cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Farm Mortgage Delinquencies and Foreclosures

To Life Insurance Companies farm mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures and general farm mortgage problems are an old story. Their farm mortgage investment experience goes back more than fifty years. The present era so far as this problem is concerned, however, may be said to date from the recovery from the depression of 1893. We are all familiar with the constantly rising land values and rather stable conditions that existed from 1896 to 1920. These constantly rising values during this period saved farm loan investors from problems of delinquencies and foreclosures, and reduced the problem for the insurance companies to one of acquisition of new mortgages and routine collections. During this period, if any borrower found himself in financial difficulties he was able to dispose of his farm, usually at a satisfactory profit, and in practically all cases at a price in excess of the first mortgage before the holder of the mortgage realized that the borrower was unable to carry his debt or pay it. This was the ideal period for the farm lender. The war years, from 1914 to 1920, were not so important from the strictly farm mortgage standpoint as they are often considered, particularly for life insurance companies. In the first place, the life insurance companies were placing a large percentage of their investment funds in Liberty Bonds; in the second place, we had the "flu" epidemic which reduced materially the volume of insurance company funds available for investment; in the third place, the exceedingly high land values made the life insurance companies cautious and reduced the volume that they were willing to put out until more stable conditions existed in the land market.
Translocal anti-fracking activism: an exploration of network structure and tie content

ABSTRACTIn order to develop conceptual models that reflect the realities of networked communicative processes scholars must examine both the underlying network structure and the content of these ties. Using mixed methods, I apply a relational perspective to the role of digital technologies in transnational organizing, using activism against high-volume hydraulic fracturing as a case study. In-depth interviews are combined with social network analysis of hyper-linkages between organizations supporting a day of action calling for a ban on fracking, Global Frackdown. Analysis shows that activism against unconventional fossil fuels brings together very localized concerns about environmental risks associated with extractive industries with more abstract global concerns. I apply the concept of translocal to examine environmental organizations and movements. This conceptual shift focuses on the brokerage role of global-minded local groups in mediating global issues back to the hyper-local scale. While internatio...
Lentinus adhaerens, a species new to North America.

(1986). Lentinus Adhaerens, a Species New to North America. Mycologia: Vol. 78, No. 2, pp. 296-298.
Benton Seymour Rabinovitch. 19 February 1919 — 2 August 2014

Benton Seymour Rabinovitch was one of the pioneers of chemical dynamics. His brilliant experiments performed during his four decades as a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Washington in Seattle provided most of our early quantitative measurements of the efficiency with which energy is transferred between molecules in gas-phase molecule–molecule collisions and in collisions of molecules with solid surfaces. More importantly, his work provided quantitative estimates of the rates with which vibrational energy deposited locally within a molecule is redistributed among the many vibrational modes within that molecule, proving that the equilibration of this vibrational energy among these modes almost always occurs in approximately one picosecond. He further showed that this validates (in most cases) the assumptions of Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM) theory. He also developed several widely used mathematical shortcuts for using RRKM theory to make important predictions about physical chemistry. These shortcuts greatly increased both the applications and impact of RRKM theory, so that it has become one of the most important theories of physical chemistry. It continues to guide much of our fundamental understanding of chemical dynamics and reaction kinetics even today. In addition to being a great scientist, Seymour Rabinovitch was a devoted husband and father. He raised four accomplished children, and later in life became an expert in the art of silversmithing, a writer of children9s books, and a philanthropist. His offspring are following beautifully in his footsteps in their kindness to fellow human beings, their excellence in scholarship, science and art, and in their energetic dedication to improving the world through teaching, research, service and philanthropy. The same can be said for his academic offspring as well.
Characterization of the particulate emissions from the BP Deepwater Horizon surface oil burns

Sampling of the smoke plumes from the BP Deepwater Horizon surface oil burns led to the unintentional collection of soot particles on the sail of an instrument-bearing, tethered aerostat. This first-ever plume sampling from oil burned at an actual spill provided an opportunistic sample from which to characterize the particles' chemical properties for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organic carbon, elemental carbon, metals, and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) and physical properties for size and nanostructure. Thermal-optical analyses indicated that the particulate matter was 93% carbon with 82% being refractory elemental carbon. PAHs accounted for roughly 68μg/g of the PM filter mass and 5mg/kg oil burned, much lower than earlier laboratory based studies. Microscopy indicated that the soot is distinct from more common soot by its aggregate size, primary particle size, and nanostructure. PM-bound metals were largely unremarkable but PCDD/PCDF formation was observed, contrary to other's findings. Levels of lighter PCDD/PCDF and PAH compounds were reduced compared to historical samples, possibly due to volatilization or photo-oxidation.
Bacterial Survival on Lean Beef and Bologna Wrapped With Cornstarch-Containing Polyethylene Film.

