cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
BINARY FISH PASSAGE MODELS FOR UNIFORM AND NONUNIFORM FLOWS

Binary fish passage models are considered by many fisheries' managers to be the best available practice for culvert inventory assessments and for fishway design. Misunderstandings between different passageâmodelling approaches often arise, however, because of the absence of a formal comparison between the different approaches that include detailed derivations with consistent terminology and example applications. In this paper, oneâdimensional binary fish passage models were reviewed, and derivations from basic principles were provided for clarification. For uniform flow, a simple exhaustionâthreshold (ET) model equation was derived that predicts the flow velocity threshold in a fishway that causes exhaustion at a given maximum distance of ascent if a fish swims at the optimal ground speed. Velocities at or above the threshold predict failure to pass (exclusion). Velocities below the threshold predict passage. The ET model was therefore intuitive and easily applied to predict passage or exclusion. It was also shown to be consistent with the ascentâdistance (AD) model that shows that fish must adopt an optimal ground speed to maximize AD. The limitation of passage models to uniform flow was addressed by deriving a general model framework for passage that accounts for nonuniform flow conditions more commonly found in the field, including backwater and drawdown waterâsurface profiles. Comparison of these models with experimental observations of volitional passage for topâperforming western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis indicates reasonable prediction of binary outcomes (passage or exclusion) if the flow velocity is not near the threshold flow velocity. More research is needed on fish behaviour, passage strategies under nonuniform flow regimes and stochastic methods that account for individual differences in swimming performance. Future experiments should track and measure ground speeds of ascending fish to test passage strategies and to improve model predictions. Stochastic models, such as MonteâCarlo techniques, that account for different passage performance among individuals and allow prediction of the percentage of fish passing are needed to improve fish passage prediction. Published in 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tail pinch induces sexual behavior in olfactory bulbectomized male rats

Abstract Adult male Long-Evans rats were subjected to bilateral olfactory bulbectomy, sham surgery or no treatment. Of 34 bulbectomized rats, 24 failed to ejaculate on either of 2 tests with a primed ovariectomized female. All control animals exhibited normal sexual behavior, and 10 bulbectomized animals ejaculated at least once during the 2 tests. Later histological examination revealed a relationship between size of lesion and extent of behavioral deficits. After a third test, 16 nonejaculatory animals were subjected to a tail pinch (TP) procedure, immediately followed by a fourth test. The remaining 8 nonejaculatory animals were tested similarly, but without tail pinch. Ten of the 16 tail pinch animals showed complete sexual behavior on the first test, while 2 additional animals began to copulate after a second TP procedure 4 days later. Only 1 of the 8 animals not receiving TP ejaculated on these tests. Thus, TP applied shortly before sexual behavior tests can induce copulation in some males whose behavior had been disrupted by olfactory bulbectomy.
Rapid Response Team Interventions for Severe Hyperkalemia: Evaluation of a Patient Safety Initiative

Rationale: This study evaluates outcomes and process measures associated with a rapid response team (RRT) intervention for patients with severe hyperkalemia. Study Population: Inpatients on medical...
Looking chloride channels straight in the eye: bestrophins, lipofuscinosis, and retinal degeneration.

Your ability to read this article without magnification requires the normal functioning of your macula. The macula is a small region near the center of the retina responsible for high-acuity vision due to its high density of cone photoreceptors. Almost everyone knows somebody, often a parent or grandparent, who has the progressive disorder known as macular degeneration. When it occurs beyond the 5th decade of life and has no specific diagnosis, it is called “age-related macular degeneration” (AMD). AMD is the leading cause of blindness in technologically developed countries (57). (World wide, cataracts, trachoma, and glaucoma rank higher.) AMD has been estimated to affect ~20% of the population over the age of 65 and >35% of individuals over the age of 75 (73).
Looking Islam in the Teeth: The Social Life of a Somali Toothbrush

The Arabic miswak (Somali, adayge) is a tooth-cleaning stick from the Salvadora persica plant. In this article, we trace the social life of a “thing,” examining meanings inscribed in the stick brush, drawing on interviews with 82 Somali refugees in Massachusetts and an analysis of local and transnational science and marketing. The miswak toothbrush symbolizes relationships to nature, homeland culture, global Islam, globalizing dental medicine, and the divine as it intersects with the lives of producers, marketers, distributors, and users, creating hybrid cultural forms in new contexts.
A Power Monitoring and Control System to minimize electricity demand costs associated with Electric Vehicle charging stations

