cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Risk Assessment, Risk Management, and Fish Consumption Advisories in the United States

Abstract Differences among states in the procedures used to formulate fish consumption advisories and increased use of cancer-risk-based advisories are sources of confusion for fishery professionals and anglers. One of the most controversial aspects of fish consumption advisories is the accuracy of their estimates of risk. Unfortunately, our ability to detect trace concentrations of contaminants in the environment far surpasses our ability to accurately predict the effects of these contaminants on human health. Mathematical models are most frequently used to estimate the cancer risk of low levels of contaminants to humans. At best these models give a crude estimate of the health effects. Consequently, as fishery professionals, we must do a better job of informing anglers about these advisories. We can put the health risks involved in eating contaminated fish in perspective by comparing them with other types of risks. We can also inform anglers of various alternative behaviors that will decrease the health...
Zhuangzi: Closet Confucian?:

Confucius (aka Kongzi) and Zhuangzi are the two most famous thinkers in all of Chinese history, aside from Laozi, the Old Master. They occupy positions in the history of Chinese thinking roughly co...
Ablation of Neuropilin 1 in Myeloid Cells Exacerbates High-Fat Diet-Induced Insulin Resistance Through Nlrp3 Inflammasome In Vivo

Neuropilin 1 (Nrp1), a coreceptor for class 3 semaphorins and growth factors, is highly expressed in vascular cells and myeloid cells, including macrophages. Unlike well-characterized proangiogenic functions of endothelial cell Nrp1, the contributions of macrophage Nrp1 within the context of metabolic dysfunction remain to be established. The aim of this study was to determine the contributions of macrophage Nrp1 in high-fat diet (HFD)-instigated insulin resistance in vivo. Insulin sensitivity and Nlrp3 inflammasome activation were monitored in wild-type (WT) and myeloid cell-specific Nrp1 knockout (Nrp1myel-KO) mice fed an HFD (60% kcal) for 16 weeks. HFD-fed mice exhibited insulin resistance with reduced levels of Nrp1 in macrophages compared with chow-fed mice. Further, HFD-fed Nrp1myel-KO mice displayed accentuated insulin resistance, enhanced systemic inflammation, and dramatically increased Nlrp3 inflammasome priming and activation. Importantly, knockout of Nlrp3 ablated HFD-induced insulin resistance and inflammation in Nrp1myel-KO mice, indicating that Nrp1 reduction in macrophages instigates insulin resistance by increasing macrophage Nlrp3 inflammasome activation. Mechanistically, Nrp1 deletion activates the nuclear factor-κB pathway, which in turn accentuates the priming of Nlrp3, promotes Nlrp3-ASC inflammasome assembly, and results in the activation of Nlrp3. We conclude that the HFD-instigated Nrp1 reduction in macrophages exacerbates insulin resistance by promoting Nlrp3 inflammasome priming and activation.
Intraretinal Correlates of Reticular Pseudodrusen Revealed by Autofluorescence and En Face OCT.

Purpose We sought to determine whether information revealed from the reflectance, autofluorescence, and absorption properties of RPE cells situated posterior to reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) could provide insight into the origins and structure of RPD. Methods RPD were studied qualitatively by near-infrared fundus autofluorescence (NIR-AF), short-wavelength fundus autofluorescence (SW-AF), and infrared reflectance (IR-R) images, and the presentation was compared to horizontal and en face spectral domain optical coherence tomographic (SD-OCT) images. Images were acquired from 23 patients (39 eyes) diagnosed with RPD (mean age 80.7 ± 7.1 [SD]; 16 female; 4 Hispanics, 19 non-Hispanic whites). Results In SW-AF, NIR-AF, and IR-R images, fundus RPD were recognized as interlacing networks of small scale variations in IR-R and fluorescence (SW-AF, NIR-AF) intensities. Darkened foci of RPD colocalized in SW-AF and NIR-AF images, and in SD-OCT images corresponded to disturbances of the interdigitation (IZ) and ellipsoid (EZ) zones and to more pronounced hyperreflective lesions traversing photoreceptor-attributable bands in SD-OCT images. Qualitative assessment of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) revealed thinning as RPD extended radially from the outer to inner retina. In en face OCT, hyperreflective areas in the EZ band correlated topographically with hyporeflective foci at the level of the RPE. Conclusions The hyperreflective lesions corresponding to RPD in SD-OCT scans are likely indicative of degenerating photoreceptor cells. The darkened foci at positions of RPD in NIR-AF and en face OCT images indicate changes in the RPE monolayer with the reduced NIR-AF and en face OCT signal suggesting a reduction in melanin that could be accounted for by RPE thinning.
Hermann von Helmholtz: The Power of Ophthalmoscopy

Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894) invented the ophthalmoscope in 1850 while he was a professor teaching medical students about the path of light rays into and out of the eye. Before Helmholtz there was no method of visualizing the posterior pole of the eye in a living subject. His invention revolutionized ophthalmology and may have done more than any other to advance the field. It led to all other forms of endoscopy. Helmholtz was also a statesman and popularizer of science whose work cut across traditional disciplines. Additionally, he made important contributions to otology, physiology, physics and esthetics.
Composite Hydrogels Containing Bioactive Microreactors for Optical Enzymatic Lactate Sensing

Continuously monitoring specific biomarkers offer a promising method to interrogate disease status and progression. In this work we have demonstrated a composite hydrogel-based sensing platform that may be used for optical detection of lactate. The sensor design consists of microsized enzymatic sensors that are embedded in an outer hydrogel matrix. In these engineered microdomains, encapsulated lactate oxidase serves as the bioactive component, phosphorescent metalloporphyrin acts as the optical transducer, and polyelectrolyte multilayers coated on the enzymatic microsensors control the permeation of lactate into the microsensors. The response of the composite hydrogel-based lactate sensors was characterized by subjecting the sensors to lactate concentration challenges at low physiological oxygen levels. The analytical range and the mean sensitivity were determined to be 9.2 ± 0.83 mg/dL and 11 ± 0.90% dL mg–1, respectively. Repeated cyclic exposure to high levels of lactate revealed that these sensors we...
Mental Illness in the Workplace: An Interdisciplinary Review and Organizational Research Agenda

Given the prevalence of and consequences associated with mental illness in the workplace, we believe this review is both critical and timely for researchers and practitioners. This systematic revie...
Is It a Different World? Providing a Holistic Understanding of the Experiences and Perceptions of Non-Black Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

This qualitative study contributes an original holistic understanding of the perceptions and experiences of non-Black students (e.g., Asian American, Latino, and White) as they matriculate into his...
Among the Metavivors: Social Media and Illness Narratives of Stage IV Breast Cancer Patients

Dominant breast cancer narratives equate early detection and screening with “cure,” advocate for “awareness,” and identify women who undergo treatment for early stage disease as “survivors.” Left out of these narratives are the “metavivors”: women and men diagnosed with “incurable” metastatic breast cancer, also known as Stage IV. This article uses case studies to profile four women living with metastatic breast cancer who turn to social media to tell their stories: Sally, a former civil rights attorney turned breast cancer activist, who uses social media platforms to organize and mobilize Stage IV patients to advocate on their own behalf; Jane, who plows through databases of dense medical research to find treatments to save her own life; Jenny, a young mother dying of metastatic breast cancer who shares her experiences on a YouTube channel; and Grace, who participates in an early-stage clinical trial that she believes “cured” her, a term eschewed by both the medical establishment and fellow metavivors.
Exploring Multivariate Modality by Unsupervised Mixture of Cubic B-Splines in 1-D Using Model Selection Criteria

This paper proposes and considers a new distribution-free technique based on the work of Atilgan and Bozdogan (1990, 1992) to explore multivariate modality of a given multivariate data set using an unsupervised mixture of cubic B-Spline in density estimation in one dimensional spece. In the multivariate case, this is achieved by utilizing the Mahalanobis (1936) distance of each point from the multivariate mean (centroid), Mahalanobis distance data depth (MDD), jackknife Mahalanobis distance data depth (JMDD), principal components (PC) transformation, and common PC transformation. Analysis is carried out under the assumption that we do not know a priori of the classification or the grouping of the data. These dimension reduction techniques result in a better description of the shape of the underlying distribution which has many attractive properties. The EM algorithm is developed for the mixture of cubic B-splines in an interactive symbolic computational environment to obtain the maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters and to evaluate model selection criteria such as AIC (Akaike, 1973), CAIC (Bozdogan, 1987), and ICOMP (Bozdogan 1988,1990, 1993, 1994) in objectively detecting the modality of the data and in density estimation to determine the most parsimonious fit. A real numerical example is shown with multivariate data set with a known number of mixture clusters and configurations to illustrate the versatility and efficiency of the proposed approach in detecting the multimodality and the density concentration points (clusters) of multivariate data with a high degree of accuracy in univariate space.
Teichmüller Space, Dynamics, Probability

There are two rather separate sections to this paper. In the first part we indicate how the geometry of Teichmuller space and moduli space can be used to study the dynamics of rational billiards and more generally the dynamics of foliations defined by flat structures or quadratic differentials. In the second part of the paper we study random walks on the mapping class group of a surface and on Teichmuller space and show how the sphere of foliations defined by Thurston can be realized as the boundary of the random walks.
Cooperative Data Exchange in Broadcast Networks

