cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the transient dynamics of the wake and trajectory of free falling cones with various apex angles

The early free fall stages of cones with a density ratio 1.18 and apex angles of $$30^{\circ }$$ , $$45^{\circ }$$ , $$60^{\circ }$$ , and $$90^{\circ }$$ were studied using a wireless 3-axis gyroscope and accelerometer to describe the cone 3D motions, while particle image velocimetry was used to capture the induced flow in the near wake. The Reynolds number based on the cones diameter and the velocity at which the cone reaches the first local velocity maximum is found to consistently set the limit between two distinctive states. Relatively rapid growth in the cone nutation and departure from the vertical axis is observed after this Re is reached. Sequences of vertical velocity, swirling strength, LES-decomposed velocity, and pressure fields show the formation and growth of a large and initially symmetric recirculation bubble at the cone base. Those also highlight the presence of a symmetric 3D vortex rollup dominating the near wake in the early stages of the fall. A shear layer develops at the edge of the wake and manifests in the periodic shedding of Kelvin–Helmholtz vortices that, due to the nature of the recirculation bubble, reorganize to constitute a part of the rollup. Later in the fall, the wake loses symmetry and shows high population of vortical structures leading to turbulence. The asymmetric wake leads to strong interactions between the flow field and the cone evidenced by the shedding of a part of the 3D large-scale vortex rollup. This shedding process along with the cone rotation around its own axis provides a possible explanation of the helical wake structure observed in other studies.
Hidden Priors: Toward a Unifying Theory of Systemic Disparate Treatment Law

Did the Court’s procedural decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes undermine the substance of the systemic disparate treatment theory of employment discrimination? The answer to that question hinges on understanding the theoretical foundation for what one scholar calls the “most potent and least understood of the various Title VII causes of action.” The current scholarly efforts to understand systemic disparate treatment law can be sorted into two distinct strands – methodological and contextualist. Scholars in the methodological strand question whether statistical techniques currently used by courts are sufficient to support an inference of discrimination. In the contextualist strand, scholars urge a conceptual expansion of the systemic disparate treatment theory that would impose liability on employers for wrongdoing located at the organizational level, rather than simply aggregating individual-level claims. These two strands have advanced independently, with scholars in each strand often overlooking the implications of progression in the other. This Article is the first attempt to unify these two scholarly strands. It does so by exposing the inescapable role of hidden Bayesian priors – preconceptions about background rates of discrimination – in the interpretation of statistical evidence. Taking a Bayesian view, the shortcomings of traditional statistical evidence identified by methodologists are not fatal. Yet, the Bayesian view also provides the conceptual space needed for further development of the organizational approach advanced by contextualists. The Wal-Mart decision presents an opportunity to radically rethink this misunderstood area of antidiscrimination law, and this Article takes the first step in developing of a coherent theory of systemic disparate treatment that embraces Bayesian priors.
The Effect of Perceived IS Support for Creativity on Job Satisfaction: The Role of effective IS use in virtual workplaces.

Organizations increasingly utilize various IT to reduce boundaries, secure users’ explicit and tacit knowledge, facilitate information sharing and connect human capital regardless of their geographically dispersed locations and cross-level unit structures. The core competency of information technology/systems (IT/IS) use is essential to maintain the effective functioning of virtual workplaces. While IS research has examined creativity in virtual workplaces, it has given little attention to how the relationship between creativity and job satisfaction may be altered as a consequence of its effective use in virtual workplaces. The roles of effective IS use in virtual workplace contexts have not been explicitly modeled to understand how and why effective IS use and creativity influence job satisfaction. This study examines the effect of creativity concepts by using perceived IS support for creativity as a proxy via effective IS use and compares such effect in two different work settings. Our model provides a basis for identifying the effect of perceived IS support for creativity on IS-related concepts and for understanding how it plays out in virtual workplace contexts in terms of employee creativity.
Advances towards a Clean Hydrometallurgical Process for Chromite

Because of the acute toxicity of Cr(VI)-bearing substances, the pollution problem caused by chromite process residue has become a worldwide concern. In the view of relevant studies, the technologies based on the alkali treatment cannot fundamentally resolve the pollution problem, because the oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) is unavoidable during chromite decomposition. In contrast, the oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) can be controlled by the sulfuric acid treatment of chromite, and the Cr(VI) pollution can be eliminated from the original source of production. Many research studies focusing on the resolutions of the key obstacles hindering the development of the sulfuric acid treatment process have been carried out, and significant progress has been achieved. In this study, a clean hydrometallurgical process without the generation of hexavalent chromium is demonstrated. First, the chromite was decomposed and leached by sulfuric acid solution in the presence of an oxidant. Then, iron was hydrothermally removed from the acid solution as the precipitate of jarosite. Finally, chromium salts were obtained by adjusting the basicity of the solution, separation and drying. With the aim of realizing industrialization, future research emphasis on the development of the sulfuric acid treatment process is proposed in this study.
Viruses causing common respiratory infections in man. 3. Respiratory syncytial viruses and coronaviruses.

