cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
STUDY OF THE FAILURE MECHANISM OF THE GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION BIT

The failure analysis of the geological exploration bit body and alloy tooth(WC-Co Cemented carbides)by using scanning electron microscopy was studied. It was concluded that the failure mechanism of the bit body on impact end was the impactfatigue, and the spline failure mode was crushing spalling after severe plastic deformation. Through analyzing the three failure modes (alloy tooth shedding, fracture, wearing), the main reason of alloy tooth failure was overlapping effect of cable spalling, abrasive wear, impact fatigue and impact thermal fatigue.
Book Review: Robert J. Cottrol, Ed., Gun Control and the Constitution: Sources and Explorations on the Second Amendment (1993)

This article reviews Robert J. Cottrol, ed., Gun Control and the Constitution: Sources and Explorations on the Second Amendment (1993).
Human Agency and Mental Illness

How might critical realism provide a better metatheoretical framework to understand the complex causality behind experiences of mental illness? How do we understand the agency of people suffering from mental illness? Prior work on critical realism and disability has argued that critical realism helps move past one or another form of reductionist explanations for illness, whether that is biological, environmental or psychological. But using a critical realist framework to study mental illness also raises issues about the agency of people whose rational capacities are thought to be diminished. In this article, I present the life history of one of 26 young adults I interviewed as part of a project on resilience. Because interviews reveal the complex causal forces in any person's life, they remind us that scientific explanations should not be reductionistic. Human agency can be diminished by biological illness, power structures in psychiatry, and cultural categories of mental illness diagnoses. But a critical...
Instructional Strategies Live Lab

A big challenge to faculty development programs is release time for educators to develop teaching skills. Seminars take healthcare professionals away from their other responsibilities and prerecorded online presentations are often missed. An Instructional Strategies Live Lab provides educators one-on-one access to educational advisors and early adopters to discuss active learning strategies.
The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations (2nd ed.)

Public administration ethics educators and those who aspire to be public administration ethics educators are highly encouraged to read The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and ...
Regional dry-season climate changes due to three decades of Amazonian deforestation

Deforestation in Amazonia has previously been linked to thermally driven precipitation increases. Satellite observations and model simulations now suggest a shift toward a dynamically driven hydroclimate, with enhanced rainfall seen downwind of deforested areas. More than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been cleared in the past three decades1, triggering important hydroclimatic changes1,2,3,4,5,6. Small-scale (a few kilometres) deforestation in the 1980s has caused thermally triggered atmospheric circulations7 that increase regional cloudiness8,9,10 and precipitation frequency8. However, these circulations are predicted to diminish as deforestation increases11,12,13. Here we use multi-decadal satellite records14,15 and numerical model simulations to show a regime shift in the regional hydroclimate accompanying increasing deforestation in Rondonia, Brazil. Compared with the 1980s, present-day deforested areas in downwind western Rondonia are found to be wetter than upwind eastern deforested areas during the local dry season. The resultant precipitation change in the two regions is approximately ±25% of the deforested area mean. Meso-resolution simulations robustly reproduce this transition when forced with increasing deforestation alone, showing that large-scale climate variability plays a negligible role16. Furthermore, deforestation-induced surface roughness reduction is found to play an essential role in the present-day dry-season hydroclimate. Our study illustrates the strong scale sensitivity of the climatic response to Amazonian deforestation and suggests that deforestation is sufficiently advanced to have caused a shift from a thermally to a dynamically driven hydroclimatic regime.
Effect of Exclusion of Frequently Consumed Dietary Triggers in a Cohort of Children With Chronic Primary Headache

Background:Although dietary factors are known to trigger headaches, the relationship between food and headache in children remains unclear. This prospective, observational case series aimed to eval...
The academic–industrial complex: navigating the translational and cultural divide

In general, the fruits of academic discoveries can only be realized through joint efforts with industry. However, the poor reproducibility of much academic research has damaged credibility and jeopardized translational efforts that could benefit patients. Meanwhile, journals are rife with articles bemoaning the limited productivity and increasing costs of the biopharmaceutical industry and its resultant predilection for mergers and reorganizations while decreasing internal research efforts. The ensuing disarray and uncertainty has created tremendous opportunities for academia and industry to form even closer ties, and to embrace new operational and financial models to their joint benefit. This review article offers a personal perspective on the opportunities, models and approaches that harness the increased interface and growing interdependency between biomedical research institutes, the biopharmaceutical industry and the technological world.
Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream Position Indices as Diagnostic Tools for Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics

AbstractThe latitudinal position of the Northern Hemisphere jet stream (NHJ) modulates the occurrence and frequency of extreme weather events. Precipitation anomalies in particular are associated with NHJ variability; the resulting floods and droughts can have considerable societal and economic impacts. This study develops a new climatology of the 300-hPa NHJ using a bottom-up approach based on seasonally explicit latitudinal NHJ positions. Four seasons with coherent NHJ patterns were identified (January–February, April–May, July–August, and October–November), along with 32 longitudinal sectors where the seasonal NHJ shows strong spatial coherence. These 32 longitudinal sectors were then used as NHJ position indices to examine the influence of seasonal NHJ position on the geographical distribution of NH precipitation and temperature variability and their link to atmospheric circulation pattern. The analyses show that the NHJ indices are related to broad-scale patterns in temperature and precipitation vari...
Volatile Components of a Chicken Feather Hydrolysate that is Highly Attractive to the West Indian and Mexican Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

A chicken feather hydrolysate prepared by heating feathers with 6N hydrochloric acid was highly attractive to the West Indian fruit fly, Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), and the Mexican fruit fly, An...
Pathogenesis and Management of Tendinopathies in Sports Medicine.

Objective Tendinopathy is a major clinical problem in sports medicine and is often difficult to treat. Traditional therapeutic approaches have focused on reducing inflammation, yet research suggests that little to no inflammation is present in the tendons that fail to heal. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of the available treatment options for tendinopathy and to inform best clinical practices. Design A narrative review. Methods A comprehensive search of electronic databases (PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science) was conducted to identify relevant studies through June 2016. Studies were deemed relevant if they were published in English and contained original research on the management of tendinopathy in humans. Results Studies varied in methodological quality and were often limited by small sample size and lack of sufficient control groups. Critical evaluation of the literature suggests that physical therapy with or without eccentric exercise should be considered a first-line treatment. Corticosteroids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs provide short-term symptomatic relief, but long-term efficacy has not been demonstrated. Inconsistent results do not support the routine use of prolotherapy, platelet-rich plasma injections and topical nitric oxide patches. Operative intervention should be reserved until conservative measures fail or an obvious operative lesion is present. Conclusions While numerous therapeutic modalities exist for tendinopathy in the athlete, the ideal treatment protocol has not been clearly defined. The development of new targeted therapies for tendinopathy is likely to follow a greater understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie its pathogenesis.
A Note on TLC Densitometry for Drug and Metabolite Determination

Although in our Department we make extensive use of HPLC, GC and GC-MS, we have also found quantitative TLC to be a very useful technique for the analysis of drugs and metabolites in body fluids. This approach is not often discussed but deserves mention since the equipment is simple and the thin-layer plate can accept heavy loading of relatively crude extracts of plasma. Analytical methods can be developed quickly as extensive ‘clean-up’ is not necessary. The procedure calls for automatic equiment. We use a ‘Multi-spotter’ (A.I.S.; from Universal Scientific, London) and the Vitatron densitometer which can quantitate compounds on TLC plates by direct absorption in visible or UV light, by fluorescence quenching (a fluorescent substance being incorporated in the absorbent layer), or by fluorescence emission. Examples are now given.
Impact of Point-of-Care Diagnostics on Clinical Decision-making in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Background: Rapid tests have transformed the landscape of available tools for clinicians caring for patients who are critically ill. Their emergence as part of routine care increases the capacity for similar devices to reverse or minimize major epidemics and assist healthcare providers in their clinical decision-making. To assess how a point-of-care complete blood count (CBC) could change patterns in clinical decision-making, we presented low and middle income (LMIC) healthcare providers with hypothetical clinical scenarios to understand how such a device could impact the way they treat and refer patients. Methods: Our survey asked about current use of CBC results, and then presented three separate scenarios that occur in LMICs. Survey respondents were queried about how they might change hospitalization plans and/or mediations based on point-of-care CBC results. Results: In all three scenarios, a majority of clinicians were likely to modify the way they triage patients based on real-time results. Conclusion: Our survey demonstrates that a point-of-care CBC diagnostic could change the way providers in resource-limited settings treat and refer critically ill patients. All hypothetical clinical scenarios describe common, urgent case presentations that can occur at any level of a health system in resource-limited settings. Rapid, simple and accessible technology for basic lab tests like CBC could impact patient care in low and middle-income countries by providing health care workers with actionable data with the potential to affect patient-centered outcomes.
A Study of Free Energy Relationships in Some Amino Acid-Sodium Chloride-Water Systems

Four systems of the type, amino acid-sodium chloride-water, have been investigated over wide solute molality ranges using the isopiestic vapor pressure method. The amino acids used were glycine, β-alanine, γ-aminobutyric acid, and e-aminocaproic acid. Equations were obtained in terms of the molalities of the solutes for the activity coefficients of the amino acids in the salt solutions. The trace activity coefficients of the amino acids were all slightly negative at low salt molalities. At higher salt molalities, the trace activity coefficients for glycine and β-alanine remained negative whereas those for β-aminobutyric acid and e-aminocaproic acid became positive. The limiting interaction parameters were calculated for these systems using the Kirkwood ion-dipole expression and an empirical term for the salt effect on the nonpolar portion of the molecule. Good agreement was obtained between the calculated values and those determined experimentally.
Coupled Microbial and Chemical Reactions in Uranium Bioremediation

