cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ammonia toxicity: comparative protective effect of various arginine and ornithine derivatives, aspartate, benzoate, and carbamyl glutamate.

Ornithine and arginine compounds were highly effective in preventing an increase in blood ammonia and in preventing or minimizing encephalopathy after acute subcoma, comainducing, or lethal doses of NH 4 + . Similar protection was seen after subacute loading with glycine. Ornithine ketoacid derivatives were no more effective than ornithine alone or ornithine glutamate. Ornithine appeared to be a little more effective than arginine, but the differences were slight. Aspartate and glutamate alone were ineffective. Carbamyl glutamate was much less effective than either ornithine glutamate or arginine glutamate. Orotic acid excretion was markedly increased in the presence of excess NH 4 + . This increment was eliminated with ornithine or arginine, although the reduction with arginine was unpredictably erratic. Aspartate increased the orotic acid excretion and the amount of urea formed. Sodium benzoate was borderline in its effect on the blood ammonia and on orotic acid excretion.
Estimating Changes in Near-Shore Bathymetry with Subaerial Surveys

AbstractSurveys of the subaerial beach (e.g., landward of approximately the MSL depth contour) are widely used to evaluate temporal changes in sand levels over large alongshore reaches. Here, seasonal beach face volume changes based on full bathymetry beach profiles (to ~8 m in depth) are compared with estimates based on the subaerial section of the profile. The profiles span 15 years and 75 km of Southern California shoreline, where seasonal vertical fluctuations in near-shore sand levels of a few meters are common. In years with relatively low winter wave energy, most erosion occurs above the MSL contour, and subaerial surveys capture as much as 0.8 of the total (relatively small) seasonal beach face volume change. In response to more energetic winter waves, beach face erosion increases and occurs as deep as 3 m below MSL, and subaerial surveys capture as little as 0.2 of the total beach face volume change. Patchy, erosion-resistant rock and cobble layers contribute to alongshore variation of the subaer...
Control Oriented Modeling of a Three Way Catalyst Coupled With Oxygen Sensors

Modeling of three-way catalyst behavior in stoichiometric engines is a tovpic with significant depth of research which encompasses complex kinetics based models through highly simplified control-oriented models. For model based control design, one must consider the behavior of the catalyst in conjunction with the feedback oxygen sensors. These sensors have well known influences from exhaust gas species due to interaction with the catalyst which, if ignored, can cause significant difficulties in modeling and control. These effects have often been addressed by calibrating and validating catalyst models under simplified conditions in order to minimize errors. In this work, the root cause of many of these errors is investigated and experimental evidence presented. Additionally, ARMA and Hammerstein models are used to find a model capable of predicting the post-catalyst oxygen sensor response over realistic validation data.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Field dependence of mobilities for gas-phase-protonated monomers and proton-bound dimers of ketones by planar field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometer (PFAIMS).

The dependence of the mobilities of gas-phase ions on electric fields from 0 to 90 Td at ambient pressure was determined for protonated monomers [(MH + (H 2 O) n ] and proton bound dimers [M 2 H+(H 2 O) n ] for a homologous series of normal ketones, from acetone to decanone (M = C 3 H 6 O to C 1 0 H 2 0 O). This dependence was measured as the normalized function of mobility α(E/N) using a planar field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometer (PFAIMS) and the ions were mass-identified using a PFAIMS drift tube coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer. Methods are described to obtain α(E/N) from the measurements of compensation voltage versus amplitude of an asymmetric waveform of any shape. Slopes of a for MH + versus EIN were monotonic from 0 to 90 Td for acetone, butanone, and pentanone. Plots for ketones from hexanone to octanone exhibited plateaus at high fields. Nonanone and decanone showed plots with an inversion of slope above 70 Td. Proton bound dimers for ketones with carbon numbers greater than five exhibited slopes for a versus E/N, which decreased continuously with increasing E/N. These findings are the first alpha values for ions from a homologous series under atmosphere pressure and are preliminary to explanations of α(E/N) with ion structure.
Perception of order within disorder: 1. Visual ranking of random textures

Abstract A computer algorithm was developed to control the separate probabilities of various line lengths, or spatial frequencies, in unidimensionally random homogeneous visual textures of 50% density. For three reference frequencies, 5.2 cycles/degree, 1.05 and 0.52, the mathematical randomness of the patterns was compared to the perceptual randomness, using standard Stevensian ranking methods, † and the rank orders dc, in general, agree. However, visual sensitivity to the changes in statistical order decreases as a negative function, inversely proportional to the amount of statistical order that is present. Further, the overall finess of the ordering is complexly related to the field characteristics of the patterns and to whether free eye-scan is or is not allowed. We conclude that sensory randomness is in itself a fully organized holistic quality of perceptual experience, quite like brightness or hue, and that it can be fruitfully studied entirely in its own right.
A comparative study of mouse liver and mouse blastocyst DNA-dependent RNA polymerases.