Cornstarch-containing plastic films could be used to package foods if the presence of cornstarch had no adverse effect on food safety. The survival of pathogenic bacteria on meat samples that had been wrapped with cornstarch-containing plastic film was evaluated. Cornstarch-containing polyethylene film and control polyethylene film were used to cover lean beef and bologna that had been inoculated with Salmonella typhimurium , Staphylococcus aureus , and Bacillus cereus . Additional samples were prepared in which inoculum was applied to the outer surface of plastic-covered meat. Samples were stored at 4 and 21°C. Bacterial recovery from meat samples indicated that survival was not enhanced by the presence of cornstarch. No migration through polyethylene film or cornstarch-containing polyethylene film into lean meat or bologna was observed. These results indicated that, from a microbiological viewpoint, cornstarch-containing polyethylene film could be successfully used to package foods.
Definition of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance and biological impacts

A review of the environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance phenomenon is presented. The term transgenerational is defined to clarify the distinction with direct exposure toxicity. The concept of germline epimutations mediating a transgenerational phenotype is discussed. The potential impact of environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance on our understanding of disease etiology and evolutionary biology molecular mechanisms is reviewed
Using airborne laser altimetry to determine fuel models for estimating fire behavior

Airborne laser altimetry provides an unprecedented view of the forest floor in timber fuel types and is a promising new tool for fuels assessments. It can be used to resolve two fuel models under closed canopies and may be effective for estimating coarse woody debris loads. A simple metric-obstacle density-provides the necessary quantification of fuel bed roughness to make these measures possible. This work highlights the need for more research in the application of laser technology to fuels mapping.
Comparison of Decompression With and Without Fusion for Patients With Synovial Facet Cysts.

Study Design:This is a retrospective study.Objective:To compare (1) recurrence of radiculopathy and (2) back pain after decompression with and without fusion for patients with a symptomatic synovial cyst.Background:Previous work described favorable outcomes following cyst excision with and without f
Abstract 303: CD44 Activation Protects Human Sclerotic-derived Valvular Interstitial Cells from Calcification

Introduction. The activation of Valvular Interstitial Cells (VIC) towards an osteoblast-like phenotype is a cellular hallmark of pathological progression towards Aortic Stenosis (AS). In recent years several clinical trials have failed to halt or revert the progression of this prevalent disease. The ability to prevent end-stage AS requires the understanding of the molecular events associated with the early phase of valve degeneration, a condition known as Aortic Sclerosis (ASc). In the last few years the transmembrane receptor CD44 has been studied as a putative molecule for cardiovascular drug therapy. We reported that the functional interaction between CD44 and one of its ligand, Osteopontin (OPN), protects vascular smooth muscle cells from calcification. More recently, we demonstrated that sclerotic tissues show increased expression of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (BMP4) and BMP4 directly stimulates osteoblast-like transdifferentiation and calcification of VICs. Therefore we hypothesized a direct role of CD44 activation in protecting human Aortic Sclerosis-derived VICs from calcification. Methods. Human VICs from Control, ASc, and AS (n=5 each group) were isolated. Histological, cellular and molecular analysis, and in situ Proximity Ligation Assay were used to investigate the role of CD44 and OPN in VIC calcification. BMP4 treatments were used to promote VIC activation. Osteoblast-like transdifferentiation was analyzed using Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) expression. Results. CD44 and OPN, as well as their functional binding, were increased in sclerotic and stenotic tissues compared to healthy controls in vitro and ex vivo. CD44-OPN binding prevented in vitro calcification induced by inorganic phosphate on human ASc-derived VICs. A neutralizing antibody against CD44, under BMP4 treatments, promoted calcium deposition along with increased expression of OPN and ALP. Conclusion. Our results generate an important insight into the molecular mechanism of VIC calcification. We proved that CD44-OPN direct interaction inhibits calcification of Aortic Sclerosis-derived VICs, suggesting that CD44 activation could have a protective role against VIC osteoblast-like transdifferentiation and calcification in the early stage of the disease.
Exploring deep learning based solutions in fine grained activity recognition in the wild

In this paper, we explore the usage of deep learning based solutions in fine grained activity recognition in the wild. As a powerful tool, deep learning has been widely used in image classification, object detection and activity recognition. We focus on implementing deep learning methods into the more complicated fine grained activity recognition problems. We test our solutions on MPII activity dataset with 410 activities. We find that due to the challenges of large intra class variances, small inter class variances, and limited training samples per activity, the classical two stream deep ConvNets method does not perform that well for fine grained activity recognition. Observing these issues, we propose a solution to directly use deep features learned from ImageNet in an SVM. In experiments, we achieve a 20 percent improvement compared to the classical two stream deep ConvNets solutions, on MPII fine grained activity challenge videos.
Integrating the Inner City: the promise and perils of mixed-income public housing transformation

