cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abatement of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions from a swine lagoon using a polymer biocover.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to determine the efficiency of a polymer biocover for the abatement of H2S and NH3 emissions from an east-central Missouri swine lagoon with a total surface area of 7800 m2. The flux rate of NH3, H2S, and CH4 was monitored continuously from two adjacent, circular (d = 66 m) control and treatment plots using a nonintrusive, micrometeorological method during three independent sampling periods that ranged between 52 and 149 hr. Abatement rates were observed to undergo a temporal acclimation event in which NH3 abatement efficiency improved from 17 to 54% (p = <0.0001 to 0.0005) and H2S abatement efficiency improved from 23 to 58% (p < 0.0001) over a 3-month period. The increase in abatement efficiency for NH3 and H2S over the sampling period was correlated with the development of a stable anaerobic floc layer on the bottom surface of the biocover that reduced mass transfer of NH3 and H2S across the surface. Analysis of methanogenesis activity showed that the biocover ...
Female preference for male lateral projection area in Poecilia reticulata

The lateral projection area (LPA) hypothesis was investigated by presenting female guppies, Poecilia reticulata with a series of paired males in three experiments. One trait was held constant in each experiment (dorsal fin size in expt I, body size in expt II, and total LPA in expt III) while body: dorsal fin ratio varied. Females spent more time near dummies of greater body and dorsal fin size in experiments I and II. The preference functions based on the first two sets of stimuli showed a similar pattern: the greater the LPA difference between paired dummies, the stronger the preference for the larger of the two. However, in the third experiment, neither fin size, body size, nor any particular dorsal fin + body size combination was preferred. These findings support the LPA hypothesis suggesting that increased LPA is more stimulating to sexually receptive females, and that females consequently prefer larger males. Preference for increased male dorsal fin size/LPA in both P. latipinna and P. mexicana as demonstrated in previous studies, and the more distantly related P. reticulata (shown here) is consistent with common ancestry of the sensory/neural systems in females of all three species and perhaps the entire Poeciliid family.
The recombinational analysis of aberrations and the position of the Notch locus on the polytene chromosome of Drosophila

The recombinational analysis of heterozygotes for a point-mutant N and a deficiency N suggests that the map region approximated by the interval fa to nd2 is at the right edge of salivary band 3C7 or in the interband to the right. The map region N55ell to fa can be anywhere between the left interband and the right edge of 3C7. We discovered that small inversions also can be used in the recombinational analysis, and the inversion data support the conclusions already described.
Early growth, leaf development, and dry-weight production of sycamore rooted cuttings

Abstract Rooted cuttings of four American sycamore clones ( Platanus accidentalis L.) were used to investigate early tree growth, leaf development, and dry-weight production for a short-rotation plantation in east-central Mississippi. Monthly increments in height and diameter growth were measured during the second (1990) and third (1991) growing seasons in the field. Peak rates of monthly growth for height were 49 cm in 1990 and 73 cm in 1991, while peak monthly diameter growth rates were 6.1 mm in 1990 and 5.9 mm in 1991. Monthly changes in number and length of branches, number of leaves per tree, and leaf area per tree were taken during 1990. Leaf expansion rates of the leaves on primary branches were determined in 1991. Peak monthly branch growth occurred early in the growing season (June) and was 10.5 m tree −1 . Numbers of leaves per tree continuously declined from 588 in May to 257 in November. Early leaves were smaller than leaves at later measurements, however, so that leaf area reached a maximum of 15 m 2 tree −1 in August. Leaf expansion rate peaked at 7.5 cm 2 branch −1 day −1 in May, and declined to almost zero after August. Monthly height and diameter increments were linearly correlated with number of leaves per meter of tree height ( r = 0.64 for height and 0.83 for diameter) and with leaf area per meter of tree height ( r = 0.56 and 0.64). Neither clonal differences nor month-by-clone interactions were detected for average monthly height and diameter growth in 1990 and 1991. Numbers and yearly growth increments of branches per tree were also not different among clones, but significant month-by-clone interactions were related to one clone's rapid branch growth early in the growing season. This clone also produced more leaves and larger leaf area per tree than the other three clones during that period. Dry weight of the three-year-old trees averaged 15.9 kg tree −1 , which included stem, roots, and branches. The stem-plus-branch dry weight was 9.4 kg tree −1 . Because the plantation was planted at a 1.2 × 3.7 m spacing and had 94% survival, the stem-plus-branch dry weight represented 20.4 Mg ha −1 at age three (3.0 dry tons ac −1 yr −1 ). Significant clonal differences were found only for branch dry weight per tree. Branchy clones may be best for maximum dry-weight production in short-rotation sycamore plantations.
A Novel Approach to Study Adhesion Mechanisms by Isolation of the Interacting System