The chemical composition of the water and sediment affects the extent that uranium is immobilized in a microbially active environment. This paper summarizes an integrated framework of coupled microbial and chemical reactions in uranium bioremediation. The research is aimed at improving selection, design and operation of uranium biotreatment systems that use natural organic material to support the microbial consortium. Highlights of experimental and modeling efforts are presented.
Disaster Policy in Perspective

Disaster policy brings a vision of terrifying destruction. Mount St. Helens blows its top, lava pours down, ashes go skyward to fall like snow on cities, and a small river named the Toutle turns into a raging torrent of force sufficient to crash through bridges and dams. In such a disaster, people and institutions are mobilized, ranging from local police and state troopers possibly even to the president of the United States who upon the request of a governor can declare a catastrophe a major disaster. That declaration starts the flow of federal funds and an intense period of combined federal, state, local, and private effort to put lives and property back together.
Landscape Indicators and Ecological Condition for Mapped Wetlands in Pennsylvania, USA

Although landscape indicators are widely used to assess wetland ecological condition, how they capture the spatial arrangement of land cover is not well addressed. We conducted a Level 1 Landscape Assessment to revise strengths and weaknesses of landscape indicators when links to ecological conditions are strong. Wetland sites mapped by the National Wetlands Inventory were defined as 1-km radius circles around centroid points. Forest fragmentation type, road density, Landscape Development Intensity (LDI) index, and percentage of impervious surface were quantified at each site by integrating land cover and road network information. Based on forest cover, 6% of wetland sites scored in the highest ecological category while 45% fit into the lowest one. Results showed high dispersion of data for the impervious surface indicator in the lowest condition category. When comparing LDI and impervious surface under different landscape compositions and configurations, LDI better described disturbance in agricultural areas where road density was low. Impervious surface better reflected the occurrence of fragmented landscapes at forested areas with high percentage of edge forest cover. In addition, a significant proportion of freshwater wetlands (60%) in the lowest condition category was associated with first-order streams, indicating a wide range of disturbance at some headwater watersheds.
Modeling glymphatic system of the brain using MRI

The glymphatic system is functional waste clearance path from the brain parenchyma through dynamic exchange of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with interstitial fluid (ISF). Impairment of glymphatic waste clearance is involved in the development of neurodegenerative conditions. Despite many recent studies investigating the glymphatic system, few studies have tried to use a mathematical model to describe this system, quantitatively. In this study, we aim to model the glymphatic system from the kinetics of Gd-DTPA tracer measured using MRI in order to: 1) map the glymphatic system path, 2) derive kinetic parameters of the glymphatic system, and 3) provide quantitative maps of the structure and function of this system. In the proposed model, the brain is clustered to similar regions with respect to the profile of contrast agent (CA) density measured by MRI. Then, each region is described as a two-compartment kinetic model 'derived from' or 'clears to' its neighbors with local input function. We thus fit our model to the local cerebral regions rather than to the averaged time signal curve (TSC) of the whole brain. The estimated parameters showed distinctive differences between diabetes mellitus (DM) and control rats. The results suggest that in a typical DM brain the CSF bulk speed in the para-vasculature network is low. In addition, the resulting maps indicate that there may be increased binding and decreased absorbing of large molecules in a diabetic compared with a non-diabetic brain. The important contribution of this work was to fit the model to the local regions rather than to the averaged time signal curve (TSC) of the whole brain. This enabled us to derive quantitative maps of the glymphatic system from MRI.
Nocturia as an Unrecognized Symptom of Uncontrolled Hypertension in Black Men Aged 35 to 49 Years.

Background Hypertension is assumed to be asymptomatic. Yet, clinically significant nocturia (≥2 nightly voids) constitutes a putative symptom of uncontrolled hypertension. Black men with hypertension may be prone to nocturia because of blunted nocturnal blood pressure ( BP ) dipping, diuretic drug use for hypertension, and comorbidity that predisposes to nocturia. Here, we test the hypothesis that nocturia is a common and potentially reversible symptom of uncontrolled hypertension in black men. Methods and Results We determined the strength of association between nocturia (≥2 nightly voids) and high BP (≥135/85 mm Hg) by conducting in-person health interviews and measuring BP with an automated monitor in a large community-based sample of black men in their barbershops. Because nocturia is prevalent and steeply age-dependent after age 50 years, we studied men aged 35 to 49 years. Among 1673 black men (mean age, 43±4 years [ SD ]), those with hypertension were 56% more likely than men with normotension to have nocturia after adjustment for diabetes mellitus and sleep apnea (adjusted odds ratio, 1.56; 95% CI , 1.25-1.94 [ P<0.0001]). Nocturia prevalence varied by hypertension status, ranging from 24% in men with normotension to 49% in men whose hypertension was medically treated but uncontrolled. Men with untreated hypertension were 39% more likely than men with normotension to report nocturia ( P=0.02), whereas men whose hypertension was treated and controlled were no more likely than men with normotension to report nocturia ( P=0.69). Conclusions Uncontrolled hypertension was an independent determinant of clinically important nocturia in a large cross-sectional community-based study of non-Hispanic black men aged 35 to 49 years. Clinical Trial Registration URL : http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unqiue identifier: NCT 02321618.
A New and Industrially Favorable Method for Synthesizing Sandia Octahedral Molecular Sieve (SOMS-1) Na2Nb1.6Ti0.4O5.6(OH)0.4·H2O: Synthesis, Structure, and Scale-up