Mixed-income redevelopment has been enthusiastically adopted in the United States and beyond as a promising cure-all for the physical decline and perceived social problems plaguing post-war public ...
Impact of fluorescence on the underwater polarized light field: comparison of theory and field measurements

We have examined, in earlier work, the relationship between naturally induced chlorophyll-a fluorescence and the underwater polarized oceanic light field. This shows the un-polarized fluorescence causes a reduction in the degree of polarization over the fluorescence spectral range. Theory shows that the peak of the reduction in polarization occurs at or near the fluorescence peak. Furthermore, it also shows that the magnitude of this reduction in degree of polarization can be related to both the magnitude of the fluorescence as well as the intensity of the underwater light field over the fluorescence spectral range. To examine this relationship in detail, a vector radiative transfer code (VRTE) for the coupled atmosphere-ocean system was employed for a variety of oligotrophic and eutrophic water conditions. The VRTE used measured inherent optical properties (IOPs) for these water conditions as inputs to simulate the complete elastic and inelastic components of the underwater light field, as well as the degree of linear polarization (DoLP) associated with it. These theoretical predictions were then compared with the results of DoLP measurements carried out using by our multiangular hyperspectral polarimeter. A comparison of the measured reduction in degree polarization of the underwater light field over the fluorescence spectral range, and the magnitude of the fluorescence causing it, confirmed the validity of our theoretical relationship, and the feasibility of determining the natural fluorescence existing in an underwater light field from polarization measurements.
Pornography Use and Depressive Symptoms: Examining the Role of Moral Incongruence:

While studies have consistently observed an association between pornography use and depressive symptoms, data limitations have precluded understanding the nature of this relationship. Drawing on da...
Against Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory (CRT) seeks to apply the negative dialectics of critical theory to the intersection of race, law, and power in the pursuit of racial and ethnic equality in Western society. That is to say, critical race theorists seek to convict Western society for not identifying with their values due to the prevalence of racial and ethnic oppression and subordination in the society. I argue here that this pursuit of racial emancipation and anti-subordination through the negative dialectics of critical theory by critical race theorists offers a false sense of racial difference which is convicting the values of the West for an alternative ontology and epistemology upon which to re-constitute its ideals in particular and society in general. I conclude that the postmodern/poststructural emphasis on the politics of the racial and ethnic physical bodies as offering an ontological and epistemological difference from the episteme of the West is baseless. The tenets of critical race theory are a reflection or inversion of the values and ideals of the West against themselves for their non-identification, and do not offer an oppositional alternative discourse from which to replace Western ontology and epistemology for its oppression and subordination against humanity and the earth. As such, I conclude that critical race theory is a conservative discourse that offers no real substantive solution to the crisis facing humanity and the earth in the face of the Protestant Ethic and spirit of capitalism9s exploitation and oppression. In fact, I want to go so far as to suggest that CRT prevents social change amidst the social and ecological devastation Western episteme has unleashed unto the world.
Beyond the trigger: The mental health consequences of in-home firearm access among children of gun owners.

Abstract Rationale The high prevalence of household firearms in the U.S. has ignited a growing body of research seeking to understand its health consequences. While a large number of studies examine the impact of firearm availability on health risks of gun owners in the household, relatively little attention is given to whether and how in-home firearm access may shape psychological outcomes among children of gun owners. Objective This study examined whether and how in-home firearm access is associated with adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Given a strong social/cultural association between masculinity and gun possession as well as stark gender differences in perceptions of safety and attitudes toward firearms, this study also investigated whether this association differs for male and female adolescents. Methods Participants were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) (n = 14,013). This study used random- and fixed-effects regression analyses as well as propensity-score matching models in order to reduce the chances of bias due to individual-level heterogeneity. Results The present study showed that gaining access to guns at home was significantly related to increased depressive symptoms among children of gun owners, even after accounting for both observed and unobserved individual characteristics. Both fixed-effects and propensity-score matching models yielded consistent results. In addition, the observed association between in-home firearm access and depression was more pronounced for female adolescents. Finally, this study found suggestive evidence that the perceptions of safety, especially about school (but not neighborhood), are an important mechanism linking in-home firearm access to adolescent depression. Conclusion As a substantial proportion of U.S. adolescents reported in-home firearm access, the findings of this study suggest that scholars and policymakers must seriously consider mental as well as physical health consequences related to household access to firearms among children of gun owners.
Unique Optical Properties of Methylammonium Lead Iodide Nanocrystals Below the Bulk Tetragonal-Orthorhombic Phase Transition