Abstract DNA-dependent RNA polymerase has been studied in adult mouse liver and mouse blastocysts. The enzyme from mouse liver was resolved into three enzyme forms by DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. Two of the forms, IA and IB, are insensitive to α-amanitin, have low Mn 2+ Mg 2+ activity ratios, and are optimally active at low ionic strength. Form II is inhibited by α-amanitin, has a higher Mn 2+ Mg 2+ activity ratio, and is most active at high ionic strength. An optimal reaction temperature of 37 ° C was found for all enzyme forms. All of the isolated enzyme forms are inhibited by the exotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis and the inhibition can be partially reversed by increased ATP levels. Forms IA and IB are most active with native template while form II prefers denatured DNA. The blastocyst RNA polymerase activity exhibits similar requirements for divalent metal ions and ionic strength to the purified liver enzymes. The maximum inhibition of blastocyst RNA polymerase obtained with α-amanitin and exotoxin differs from that observed for purified liver enzymes but is similar to the inhibition of liver homogenate. However, the concentrations of inhibitor required for maximum inhibition by α-amanitin and exotoxin is different for the blastocyst and liver homogenate enzymes.
Direct evidence of arsenic(III)-carbonate complexes obtained using electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy.

Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM), ion chromatography (IC), and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry were applied to investigate the interactions between arsenite [As(III)] and carbonate and arsenate [As(V)] and carbonate. The chemical species in the single and binary component solutions of As(III), As(V), and carbonate were attached to a Au(111) surface and then imaged in a 0.1 M NaClO4 solution at the molecular level by ECSTM. The molecules formed highly ordered adlayers on the Au(111) surface. High-resolution STM images revealed the orientation and packing arrangement of the molecular adlayers. Matching the STM images with the molecular models constructed using the Hyperchem software package indicated that As(III) formed two types of complexes with carbonate, including As(OH)2CO3- and As(OH)3(HCO3-)2. No complexes were formed between As(V) and carbonate. IC chromatograms of the solutions revealed the emergence of the new peak only in the aged As(III)−carbonate...
The X and why of xenobiotics in primary biliary cirrhosis

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a chronic autoimmune liver disease characterized by inflammation and destruction of intrahepatic biliary epithelial cells, ultimately leading to liver failure. The serological hallmark of PBC is the presence of high-titer antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) against the inner lipoyl domain of E2 subunits of 2-oxo-acid dehydrogenase complexes, in particular the E2 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2). The initiating events triggering the autoimmune response are not yet identified but the hypothesis of molecular mimicry is a widely proposed mechanism for the development of autoimmunity in PBC. Several candidates, including bacteria and viruses, have been suggested as causative agents, but also environmental factors, such as chemical xenobiotics, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis. In this review, we will discuss our current knowledge of the immunoreactivity of xenobiotically modified PDC peptide antigens. In addition, we will provide a working hypothesis how xenobiotic modification of antigens might occur that ultimately leads to the breaking of self-tolerance and the induction of PBC.
The effect of satiation following partial reinforcement

Rats deprived to 80% or 90% body weight received either 50% or 100% food reinforcement in a runway. They were then satiated and run on the same schedule. A history of partial reinforcement, or of more severe deprivation, produced faster response speeds during satiation. The greater resistance of partially reinforced responses to the decremental effects of satiation may be related to their high resistance to the effects of extinction and punishment.
Upper-Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis

Background— Upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis (UEDVT) occurs spontaneously or sometimes develops as a complication of pacemaker use, long-term use of a central venous catheter (CVC), or cancer. Methods and Results— To improve our understanding of UEDVT, we compared the demographics, symptoms, risk factors, prophylaxis, and initial management of 324 (6%) patients with central venous catheter (CVC)–associated UEDVT, 268 (5%) patients with non–CVC-associated UEDVT, and 4796 (89%) patients with lower-extremity DVT from a prospective US multicenter DVT registry. The non–CVC-associated UEDVT patients were younger (59.2±18.2 versus 64.2±16.9 years old; P<0.0001), less often white (65% versus 73%; P<0.01), leaner (body mass index [BMI] 26.8±7.1 versus 28.5±7.3 kg/m2; P<0.001), and more likely to smoke (19% versus 13%; P=0.02) than the lower-extremity DVT patients. By way of propensity analysis and multivariable logistic regression analysis, we determined that an indwelling CVC was the strongest independent pre...
Older Women With Breast Cancer: Slow Progress, Great Opportunity, Now Is the Time

visits for patients treated for localized primary cutaneous melanoma. J Clin Oncol 29:4641-4646, 2011 4. Siegel R, Ward E, Brawley O, et al: Cancer statistics, 2011: The impact of eliminating socioeconomic and racial disparities on premature cancer deaths. CA Cancer J Clin 61:212-236, 2011 5. Romano E, Scordo M, Dusza SW, et al: Site and timing of first relapse in stage III melanoma patients: Implications for follow-up guidelines. J Clin Oncol 28:3042-3047, 2010
Individuation and relationship violence