For decades most investigations into mechanisms of adhesive interactions have examined whole organisms or single cells. Results using whole organisms are often unclear because it may not be known if a probe used in an experiment is directly affecting the cellular interaction under study or if it is an indirect effect resulting from action on some other structure or pathway. Here we develop a novel approach to isolate the structural components of a cellular interaction by dissecting them out of the organism to study them in a pristine environment away from all confounding factors. We used the adhesion between the archenteron and blastocoel roof of the sea urchin gastrula stage embryo as a model that can be replicated in many other developmental and pathological systems. The isolated components of the cellular interaction and those in the whole organism possessed identical cell surface receptors and adhesive affinities.
Fermi level depinning for the design of III–V FET source/drain contacts

High mobility III–V compounds is a strong contender for extending high performance logic beyond the 22 nm technology node [1–3]. However, demonstrations of exceptional III–V performance required device footprints on the µm-scale despite nm-scale gate lengths, in order to avoid source/drain shorting during contact alloying. The scaling of III–V FETs is severely limited by the unacceptably large lateral diffusion of the multilayer alloyed structures typically used for ohmic contacts [4]. In our recent work, we introduced a novel non-alloyed, highly scalable contact structure through the use of Al as a low workfunction metal on an unpinned Fermi level [5]. We use GaAs as a baseline III–V material, where the developed contact techniques can be extended to InGaAs and InSb, materials which are more technologically important [6]. In this work, we explain in detail the unpinning mechanisms and the rationale for the material selection. We demonstrate the same method can be applied to a variety of metals, Y, Er, Al, Ti, W, and Pt, providing much flexibility in the design of an ideal source/drain contact for III–V HEMTs/MOSFETs and Schottky Barrier FETs.
Mobile agents and energy-efficient multidatabase design

Multidatabase systems are widely used to integrate distributed heterogeneous data sources. To support mobile data access, existing multidatabases must address the obstacles in mobile computing such as low bandwidth, intermittent network connections, and resource constraints of mobile devices. The execution autonomy of mobile agents alleviates these problems and provides opportunity for conserving energy. We proposed and implemented a novel multidatabase information retrieval system, MAMDAS, which represents an application of Mobile Agents within the Mobile Data Access System framework. In this paper, we propose several MAMDAS optimization techniques to improve its performance and study the effect of mobile agents on energy saving through extensive simulation. Our experimental results show that by deploying appropriate power management policies, the mobile device energy saving can achieve as high as 51%. The high performance, energy efficiency, scalability, and robustness of MAMDAS allow us to envision its application in a variety of fields such as military operations, emergency teams, and mobile e-business.
Hotel Bankruptcies Here Again——But with New Rules

The precipitous concurrent drop in real estate values and hotel revenues has raised the specter of bankruptcy for owners and lenders alike. Changes in the bankruptcy code (enacted after the last wave of hotel bankruptcies) have remodeled the landscape for those who are considering bankruptcy protection, particularly under Chapter 11 of the U.S. code. This article presents considerations for both lenders and owners, beginning with the realization that declaring bankruptcy under this chapter ironically requires considerable financial resources and will require substantial assistance from counsel. Owners may benefit from the fact that most hotels are complex enough that they do not qualify as single asset real estate. To the lenders' benefit, owner-debtors may not spend room revenues collected after a bankruptcy filing (without permission), since they are considered to be cash collateral. Perhaps of greatest interest to debtor-owners, their lenders, and management companies, the code permits debtor-owners to...
Energy efficient Modulation and MAC for Asymmetric RF Microsensor Systems

Wireless microsensor systems are used in a variety of civil and military applications. Such microsensors are required to operate for years from a small energy source. To minimize the energy dissipation of the sensor node, RF front-end circuitry must be designed based on system level optimization of the entire network. This paper presents several energy minimization techniques derived from the unique properties of a practical short range asymmetric microsensor system. These include energy efficient modulation schemes, appropriate multiple access protocols, and a fast turn-on transmitter architecture.
Role of Oxidative Stress in Development of Complications in Diabetes