Methylammonium (MA) and formamidinium (FA) lead halides are widely studied for their potential as low-cost, high-performance optoelectronic materials. Here, we present measurements of visible and IR absorption, steady state, and time-resolved photoluminescence from 300 K to cryogenic temperatures. Whereas FAPbI3 nanocrystals (NCs) are found to behave in a very similar manner to reported bulk behavior, colloidal nanocrystals of MAPbI3 show a departure from the low-temperature optical behavior of the bulk material. Using photoluminescence, visible, and infrared absorption measurements, we demonstrate that unlike single crystals and polycrystalline films NCs of MAPbI3 do not undergo optical changes associated with the bulk tetragonal-to-orthorhombic phase transition, which occurs near 160 K. We find no evidence of frozen organic cation rotation to as low as 80 K or altered exciton binding energy to as low as 3 K in MAPbI3 NCs. Similar results are obtained in MAPbI3 NCs ranging from 20 to over 100 nm and in m...
Free Streamline Hydrodynamic Analogy for a Linear Elastic Antiplane Slot Problem with Perfectly Plastic Ligaments at Its Ends

It is shown that a two-dimensional analogy exists between an inviscid incompressible fluid flow around two finite-length flat plates (Riabouchinsky problem) and that of a straight slot cut in a linear elastic plate having rounded ends that are on the verge of yielding plastically. For the plates, a uniform flow at infinity is assumed in a direction perpendicular to the side-by-side parallel lines that constitute the two-dimensional geometry of the plates. Correspondingly, the slot has a boundary condition at infinity of a uniform shear traction in the antiplane direction. In the fluid flow problem, two free streamlines form at both ends of the flat plates, while in the slotted plate problem, the rounded ends of the traction-free slot surfaces constitute ligaments of perfectly plastic material. The specific shape of the rounded ends of the slot problem can be inferred by analogy with the fluid flow problem.
Rainfall Interception by Singleleaf Piñon and Utah Juniper: Implications for Stand-Level Effective Precipitation☆

The expansion of pinon and juniper trees into sagebrush steppe and the infilling of historic woodlands has caused a reduction in the cover and density of the understory vegetation. Water is the limiting factor in these systems; therefore, quantifying redistribution of water resources by tree species is critical to understanding the dynamics of these formerly sagebrush-dominated rangelands. Tree canopy interception may have a significant role in reducing the amount of rainfall that reaches the ground beneath the tree, thereby reducing the amount of available soil moisture. We measured canopy interception of rainfall by singleleaf pinon (Pinus monophylla Torr. & Frem.) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma [Torr.] Little) across a gradient of storm sizes. Simulated rainfall was used to quantify interception and effective precipitation during 130 rainfall events ranging in size from 2.2 to 25.9 mm hr-1 on 19 trees of each species. Effective precipitation was defined as the sum of throughfall and stemflow beneath tree canopies. Canopy interception averaged 44.6% (± 27.0%) with no significant difference between the two species. Tree allometrics including height, diameter at breast height, stump diameter, canopy area, live crown height, and width were measured and used as predictor variables. The best fit predictive model of effective precipitation under canopy was described by stump diameter and gross precipitation (R2 = 0.744, P < 0.0001). An alternative management model based on canopy area and gross precipitation predicted effective precipitation with similar accuracy (R2 = 0.741, P < 0.0001). Canopy area can be derived from various remote sensing techniques, allowing these results to be extrapolated to larger spatial scales to quantify the effect of increasing tree canopy cover on rainfall interception loss and potential implications for the water budget.
From the FEC to the Ballot Box: Voter Accountability for Campaign Finance Law Violations:

Scholarship suggests the Federal Election Commission lacks adequate enforcement tools to deter those who would violate campaign finance laws. But can and do voters hold political candidates account...
Quality assessment of radiometric calibration of UAV image mosaics

The use of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) based imaging in agriculture adds the ability to incorporate vast amounts of data into analyses designed to improve efficiency in the use of agricultural inputs. One reason this ability has not yet been realized is that producing UAV based radiometrically calibrated images for the purpose of ensuring data reliability is difficult at the large scale. This paper presents an investigation of field-based image-mosaic calibration procedures using a commercial off-the-shelf fixed-wing small UAV and a five-band multispectral sensor. To determine the quality of the radiometric calibration procedure for UAV image mosaics, images were also collected with an identical camera on a manned aircraft, and ground based radiometric calibration tarps were used to produce high-quality calibrated field images. Satellite images were also collected on the same day as the aircraft images in a two-hour flight window centered on solar noon. The manned aircraft and satellite images were large enough for a single image to cover the entire field. The multispectral camera used enables two kinds of exposure settings; auto exposure allows the camera to automatically select exposure and gain settings for each image in a flight, and manual exposure allows the user to select settings preflight which are used for all the images in that flight. In this work we compare the radiometrically calibrated UAV images, collected with both auto-exposure and manual-exposure methods, to the radiometrically calibrated single-frame image generated with the manned aircraft, as well as to a satellite image.
Less is more: Negative income shock increases immediate preference in cross commodity discounting and food demand.