Abstract This paper examines relationship dynamics of couples in which the man has been violent toward the woman. The thesis offered here, from a systemic perspective, is that violence in intimate couple relationships is, in part, a distance-regulating mechanism that maintains a balance between separateness and connectedness in the relationship. The individual developmental process that allows a balance to be maintained without violence or other “distance regulators” is individuation. Some of the theoretical positions taken by previous authors that clarify the connection between individuation and relationship dynamics are presented. Next, the link between lack of individuation and relationship violence is explored using the work of other scholars to support our thesis and the “voices” of women who have experienced date violence. The “voices” come from a multiple case study using qualitative methods and analyses conducted by the second author. Finally, therapeutic intervention when relationship violence is...
Discrete Asymptotic Abstractions of Hybrid Systems

In this paper we introduce the notion of Finite Time Mode Abstraction to relate a hybrid automaton to a timed automaton that preserves the stability and reachability properties of the former. The abstraction procedure discards the continuous dynamics of each mode in the hybrid automaton completely, keeping only the information about the maximum time in which the continuous state makes a discrete jump. This information is used to construct a timed automaton, based on the original hybrid automaton, and to prove that the stability and reachability properties of the original system are retained in the abstract timed automaton. In the process of abstracting a hybrid to a timed automaton we introduce a new notion of hybrid distance metric, which provides information about both the number of discrete transitions that a system would have to make to go from one hybrid state to another, and the distance between the continuous parts of such hybrid states.
Bacteria detection in a microfluidic channel utilizing electromagnetic cellular polarization and optical scattering

A bacterial detection scheme based on aligning the bacteria with an electric field and detecting the optical scattering is examined. This method uses no biochemical markers and can be applied in a point-of-care setting.
Structuring a Competency-Based Accounting Communication Course At the Graduate Level:

The authors describe a graduate capstone accounting class as a basis for building communication skills desired by both accounting practitioners and accounting faculty. An academic service-learning ...
A dichotomy in the complexity of deletion propagation with functional dependencies

A classical variant of the view-update problem is deletion propagation, where tuples from the database are deleted in order to realize a desired deletion of a tuple from the view. This operation may cause a (sometimes necessary) side effect---deletion of additional tuples from the view, besides the intentionally deleted one. The goal is to propagate deletion so as to maximize the number of tuples that remain in the view. In this paper, a view is defined by a self-join-free conjunctive query (sjf-CQ) over a schema with functional dependencies. A condition is formulated on the schema and view definition at hand, and the following dichotomy in complexity is established. If the condition is met, then deletion propagation is solvable in polynomial time by an extremely simple algorithm (very similar to the one observed by Buneman et al.). If the condition is violated, then the problem is NP-hard, and it is even hard to realize an approximation ratio that is better than some constant; moreover, deciding whether there is a side-effect-free solution is NP-complete. This result generalizes a recent result by Kimelfeld et al., who ignore functional dependencies. For the class of sjf-CQs, it also generalizes a result by Cong et al., stating that deletion propagation is in polynomial time if keys are preserved by the view.
Detection of hidden Markov model transient signals

Addressed here is the quickest detection of transient signals which can be represented as hidden Markov models (HMMs), with the application of detection of transient signals. Relying on the fact that Page's test is equivalent to a repeated sequential probability ratio test (SPRT), we are able to devise a procedure analogous to Page's test for dependent observations. By using the so-called forward variable of an HMM, such a procedure is applied to the detection of a change in hidden Markov modeled observations, i.e., a switch from one HMM to another. Performance indices of Page's test, the average run length (ARL) under both hypotheses, are approximated and confirmed via simulation. Several important examples are investigated in depth to illustrate the advantages of the proposed scheme.
The Brave New World of Binary Star Studies

In this paper we discuss some of the new and exciting developments in the study of binary stars. Recent technological advances (such as CCDs) now make it possible (even easy) to study faint, astrophysically important binaries that in the past could only be done with large 4 + meter class telescopes. Also, the panoramic nature of CCDs (and the use of mosaics), permit large numbers of stars to be imaged and studied. At this conference, most of the observational material discussed was secured typically with smaller aperture 0.5 – 2 m telescopes. Excellent examples are the discovery of over 104 new ∼13 – 20 mag eclipsing (and interacting) binaries now found in nearby galaxies from the EROS, OGLE, MACHO and DIRECT programs. As briefly discussed here, and in more detail in several papers in this volume, a small fraction of these extragalactic eclipsing binaries are now serving as “standard candles” to secure accurate distances to the Magellanic Clouds, as well as to M31 and M33. Moreover, the discovery of increasingly larger numbers of eclipsing binaries has stimulated the development of automatic methods for reducing and analyzing the light curves of thousands of systems. In the near future, hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of additional systems are expected to be discovered by Pan-STARRS, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescopes (LSST), and later by GAIA. Over the last decade, new classes of binary systems have also been found which contain Jupiter-size planets and binaries containing pulsating stars. Some examples of these important binaries are discussed. Also discussed are the increasing numbers (now eight) of eclipsing binary planet-star systems that have been found from high precision photometry. These systems are very important since the radii and masses of the hosted planets can be directly measured. Moreover, from the upcoming COROT and KEPLER missions hundreds of additional transiting planet-star systems are expected to be found. All in all, we hope in this paper to highlight some of the current developments and new directions in the “Brave New World” of binary star studies.
Trade-off between Structural Diversity and Economic Objectives in Forest Management