Respiratory CoronaSyncytial Virus virus I. Identity of Viruses 677 693 A . N am e 677 693 B. Initial Isolate 677 693 1. Clinical Specimen 677 693 2. Clinical Illness 677 693 3. Isolation System 677 693 4. Serologic Confirmation 677 693 C. Other Isolates 677 693 D. Classification 677 693 1. Virus Group 677 693 2. Related but Distinct Viruses 677 693 3. Identification and Differentiation 677 693 4. Natural Host 677 693 II. Characterization 678 694 A. Physical Properties 678 694 1. Size 678 694 2. Structure 678 694 3. Heat Stability 678 694 4. pH Stability 678 694 5. Other Physical Properties 678 694 B. Chemical Properties 679 694 1. Composition 679 694 (a) Nucleic Acid Type 679 694 (b) Proteins 679 694 (c) Enzymes 679 694
The Maximum Efficiency of the Human Machine during Lifting

The primary objective of the present study was to explore whether the human machine has an optimal value or a range where it performs at maximum physiological efficiency during repetitive lifting tasks. Ten trained male subjects participated in this study. The frequency of lift and height of lift were the independent variables. The psychophysical methodology was employed in this investigation. Maximum physiological efficiency is defined as the power output per unit oxygen consumption. The results indicated that for maximum physiological efficiency in repetitive lifting tasks of a duration of 1/2 hour the frequency of lift should be between 5 and 11 lifts/min with 9 lifts/min being optimal.
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Sex-related factors influence expression of mood-related genes in the basolateral amygdala differentially depending on age and stress exposure.

Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to men, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this sex difference are unclear. Previous studies in the human postmortem brain suggest dysfunction in basolateral amygdala (BLA) inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signaling and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) function, specifically in females with MDD. We investigated the effects of sex chromosome complement, developmental gonadal sex, and circulating testosterone on expression of 3 GABA-related and 2 BDNF-related genes in the BLA using three cohorts of four core genotypes (FCG) mice. Cohort 1 included gonadally intact pre-pubertal FCG mice; results were analyzed using two-way ANOVA (sex chromosome complement-by-gonadal sex). We examined the same genes under adult non-stressed (cohort 2) and chronically stressed conditions (cohort 3). The results for cohorts 2 and 3 were analyzed by three-way ANOVA (sex chromosome complement-by-gonadal sex-by-hormone). The use of heatmaps and Spearman correlation of BLA gene expression and anxiety-like behavior provides a global interpretation of gene expression patterns. In weanlings, we found an effect of sex chromosome complement, with lower expression of GABA/BDNF-related genes in XY mice. Most of these effects did not persist into adulthood, although a number of interesting interactions between organizational and activational effects of hormones emerged. In our adult cohorts, we found that testosterone had different effects depending on stress conditions and/or gonadal sex. Notably, in our chronically stressed adults, we found that the BLA pattern of gene expression for the GABA-related gene, somatostatin (Sst), matched the anxiety-like behavior pattern (i.e., lower Sst and higher anxiety-like behavior in XY mice, while testosterone increased Sst and decreased anxiety-like behavior). Additionally, increased Sst gene expression was correlated with decreased anxiety-like behavior. Sex chromosome complement is an important factor modulating expression of mood-related genes during pre-pubertal development. The observed sex differences under chronically stressed conditions suggest that different molecular profiles may characterize male and female MDD. Our findings here for Sst are especially interesting, and suggest an underlying XY vulnerability that is typically compensated for by circulating testosterone in “normal” males. Without testosterone, women may have lower SST expression in the amygdala, resulting in increased MDD vulnerability.
Design and implementation of a 3D-LSI character recognition image sensor

A four-story structured character recognition image sensor has been implemented with three-dimensional LSI technology, integrating 55-thousand diodes and 0.22-million transistors on a 14.3-mm square single die. Three-dimensional LSIs will achieve very high performance by exploiting the structural parallelism by way of the inherent parallelism of the algorithm. The chip, which is the second-step prototype of the Intelligent Image Sensor, is able to sense 12 characters of an image at the same time and recognize 64 kinds of characters containing the alphabet in upper and lower case, Arabic numerals, and some symbols, each consisting of a 10*14 bit matrix. The present chip allows a 20 times larger degree of data parallelism in image computation and a considerably higher speed of recognition in data matching compared with a previous chip. The efficiency of the chip has been verified. >
Organizational Networks in Times of Crisis: Lessons from Katrina

The purpose of this study was to examine how well organizations that could have potentially aided in the response to Hurricane Katrina were integrated into the relief effort following the disaster using a social network analysis framework. It was hypothesized that a number of organizations were kept isolated from or peripheral to mitigation efforts. Quantitative content analysis of media reports and government documents was performed to test this hypothesis, which was confirmed. The results of this study suggest that if relief efforts are to be more successful in the future, organizations with valuable resources must be included in the interorganizational networks of responders before and immediately after disasters take place.
Harvesting wildlife affected by climate change: a modelling and management approach for polar bears.