Negative income shock, or the rapid reduction in financial stability, has previously been shown to increase impulsive choice for money and demand for fast food. The interplay of these conditions for obesity is called reinforcer pathology. The present work examines the impact of negative income shock on monetary and fast food discounting using a cross-commodity delay discounting task and on purchasing of fast food and an alternative commodity. An obese sample (n = 120) was recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and assigned to read one of two narratives: negative income shock (n = 60) or control (n = 60). Participants then completed both within- and cross-commodity discounting tasks of money and food, and purchase tasks for fast food and bottled water. The negative income shock group demonstrated greater impulsive choice across discounting tasks, as well as higher intensity of demand for fast food but not for a non-caloric control commodity (bottled water). These results suggest that negative income shock increases preference for immediate reinforcement regardless of commodity type (money or fast food), but has specific effects increasing demand for particular commodities (fast food but not an alternative). In a reinforcer pathology framework, negative income shock increasing discounting of the future while increasing demand for fast food specifically represents a high-risk state for negative health behavior in obesity.
The Irish Economic Resurgence and Small Nation Development

The success of the economy of the Republic of Ireland since the mid-1990s has prompted the characterization “The Celtic Tiger.” This paper describes the elements of the success and examines the strategic basis for it. Ireland's development strategy focused on building a consensus on fiscal and economic policy; capitalizing on membership in the European Union; promoting direct foreign investments with aggressive incentives; and cultivating a young and educated work force. Far from being a “miracle,” Ireland's success provides a model for economic development for small nations in a global economy. The authors examine and assess economic development efforts in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica in light of lessons learned from Ireland's experience.
A unified framework for multi-target tracking and collective activity recognition

We present a coherent, discriminative framework for simultaneously tracking multiple people and estimating their collective activities. Instead of treating the two problems separately, our model is grounded in the intuition that a strong correlation exists between a person's motion, their activity, and the motion and activities of other nearby people. Instead of directly linking the solutions to these two problems, we introduce a hierarchy of activity types that creates a natural progression that leads from a specific person's motion to the activity of the group as a whole. Our model is capable of jointly tracking multiple people, recognizing individual activities (atomic activities), the interactions between pairs of people (interaction activities), and finally the behavior of groups of people (collective activities). We also propose an algorithm for solving this otherwise intractable joint inference problem by combining belief propagation with a version of the branch and bound algorithm equipped with integer programming. Experimental results on challenging video datasets demonstrate our theoretical claims and indicate that our model achieves the best collective activity classification results to date.
Management of Traumatic Brain Injury in the Face of Antithrombotic Medication Therapy

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with both hypercoagulable and hypocoagulable states; however, the causes of each are still not well understood. These coagulopathies are further complicated by TBI patients who are injured while on antithrombotic medications. This chapter compiles data from the most recent peer-reviewed publications and drug references on the pathophysiology of coagulopathy in TBI patients, predictors of outcomes, the impact of preinjury antithrombotic medication use, reversal agents, monitoring parameters, and when to restart antithrombotic medications post-TBI. Direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and their impact on TBI management are discussed in detail.
The Trouble with Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Authoring Tools

There are many technical and design challenges in creating new, usable and useful AR/VR applications. In particular, non-technical designers and end-users are facing a lack of tools to quickly and easily prototype and test new AR/VR user experiences. We review and classify existing AR/VR authoring tools and characterize three primary issues with these tools based on our review and a case study. To address the issues, we discuss two new tools we designed with support for rapid prototyping of new AR/VR content and gesture-based interactions geared towards designers without technical knowledge in gesture recognition, 3D modeling, and programming.
On the Influence of Ideational Aspects in World Politics

This chapter presents the broader theoretical framework informing the book—social constructivism or, simply, constructivism—paving the way for the study of the influence of ideational aspects (the concept of peacebuilding) in world politics (UN support to societies emerging from conflict). It offers an account of the origins of constructivism in the field of International Relations (IR) and delves into a discussion of what constructivism generally is all about: a set of social theory tenets that provide helpful insights for the study of social relations in general and world politics in particular. Finally, the chapter elaborates on how social science theories may influence political outcomes in world politics and outlines the research framework that allows for a discussion on how the concept of peacebuilding gained life and its implications for the United Nations approach to societies affected by armed conflict.
The Role of Attachment Anxiety, Attachment Avoidance, and Grit on Life Satisfaction and Relationship Satisfaction:

The present study examined the role of attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and grit on life satisfaction and romantic relationship satisfaction. We recruited participants (n = 378, mean age =...
The effect of critical material prices on the competitiveness of clean energy technologies

Clean energy technologies are widely recognized as a part of the solution for a sustainable future. Unfortunately, these technologies often rely on materials that are considered critical because of their importance to the technology and their potential for supply disruptions, which often lead to drastic and unexpected price spikes. With many clean energy technologies still struggling to compete economically with incumbent technologies, it is uncertain if such material price changes could have a significant economic impact on overall clean energy technology costs. In this paper, we first estimate material intensity of critical materials for three case study clean energy technologies: proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets in direct drive wind turbines, and Li-ion batteries in battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Using these data, as well as material price information, we analyze technology-level costs under potential material price spike scenarios. By benchmarking against target costs at which each technology is expected to become economically competitive relative to incumbent energy systems, we evaluate the impact of price spikes on marketplace competitiveness. For the three case studies, technological costs could increase by between 13 and 41% if recent historical price events were to recur at current material intensities. By analyzing the economic impact of material price changes on technology-level costs, we demonstrate the need for stakeholders to push for various supply risk reduction measures, which are also summarized in this paper.
Effect of ethanol, glycerol, glucose and tartaric acid on the viscosity of model aqueous solutions and wine samples.

Abstract Viscosity is a property that exerts great influence on the body of wines, since it affects the sensation of thickness in the mouth. The present study refers to the quantitative correlation of the major components of wine, alcohol, reduced sugar, glycerol and total acidity, in its viscosity. Various model aqueous solutions consisting of these components were prepared and viscosity was measured at 20 °C. Each component was studied either alone or in mixtures with the others. Viscosity of white dry wines samples was also measured. From the experimental results, linear multi-dependence equations were derived, which correlate the viscosity with the concentration of the components of the solutions, each of them alone and in combination. Glucose was found to affect viscosity of model aqueous solutions the most, whereas ethanol had the least effect. The knowledge of these factors may have a practical value in optimizing wine’s body.
Minimax Regression via Adaptive Nearest Neighbor

In this paper, we investigate the convergence rate of k Nearest Neighbor (kNN) regression methods. We first derive the minimax bound for nonparametric regression under some general tail and smoothness assumptions. This bound shows that, when the distribution of features has heavy tails, there is a gap between this minimax bound and that can be achieved by the standard kNN methods where the same k is used for all query points. To close this gap, we propose an adaptive kNN method that selects smaller k when the query sample falls in the region with lower density, and vice versa. As the density function is unknown, we design a simple method to determine the value of k from training samples. Using this selection rule, we obtain a desirable tradeoff between bias and variance. Furthermore, we show that the convergence rate of our new regression method attains the minimax lower bound and hence is rate optimal when the underlying regression function is bounded. We further extend the analysis to the case with unbounded underlying regression functions and show that the proposed method significantly outperforms the standard kNN regression method in this case as well.
A Resonant Cockcroft-Walton Switched-Capacitor Converter Achieving Full ZCS and >10kW/inch 3 Power Density

Hybrid LC switched-capacitor converter architectures have demonstrated high power density while retaining efficiency at high conversion ratios. This work presents a resonant Cockcroft-Walton (CW) converter that achieves full zero-current switching (ZCS) on all switches using a single inductor and requiring only one current sensor. To do so, an N-phase clocking scheme is employed, eliminating the parallel paths that typically introduce transient shorting losses in a conventional 2-phase CW converter. The reduced voltage stress on the CW’s fly capacitors results in a dramatic reduction in volume when using common MLCC capacitors. A discrete 1:5 CW prototype using silicon FETs and a spiral trace inductor was assembled on two commonly available PCB processes: 0.8 mm FR4 with 2 oz. Cu, and 0.127 mm polyimide film with 0.75 oz. Cu. The latter achieved a peak efficiency of 95% and a maximum power density of 0.686 W/mm3 (11.2 kW/inch3) in a volume of 44.5 mm3 (0.00271 inch3), excluding level-shifting and clock generation circuits.
Parameterization of a drug molecule with a halogen σ-hole particle using ffTK: Implementation, testing, and comparison.