A measure of divergence (NAD) between the distribution of individuals in a community and a target distribution is presented. When the latter is uniform, NAD measures evenness and exhibits a strong correlation with the widely used Shannon index. However, NAD offers the capability to incorporate an arbitrary composition in an economic optimization model where the Shannon index is not applicable. An empirical application to optimum management of a multispecies forest is presented, and the trade-off between ecological and economic objectives is investigated.
An update on the wind power input to the surface geostrophic flow of the World Ocean

The rate of working of the surface wind stress on the geostrophic component of the surface flow of the World Ocean is revisited. The global mean is found to be about 0.85 to 1.0 TW. Consistent with previous estimates, about 0.75 to 0.9 TW comes from outside the equatorial region (poleward of 3). The rate of forcing of fluctuating currents integrates to only about 0.02 TW when the equatorial region is included, or close to zero over the extratropical region. Uncertainty in wind power input due to uncertainty in the surface currents is negligible. Results from several different wind stress products are compared, suggesting that uncertainty in wind stress is the dominant source of error. Ignoring the surface currents’ influence upon wind stress leads to a systematic bias in net wind power input; an overestimate of about 10 to 30%. (In previous estimates this positive bias was offset by too weak winds.) Small-scale, zonally elongated structures in the wind power input were found, but have both positive and negative contributions and lead to little net wind power input.
Dimensional overlap accounts for independence and integration of stimulus—response compatibility effects

Extensive studies have been conducted to examine various attentional control effects that stem from stimulus— stimulus (S—S) and stimulus-response (S—R) incompatibility. Among these behavioral paradigms, the best-known are the Stroop effect, the Simon effect, and Posner’s cue validity effect. In this study, we designed two behavioral tasks incorporating these effects (Simon—color-Stroop and Simon-spatial-Stroop) guided by a general framework of S—R ensemble, the dimensional overlap theory. We analyzed various attentional effects according to dimensional overlaps among S—S and S—R ensembles and their combinations. We found that behavioral performance was independently affected by various dimensional overlaps in the Simon—color-Stroop task, whereas different sources of dimensional overlap in the Simon—spatial-Stroop task interacted with each other. We argue that the dimensional overlap theory can be extended to serve as a viable unified theory that accounts for diverse attentional effects and their interactions and helps to elucidate neural networks subserving attentional control.
From normal mode coupling to lasing in a III-V semiconductor microcavity

Summary form only given. Semiconductor microcavities will be described which exhibit record vacuum Rabi splitting-to-linewidth ratios because of the narrow linewidth of the InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells grown inside the high-finesse GaAs/AlAs cavity. When one of these microcavities with the exciton peak and cavity mode in resonance is excited resonantly or nonresonantly with cw or 100-fs-pulsed light, the two transmission peaks go down with negligible change in the splitting. At sufficiently high density the exciton-cavity coupling becomes too weak, and the system returns to the perturbative regime of irreversible emission yielding a single Fabry-Perot peak which results in the usual vertical-cavity lasing above threshold. Transfer matrix calculations of the microcavity transmission using measurements of the nonlinear absorption of the exciton resonance show that this unusual nonlinear behavior results from the fact that the exciton line broadens with little reduction in oscillator strength. The broadening increases the absorption at the normal-mode-coupling peaks thus reducing their transmission, and the splitting changes very little because the oscillator strength is nearly constant. The data are also in agreement with a microscopic theory for excitonic nonlinearities and light propagation in semiconductor microcavities for varying electron-hole densities. The nonlinear susceptibility of quantum confined excitons is determined from quantum kinetic equations including dephasing due to carrier-carrier and polarization scattering. The luminescence and transmission have also been studied as a function of cw and 100-fs excitation intensity and as a function of exciton-cavity detuning.
The Crucial Disanalogies Between Properly Basic Belief and Belief in God

The antifoundationalist defence of belief in God set forth by Alvin Plantinga has been widely discussed in recent years. Classical foundationalism assumes that there are two kinds of beliefs that we are justified in holding: beliefs supported by evidence, and basic beliefs. Our basic beliefs are those bedrock beliefs that need no evidence to support them and upon which our other beliefs must rest. For the foundationalist, the only beliefs that can be properly basic are either self-evident, or incorrigible, or evident to the senses. Belief in God is none of these. Thus, says the foundationalist, belief in God is justified only if there is sufficient evidence to back it up.
The pill at 40--a new look at a familiar method. Black women and the pill.