The impact of Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) charging on the electrical demand of a commercial / industrial energy consumer is examined. A Power Monitoring and Control System (PMCS) is introduced as a method to limit the disincentive to large scale BEV adoption resulting from increased demand costs associated with uncontrolled BEV charging. Reductions in added costs of up to 90% are possible with the incorporation of an intelligent charge control system. Additionally, the PMCS enables transformative charge sharing topologies, including Vehicle to Grid (V2G) and Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V), as solutions for peak shifting and demand response techniques during high demand periods.
Risk Interpretation, Perception and Communication

In a recent statistics editorial, I discussed the definition of a disease ‘risk’ and various ways of comparing risks across groups1. Beyond the necessary statistical tools to estimate and compare risk, as health professionals we need to understand how physicians, counselors and the general public understand and interpret risk information. The success of scientific studies on risk factors and appropriate interventions depends upon a researcher's skills in appropriately interpreting risk from data sources, communicating that risk effectively, and on consumers perceiving the information correctly.2 In passing, note that researchers may use subtle alternatives to ‘risk’—for example, expected years of life lost, or quality of life measures—to quantify comparison of different exposure groups, concepts that may carry different implications and interpretation.
Structural analyses clarify the complex control of mistranslation by tRNA synthetases

Proteins are precisely assembled with amino acids by matching the anticodons of charged transfer RNAs to nucleotide triplets in mRNA sequences. Accurate translation depends on the specific coupling of cognate amino acids and tRNAs - a step carried out by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) and that generates the genetic code. Owing to their intrinsic similarity, aaRSs developed highly differentiated structures to discriminate between amino acids at the active site for aminoacylation. Because this discrimination is not sufficient to prevent toxic mistranslation, aaRSs developed separate structures to further refine recognition by proofreading. From comprehensive structural studies on aaRSs, many of the molecular details have been elucidated for the recognition of cognate amino acids and for the misactivation and editing of noncognate amino acids, Here we review recent advances in the structural description of the binding, activation and editing of amino acids, which collectively reveal many aspects of the fine-tuned systems that resulted in a robust and universal genetic code.
Corporate Governance and the Home Bias

In most countries, many of the largest corporations are controlled by large shareholders. We show that, under reasonable assumptions, this stylized fact implies that portfolio holdings of U.S. investors should exhibit a home bias in equilibrium. We construct an estimate of the world portfolio of shares available to investors who are not controlling shareholders. This available world portfolio differs sharply from the world market portfolio. In regressions explaining the portfolio weights of U.S. investors, the world portfolio of available shares has a positive significant coefficient but the world market portfolio has no additional explanatory power. This result holds when we control for country characteristics.
Immigrants and Travel Demand in the United States: Implications for Transportation Policy and Future Research

This paper examines how recent immigration to the United States has affected travel demand, and the implications of this immigration on public policy and future research directions. The major focus is on urban intracity household travel. The authors present the most current data available on immigration trends, summarize research literature, and identify the major research questions needing answers to understand how to accommodate the travel demands of immigration-driven population growth. The foreign-born, particularly in their first few years of living in the United States, are much more likely to use transit, carpool, walk, and bicycle modes of transportation. They are also the primary users of shared private transportation modes such as intercity bus services, employment shuttles and jitneys. Although the role of industrial and occupational changes has not been explicitly explored in the literature, immigration likely has an important role to play in the spatial patterns implied by industrial change and growth. More research is needed on whether policies and regulations can affect the sustainability and efficiency of this growth.
Measured spatially variant system response for PET image reconstruction

Quantitative accuracy in PET imaging is essential for longitudinal studies and monitoring tumor response to treatment. The goal of this work is to improve the quantitative accuracy of whole-body PET imaging through the use of an accurate, measured system model. Past empirically measured system response functions used line sources positioned at various locations in the imaging field of view. Here, we present a practical method for measuring the detector blurring component of a whole-body PET system with a non-collimated point source. We employ Monte Carlo simulations to show that a non-collimated point source is acceptable for modeling the radial blurring present in a PET tomograph. And, we justify the use of a Na22 point source for collecting these measurements. We measure the system response, simplify it to a two-dimensional function, and incorporate a parameterized version of this response into a modified OSEM algorithm. Reconstructions of measured data from an image quality and line source phantom reveal improved quantitative accuracy and resolution with the modified system model.
Identification and Isolation of a 155-kDa Protein with Neuropathy Target Esterase Activity