An oxide-based synthesis for the Na2Nb2-xM4+xO6-x(OH)x·H2O family has been developed. This family of molecular sieves, SOMS, shows great potential for divalent cation sequestration, of particular interest to radioactive waste and industrial metals cleanup. A new synthetic route has been developed to form these phases utilizing the readily available and less costly oxide starting materials, rather than the original air-sensitive alkoxide reagents that require special handling. To that end, we present here the new oxide-based synthesis of the SOMS class of materials, characterization of the pure products, and the procedures for lab-bench product scale-up.
Antiretroviral Therapy in Primary HIV

Increasingly, evidence is accumulating that combination antiretroviral therapy can markedly prolong the time to development of AIDS-defming opportunistic infections and death. 12 As such, a natural extension of this concept is the use of antiviral therapy very early in the course of infection, especially at the time of HIV-1 seroconversion. Several recent articles have shown that the initial days and weeks after exposure and establishment of HIV are critical in defining host/virus interactions and subsequent disease course. Within 4 months after infection a viral inflection point is reached; after this point the level of mRNA in plasma is predictive of clinical progression and time to death.35 In addition, host immune responses, especially cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses, correlate with plasma virus levels, and therefore with subsequent progression of disease.6 Diversity of host cell response is also predictive: individuals with a less restricted immune response to HIV appear to have a lower rate of disease progression.7 These data suggest that early intervention affords the best opportunity to maximize the care of the HIV-infected patient.
Wireless power transfer through metal using inductive link

This paper presents a highly efficient power transfer system based on a co-design of a class-E power amplifier (PA) and a pair of inductively coupled Helical coils for through-metal-wall power transfer. Power is transferred wirelessly through a 3.1-mm thick aluminum barrier without any physical penetration and contact. Measurement results show that the class-E PA achieves a peak power gain of 25.2 dB and a maximum collector efficiency of 57.3%, all at 200 Hz. The proposed system obtains a maximum power transfer efficiency of 9% and it can deliver 5 W power to the receiver side through the aluminum barrier.
A subcutaneous manifestation of tuberous sclerosis complex in the posterior scalp

Abstract Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant syndrome due to a mutation in the TSC2 or TSC1 gene. The disease is known to have variable expressivity involving the neurological, cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary, and integumentary systems (Kennedy et al., 2017). We present a case report, and associated literature review, of a toddler with a posterior scalp lesion which was identified as a soft tissue fibroma upon histopathology. Unlike angiofibromas, soft tissue fibromas in the head and neck are not common in patients with TSC. This soft tissue tumor may be considered as one of the major criteria in the diagnosis of TSC.
Single-molecule Studies of Classical and Desmosomal Cadherin Adhesion

Abstract Classical cadherin and desmosomal cadherin cell–cell adhesion proteins play essential roles in tissue morphogenesis and in maintaining tissue integrity. Deficiencies in cadherin adhesion are hallmarks of diseases such as cancers, skin diseases, and cardiomyopathies. Structural studies and single-molecule biophysical measurements have revealed critical similarities and surprising differences between these key adhesion proteins. This review summarizes our current understanding of the biophysics of classical and desmosomal cadherin adhesion and the molecular basis for their cross talk. We focus on recent single-molecule measurements, highlight key insights into the adhesion of cadherin extracellular regions and their relation to associated diseases, and identify major open questions in this exciting area of research.
Evaluation of NASA's high-resolution global composition simulations: Understanding a pollution event in the Chesapeake Bay during the summer 2017 OWLETS campaign.