Abstract Network coding is a new discipline that encompasses a broad range of information processing techniques beyond traditional channel coding. Initially, network coding was proposed as a way to maximize the network throughput by combining packets that belong to different flows. Over the last two decades, many novel network coding techniques have been proposed for wireless and wireline networks as well as for distributed storage settings. It was shown that network coding can significantly improve the performance, robustness, and security of communication networks and storage systems. The chapter discusses the applications of network coding for efficient data exchange in one-hop wireless networks, focusing on the cooperative data exchange (CDE) problem and its variations. An instance of the CDE problem includes a set of wireless clients and a set of information messages such that each client initially holds a subset of the messages in the set. The clients use a shared lossless broadcast channel to exchange coded combinations of the messages they hold. The goal is to enable every client to recover all missing messages while minimizing the overall number of transmissions. This problem arises naturally in many practical settings, including synchronization of the local databases and file systems, gathering data from correlated sources in sensor networks, and replicating data to increase reliability. We begin by presenting a randomized algorithm for Problem CDE and analyzing its correctness and performance. Next, we discuss coding schemes that can tolerate a limited number of client failures. Resilience to failures is achieved by proactively adding redundant transmissions that ensure that all valid clients are able to receive all messages in any failure scenario. Because the problem of designing a failure-resilient coding scheme that minimizes the total number of transmissions is intractable, we present an approximation algorithm with provable performance guarantees. Finally, we consider settings in which the data exchange is performed in the presence of a wiretapper whose goal is to obtain information about the original message set.
Developmental and epigenetic effects of Roundup and glyphosate exposure on Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Abstract Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides are the most commonly used herbicides in the world, yet their effects on developing fish embryos are not clearly understood. The present study, therefore, examined developmental teratogenic effects and adult-onset reproductive effects of exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of glyphosate and Roundup in Japanese medaka fish (Oryzias latipes). Hd-rR strain medaka embryos were exposed to 0.5 mg/L glyphosate, 0.5 mg/L and 5 mg/L Roundup (glyphosate acid equivalent) for the first 15 days of their embryonic life and then allowed to sexually mature without further exposure. Whole body tissue samples were collected at 15 days post fertilization (dpf) and brain and gonad samples were collected in mature adults. Hatching success and phenotypic abnormalities were recorded up until 15 dpf. Roundup (0.5 mg/L) and glyphosate decreased cumulative hatching success, while glyphosate exposure increased developmental abnormalities in medaka fry. Expression of the maintenance DNA methyltransferase gene Dnmt1 decreased, whereas expression of methylcytosine dioxygenase genes (Tet1, Tet2 and Tet3) increased in fry at 15 dpf suggesting that epigenetic alterations increased global DNA demethylation in the developing fry. Fecundity and fertilization efficiency were not altered due to exposure. Among the reproduction-related genes in the brain, kisspeptin receptor (Gpr54-1) expression was significantly reduced in females exposed to 0.5 mg/L and 5 mg/L Roundup, and Gpr54-2 was reduced in the 0.5 mg/L Roundup treatment group. No change in expression of these genes was observed in the male brain. In the testes, expression of Fshr and Arα was significantly reduced in medaka exposed to 0.5 mg/L Roundup and glyphosate, while the expression of Dmrt1 and Dnmt1 was reduced in medaka exposed to 0.5 mg/L glyphosate. No change in expression of these genes was observed in the ovaries. The present study demonstrates that Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate can induce developmental, reproductive, and epigenetic effects in fish; suggesting that ecological species, mainly fish, could be at risk for endocrine disruption in glyphosate and Roundup-contaminated water bodies.
Physical Examination Skills Among Chief Residents in Psychiatry: Practices, Attitudes, and Self-Perceived Knowledge

The authors investigated the attitudes, self-perceived competence, and the need for a dedicated curriculum on physical examination skills among chief residents in psychiatry. A voluntary 28-item web-based questionnaire was distributed to psychiatry chief residents in the USA between January 2019 and February 2019. Of 181 chief residents, 79 (response rate, 44%) completed the online survey. The majority of chief residents want to improve their physical exam skills (64%) and believe that there should be a targeted curriculum aimed at incorporating these skills into everyday psychiatric practice (63%). However, most (57%) chief residents reported that they only conduct physical exams on a few selected patients (< 25% of the time) and almost half (48%) last used a stethoscope a year ago, if not longer. Self-perceived competence and comfort level with neurology-related exam findings was especially low: only 35% could identify discrepant neurological findings and 33% elicit Hoover’s sign of leg paresis. A significant majority (86%) believed that performing a physical exam would not interfere with the therapeutic relationship. Although chief residents in psychiatry believe that developing competence in physical examinations is important to their education, the current educational landscape does not support the development of these skills. Future educational strategies should focus on addressing this need.
Radiation resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: dire need for an appropriate sensitizer

Radiation is a significant treatment for patients with head and neck cancer. Despite advances to improve treatment, many tumors acquire radiation resistance resulting in poor survival. Radiation kills cancer cells by inducing DNA double-strand breaks. Therefore, radiation resistance is enhanced by efficient repair of damaged DNA. Head and neck cancers overexpress EGFR and have a high frequency of p53 mutations, both of which enhance DNA repair. This review discusses the clinical criteria for radiation resistance in patients with head and neck cancer and summarizes how cancer cells evade radiation-mediated apoptosis by p53- and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mediated DNA repair. In addition, we explore the role of cancer stem cells in promoting radiation resistance, and how the abscopal effect provides rationale for combination strategies with immunotherapy.
The sonic episteme: acoustic resonance, neoliberalism, and biopolitics: by Robin James. Duke University Press: Durham and London, 2019, 245 pages, $26.95(PB), 978-1-4780-0664-0