N epsilon-(carboxymethyl)lysine, N epsilon-(carboxymethyl)hydroxylysine, and the fluorescent cross-link pentosidine are formed by sequential glycation and oxidation reactions between reducing sugars and proteins. These compounds, termed glycoxidation products, accumulate in tissue collagen with age and at an accelerated rate in diabetes. Although glycoxidation products are present in only trace concentrations, even in diabetic collagen, studies on glycation and oxidation of model proteins in vitro suggest that these products are biomarkers of more extensive underlying glycative and oxidative damage to the protein. Possible sources of oxidative stress and damage to proteins in diabetes include free radicals generated by autoxidation reactions of sugars and sugar adducts to protein and by autoxidation of unsaturated lipids in plasma and membrane proteins. The oxidative stress may be amplified by a continuing cycle of metabolic stress, tissue damage, and cell death, leading to increased free radical production and compromised free radical inhibitory and scavenger systems, which further exacerbate the oxidative stress. Structural characterization of the cross-links and other products accumulating in collagen in diabetes is needed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between oxidative stress and the development of complications in diabetes. Such studies may lead to therapeutic approaches for limiting the damage from glycation and oxidation reactions and for complementing existing therapy for treatment of the complications of diabetes.
Investigation of fatigue crack closure using multiscale image correlation experiments

Abstract Two full-field macroscale methods are introduced for estimating fatigue crack opening levels based on digital image correlation (DIC) displacement measurements near the crack tip. Crack opening levels from these two full-field methods are compared to results from a third (microscale) method that directly measures opening of the crack flanks immediately behind the crack tip using two-point DIC displacement gages. Of the two full-field methods, the first one measures effective stress intensity factors through the displacement field (over a wide region behind and ahead of the crack tip). This method reveals crack opening levels comparable to the limiting values (crack opening levels far from the crack tip) from the third method (microscale). The second full-field method involves a compliance offset measurement based on displacements obtained near the crack tip. This method delivers results comparable to crack tip opening levels from the microscale two-point method. The results of these experiments point to a normalized crack tip opening level of 0.35 for R ∼ 0 loading in grade 2 titanium. This opening level was found at low and intermediate Δ K levels. It is shown that the second full-field macroscale method indicates crack opening levels comparable to surface crack tip opening levels (corresponding to unzipping of the entire crack). This indicates that effective stress intensity factors determined from full-field displacements could be used to predict crack opening levels.
Utilitarianism, Vegetarianism, and Human Health: A Response to the Causal Impotence Objection

abstract It is generally assumed that the link between utilitarianism and vegetarianism is relatively straightforward. However, a familiar objection to utility-based vegetarianism maintains that, given the massive scale of animal agribusiness, any given person is causally impotent in reducing the overall number of animals raised for food and, thus, in reducing the unfathomably high quantity of disutility engendered thereby. Utilitarians have frequently responded to this objection in two ways: first, by appealing to expected utility and economic thresholds, and, secondly, by appealing to publicity effects. In this paper, I will offer some reasons for thinking that, however far these responses go in the direction of ethical vegetarianism, both leave an important normative gap between the dietary prescription they are capable of underwriting and a ‘minimally-genuine’ vegetarian obligation. What is needed to close this gap is a utility-based reason that (1) generates an ethical prescription for minimally-genuine vegetarianism and (2) circumvents the causal impotence objection. As I see it, there is a straightforward and auspicious reason that can perform both of the required tasks — namely, an appeal to the well-documented welfare-reducing effects of eating animal products upon human health. For, if causal impotence is to work as a global objection to utility-based vegetarianism (rather than as a more local objection to certain reasons supporting that position), then it must operate as a general thesis about the incapacity for any given individual to bring about more utility solely through her own abstention from consuming animal products. However, for almost any given individual, the decision to maintain a vegetarian diet is causally potent in at least diminishing the expected disutility for herself of poorer health and a shorter life span associated with the consumption of animal products. Thus, it follows that (1) there are plausible, if not conclusive, utilitarian grounds for minimally-genuine vegetarianism and (2) the causal impotence objection fails as a general criticism of utility-based vegetarianism.
Cell biology of cytotoxic and helper T cell functions: immunofluorescence microscopic studies of single cells and cell couples.

This review deals with certain important features of the cell biology of natural killer (NK) cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), and helper T (Th) cells. These features appeared originally in studies of the cell biology of cells other than immunological cells, and their relevance to immune cell interactions was then appreciated and explored. This brief review is therefore meant to be selective rather than exhaustive, and it focuses primarily on problems that have been intensively studied in our laboratory over the past decade. At the outset, it should be emphasized that we concentrate on investigations of single (generally cloned) T cells and cell couples, rather than of cell populations. Recent reviews have appeared that deal with other aspects of the cell biology of T cells and their interactions (1-7). The entree to this work stemmed from our investigations of eukaryotic cell motility; these have been separately reviewed (8). These studies are considered briefly first, since they not only introduce the ideas that have played a prominent part in our immunological work, but they also demon-
Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Regulation in Female Genital Tract Structures

Introduction Female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) is a major component of female sexual dysfunctions, affecting 25–70% of women. The mechanisms of FSAD are poorly understood. Estrogen contributes to the control of genital blood flow during the sexual response. Vascular effects of estrogen are mostly attributed to its regulation of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) production. However, the role of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and the mechanisms that regulate eNOS in female genital tract structures are largely unknown.
A graphical display system for animating mapped cardiac potentials

