cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A note of caution in interpreting the threshold of exclusion

For any electoral system, threshold of exclusion of that system has been used as a measure of the degree to which parties and candidates have an incentive to “narrow-cast” their appeals to a limited constituency. However, we must adjust the threshold of exclusion to take into account the fact that multimember constituencies will, ceteris paribus, be larger than single member constituencies.
Optimized expression and refolding of human keratoepithelin in BL21 (DE3)

Keratoepithelin (KE) is an extracellular protein participating in cell adhesion and differentiation. Mutations of the KE gene (on 5q31 in humans) cause deposition of abnormal proteins (amyloid and non-amyloid) in corneal stroma and lead to several corneal dystrophies in humans. However, further studies on the KE protein have been limited by the intrinsic difficulty of purifying this protein. A high-expression plasmid containing human KE gene was constructed to generate recombinant KE proteins in Escherichia coli. The plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) and the recombinant protein was expressed as an insoluble His-tagged fusion protein and purified by nickel chelation affinity chromatography under denaturing conditions. On average, 12 mg of purified KE was routinely obtained from 1L of culture media. The recombinant KE was refolded in arginine-containing dialysis solutions and the recovery of bioactive KE typically was approximately 70%. The procedures developed in this report should enable reproducible production of KE and related mutant proteins in large quantities and facilitate future studies on biochemical and biophysical properties of KE and the pathogenesis of related corneal dystrophies.
A study of vacancies and vacancy pair defects in 4H SiC grown by halide chemical vapor deposition

The understanding of the structure and associated defect level of a point defect in SiC is important because the material is to be used both as a semiconductor and semi-insulator. Production of the latter is achieved by compensation of unavoidable impurities using defects that require more energy for ionization than the unintentional donors or acceptors. The purpose of the present work is to measure the defect energy level of one center in high resistivity 4H SiC using photo-induced electron paramagnetic resonance (photo-EPR). The center is identified as SI-5, an EPR signal that others have attributed to the negative charge state of the carbon vacancy carbon antisite pair, $$V_C C_{Si}^ - .$$ The photo-threshold for detection of the signal is 0.75 eV in samples with resistivity activation energy, Ea, of 0.5 eV or smaller. For samples with larger Ea, SI-5 is detected only after irradiation with photon energy greater than 2.5 eV. The results suggest that $$V_C C_{Si}^{ - - / - }$$ is 0.75 eV below the conduction band edge and that the negative to neutral level is within 0.1 eV of $$V_C C_{Si}^{- - / -} .$$
Mycobacterium tuberculosis-driven processes in gene-disrupted mice

Mice which have disrupted genes for important components of the immune system have been used to study the role of these components in the immune response to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis . This has resulted in the identification of interleukin-12 (IL12), interferon-γ (IFNγ), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) as being essential to the protective response. Less crucial but perhaps more intriguing roles for other molecules such as intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) and IL6 have also been suggested by this kind of analysis.
The Interesting Question: A Prescription for Vitality.

In his keynote address to the 1984 Central States Speech Association convention in Chicago, Professor Becker of the University of Iowa uses the convention theme ("An Interesting Question") to define research, to review recent scholarly developments, and to exhort CSS A members to better integrate their fields of study.
Climatic change at the end of the last glaciation in Japan inferred from pollen in three cores from the northwest Pacific Ocean

Abstract Late-glacial pollen time-series from high-sedimentation-rate marine cores KH79-3-C6, CH84-04, and CH84-14 show the rise of successional vegetation (typified by Betula) during the replacement of boreal forest types (Picea and Pinus) by thermophilous Quercus forests. Variations in these three marine pollen records replicate the trends and timing of pollen records from Japan and the structure and timing of vegetation and climatic changes on the Pacific coast of Japan since the last glacial maximum. In marine cores KH79-3-C6, CH84-04, and CH84-14, oxygen isotope and/or marine faunal data have been interpreted as evidence of a cooling event in the northwest Pacific Ocean which is coeval with the Younger Dryas chronozone. Pollen records from these northwest Pacific cores, like those from Japan, do not exhibit a regionally replicated, statistically robust, pollen assemblage which can be unambiguously interpreted as evidence of a late-glacial climatic reversal between ca. 11,000 and 10,000 yr B.P. The apparent disparity between the terrestrial (pollen) and marine evidence for a climatic oscillation during the Younger Dryas chron in northeast Asia further complicates the variable record of this brief late-glacial event.
Validation Therapy: Restoring communication between persons with Alzheimer's disease and their families

There are millions of families who are faced with the pains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) every day. One of the most salient and pervasive issues they encounter is related to their loved ones' declin...
How Can I Learn with All This Commotion

This case is intended for student use in a university classroom to examine the complex dilemmas school leaders may face when working to create opportunities for a more inclusive educational environ...
Implant-based reconstruction

