cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Size hierarchy in conifer seedbeds. I. Time of emergence

Studies conducted at two pine nurseries in the South and one in the West empirically related the genesis of seedling size hierarchies to time of emergence (TOE). Pinus taeda seeds were operationally sown at the southern nurseries in late April and P. ponderosa in late July at the western nursery. Germinated seedlings were tagged with color-coded plastic rings (20 turn dia.) every other day until germination was complete. Emergence was complete in 16–20 days. Growth response to TOE effects was determined 8 and 15 months, respectively, after sowing. Results were strikingly similar across nurseries; TOE strongly influenced germinant mortality and shoot biomass decreased 3.5% per day elapsed from initial emergence. That is, seedlings emerging 10 days after emergence began were 35% smaller at harvest than those emerging first. Late germinants accounted for significantly more culls among harvested seedlings than early germinants. Also, TOE accountend for more than 80% of variation in harvest biomass. Findings suggest that the germination period should not exceed 5 days. Response models are proposed to elucidate TOE effects in nursery operations.
Virtually Unaltered Permeability-Surface Area Products Imply Little Capillary Recruitment in Brain with Hypoxia

Objective: To test the capillary recruitment hypothesis for the brain with control and hypoxic rats.Methods: Local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) was sharply raised by respiring 10% O2 (hypoxia). LCBF as well as local influx rate constants (K1) and permeability-surface area (PS) products of 14C-antipyrine and 14C-3-O-methyl-d-glucose (30MG) were estimated for capillary systems in 44 brain areas.Results: With this testing, an increase in PS product would be suggestive of capillary recruitment. In all brain areas, LCBF was increased by 30–90% by hypoxia. Hypoxia modestly raised the influx of antipyrine in brain but did not appreciably alter its PS products. With hypoxia, K1's and PS products of 30MG were significantly lowered (5–25%) throughout the brain, and the blood levels of glucose were sizeably raised. The latter increase would diminish the transfer of 30MG across the blood-brain barrier by the hexose transporter because of increased glucose competition. By applying a glucose-concentration correction to t...
The “Institutions” in Institutionalization

During the 1990s, one program successfully increased women's participation in highly skilled, higher-wage occupations where women are underrepresented, but the cases highlighted here reveal the important role of institutions and contexts in successful program implementation. In contexts where grant recipients obtained support from both policymakers and industry, longer-term program institutionalization was more likely. Where policy intervention was viewed negatively, longer-term integration of the program's initiatives, and therefore success of the program, was less likely.
Synthesis and plasmonic properties of silver and gold nanoshells on polystyrene cores of different size and of gold-silver core-shell nanostructures

Abstract Simple methods of preparing silver and gold nanoshells on the surfaces of monodispersed polystyrene microspheres of different sizes as well as of silver nanoshells on free-standing gold nanoparticles are presented. The plasmon resonance absorption spectra of these materials are presented and compared to predictions of extended Mie scattering theory. Both silver and gold nanoshells were grown on polystyrene microspheres with diameters ranging from 188 to 543 nm. The commercially available, initially carboxylate-terminated polystyrene spheres were reacted with 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride (AET) to yield thiol-terminated microspheres to which gold nanoparticles were then attached. Reduction of silver nitrate or gold hydroxide onto these gold-decorated microspheres resulted in increasing coverage of silver or gold on the polystyrene core. The nanoshells were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–vis spectroscopy. By varying the core size of the polystyrene particles and the amount of metal (silver or gold) reduced onto them, the surface plasmon resonance of the nanoshell could be tuned across the visible and the near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Necklace-like chain aggregate structures of gold core–silver shell nanoparticles were formed by reducing silver nitrate onto free citrate-gold nanoparticles. The plasmon resonance absorption of these nanoparticles could also be systematically tuned across the visible spectrum.
Birth-Order Effects in the Academically Talented.

Birth-order position was studied among 828 academically talented students from a national sample collected by the Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth of Johns Hopkins University. When c...
Ionic sizes and born repulsive parameters in the NaCl-type alkali halides—II: The generalized Huggins-Mayer form☆

Abstract The procedure described in I for the determination of the crystal radii of the ions in the individual NaCl-type alkali halides from solid-state data by the Born model is applied, adopting a generalized Huggins-Mayer form for the Born repulsive energy (i.e. allowing the hardness parameter to vary from salt to salt). The resulting values of the crystal radii agree within 0·05 A with the values obtained in I with the Huggins-Mayer and Pauling forms. This indicates that the Born model, irrespective of the specific plausible form adopted for the Born repulsive energy, leads to relative values of the crystal radii for the alkali and halogen ions in the NaCl structure exceeding by about 0·3 A the traditional relative values, which refer to nearly free ions. Qualitative and quantitative evidence supporting these ionic deformations is discussed.
The Delineation and Explication of Palliative Options of Last Resort