In his account of key representational ruptures across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, German media theorist Friedrich Kittler noted the transition from Old European music’s notation system...
A comparison of weed, pathogen and insect pests between low tunnel and open-field grown strawberries in New York

Abstract While growing strawberries under plastic low tunnels is an increasing trend in the northeastern U.S., the effect of low tunnels on the incidence and severity of arthropod pests, pathogens, and weeds is largely unknown and presents a possible barrier to commercial adoption. During 2018 and 2019, we identified and quantified pest abundance on low tunnel versus open field grown strawberries at a research site in Geneva, New York, and compared these trends under three plastic types in 2019. Overall, we found that while yield and fruit marketability increased under tunnels of all plastic types compared to the open-field, ground-dwelling and foliar herbivores (mostly Tetranychus urticae) abundance was higher under low tunnels compared to open plots. In contrast, herbivores caught on clear sticky cards were more prevalent in open plots than under tunnels. A neutral effect of tunnels was present for Lygus lineolaris density and weed biomass during both years, although damage by L. lineolaris decreased under UV-limiting plastics. Tunnels also reduced infestation by Drosophila suzukii and several pathogens on foliage and fruit. This study provides needed information on pest communities of low tunnel strawberry in the Northeast, and could be used as an essential foundation for future IPM research.
1H-HYSCORE Reveals Structural Details at the Fe(II) Active Site of Taurine:2-Oxoglutarate Dioxygenase

Proton Hyperfine Sublevel Correlation (1H-HYSCORE) experiments have been used to probe the ligation structure of the Fe(II) active site of taurine:2-oxoglutarate dioxygenase (TauD), a non-heme Fe(II) hydroxylase. To facilitate Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) experiments, Fe(II) derivatives of the enzyme were studied using nitric oxide as a substitute for molecular oxygen. The addition of NO to the enzyme yields an S = 3/2 {FeNO}7 paramagnetic center characterized by nearly axial EPR spectra with g⊥ = 4 and g||= 2. Using results from (i) an X-ray crystallographic study of TauD crystallized under anaerobic conditions in the presence of both cosubstrate 2-oxoglutarate and substrate taurine, (ii) a published theoretical description of the {FeNO}7 derivative of this form of the enzyme, and (iii) previous 2H-Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation (ESEEM) studies, we were able to assign the proton cross peaks detected in orientation-selected 1H-HYSCORE spectra. Discrete contributions from the protons of two coordinated histidine ligands were resolved. If substrate taurine is absent from the complex, orientation-selective HYSCORE spectra show cross peaks that are less resolved and when combined with information obtained from continuous wave EPR, support an alternate binding scheme for 2-oxoglutarate. HYSCORE studies of TauD in the absence of 2-oxoglutarate show additional 1H cross peaks that can be assigned to two distinct bound water molecules. In addition, 1H and 14N cross peaks that arise from the coordinated histidine side chains show a change in NO coordination for this species. For all of the TauD species, 1H hyperfine couplings and their orientations are sensitive to the detailed electronic structure of the {FeNO}7 center.
Students' Perceptions of the Value of Learning the Skill Sets of a DNP-Prepared Nurse: An Exploratory Study

Background Students enter doctor of nursing practice (DNP) programs with varying interests and professional experiences. Little is known about how this impacts learning. Objective To explore if differences existed in students' perceptions of task values related to learning the skill sets of a DNP-prepared nurse. Methods Students were sent a link to a 17-item electronic survey consisting of demographic questions and nine statements based on competencies as outlined in The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2006). Students ranked the statements in order of perceived value of performing after program completion. Results Mean rankings of task values demonstrated the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) group (n = 32) identified the most valuable skill as "suggest an evidence-based change in professional practice based on the findings of published research articles and professional practice experience." The non-APRN group (n = 10) reported "work collaboratively with other non-nursing healthcare professionals to improve patient and population health outcomes." Conclusions Students' perceptions of the value of learning the skill sets vary amongst APRNs and non-APRNs, and are shaped by past professional experiences and future role demands. Implications for nursing Findings provide faculty with knowledge that can be used to tailor teaching and engagement strategies.
Improved Training of Sparse Coding Variational Autoencoder via Weight Normalization.