Summary The conservation of many wildlife species requires understanding the demographic effects of climate change, including interactions between climate change and harvest, which can provide cultural, nutritional or economic value to humans. We present a demographic model that is based on the polar bear Ursus maritimus life cycle and includes density-dependent relationships linking vital rates to environmental carrying capacity (K). Using this model, we develop a state-dependent management framework to calculate a harvest level that (i) maintains a population above its maximum net productivity level (MNPL; the population size that produces the greatest net increment in abundance) relative to a changing K, and (ii) has a limited negative effect on population persistence. Our density-dependent relationships suggest that MNPL for polar bears occurs at approximately 0·69 (95% CI = 0·63–0·74) of K. Population growth rate at MNPL was approximately 0·82 (95% CI = 0·79–0·84) of the maximum intrinsic growth rate, suggesting relatively strong compensation for human-caused mortality. Our findings indicate that it is possible to minimize the demographic risks of harvest under climate change, including the risk that harvest will accelerate population declines driven by loss of the polar bear's sea-ice habitat. This requires that (i) the harvest rate – which could be 0 in some situations – accounts for a population's intrinsic growth rate, (ii) the harvest rate accounts for the quality of population data (e.g. lower harvest when uncertainty is large), and (iii) the harvest level is obtained by multiplying the harvest rate by an updated estimate of population size. Environmental variability, the sex and age of removed animals and risk tolerance can also affect the harvest rate. Synthesis and applications. We present a coupled modelling and management approach for wildlife that accounts for climate change and can be used to balance trade-offs among multiple conservation goals. In our example application to polar bears experiencing sea-ice loss, the goals are to maintain population viability while providing continued opportunities for subsistence harvest. Our approach may be relevant to other species for which near-term management is focused on human factors that directly influence population dynamics within the broader context of climate-induced habitat degradation.
Preparing for what might happen: An episodic specificity induction impacts the generation of alternative future events

A critical adaptive feature of future thinking involves the ability to generate alternative versions of possible future events. However, little is known about the nature of the processes that support this ability. Here we examined whether an episodic specificity induction - brief training in recollecting details of a recent experience that selectively impacts tasks that draw on episodic retrieval - (1) boosts alternative event generation and (2) changes one's initial perceptions of negative future events. In Experiment 1, an episodic specificity induction significantly increased the number of alternative positive outcomes that participants generated to a series of standardized negative events, compared with a control induction not focused on episodic specificity. We also observed larger decreases in the perceived plausibility and negativity of the original events in the specificity condition, where participants generated more alternative outcomes, relative to the control condition. In Experiment 2, we replicated and extended these findings using a series of personalized negative events. Our findings support the idea that episodic memory processes are involved in generating alternative outcomes to anticipated future events, and that boosting the number of alternative outcomes is related to subsequent changes in the perceived plausibility and valence of the original events, which may have implications for psychological well-being.
Carotid Duplex Consensus Criteria on Interpretation of Carotid Duplex Ultrasound

Clinicians have relied on published institutional experience for interpreting carotid duplex ultrasound studies. We conducted a study where we analyzed 376 carotid arteries to validate the ultrasound imaging consensus criteria published in 2003. We used receiver operating curves (ROC) to compare peak systolic velocities (PSV), end-diastolic velocities (EDV) of the internal carotid artery (ICA), and ICA/common carotid ratios in detecting <50%, 50–69% (ICA PSV of 125–230 cm/s), and 70–99% (PSV of ≥230 cm/s) stenosis according to the consensus criteria. The consensus criteria uses a PSV of 125–230 cm/s for detecting angiographic stenosis of 50–69%, which had a sensitivity of 93%, specificity of 68%, and overall accuracy of 85%. A PSV of ≥230 cm/s for ≥70% stenosis had a sensitivity of 99%, specificity of 86%, and overall accuracy of 95%. ROC curves showed that the ICA PSV was significantly better than EDV or ICA/CCA ratio (p = 0.036) in detecting ≥70% stenosis and ≥50% stenosis. The consensus criteria for diagnosing 50–69% stenosis can be significantly improved by using an ICA PSV of 140–230 cm/s, with a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 92%, and an overall accuracy of 92%. We concluded that the consensus criteria can be accurately used for diagnosing ≥70% stenosis; however, the accuracy can be improved for detecting 50–69% stenosis if the ICA PSV is changed to 140 to <230 cm/s.
Echocardiographic Imaging for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement has become an accepted alternative to surgery for patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis who are inoperable or are at high surgical risk. Recent trials support the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement also in patients at intermediate risk, and ongoing trials are assessing appropriateness in other patient groups. The authors review the key anatomic features integral to the transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure and the echocardiographic imaging required for preprocedural, intraprocedural, and postprocedural assessment.
Operational evaluation of the RLINE dispersion model for studies of traffic-related air pollutants.

