and cooperatio...
Descartes on the Extensions of Space and Time

Nesse artigo pretendo examinar a distincao atribuida a Descartes, em Conversacoes com Burman , entre, de um lado, a divisibilidade de algo que e por natureza extenso e, de outro, a divisibilidade da duracao de algo que e por natureza indivisivel. Pretendo mostrar que essa distincao pode ser explicada em termos de uma outra distincao que deriva dos escritos do proprio Descartes, entre a divisibilidade da res extensa em partes substanciais e a divisibilidade da duracao temporal da res cogitans e da res extensa em partes modais. Abstract In this article I wish to consider the distinction, which the Conversation with Burman attributes to Descartes, between the divisibility of something that is extended by nature, on the one hand, and the divisibility of the duration of something that is indivisible by nature, on the other. I intend to show that this distinction can be explained in terms of the further distinction deriving from Descartes's own writings between the divisibility of res extensa into substantial parts and the divisibility of the temporal duration of res cogitans , as well as of res extensa , into modal parts. Recebido em 07/2009 Aprovado em 09/2009
RESEARCH ON FEW PARTICLE SYSTEMS AT LAMPF

Abstract A summary is given concerning the scope of proposals for future research on few particle systems at LAMPF, together with discussion of selected subjects. The relevance of deuteron polarization measurements is mentioned, and a possible discrepancy is noted concerning knowledge of the forward p−p amplitudes at medium energy.
Interrater Reliability and Age-Based Normative Values for Radiographic Indices of the Ankle Syndesmosis in Children.

Background While recent research has investigated the normative values, discriminative capacity, and interrater reliability of radiographic indices for the evaluation of the syndesmosis in adults, no such data exist for children. The purposes of the present study were (1) to determine the interrater reliability of common radiographic measures of syndesmosis and deltoid ligament competency in children and (2) to establish age-based normative values. Methods A consecutive series of patient radiographs from a Level-I pediatric trauma center were identified and were used to create an age and sex-balanced cohort of 282 patients. Subjects between 2 and 17 years of age were randomly selected from a pool of patients who had a complete 3-view (anteroposterior, lateral, and mortise) radiographic ankle series and a final diagnosis without osseous or ligamentous injury. Eight age and sex-balanced groups were created for analysis. Three independent raters evaluated all radiographs and recorded radiographic indices that are commonly used for the evaluation of ankle trauma: width of medial clear space, width of superior clear space, tibiofibular clear space, tibiofibular overlap, and medial clear space/superior clear space ratio. Interrater reliability was calculated with use of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC); means and standard deviations were used to report age-group normative values. Results Two hundred and eighty-two patients (mean age [and standard deviation], 9.6 ± 4.6 years) were analyzed. The superior clear space and tibiofibular overlap demonstrated excellent interrater reliability (ICC = 0.915 and 0.964, respectively), the medial clear space and tibiofibular clear space demonstrated substantial agreement (ICC = 0.656 and 0.635, respectively), and the medial clear space/superior clear space ratio demonstrated moderate agreement (ICC = 0.418). The medial clear space could not be reliably measured until the age of 8 years because of insufficient ossification of the medial malleolus. Tibiofibular overlap demonstrated a linear increase over time, ranging from -1.4 mm in 2 and 3-year-old patients to 6.7 mm in 16 and 17-year-old patients (R2 = 0.995). Normative values varied by age and sex. Conclusions The medial clear space and medial clear space/superior clear space ratio could not be reliably assessed for children under 8 years of age and were thus characterized by suboptimal interrater reliability. Tibiofibular overlap had excellent interrater agreement, changed predictably with skeletal growth, and may be useful for future research as well as the clinical assessment of pediatric ankle injuries to guide clinical decision-making. Level of Evidence Diagnostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Bayesian response-adaptive designs for basket trials

We develop a general class of response-adaptive Bayesian designs using hierarchical models, and provide open source software to implement them. Our work is motivated by recent master protocols in oncology, where several treatments are investigated simultaneously in one or multiple disease types, and treatment efficacy is expected to vary across biomarker-defined subpopulations. Adaptive trials such as I-SPY-2 (Barker et al., 2009) and BATTLE (Zhou et al., 2008) are special cases within our framework. We discuss the application of our adaptive scheme to two distinct research goals. The first is to identify a biomarker subpopulation for which a therapy shows evidence of treatment efficacy, and to exclude other subpopulations for which such evidence does not exist. This leads to a subpopulation-finding design. The second is to identify, within biomarker-defined subpopulations, a set of cancer types for which an experimental therapy is superior to the standard-of-care. This goal leads to a subpopulation-stratified design. Using simulations constructed to faithfully represent ongoing cancer sequencing projects, we quantify the potential gains of our proposed designs relative to conventional non-adaptive designs.
DNMT3a Conditional Deletion in Neuro-epithelium Restores Maternal Diabetes-suppressed Neural Tube Closure Essential Genes Expression and Blocks Maternal Diabetes-activated ER Stress