Learning a generative model of visual information with sparse and compositional features has been a challenge for both theoretical neuroscience and machine learning communities. Sparse coding models have achieved great success in explaining the receptive fields of mammalian primary visual cortex with sparsely activated latent representation. In this paper, we focus on a recently proposed model, sparse coding variational autoencoder (SVAE) (Barello et al., 2018), and show that the end-to-end training scheme of SVAE leads to a large group of decoding filters not fully optimized with noise-like receptive fields. We propose a few heuristics to improve the training of SVAE and show that a unit $L_2$ norm constraint on the decoder is critical to produce sparse coding filters. Such normalization can be considered as local lateral inhibition in the cortex. We verify this claim empirically on both natural image patches and MNIST dataset and show that projection of the filters onto unit norm drastically increases the number of active filters. Our results highlight the importance of weight normalization for learning sparse representation from data and suggest a new way of reducing the number of inactive latent components in VAE learning.
Profiles of Elementary Teachers’ Use of Mathematics Curriculum Materials and the Influence of Teacher Expertise

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has consistently emphasized the importance of curricular coherence in mathematics education. However, the predominance of the Internet has led to a lack of consistency in the use and quality of curricular materials. We drew on teachers’ self-report of their use of curriculum materials and conducted a Latent Class Analysis to examine patterns in 56 elementary teachers’ selection, use, and perceptions of materials for teaching mathematics, including the role that teacher expertise may play in these patterns. Findings indicated that the most salient difference between classes was at least one digital resource reported—the Blended class—and no digital resources reported—the Non-Digital class. Teacher expertise was not a significant covariate. Future research should examine the role of policies on teachers’ curricular decisions. Implications include how specialist programs may support positive patterns of curriculum selection and use.
Maternal and Fetal Outcomes in Women with Brain Arteriovenous Malformation Rupture during Pregnancy.

Background: Sporadic brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVM) are a major cause of hemorrhagic stroke in younger persons. Prior studies have reported contradictory results regarding the risk of hemorrhage during pregnancy, and there are no standard guidelines for the management of pregnant women who present with BAVM rupture. The purpose of this study is to describe maternal and fetal outcomes and treatment strategies in patients with BAVM hemorrhage during pregnancy. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of the University of California, San Francisco Brain AVM Project database for female patients who were pregnant at the time of BAVM hemorrhage between 2000 and 2017. Clinical and angiographic characteristics at presentation, BAVM treatment, and maternal outcomes using modified Rankin scale (mRS) score at presentation and 2-year follow-up were recorded. Fetal outcomes were abstracted from medical records and maternal reports. Results: Sixteen patients presented with BAVM hemorrhage during pregnancy, 81% ( n = 13) of whom were in their second or third trimester. Three patients (19%) who were in their first trimester terminated or miscarried pregnancy prior to BAVM intervention. Of the remaining 13 patients, 77% ( n = 10) received emergent BAVM treatment at time of hemorrhage prior to delivery, and 85% of patients achieved BAVM obliteration and good maternal outcomes (mRS 0–2) at 2-year follow-up. All patients had uncomplicated deliveries (69% cesarean and 23% vaginal) with no reports of postnatal cognitive or developmental delays in infants at 2-year follow-up. Conclusions: Our study shows good long-term maternal and fetal outcomes in ruptured BAVM patients presenting during pregnancy, the majority who received BAVM interventional treatment prior to delivery.
Thin film retinomorphic sensors

While there have been many impressive demonstrations of neuromorphic computation in recent years, input stimuli provided to this hardware generally still take a form designed for von Neumann processors. For example, in a CCD detector an array of pixels is sampled at fixed intervals in time. Here we have taken inspiration from the human retina and demonstrated an event-driven sensor which pre-processes optical signals by design. Using a thin film semiconductor as one dielectric layer of a bilayer capacitor, we demonstrate a device which changes its capacitance under illumination. When in series with a resistor, and a constant bias is applied across this device, the voltage dropped across the resistor will spike temporarily as the capacitor (dis)changes, before returning to its equilibrium value. The result is a sensor which spikes in response to changes in illumination, but otherwise outputs zero voltage. This design hence inherently filters out non-pertinent information such as static images, providing a voltage only in response to movement. Using a simple model based on Kirchhoff’s Laws, we are able to parameterize this device and accurately reproduce its behavior in simulations. It is hoped that this work represents the first step towards a paradigm shift for the design of sensing systems for neuromorphic computation, and artificial intelligence in general.
Longterm Stability of Solidified Waste as Determined by Physical and Morphological Parameters

Three soil materials contaminated with oil, grease, PCB’s and metals were stabilized by batch-mixing with portland cement and proprietary additives. Evaluation of this process included attention to physical properties and features visible to the eye and several levels of magnification. Intact cylindrical samples were examined by X-ray photography, compressional wave velocity, and petrographic methods; and subjected to strength and permeability tests. The treated wastes had satisfactory strength, resistance to weathering forces, and very low permeability. Waste components were uniformly distributed through the solidified mass. Stability of large masses of solidified waste was evaluated by examination of blocks about 1-meter in all dimensions.
Delaware’s Public Benefit Corporations: Comparative Analysis and Fiduciary Duties