Abstract Recirculation of pollutants due to a bay breeze effect is a key meteorological mechanism impacting air quality near urban coastal areas, but regional and global chemical transport models have historically struggled to capture this phenomenon. We present a case study of a high ozone (O3) episode observed over the Chesapeake Bay during the NASA Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS) in summer 2017. OWLETS included a complementary suite of ground-based and airborne observations, with which we characterize the meteorological and chemical context of this event and develop a framework to evaluate model performance. Two publicly-available NASA global high-resolution coupled chemistry-meteorology models (CCMMs) are investigated: GEOS-CF and MERRA2-GMI. The GEOS-CF R2 value for comparisons between the NASA Sherpa C-23 aircraft measurements to the GEOS-CF resulted in good agreement (R2: 0.67) on July 19th and fair agreement (R2: 0.55) for July 20th. Compared to surface observations, we find the GEOS-CF product with a 25 × 25 km2 grid box, at an hourly (R2: 0.62 to 0.87) and 15-min (R2: 0.64 to 0.87) interval for six regional sites outperforms the hourly nominally 50 × 50 km2 gridded MERRA2-GMI (R2: 0.53 to 0.76) for four of the six sites, suggesting it is better capable of simulating complex chemical and meteorological features associated with ozone transport within the Chesapeake Bay airshed. When the GEOS-CF product was compared to the TOLNet LiDAR observations at both NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT), the median differences at LaRC were −6 to 8% and at CBBT were ±7% between 400 and 2000 m ASL. This indicates that, for this case study, the GEOS-CF is able to simulate surface level ozone diurnal cycles and vertical ozone profiles at small scales between the surface level and 2000 m ASL. Evaluating global chemical model simulations at sub-regional scales will help air quality scientists understand the complex processes occurring at small spatial and temporal scales within complex surface terrain changes, simulating nighttime chemistry and deposition, and the potential to use global chemical transport simulations in support of regional and sub-regional field campaigns.
Pulsatile release of somatotropin related to meal feeding and somatotropin response to secretagogues in horses.

Our goal was to establish a time of day and(or) interval from feeding that would avoid the refractory period after a somatotropin (ST) surge and optimize the responsiveness of horses to ST secretagogues. Two experiments were conducted with eight geldings conditioned to consume grain at 0800 and 1600 daily. In Exp. 1, during a 24-h period, these geldings averaged 3.2 ±.3 pulses of ST with peak amplitude of 4.2 ±.4 ng/mL, pulse duration of 55 ± 6 min, and interpeak interval of 400 ± 57 min. No ST peaks occurred within 2 h after either grain feeding. In Exp. 2, eight geldings were given 50 μg of ST-releasing factor (STRF) at 0800. Two geldings that had a pulse of ST between 0700 and 0800 failed to respond to STRF, but the other six responded with a pulse of ST at 37 ± 3 min; peak amplitude was 4.6 ± 2.2 ng/mL and duration was 123 ± 25 min. Experiments 3 and 4 were with mares aged 20 to 26 yr and conditioned to be fed grain at 0800 daily. In Exp. 3, blood was sampled for 8 h beginning at 0500. Seven of the eight mares had a ST pulse in progress at 0500. Five additional pulses were detected, all from 0740 to 0940, but none from 0600 to 0700 or from 1000 to 1300. In Exp. 4, four of the same eight mares were given 50 μg of STRF at 0700 and the other four at 1300. Three of the four treated at 0700 and all four treated at 1300 responded to STRF with ST peaks at 20 ± 5 min; peak amplitude was 12.7 ± 9.5 ng/mL and duration was 69 ± 6 min. In Exp. 5, nine mares aged 20 to 26 yr were fed grain at 0800 and 1600 as in Exp. 1 and 2 and given a nonpeptidal ST secretagogue (STS, Merck L-163,255) i.v. at 0, 1, or 5 mg/kg (n = 3 mares/dose) at 1300. No mare had a pulse of ST during the 1 h before treatment. All six mares given STS responded with ST pulses. The ST responses to STS at 1 and 5 mg/kg did not differ (P >.05); time to ST peak was 35 ± 4 min, pulse amplitude was 24.0 ± 6.3 ng/mL, and pulse duration was 100 ± 9 min. We conclude that mares and geldings fed grain once or twice daily usually have a period of 2 to 5 h after feeding with no ST pulses. When horses are fed grain at 0800, one may give a ST secretagogue at 1300 to avoid a refractory period and improve the probability of an ST response.
Look Up and Around: Musings on Mentors, Role Models, and Professionalism (Revised and Updated)

As part of Contract Management magazine's 2020 Professional Development issue, this (revised and updated) article offers a rather simple overarching suggestion for successful professionals and future leaders: look up and around. The article encourages readers to identify mentors, embrace the strengths of their role models, and open themselves up to learn from others, evolve, and grow. The article discusses, among other things, education, networking, professional development (and, of course, writing), and the power of optimism.
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Instruments Correlate Better With Legacy Measures in Knee Cartilage Patients at Postoperative Than at Preoperative Assessment.