Global DNA hypermethylation is induced in embryonic neuroepithelium by maternal diabetes, leading to neural tube defects (NTDs). However the underlying mechanism is not clear. Our previous study has demonstrated that the green tea polyphenal Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) inhibited DNA hypermethylation and ameliorated maternal diabetes-induced NTDs. To determine whether antioxidant enzymes can suppress DNA hypermethylation in diabetic embryos, SOD1 transgenic male mice are breed with diabetic wild type female mice. SOD1 overexpression reduces maternal diabetes-induced DNA hypermethylation leading to suppression of DNMT3a and DNMT3b, but not DNMT1. To further investigate whether maternal diabetes-increased DNA methyltransferase 3a (DNMT3a) is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic embryopathy, the Dnmt3a gene was deleted using the Cre-Flox (f) approach by crossing DNMT3af/+ ;nestin-Cre male mice with DNMT3af/f female mice. Dnmt3a deletion specifically occurred in the developing neuroepithelium, and DNMT1 and DNMT3b expression were not affected. Conditional deletion of Dnmt3a significantly reduces the NTD rate from 27.2% in wild-type embryos to 4% in homozygous deletion embryos (DNMT3af/f ;nestin-Cre) under maternal diabetic conditions and ameliorates maternal diabetes-induced DNA hyper-methylation. Moreover, Dnmt3a deficiency in the neuroepithelium abrogated maternal diabetes-induced hyper-methylation in the promoters region of neural tube closure essential genes including Pax3, Tulp3 and GRHL3, leading to activation of these genes. Furthermore maternal diabetes-induced ER stress in neuroepithelium is blocked by conditional deletion of Dnmt3a, which suppresses neuroepithelium apoptosis. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that Dnmt3a conditional deletion in neuroepithelium restores maternal diabetes-suppressed neural tube closure essential genes expression and blocks maternal diabetes-activated ER stress.
Feminism in Southeast Asia

Most feminisms in the diverse countries of Southeast Asia initially developed in the context of nationalism. The roles of women in feminist nationalism were both symbolic – women were constructed as representing the imagined community of the longed-for independent nation – and active – real women played roles in feminist and nationalist movements. In the post-independence period, women's movements have continued to flourish. Keywords: colonialism; feminisms; nationalism; Southeast Asia; women's/feminist organizations
Tidal Deposits of the Campanian Western Interior Seaway, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, USA

The large-scale effects of tidal waves entering the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway from the Gulf of Mexico have previously been modeled, but the field evidence for tides in the Campanian succession has never been assembled. Tidal deposits in deltaic, estuarine and barrier-lagoon successions along the southwestern margin of the seaway, in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming are documented. Tidal currents dominated the distal, subaqueous segments of many regressive deltaic transects (setting 1), and tidal influence was strong during the transgressive backstepping (setting 2) of shorelines. Marked tidal influence in setting 2 was likely due to increased tidal constriction and coastline irregularity after valley incision as well as possible tidal resonance with the increase of shelf width accompanying sea-level rise. In the regressive deltaic setting the common basinward cross-shelf trend from wave- to tide-dominated probably resulted from tidal amplification as sea level fell (albeit few tens of meters). The seaway narrowed and possibly became restricted to the north during lowstand periods, enhancing the counter-clockwise, Coriolis-driven current gyre in the southern half of the basin. In addition, there is notable increase in tidal influence along all of the 77.5–75 Ma shorelines, irrespective of sea-level stand. These more embayed shorelines (contrasting with straight wave shorelines before and after) are likely due to irregular widespread shallowing around embryonic, subaqueous basement-involved topography, as the seascape adjusted to a slight basinward tilt (as opposed to the earlier backtilt of the foreland basin) and a much more irregular, shallow bathymetry during the Sevier-Laramide transition.
Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Analysis of Particle Settling in Narrow Fracture Experiments