A graphical display system for animating mapped cardiac potentials is described. The system displays recorded voltages from 121 epicardial electrodes simultaneously on a computer monitor using color to indicate the magnitude of the voltage. Numerous options accessible through the mouse-driven user interface provide the user with a high degree of interaction with the data. The user can observe the changes in the recorded voltages over time by defining a portion of the data over which to animate the voltages. Animation speeds of up to 2 1/4 frames per second can be achieved, depending on the workstation used. Use of the graphical display system provides a new tool for studying the electrical conduction properties of the heart. Through its use, a more complete understanding (and potentially a more effective treatment) of arrhythmias might be achieved. >
A Stochastic Geometry Approach to Analyzing Cellular Networks with Semi-Static Clustering

Static base-station clustering allows clustered transmitters to jointly serve a group of users and thus eliminate the intra-cluster interference. The network performance is then bottlenecked by the cluster-edge users. Semi-static clustering can help improve the performance along the cluster edges by time-sharing between different clustering patterns. We propose a simple clustering and user scheduling algorithm to gauge the performance gain of semi-static clustering. Under a stochastic geometry framework, we derive analytical expressions for the coverage and rate of a user at a given location. As the cluster size goes to infinity, we show that the outage probability of semi-static clustering decays at the same order as that of static clustering. Thus, in the asymptotic regime, the performance gain provided by semi- static clustering can be characterized by a linear factor. Numerical results demonstrate the gain of semi-static clustering in the non-asymptotic regime.
Lignin-Based Bio-Oil Mimic as Biobased Resin for Composite Applications

Lignin is an abundant renewable raw material that has the potential to yield valuable bio-oils consisting of aromatic chemicals when strategically depolymerized. In order to determine if lignin-based bio-oils can be utilized in the development of biobased vinyl ester resins without the need of extensive and costly separations, a methacrylated lignin-based bio-oil mimic (MBO) was generated and utilized as a low viscosity vinyl ester resin (30.3 cP at 25 °C) and as a reactive diluent in a standard commercial vinyl ester resin. MBO was comprised of phenol, guaiacols, and catechols that were methacrylated by esterification with methacrylic anhydride and a catalytic amount of 4-dimethylaminopyridine. Curing the resin produced hard transparent thermosets that possessed near complete conversion of free radical polymerizable groups as per near-infrared spectroscopy. Temperatures of maximum decomposition rate (≥400 °C) and initial decomposition temperatures (≥300 °C) were measured by means of thermo-gravimetric an...
Risk factors for brachial plexus injury in a large cohort with shoulder dystocia.

To examine birthweight and other predictors of brachial plexus injury (BPI) among births complicated by shoulder dystocia. A retrospective cohort study of term births complicated by shoulder dystocia in California between 1997 and 2006. Birthweight at time of delivery was stratified into 500-g intervals. Women were further stratified by diabetes status, parity, and race/ethnicity. The perinatal outcome of BPI was assessed. This study included 62,762 deliveries complicated by shoulder dystocia, of which 3168 (5 %) resulted in BPI. The association between birthweight and BPI remained significant regardless of confounders. Each increasing birthweight interval was associated with an increasing risk of BPI compared with 3000–3499-g birthweight. Race/ethnicity, diabetes, and parity were also independently associated with BPI. Increasing birthweight increases the risk of BPI among births with shoulder dystocia, independent of advanced maternal age, race, parity, gestational diabetes, or operative vaginal delivery.
Forest Carbon Uptake and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.

Using the fundamental theorem of calculus and numerical integration, we investigate carbon absorption of ecosystems with measurements from a global database. The results illustrate the dynamic natu...
Variables influencing psychosocial adjustment in lung cancer: a preliminary study.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To explore the relationships of daily hassles, demands of illness, and social support to the psychosocial adjustment of people with newly diagnosed, primary lung cancer. DESIGN Descriptive correlational. SETTING A regional oncology center located in a large teaching hospital. SAMPLE 56 patients (62% male, 84% white, mean of 60 years old). METHODS After being contacted by phone and assigned a functional status score, subjects completed and mailed four study tools: Hassles Scale, Demands of Illness Inventory, Personal Resource Questionnaire, and Patient Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self Report. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Daily hassles, demands of illness, social support, and psychosocial adjustment. FINDINGS Demands of illness were predictive of psychosocial adjustment in the expected direction (i.e., higher scores were associated with decreased adjustment). Race also was a predictor. In general, participants reported relatively high social support, low hassles, moderately low demands of illness, and positive adjustment. CONCLUSIONS Demands of illness were predictive of psychosocial adjustment in patients newly diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE Demands of illness should be monitored at the time of diagnosis and periodically throughout the course of the disease. Interventions directed at specific types of demands can facilitate patient adjustment.
Link Prediction via Multi-hashing Framework