Palliative options of last resort have become a major focus of debates over improving care of the dying, particularly in the United States. This chapter will explore a broad spectrum of palliative measures that might be considered to be legitimate approaches to end-of-life pain and suffering, including high-dose opioid analgesia, palliative sedation, lethal prescription (where allowed by law), as well a brief discussion of voluntary active euthanasia (lethal injection). In reviewing palliative options of last resort, the chapter will address related considerations such as debates over proper terminology, the role of intent and causation in making moral judgments about palliative measures, including the Doctrine/Principle/Rule of Double Effect (hereinafter DDE), and the persistence of myths about the risks and benefits associated with palliative measures.
Effects of colchicine and 2‐Br‐α‐Ergocryptine‐methane‐sulfonate (CB 154) on the release of prolactin and growth hormone by functional pituitary tumor cells in culture

The effects of colchicine and 2-Br-α-ergocryptine-methane-sulfonate (CB 154) on the release of prolactin and growth hormone have been studied in a clonal strain of rat pituitary tumor cells (GH3) in monolayer culture. These cultures produce both prolactin and growth hormone and release both proteins spontaneously into the medium without storing them in large amounts. Immunological methods were used to measure both intracellular and extracellular concentrations of the hormones. Colchicine (5 × 10−6 M for 3 hours) caused a 2- to 3-fold increase in intracellular concentrations of prolactin and growth hormone but, under basal conditions, had little or no measurable effect on the amounts of hormone accumulated in the medium during the course of the standard three hour treatment period. This latter finding evidently is due to a lag in the onset of drug action. Colchicine had little or no effect on accumulation of extracellular prolactin during the first two hours of treatment whereas such accumulation was depressed by over 60% during the third hour of treatment. Previous studies have shown that treatment of GH3 cells with thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) and hydrocortisone (HC) increases both intra and extracellular levels of prolactin and growth hormone, respectively. In cultures treated with TRH (5 × 10−8 M), colchicine (5 × 10−6 M for 3 hours) increased intracellular prolactin by about 70% and decreased extracellular hormone by 10%. In cultures treated with HC (3 × 1O−6 M), colchicine increased intracellular growth hormone by more than 100% and decreased medium concentrations of the hormone by 15%. Colchicine did not significantly alter total hormone (intracellular + extracellular) accumulation, cellular uptake of 3H-amino acids, or total cell protein synthesis. The synthetic ergot alkaloid, CB 154, (3.3 × 10−6 M for 3 hours) caused an 80% increase in intracellular, and a nearly 50% decrease in extracellular, prolactin without affecting the accumulation of growth hormone, the uptake of 3H-labeled amino acids, or overall protein synthesis in the cultures. Elevation of medium potassium concentration from a basal value of 5.3 mM to 3–5 × 10−2 M (by addition of KCl) decreased intracellular levels of prolactin by 85% and growth hormone by 55%. These effects of high potassium were blocked by colchicine and by CB 154. We conclude that colchicine, after a lag period of two hours, acts to inhibit the release of prolactin and growth hormone from GH3 cells. By the end of three hours of treatment, this inhibition is over 60% complete in the case of prolactin. The qualitatively different effects of colchicine and CB 154 on prolactin and growth hormone release suggest that these two secretory blocking agents probably act on GH3 cells by different mechanisms.
Fiber-Optic Fabry-Perot Interferometric Gas-Pressure Sensors Embedded in Pressure Fittings

In this paper, gas pressure sensors embedded in high-pressure fittings are developed. The sensors are based on Fabry–Perot interferometry and can be used to precisely monitor the gas-pressure change. In this paper, we discuss the operating principle of the developed sensors and present some results of their applications in the pressure monitoring of nitrogen gas. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 42: 486–489, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20345
Nonholonomic haptic display

Conventional approaches to haptic interface rely on high gain servos to implement virtual constraints. The role of the servo is to reduce the apparent degrees of freedom in such a way as to effectively constrain a human operator's motion. A significant drawback of this approach, however, is that the operator must interact directly with a high power system that is not inherently passive, and which may become unstable. In this paper, we present a novel approach to haptic display which allows virtual constraints to be implemented in a manner that is completely passive and therefore intrinsically safe. The key idea is to begin with a device having zero or one degree of freedom, and to use feedback control to increase the apparent degrees of freedom as necessary. This becomes possible with the use of nonholonomic joints, which have fewer degrees of freedom than generalized coordinates. The design and feedback control of several "programmable constraint machines" (PCMs) of this type are discussed.
Circulating autoantibodies to neuronal and glial filament proteins in autism