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of dense sand particles’ settling micromechanics in narrow smooth and rough fractures. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is used for the analysis of velocities of individual particles and groups of particles and their relative paths, collisions, and agglomerating in viscous Newtonian fluid. The displacement vectors obtained through PIV analysis show the movements and velocities of individual and groups of particles and the global velocity trends of the observed area. Experiments were conducted in a relatively narrow 2-mm slot compared to the main particle size of 0.66 mm across. Smooth and rough fracture walls are considered, in which acrylic plates and 3-D–printed hydraulic fracture replica were used. The measured results from this experimental study give new insights into the effects of particle and agglomerate size and shape as well as fluid dynamic viscosity on slurry settling velocity. It was found that an increase in fluid dynamic viscosity promotes the formation of larger agglomerated particles of sand, which, in return, affect overall slurry settling velocity. Observations from rough fracture wall experiments yielded significantly different slurry behavior, with increased erratic particle motions and fewer agglomerations compared to the smooth, idealized fracture walls. Experimental results give new insights into slurry settling in narrow fractures, which has applications to proppant settling in fractures for the oil, gas, and geothermal industries.
Bolt: Instantaneous Crowdsourcing via Just-in-Time Training

Real-time crowdsourcing has made it possible to solve problems that are beyond the scope of artificial intelligence (AI) within a matter of seconds, rather than hours or days with traditional crowdsourcing techniques. While this has led to an increase in the potential application domains of crowdsourcing and human computation, problems that require machine-level speeds---on the order of milliseconds, not seconds---have remained out of reach because of the fundamental bounds of human perception and response time. In this paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to exceed these bounds by combining human and machine intelligence. We introduce the look-ahead approach, a hybrid intelligence workflow that enables instantaneous crowdsourcing systems (i.e., those that can return crowd responses within mere milliseconds). The look-ahead approach works by exploring possible future states that may be encountered within a short time horizon (e.g., a few seconds into the future) and prefetching crowd worker responses to these states. We validate the efficacy and explore the limitations of our approach on the Bolt system, which consists of an arcade-style game (Lightning Dodger) that we formally model as a Markov Decision Process (MDP). When the MDP reward function is unspecified---as in many real-world tasks---the look-ahead approach enables just-in-time (JIT) training of the agent's policy function. Through a series of crowd worker experiments, we demonstrate that the look-ahead approach can outperform the fastest individual worker by approximately two orders of magnitude. Our work opens new avenues for hybrid intelligence systems that are as smart as people, but also far faster than humanly possible.
Present uses of and experiences with swine vaccines.

This chapter discusses the present uses of and experiences with swine vaccines. Unlike in many other countries, swine vaccines in the United States can be purchased over the counter or by catalog. According to the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), only 55% of the vaccines were provided by a veterinarian. However, 83% of herds using a herd veterinarian also used vaccines, compared to 48% of herds without a consulting veterinarian. Thus, veterinarians appear to have a great impact on the use of vaccines. The regulatory controls of biosafety and efficacy of vaccines, exercised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), have increased significantly during the 1980s and 1990s. However, a conflict of interest seems to exist when efficacy assessments, challenge models, sample size, number of replications, trial allocations, and result analysis are largely sponsored and done by the biologics industry itself. A common critique has also been that the pharmaceutical industry generally uses experimental challenge for efficacy tests instead of natural exposure to the pathogen.
GRAPH COLORING ALGORITHMS

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on sequential vertex colorings, where vertices are sequentially added to the portion of the graph already colored, and the new colorings are determined to include each newly adjoined vertex. Considerable literature in the field of graph theory has dealt with the coloring of graphs. The majority of this effort has been devoted to the theory of graph coloring, and relatively little study has been directed toward the design of efficient graph coloring procedures. Because numerous proofs of properties relevant to graph coloring are constructive, many coloring procedures are at least implicit in the theoretical development. The chapter describes the concept of sequential colorings is formalized and certain upper bounds on the minimum number of colors needed to color a graph, the chromatic number x(G). The chief results show that the recursive-smallest-vertex-degree-last-ordering-with-interchange coloring algorithm will color any planar graph in five or fewer colors. The algorithm is evidently quite efficient even on large planar graphs.
From the War on French to the War in France: World War II and Cultural Identity

World War II transformed the music culture of French Louisiana by exposing Southwest Louisianans to a national pop and country music soundtrack that was, both on the home front and on military bases, the aural backdrop of a bombastic American nationalism. Country music, heralded by Nashville promoters as the language of patriotism, blared over radios on American military bases. Kate Smith proclaimed in the 1942 “My Great, Great Grandfather” that her Revolutionary War ancestor had migrated to the United States because “in America, a man is free,” and in “This is My Country,” Fred Waring asked “What difference if I hail from North or South/Or from the East or West?” The World War II years heightened Southwest Louisianans’ awareness of the outsider status of French Louisiana language, music, and heritage as they joined other Americans in rallying around symbols of national culture.
Sequential Recognition Rate and Latency of Frequency-Based Tactons