Link prediction is crucial in various real world applications such as social network analysis and recommendation systems. For example, in social networks, where social actors and their ties (friendship or collaboration) are represented as nodes and links, link prediction can help anticipate future social tie formation. This problem has generally been tackled through computing a “similarity” – measured through graph topological structure or various node attributes and relationships among them (e.g. researcher’s affiliation or research interest). However, when considering multiple relationships, existing link prediction methods often ignored that similarities across different relationships may be “non-transitive”, i.e., they are not necessarily consistent with each other. Here, we develop a semi-supervised link prediction method via a Multi-Component Hashing framework. We derive multiple hashing tables for nodes in a network with each hash table corresponding to a particular type of non-transitive similarity aspect such as prior collaboration experience or topical interest. New links are predicted based on whether nodes are closer in the hashing tables. Results on three co-authorship networks show that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art unsupervised and supervised methods. The results also show the superiority of our method in cold-start link prediction setting, where no or little knowledge about the nodes’ network positions is given in the training phase.
Dissenting opinions: the great hoax

Whether as questions or comments following a presentation on climate change or in the course of casual conversation, I am often confronted by strongly held views on the subject. The tone is typically collegial and open to dialog, but it can get tense, if not hostile. In the United States, the issue is ideologically polarized, and it doesn't take much for discussions to become emotional. I've had enough of these interactions to prompt me to wonder, given the knowledge base on warming and climate change: What differentiates those who summarily dismiss the issue from those who believe it merits serious attention? The political-corporate axis Early in the history of concerns for global warming, influential elements of the U.S. business community viewed the issue as a threat and were determined to suppress it by whatever means, including the use of political leverage. Establishment of the IPCC in 1988 was followed almost immediately by formation of the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), an industrial consortium of major GHG emitters seeking to question the science of climate change by supporting organizations such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) to act as attack dogs. Numerous lobbying and public relations efforts were launched to cast doubt on evidence supporting global warming, even when engineers and scientists within the participating companies were affirming the contribution of GHG emissions to warming. Although the GCC disbanded in 2002, vestiges continued to challenge the authenticity of climate change. Casting doubt was the operative strategy, however specious the arguments, and became a tour de force for challenging the science of climate change in the U.S. Congress. As described in Section 8.6, the strategy has been successfully used to kill legislative measures to curb GHG emissions. In the Senate, opposition has been led by James Inhofe of Oklahoma, an influential member of the Environment and Public Works Committee who views global warming as a hoax, perpetuated by alarmists (Carey, 2006a).
Design rules for interfacial thermal conductance: Building better bridges

We study the thermal conductance across solid-solid interfaces as the composition of an intermediate matching layer is varied. In the absence of phonon-phonon interactions, an added layer can make the interfacial conductance increase or decrease depending on the interplay between (1) an increase in phonon transmission due to better bridging between the contacts and (2) a decrease in the number of available conduction channels that must conserve their momenta transverse to the interface. When phonon-phonon interactions are included, the added layer is seen to aid conductance when the decrease in resistances at the contact-layer boundaries compensate for the additional layer resistance. For the particular systems explored in this work, the maximum conductance happens when the layer mass is close to the geometric mean of the contact masses. The surprising result, usually associated with coherent antireflection coatings, follows from a monotonic increase in the boundary resistance with the interface mass ratio. This geometric mean condition readily extends to a compositionally graded interfacial layer with an exponentially varying mass that generates the thermal equivalent of a broadband impedance matching network.
Where Are the Stroke Markers

Stroke is a leading cause of preventable death and is a major cause of productivity impairment. On average, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds in the US, and someone will die of a stroke every 4 minutes. In 2016, it is estimated that in the US alone, 795000 people will suffer a new or recurrent stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic). Of these, 610000 of these will be first events, and 185000 recurrent (1). Biomarkers are tests providing insight as to a physiologic state, either of the entire patient (e.g., cholesterol), or to a specific system (e.g., cardiac troponin). Usually monitored by blood testing, biomarkers provide rapid, noninvasive, relatively inexpensive, and objective measures of the presence of disease. Alternatively, in certain settings (e.g., the acute care environment), their greatest utility may be in confirming the absence of disease. Why would we need a stroke biomarker? We have excellent radiographic imaging-based diagnostics that can deliver fantastic, real-time, 3-dimensional images. And now, with the advent of the mobile computed tomography (CT), images can be obtained before the patient even reaches the hospital, where even more detailed images are obtainable with MRI. So the question remains, isn't this enough? The answer is no. Because, despite the current imaging-dominated climate for evaluation of suspected acute stroke, early diagnosis and treatment still require critical life-threatening decisions to be made without any objective input. Although this is the art of medicine, it is clearly not optimal. Pictures simply do not provide adequate objective data of pathologic events in the time that it is needed. We don't have a lot of treatment options to reverse the symptoms of acute stroke. One of the most effective is thrombolytics. By dissolving clots in the setting of an acute ischemic stroke, thrombolytics potentially restore blocked circulation, thus markedly reducing morbidity and …
Conflict, Improvisation, Governance: Street Level Practices for Urban Democracy, by David Laws and John Forester