Prosthetic reconstruction of the breast, either with standard or adjustable implants or as a staged procedure with tissue expanders followed by implants, has evolved into a reliable method for breast reconstruction. Advances in implant technology and biomaterials allow for low complication rates, good aesthetic outcomes, and consistent results. Potential advantages over other reconstructive techniques include the relative simplicity of the procedures, the use of adjacent tissue without significant donor site morbidity, reduced operative time, and quicker patient recovery. Although some may still consider autologous tissue reconstruction as the gold standard, today's prosthetic reconstructions play an equally important role in the reconstruction of the breast for many women.
Some physical and chemical properties of the lipoproteins produced by lipolysis of human serum Sf 20-400 lipoproteins by post-heparin plasma.

Summary After human serum S f 20–400 lipoproteins were incubated with post-heparin plasma, the principal product of lipolysis was S f 11–20 (density D = 1.006–1.022 g/ml), lipoproteins. Their properties closely resembled those of molecules of comparable density among the normal human serum low density lipoproteins ( D It is likely that each NH 2 -terminal amino-acid of the substrate represents the protein moiety of a lipoprotein or family of lipoproteins varying in lipid content, and that all these lipoproteins of the substrate contain triglyceride in a form susceptible to hydrolysis by post-heparin plasma. The S f 11–20 ( D = 1.006–1.022 g/ml), the S f 0–3 ( D = 1.045–1.065 g/ml), and perhaps the S f 20–400 ( D = 0.98–0.99 g/ml) lipoproteins of human serum contain molecules with the electrophoretic mobility of α 2 -globulins, whereas the S f 4–8, ( D = 1.031–1.035 g/ml) lipoproteins contain molecules with the mobility of β-globulins.
Variational image inpainting

Inpainting is an image interpolation problem with broad applications in image and vision analysis. Described in the current expository paper are our recent efforts in developing universal inpainting models based on the Bayesian and variational principles. Discussed in detail are several variational inpainting models built upon geometric image models, the associated Euler-Lagrange PDEs and their geometric and dynamic interpretations, as well as effective computational approaches. Novel efforts are then made to further extend this systematic variational framework to the inpainting of oscillatory textures, interpolation of missing wavelet coefficients as in the wireless transmission of JPEG2000 images, as well as light-adapted inpainting schemes motivated by Weber's law in visual perception. All these efforts lead to the conclusion that unlike many familiar image processors such as denoising, segmentation, and compression, the performance of a variational/Bayesian inpainting scheme much more crucially depends on whether the image prior model well resolves the spatial coupling (or geometric correlation) of image features. As a highlight, we show that the Besov image models appear to be less interesting for image inpainting in the wavelet domain, highly contrary to their significant roles in thresholding-based denoising and compression. Thus geometry is the single most important keyword throughout this paper. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A semiconductor tunable laser using a wavelength selective reflector based on ring resonators

We propose a tunable laser incorporating a cleavage-free wavelength selective reflector (WSR) formed by buried heterostructure (BH) microring resonators. Utilizing the proposed tunable reflector, a compact, 100-GHz-channel-spaced tunable laser is demonstrated.
Protein flexibility predictions using graph theory

Techniques from graph theory are applied to analyze the bond networks in proteins and identify the flexible and rigid regions. The bond network consists of distance constraints defined by the covalent and hydrogen bonds and salt bridges in the protein, identified by geometric and energetic criteria. We use an algorithm that counts the degrees of freedom within this constraint network and that identifies all the rigid and flexible substructures in the protein, including overconstrained regions (with more crosslinking bonds than are needed to rigidify the region) and underconstrained or flexible regions, in which dihedral bond rotations can occur. The number of extra constraints or remaining degrees of bond-rotational freedom within a substructure quantifies its relative rigidity/flexibility and provides a flexibility index for each bond in the structure. This novel computational procedure, first used in the analysis of glassy materials, is approximately a million times faster than molecular dynamics simulations and captures the essential conformational flexibility of the protein main and side-chains from analysis of a single, static three-dimensional structure. This approach is demonstrated by comparison with experimental measures of flexibility for three proteins in which hinge and loop motion are essential for biological function: HIV protease, adenylate kinase, and dihydrofolate reductase.
New method for exposing mammalian cells to intense laser radiation using the evanescent fields created in optical waveguides.