Tactons are tactile cues that allow the sense of touch to be used in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). This experiment determines a computer user’s ability and time needed to associate, in sequence, two distinct sets of four tactons encoded with four different sinusoidal waveforms of different frequencies and same amplitude, compared to baseline recognition rates and latency using audible cues instead of tactons. To date 18 participants have been tested. Preliminary results show 55% ± 2.8 recognition rate of the first tacton in the sequence, 46% ± 3.4 recognition rate of second tacton in sequence and 29% ± 3.3 rate of both tactons in sequence recognition. Data indicates that a significantly higher rate of detection of at least one object is feasible. It is expected that with additional training, recognition rates would increase while latency time is reduced. This is an ongoing project, in which data continues to be collected.
Urban population density and freeways in North America: A Re-assessment

Abstract Researchers seeking to identify public policies to reduce automobile use have frequently compared characteristics such as population density and freeway provision across metropolitan regions to identify differences, their causes, and their implications for automobile reliance. One frequent comparison has been between metropolitan regions in Canada and the United States given their similar contexts but differing modal shares. However, past studies have produced inconsistent findings with respect to how Canadian and American metropolitan regions can be distinguished with respect to population densities and freeways. In response to methodological concerns with past research, this paper measures population densities and freeways in the 57 North American metropolitan regions with at least one million residents. Two spatial scales (metropolitan region and central core) are used to measure overall density, population-weighted average census tract density, and density of the top 5% of the population. These same spatial scales are also used to measure the absolute and per capita quantities of freeway lanes. The paper provides methodological explanations using Los Angeles and Vancouver as examples. While Canada's metropolitan regions are commonly portrayed as denser and less auto-oriented than their US counterparts, the six largest of Canada's metropolitan regions do not have population higher densities and fewer freeways than all of the 51 largest US metropolitan regions. Indeed, this generalization holds only when individual results are combined to produce national averages, as there are numerous US metropolitan regions that have density and freeways in the same range as Canada's metropolitan regions. The paper discusses some of the differences and recommends approaches for future comparative research into the causes of variation in transport and land use.
Lightweight Refresh Method for PCM-based Neuromorphic Circuits

Phase change memory (PCM) is being explored as a synaptic nanodevice for scalable and low-power neuromorphic circuits. We present a novel and lightweight method to refresh PCM cells after they saturate at their maximum conductance during the learning process. Our learning system is an event-based Restricted Boltzmann Machine with Spike Time Dependent Plasticity update rule using a modified contrastive divergence algorithm. By using our event-based neuromorphic circuit simulator and the MNIST handwritten digit dataset, we show that our refresh method reduces power consumption by decreasing the number of SET and RESET programming pulses while maintaining high learning accuracy.
The Underground Railroad on the Western Frontier: Escapes from Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and the Territories of Kansas, Nebraska and the Indian Nations, 1840–1865

Review of: "The Underground Railroad on the Western Frontier: Escapes from Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and the Territories of Kansas, Nebraska and the Indian Nations, 1840–1865," by James Patrick Morgans.
Synthesis and Spectroscopic Characterization of Two Azatetrahydrochrysenes as Potential Fluorescent Ligands for the Estrogen Receptor

In an effort to improve upon the spectroscopic characteristics of donor−acceptor tetrahydrochrysene systems that we have previously prepared as fluorescent ligands for the estrogen receptor, we have synthesized two aza analogs as receptor ligand prototypes and characterized their absorbance and fluorescence spectra. 1-Aza-9-hydroxy-5,6,11,12-tetrahydrochrysene (4) and 1,3-diaza-9-hydroxy-5,6,11,12-tetrahydrochrysene (5) were prepared by convenient heterocyclization reactions on a known tricyclic ketone (6). The UV spectra of these heterocycles were quite insensitive to solvent polarity but showed marked red shifts under acidic or basic conditions. These heterocycles displayed complex fluorescence spectra, with emission bands around 400 nm in aprotic medium that shifted to longer wavelength in protic solvents. In many cases, acid and base caused strong red shifts in the emission, with large alterations in quantum yield; in some cases emission bands were shifted as far as 600 nm and dual-emission peaks were...
CBP7 codes for a co-factor required in conjunction with a mitochondrial maturase for splicing of its cognate intervening sequence.