Abstract Automunumty may be a pathogenic factor in autism, a behavioral disorder of early childhood onset. Circulating autoantibodies are produced in organ-specific autoimmunity; therefore, we investigated them in the plasma of autistic subjects, mentally retarded (MR) subjects, and healthy controls. Autoantibodies (IgG isotype) to neuron-axon filament protein (anti-NAFP) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (anti-GFAP) were analyzed by the Western immunoblotting technique. We found a significant increase in incidence of anti-NAFP ( P = .004) and anti-GFAP ( P = .002) in autistic subjects, but not in MR subjects. Clinically, these autoantibodies may be related to autoimmune pathology in autism.
Interdisciplinarity as Teamwork How the Science of Teams Can Inform Team Science

This essay discusses interdisciplinary research in the context of science policy and the practice of science. Comparisons between interdisciplinary research and other forms of cross-disciplinary research are made, and a brief discussion of the development of the concept of interdisciplinarity is provided. The overarching thesis of this essay is that interdisciplinary research is team research, that is, research conducted by a team. This notion is developed via recent policy discussions of team science and the need to understand interdisciplinary research in action. The author shows how it may be possible to consider the implementation of principles from teamwork and team training to improve interdisciplinary research and the practice of team science.
A result on a 2×2 survival experiment

Lifetime data classified according to categorical variables under the proportionality of the hazard functions of response variables for various treatment combinations is assumed. The proposed model is a combination of Cox's proportional hazards model and ANOVA model. The existence of a solution to the marginal likelihood function is examined for the case of 2 x 2 two-way classification. We provide an easily verifiable condition for the existence of a unique estimate.
Properties of polyethylene modified with phosphonate side groups I. Thermal and mechanical properties

Low-density polyethylene was modified by the inclusion of phosphonate ester pendent groups by using an oxidative chlorophosphonylation reaction followed by esterification of the polyethylene poly(phosphonyl chloride) with an alcohol. Two different types of phosphonate esters were prepared: dimethyl phosphonate from the reaction with methanol and a phosphonate graft copolymer from the reaction with hydroxy-terminated poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). For the latter, oligomers with molecular weights of 350 and 750 were used. For each type of phosphonate, a series of polymers were prepared with pendent group concentrations ranging from 0 to 9.1 substituents per 100 carbon atoms. The modified polymers were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and by measurement of the tensile modulus. Infrared spectroscopy proved to be useful for determining if the polymer modification reaction resulted in entirely phosphonate ester pendent group substitutions or if unesterified phosphonic acid groups were also present. The polymers prepared in this investigation exhibited no infrared absorbances arising from phosphonic acid groups. The presence of phosphonate ester groups resulted in a decrease of crystallinity with increasing phosphonate concentration and with the exception of the polymers containing 9.1 PEO–phosphonate grafts per 100 carbon atoms, the effect of phosphonylation on the melting temperature of the polymers was consistent with Flory's theory for the melting point depression of random copolymers. The tensile modulus measured from a constant uniaxial elongation experiment decreased with increasing phosphonylation. The behavior of all three phosphonate series was identical and could be attributed to the effect of decreasing polymer crystallinity.
Electrostatic spacecraft rate and attitude control—Experimental results and performance considerations

Abstract In order to ameliorate the ever increasing space situational awareness risks at Geosynchronous (GEO) orbits, spacecraft rendezvous is desirable for servicing or repositioning operations. When large GEO spacecraft loose station keeping control, they can acquire sizable rotational momenta that imperil proximity operations and docking. Remote electrostatic charge control has been identified as a technology that may be used to safely de-spin non-spherical objects over a period of time. This paper investigates experimental pointing control results, demonstrating how the touchless electrostatic actuation can be used to arrest a tumble and control the heading in a one-dimensional setting. Further, the sensitivity of a representative system׳s de-spin time, required thrust profiles, and system displacement to variations in spacecraft sizes, shapes, and separation distance is considered. While the de-spin time can be reduced by allowing the servicer to vary positions, this comes at a large increase in the relative station keeping fuel costs. Using a non-spherical servicer configuration, rotating to maximize the electrostatic torque, is also shown to reduce the de-spin time by about 25%, but without significantly increasing the fuel requirements.
Disruption of the Borrelia burgdorferi gac Gene, Encoding the Naturally Synthesized GyrA C-Terminal Domain

The C-terminal domain of the A subunit of DNA gyrase, which we term Gac, is naturally synthesized in Borrelia burgdorferi as an abundant DNA-binding protein. Full-length GyrA, which includes the C-terminal domain, is also synthesized by the spirochete and functions as a subunit of DNA gyrase. We have disrupted synthesis of Gac as an independent protein and demonstrated that it is not essential for growth in a coumarin-resistant background. We detected no alterations in DNA maintenance, condensation, or topology in B. burgdorferi lacking this small DNA-binding protein.
The Distribution of Ovarian Δ5-3β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Activity in the Golden Hamster During the Estrous Cycle, Pregnancy, and Lactation