This article examines the politics of contraceptive pill use among Black women. Although the pill gave Black women greater control over reproduction than ever before it remains a controversial issue among them. One reason for this is the role of White-dominated birth control programs which play a role in furthering racial injustice. Aside from that the events that took place during the 1960s and 1970s in which thousands of poor Black women were coercively sterilized under federally funded programs made Black women see the pill as just another tool in White people’s efforts to curtail the Black population. More recently efforts to encourage poor Black women to use long-lasting contraceptives have resurrected the debate about race and birth control which lasted for nearly a century. The author suggests that social justice requires both equal access to safe user-controlled contraceptives and an end to the use of birth control as a means of population control.
Strip Tillage and Compost Influence Carrot Quality, Yield, and Net Returns

Management practices that build soil organic matter—including reduced tillage, cover cropping, and compost applications—may be useful for protecting vulnerable crops from extreme weather events, reducing energy costs, and suppressing pests in carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativa) production systems. The primary objective of this research wastoassesstheeffectsofstriptillage,compost,andcarrotcultivaroncarrotquality,yield, and profitability. An important secondary objective was to evaluate the impact of tillage andcompostonestablishmentofimportantweedsincarrotsystems—includingtwospecies that have developed resistance to linuron: Powell amaranth (Amaranthus powellii )a nd common purslane (Portulaca oleracea). Field experiments were conducted in 2009 and 2010 comparing conventional tillage (CT) to strip tillage (ST) under two rates of mature compost addition (0 or 3 dry tha L1 ) for three processing carrot varieties ('Canada', 'Finley', and 'Recoleta'). In the ST system, a pre-established barley cover crop was left to grow as a windbreak between crop rows until carrots were established. Partial budget analysis was used to estimate net returns associated with all treatments. Compared with CT, the ST system resulted in 1) either equivalent or greater (2010, Finley cultivar) total carrot yields and net returns; and 2) either equivalent or lower summer annual weed densities. Addition of compost resulted in equivalent (2010) or higher (2009) carrot yields and gross returns but did not affect net returns as a result of the increased costs associated with compost application. Compost reduced the density of common purslane in 2009 but resulted in a threefold increase in the density of Powell amaranth in 2010. Our results demonstrate that both ST and compost applications are potentially valuable tools for improving the profitability of carrot production systems. Future research examining the mechanistic basis for compost and tillage effects on carrots and weeds as well as the long- term effects of these practices on profitability of rotational crops would be helpful for optimizing their use in vegetable production systems.
Parallel institutionalism and the future of representation in Nigeria

ABSTRACTAs Nigeria marked its centennial in 2014, violent sectarianism pried open a historical debate about whether ‘amalgamation’ of the country's two former regions by British authorities in 1914 was a ‘mistake’. Even before independence, however, self-interested nationalism restrained self-interested regionalism, sustaining unification. I argue that a ‘parallel institutionalism’ has ever since mediated the nation's heterogeneity through two different visions of representation. A long pause in state creation, a reduction in the Effective Number of Parties, and declining relevance of a pact that facilitated the 1999 democratic transition have revealed latent tensions in the status of multicultural institutionalism and strengthened liberal institutionalism. I then analyse how demographic, economic, and migratory trends are slowly transforming the structure of representation, placing dilemmas of parallel institutionalism at the centre of future nationhood. Additional research could explore a natural experi...
Ecosystem Models of Fishing Effects: Present Status and a Suggested Future Paradigm

Quantitative modeling methods applied to anthropomorphic effects of harvesting on aquatic ecosystems have become increasingly utilized tools in the management of fisheries. However, to date traditional modeling approaches have not been found to be very useful as "surrogate experimental systems" in applied ecology, such as fishing effects on entire ecosystems. A review is made of several dynamic ecosystem models, and an effort is made to assess their utility to fisheries management. Both theoretical and simulation models, as well as individual-based models are shown to be of limited utility for various reasons. A new paradigm based on the premise that dynamic behavior of models, which includes fishing effects on the entire aquatic ecosystem, emerges from low-level interactions of independent agents. This concept is illustrated with simple artificial life models of fish schooling and predator-prey relations. These models describe each indi- vidual fish, including its interaction with others and the environment. There is no overall controlling program. Thus, the overall behavior of the school and predator-prey relations emerge from local interactions among many individuals. A brief description of the premise on which artificial life is based is included. Examples of other artificial life models at ecological scales are provided and some specifics on artificial life models in a fisheries context are suggested.
Mechanisms in Cancer Prevention by Dietary Antixodiants

Epidemiological studies and data from experiments in vivo and in vitro support the notion that cancer is a multistep process in that a series of specific events is required to transform a normal cell into a malignant one (1,2).
Ethanol effects on multiple fixed-interval, fixed-ratio responding in mice with deletions of the serotonin transporter gene.