A method is presented for the isolation of a 155-kDa protein that possesses phenyl valerate hydrolysis activity in the presence of paraoxon but is inhibited by mipafox; the functional definition of neuropathy target esterase (neurotoxic esterase; NTE). Microsomes, isolated from 18-day-old chicken embryos were treated with phospholipase A2 to solubilize the NTE activity. The extract was then combined with polyoxyethylene W1 detergent and resolved by gel filtration chromatography to yield an active fraction with an approximate mass of 200 kDa. This fraction was further purified by preparative isoelectric focusing and native electrophoresis to yield two separate bands possessing NTE activity. The slower migrating band was highly enriched in a 155-kDa protein that was identified as a source of the NTE activity by affinity chromatography using 3-(9'-mercaptononylthio)-1,1,1-trifluoro-propan-2-one bound to Sepharose CL6B. This represents the first report of the isolation of NTE in its active form and aids in the confirmation of the 155-kDa protein as the most likely candidate for NTE.
Assembly of long chain phosphatidylcholines at a liquid–liquid interface

The molecular-level organization of mixed and pure saturated symmetric chain 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholines (PCs) adsorbed at a carbon tetrachloride-aqueous interface is explored by probing the hydrocarbon chain conformation within the adsorbed layer. PCs of the chain lengths found most frequently in biological systems, which in pure form are seen to form either very well-ordered or disordered layers, are observed in these studies to assemble into interfacial layers ranging from disordered to ordered states when mixed in various proportions. Independently, while C(16) and shorter chain PCs tend to form disordered layers, a strong increase in ordering is observed for C(18) and longer chain PCs in which the hydrocarbon chains are found to be primarily in an all trans conformation. Pure C(17)-PCs adsorbed at the interface produce layers with an intermediate degree of chain ordering. The ability to tune interfacial layer properties in mixed systems as a function of molecular composition, including PC chain length as demonstrated here, is an important mechanism by which surface characteristics of oil-water emulsion systems can be controlled both in vivo and in numerous commercial applications.
Sources of noise in erasable optical disk data storage

Noise sources in the readback signal for phase-change and magneto-optical disks at red, green, and blue wavelengths are examined, and a simple model is presented to explain the observed noise spectra. For phase-change disks the media noise, which corresponds to ~0.4% fluctuation in the disk's amplitude reflection coefficient, is the limiting performance factor for the conventional detection scheme. In magneto-optical media the depolarization noise, whose fluctuations are ~0.05% of the disk's reflection coefficient, is the major contributor to the media noise in the differential detection scheme. In phase-change optical disks the main sources of noise are the roughness of the groove profiles and the graininess of the polycrystalline recording layer. In nongrooved regions of the disk the media noise measured with green light is found to be nearly the same as that obtained with the red light. In magneto-optical disks the scattering of light from the rough groove profiles, as well as media inhomogeneities, gives rise to depolarization. Measurements on nongrooved regions of a magneto-optical disk indicate that the media noise obtained with the green light is somewhat higher than that obtained with the red light.
A Scalable Approach for the Secure and Authorized Tracking of the Availability of Entities in Distributed Systems

As the scale and proliferation of distributed applications continues to increase a need often arises to track the availability of entities that comprise the distributed system. An entity that is part of such a distributed system could be a resource, a service that provides a set of exposed capabilities, an application or a user. In this paper we present a transport-independent scheme for tracking the availability of entities in distributed systems. The scheme enforces the authorized generation and consumption of traces (encapsulating entity availability). The scheme also facilitates the secure distribution of traces while coping with some classes of denial of service attacks.
How to Review a Manuscript

The peer review process is the current standard for assessing a ­manuscript’s worthiness for publication in the scientific literature and is based on the idealism, professionalism, and collegiality of the peer reviewer. Reviewers serve a critical role in ensuring the dissemination of knowledge throughout the medical profession. Peer reviewers provide fair, constructive, and knowledgeable feedback on a manuscript that improves the quality of the manuscript and aids journal editors in determining an appropriate disposition of the manuscript. Accepting an invitation to review demonstrates a willingness to contribute to the profession of medicine and the advancement of knowledge.
Contribution of Axons to Short-Term Dynamics of Neuronal Communication

Abstract Axons are traditionally viewed as faithful transmission lines of the neural code, that is, they are thought to propagate temporal patterns of action potentials generated at the proximal part of the neuron with little degradation to distal presynaptic sites. However, axonal membrane excitability can be far more complex than usually credited. In consequence, action potential conduction velocity can change dependent on prior activity and therefore alter temporal patterns during propagation. In some cases, axons can fail to propagate action potentials or elicit additional ones at distal locations. Furthermore, changes in excitability can alter action potential shape, with consequences for presynaptic transmitter release. Finally, these properties can be subject to neuromodulation, as many axons express both metabotropic and ionotropic receptors in nonsynaptic membrane. This chapter highlights some of the aspects of axonal dynamics and their potential role for neural computations.
Attosecond Metrology