The distribution of the enzyme �5-3�-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3�HSD) was studied histochemically in sections of ovaries from normal golden hamsters. During the estrous cycle, the enzyme activity increased in new corpora lutea to a maximum at 2 days after ovulation and then declined. The theca of growing follicles gradually developed activity during the cycle, attaining maximal activity on Day 4 before ovulation when corpora lutea were inactive. Only on Day 4 of the cycle did the granulosa show 3$HSD. The interstitium was histochemically active at all times. The corpora lutea of pregnancy developed strong enzyme activity by Day 2 which was maintained until Day 15 and faded before delivery on Day 16. Growing follicles during pregnancy had activity in the theca on all days, but it became weaker on Day 16. The granulosa of follicles showed some 3�HSD by Day 4 of pregnancy, and this increased after Day 8 to become as strong as that in corpora lutea on Day 12. The strong 31iHSD activity in the granulosa persisted until after delivery. Follicles did not ovulate before or after delivery, and the corpora lutea and antral follicles of pregnancy disappeared during the first few days of lactation. By 8 days of lactation, only interstitium had 3�HSD. We propose that the changes in the distribution and activity of 3flHSD in the ovary of the golden hamster reflect the changing ratios of gonadotropins and the resulting effects on ovarian steroid secretion. The enzyme �5-3�3-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3$HSD) is necessary for the synthesis of progesterone from pregn-5-en-3-ol20-one (pregnenolone). It was first localized histochemically by Wattenberg (1958), using the principal of formazan precipitation from tetrazolium salts in areas of dehydrogenase activity. The identification of ovarian compartments capable of synthesizing progesterone has a direct bearing on reproductive
Localizing Archival Memories of Spanish Language Education in California, Engaging with the Multilingual Histories of the Present

uccllt_l2_11991 Abstract: Focusing on Spanish in California, this article offers language educators a critical perspective into how the languages we teach have histories constructed in shifting memories of language,speakership, and education. This article builds upon the 2007 MLA report's vision for curricular reform that situates language study in "cultural, historical, geographic, and cross- cultural frameswithin the context of humanistic learning." Cultural narratives and frames are connected to localized "archives" of histories and memories surrounding the learning and teaching of Spanish.Examining key texts and contexts, this article explores European and American imperial discourses surrounding language in education in connection to indigenous memories by the colonized or "reduced" Indians who were the among the first learners of Spanish in early multilingual California. This article advocates understanding archival texts as a step toward articulating an explicitly critical and historical component to recent reform movements in foreign language education. It is suggested that critical archival perspectives offer possibilities for rethinking and expanding the curricular space of history and memory in undergraduate and graduate Spanish programs, as well asin teacher education programs.
Non-stationary frequency domain system identification using time–frequency representations

Abstract System properties of buildings and bridges may vary with time due to temperature changes, aging or extreme loadings. To identify these time-varying system properties, this study proposes a new output-only non-stationary system identification (SI) framework based on instantaneous or marginal spectra derived from the time–frequency representation, e.g., short time Fourier or wavelet transform. Spectra derived from these time–frequency representations are very popular in tracking time-varying frequencies; however, they have seldom been used to identify the time-varying damping ratio because a short window needed to capture the time-varying information amplifies the bandwidth significantly, which may lead to considerably overestimating the damping ratio. To overcome this shortcoming, this study modifies the theoretical frequency response function (FRF) to explicitly account for the windowing effect, and therefore enables SI directly using instantaneous or marginal spectra derived from the wavelet or short time Fourier transform. The response spectrum estimated using the short time window and the modified FRF are both influenced by the same time window, thus the instantaneous or time-localized marginal spectrum of response can be fitted to the modified FRF to identify frequency and damping ratio at each time instant. This spectral-based SI framework can reliably identify damping in time-varying systems under non-stationary excitations. The efficacy of the proposed framework is demonstrated by both numerical and full-scale examples, and also compared to the time-domain SI method, stochastic subspace identification (SSI), since the time-domain SI approaches and their extensions are popular in identifying time-varying systems utilizing recursive algorithms or moving windows.
Ploidy and the Sexual Yeast Genome in Theory, Nature, and Experiment