Serotonin transporter (SERT) knock out (KO) mice self-administer less ethanol than either heterozygous (HET) or wild type (WT) mice; however the mechanistic basis for this difference remains unclear. Here we examine the possibility that ethanol more readily decreases responding in KO mice, thereby limiting ethanol self-administration. To examine whether KO mice were more sensitive to the response-decreasing effects of ethanol, we administered ethanol (0.2 to 3.2 g/kg) to mice responding under a multiple fixed-ratio (FR) 30-response, fixed-interval (FI) 300-sec schedule of milk presentation. Ethanol decreased responding similarly in all three genotypes. FR responding tended to be decreased at lower doses than FI responding. The decreased level of ethanol self-administration in SERT KO mice is not explained by an increased sensitivity to the response-decreasing effects of ethanol in KO mice, as sensitivity to the response decreasing effects of ethanol was similar in the KO, HET and WT mice.
Demography of Snowshoe Hare Populations in Wisconsin

During March 1980–August 1981, snowshoe hares ( Lepus americanus ) were live-trapped near the species' southern geographic limit in central Wisconsin. From this sample, and earlier work (1965–67) in northern Wisconsin, we estimated a number of demographic parameters. Snowshoe densities declined in both regions during the study years. There were 37 adults per 100 ha in central Wisconsin (summer 1980), and a maximum of 206 per 100 ha in the north (summer 1965). Sex ratios did not differ from 50:50. Adults comprised about 50% of fall and winter populations during each decline. Mean dates of first-litter conceptions were 20 March 1980 and 4 March 1981 in central Wisconsin, but much later (9 April 1965) in northern Wisconsin. Potential natality was higher in central than in northern Wisconsin, i.e., 10.8 versus 6.4 young per adult female; and higher too than reported elsewhere in the Great Lakes Region. This was due to a sustained high rate of pregnancy, and the occurrence of a fourth litter group. It is thus unlikely that either the abundance of snowshoe hares or their southern geographic limit in central Wisconsin is being determined by factors tending to depress reproduction. Annual adult and juvenile (first-year) survival were estimated at 0.22 and 0.11, respectively, in central Wisconsin (1980–81), and 0.31 and 0.07 in northern Wisconsin (1965–66). These rates are similar to those reported during population declines elsewhere.
Employee Assistance Programs in Higher Education

(1985). Employee Assistance Programs in Higher Education. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 56, No. 6, pp. 709-711.
Diclofenac Induces Proteasome and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Murine Cardiomyocytes and Hearts

Abstract Background One of the most common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) used worldwide, diclofenac (DIC), has been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The molecular mechanism(s) by which DIC causes CVD is unknown. Methods Proteasome activities were studied in hearts, livers, and kidneys from male Swiss Webster mice treated with either 100mg/kg DIC for 18h (acute treatment) or 10mg/kg DIC for 28days (chronic treatment). Cultured H9c2 cells and neonatal cardiomyocytes were also treated with different concentrations of DIC and proteasome function, cell death and ROS generation studied. Isolated mouse heart mitochondria were utilized to determine the effect of DIC on various electron transport chain complex activities. Results DIC significantly inhibited the chymotrypsin-like proteasome activity in rat cardiac H9c2 cells, murine neonatal cardiomyocytes, and mouse hearts, but did not affect proteasome subunit expression levels. Proteasome activity was also affected in liver and kidney tissues from DIC treated animals. The levels of polyubiquitinated proteins increased in hearts from DIC treated mice. Importantly, the levels of oxidized proteins increased while the β5i immunoproteasome activity decreased in hearts from DIC treated mice. DIC increased ROS production and cell death in H9c2 cells and neonatal cardiomyocytes while the cardioprotective NSAID, aspirin, had no effect on ROS levels or cell viability. DIC inhibited mitochondrial Complex III, a major source of ROS, and impaired mitochondrial membrane potential suggesting that mitochondria are the major sites of ROS generation. Conclusion These results suggest that DIC induces cardiotoxicity by a ROS dependent mechanism involving mitochondrial and proteasome dysfunction.
Novel Method for Patient Specific Acetabular Guides Based on Notch Fit Geometry: A Cadaveric Model