Purpose To define the psychometric properties of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF), Pain Interference (PI), and Depression computer adaptive tests (CATs) in patients undergoing knee cartilage surgical procedures. Methods The PROMIS PF, PI, and Depression CATs were administered preoperatively and at 6 months alongside legacy knee patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in patients undergoing knee cartilage surgical procedures. Statistical analysis consisted of the time to completion, psychometric analysis for correlative strengths, absolute and relative floor and ceiling effects, and Cohen effect size. Results Our study included 250 patients (57.2% male patients), averaging 1.87, 1.53, and 1.91 minutes for completion of the PF, PI, and Depression CATs, respectively. Preoperatively, the PROMIS PF and PI CATs showed wide ranges of correlation coefficients with respect to function (r = 0.14-0.72 and r = 0.29-0.77, respectively) and health-related quality-of-life PROMs (r = 0.64-0.70). At 6 months, the PROMIS PF CAT (r = 0.82-0.93) and PI CAT (r = 0.77-0.93) both exhibited excellent correlations with respect to legacy function and health-related quality-of-life PROMs except for the Marx Activity Rating Scale (r = 0.36-0.44). None of the PROMIS instruments exhibited any significant floor or ceiling effects. Conclusions The PROMIS PF, PI, and Depression CATs performed better with respect to legacy PROMs in the postoperative period than the preoperative period. In addition, the PROMIS PF and PI measures performed best with respect to the International Knee Documentation Committee questionnaire, and no floor or ceiling effects were identified for the PROMIS instruments. The PROMIS instruments may be more suited to track outcomes postoperatively than to establish preoperative baselines in cartilage surgery patients. Level of Evidence Level IV, retrospective case series.
Direct readout of heterochromatic H3K9me3 regulates DNMT1-mediated maintenance DNA methylation

In mammals, repressive histone modifications such as trimethylation of histone H3 Lys9 (H3K9me3), frequently coexist with DNA methylation, producing a more stable and silenced chromatin state. However, it remains elusive how these epigenetic modifications crosstalk. Here, through structural and biochemical characterizations, we identified the replication foci targeting sequence (RFTS) domain of maintenance DNA methyltransferase DNMT1, a module known to bind the ubiquitylated H3 (H3Ub), as a specific reader for H3K9me3/H3Ub, with the recognition mode distinct from the typical trimethyl-lysine reader. Disruption of the interaction between RFTS and the H3K9me3Ub affects the localization of DNMT1 in ES cells and profoundly impairs the global DNA methylation and genomic stability. Together, this study reveals a previously unappreciated pathway through which H3K9me3 directly regulates DNMT1-mediated maintenance DNA methylation.
The north–south orientation of Australian termite mounds is due to the Sun and local wind: A heat transfer investigation

The Australian “magnetic” termite mounds are famously known for their systematic wedge-shape and north–south alignment. Although the longer axis of the mound wedge is mainly aligned north-to-south, depending on their locations, they might have slight deviations from true north, exhibiting consistent east or westward orientations. The structural characteristics of Australian mounds have been the subject of many in situ investigations in the past, suggesting that the orientation of these structures might be a response to termites’ need for having a sort of thermal regulation within their habitat. Using the foundations based by the observational studies, this study develops a thermo-physics based predictive model, founded on the principles of heat transfer and thermodynamics, to fundamentally investigate the reason behind the shape and orientation of magnetic mounds. Using the typical environmental conditions of the locations where these mounds are found, the shape and orientation of the thermally optimized structures were successfully predicted by the model, indicating that their structural characteristics arise as a response to the combined effects of the local solar irradiance received on the mound body and the local wind condition. These combined effects result in a thermally regulated medium within the mound (i.e., uniform temperatures throughout the structure with minimum fluctuations throughout the day) that provides a suitable microclimate for the residing termites. The effects of different environmental conditions on the mound structural characteristics are also investigated.
Auditor Independence and the Quality of Information in Financial Disclosures: Evidence for Market Discipline versus Sarbanes–Oxley Proscriptions

Does auditor independence increase the quality of financial disclosures, and is regulation necessary to realize such improvements? Conventional wisdom answers “yes!,” but lacks support from scholarly studies. We thus investigate whether auditor independence affects earnings quality in ways that prior research would have missed, and consider the efficiency-consequences of regulation that restricts auditors from producing non-audit services (NAS). Results from our research design offer stronger evidence that auditor independence increases earnings quality. Importantly, however, they offer little evidence that a client-firm's choice of auditor independence creates externalities, and thus speak more directly against the recent Sarbanes-Oxley restriction on NAS.
Model Synthesis for Communication Traces of System-on-Chip Designs.

Concise and abstract models of system-level behaviors are invaluable in design analysis, testing, and validation. In this paper, we consider the problem of inferring models from communication traces of system-on-chip~(SoC) designs. The traces capture communications among different blocks of a SoC design in terms of messages exchanged. The extracted models characterize the system-level communication protocols governing how blocks exchange messages, and coordinate with each other to realize various system functions. In this paper, the above problem is formulated as a constraint satisfaction problem, which is then fed to a SMT solver. The solutions returned by the SMT solver are used to extract the models that accept the input traces. In the experiments, we demonstrate the proposed approach with traces collected from a transaction-level simulation model of a multicore SoC design and traces of a more detailed multicore SoC design developed in GEM5 environment.
Modified Split-Phase Switching with Improved Fly Capacitor Utilization in a 48V-to-POL Dual Inductor Hybrid-Dickson Converter