David Laws and John Forester have combined forces to share a series of 13 profiles of public managers in the Netherlands. At the outset, let me say that the book is very good. It is well written an...
A tale of two processes: On Joseph Henrich’s the secret of our success: How culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species, and making us smarter

AbstractWe situate Henrich’s book in the larger research tradition of which it is a part and show how he presents a wide array of recent psychological, physiological, and neurological data as supporting the view that two related but distinct processes have shaped human nature and made us unique: cumulative cultural evolution and culture-driven genetic evolution. We briefly sketch out several ways philosophers might fruitfully engage with this view and note some implications it may have for current philosophic debates in moral and political theory and over the nature of extended cognition. We end by noting how Henrich’s view of the source of cultural design and innovation, and the prominence of place he gives to the extended process of cultural evolution, cuts against a cluster of broad but common views about human minds, recasting putative bugs as features and indicating that many of the distinctive features of our individual minds evolved to allow them to be effective cogs in the larger, more productive ...
Association of Hospitalization for Neurosurgical Operations in Magnet Hospitals With Mortality and Length of Stay.

Background The association of Magnet hospital status with improved surgical outcomes remains an issue of debate. Objective To investigate whether hospitalization in a Magnet hospital is associated with improved outcomes for patients undergoing neurosurgical operations. Methods A cohort study was executed using all patients undergoing neurosurgical operations in New York registered in the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database from 2009 to 2013. We examined the association of Magnet status hospitalization after neurosurgical operations with inpatient case fatality and length of stay (LOS). We employed an instrumental variable analysis to simulate a randomized trial. Results Overall, 190 787 patients underwent neurosurgical operations. Of these, 68 046 (35.7%) were hospitalized in Magnet hospitals, and 122 741 (64.3%) in non-Magnet institutions. Instrumental variable analysis demonstrated that hospitalization in Magnet hospitals was associated with decreased case fatality (adjusted difference, -0.8%; -95% confidence interval, -0.7% to -0.6%), and LOS (adjusted difference, -1.9; 95% confidence interval, -2.2 to -1.5) in comparison to non-Magnet hospitals. These associations were also observed in propensity score adjusted mixed effects models. These associations persisted in prespecified subgroups of patients undergoing spine surgery, craniotomy for tumor resection, or neurovascular interventions. Conclusion We identified an association of Magnet hospitals with lower case fatality, and shorter LOS in a comprehensive New York State patient cohort undergoing neurosurgical procedures.
Effects of non-brownian motion on transport coefficients in solution

It is shown that in general even d.c. transport coefficients carry information about some details of the dynamics of the underlying molecular processes. Conversely the Brownian motion representation of these processes is not generally adequate for the molecular interpretation of transport coefficients. A number of examples have been worked out in detail.
‘A taste of this lively language’: attitudes towards languages other than English in lonely planet phrasebooks

This paper addresses language attitudes towards non-English, mostly non-Western, languages in the phrasebooks published by Lonely Planet for English-speaking travellers to multilingual regions of t...
In vitro benchmark of cytokine removal by dialyzers with various permeability profiles.

PurposeRemoval of cytokines is relevant for dialysis patients as they are suspected to promote cardiovascular complications. The objective of this study was to benchmark membranes with different pe...
Analysis of host-pathogen modulators of autophagy during Mycobacterium Tuberculosis infection and therapeutic repercussions.

ABSTRACTMycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the most deadly human pathogens known today in modern world, responsible for about 1.5 million deaths annually. Development of TB disease occurs only in...
Optimal groundwater management under climate change and technical progress

Abstract We develop a dynamic model of groundwater extraction for irrigation where climate change and technical change are included as exogenous state variables in addition to the usual state variable of the stock of groundwater. Our key contributions are (i) an intuitive description of the conditions under which groundwater extraction can be non-monotonic, (ii) a numerical demonstration that extraction is non-monotonic in an important region overlying the Ogallala Aquifer, and (iii) the predicted gains from management are substantially larger after accounting for climate and technical change. Intuitively, optimal extraction is increasing in early periods when the marginal benefits of extraction are increasing sufficiently fast due to climate and technical change compared to the increase in the marginal cost of extraction. In contrast, most previous studies include the stock of groundwater as the only state variable and recommend a monotonically decreasing extraction path. We conduct numerical simulations for a region in Kansas overlying the Ogallala Aquifer and find that optimal groundwater extraction peaks 23 years in the future and the gains from management are large (29.5%). Consistent with previous literature, the predicted gains from management are relatively small (6.1%) when ignoring climate and technical change. The realized gains from management are not substantially impacted by incorrect assumptions of climate and technical change when formulating the optimal plan.
A model-free approach to probe motion artifacts suppression for in vivo imaging with probe oscillation shear wave elastography (PROSE)

Shear wave elastography methods are able to accurately measure tissue stiffness, allowing these techniques to monitor the progression of hepatic fibrosis. While many methods rely on acoustic radiation force (ARF) to generate shear waves for two-dimensional (2D) imaging, probe oscillation shear wave elastography (PROSE) provides an alternative approach by generating shear waves through continuous vibration of the ultrasound probe while simultaneously detecting the resulting motion. The generated shear wave field in in vivo liver is complicated, and the amplitude and quality of these shear waves can be influenced by the placement of the vibrating probe. It was not possible to fully suppress residual motion artifacts with established filtering methods. Instead, the shear wave signal was decoupled from motion from other sources with empirical mode decomposition (EMD). This method was evaluated in a phantom as well as in in vivo livers from five volunteers. PROSE results were well correlated well with independent measurements using the commercial General Electric Logiq E9 scanner.
Modeling individual and pairs of adsorbed polymer-grafted nanoparticles: structure and entanglements

We analyze the canopy structure and entanglement network of isolated polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNs) adsorbed on a surface. As expected, increasing the monomer-surface adsorption strength causes the polymer chains to spread out to increase contact with the surface, leading to a canopy shape that is in qualitative agreement with recent experimental results. We compare height profiles and other structural features of four PGN systems to show the separate and combined effects of increasing chain length and graft density. At moderate graft density and low surface attraction strength, nearby PGN canopies interpenetrate substantially and their combined shape is similar to that of a single PGN canopy. At high graft density or surface interaction, the interparticle spacing increases significantly. We use a geometrical primitive path analysis to calculate average entanglement properties including canopy-canopy entanglements between pairs of PGNs. The longer chain systems are well entangled at both graft densities considered, and we find that as the monomer-surface interaction strength is increased (and the interparticle distance increases), entanglements between the two PGNs are reduced. We find that the number of inter-PGN entanglements per chain is slightly larger at the lower graft density, likely because steric constraints at high graft density tend to reduce interparticle entanglements.
Interactions Between Retinoic Acid and Protein Kinase C in Induction of Melanoma Differentiation

Vitamin A is a molecule that plays an indispensable role in many biological processes. Wolbach and Howe1 were the first to describe the effect of vitamin A deficiency on the proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells. In spite of the crucial role of this vitamin, we still do not know the exact mechanism by which it performs its biological function.
CURRENT STATUS OF SURFACE ANTIGENIC MARKERS ON (A) INTERFERON INDUCED MURINE NATURAL KILLER CELLS AND (B) MURINE ANTIBODY DEPENDENT CELLULAR CYTOTOXICITY CELLS

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the current status of surface antigenic markers on interferon (IF)-induced murine natural killer (NK) cells and murine-antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity cells. In a study described in the chapter, BSA fractionated spleen cells from C57BL/6 mice were used. The cells were induced for about 18 h with 103 units of partially purified IF from mouse fibroblasts. The cells were then treated with normal mouse serum (NMS) or various alloantisera + C in a microcytotoxicity assay. Both endogenous NK- and IF- induced NK cells expressed similar antigens with the exception of Ly-6 antigen. Other antigens examined were T-200, Lyt-1.1, and Lyt-2.2 in which similar antigenic expression on NK and IF-NK was observed. Ly-6 antigen is found on T and B cells in lymphoid tissue and is expressed to a larger degree on activated T and B cells such as mitogen-stimulated blast cells and plaque-forming cells. Three of anti-mLy-6 antibodies were tested, and they eliminated NK activities at various extent. It seems likely that at times, the endogenous NK cells may constitute some activated NK cells as well and thereby become more susceptible to anti-Ly-6 and C.
The case against using the APACHE system to predict intensive care unit outcome in trauma patients

The broad based Acute Physiology Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) system has been proposed for use in predicting outcomes in ICU patients, including trauma patients. The trauma data have been based on less than 2000 patients from APACHE II and APACHE III. An independent multicenter evaluation of 2414 patients demonstrated that the APACHE II system is inadequate for use in predicting the outcomes of ICU trauma admissions.
Indocyanine green fluorescence angiography during low anterior resection for low rectal cancer: results of a comparative cohort study.