Halogen atoms are widely used in drug molecules to improve their binding affinity for the receptor proteins. Many of the examples involve “halogen bonding” between the molecule and the binding site, which is a directional interaction between a halogen atom and a nucleophilic atom. Such an interaction is induced by an electron cloud shift of the halogen atom toward its covalently bonded neighbor to form the σ-bond, leaving a small electrostatic positive region opposite to the bond called the “σ-hole.” To mimic the effect of the σ-hole in the CHARMM non-polarizable force field, recently CGenFF added a positively charged massless particle to halogen atoms, positioned at the opposite side of the carbon–halogen bond. This particle is referred to as a lone pair (LP) particle because it uses the lone pair implementation in the CHARMM force field. Here, we have added support for LP particles to ffTK, an automated force field parameterization toolkit widely distributed as a plugin to the molecular visualization software VMD. We demonstrate the updated optimization process using an example halogenated drug molecule, AT130, which is a capsid assembly modulator targeting the hepatitis B virus. Our results indicate that parameterization with the LP particle significantly improves the accuracy of the electrostatic response of the molecule, especially around the halogen atom. Although the inclusion of the LP particle does not produce a prominent effect on the interactions between the molecule and its target protein, the protein–ligand binding performance is greatly improved by optimization of the parameters.
Mormons in North America, Latin America, the South Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Asia: An Overview

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has experienced significant membership growth within the past century. Church membership reached one million in 1947, five million in 1982, 10 million in 1997, and 15 million in 2013. Although impressive on paper, only about one-third of Church-reported members regularly attend church services. Moreover, membership growth rates have dramatically slowed within the past three decades. Nevertheless, membership growth trends in the twenty-first century have significantly varied by region from rapid growth to stagnant growth or slight decline.
Spatially Resolving the Inner Disk of TW Hydrae

We present Keck Interferometer observations of TW Hya that spatially resolve its emission at 2 μm wavelength. Analyzing these data together with existing K-band veiling and near-infrared photometric measurements, we conclude that the inner disk consists of optically thin, submicron-sized dust extending from ~4 AU to within 0.06 AU of the central star. The inner disk edge may be magnetospherically truncated. Even if we account for the presence of gas in the inner disk, these small dust grains have survival times against radiation blowout that are orders of magnitude shorter than the age of the system, suggesting continual replenishment through collisions of larger bodies.
Comment on: Twelve tips for the integration of medical students into telemedicine visits.

Dear EditorWe read with great interest the article by Iancu et al. in which they discussed twelve tips that are useful for the integration of medical students into telemedicine visits (Iancu et al....
Influence of temperature and ASR on the critical current density in lithium-metal–ceramic cells

We show a systematic correlation between temperature, critical current density (CCD), and ASR. The ASR declines while the CCD increases with temperature. The behavior is consistent with a void nucleation model for cell failure. Void nucleation is driven by the cell voltage: a lower ASR reduces the voltage which helps to raise the critical current density. The voids are postulated to be precipitated by local concentrations of electrochemical currents which pull lithium into the electrolyte leaving behind a void in the lithium layer across from the interface. We also report on a possible method for reducing the non-uniformity of current flow across the interface by introducing a layer of silver at the interface. It has the effect of increasing the CCD to 3.5 mA cm−2 at elevated temperature.
Covalently linked hydrogen bond donors: The other side of molecular frustration in deep eutectic solvents.

In this work, we investigated the effects of a single covalent link between hydrogen bond donor species on the behavior of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and shed light on the resulting interactions at molecular scale that influence the overall physical nature of the DES system. We have compared sugar-based DES mixtures, 1:2 choline chloride/glucose [DES(g)] and 1:1 choline chloride/trehalose [DES(t)]. Trehalose is a disaccharide composed of two glucose units that are connected by an α-1,4-glycosidic bond, thus making it an ideal candidate for comparison with glucose containing DES(g). The differential scanning calorimetric analysis of these chemically close DES systems revealed significant difference in their phase transition behavior. The DES(g) exhibited a glass transition temperature of −58 °C and behaved like a fluid at higher temperatures, whereas DES(t) exhibited marginal phase change behavior at −11 °C and no change in the phase behavior at higher temperatures. The simulations revealed that the presence of the glycosidic bond between sugar units in DES(t) hindered free movement of sugar units in trehalose, thus reducing the number of interactions with choline chloride compared to free glucose molecules in DES(g). This was further confirmed using quantum theory of atoms in molecule analysis that involved determination of bond critical points (BCPs) using Laplacian of electron density. The analysis revealed a significantly higher number of BCPs between choline chloride and sugar in DES(g) compared to DES(t). The DES(g) exhibited a higher amount of charge transfer between the choline cation and sugar, and better interaction energy and enthalpy of formation compared to DES(t). This is a result of the ability of free glucose molecules to completely surround choline chloride in DES(g) and form a higher number of interactions. The entropy of formation for DES(t) was slightly higher than that for DES(g), which is a result of fewer interactions between trehalose and choline chloride. In summary, the presence of the glycosidic bond between the sugar units in trehalose limited their movement, thus resulting in fewer interactions with choline chloride. This limited movement in turn diminishes the ability of the hydrogen bond donor to disrupt the molecular packing within the lattice structure of the hydrogen bond acceptor (and vice versa), a crucial factor that lowers the melting point of DES mixtures. This inability to move due to the presence of the glycosidic bond in trehalose significantly influences the physical state of the DES(t) system, making it behave like a semi-solid material, whereas DES(g) behaves like a liquid material at room temperature.
Collaboration on Art Educators’ Perceptions of Required Professional Learning