Introduction: Successful total joint arthroplasty requires accruate and reproducible acetabular component position. Acetabular component malposition has been associated with complications inlcuding dislocation, implant loosening, and increased wear. Recent literature had demonstrated that high-volume fellowship trained arthroplasty surgeons are in the “safe zone” for cup inclination and anteversion only 47% of the time. (1) Computer navigation has improved accuracy and reproducibility but remains expensive and cumbersome to many hospital and physicians. Patient specific instrumentation (PSI) has been shown to be effective and efficient in total knee replacements. The purpose of this study was to determine in a cadaveric model the anteversion and inclination accuracy of acetabular guides compared to a pre-operitive plan. Methods: 8 fresh-frozen cadaveric pelvis specimens underwent Computer Tomography (CT) in order to create a 3D reconstruction of the acetabulum. Based on these 3D reconstruction, a pre-operative plan was made positioning the patient specific acetabulum guides at 40 degrees of inclination and 20 degrees of anteversion in the pelvis.(Figure 1) The guides were created based on the specific bony morphology of the acetabular notch and rim. The guides were created using a 3D printer which allowed for precise recreation of the virtual model. 7 cadaveric specimens underwent creation and implantation of a acetabular guide specific to each specimens bony morphology. Ligamentum, pulvinar, and labum were removed for each cadaver prior to implantation to prevent soft tissue obstruction. The guides were inserted into the acetabular notch with the final position based on the fit of the guide in the notch. (Figure 2) Post-implantation CT was then performed and inclination and anteversion of the implanted guide measured and compared to the preoperative plan. Results: In 7 cadaveric specimens post-implantation CT scans were performed and anteversion and inclindation of each guide was calculated and compared to pre-operative plan of 20 degrees anteversion and 40 degrees of inclincation. On average, anteversion in the 7 cadavers measured 20.9 degrees with a standard deviation of 1.8 degrees. Inclincation measured 37.8 degrees with a standard deviation of 3.5 degrees. (Figure 3) Discussion and Conclusion: This study demonstrates a proof of concept that patient specific acetabular guides based on pre-operative CT scans and implanted in the human pelvis accurately reproduce the preoperative plan. Guide position was 20.9 degrees of anteversion and 37.8 degrees of inclination with a SD of 1.8 and 3.5 degrees respectively. Soft tissue obstruction may result in increased error in some specimens. This study demonstrates that patient specific models can be made and implanted based on notch fit geometry. Further study is currently underway to using a instrument based on the angle of the cup face is order to guide final cup implanation.
A process-level validation tool of GEANT4 physics for HPC resources

GEANT4 is a toolkit for Monte Carlo simulation of the transport of particles in matter [1], [2]. It is used in a wide variety of applications including high energy physics, space and medical science.
Engaging Youth Through Volunteer Service Travel: In Service of the Common Good

Volunteer Tourism is becoming a popular topic in the travel literature. These experiences combine the adventure of travel with opportunities to serve the communities visited. This burgeoning field of tourism may provide an attractive outlet for generating positive developmental assets and for encouraging future civic engagement. This paper highlights a study which explored the relationship of wisdom and social capital and also discussed the influence of a voluntourism experience on wisdom and social capital domains. The sample consisted of 68 high school youth from the various high schools in Illinois. Results indicate that wisdom and social capital are positively and significantly related. In addition, wisdom and social capital indicators increased significantly over the course of the experience.
Cigar Product Modification Among High School Youth.

Introduction Prevalence of cigar use has been increasing among youth. Research indicates that youth are modifying cigar products either by "freaking" (ie, removing the filter paper) or "blunting" (removing the tobacco and supplementing or replacing with marijuana), yet little is known about youth who engage in this behavior. Thus, this study examines demographic and concurrent substance use behaviors of youth who modify cigars. Methods Data from the 2013 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior survey were examined (n = 16 855). The survey collected data on demographics, cigar product use, cigar modification behaviors, and current cigarette, hookah and marijuana use. Responses to cigar product use items were used to create a composite to classify youth in one of eight unique user categories. Univariate and bivariate statistics were calculated using SPSS complex samples procedures. Results Overall, 15.2% reported current cigar product use, 11.0% reported current freaking, and 18.5% reported current blunt use; taken together, 25.3% of respondents reported any current use of a cigar product. When examined by user category, of those who endorsed any cigar product use, cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars use only was most endorsed (26.3%), followed by Blunt only (25.2%) and all three (ie, cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars, freaking, and blunting; 17.4%). Conclusion A substantial proportion of high school youth who report using cigar products are modifying them in some way, with nearly half freaking and nearly two-thirds blunting. Given the FDA Center for Tobacco products recent extension of its regulatory authority to include cigar products, it is imperative to understand more about the prevalence of and reasons for cigar modification behaviors. Implications Although the FDA has recently enacted regulatory authority over cigar products, little is known about cigar product modification. This is the first study to concurrently examine two unique cigar modification behaviors, "freaking" (ie, removing the filter paper) and "blunting" (removing the tobacco and supplementing or replacing with marijuana). A significant proportion of high school youth are modifying cigar products to be used as a tobacco product and as a mechanism to smoke marijuana. More research is needed to understand these behaviors to prevent and reduce the use of cigar products among youth.
Children’s success at detecting circular explanations and their interest in future learning