This work demonstrates a modified split-phase switching scheme which maintains complete soft-charging operation when applied to a dual inductor hybrid-Dickson (DIH) switched-capacitor converter, while simultaneously greatly increasing the allowable fly capacitor voltage ripple and subsequent passive component utilization. Dissimilar to previous DIH split-phase demonstrations which sequentially introduce capacitive elements as a switching phase progresses, here all fly capacitors are inserted upon initialization of each phase, with select capacitors being disengaged before each phase’s conclusion. As a result no switches experience a periodic reverse bias. This work includes analysis directing this insight along with a hardware prototype that achieves a peak efficiency of 93.8% (87.5%) at 750kHz switching frequency, for 48V-to-3V (1V) conversion. Effective capacitor utilization and complete soft-charging is verified experimentally, and a power density of 54.4 kW/liter (892W/inch3) at 3V output is recorded despite the use of stable Class I (C0G/NP0) dielectric capacitors and oversized inductors with minimal current ripple for simplified analysis.
Evolution Without History: Critical Reflections on Evolutionary Psychology

Human language and reasoning are evolved capacities. Evolutionary psychology advances an explanation for them, following a typical pattern. This explanation assumes that relatively complex characters are adaptations to ancestral conditions, and evolutionary psychologists claim to explain their presence as a consequence of natural selection operating under Pleistocene conditions. As evolutionary explanations, they are subject to the same kind of expectations we would impose on any other evolutionary explanations. There are several broadly accepted ways to empirically assess evolutionary explanations—and particularly adaptive explanations. One of these is the comparative method. This requires that we compare related taxa for derived characters, evaluating whether analogous traits evolve within lineages under associated environmental conditions. In light of the sort of evidence that is actually available to us in the anthropological and paleontological record, we are not likely to be able to meet the standards we would otherwise require for adequate evolutionary explanations; in particular, the comparative method is not likely to apply in a way that would allow us reasonable confidence concerning the explanations offered within evolutionary psychology for human language and reasoning. Given the sorts of problems confronting evolutionary psychology, I suggest that this inadequacy is not likely to be overcome. A skeptical attitude is the reasonable attitude.
An Analysis of the Scandinavian Stock Indices

Using the concept of Granger causality, interdependencies among the stock market indices for four Scandinavian countries, and the determinants of these indices individually, are examined in this paper. The vector autoregressive model results indicate that the Swedish market index led the indices for Denmark, Finland and Norway. Norway also influenced the Swedish and Danish markets, while the Danish and Finnish markets did not show any influence on any other markets. Economic variables, in general, did not appear to have much predictive power in explaining the indices. Only the consumer prices and expected consumer prices significantly affected the Finnish index and long term interest rates affected the Swedish market.
Herpes Simplex Viruses and Human Cancer: Current Status of the Problem

The notion that herpesviruses cause cancer in man is based solidly on the historical principle that where there is smoke there must be fire. There is in fact a lot of smoke. The clues pointing to the oncogenicity of herpes simplex fall into 4 categories as follows. First, it has been reported that patients with severe and frequently recurring labial infections develop squamous cell carcinoma (1). Second, it has been demonstrated now quite conclusively that there are at least two types of herpes simplex viruses infecting man. The viruses differ with respect to physical, immunologic, and certain biologic properties (2, 3, 4, 5, 6). One of the two types causes predominantly infection of the genitalia transmitted by sexual contact (7, 8, 9). On epidemiologic grounds at least two laboratories have suggested that the genital strain might be responsible for cervical cancer in women (10, 11, 12). Into the third category fall numerous studies with cells in culture. Even though the data published so far (13) do not indicate that herpes simplex viruses “transform” cells in vitro in a manner of oncogenic viruses, there are nevertheless many reports that the viruses cause chromosome breakage in nonpermissive cells (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22). It has been reported that cells infected with herpes simplex virus acquire the capacity to synthesize an antigen (designated as G) characteristic of some tumors (23). Lastly, there is guilt by association. The recurrent theme of this symposium is the association of herpes-type particles with renal adenocarcinoma of the frog. Herpes-type particles have been found associated with Marek’s disease of chickens (24) and with human lymphoma (25), described by Burkitt (26). Considering the rich variety of herpes- type viruses which persist and thrive in human cells, it seems a safe bet that at least one and possibly all are inherently oncogenic.
Lipase Activity of Mucor pusillus

Two strains of Mucor pusillus were examined for their ability to synthesize lipase in a complex medium used in the production of milk-clotting protease. Lipase activity of both strains reached maximal after 6 days of incubation under submerged conditions at 35 C. Lipase secreted into the medium hydrolyzed butterfat and vegetable lipids, as well as selected synthetic triglycerides. About 50% of lipase activity was destroyed after a 45-min heat treatment at 58 C.
Chloroperoxidase. VII. Classical peroxidatic, catalatic, and halogenating forms of the enzyme.