In this action research study, we investigate the impact that social collaborative professional learning activities have on art educators’ perceptions of required professional development on art as...
Parametric design of nonlinear optimal filters

The design of optimal nonlinear filters for signal processing has involved mostly nonparametric estimation. This paper discusses the elements of parametric design for analog signal processing. It provides details for the class of conjunctive homothetic granulometric bandpass filters. These are nonlinear and their optimization in the signal-union-noise model for random sets can be completely characterized in terms of the granulometric size density induced by the granulometry from which the optimal filter is to be selected.
Deoxyribonucleic acid biosynthesis in mitochondria. Purification and general properties of rat liver mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase.

Abstract Deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase has been purified 3550-fold from rat liver mitochondria, which computes to 14,000-fold based on whole liver as the starting material. The enzyme is essentially free of deoxyribonuclease, phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase, deoxyguanosine triphosphatase, ribonuclease, nuclear DNA polymerase, and terminal nucleotidyltransferase activities. It is stable when stored at -125° or colder, but loses activity rapidly at higher temperatures and during incubation. All four deoxynucleoside triphosphates are required for activity, the pH optimum of the polymerization reaction is 8.0 to 9.0 in Tris buffer, and there is an absolute dependence on a divalent cation. Mn2+ partially substitutes for Mg2+, while Co2+ and Ca2+ are ineffective. Unlike most DNA polymerases, the enzyme is greatly stimulated by high ionic strength. The optimal salt concentration and degree of stimulation varies with the ion used; maximal activity is obtained at 0.15 m NaCl or KCl. The polymerase seems unable to synthesize polydeoxy-adenylate-thymidylate copolymer in the absence of primer, and cannot incorporate a ribonucleoside triphosphate into DNA in the presence of either Mg2+ or Mn2+. The enzyme possesses an absolute requirement for DNA which can be met by preparations from a variety of sources. The purified enzyme shows a preference for single stranded DNA; the degree of preference varies among DNA preparations and is markedly influenced by DNA concentration, salt concentration, and nuclease activity.
Interlanguage talk: What can breadth of knowledge features tell us about input and output differences?

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of breadth of knowledge lexical features in non native speakers' (NNS) input and output. Our primary interest is analyzing potential breadth of knowledge lexical differences in the output of NNSs when engaged in interlanguage talk (NNS NNS) and when engaged in naturalistic speech with a native speaker (NS). We are also interested in input differences for NNSs when engaged in interlanguage talk and when speaking with NSs To analyze these potential differences, we compare the linguistic features in spoken corpora taken from three dyads (NS NNS, NNS NS, NNS NNS) using the computational tool Coh Metrix. Our goal is to examine if lexical production differs as a function of interlocutor and examine if the findings have indications for interlanguage development. The results indicate that NNSs produce significantly greater lexical diversity and higher word frequency (i.e., more common words) in interlanguage dyads than in NNS NS dyads. No significant differences in available NNS input were found between NS NNS and NNS NNS dyads. These findings have important implications for the developmental role of interlanguage speech in lexical acquisition.
Comment on: Negative refractive index in artificial metamaterials

We dispute Grigorenko's statement [Opt. Lett. 31, 2483 (2006)] that measuring only the reflection intensity spectrum is sufficient for determining the effective refractive index. In addition, our simulations do not confirm his conclusions regarding the negative refractive index and the negative permeability of the nanopillar sample in the visible range.
Food is Good to Teach

AbstractThis article focuses on the teaching of culture through the lens of food. It discusses a course of food and culture, in which students considered various foodstuffs and traditions as means to explore various cultural areas, including subsistence and economic issues, gender and racial stratification, ethnic and nationalist identities, and more. Drawing on the results of an in-class survey and class discussions, the article highlights a wide range of ideas and beliefs as well as areas of emerging resistance to cultural diversity which became highly visible to the students because the topic of “food” seemed innocent and safe.
Complete Control Systems

In the previous chapter we discussed elementary control systems. These are, in general, the pieces and parts which can be fitted together to produce specific applications solutions.