Attosecond metrology also exploits the sub-cycle time-dependent field of the laser to provide the shear needed to measure attosecond optical or electron pulses. Always the shear is applied to electrons because they respond easily to electric fields. Attosecond pulses can be measured in the nonlinear medium while they are being generated or they can be measured more conventionally, in a separate nonlinear medium. In this case, attosecond optical pulses transfer their amplitude and phase information to photoelectrons which are measured in their place. As in femtosecond science, measuring an ultrashort pulse and measuring an ultrafast dynamics excited by an attosecond pulse is similar. This paper describe the methods of attosecond metrology.
II. Dutch Views and Uses of British Policy in India around 1800

On August 31, 1803, a group of seven men, comprising the Commission for East Indies Affairs ( Commissie tot de Oost-Indische Zaken ), submitted the final report of its deliberations to the Government of the State of the Batavian Republic ( Staatsbewind der Bataafsche Republiek ) in The Hague. This Commission had been called into existence in November 1802 to make recommendations on how best to administer and conduct trade with the nation's possessions in the East Indies in a fashion that would render the greatest advantage to the nation's finances and profit to its commerce. Only a couple of years earlier Holland's monopolistic United East Indies Company (VOC) had been terminated by the Republic, and its assets and liabilities assumed by the State. The liabilities were immediately identifiable, for they consisted of debts which had to be paid in hard cash. The assets, on the other hand, consisted of territories – most of which had fallen under English control – and factories that somehow had to be made profitable, but seemed, given the then-existing conditions in the world, to be almost out of reach. The Commission was supposed to make recommendations as to how the remaining, territories of the VOC should be managed and how the trade with the East Indies and Asia in general was to be made profitable. This was no small task, so it may appear somewhat wondrous that the Commission was able to complete its work in less than ten months. The dispatch with which the Commission's work was completed, however, is more understandable if it is realised that the financial collapse of the VOC had been openly recognised since 1786, and various proposals for either reform or total change of the Company's system had been presented and discussed. These alternative proposals were well known to the members of the Commission. Their work, therefore, involved striking a balance among these proposals rather than creating a system de novo.
Broadband noise suppression for turbofan inlet applications

Broadband noise in turbofan inlets is represented in a frequency domain analysis by a statistical distribution of propagating duct modes. The required number of modes is estimated by Rice’s approxi...
Differential expression of enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) protein in small cell and aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas and differential regulation of EZH2 expression by p-ERK1/2 and MYC in aggressive B-cell lymphomas

EZH2, a member of the polycomb protein group, is an important methyltransferase that is overexpressed in various neoplasms. We found that in small cell B-cell lymphomas, EZH2 is expressed in <40% of neoplastic cells, with heterogenous signal intensity. In aggressive B-cell lymphomas, 70-100% of tumor cells were positive for EZH2 expression with high signal intensity, which correlated with a high proliferation rate. We investigated the potential signaling molecules that regulate EZH2 overexpression in aggressive B-cell lymphomas and found that 80% of cases of EZH2-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma show high p-ERK1/2 expression (average ~57% tumor cell positivity). In contrast, only a small percentage of tumor cells (~10%) show p-ERK1/2 expression in Burkitt lymphoma and double hit lymphoma. On average, 91 and 76% of neoplastic cells were positive for MYC expression in Burkitt lymphoma and double hit lymphoma, respectively, while only 20% neoplastic cells were positive for MYC expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. None of the aggressive B-cell lymphomas showed significant p-STAT3 expression in EZH2-overexpressed cases. The correlation of EZH2 expression with aggressive behavior and proliferation rate in B-cell neoplasms suggests that this molecule may function as an oncogenic protein in these neoplasms, with possible regulation by different signaling cascades in different types of aggressive B-cell lymphomas: p-ERK-related signaling in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and MYC-related signaling in Burkitt lymphoma and double hit lymphoma. Furthermore, EZH2 and associated signaling cascades may serve as therapeutic targets for the treatment of aggressive B-cell lymphomas.
The Emerging Grid

“Grid” is the term used to refer to an emerging computational and networking infrastructure that provides pervasive, uniform, and reliable access to remote data, computational, sensor, and human resources (Foster and Kesselman, 1999). The Grid enhances today’s Internet with new services in such areas as interdomain security, resource discovery, and resource allocation. By thus eliminating barriers to the use of (in particular, high-end) computational capabilities for problem solving, this infrastructure is enabling new applications in such areas as collaborative work, distributed data mining, computer-enhanced instrumentation, and distributed super-computing.
Behavioral Health Conditions: Direct Treatment Costs and Indirect Social Costs