Abstract Maturases are required for the processing of their cognate intervening sequences in the mitochondrial cytochrome beta pre-mRNA. In this paper we characterize a nuclear gene, CBP7, already known to be required for the translation of the cytochrome b transcript; we present further evidence that it is also required as a co-factor in conjunction with the maturases for the efficient processing of their intervening sequences. Results are based on Northern blot analyses which show that in cbp7 mutants with the short cytochrome b gene the maturase encoding intervening sequence fails to be excised although, at the same time, at least wild-type levels of the maturase are present as indicated by antibodies specific to it in Western blot analyses.
Aortic Infection: Pathophysiology, Bacteriology, and Management

Primary aortic infections are a lethal disease process, and acquired aortic graft infections are a dreaded complication of vascular surgery. Fortunately, both are quite rare. Review of the literature should be done carefully since aortitis, infected or mycotic aortic aneurysm, and aortic graft infection are distinct clinical entities. Management of these infections is based on patient factors such as pre-existing conditions, anatomic location of the infection, and need for reconstruction as well as the bacteriology of the infection. Current endovascular options may offer the ability to stabilize the patient until definitive treatment or be sufficient to treat existing infection depending on both the patient and type of infection.
MRI-Based Proton Treatment Planning for Base of Skull Tumors.

Abstract Purpose: To introduce a novel, deep-learning method to generate synthetic computed tomography (SCT) scans for proton treatment planning and evaluate its efficacy. Materials and Methods: 50...
Pre-service Teachers’ Selection, Interpretation, and Sequence of Fraction Examples

A task-based written survey was administered to 69 pre-service teachers (PSTs) at a large Midwestern University in the USA to examine their recognition of examples/non-examples of ¼ presented in various forms of the area model, their perceived mathematical key points in identifying examples/non-examples, and their instructional decisions in selecting and sequencing examples/non-examples. An inductive content analysis showed that typical examples of ¼ did not distinguish different levels of PSTs’ content knowledge. However, in cases of unconventional examples, PSTs’ levels of content knowledge were easily discernible. Also, PSTs across different performance levels perceived equal partitioning as a key mathematical point and gave it primary consideration in sequencing examples, but they interpreted “equal parts” in many different ways, and only the high-performance group incorporated unconventional examples in making a sequence. In all performance levels, the inclusion of a non-example in making a sequence was scarce. Implications for improving the teaching of fraction concepts in teacher preparation programs are discussed.
Sexual Orientation Disparities in Preconception Health.

Objective: In the United States, there have been very few improvements in adverse birth outcomes, such as infant mortality, low birthweight, and preterm birth in recent years. Health promotion befo...
Reliable drug war data: The Consolidated Counterdrug Database and cocaine interdiction in the “Transit Zone”

Abstract Background For almost three decades, a U.S. government dataset has vetted and recorded all known cocaine trafficking events in the massive Western Hemisphere ‘transit zone’ (including Central America, the Caribbean, eastern Pacific, and Mexico) and tracked all cocaine seizures reported by counternarcotic forces there. This is the “cocaine module” of the Consolidated Counterdrug Database (CCDB), and by U.S. law it is the exclusive source for performance data on key aspects of the drug interdiction mission, one of the foundations of U.S. supply-side drug policy. Nevertheless, the dataset remains poorly known or used among drug policy researchers despite being unclassified. To make the existence and strengths of this dataset better known, this paper describes its provenance, ongoing production, and analytical utility. Methods The analysis draws on the archive of reports produced by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent, non-partisan entity that has been tracking U.S. government agencies’ drug war accounting for almost 50 years. The analysis also relies on third-party assessments of interdiction, and on correspondence with staff in the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Results The CCDB emerged in the 1990s following two decades of drug war failures in the transit zone. It is an “all source” product, which curates data from a variety of sources produced by the 26 U.S. agencies and 20 foreign partners involved in transit zone interdiction. There is a high threshold for inclusion of cocaine trafficking events into the CCDB; it therefore offers a highly reliable yet conservative representation of cocaine trafficking and counternarcotic response. Instances of CCDB data in the public record yield several insights: a) the volume of cocaine moving annually through the transit zone has for the past decade well exceeded 1,000 MT/year; b) cocaine seizures in the transit zone are greater than anywhere else, and significantly higher than indicated by the UNODC's World Drug Reports; c) interdiction appears to have little to no effect on cocaine prices in the U.S.; d) interdiction is highly “outcome-ineffective”; in FY2018, for example, the U.S. and partners intercepted only 6% of the cocaine trafficking events known to have occurred in the transit zone that year; e) traffickers respond quickly and constantly to interdiction by shifting their routes and transport strategies. Conclusion The CCDB deserves greater attention from researchers as a high-quality dataset that: a) challenges the “unknowability” of illicit activities and underscores the need for better sharing of unclassified government data; b) opens up new ways of exploring drug enforcement policies and actions in transit areas; c) contradicts rosy assessments of drug interdiction effectiveness by unequivocally demonstrating interdiction's longstanding and persistent failure and thus the need for fundamentally different approaches.
Localized Breast Amyloidosis Associated with Sjörgren Syndrome.