The Delaware Court of Chancery asserted in eBay Domestic Holdings v. Newmark that all activities of a for-profit Delaware corporation must seek to maximize the economic value for its stockholders. While the requirement to maximize stockholder value bolsters investors’ confidence in Delaware corporations, it also limits the abilities of corporations to pursue activities that are conducted for a public benefit. The continued expansion of socially-responsible investing demonstrates that investors are willing to balance maximized stockholder value with corporate environmental stewardship, improved labor conditions, and the pursuit of myriad causes. Delaware recently became the nineteenth state to enact legislation authorizing the creation of public benefit corporations. A public benefit corporation (PBC) is a for-profit corporation with a tri-partite interest-balancing scheme that allows the corporation to pursue activities for public benefit in addition to its profit-maximizing goals. PBC status increases investment by strengthening investors’ confidence through transparency and regulation, as well as by allowing the incorporation of organizations that were previously prohibited from pursuing public-benefit activities as a for-profit corporation. Though Delaware joins such corporate strongholds as New York, Pennsylvania, and California in codifying PBCs, the implementation in Delaware is transformational. The enactment of PBCs, their success, and the eventual development of decisional PBC law in Delaware, the incorporation capital of the world, will chart the path for public benefit corporations nationally. Part II of this note explains public benefit corporations, their purpose and objectives, and their impact. Part III examines the implementation of PBCs in Delaware, and in particular, how Delaware’s PBC fiduciary-duty provisions differ from those in the model act and in other states. Since PBCs in Delaware are still in their infancy and decisional law is still undeveloped, Part IV explores how the fiduciary-duty provisions are likely to be interpreted in light of existing Delaware corporate law and other relevant authorities.
Identification of artistic materials in paintings and drawings by Raman spectroscopy: some challenges and future outlook

The aim of the present article is to highlight publications that illustrate some advances in the application of Raman spectroscopy to investigate materials typically observed in manuscripts, drawings, prints, and paintings in museums' and cultural institutions' collections, and to discuss some of the challenges and future prospects. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Visceral fungal infections due to Petriellidium boydii (Allescheria boydii). In vitro drug sensitivity studies.

Abstract Four patients with visceral infections due to the fungus Petriellidium boydii, who were recently hospitalized in our institutions, are described. Three of the patients were compromised hosts; in the fourth patient, infection occurred after trauma. All had received prior steroid and antibiotic therapy. Studies of patients with mycetoma or secondary infection of a pulmonary cavity due to this organism and of patients with visceral infections are reviewed. Because of histologic similarities to Aspergillus species, infections due to P. boydii may have been misdiagnosed in the past if the infecting fungus was not isolated in culture. The fungus has been shown to be resistant in vitro to currently available antifungal agents. Resistance to amphotericin and 5-fluorocytosine is demonstrated in our studies. There are few reports of successful chemotherapy of any manifestation of this infection, and no such reports of visceral disease. We demonstrate in vitro sensitivity of isolates in our cases and in others to miconazole, a new antimicrobial agent; this drug may be indicated for treatment of disease due to P. boydii.
Complex Modelling Constructs in MODEL-ECS

MODEL-ECS is a graphically based executable conceptual modelling language, that is suitable for operationalising the Problem Solving Methods (PSMs) modelled using the Knowledge Analysis and Design Support (KADS) methodology. The main contribution of this paper is in the development of all the necessary constructs for modelling executable Problem Solving Methods (PSMs). These constructs include: the conditional construct; the while loop; the repeat loop; the case construct, and the for construct. Knowledge passing between Knowledge Sources in a PSM is achieved using coreference links, and line of identity. The advantage of using MODEL-ECS comes from the expressibility provided by Conceptual Graphs, and the executability (thus rapid prototyping) that is provided by the Executable Conceptual Structures. With these capabilities, MODEL-ECS can be used not only for knowledge modelling, but also for visual programming.
Operational Experiences of the Spallation Neutron Source Superconducting Linac and Power Ramp Up

The spallation neutron source (SNS) is a second generation pulsed neutron source and designed to provide a 1-GeV, 1.44-MW proton beam to a mercury target for neutron production. Since the commissioning of the accelerator complex in 2006, the SNS has started its operation for neutron production and beam power ramp-up has been in progress toward the design goal. All subsystems of the SNS were designed and developed for substantial improvements compared to existing accelerators because the design beam power is almost an order of magnitude higher compared to existing neutron facilities and the achievable neutron scattering performance will exceed present sources by more than a factor of 20 to 100. In this paper, the operational experiences with the SNS Superconducting Linac (SCL), Power Ramp-up Plan to reach the design goal and the Power Upgrade Plan (PUP) will be presented including machine, subsystem and beam related issues.
Coupled layerwise analysis of thermopiezoelectric composite beams