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a supermodel organism in the exploding field of genomics. This chapter provides an understanding of the molecular biology by which a genome is converted into phenotypes— the roles played by each gene, mechanisms of gene regulation, responses to stress, the developmental processes of gamete formation, mating, and sporulation, and so on. The mating system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae establishes the potential for extensive inbreeding. A haploid yeast individual is one of two mating types, MATa or MATα that mate spontaneously on contact with each other. The signature of recombination is seen in the evolutionary ancestries of different segments of the genome. In an asexual population, the evolutionary histories of all the genes are the same, and phylogenetic trees drawn from different genes are usually the same. Adaptation to organic phosphate limitation in two independent chemostat experiments occurred by chromosomal rearrangements. Retrotransposition is the mechanism by which Ty elements achieve their biased transmission and infective spread (there is another type of nuclear mobile element, transposons, which use a different, DNA-mediated mechanism, but they are not found in yeast genomes). Ploidy is one of the most fundamental features of genome structure, but as with sex, there is still no widely accepted explanation for the observed variation in ploidy. MAT heterozygosity is certainly more than just an indicator of diploidy.
GreenMap: mapreduce with ultra high efficiency power delivery

Energy consumption has become a significant fraction of the total cost of ownership of data centers. While much work has focused on improving power efficiency per unit of computation, little attention has been paid to power delivery, which currently wastes 10-20% of total energy consumption even before any computation takes place. A new power delivery architecture using series-stacked servers has recently been proposed in the power community. However, the reduction in power loss depends on the difference in power consumption of the series-stacked servers: The more balanced the computation loads, the more reduction in power conversion loss. In this preliminary work, we implemented GreenMap, a modified MapReduce framework that assigns tasks in synchronization, and computed the conversion loss based on the measured current profile. At all loads, GreenMap achieves 81×-138× reduction in power conversion loss from the commercial-grade high voltage converter used by data centers, which is equivalent to 15% reduction in total energy consumption. The average response time of GreenMap suffers no degradation when load reaches 0.6 and above, but at loads below 0.6, the response time suffers a 26-42% increase due to task synchronization. For the low-load region, we describe the use of GreenMap with dynamic scaling to achieve a favorable tradeoff between response time and power efficiency.
Memo to the Faculty from a Clinic Director Candidate: What Subject Matter Areas Your Clinic Should Cover and Why

Written in the form of a short memo to the faculty, this essay identifies criteria to consider in deciding on what subject matter to add to a clinical program: theoretical considerations, law school mission, overall program coverage, and practical considerations and discusses them in the context of a juvenile offender clinic.
Summers V. Earth Island Institute: Its Implications for Future Standing Decisions

In Summers v. Earth Island Institute, the U .S . Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia rejected the concept of organizational standing based upon the statistical probability that some members of a plaintiff organization will likely be harmed in the near future by the defendant’s future actions. The Court held that the plaintiff organizations failed to establish that they would suffer an "imminent" injury necessary for standing to sue in federal courts because they could not prove the specific places and times when their members would be harmed in the future by the defendant government’s allegedly illegal policy of selling fire-damaged timber without public notice and comment. By contrast, Justice Stephen Breyer’s dissenting opinion in Summers would have applied a "realistic threat" test to determine if some members of the organization were likely to be harmed in the future by the defendant government’s actions even if it were impossible to determine when and where those members would be harmed by those actions. The Summers decision also arguably placed a higher standing burden on plaintiffs who challenge the government’s alleged violation of a mandatory procedural requirement. In footnote seven of Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders), Justice Scalia’s majority opinion stated that plaintiffs who may suffer a concrete injury resulting from a procedural violation by the government are entitled to a more relaxed application of both the imminent injury and the redressability standing requirements to sue in federal courts. Seventeen years after the Defenders decision, Justice Scalia’s Summers majority opinion did not overrule the analysis in Defenders’ footnote seven, but his opinion arguably suggested that the Court was tightening the circumstances where it would relax the imminence standing requirement in cases where a plaintiff organization alleges that its members will be harmed in the future by the government’s alleged violation of procedural requirements, but the plaintiff can provide no specific allegations about where and when those violations may occur.The lower courts are just beginning to grapple with the standing implications of Summers . This Article first reexamines the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s 2006 decision in Natural Resources Defense Council v. EPA (NRDC II), which was the strongest lower court decision before Summers upholding substantive probabilistic standing. Because the plaintiffs’ evidence was of an inherently statistical and probabilistic nature, NRDC II is arguably distinguishable from Summers, a case where the probabilistic claims by the plaintiffs were relatively weak and where a future suit by the plaintiffs might present better evidence involving an actual injury.
Thrombotic microangiopathy associated with proteasome inhibitors