Abstract Exposure to traffic-related air pollutants (TRAP) remains a key public health issue, and improved exposure measures are needed to support health impact and epidemiologic studies and inform regulatory responses. The recently developed Research LINE source model (RLINE), a Gaussian line source dispersion model, has been used in several epidemiologic studies of TRAP exposure, but evaluations of RLINE's performance in such applications have been limited. This study provides an operational evaluation of RLINE in which predictions of NOx, CO and PM2.5 are compared to observations at air quality monitoring stations located near high traffic roads in Detroit, MI. For CO and NOx, model performance was best at sites close to major roads, during downwind conditions, during weekdays, and during certain seasons. For PM2.5, the ability to discern local and particularly the traffic-related portion was limited, a result of high background levels, the sparseness of the monitoring network, and large uncertainties for certain processes (e.g., formation of secondary aerosols) and non-mobile sources (e.g., area, fugitive). Overall, RLINE's performance in near-road environments suggests its usefulness for estimating spatially- and temporally-resolved exposures. The study highlights considerations relevant to health impact and epidemiologic applications, including the importance of selecting appropriate pollutants, using appropriate monitoring approaches, considering prevailing wind directions during study design, and accounting for uncertainty.
An Introduction to Mathematical Ecology

An Introduction to Mathematical Ecology. By E. C. Pielou. New York, London, Sydney, Toronto, Wiley, 1969. viii, 286 p. 814″. £7.
Metabolism and Toxicity of Trichloroethylene and Tetrachloroethylene in Cytochrome P450 2E1 Knockout and Humanized Transgenic Mice.

Trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) are structurally similar olefins that can cause liver and kidney toxicity. Adverse effects of these chemicals are associated with metabolism to oxidative and glutathione conjugation moieties. It is thought that CYP2E1 is crucial to the oxidative metabolism of TCE and PCE, and may also play a role in formation of nephrotoxic metabolites; however, inter-species and inter-individual differences in contribution of CYP2E1 to metabolism and toxicity are not well understood. Therefore, the role of CYP2E1 in metabolism and toxic effects of TCE and PCE was investigated using male and female wild-type [129S1/SvlmJ], Cyp2e1(-/-), and humanized Cyp2e1 [hCYP2E1] mice. To fill in existing gaps in our knowledge, we conducted a toxicokinetic study of TCE (600 mg/kg, single dose, i.g.) and a subacute study of PCE (500 mg/kg/day, 5 days, i.g.) in 3 strains. Liver and kidney tissues were subject to profiling of oxidative and glutathione conjugation metabolites of TCE and PCE, as well as toxicity endpoints. The amounts of trichloroacetic acid formed in the liver was hCYP2E1≈ 129S1/SvlmJ > Cyp2e1(-/-) for both TCE and PCE; levels in males were about 2-fold higher than in females. Interestingly, 2- to 3-fold higher levels of conjugation metabolites were observed in TCE-treated Cyp2e1(-/-) mice. PCE induced lipid accumulation only in liver of 129S1/SvlmJ mice. In the kidney, PCE exposure resulted in acute proximal tubule injury in both sexes in all strains (hCYP2E1 ≈ 129S1/SvlmJ > Cyp2e1(-/-)). In conclusion, our results demonstrate that CYP2E1 is an important, but not exclusive actor in the oxidative metabolism and toxicity of TCE and PCE.
Physics of frequency-modulated comb generation in quantum-well diode lasers

Frequency combs are valuable metrological tools that have found several applications in spectroscopy and telecommunications. This work elucidates the physics behind their formation in diode lasers, which may spur further activities on the generation of frequency combs from chip-scale lasers.
ADAPTATION TO OSMOTIC CHANGES BY TISSUES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: AN INVESTIGATION OF MECHANISMS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the mechanisms of adaptation to osmotic changes by tissues of the nervous system. The in vivo adaptation to a hyperosmotic (HI) or a hypoosmotic (HO) plasma environment was accompanied by profound alterations of the free amino acid composition in brain tissues of the osmoconforming toad Bufo boreas. It is found that the adaptation to HO is accompanied by elevated levels of plasma corticoids, but the administration of corticoids does not mimic the changes in amino acids of the nervous system observed during adaptation to HO. No changes in plasma corticoids are observed during the adaptation to HI. The stress mechanisms involving changes in plasma corticoids appear unrelated to cerebral changes in amino acids that accompany the osmotic adaptation. An amino acid tide in blood plasma that precedes elevation of amino acids in nervous tissue during HI suggests possible involvement of mechanisms outside the brain and transport functions. It is observed that when NaCl and mannitol or lactamide were injected into toads to produce a plasma osmolality of 400 mOsm for at least 24 h, the rate at which amino acids accumulated in brain tissues followed a different time sequence with NaCl as compared to mannitol-induced HI.
Caring for a Loved One with Cancer: Professional and Family Issues