A new technique using optical waveguides has been developed for studying the effects of moderate to high power laser radiation on cells [1]. A monolayer of attached cells covering a wide area on the waveguide surface is exposed to the evanescent tail produced by the propagating waveguide mode. The optical radiation-cell interaction is limited to involve only the high power density and intense electric field strength associated with the evanescent tail. It is well established that extremely high power densities (105 to 108 watts/ cm2)are obtained in the waveguide when a waveguide mode is excited by a moderate power (1–2 watts), continuous wave (CW) laser [2–3]. These optical power densities create intense electric fields at optical frequencies ranging from 103 to 105 volts/cm within the waveguide. The evanescent tail of such a waveguide mode extends into the medium above the waveguide and creates an intense electric field at the interface between the waveguide and the medium. By adjusting the input laser power and waveguide parameters, the electromagnetic field intensity and distance of penetration into the cell of the evanescent tail can be varied over a wide range. The importance of intense electromagnetic field induced kinetic effects and photochemical reactions in producing lethal effects in cells has been stressed by previous investigators [4–6]. This report describes the reduced survival measured for monolayers of EMT-6 mammary sarcoma cells exposed to the evanescent tail created in a waveguide.
Influence of submission form characteristics on clinical information received in biopsy accession.

Clinical information supplied to diagnostic laboratories through biopsy submission forms is crucial to accurate, timely diagnosis and to clinicopathologic correlation between microscopic findings and the clinical condition of the patient. The current study attempts to quantify the prevalence of deficient and inadequate submissions in veterinary biopsy service and to determine whether form characteristics, such as the open or closed nature of the form and the presence of specific prompts, influence reporting of essential case information. The hypotheses of this study are, first, that deficient and inadequate biopsy submissions do occur in veterinary medicine and, second, that open-type biopsy submission forms elicit quantitatively and qualitatively more complete case information overall, and in specific content areas, compared to closed-type biopsy submission forms. Three percent of submissions reviewed were information deficient, devoid of information beyond patient signalment, and more than 88% of forms ...
Spatial discordance and phase reversals during alternate pacing in discrete-time kinematic and cardiomyocyte ionic models

Alternans, a beat-to-beat alternation in the cardiac action potential duration (APD), is a dynamical instability linked with the initiation of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, and arises via a period-doubling bifurcation when myocytes are stimulated at fast rates. In this study, we analyze the stability of a propagating electrical wave in a one-dimensional cardiac myocyte model in response to an arrhythmogenic rhythm known as alternate pacing. Using a discrete-time kinematic model and complex frequency (Z) domain analysis, we derive analytical expressions to predict phase reversals and spatial discordance in the interbeat interval (IBI) and APD, which, importantly, cannot be predicted with a model that neglects the influence of cell coupling on repolarization. We identify key dimensionless parameters that determine the transition from spatial concordance to discordance. Finally, we show that the theoretical predictions agree closely with numerical simulations of an ionic myocyte model, over a wide range of parameters, including variable IBI, altered ionic current gating, and reduced cell coupling. We demonstrate a novel approach to predict instability in cardiac tissue during alternate pacing and further illustrate how this approach can be generalized to more detail models of myocyte dynamics.
Historical Insights into Some Contemporary Problems in Somatic Embryogenesis

Structures now commonly referred to by tissue culture workers as somatic embryos were first discovered in cultures of cultivated carrot and related umbellifers in the late 1950s (Waris, 1957; Steward et al., 1958; Reinert 1959a and b). Many have since investigated the nature of somatic embryogenesis and aimed to develop its potential for applied uses like clonal micropropagation (see Krikorian, 1982; Halperin 1995; Minocha and Minocha, 1995; Neumann, 1995; Krikorian and Simola, 1999 and refs. there cited for some early history). Even so, the establishment and subsequent management of embryogenic systems remains empiric although there are some general underlying principles (cf. e.g. Bajaj, 1995; Thorpe, 1995 and all the volumes in this series).
Black-Staining Fungus Effects on the Natural Resistance Properties of Alaskan Yellow Cedar to the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

The effects of a black wood stain, caused by one or more fungi, on the natural resistance of Alaskan yellow cedar (AYC), Chamacyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach, to the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, were studied. Feeding and survival of groups of 300 C. formosanus feeding on unstained Alaskan yellow cedar heartwood and sapwood and fully and partially black-stained heartwood were compared with a control group feeding on loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., wood. All termite groups feeding on unstained AYC died by the end of 14 wk. At the end of 32 wk, mortality of termite groups feeding on fully and partially black-stained AYC was significantly higher than that of groups feeding on pine. Termite mortality was significantly higher when feeding on partially than on fully black-stained AYC at the end of 32 wk. Wood consumption was significantly different among all treatment groups, with means of 4.07, 8.76, 19.81, and 29.77 mg/d in the unstained, partially, and fully black-stained AYC, and loblolly pine, respectively. This suggests that toxic and feeding deterrence properties of AYC heartwood were significantly reduced by black-staining fungus infection but were not totally lost. Chemical analysis of unstained and black-stained AYC wood showed approximately a 50% reduction in concentration of secondary chemicals in the black-stained wood. Carvacrol was totally absent in the black-stained wood. Concentrations of nootkatone in the black-stained wood were one-fourth of those observed in unstained AYC wood. Ecological implications are discussed.
Host Range of Oidium lycopersicum on Selected Solanaceous Species in Connecticut