Previously developed discrete layer mechanics are extended to incorporate thermal effects to account for the complete coupled mechanical, electrical, and thermal response of piezoelectric composite beams. Thermal effects in both the elastic and piezoelectric media are captured at the material level. This unified representation leads to an inherent capability to model both the sensory and active responses of piezoelectric composite beams in thermal environments. Finite element equations are developed and implemented for a beam element with linear shape functions. Results from the current formulation are compared with results from a conventional thermoelastic finite element analysis and classical beam theory. Additional numerical studies demonstrate capabilities of the current formulation to predict the thermal deformation of composite beams, as well as the active compensation of these thermal deformations using piezoelectric structures. The corresponding sensory response and the resultant stress state in the piezoelectric composite beam are also presented. [Amn], [Bmn], [Dmn] b [C] {D} [d] {E} [Emn] [e] {F}
Gigahertz Electron Spin Manipulation Using Voltage-Controlled g-Tensor Modulation

We present a scheme that enables gigahertz-bandwidth three-dimensional control of electron spins in a semiconductor heterostructure with the use of a single voltage signal. Microwave modulation of the Lande g tensor produces frequency-modulated electron spin precession. Driving at the Larmor frequency results in g-tensor modulation resonance, which is functionally equivalent to electron spin resonance but without the use of time-dependent magnetic fields. These results provide proof of the concept that quantum spin information can be locally manipulated with the use of high-speed electrical circuits.
Economics: Rational Action or Social Science? Marshall vs. Edgeworth in re ‘The Social Question’

This paper uses Alfred Marshall’s treatment of wants and activities and Francis Edgeworth’s treatment of utilitarian redistribution to re-examine what since the 19th century has been described as “the social question.” This comparative examination is prefaced by a distinction between economics construed as a science of rational action and economics construed as a genuine social science. This distinction provides background for the subsequent comparison between an economics centered on wants and an economics centered on activities, with Edgeworth serving as an exemplar of the former and Marshall an exemplar of the latter. The Edgeworthian orientation approaches the social question through leveling, and also supports a purely formal approach to welfare economics. The Marshallian orientation approaches the social question through raising, and also supports a substantive approach to welfare economics.
Comment on “Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines”

Leslie et al. (Reports, 16 January 2015, p. 262) concluded that “expectations of brilliance” explained the gender makeup of academic disciplines. We reestimated their models after adding measures of disaggregated Graduate Record Examination scores by field. Our results indicated that female representation among Ph.D. recipients is associated with the field’s mathematical content and that faculty beliefs about innate ability were irrelevant.
Changes in meat and poultry nutrition labeling regulations: Implications for nutrition educators

Abstract In January 1993 the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a rule requiring nutrition labels on most consumer-sized packages of processed meat and poultry products and permitting voluntary labels on most consumer-sized packages of fresh products. To provide the information that FSIS needed to make specific policy decisions, the authors conducted focus groups to explore whether consumers draw inferences about the nutritional value of products based on label presence alone, whether consumers prefer nutrition information for products in their raw or cooked form, and consumers' attitudes towards uniform descriptors like “low fat” and “lean.” The focus groups suggest that consumers often do infer that a product with a nutrition label is healthier than one without. Most consumers seem to prefer nutrition labeling on foods in their raw form, but many prefer the alternative — their cooked form. In addition, consumers like the idea of uniform descriptors, but find descriptors ambiguous and confusing. As consumers respond to new nutrition labeling requirements, nutrition educators should prepare to study, understand, and modify consumers' nutrition label use.
Conjugate gradient and approximate Newton methods for an optimal probabilistic neural network for food color classification

The probabilistic neural network (PNN) is based on the esti- mation of the probability density functions. The estimation of these den- sity functions uses smoothing parameters that represent the width of the activation functions. A two-step numerical procedure is developed for the optimization of the smoothing parameters of the PNN: a rough optimiza- tion by the conjugate gradient method and a fine optimization by the approximate Newton method. The thrust is to compare the classification performances of the improved PNN and the standard back-propagation neural network (BPNN). Comparisons are performed on a food quality problem: french fry classification into three different color classes (light, normal, and dark). The optimized PNN correctly classifies 96.19% of the test data, whereas the BPNN classifies only 93.27% of the same data. Moreover, the PNN is more stable than the BPNN with regard to the random initialization. The optimized PNN requires 1464 s for training compared to only 71 s required by the BPNN. © 1998 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. (S0091-3286(98)01711-5)
Aspects of the demetalation and remetalation of ceruloplasmin

Abstract This study dealt with the demetalation and remetalation chemistry of the copper-containing protein ceruloplasmin. For the enzyme from human plasma, dialysis against cyanide at 4°C readily removed copper. Although the apoprotein took up copper(I) at the same temperature, the characteristic blue color of the native protein did not return to any significant extent. However, excellent reconstitution occurred when we added copper(I) at room temperature. With porcine ceruloplasmin, it was more practical to carry out the copper removal step at room temperature, but the reconstitution went smoothly at 4°C. With either source of ceruloplasmin, the binding of the six essential copper ions was generally a highly cooperative process, but the results were different when we combined the apoprotein with Hg(II). After the protein took up 2 mercury ions, it would take up only 1–2 more metal ions even after exposure to a large excess of copper(I). In order to accomodate the various experimental results, we have proposed that a reversible conformational change must occur during the demetalation and remetalation processes. During the remetalation process, it is therefore important that metal uptake occurs in the proper sequence.
Cuticle sclerotization by the American cockroach: Immunological evidence for the incorporation of blood proteins into the cuticle