The evolution of the healthcare system over the past few decades has resulted in shorter hospital stays and greater numbers of invasive, out-patient procedures for most patients. This change in healthcare delivery has resulted in more family members being thrust into the role of caregiver.
Survey on Image Content Analysis, Indexing, and Retrieval Techniques and Status Report of MPEG-7

Multimedia database management has been intensively studied recently due to the rapid growth of multimedia data and the demand of their access over the Internet. The new member of the MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group) family, called the ”Multimedia Content Description Interface” or MPEG-7 in short, will extend the limited capabilities of proprietary solutions in identifying multimedia contents that exist today. State-of-the-art technologies and systems will be evaluated and merged to specify a standard to describe multimedia contents in such a process. In this review paper, a comprehensive survey of image database management techniques and systems is performed, and the status in the MPEG-7 standardization process is reported. Based on this study, future trends and promising research directions are also predicted.
Blood coagulation factors in total body irradiation.

Investigation of the clotting factors in five humans accidentally exposed to total body irradiation disclosed no deficiencies. There was no evidence of a circulating anticoagulant in any case. Moderate fibrinolysis was seen in two instances in the same individual but was not evident in the others. At the eleventh day there was uniformly a moderate increase in the levels of fibrinogen. At the twenty-ninth day there was observed an increase in the levels of factors V and VIII coincidental with thrombocytopenia. This change reversed itself with recovery. A similar increase in the levels of factor VIII and less so of factor V was seen in cases of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and secondary thrombocytopenia. An increase in level of factor VIII was observed in patients on oral coumarin anticoagulation. It is concluded that the supernormal levels of factors V and VIII are secondary to lowered thrombin levels in the circulating plasma as a result of the thrombocytopenia and not due directly to the effect of irradiation.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens- Mediated Transformation of Pucciniomycotina Red Yeasts

Red yeasts belong to the subphylum Pucciniomycotina, one of the three major lineages in the Basidiomycete fungi. These yeasts, commonly found as saprophytes in the environment, have unique features that make them important for academia, industry, agriculture, and occasionally human health. To understand the genetic basis behind biological processes of interest, the availability of molecular tools for gene mutation plays a crucial role. Here we outline how to perform recently developed protocols of Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation to Pucciniomycotina red yeasts. This method can be applied to generate libraries of T-DNA insertional mutants that can be screened for phenotypes of interest, or for targeted gene replacement.
Heavy Alcohol Use and Age Effects on HIV‐Associated Neurocognitive Function

Background There is growing concern about the health impact of heavy alcohol use in people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV+). Mixed findings of past studies regarding the cognitive impact of alcohol use in HIV+ adults have been mixed, with inconsistent evidence that alcohol consumption exacerbates HIV-associated brain dysfunction. This study examined contributions of current heavy drinking, lifetime alcohol use disorder (AUD), and age to cognitive deficits in HIV+ adults, and relative to other HIV-associated clinical factors. Methods Cognitive performance of HIV+ adults (n = 104) was assessed, and comparisons were made between heavy current to nonheavy drinkers (NIAAA criteria), lifetime AUD versus no-AUD, and older (>50 years) versus younger participants. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between cognitive performance and current heavy drinking, lifetime AUD, and older age, while also correcting for HIV clinical factors and history of other substance use. Results Individuals reporting current heavy drinking and meeting criteria for lifetime AUD demonstrated the greatest degree of deficits across multiple cognitive domains. Deficits were greatest among HIV+ adults with lifetime AUD, and older age was also associated with weaker cognitive performance. Lifetime AUD and older age independently exhibited stronger associations with cognitive performance than HIV clinical factors (e.g., viral load, current CD4, and nadir CD4) or past opiate and cocaine use. Conclusions Current heavy drinking and lifetime AUD adversely affect cognitive function in HIV+ adults. Greatest deficits existed when there was a history of AUD and continued current heavy drinking, indicating that past AUD continues to have an adverse impact and should not be ignored. That alcohol use was more strongly associated with cognitive performance than HIV clinical factors underscore clinical importance of targeting reduction in heavy alcohol consumption in HIV+ adults.
Future of Rice Crop Under Enriched CO2 Environment