LaMondia, J. A., Smith, V. L., and Douglas, S. M. 1999. Host range of Oidium lycopersicum on selected solanaceous species in Connecticut. Plant Dis. 83:341-344. Powdery mildew of tomato in Connecticut was identified as Oidium lycopersicum based on anamorph characteristics. On tomato, conidia were most often formed singly or in pairs on unbranched conidiophores. Mycelium was hyaline and measured 5 to 7 µm. Cleistothecia were not found. This fungus caused disease on a number of tomato cu ltivars ranging in size from seedlings to mature plants under greenhouse and field cond itions. Eastern black nightshade, eggplant, tobacco, and potato were infected in the gree nhouse. Reciprocal inoculation experiments between tomato and nightshade and eggplant and tobacco demonstrated cross-infectivity, but the size and number of conidia per conidiophore varied between hosts. Conidia from tob acco, eggplant, and nightshade averaged 37.8 by 19.1 µm (SE = 0.5 and 0.2, respectively) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 35.5 to 40.0 by 18.1 to 20.3 µm ( n = 300). Conidia from tomato were smaller, averaging 33.6 by 18.2 µm (SE = 0.3 and 0.2, respectively) with a 95% CI of 32.7 to 34.4 by 17.5 to 18.9 µm (n = 300). Conidia from potato averaged 32.4 by 16.6 µm (SE = 0.4 and 0.2, respectively) with a 95% CI of 31.5 to 33.3 by 16.3 to 17.0 µm ( n = 100). There were significant differences in percent leaf infection and powdery mildew disease ratings between Lycopersicon esculentum cultivars and Lycopersicon breeding lines under both greenhouse and field conditions. Most commercial tomato cultivars were severely affected by powdery mildew. Cultivars such as Rutgers were not as extensively colonized by O. lycopersicum, compared to cultivars such as Celebrity and Nema 1200, but the severity of powdery mildew was still quite high. L. hirsutum and the tomato breeding line Hirol 3-21 were the only plants tested that were resistant to O. lycopersicum. Additional keywords: Nicotiana tabacum, Solanum melongena, Solanum ptycanthum, Solanum tuberosum
Bacteriology of Acute and Chronic Ethmoid Sinusitis

Aspirates from 26 acutely and 17 chronically infected ethmoid sinuses were studied. Thirty-seven aerobes and 10 anaerobes were recovered from isolates from patients with acute sinusitis. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were predominant. Twenty-seven aerobes and 41 anaerobes were found in isolates from patients with chronic sinusitis. The predominant isolates were anaerobic gram-negative bacilli and Peptostreptococcus spp.
Distinctive dendritic cell modulation by vitamin D3 and glucocorticoid pathways

Dendritic cell (DC) maturation plays a central role in regulating immunity. We show that glucocorticoid and 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3) agonists modulate DCs via distinct and additive signaling pathways. Phenotypic and functional indices were examined in DCs treated with dexamethasone (DEX) and/or a 1alpha,25(OH)(2)D(3) analog (D(3) analog). DEX potently attenuated pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines but had modest, reversible effects on T-cell stimulatory capacity. D(3) analog produced significantly greater inhibition of T-cell stimulation in vitro and in vivo and, unlike DEX, increased expression of the chemokines MCP-1 and MIP-1alpha. Both DEX and D(3) analog were associated with reduced expression of the NF-kappaB proteins c-Rel and Rel B but not Rel A. Combined DEX and D(3) analog treatment of DCs resulted in significant additive inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines, T-cell stimulation, chemokines, chemokine receptors, and NF-kappaB components. Additive inhibition was most striking for RANTES, CCR5, CCR7, and Rel B. The combined effects of the two hormonal pathways on DCs have unique immunomodulatory potential.
Emended description of Pasteuria nishizawae

The description of the Gram-positive, obligately parasitic, mycelial and endospore-forming bacterium, Pasteuria nishizawae, is emended to include additional observations on the life cycle, host specificity and endospore morphology. The nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene is also provided.
Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness as Manipulated by Dress: Subjects Versus Independent Judges

Summary After a photograph of a stranger had been defined as either physically attractive, unattractive, or neutrally attractive by 20 independent female judges, 72 female subjects judged the photograph on items that were similar to those typically used in studies of physical attractiveness. One item specifically concerned physical attractiveness. For each subject the stranger differed only in forms of apparel worn. The subjects' ratings of physical attractiveness differed significantly from judges' ratings, suggesting that differences were attributable to differences in methods of defining physical attractiveness level. Results indicate that when subjects evaluated physical attractiveness that was manipulated by dress, more consistent stereotypical judgments were made than when independent judges defined physical attractiveness.
Three structurally similar odorants trigger distinct signaling pathways in a mouse olfactory neuron