Behavioral health conditions, including both mental health and substance use conditions, are prevalent and costly. Full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is expected to lead to both increased utilization of behavioral health care due to the reduction in financial barriers to access, and continued evolution of the patterns of care as providers respond to incentives to strengthen the healthcare efficiency and quality. These incentives highlight the importance of measuring the direct and indirect costs and benefits of alternate strategies for providing behavioral healthcare. This chapter presents published evidence of the magnitudes of these impacts, along with a discussion of strategies for assessing cost-effectiveness. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the results of studies that addressed the question of whether integrated care is a cost-effective strategy for delivering behavioral and physical healthcare.
Electron beam induced current study of minority carrier diffusion length in homoepitaxial GaN(Conference Presentation)

GaN is a promising material for a range of high power, high frequency, and high temperature device applications. The wide bandgap of GaN leads to high breakdown voltages and low switching losses. Recently, large HVPE grown GaN substrates have become available for homoepitaxial growth leading to ~103 reduction in dislocation density compared to similarly grown heteroepitaxial films. Device performance, however, is ultimately limited by the transport properties of minority carriers. Measured values for minority carrier diffusion lengths and lifetimes in GaN vary widely1-3, and a recent report suggests flaws in the commonly adopted electron beam induced current (EBIC) method in the planar-collection geometry.1 Here we report on EBIC measurements performed on ~8 micrometer thick GaN grown by MOCVD on 2 inch GaN substrates with a n-type dopant density of ~5×1016 cm-3. We determine the carrier diffusion length using both the conventional EBIC method by varying the electron beam-to-contact lateral distance as well as by varying the electron beam penetration depth and find the extracted values differ by ~10×, with the latter technique yielding the lower diffusion length. We rationalize these results in light of other materials characteristics including Raman and photoluminescence. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
I'll Guard This Printer With My Life: Colorado College's Journey to Managed Print

In this paper, I describe our process of switching over to Managed Print at Colorado College including the results and lessons learned along the way. I also describe our PaperCut initiative and how that has gone.
E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Der Goldne Topf: Its Romantic Myth

(1959). E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Der Goldne Topf: Its Romantic Myth. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 262-275.
High performance paper-based microbial fuel cells using nanostructured polymers

In this work, we report paper-based microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that produce high power and current densities from one drop of bacteria-containing liquid. The devices feature (i) a simple and versatile fabrication technique by using paper as a substrate and (ii) an exceptional performance by incorporating novel nanostructured polymers, PAA-Poly (amic) acid) and PPDD-Poly(pyromellitic dianhydride-p-phenylene diamine), into the paper substrate. Four 3-D MFC configurations were designed by using different numbers of 2-D sheets of paper layers. Each device integrated four functional compartments (i.e. anode, reservoir, proton exchange membrane, and air-cathode) into one, two, three or four paper layers, respectively. The nanostructured polymers were engineered as a proton exchange membrane to enhance ion traveling efficiency or an oxygen mitigating layer to prevent diverting electrons away from the anode. Among the four MFC devices with different numbers of layers, two-layer paper-based MFC generated the highest current density of 47|UA/cm2 and power density of 4|UW/cm2, both of which are substantially greater than achieved by previous paper-based MFCs and even comparable to that of conventional micro-sale counterparts.
Synthetic Approach To Determine the Effect of Nuclear Spin Distance on Electronic Spin Decoherence.

Nuclear–electronic interactions are a fundamental phenomenon which impacts fields from magnetic resonance imaging to quantum information processing (QIP). The realization of QIP would transform diverse areas of research including accurate simulation of quantum dynamics and cryptography. One promising candidate for the smallest unit of QIP, a qubit, is electronic spin. Electronic spins in molecules offer significant advantages with regard to QIP, and for the emerging field of quantum sensing. Yet relative to other qubit candidates, they possess shorter superposition lifetimes, known as coherence times or T2, due to interactions with nuclear spins in the local environment. Designing complexes with sufficiently long values of T2 requires an understanding of precisely how the position of nuclear spins relative to the electronic spin center affects decoherence. Herein, we report the first synthetic study of the relationship between nuclear spin–electron spin distance and decoherence. Through the synthesis of f...
Western bluebird parents preferentially feed hungrier nestlings in a design that balances location in the nest