Sjorgren syndrome is a systemic autoimmune disease that is rarely associated with amyloid deposits, and in most reported cases, these deposits are localized to a single organ. Amyloidosis of the breast is a rare and unexpected finding, and only 5 case series with 63 patients have been published in the past 40 years. To date, only 6 cases have been reported in which Sjorgren syndrome is associated with amyloid deposits in the breast. A 61-year-old female diagnosed with Sjorgren syndrome underwent a breast needle core biopsy for calcifications. Microscopic examination revealed amyloid deposits in the periductular basement membranes, in the walls of arteries and veins, and in the surrounding connective tissue. No malignancy was found. Clinical workup revealed the amyloid deposits to be localized to the breast and did not reveal an underlying hematolymphoid neoplasm. The association between Sjorgren syndrome and breast amyloidosis is rare, but few reports have appeared in recent years, and it may be an emerging disease association. The finding of localized amyloid in the breast and other organs should lead to a clinical workup not only for hematopoietic neoplasms but also for autoimmune diseases such as Sjorgren syndrome.
Activity regulates brain development in the fly

It has long been appreciated that activity sculpts the formation of neuronal circuits in the mammalian brain. By contrast, in Drosophila it was generally thought that genetically hardwired mechanisms of development, mediated by cell recognition molecules, are sufficient to specify the connectome-the complex and stereotyped pattern of connections between neurons. Here, we consider recent findings that activity during development also contributes to circuit assembly in the fly. These observations suggest that activity is a fundamental aspect of brain development in general. They also highlight the opportunities to learn about the role of this phenomenon through the extensive Drosophila toolkit for examining circuit development, structure, and function.
Modeling impurity concentrations in liquid argon detectors

Abstract Impurities in noble liquid detectors used for neutrino and dark matter experiments can significantly impact the quality of data. We present an experimentally verified model for describing the dynamics of impurity distributions in liquid argon (LAr) detectors. The model considers sources, sinks, and transport of impurities within and between the gas and liquid argon phases. Measurements of oxygen concentrations in a 20-L LAr multi-purpose test stand are compared to calculations made with this model to show that an accurate description of the concentrations under various operational conditions can be obtained. A result of this analysis is a determination of Henry’s coefficient for oxygen in LAr. These calculations also show that some processes have small effects on the impurity dynamics and excluding them yields a solution as a sum of two exponential terms. This solution provides a simple way to extract Henry’s coefficient with negligible approximation error. It is applied to the data and the Henry’s coefficient for oxygen in LAr is obtained as 0.84 − 0 . 05 + 0 . 09 , consistent with literature results. Based on the analysis of the data with the model, we further suggest that, for a large liquid argon detector, barriers to flow (“baffles”) installed in the gas phase to restrict flow can help reduce the ultimate impurity concentration in the LAr.
SPAs promote thermomorphogenesis by regulating the phyB-PIF4 module in Arabidopsis.

ABSTRACT High ambient temperature attributable to global warming has a profound influence on plant growth and development at all stages of the life cycle. The response of plants to high ambient temperature, termed thermomorphogenesis, is characterized by hypocotyl and petiole elongation and hyponastic growth at the seedling stage. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanism of thermomorphogenesis is still rudimentary. Here, we show that a set of four SUPPRESSOR OF PHYA-105 (SPA) genes is required for thermomorphogenesis. Consistently, SPAs are necessary for global changes in gene expression in response to high ambient temperature. In the spaQ mutant at high ambient temperature, the level of SPA1 is unaffected, whereas the thermosensor phytochrome B (phyB) is stabilized. Furthermore, in the absence of four SPA genes, the pivotal transcription factor PIF4 fails to accumulate, indicating a role of SPAs in regulating the phyB-PIF4 module at high ambient temperature. SPA1 directly phosphorylates PIF4 in vitro, and a mutant SPA1 affecting the kinase activity fails to rescue the PIF4 level in addition to the thermo-insensitive phenotype of spaQ, suggesting that the SPA1 kinase activity is necessary for thermomorphogenesis. Taken together, these data suggest that SPAs are new components that integrate light and temperature signaling by fine-tuning the phyB-PIF4 module.
Outpatient Management of Patients Following Diagnosis of Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Objective While guidelines recommend outpatient management of patients with low-risk pulmonary embolism (PE), little is known about the disposition of patients with PE diagnosed in United States emergency departments (EDs). We sought to determine disposition practices and subsequent health care utilization in patients with acute PE in U.S. EDs. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of adult ED patients with a new diagnosis of acute PE treated at 740 U.S. acute care hospitals from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2018. The primary outcome was the initial disposition following an ED visit for acute PE. Additional measures included hospital cost and 30-day revisit rate to the ED. Results A total of 61,070 cases were included in the overall cohort, of which 4.1% of new cases of PE were discharged from the ED. The median hospital-specific proportion of patients discharged was 3.1% (interquartile range = 0.8%-6.8%). The median odds ratio, representing the importance of the hospital in initial disposition decisions, was 2.21 (95% confidence interval = 2.05 to 2.37), which was greater than any patient-level factor with the exception of concurrent ED diagnosis of hypoxemia/respiratory failure, shock, or hypotension. Within 30 days of discharge, 17.9% of discharged cases had an ED return visit to the ED only and 10.3% of patients were hospitalized. Of the 30-day ED return visits in patients initially managed as outpatients, 1.3% had a bleeding-associated diagnosis. Conclusion Despite guidelines promoting outpatient management, few patients are currently discharged home in the United States; however, practice varies widely across hospitals. Return visit rates were high but most did not result in hospitalization.
Architectural and Tectonic Control on the Segmentation of the Central American Volcanic Arc