In the mammalian olfactory system, one olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) expresses a single olfactory receptor gene. By calcium imaging of individual OSNs in intact mouse olfactory turbinates, we observed that a subset of OSNs (Ho-OSNs) located in the most ventral olfactory receptor zone can mediate distinct signaling pathways when activated by structurally similar ligands. Calcium imaging showed that Ho-OSNs were highly sensitive to 2-heptanone, heptaldehyde and cis-4-heptenal. 2-heptanone-evoked intracellular calcium elevation was mediated by cAMP signaling while heptaldehyde triggered the diacylglycerol pathway. An increase of intracellular calcium evoked by cis-4-heptenal was due to a combination of activation mediated by the adenylate cyclase pathway and suppression generated by phospholipase C signaling. Pharmacological studies demonstrated that novel mechanisms were involved in the phospholipase C-mediated intracellular calcium changes. Binary-mixture studies and cross-adaptation data indicate that three odorants acted on the same olfactory receptor. The feature that an olfactory receptor mediates multiple signaling pathways was specific for Ho-OSNs and not established in another population of OSNs characterized. Our study suggests that distinct signaling pathways triggered by ligand-induced conformational changes of an olfactory receptor constitute a complex information process mechanism in olfactory transduction. This study has important implications beyond olfaction in that it provides insights of plasticity and complexity of G-protein-coupled receptor activation and signal transduction.
Big data: a revolution that will transform how we live, work, and think

Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think is a piece on the advancements, uses, and promises of big data. Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Professor of Internet Governance an...
Inventing cultural others in organizations : a case of anthropological reflexivity in a multinational firm

This article analyzes a case of "sexual harassment" in an American subsidiary of a Japanese multinational firm, and captures a "movement of meanings" concerning gender, race, and class within the bi-national politics between Japan and America. It argues that organization theories must incorporate the political process of cultural representation, with a sensitivity to multiple self-identities and to intra- and inter-subjective dialogues about organizational control. This study dismisses the ethnocentric, frozen gaze of an outside observer, and instead employs the "emic " analysis of the native `s ethnologic, taxonomic, and affective discourses and categorizations. It denounces the elitist, management-centric, or author-centric monologue on organizational reality that often has a powerful silencing effect on the "cultural others." It calls attention to the complexity of cultural juxtapositions within the postcolonial, postmodern, and global organizational world, and demands a new, more flexible, paradigm fo...
Meaningful Citizen Engagement in Science and Technology: What Would it Really Take?

Citizen engagement in scientific and technological issues is in vogue in recent years, and a variety of projects intended to engage citizens in science and technology is occurring worldwide. However, few academics and governments attempting to “engage in engagement” are clear about their goals and desired outcomes, and whether or not the processes they facilitate are likely to meet these ends. What are the goals—explicit and implicit—of institutionally sponsored projects that aim to engage lay citizens in science and technology? Are these exercises likely to meet these goals? and what kinds of processes could nurture more meaningful engagement, what are the barriers to this kind of engagement, and how might these barriers be overcome? Based on the experience of the authors, this article explores these questions and provides 10 recommendations for more meaningful engagement of citizens in science and technology.
Agro-Pastoralism and Regional Social Organisation in Early Ireland

That aspect which most distinctly sets humanity apart from other forms of life are the variegated forms which our social organization assumes. Our lives are shaped and played out within the roles which we inherit, transform, or create. The character of each individual society is most explicitly expressed in the configurations of its constituent institutions. Social evolution is in essence the progressive transformative structural changes which social organization undergoes; the dominant trend in human societies is for social structures to become more complex. The work of theorists such as Steward, Polanyi, Barth, and Sahlins has brought home the necessary causal connection between the nature of a society’s economic adaptation, the level of the development of political institutions within that society, and the nature of its institutions and instituted behavior. This study at the onset accepts a causal connection between environment, mode of adaptation, and the configurations of that society (see Gibson & Geselowitz, this Volume).
Optimal Worst-Case QoS Routing in Constrained AWGN Channel Network

In this paper, we extend the optimal worst-case QoS routing algorithm and metric definition given in [1]. We prove that in addition to the q-ary symmetric and q-ary erasure channel model, the necessary and sufficient conditions defined in [2] for the Generalized Dijkstra's Algorithm (GDA) can be used with a constrained non-negative-mean AWGN channel. The generalization allowed the computation of the worst-case QoS metric value for a given edge weight density. The worst-case value can then be used as the routing metric in networks where some nodes have error correcting capabilities. The result is an optimal worst-case QoS routing algorithm that uses the Generalized Dijkstra's Algorithm as a subroutine with a polynomial time complexity of O(V3).
Statistical distributions of partially developed speckle based on a small number of constant scatterers with random phase