Abstract Partially purified proteins from the cuticle of the American cockroach were injected into mature rabbits. Immunodiffusion techniques using the rabbit antibody show that there are at least two cockroach blood proteins which are antigenically similar to the cuticle protein. These blood proteins appear to be present throughout the life of the insect but preliminary results indicate that a higher concentration occurs during the inter-ecdysial stage. The significance of these findings in regard to cuticle synthesis and protein aggregation are discussed.
Calcium deficiency in fluoride-treated osteoporotic patients despite calcium supplementation

To test the hypothesis that the osteogenic response to fluoride can increase the skeletal requirement for calcium, resulting in a general state of calcium deficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism, we assessed calcium deficiency, spinal bone density, by quantitative computed tomography, and serum PTH in three groups of osteoporotic subjects. Two of the three groups had been treated with fluoride and calcium (at least 1500 mg/day) for 32 +/- 19 months. Group 1 consisted of 16 fluoride-treated subjects who had shown rapid increases in spinal bone density (+ 3.8 +/- 2.6 mg/cm2 month), group II consisted of 10 fluoride-treated subjects who had shown decreases or only slow increases in spinal bone density (-0.05 +/- 0.6 mg/cm3 month), and group III consisted of 10 age-matched untreated osteoporotic controls. Calcium deficiency was assessed by measurement of calcium retention after calcium infusion. The results of our studies showed that 1) 94% of the subjects in Group I were calcium deficient compared with only 30% in groups II and III (P < 0.01 for each); 2) the subjects in group I retained more calcium (79%) than the subjects in group II (60%, P < 0.001) or the subjects in group III (64%, P < 0.005); 3) calcium retention was proportional to serum PTH (r = 0.37, n = 36, P < 0.03); and 4) calcium retention was proportional to the (previous) fluoride-dependent increase in quantitative computed tomography spinal bone density (in groups I and II, r = 0.48, n = 26, P < 0.02). To test the hypothesis that the calcium deficiency and the secondary hyperparathyroidism that were associated with the positive response to fluoride would respond to concomitant calcitriol treatment, a subgroup of 7 calcium-deficient subjects were selected from group I and treated with calcitriol (plus fluoride and calcium) for an average of 7 months. The calcitriol therapy reduced the calcium deficit in all 7 subjects, decreasing calcium retention from 80% to 62% (P < 0.02), and decreasing PTH from 50 to 28 pg/mL (P < 0.02). Together, these data indicate that fluoride-treated osteoporotic subjects may develop calcium deficiency in proportion to the effect of fluoride to increase bone formation, and this calcium deficit is responsive to calcitriol therapy.
Fascial planes and compartments of the posterior abdomen: The perirenal and pararenal pathways

Our objective was to describe the boundaries and sites of communication of the posterior peritoneal compartments in order to explain extensions of pathological processes in retroperitoneal areas. To this end we examined these distinct bilateral compartments [anterior (AP) and posterior (PP) pararenal and perirenal (P) spaces] in four bodies by CT scans, dissections, crosssections, latex injections, and light microscopy. Perirenal areas bilaterally were closed spaces which extended from the inferior surface of the diaphragm to the superior pelvic aperture (pelvic inlet) tapering superiorly and inferiorly in the shape of two cones with a common base at the midrenal area where they communicated across the median plane. The AP is a potential space on the right but contains the pancreas on the left. Each has shorter superior and inferior extensions than the corresponding PP space. Tough, often multilaminar, fasciae surrounded these spaces and limited the spread of injected latex except where vascular pathways permitted inter-compartmental spread. Computer-assisted 3-D reconstructions showed that these spaces extended potentially from the diaphragm into the pelvis. These compartments and their fasciae help explain the predictable yet restricted clinical extensions of pancreatitis, renal infections, and aortic aneurysms in the posterior abdomen.
Determination of palladium, platinum and rhodium in geologic materials by fire assay and emission spectrography.

A method is described for the determination of palladium down to 4ppb (parts per billion, 10(9)), platinum down to 10 ppb and rhodium down to 5 ppb in 15 g of sample. Fire-assay techniques are used to preconcentrate the platinum metals into a gold bead, then the bead is dissolved in aqua regia and diluted to volume with 1M hydrochloric acid. The solution is analysed by optical emission spectrography of the residue from 200 mul of it evaporated on a pair of flat-top graphite electrodes. This method requires much less sample handling than most published methods for these elements. Data are presented for G-1, W-1, and six new standard rocks of the U.S. Geological Survey. The values for palladium in W-1 are in reasonable agreement with previously published data.