Abstract The substrates for chloroperoxidase can be divided into three groups. Group 1 substrates react with chloroperoxidase in the presence of peroxide and a halogen anion (chloride, bromide, or iodide) to form stable halogenated products. Group 2 substrates are oxidized in a halogen anion-dependent reaction. The pH optima for the reactions of chloroperoxidase with both Groups 1 and 2 substrates are below 4. Group 3 substrates are oxidized in the absence of a halogen anion. This category includes classical peroxidase substrates such as guaiacol, pyrogallol, and leucomalachite green. The pH optima for Group 3 reactions extend over a broad range from pH 4 to 7, depending on the particular substrate being tested. Chloroperoxidase also catalyzes reactions previously thought to be peculiar to catalase. In the absence of donors, chloroperoxidase reacts catalatically with hydrogen peroxide to form oxygen. At pH 4.5, the second order rate constant for this reaction is 2 x 105 m-1 sec-1. Although this represents only about 2% of the rate observed with catalases, it is several hundred times more effective than horseradish peroxidase. The enzyme also oxidizes ethanol to form acetaldehyde, a reaction not catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase. Evidently the four-subunit structure of catalase is not required for these activities since chloroperoxidase exists as a monomeric protein with one heme group per molecule. Chloroperoxidase also has the ability to form oxygen from ethyl hydrogen peroxide and from m-chloroperbenzoic acid. Neither catalase nor horseradish peroxidase will catalyze these reactions. By analogy with organic mechanisms for the decomposition of peracids, these results indicate that Compound I of chloroperoxidase may contain a reactive oxygen atom.
Enumeration of Rational Curves Via Torus Actions

This paper contains an attempt to formulate rigorously and to check predictions in enumerative geometry of curves following from Mirror Symmetry.
Optics. Holograms of atoms.

X-ray crystallography can be used to produce three-dimensional images of atoms providing they are arranged periodically. For small atomic clusters or molecules, electron holography could provide even sharper images.
The folded patch omnidirectional antenna

The radiation characteristics of a "folded patch antenna" (US Patent 6,121,932) are illustrated. This antenna features an omnidirectional radiation pattern, meaning that there is at least one strong linear component of the electromagnetic field that is radiated in any direction. Such a property, associated with the simplicity of construction, makes the folded patch attractive for applications where low antenna cost, size, and broad spherical coverage are important (e.g., GPS and Bluetooth).
Mathematical Creativity, Cohen Forcing, and Evolving Systems: Elements for a Case Study on Paul Cohen

The Evolving Systems approach to case studies due initially to Piaget-contemporary Howard Gruber, and complemented by subsequent work on sociocultural factors developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and others, provides an inroad for examining creative achievements in a variety of domains. This paper provides a proof of concept for how one might begin to explore questions about the creative development of Cohen forcing, a powerful technique in Set Theory and Mathematical Logic.
Addressing the Variability of Natural Language Expression in Sentence Similarity with Semantic Structure of the Sentences

In this paper, we present a new approach that incorporates semantic structure of sentences, in a form of verb-argument structure, to measure semantic similarity between sentences. The variability of natural language expression makes it difficult for existing text similarity measures to accurately identify semantically similar sentences since sentences conveying the same fact or concept may be composed lexically and syntactically different. Inversely, sentences which are lexically common may not necessarily convey the same meaning. This poses a significant impact on many text mining applications' performance where sentence-level judgment is involved. The evaluation has shown that, by processing sentence at its semantic level, the performance of similarity measures is significantly improved.
An algorithm to increase speech intelligibility for hearing-impaired listeners in novel segments of the same noise type

Machine learning algorithms to segregate speech from background noise hold considerable promise for alleviating limitations associated with hearing impairment. One of the most important considerations for implementing these algorithms into devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants involves their ability to generalize to conditions not employed during the training stage. A major challenge involves the generalization to novel noise segments. In the current study, sentences were segregated from multi-talker babble and from cafeteria noise using an algorithm that employs deep neural networks to estimate the ideal ratio mask. Importantly, the algorithm was trained on segments of noise and tested using entirely novel segments of the same nonstationary noise type. Substantial sentence-intelligibility benefit was observed for hearing-impaired listeners in both noise types, despite the use of unseen noise segments during the test stage. Interestingly, normal-hearing listeners displayed benefit in babble but not in cafeteria noise. This result highlights the importance of evaluating these algorithms not only in human subjects, but in members of the actual target population.
Experimental and theoretical study of dephasing processes in the kinetics of photoexcited carriers in GaN

The scattering and dephasing processes that accompany the initial photoexcitation of electron-hole pairs in the semiconductor GaN are studied by sub-picosecond time-resolved photoluminescence. The rise time of the carrier recombination at the band edge after excitation 750 meV above the band gap is analyzed as a function of initial photoexcited carrier density and sample temperature. To elucidate the findings, simulations were performed based on a two band model with a non-parabolic conduction band and using a generalized Monte-Carlo technique. Results showed a small dependence in the rise time on the initial carrier density but a strong dependence on the sample temperature, where simulation and experiment scaled proportionately. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)