Central America has a rich mix of conditions that allow comparisons of different natural experiments in the generation of arc magmas within the relatively short length of the margin. The shape of t...
Hyperglycemia and gestational diabetes suppress placental glycolysis and mitochondrial function and alter lipid processing

The degree that maternal glycemia affects placental metabolism of trophoblast cell types [cytotrophoblast (CTB) and syncytiotrophoblast (SCT)] in pregnant persons with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is unknown. We tested the hypotheses that (a) hyperglycemia suppresses the metabolic rates of CTB and SCT; and (b) low placental metabolic activity from GDM placentas is due to decreased oxygen consumption of CTB. Trophoblast cells isolated from GDM and non-GDM term placentas were cultured for 8-hour (CTB) and following syncytialization at 72-hour (SCT) in 5 mM of glucose or 25 mM of glucose. Oxygen consumption rates, glycolysis, ATP levels, and lipid droplet morphometries were determined in CTB and SCT. In CTB from GDM placentas compared to control CTB: (a) oxidative phosphorylation was decreased by 44% (41.8 vs 74.2 pmol O2 /min/100 ng DNA, P = .002); (b) ATP content was 39% lower (1.1 × 10-7 vs 1.8 × 10-7 nM/ng DNA, P = .046); and (c) lipid droplets were two times larger (31.0 vs 14.4 µm2 /cell, P < .001) and 1.7 times more numerous (13.5 vs 7.9 lipid droplets/cell, P < .001). Hyperglycemia suppressed CTB glycolysis by 55%-60% (mean difference 20.4 [GDM, P = .008] and 15.4 [non-GDM, P = .029] mpH/min/100 ng DNA). GDM SCT was not metabolically different from non-GDM SCT. However, GDM SCT had significantly decreased expression of genes associated with differentiation including hCG, GCM1, and syncytin-1. We conclude that suppressed metabolic activity by the GDM placenta is attributable to metabolic dysfunction of CTB, not SCT. Critical placental hormone expression and secretion are decreased in GDM trophoblasts.
Corrigendum: “More Brazilian Than Cachaça”: Brazilian Sugar-Based Ethanol Development in the Twentieth Century

Following the publication of a recent article in the Latin American Research Review [ https://larrlasa.org/articles/10.25222/larr.28/ ], we wish to bring the following corrigendum to your attention.
Pentecostal Affiliation

Although Pentecostal Protestants are often included under the broad term “evangelical Protestant,” research suggests that Pentecostals are distinct from other evangelical Protestants in their religious and secular beliefs and activities. In this research note, we demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of a religious classification that accounts for differences between affiliates of Pentecostal denominations and affiliates of other Protestant denominations. Analysis of nationally representative survey data shows that affiliates of evangelical Protestant and Pentecostal Protestant denominations differ in their levels of education, religious beliefs, attitudes on social issues, and political ideology. These differences are largely congruent with theoretical expectations of differences among Protestant subgroups. The classification of Pentecostal denominations presented in this research note is an important tool for researchers, which can be applied to a wide range of social scientific inquiries.
Sparse and nonnegative sparse D-MORPH regression