The ubiquitin proteasome pathway plays a key role in cell cycle, function and survival. Bortezomib (BTZ) and Carfilzomib (CFZ) are the first two inhibitors of the proteasome pathway, indicated in treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. In the past few years, there have been few case reports that have highlighted the association between proteasome inhibitors (BTZ and CFZ) with acute kidney injury (AKI). In most of these case reports and initial trials, the underlying mechanism of AKI has been unclear. In this article, we discuss the association and pathogenesis of proteasome inhibitors-associated AKI. We also report the first case of CFZ-associated AKI with kidney biopsy evidence of thrombotic microangiopathy and the presence of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia.
A Case Study of Application Structure Aware Resilience Through Differentiated State Saving and Recovery

Resilience is a growing concern for large-scale simulations. As failures become more frequent, alternatives to global checkpointing that limit the extent of needed recovery become more desirable. Additionally, platforms will differ in both error rates and types, therefore, a flexible and customizable recovery strategy will be extremely helpful to the applications running on these platforms. Applications often have structures that provide logical confinement spaces that can be exploited for this purpose. We investigate a customizable recovery strategy using Chombo, a structured adaptive mesh refinement (SAMR) library, as a case study. We exploit the inherent granularities and hierarchy in SAMR to limit the impact of faults for localized recovery, and identify tunable parameters for customizing the strategy depending upon the application and platform behavior. We use Global View Resilience (GVR) library, which provides global versioning arrays for application-controlled state saving as our resiliency interface.
Diagnosis of papillary and follicular thyroid cancers.

In general, thyroid cancer patients are usually presented with asymptomatic neck nodules. A differential diagnosis between malignant and benign thyroid disorder is very important for these patients. In the preoperative diagnosis, thyroid ultrasonography has been proven to be quite useful in the detection of thyroid lesions. There are two major reasons to perform thyroid ultrasonography before fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC): to detect deep-seated small nodules, and to realize the nature of the clinically palpable nodules. Despite the limitations of aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of primary neoplasms, using this method can increase diagnostic accuracy to 92.89% in thyroid malignancy cases. Most thyroid malignancies can be diagnosed with FNAC, except for cases involving follicular thyroid cancer and Hurthle cell carcinoma. Although the serum thyroglobulin level has been used as a post-operative, well-differentiated thyroid cancer tumor marker, the assay cannot be used for preoperative diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma. Two dimensional gels electrophoresis has also been used as a diagnostic tool to elucidate tumor-specific proteins in the detection of well-differentiated thyroid cancers. The results of this technique need further investigation. In conclusion, and at the present time, FNAC is considered a useful tool in the pre-operative diagnosis of most thyroid cancers. For patients with follicular or Hurthle cell carcinomas, we need to develop further specific tumor markers for differentiating them between benign and malignant nodules.
Effect of a new mineralocorticoid antagonist mespirenone on aldosterone-induced hypertension

The effects of the mineralocorticoid antagonist mespirenone on the development and maintenance of aldosterone-induced hypertension in Sprague-Dawley rats has been studied. Uninephrectomized saline-...
Sense of belonging: is inclusion the answer?

AbstractThe Americans with Disabilities Act mandated the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of social and civil life in the United States including sports. As a result, sport and recreation programmes designed for typically developing youth began to include children with disabilities. One popular recreation context providing sport activities for youth with disabilities is summer camp. Research on inclusive camps has shown mixed results, with some studies suggesting that children with disabilities continue to experience exclusion from physical activity and leadership opportunities, social isolation, and stigma. This conceptual and argumentative essay will review current research on inclusive camps and will argue that, until the mechanisms of inclusive camps are better understood and applied in practice, camps for children with disabilities may be the best delivery system to promote inclusion and a sense of belonging, arguably one of the most important outcomes of camp.
Built-in self testing (BIST) of RF performance in a system-on-chip (SoC)

The advantages of having an on-chip system for measuring critical RF performance parameters are endless. With this capability, millions of ICs can be tested using a low cost tester while benefiting from an increase in test coverage and a reduction in test time and cost in a production environment. Another significant benefit is in the factory calibration procedures of critical device settings before deployment. Finally, this capability can allow the wireless terminal to periodically log performance results in flash memory from which they can be retrieved during the repair of a damaged unit easing debug analysis by the manufacturer. This paper presents a novel method of executing on-chip low-cost performance and compliance testing of a local oscillator and transmitter in a wireless transceiver. The presented techniques have been implemented and successfully tested in a Texas Instruments commercial 130 nm CMOS single-chip Bluetooth radio and are being redefined for the 90nm single-chip GSM radio.
Literature Review of Faculty-Perceived Usefulness of Instructional Technology in Classroom Dynamics.