Parents may feed nestlings based on positional cues resulting from sibling competition for favored positions at the front of a nest cavity, or they may assess begging intensity regardless of location within the nest. We independently manipulated proximity to the nest entrance and hunger level to determine whether western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) parents favor hungrier nestlings or instead feed nestlings closest to the nest entrance. We used a balanced design to vary hungry and fed nestlings between the back and front of the nest box. We deprived half of the nestlings in each brood of food for an hour, and then, each nestling was constrained using Plexiglas dividers to a quadrant in the nest box. We videotaped inside the box to assess begging intensity and food delivery to individual nestlings. Hungry nestlings begged more intensely and received more food than fed nestlings, regardless of their proximity to the nest entrance. However, when delivering the first feed to nestlings, parents favored front nestlings over hungry nestlings, possibly due to a bias resulting from the manipulation, which involved replacing and rearranging nestlings after a 1-h period. Overall, parents did not favor nestlings in the front of the nest over those in the back. Parents therefore are able to distinguish hungrier nestlings and preferentially feed them under favorable environmental conditions, when brood reduction is uncommon. When parents choose which offspring to feed, they may assess begging signals, which can include movements and vocalizations that vary in intensity. Alternatively, cavity-nesting species may use simple rules such as favoring offspring that have pushed to the front of the nest. We conducted an experiment to determine whether western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) parents would preferentially feed hungry nestlings over fed nestlings when Plexiglas dividers prevented competition and equalized the frequency with which hungry and fed nestlings were in the front versus back of the nest. After depriving half of each brood of food for an hour, we measured begging intensity and food delivery. Parents preferentially fed hungrier nestlings, which begged more intensely, regardless of their position in the nest, indicating that parents are able to distinguish between hungry and fed nestlings.
The Howieson's Poort fauna from Sibudu Cave: Documenting continuity and change within Middle Stone Age industries

Abstract The Howieson's Poort (HP; ∼65–59 ka) continues to be a source of interest to scholars studying human behavioral evolution during the Late Pleistocene. This is in large part because the HP preserves evidence for a suite of innovative technologies and behaviors (including geometric backed tools and engraved ostrich eggshell), but also because the disappearance of the innovative behaviors associated with this phase is not well understood. Here, I present taphonomic and taxonomic data on the full sample of macromammal remains excavated from the HP deposits at Sibudu Cave under the direction of Lyn Wadley. With a total number of identified specimens (NISP) of 5921, Sibudu provides the largest sample of HP fauna published to date. Taken as a whole, the data suggest a focus on a diverse range of prey. Ungulates dominate the assemblage, as do taxa that preferentially inhabit closed (particularly forested) environments. Small bovids are common throughout; blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) alone comprises ∼33% of the total NISP. A diverse smaller game assemblage is also present. Taphonomic data implicate humans as the primary contributor to the fauna; however, low levels of gastric etching (∼1% of the NISP) suggest that non-human agents may have played some role in the accumulation of the smaller game. Despite broad similarities in the fauna, a number of directional trends are evidenced. Most notably, the lowermost deposits of the HP contain the highest frequency of blue duiker and other small ungulates, taxa which prefer closed environments, and miscellaneous smaller game. All of these decline throughout the HP, and these differences are statistically significant. After considering possible explanations for these trends, I discuss the potential implications of the variation evidenced in the assemblage to our understanding of the onset—and disappearance—of this important substage of the MSA.
Role of Local Carbon Structure Surrounding FeN4 Sites in Boosting the Catalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction

Development of effective nonprecious metal and nitrogen codoped carbon catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) requires a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms underlying their catalytic activity. In this study, we employed the first-principles density functional theory calculations to predict some key parameters (such as activation energy for O–O bond breaking and free-energy evolution as a function of electrode potential) of ORR on three FeN4-type active sites with different local carbon structures. We find that the FeN4 site surrounded by eight carbon atoms and at the edge of micropores has the lowest activation energy (about 0.20 eV) for O–O bond breaking among the three FeN4-type active sites for promoting a direct four-electron ORR. Consequently, our computational results suggest that introduction of micropores in the nonprecious metal catalysts could enhance their catalytic activity for ORR through facilitating the formation of FeN4–C8 active sites with high specific activity.
Minimally Invasive Total Knee Arthroplasty with Image-Free Navigation

Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) is beginning to emerge as one of the most important technologies in orthopedic surgery. Many of the initial applications of this technology have focused on adult reconstructive surgery of the knee. The value of CAS in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been established in many studies. Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques for performing TKA are also receiving extensive and intensive attention. The goals of this chapter are to (1) present the rationale for the use of image-free CAS in knee surgery, (2) explain the rationale for combining CAS with MIS techniques, (3) describe the basic components of an image-free navigation system, (4) illustrate a typical CAS MIS technique, and (5) present the initial results using this technique.
Size estimation of complexes consisting of hairpin DNAs bound to an assembler-strand

In connection with a model of a primitive translation based entirely on nucleic acids the structural requirements and interactions of small nucleic acids were studied. As shown previously hairpins bind to a complementary single-strand by base pairs of their loop nucleotides if the loop contains at least five nucleotides (Baumann et al 1987). Here, the question is approached to which degree a single-strand, the assembler-strand, is occupied with hairpin molecules. A gapless occupation would allow the close proximity necessary for the assumed peptide bond formation by hairpins bearing an amino acid at their 3'-end. Oligo(dC)(sub n), n = 12, 15, 18, and the investigated hairpins form complexes which are detectable under nondenaturing electrophoretic conditions. The size range is estimated to be 3-4 hairpin molecules to one assembler molecule when oligo(dC)(sub n), n = 15, 18, is used. Due to the limitation of the method, dependence of the migration velocity on the shape which is unique and thus limits the use of marker nucleic acids, and due to the uncertainty if the ends of the assembler form base pairs, a gapless occupation of the assembler is conceivable but not proven.
Characterization of Inner and Outer Membrane Proteins from Francisella tularensis Strains LVS and Schu S4 and Identification of Potential Subunit Vaccine Candidates.