An underdetermined linear algebraic equation system $$\mathbf{y}={\varvec{\Phi }}\mathbf{x}$$ , where $${\varvec{\Phi }}$$ is an $$m\times n (m<n)$$ rectangular constant matrix with rank $$r\le m$$ and $$\mathbf{y}\in \mathrm {Ran}({\varvec{\Phi }})$$ (range of $${\varvec{\Phi }})$$ , has an infinite number of solutions. Diffeomorphic modulation under observable response preserving homotopy (D-MORPH) regression seeks a solution satisfying the extra requirement of minimizing a chosen cost function, $${\mathcal {K}}$$ . A wide variety of choices of the cost function makes it possible to achieve diverse goals, and hence D-MORPH regression has been successfully applied to solve a range of problems. In this paper, D-MORPH regression is extended to determine a sparse or a nonnegative sparse solution of the vector $$\mathbf{x}$$ . For this purpose, recursive reweighted least-squares (RRLS) minimization is adopted and modified to construct the cost function $${\mathcal {K}}$$ for D-MORPH regression. The advantage of sparse and nonnegative sparse D-MORPH regression is that the matrix $${\varvec{\Phi }}$$ does not need to have row-full rank, thereby enabling flexibility to search for sparse solutions $$\mathbf{x}$$ with ancillary properties in practical applications. These tools are applied to (a) simulation data for quantum-control-mechanism identification utilizing high dimensional model representation (HDMR) modeling and (b) experimental mass spectral data for determining the composition of an unknown mixture of chemical species.
Appearance-based localization using Group LASSO regression with an indoor experiment

This paper proposes appearance-based localization using online vision images collected from an omnidirectional camera attached on a mobile robot or a vehicle. Our approach builds on a combination of the group Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and the extended Kalman filter (EKF). Fast Fourier transform (FFT) and Histogram are extracted from omni-directional images, the features of which are selected via the group LASSO regression. The EKF takes the output of the group LASSO regression based first-stage localization as the observation. The indoor experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
High Resolution Radio Observations of Luminous IR Galaxies

High resolution radio observations provide a unique tool for investigation ofultraluminous infrared galaxies, due to the combination of high angularresolution and source transparency available at centimeter wavelengths. Thetypical angular size of the IR emitting region in the most luminous systems isof order 0.1 arcsec, while dust absorption appears to obscure this region fromdirect view at wavelengths shorter than ∼ 100 microns. Radio observationswith VLBI and MERLIN are revealing compact radio structures indicative of bothstarburst and AGN activity in these systems. Additional observations arerequired to clarify relationships between radio structures and the energygeneration mechanisms, and to realize the full potential of radio interferometryfor ULIRG studies.
Why pharmacists should not sell homeopathic products

Homeopathy has grown to an alarming extent in the USA in recent decades. There are many compelling reasons for pharmacists to refuse to stock and sell these products. For instance, their safety and efficacy is unproven, patients using them may forego legitimate medical therapy, their sales yield a dishonest profit, selling them may expose the seller to legal consequences, they violate the oath of the pharmacist, they foster the encroachment of quackery in medicine, and they appeal to greed and profit motives. Pharmacists should adhere to a high professional standard that demands proven safety and efficacy in the products they sell.
Regulation of Erythropoietin Production

The sections in this article are: 1 Physicochemical Properties of Erythropoietin 2 Assay and Standardization of Erythropoietin 3 Model for Kidney Production of Erythropoietin 4 Renal Site of Production of Erythropoietin 5 Extrarenal Erythropoietin Production 6 Sites of Action of Erythropoietin 7 Anemia of Renal Insufficiency 8 Erythropoietin and Polycythemia 9 Pharmacological Agents that Influence Erythropoietin Production 10 Pharmacokinetics of Erythropoietin 11 Potential Therapeutic uses of Erythropoietin 12 Summary
Ethnoarchaeology of Andean South America: Contributions to Archaeological Method and Theory.

Ethnoarchaeology of Andean South America: Contributions to Archaeological Method and Theory. Lawrence A. Kuznar. ed. Ann Arbor, MI: International Monographs in Prehistory, 2001. 309 pp.
Applications of geographic information systems and geo-spatial modeling in environmental epidemiology

The ability of environmental epidemiology to determine the relationships between health and environmental insults has become exceedingly difficult. The multifactorial nature of disease and the diversity of the insults, which include biologic, physical, social and cultural factors, combined with genetic susceptibility, suggest the need to incorporate comprehensive perspectives of multidisciplinary epidemiologic investigation; utilize tools, such as geographic information systems (GIS) and other geospatial methods, which can integrate multi-level, spatial, and temporal factors and can help limit the potential for misclassification of exposure estimates; and to encourage collaborations and creativity in the field of environmental epidemiology. Examples of applications in cancer epidemiology will be presented. Statistical challenges to linking spatial pattern of cancer to radiation exposure will be discussed.