These studies explore elementary-school-aged children’s ability to evaluate circular explanations and whether they respond to receiving weak explanations by expressing interest in additional learning. In the first study, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds (n = 53) heard why questions about unfamiliar animals. For each question, they rated the quality of single explanations and later selected the best explanation between pairs of circular and noncircular explanations. When judging single explanations, 8- and 10-year-olds, and to some extent 6-year-olds, provided higher ratings for noncircular explanations compared to circular ones. When selecting between pairs of explanations, all age groups preferred noncircular explanations to circular ones, but older children did so more consistently than 6-year-olds. Children who recognized the weakness of the single circular explanations were more interested in receiving additional information about the question topics. In Study 2, all three age groups (n = 87) provided higher ratings for noncircular explanations compared to circular ones when listening to responses to how questions, but older children showed a greater distinction in their ratings than 6-year-olds. Moreover, the link between recognizing circular explanations as weak and interest in future learning could not be accounted for solely by individual differences in verbal intelligence. These findings illustrate the developmental trajectory of explanation evaluation and support that recognition of weak explanations is linked to interest in future learning across the elementary years. Implications for education are discussed.
Good for Business: Applying the ACRL Framework Threshold Concepts to Teach a Learner-Centered Business Research Course

This article discusses a librarian-designed and facilitated credit-bearing course, which utilizes the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy Threshold Concepts and transforms from Bloom’s Taxonomy to a learner-centered course redesign with Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning. Assessment results reveal a panel of data over the 2015-2016 academic year offering perspectives at the beginning and end of each semester and over the course of the entire academic year’s trajectory of learning. In an effort to imbue more affective learning outcomes, and based on answers received from fall assessments, the author altered the spring assessment to query student confidence levels and the value of the library. This article provides lesson plans that highlight each of the six Information Literacy Threshold Concepts in a business context and offers a trajectory toward significant and lifelong learning.
Executive Environmental Scanning and Strategic Uncertainty: The Impact of Institutional Context

We examined perceived strategic uncertainty (PSU) and environmental scanning among Hong Kong, Nigerian, and U.S. executives. We posit that PSU and scanning will vary in ways that can be explained b...
Speeding up joint mutual information feature selection with an optimization heuristic

Feature selection is an important pre-processing stage for nearly all data analysis pipelines that impact applications, such as genomics, life & biomedical sciences, and cyber-security. These application-driven fields rely on feature selection to not only build classifiers but also understand the data by trying to discover knowledge. Furthermore, these dimensionality reduction methods address the curse of dimensionality as well if classification is the end objective. Feature selection is formally defined as the process of optimizing the minimum subset of features that allow for the maximum predictive power. In this work, we address the problem of feature selection by using information theory. Many of the information-theoretic approaches perform a greedy forward optimization, however, the overall efficacy is a concern since most of the existing greedy algorithms only work in a centralized fashion (e.g. single sequential thread). Recent work has unified approximately 20 years of Information-theoretic feature selection works into a unified conditional likelihood maximization framework, which showed that the joint mutual information maximization (JMI) objective is generally the best option (i.e., empirically evaluated on many datasets). Unfortunately, JMI is infeasible on extremely high dimensional datasets. In this contribution, we propose a semi-parallel implementation of JMI that takes advantage of the fact that multiple features can be selected at the same time after observing a pattern in the greedy forward search. This work also bridges the gap between greedy feature selection and parallel feature selection, which can deliver significant speedup for large scale feature selection tasks. We evaluated the efficacy of the proposed approach with the traditional implementation of JMI using a greedy forward selection on several UCI datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is capable of selecting the same features that traditional JMI returns; however, the features are selected in a fraction of the time.
System-wide trade-off modeling of performance, power, and resilience on petascale systems

While performance remains a major objective in the field of high-performance computing (HPC), future systems will have to deliver desired performance under both reliability and energy constraints. Although a number of resilience methods and power management techniques have been presented to address the reliability and energy concerns, the trade-offs among performance, power, and resilience are not well understood, especially in HPC systems with unprecedented scale and complexity. In this work, we present a co-modeling mechanism named TOPPER (system-wide Trade-Off modeling for Performance, PowEr, and Resilience). TOPPER is build with colored Petri nets which allow us to capture the dynamic, complicated interactions and dependencies among different factors such as workload characteristics, hardware reliability, runtime system operation, on a petascale machine. Using system traces collected from a production supercomputer, we conducted a series of experiments to analyze various resilience methods, power capping techniques, and job characteristics in terms of system-wide performance and energy consumption. Our results provide interesting insights regarding performance–power–resilience trade-offs on HPC systems.