The speckle phenomenon is observed in coherent imaging systems such as synthetic aperture radar. The authors deal with situations in which the speckle arises from a small random number of constant amplitude scattering points within the resolution cell. Speckle in this context is referred to as partially developed. They first model the surface scattering statistics as a marked point process. They then derive closed form expressions and accurate approximations for the intensity probability density function of single look and multilook speckle using an orthogonal Gram-Charlier type series expansion having gamma-weighted generalized Laguerre polynomials as the basis functions. Using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, they show that the series expansions are a good approximation to the actual pdfs. >
Association of coagulation-related and inflammation-related genes and factor VIIc levels with stroke: the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Stroke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world; in the United States, one in six men and one in five women suffer a stroke in their lifetime with stroke being responsible for 17% of all deaths[1]. Thrombosis plays a key role in ischemic stroke; after disruption of the vessel wall, thrombus is formed and either disrupts blood flow at the site of injury or breaks off and embolizes to where the occlusion occurs[2, 3]. Inflammation is also associated with ischemic stroke pathophysiology and may relate to changes in the composition of blood or of the vessel wall[2]. Risk factors for stroke are not as well characterized as for myocardial infarction (MI), and few prospective studies have evaluated associations of hemostatic and inflammation biomarkers with stroke risk[4]. Hemostasis and thrombosis related proteins have long been prime biomarker candidates for stroke risk but many are difficult to measure due to high within-person variability and difficultly standardizing assays. Thus, measurement of gene variants may reveal associations that cannot be determined by assessing phenotypes. We studied polymorphisms in hemostasis and inflammation related genes in relation to stroke risk in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) cohort, and evaluated whether the protein products of genes related to stroke (where possible) were associated with stroke and other cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. Further, we assessed whether these protein products mediated any of the association between the SNPs and CVD. Findings may provide insights into the pathophysiology of stroke which can be exploited for risk stratification, new interventions for primary prevention, or perhaps novel treatment approaches.
Effect of interdome spacing on the resonance properties of plasmonic nanodome arrays for label-free optical sensing

In this paper, we report on experimental and theoretical studies that investigate how the structural properties of plasmonic nanodome array devices determine their optical properties and sensing performance. We examined the effect of the interdome gap spacing within the plasmonic array structures on the performance for detection of change in local refractive index environment for label-free capture affinity biosensing applications. Optical sensing properties were characterized for nanodome array devices with interdome spacings of 14 nm, 40 nm, and 79 nm, as well as for a device where adjacent domes are in contact. For each interdome spacing, the extinction spectrum was measured using a broadband reflection instrumentation, and finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulation was used to model the local electric field distribution associated with the resonances. Based on these studies, we predict that nanodome array devices with gap between 14 nm to 20 nm provide optimal label-free capture affinity biosensing performances, where the dipole resonance mode exhibits the highest overall surface sensitivity, as well as the lowest limit of detection.
A low dead time full digital Pulse-Shape-Discriminator (PSD)for DOI PET

Pulse-shape-discriminator (PSD) has been used for the last 40 years in radiation detection systems ranging from medical diagnostic imaging cameras to high energy physics. The function of PSD is to differentiate radiation signals based on different signal shape. It can be used to identify the scintillator type in (Depth of interaction) DOI PET application, where the detector is divided into two or more layers, with each layer using a different type of scintillator (with different decay constant). In this work, a new PSD method is introduced. The method is based on our digital high-yield-pileup-event-recover (HYPER) method, a dynamic integration and remnant correction method which is mainly used for pile-up correction. In this method, the input signal is first digitized with ADC, and then weight-summed inside FPGA. The weight factor is decided by the scintillation decay time. Suppose we use the weight factor of one decay time, the weight-sum result of this crystal will be flat, and then the HYPER result of crystal with other decay time is not flat. By judging if the weight-sum result is flat, we can identify the type of the crystal. This method is tested using a LSO crystal with decay time of 40 ns and a GSO with decay time of 100 ns. More than 95% of the events can be correctly judged with dead-time of about 60 ns.
Policing the Poachers in the United States: A Qualitative Analysis of Game Wardens and Profiling

Contemporary law enforcement agencies use criminal profiling techniques to identify and apprehend offenders. One type of crime in the emerging area of green criminology is the illegal taking of wildlife resources. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how conservation law enforcement officers in the United States use criminal profiling techniques to identify individuals who violate wildlife laws. A qualitative approach to data collection was employed, and data were obtained from a mail survey and phone interviews with state game wardens in Montana, United States. Findings reveal that game wardens use several factors to socially construct profiles of poachers and how they operate, including behavioral patterns, geographic areas, and experience. Profile characteristics of the most and least difficult poachers to apprehend are also identified.
Criticality as a Set-Point for Adaptive Behavior in Neuromorphic Hardware.