Francisella tularensis is the causative agent of tularemia and a potential bioterrorism agent. In the present study, we isolated, identified, and quantified the proteins present in the membranes of the virulent type A strain, Schu S4, and the attenuated type B strain, LVS (live vaccine strain). Spectral counting of mass spectrometric data showed enrichment for membrane proteins in both strains. Mice vaccinated with whole LVS membranes encapsulated in poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles containing the adjuvant polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [poly(I·C)] showed significant protection against a challenge with LVS compared to the results seen with naive mice or mice vaccinated with either membranes or poly(I·C) alone. The PLGA-encapsulated Schu S4 membranes with poly(I·C) alone did not significantly protect mice from a lethal intraperitoneal challenge with Schu S4; however, this vaccination strategy provided protection from LVS challenge. Mice that received the encapsulated Schu S4 membranes followed by a booster of LVS bacteria showed significant protection with respect to a lethal Schu S4 challenge compared to control mice. Western blot analyses of the sera from the Schu S4-vaccinated mice that received an LVS booster showed four immunoreactive bands. One of these bands from the corresponding one-dimensional (1D) SDS-PAGE experiment represented capsule. The remaining bands were excised, digested with trypsin, and analyzed using mass spectrometry. The most abundant proteins present in these immunoreactive samples were an outer membrane OmpA-like protein, FopA; the type IV pilus fiber building block protein; a hypothetical membrane protein; and lipoproteins LpnA and Lpp3. These proteins should serve as potential targets for future recombinant protein vaccination studies.IMPORTANCE The low infectious dose, the high potential mortality/morbidity rates, and the ability to be disseminated as an aerosol make Francisella tularensis a potential agent for bioterrorism. These characteristics led the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to classify F. tularensis as a Tier 1 pathogen. Currently, there is no vaccine approved for general use in the United States.
A SIW based leaky-wave antenna for 5 GHz narrowbeam applications

A substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) based leaky wave antenna (LWA) with narrow beamwidth, low side lobe levels and high directivity is proposed. The desired radiation characteristics are attained by periodic arrangement of a group of slots whose lengths follow the binomial distribution. Without the need for any complex feeding structure, the antenna exhibits a beamwidth of 11.3° and sidelobe level (SLL) < −10 dB at 5.6 GHz. Designed on an Rogers Duroid 5880 substrate, the antenna's size is 250×45 mm2. Achieving a good match between simulated and measured results, the proposed antenna can be used in applications requiring narrowbeam patterns in the 5 GHz band.
The steady motion of a closely fitting vesicle in a tube

A singular perturbation theory is developed for the steady, inertialess motion of a lipid-bilayer vesicle flowing through a narrow tube. The vesicle is treated as a sac of fluid enclosed by an inextensible membrane that admits a bending stiffness. Matched asymptotic expansions are developed in terms of a clearance parameter in order to calculate the flow field and vesicle shape. Mild restrictions are applied to the ratio of viscosities and the ratio of bending stresses to viscous stresses ; in particular, the theory holds for and . The ratio of the vesicle length to the tube radius is included as a parameter and asymptotic solutions in the limit of negligible bending stiffness are developed for long, cylindrical vesicles and short, spherical vesicles. The main result of the theory is a prediction for the vesicle speed and extra pressure drop due to the presence of the vesicle in the tube. The effects of confinement, vesicle length, and membrane bending elasticity are examined. The theoretical predictions show good agreement with experimental measurements reported for vesicles and red blood cells in highly confined channel flow. Previously reported models for red blood cells (Secomb et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 163, 1986, pp. 405–423; Halpern & Secomb, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 203, 1989, pp. 381–400) are clarified and extended in light of the new theory.
Health risks among discordant heterosexual high school students