This article provides a literature review of the research concerning the role of faculty perspectives about instructional technology. Learning management systems, massive open online courses (MOOCs), cloud-based multimedia applications, and mobile apps represent the tools and the language of academia in the 21st century. Research examined illustrates how important understanding user attitudes can be in the technology deliberation process. Consequently, the faculty opinions should not be underestimated in technology acceptance discussions as coupled with ongoing education technological developments is the challenge of innovation adoption.
Role of the frozen elephant trunk procedure for chronic aortic dissection.

Objectives Considering the chronic and progressive nature of aortic dissection, operative planning must anticipate the need for later interventions. We have increasingly used a modified version of the frozen elephant trunk repair operation to treat these patients. We review the indications, considerations for planning, and important operative details for performing frozen elephant trunk repair for chronic aortic dissection. Methods Frozen elephant trunk repair is performed using selective antegrade brain perfusion, direct placement of commercially available stent grafts with suture fixation in the aortic arch, and proximal aortic replacement. Details are reviewed. Results We have published details related to the excellent results for the frozen elephant trunk procedure in patients with chronic dissection. Conclusions The modified frozen elephant trunk repair is particularly well suited for patients with chronic aortic dissection who often require multiple operations to address their extensive disease.
Monitoring Huckleberries for Invasive Fruit Flies and Climate Change Impacts on the Flathead Indian Reservation (Poster)

The huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.) has been important to both bears and the Salish people for hundreds of years. With predicted climate changes including increasing temperature, increasing variability in weather, and unknown changes in precipitation it is important to understand effects on huckleberry plants on the Flathead Reservation. In this project, we are proposing to extend huckleberry phenology research in Glacier National Park led by Dr. Tabitha Graves to the Flathead Reservation. The USGS project aims to understand potential climate change impacts on grizzly bear food sources, a research need identified in a workshop evaluating climate change impacts to grizzly bears (Servheen and Cross 2010). Two potential impacts include 1) changes in phenology that could impact pollination rates and thus productivity and 2) the possible presence of an invasive fruit fly, the spotted wing drosophila that lays eggs in ripe fruit, and can cause the fruit to drop off early. I will use remote cameras that record pictures every day to measure the length of time individual flowers bloom and individual berries are present. This will be used to evaluate how flowering time and duration and ripe berry time and duration varies with temperature across sites that range in precipitation and solar radiation. Productivity metrics will be recorded at the peak of the berry season. All findings and conclusions will be a part of my senior thesis and will be provided to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Beyond Lamarck: The Implications of Epigenetics for Environmental Law

For generations, a bedrock concept of biology was that genetic mutations are necessary to pass traits from one generation to the next, but new developments are challenging this fundamental assumption. A growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that chemical alteration of the way a gene functions, whether through exposure to chemicals, foods or even traumatic experiences, may not only affect the exposed individual, but also the individual’s offspring for two generations or more. This interaction between genes and the environment, known as epigenetics, has revolutionized the understanding of how genes are expressed within an individual and how they affect that individual’s offspring. Epigenetics also presents novel challenges for chemical regulatory regimes in the United States and around the world. Chemical substances that do not cause mutations typically are not regulated based on their potential effects on future generations. They may be regulated based on their harms to living individuals, or perhaps to those exposed before birth, but until recently future generations were not thought to be at risk. We explore the implications of the new field of epigenetics for public and private regulation of toxics, and we suggest new legal strategies to reflect the new scientific understanding. We argue that new developments in public and private governance suggest optimism for the ability of the environmental regulatory regime to respond to new findings in the science of epigenetics.
Assessing the resistance potential of Phytophthora nicotianae, the causal agent of black shank of tobacco, to oxathiopropalin with laboratory mutants

Abstract Black shank, caused by Phytophthora nicotianae van Breda de Haan, is a devastating disease of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) throughout the world. The newly-discovered fungicide, oxathiapiprolin has shown efficacy against P. nicotianae, but the potential for fungicide resistance is unknown. Production of oxathiapiprolin resistant P. nicotianae isolates was attempted through mass selection of zoospores, UV light mutagenesis, and mycelial adaptation through repeated culturing on oxathiapiprolin-amended medium. No resistant isolates were detected from mass zoospore selection. UV light mutagenesis of mycelium generated two isolates, EdgeB7-M1 and YadA28-M1, with stable mycelial and sporangial resistance to oxathiapiprolin. Isolate EdgeB7-M1 remained pathogenic to tobacco, while YadA28-M1 was nonpathogenic. For mycelial adaptation, 48 colonies, 12 replicate colonies from four isolates, were transferred 15 times on oxathiapiprolin-amended medium. Twelve of the 48 colonies had a significant increase in mycelial insensitivity to oxathiapiprolin; however, mycelial adaptation was not stable. Mycelial growth and sporangia production of the adapted isolates was significantly less compared to the wild-type whereas only one remained pathogenic to tobacco. In summary, the generation of oxathiapiprolin resistant P. nicotianae isolates was feasible. Constant exposure to oxathiapiprolin increased insensitivity, however fitness costs associated with insensitivity reduced the probability of isolate reproduction and survival.
Toward an ontology for finite algebras