Anastomotic leak (AL) after low anterior resection (LAR) is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, cost and cancer recurrence rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of fluorescence angiography (FA) on AL following LAR for low rectal cancer. This is a single surgeon retrospective cohort study with a historical, consecutively sampled case matched control group. The institution’s prospectively maintained institutional review board (IRB)-approved database was queried for all patients who underwent a laparoscopic LAR for rectal neoplasia with a colorectal or coloanal anastomosis < 5 cm from the anal verge between 2013 and 2016. Patients were divided into two groups: patients in whom FA was employed (study group, 2015–2016) and those patients in whom it was not (control group, 2013–2015). All patients were diverted with a loop ileostomy. The primary outcome measured was the AL rate and the secondary outcome measured was change in surgical plan following FA. Sixty patients were included in the study: 30 patients in the FA group and 30 patients in the control group. Patients’ demographics, the use of neoadjuvant chemoradiation, tumor stage, and mean height of anastomosis were comparable between the study groups. FA led to a change in surgical plan in four patients (13.3%) none of who suffered an AL. Two patients in the control group had a clinically and radiologically confirmed AL, whereas there were no leaks in the FA group (6.7% vs. 0%, p = 0.49). FA changed the surgical plan in 13.3% of LAR’s, potentially reducing the incidence of AL in these high-risk patients.
Species of Philadelphus (Hydrangeaceae) from Trans-Pecos Texas

Three species of Philadelphus are accepted as occurring in Trans-Pecos, Texas: P. mearnsii, P. microphyllus, and P. serpyllifolius. Philadelphus mearnsii is known only from Culberson and El Paso counties; P. microphyllus and P. serpyllifolius are more widespread. Philadelphus microphyllus is treated as having three intergrading varieties: Philadelphus microphyllus var. argenteus, P. m. var. crinitus (C. L. Hitchc.) B. L. Turner, and P. m. var. microphyllus. Philadelphus serpyllifolius is treated as having two intergrading varieties: Philadelphus serpyllifolius var. intermedius B. L. Turner, and P. s. var. serpyllifolius. Maps showing their distributions in the area concerned are provided.
Effect of high-fat diet feeding and associated transcriptome changes in the peak lactation mammary gland in C57BL/6 dams.

Maternal consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) during pregnancy has established adverse effects on the developing neonate. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of an HFD on the murine m...
Frances Brock Starms (1914–2012)

This chapter highlights the accomplishments and historical significance of educator and poet, Frances Brock Starms. Ms. Starms was an influential early childhood educator and leader in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She led several Head Start initiatives and worked as a college professor. The chapter also offers a critical analysis of the role Ms. Starms had in contributing to the growth and development of education in the African American community, especially as it relates to education policies and practices in twentieth-century America.
Anteromedial Labral Tears: Surgical Prevalence and Relationship with Chondral Damage of the Hip

Structural abnormalities of the hip joint have been identified as a common cause of labral and chondral lesions of the hip joint. However, labral and chondral damage can occur in the absence of structural abnormalities. The authors examined the incidence of anteromedial (AM) labral lesions, occurring in a nonimpinging region of the hip joint, and determined if the prevalence and location of concomitant chondral lesions differ between patients with AM lesions and those without. Between 2001 and 2013, they assessed 2,080 hips (1,818 patients) undergoing hip arthroscopy for the presence of AM labral lesions (between 4 and 6 o'clock position) and documented incidence of these lesions. The articular cartilage of the posterior, superior, and anterior regions of the acetabulum and femoral head was assessed. The degree of damage was classified as absent, mild (grades I/II), or severe (grades III/IV). The prevalence and severity of lesions in each region were compared between patients with AM lesions and those without. The authors identified 1,140 hips (1,028 patients) (55%) with labral tears in the AM region of the acetabulum. The cohort consisted of 689 females and 328 males, with an average age of 37.9 ± 12 years. Chondral lesions were present in all regions of the femoral head and acetabulum in both patients with AM lesions and those without. There is a relationship between the presence of AM lesion and prevalence of chondral lesions in the posterior and anterior femoral head and acetabulum, with a higher prevalence of lesions observed in patients without AM tears. Their findings show that lesions in the AM region of the acetabular labrum can occur with high prevalence in patients. These lesions are often associated with concomitant injuries to the anterior chondral surfaces, which may differ from lesions in the impingement zone. A thorough evaluation of all regions of the hip joint is warranted during arthroscopy to identify and treat all potential lesions.