ABSTRACTLimited information exists on heterosexual youth with sexual contact with same-sex partners in the United States (i.e., discordant heterosexual). We compared the prevalence of health risks between discordant heterosexual, heterosexual with only opposite-sex sexual contact, lesbian/gay, and bisexual students using the 2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Nationwide, 3.2% of students were identified as discordant heterosexuals. The prevalence of several risk behaviors was significantly higher among discordant heterosexual students than their heterosexual peers with only opposite-sex sexual contact. Clinicians should consider sexual identity and sex of sexual partners when conducting risk-assessments to ensure they appropriately target populations for intervention.
Membrane Fluidity and the Activity of Bovine Brain Phospholipid Exchange Protein

The major phospholipid exchange protein from bovine brain catalyzes the transfer of phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) and, to a lesser extent, phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) into and out of a variety of membrane surfaces, including rat liver mitochondria and microsomes, phospholipid bilayer liposomes, and phospholipid monolayers (Harvey et al., 1973; Helmkamp et al., 1974; Demel et al., 1977). The exchange protein is isolated from the cytosol fraction of cerebral cortex, can be purified to homogeneity, and has a molecular weight of 29,000. Previous experiments dem onstrated that the rate of phospholipid transfer was sensitive to both the concentration and the composition of the participating membranes. Systematic changes in the concentration of microsomes (donor membrane) and sonicated liposomes (acceptor membrane) and the isolation of a stoichiometric phospholipid-protein complex yielded results which were consistent with a ping-pong kinetic mechanism for the protein incatalyze, intermaembrane movement of phospholipid molecules (Helmkamp et al., 1976).
Mining Data Streams

Knowledge discovery from infinite data streams is an important and difficult task. We are facing two challenges, the overwhelming volume and the concept drifts of the streaming data. In this chapter, we introduce a general framework for mining concept-drifting data streams using weighted ensemble classifiers. We train an ensemble of classification models, such as C4.5, RIPPER, naive Bayesian, etc., from sequential chunks of the data stream. The classifiers in the ensemble are judiciously weighted based on their expected classification accuracy on the test data under the time-evolving environment. Thus, the ensemble approach improves both the efficiency in learning the model and the accuracy in performing classification. Our empirical study shows that the proposed methods have substantial advantage over single-classifier approaches in prediction accuracy, and the ensemble framework is effective for a variety of classification models.
PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN NATURAL KILLER AND ANTIBODY-DEPENDENT KILLER CELLS AS AN HOMOGENEOUS AND DISCRETE CELL SUBSET

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on phenotypic characterization of human natural killer (NK) and antibody-dependent killer (K) cells as a homogeneous and discrete cell subset. NK cells have been identified until now along with null lymphocytes (non-B, non-T) characterized by the presence of surface receptors for the Fc fragment of IgG (IgG-FcR) and, on a proportion of them, of receptors for sheep erythrocytes. The NK cell can be morphologically identified as a large granular lymphocyte (LGL). Antibody-dependent killer cells bear the same surface receptors and have the same morphology as NK cells. In this study, a panel of monoclonal antibodies was used to examine the antigenic characteristics of NK and K cells. The reactivity of monoclonal antibodies with NK and K cells was analyzed using three methods. The results suggest that eighty to ninety percent of the cytotoxic effector cells express the antigen recognized by either OKT11A or OKM1/B43.4, and the majority of them express both antigens. The lack of one of the two antigens in some cytotoxic cells is more likely because of a quantitative heterogeneity in the distribution of the markers in a single subpopulation, than to the existence of NK cell subsets.
Overcoming Vocabulary Limitations in Twitter Microblogs

Abstract : One major di culty in performing ad-hoc search on microblogs such as Twitter is the limited vocabulary of each document due their short length. In this paper, two approaches to addressing this issue are presented. The rst is query expansion through pseudo-relevance feedback and the other is document expansion of tweets using web documents linked from the body of the tweet. Tweets are expanded by concatenating the contents of the title tag and the meta descriptor tags of the document to the tweet itself. These two approaches gave additive gains in MAP and Precision at 30.
Does Inducing Students to Schedule Lecture Watching in Online Classes Improve Their Academic Performance? An Experimental Analysis of a Time Management Intervention.

Time management skills are an essential component of college student success, especially in online classes. Through a randomized control trial of students in a for-credit online course at a public 4-year university, we test the efficacy of a scheduling intervention aimed at improving students’ time management. Results indicate the intervention had positive effects on initial achievement scores; students who were given the opportunity to schedule their lecture watching in advance scored about a third of a standard deviation better on the first quiz than students who were not given that opportunity. These effects are concentrated in students with the lowest self-reported time management skills. However, these effects diminish over time such that we see a marginally significant negative effect of treatment on the last week’s quiz grade and no difference in overall course scores. We examine the effect of the intervention on plausible mechanisms to explain the observed achievement effects. We find no evidence that the intervention affected cramming, procrastination, or the time at which students did work.