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the second largest cereal crop produced globally, with a worldwide production of about 720 million metric tons in recent years and contributing toward for 20% of the global calorie intake. The growing condition of rice is extreme such as high vs. low temperature and high vs. low level of CO2 concentration [CO2]. Given CO2 is a key substrate for photosynthesis, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 dominantly influences the growth and yield of rice crop. The main component of rice is the kernel (~90%) which is starch, and the composition and behavior of starch are greatly impacted by environmental drivers including temperature, CO2, and water. Therefore, it is important to understand the variation in production and yield of rice under the elevated [CO2]. Here, we discussed the impacts of elevated [CO2] on the quality and quantity of rice production under current and future climatic conditions. We have discussed the response of rice crops under elevated [CO2] and its interaction with several other biophysical drivers including air temperature, ozone concentration, soil water content, and genotype in various experimental approaches, viz., free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE), open top chambers (OTC), growth chambers, and temperature gradient tunnels. Overall, elevated [CO2] stimulated photosynthesis and production of rice on a short-term, but the long-term effects of elevated [CO2] on the quality and quantity of rice production is yet to be resolved and need some attention with respect to various environmental constraints.
Determinants of Suicide-related Ideation in Late Life Depression: Associations with Perceived Stress.

Objectives: Perceived stress is emerging as a potential contributing factor in suicide-related ideation in older adults. We hypothesized higher levels of perceived stress would be associated with i...
Single-Pot Two-Temperature Synthesis of High Aspect Ratio Silver Nanowires with Narrow Size Distribution

Abstract A synthetic method was developed to produce silver nanowires with lengths of ~20 μm and diameters of ~100 nm with a narrow size distribution. The method utilizes a simple, two-temperature (100 °C and 140 °C), one-pot synthesis with a yield approaching 80% that is amenable to large-scale production since it does not require timed reactant additions, critical agitation rates, nor complex temperature programs. Reaction time is typically ½ that of conventional synthetic methods. A selective precipitation method was also developed to the isolate the ~200 aspect ratio silver nanowires in a high purity. The method allows for control of nanowire aspect ratio by tuning the ratio of Ag+ ions to polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) monomer units and/or the average molecular weight of PVP.
Differentiation of human intestinal organoids with endogenous vascular endothelial cells

SUMMARY Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived intestinal organoids (HIOs) generated using directed differentiation lack some cellular populations found in the native organ, including vasculature. Using single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq), we have identified a transient population of endothelial cells (ECs) present early in HIO differentiation that are lost over time in culture. Here, we have developed a method to enhance co-differentiation and maintenance of ECs within HIOs (vHIOs). Given that ECs are known to possess organ specific gene expression, morphology and function, we used bulk RNAseq and scRNAseq to interrogate the developing human intestine, lung, and kidney in order to identify organ-enriched EC-gene signatures in these organ systems. By comparing organ-specific gene signatures along with markers validated by fluorescent in situ hybridization to HIO ECs, we find that HIO ECs grown in vitro share the highest similarity with native intestinal ECs relative to kidney and lung. Together, these data show that HIOs can co-differentiate a native EC population that are properly patterned with an intestine-specific EC transcriptional signature in vitro.
A Formulaic Recitation Will Not Do: Why the Federal Rules Demand More Detail in Criminal Pleading

When a plaintiff files a civil lawsuit in federal court, her complaint must satisfy certain minimum standards. Specifically, under the prevailing understanding of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), a complaint must plead sufficient factual matter to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face, rather than mere conclusory statements. Given the significantly higher stakes involved in criminal cases, one might think that an even more robust requirement would exist in that context. But in fact a weaker pleading standard reigns. Under the governing interpretation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(c), indictments that simply parrot the language of a statute are often sufficient. As this Article shows, however, that pleading balance is misguided. The drafters of Rule 7(c) designed the Rule to be at least as stringent as Rule 8(a), as demonstrated by the text of Rules 7(c) and 8(a), the history of American pleading, the original Advisory Committee Note to Rule 7(c), and the drafting history of the Criminal Rules. And the drafters’ original design should govern today, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s amplification of the civil pleading standard in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal. All of that means that our current pleading regime should be rethought, that criminal defendants should receive more protections and information about the case against them than they presently do, and that policy arguments—which seem to favor a stronger criminal pleading standard—are all the more critical.
Mycobacterial Infections Potentiated by Biologics

Biologic therapies have revolutionized the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases but are associated with an increased risk of serious and opportunistic infections, including tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial disease. Despite this increased risk, the overall risk-benefit ratio remains favorable with appropriate screening and risk assessment. Further population-based studies are needed to establish the risk of tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial disease with the new biologics. This article highlights the incidence and drug-specific risk of tuberculous and nontuberculous mycobacterial infection in the setting of biologics, screening and prevention, and treatment of latent tuberculosis in this setting.
Macro-Rheology Characterization of Gill Raker Mucus in the Silver Carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix.

The silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, is an invasive planktivorous filter feeder fish that infested the natural waterways of the upper Mississippi River basin due to its highly efficient filter feeding mechanism. The characteristic organs called gill rakers (GRs), found in many such filter feeders, facilitate the efficient filtration of food particles such as phytoplankton that are of a few microns in size. The motivation to investigate the rheology of the GR mucus stems from our desire to understand its role in aiding the filter feeding process in the silver carp. The mucus-rich fluid, in a 'thick and sticky' state may facilitate the adhesion of food particulates. The permeation and transport through the GR membrane are facilitated by the action of external shear forces that induce varying shear strain rates. Therefore, mucus rheology can provide a vital clue to the tremendous outcompeting nature of the silver carp within the pool of filter feeding fish. Based on this it was posited that GR mucus may provide an adhesive function to food particles and act as a transport vehicle to assist in the filter feeding process. The main objective of the protocol is to determine the yield stress of the mucus, attributed to the minimum shear stress required to initiate flow at which irreversible plastic deformation is first observed across a structured viscoelastic material. Accordingly, rheological properties of the GR mucus, i.e., viscosity, storage, and loss moduli, were investigated for its non-Newtonian, shear-thinning nature using a rotational rheometer. A protocol presented here is employed to analyze the rheological properties of mucus extracted from the gill rakers of a silver carp, fished at Hart Creek location of the Missouri River. The protocol aims to develop an effective strategy for rheological testing and material characterization of mucus assumed to be a structured viscoelastic material.
Social Determinants of Pharmacy Deserts in Los Angeles County

As medications are commonly used to prevent and mitigate chronic diseases and their associated complications and outcomes, limited geographic access to medications in communities that are already plagued with health inequity is a growing concern. This is especially important because low-income urban minority communities often have high prevalence and incidence of cardiometabolic and respiratory chronic conditions. Community pharmacy deserts have been established in Chicago, New York, and other locales. In part because the definition was originally adapted from the concept of food deserts, existing studies have either utilized the distance of 1 mile or greater to the nearest community pharmacy solely, or used distance along with the same predefined social indicator thresholds that define food deserts (i.e., income and vehicle ownership), to define and identify areas as pharmacy deserts. No full analysis has been conducted of the social determinants that define and characterize medication shortage areas within a given locale, even though medication and food are usually accessed independently. Therefore, to address this gap in the literature, this study was designed to identify all potential “pharmacy deserts” in Los Angeles County based on distance alone and then characterize them by their social determinants of health (SDOH) indicators. Geographic pharmacy deserts were identified as census tracts where the nearest community pharmacy was 1 mile or more away from a tract centroid. K-means clustering was applied to group pharmacy deserts based on their composition of social determinants of health indicators. Twenty-five percent (571/2323) of LA County census tracts were pharmacy deserts and 75% (1752/2323) were pharmacy non-deserts. Within the desert areas, two statistically distinct groups of pharmacy deserts (type one and type two) emerged from the analysis. In comparison to type two pharmacy deserts, type one pharmacy deserts were characterized by a denser population, had more renters, more residents that speak English as a second language, less vehicle ownership, more residents living under the federal poverty level, more Black and Hispanic residents, more areas with higher crime against property and people, and less health professionals to serve the area. Residing in type one desert areas, potentially compounds the geographic shortage of pharmacies and pharmacy services. As such, residents in Los Angeles County pharmacy deserts might benefit greatly from equitable, innovative, community-based interventions that increase access to medications, pharmacy services, and pharmacists.
Descriptive Cataloging: The History and Practice of Describing Library Resources

Descriptive cataloging is the process of representing resources by recording their identifying traits and selecting specific names and titles to serve as access points. It is a key component of the...
A Hobby Out of Control: Festschrift for Teresa Amabile

This contribution to the Festschrift for Teresa Amabile describes the importance of intrinsic motivation for creativity and looks back at how the concept of intrinsic motivation has changed over the years. Early on the connection to creativity was vague and non-experimental, but then Amabile developed methods with good controls and in turn was able to avoid the ambiguities of earlier research. The present chapter puts intrinsic motivation into a larger context where it works with various other components of the creative process, including cognition. It also touches on the Consensual Assessment Technique. This in turn leads to a discussion of the value of creative products. These offer very different information from that obtained when focusing on the creative process, and often nothing can be said about how creativity comes about (i.e., the underlying mechanism) by looking only at the outcome or product. Another concern is raised, namely about generalizations from any one group of judges involved in judging creative products. This chapter concludes by acknowledging the very broad and positive impact that Amabile has had on creativity research.
Fast cure of stable semi-pregs via VBO cure

To address the need for increased efficiency in high performance composite processing, a vacuum bag only (VBO) semi-preg was designed, modeled, and evaluated. The semi-preg featured a vinyl hybrid ...
Utility of Restricted Mean Survival Time for Analyzing Time to Nursing Home Placement Among Patients With Dementia.