Neuromorphic hardware are designed by drawing inspiration from biology to overcome limitations of current computer architectures while forging the development of a new class of autonomous systems that are can exhibit adaptive behaviors. Many such designs in the recent past are capable of emulating large scale networks but avoid complexity in network dynamics by minimizing the number of dynamic variables that are supported and tunable in hardware. We believe that this is due to the lack of a clear understanding of how to design self-tuning complex systems. It has been widely demonstrated that criticality appears to be the default state of the brain and manifests in the form of spontaneous scale-invariant cascades of neural activity. Experiment, theory and recent models have shown that neuronal networks at criticality demonstrate optimal information transfer, learning and information processing capabilities that affect behavior. In this perspective article, we argue that understanding how large scale neuromorphic electronics can be designed to enable emergent adaptive behavior will require an understanding of how networks emulated by such hardware can self-tune local parameters to maintain criticality as a set-point. We believe that such capability will enable the design of truly scalable intelligent systems using neuromorphic hardware that embrace complexity in network dynamics rather than avoid it.
The Path of Big Data and the Law

Advances in artificial intelligence are transforming many aspects of our society, from Google’s autonomous cars to IBM’s Watson defeating the Jeopardy! world champion. The legal profession, as well, is evolving from today’s time-consuming, customized labor-intensive legal market to tomorrow’s on-demand, commoditized legal services market. Today, the legal services industry is standing at the dawn of what Professor Larry Ribstein referred to as Law’s Information Revolution. The promise of this revolution is the intersection, if not the collision, of the power of big data, and the law. This essay opens the first chapter in this process, and sets forth an agenda of issues to consider as the intersection between law, technology, and justice merges. First, I break down the role of the lawyer, and posit how these familiar tasks can be automated. Next, I explore the ethical, jurisprudential, and regulatory implications of algorithms offering legal services. I conclude by offering a sketch of what the law offices of Robot, Esq. will be like.
The Three and a Half Minute Transaction: What Sticky Boilerplate Reveals About Contract Law and Practice

The Three and a Half Minute Transaction: Boilerplate and the Limits of Contractual Design, by Mitu Gulati and Robert E. Scott, is a cautionary tale about modern legal practice where the protagonist is the standard sovereign debt contract. The book discloses an undeniable flaw in sovereign bond boilerplate (the widely used pari passu clause) that, in spite of expensive, sophisticated lawyering, perpetuates a risky disconnect between party intent and contract terms. The fact that boilerplate terms persist even in elite sovereign-lending practices suggests that the problem of over-reliance on standard form language is ubiquitous.When contract terms diverge from client risk management and intent, lawyers have neither provided clients proper representation nor justified their fees.Situated in the context of sovereign debt failures and a profession at the crossroads, the authors' engaging book sounds a well-researched wake-up call to the law. This review explains the context of their study and then builds upon their findings. This review explores two questions suggested but not addressed in The Three and a Half Minute Transaction, namely: What does boilerplate stickiness reveal about the continuing validity of certain contract law doctrines, and what does it suggest for the evolving role of the modern transactional attorney? The conclusion on both accounts is that transactional law practice requires a systemic overhaul, re-focusing lawyerly attention from bulk production of contracts to innovations in contract research and design.
Propensity-Score-Based Estimators and C-TMLE

In order to estimate the average treatment effect E0[E0(Y | A = 1,W) - E0(Y | A = 0,W)] of a single time-point treatment A based on observing n i.i.d. copies of O = (W, A, Y), one might use inverse probability of treatment (i.e., propensity score) weighting of an estimator of the conditional mean of the outcome (i.e., response surface) as a function of the pretreatment covariates. Alternatively, one might use a TMLE defined by a choice of initial estimator, a parametric submodel that codes fluctuations of the initial estimator, and a loss function used to determine the amount of fluctuation, where either the choice of submodel or the loss function will involve inverse probability of treatment weighting. Asymptotically, such double robust estimators may have appealing properties. They can be constructed such that if either the model of the response surface or the model of the probability of treatment assignment is correct, the estimatosr will provide a consistent estimator of the average treatment effect. And if both models are correct, the weighted estimator will be asymptotically efficient. Such estimators are called double robust and locally efficient (Robins et al. 1994, 1995; Robins and Rotnitzky 1995; van der Laan and Robins 2003).
Osteoarticular allografts for reconstruction after resection of a musculoskeletal tumor in the proximal end of the tibia.