This cohort study assesses the utility of restricted mean survival time as a method for quantifying time to nursing home placement among patients with dementia.
Effects of forested buffers on benthic macroinvertebrate indicators of water quality in the Western Finger Lakes, New York

Forested riparian buffers are implemented by watershed managers to reduce pollutant runoff into waterbodies. They have been shown to accomplish this task in rivers and streams, but few studies have...
A Fast Serial and Parallel Thinning Algorithm

A fast serial and parallel algorithm for thinning digital patterns is presented. The processing speed is faster than the algorithms in the literature [3],[4],[9],[12] in that it reads pixels along the edge of the input pattern rather than all pixels in each iteration. Using this algorithm an experiment is conducted and the patterns such “X”, “H”, “A”, as are tested. The results show that this algorithm is faster, structure-preservative and more flexible in that it can be done either sequentially or in parallel.
Queueing dynamics and maximal throughput scheduling in switched processing systems

We study a processing system comprised of parallel queues, whose individual service rates are specified by a global service mode (configuration). The issue is how to switch the system between various possible service modes, so as to maximize its throughput and maintain stability under the most workload-intensive input traffic traces (arrival processes). Stability preserves the job inflow–outflow balance at each queue on the traffic traces. Two key families of service policies are shown to maximize throughput, under the mild condition that traffic traces have long-term average workload rates. In the first family of cone policies, the service mode is chosen based on the system backlog state belonging to a corresponding cone. Two distinct policy classes of that nature are investigated, MaxProduct and FastEmpty. In the second family of batch policies (BatchAdapt), jobs are collectively scheduled over adaptively chosen horizons, according to an asymptotically optimal, robust schedule. The issues of nonpreemptive job processing and non-negligible switching times between service modes are addressed. The analysis is extended to cover feed-forward networks of such processing systems/nodes. The approach taken unifies and generalizes prior studies, by developing a general trace-based modeling framework (sample-path approach) for addressing the queueing stability problem. It treats the queueing structure as a deterministic dynamical system and analyzes directly its evolution trajectories. It does not require any probabilistic superstructure, which is typically used in previous approaches. Probability can be superposed later to address finer performance questions (e.g., delay). The throughput maximization problem is seen to be primarily of structural nature. The developed methodology appears to have broader applicability to other queueing systems.
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: molecular genetics and targeted therapies

Recent advances show that human focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a primary podocytopathy caused by podocyte-specific gene mutations including NPHS1, NPHS2, WT-1, LAMB2, CD2AP, TRPC6, ACTN4 and INF2. This review focuses on genes discovered in the investigation of complex FSGS pathomechanisms that may have implications for the current FSGS classification scheme. It also recounts recent recommendations for clinical management of FSGS based on translational studies and clinical trials. The advent of next-generation sequencing promises to provide nephrologists with rapid and novel approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of FSGS. A stratified and targeted approach based on the underlying molecular defects is evolving.
Internet-Enabled Mobile Handheld Devices for Mobile Commerce

The emergence of wireless and mobile networks has made possible the introduction of electronic commerce to a new application and research area: mobile commerce. Internet-enabled mobile handheld devices are one of the core components of a mobile commerce system, making it possible for mobile users to directly interact with mobile commerce applications. Much of a mobile user’s first impression of the application will be formed by his or her interaction with the device, therefore the success of mobile commerce applications is greatly dependent on how easy they are to use. This article first explains the role of handheld devices in mobile commerce systems and then discusses the devices in detail. A mobile handheld device includes six major components: i) a mobile operating system, ii) a mobile central processor unit, iii) a microbrowser, iv) input/output devices, v) a memory, and vi) batteries. Each component is described in detail and major products and technologies for the component are given. The technology needed for synchronization with desktop PCs and various mobile commerce applications is also presented.
Position Statement: Robotics Science

Robotics as a subject of inquiry has had from its beginning an identity problem. Questions such as:
Sport, Myth, and the Handicapped Athlete

(1979). Sport, Myth, and the Handicapped Athlete. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 33-34.
Mathematics Curriculum in School Education: Advancing Research and Practice from an International Perspective

Mathematics curriculum, often a focus in education reforms, has not received extensive research attention until recently. To advance relevant research and practice in mathematics curriculum, this book is designed to survey, synthesize, and extend current research development on mathematics curriculum in different education systems. In this introduction chapter, we highlight the background of this book project, its purposes, and what can be learned from reading this book.