An osteoarticular allograft was used to reconstruct a skeletal deficiency in sixteen patients after resection of a tumor in the proximal end of the tibia. The status of each allograft and the condition of each involved limb were evaluated an average of nine years (range, six to fourteen years) postoperatively. The status of the allograft was evaluated according to the survival of the allograft and the occurrence of complications.Of the original sixteen allografts, seven were removed: six, between two and five years after the reconstruction and one, seven years after the reconstruction. A second reconstruction with use of an allograft was performed in five of the seven patients. Fifteen complications occurred in association with eleven of the original sixteen allografts. These included fracture of the allograft (five patients), subchondral collapse (five patients), infection (two patients), non-union (two patients), and instability of the joint (one patient). At the latest follow-up examination, nine patients had retained the original allograft, five had had a second allograft procedure, and two had had an above-the-knee amputation. The most recent result was rated excellent or good in eleven patients and fair or a failure in five, with use of the system of Mankin et al. It was rated good or excellent in nine patients and fair, poor, or a failure in six, and it was not rated in one patient who had died, according to the system of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society. Finally, the result was rated good or excellent in twelve patients and a failure in three, and it was not rated in the patient who had died, on the basis of the system of The Hospital for Special Surgery.
The clinical characteristics and hospital and post-hospital survival of patients with the obesity hypoventilation syndrome: analysis of a large cohort

Summary Objective The worldwide prevalence of obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is a common yet largely undiagnosed and mistreated condition that likely carries a high mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics, hospital outcome, outcome following hospital discharge and predictors of death in a large cohort of patients hospitalized with OHS. OHS is an important condition as many patients with this syndrome are misdiagnosed and receive inappropriate treatment. Methods We reviewed the electronic medical records of patients with unequivocal OHS admitted to a 525-bed tertiary-care teaching hospital over a 5-year period. Demographic and clinical data as well as hospital disposition were recorded. In order to determine the patients' post-discharge status, we linked our database to the database of death certificates of the State Registrar of Vital Records. Results We identified 600 patients who met the inclusion criteria for this study. The patients' mean age was 58 ± 15 years with a mean body mass index of 48.2 ± 8.3 kg m−2; 64% were women. Thirty-seven percent had a history of diabetes and 43% had been misdiagnosed as having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while none had been previously diagnosed with OHS. The most common admission diagnoses were respiratory failure, heart failure and sepsis. Ninety (15%) patients died during the index hospitalization. The patients' age, S-creatinine, respiratory failure, sepsis and admission to the ICU were independent predictors of hospital mortality. The hospital survivors were followed for a mean of 1,174 ± 501 d (3.2 ± 1.3 years) from the index hospitalization. On follow-up, 98 of the 510 (19%) hospital survivors died, with an overall cumulative mortality of 31.3%. The patients' age, S-creatinine and admission to the ICU were independent predictors of post-hospital mortality. Conclusion Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is a common disease that is frequently misdiagnosed and mistreated and carries a 3-year morality, which is significantly worse than that for most cancers combined. Considering the high mortality of this disease, all patients with a body mass index > 35 kg m−2 should be screened for OHS; those patients with both early and established OHS should be referred to a pulmonary and/or sleep specialist for evaluation for non-invasive positive pressure ventilation, to a dietician for dietary counseling and lifestyle modification and to a bariatric surgeon for evaluation for bariatric surgery.
Crepuscular Movement of Paraphlepsius irroratus (Say) (Homoptera; Cicadellidae) Between the Groundcover and Cherry Trees

Crepuscular movement of the leafhopper vector of X-disease, Paraphlepsius irroratus (Say), between orchard groundcover and fruit tree foliage and back was monitored by light-trapping and sweeping within a sour cherry orchard. The adult leafhoppers spent the day within orchard groundcover, and at twilight they moved into fruit tree foliage. There was no significant difference in this diurnal behavior between the two adult generations. Leafhopper density found in several within-orchard subhabitats (i.e., groundcover, sour cherry foliage, sweet cherry foliage) changed significantly over a 24-h period. The active crepuscular mass flight into the trees in the evening was contrasted to the passive movement back into the orchard groundcover the following morning.
Water Oxidation Catalysis Beginning with 2.5 μM [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10–: Investigation of the True Electrochemically Driven Catalyst at ≥600 mV Overpotential at a Glassy Carbon Electrode

Evidence for the true water oxidation catalyst (WOC) when beginning with the cobalt polyoxometalate [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10– (Co4–POM) is investigated at deliberately chosen low polyoxometalate concentrations (2.5 μM) and high electrochemical potentials (≥1.3 V vs Ag/AgCl) in pH 5.8 and 8.0 sodium phosphate electrolyte at a glassy carbon working electrode—conditions which ostensibly favor Co4–POM catalysis if present. Multiple experiments argue against the dominant catalyst being CoOx formed exclusively from Co2+ dissociated from the parent POM. Measurement of [Co2+] in the Co4–POM solution and catalytic controls with the corresponding amount of Co(NO3)2 cannot account for the O2 generated from 2.5 μM [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10– solutions. This result contrasts with our prior investigation of Co4–POM under higher concentration and lower potential conditions (i.e., 500 μM [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10–, 1.1 V vs Ag/AgCl, as described in Stracke, J. J.; Finke, R. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc.2011, 133, 14872) and highlights the...