The authors present a case for an ontology of finite algebras. This vocabulary is a direct response to the limitations of the formats employed by first-order model searchers, such as Mace4, and specialized software, such as UACalc. It will support a semantically rich format for algebra storage and interchange intended to improve the efficiency of computational discovery processes in universal algebra. The class of finite quandles is considered as a case study in order to understand some of the challenges of designing such a knowledge base.
Tunneling Modulation of Transistor Lasers: Theory and Experiment

The coherent photons generated at the base quantum wells in the transistor laser (TL) interact with the collector field and “assist” electron tunneling from the valence band of the base to the conduction band states of the collector. The cavity coherent photon intensity effect on photon-assisted tunneling in the TL has resulted in the realization of a novel photon-field enhanced optical absorption. This intra-cavity photon-assisted tunneling (ICPAT) in the TL or the light-emitting transistor is the unique property of voltage (field) modulation and the basis for ultrahigh speed direct tunneling photon modulation and switching. In addition, a new tunneling current modulation gain in a “new form” of transistor is discovered based on the collector tunneling holes feedback to the base and dielectric relaxation base transport. The TL, owing to its unique three-terminal configuration and the complementary nature of its optical and electrical collector output signals, enables fast base recombination, collector tunneling, and OEO feedback, which has resulted in the realization of compact electro-optical applications, such as non-linear signal-mixing, frequency multiplication, OE tunneling transistor, and electrical and optical bistability.
Insomnia in the Elderly: A Review.

Background:Insomnia remains one of the most common sleep disorders encountered in the geriatric clinic population, frequently characterized by the subjective complaint of difficulty falling or main...
Combustion Chamber Fluid Dynamics and Hypergolic Gel Propellant Chemistry Simulations for Selectable Thrust Rocket Engines

This paper describes the application of high performance computing to accelerate the development of hypergolic propulsion systems for tactical missiles. Computational fluid dynamics is employed to model the chemically reacting flow within a systempsilas combustion chamber, and computational chemistry is employed to characterize propellant physical and reactive properties. Accomplishments from the past year are presented and discussed.
Lack of Health Insurance Associated With Lower Probability of Head Computed Tomography Among United States Traumatic Brain Injury Patients.

BACKGROUND Uninsured traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients have higher mortality than their insured counterparts. One possible reason is disparities in receipt of appropriate diagnostic imaging. OBJECTIVE Examine the association between lack of insurance and use of diagnostic imaging. RESEARCH DESIGN This is a retrospective cohort study. SUBJECTS All adult patients admitted with severe (AIS>4 and GCS<15) TBI, in the National Trauma Data Bank 2010-2015. MEASURES Primary outcome was receipt of head computed tomography (CT) and number of CT scans received. Secondary outcomes included head x-ray, angiography, or magnetic resonance imaging. Patients were classified as uninsured if their payment method was self-pay or not billed. RESULTS Of 59,540 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 18.9% were uninsured. After adjusting for demographic, clinical, and facility characteristics, compared with patients with any insurance, 4.47 per 100 (95% confidence interval, 1.60-7.34) fewer uninsured patients had a head CT, with uninsured patients receiving 13% (95% confidence interval, 3-21) fewer head CTs. There were no differences in x-ray, angiography, or magnetic resonance imaging receipt. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest lower receipt of guideline-indicated head CT among uninsured TBI patients. Mechanisms could include unconscious provider bias or institutional financial constraints. Further research is warranted to elucidate mechanisms and assess mediation by diagnostic imaging use of the insurance-mortality association.
Lipid Metabolism and Endocrine Resistance in Prostate Cancer, and New Opportunities for Therapy

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men, and more than 10% of men will be diagnosed with PCa during their lifetime. Patients that are not cured with surgery or radiation are largely treated with endocrine therapies that target androgens or the androgen receptor (AR), a major driver of PCa. In response to androgen deprivation, most PCas progress to castrate resistant PCa, which is treated with anti-androgens like enzalutamide, but tumors still progress and become incurable. Thus, there is a critical need to identify cellular pathways that allow tumors to escape anti-androgen therapies. Epidemiological studies suggest that high-fat diets play important roles in PCa progression. Lipid metabolism rewires the PCa metabolome to support growth and resistance to endocrine therapies, although the exact mechanisms remain obscure. Therapeutic effects have been observed inhibiting several aspects of PCa lipid metabolism: Synthesis, uptake, and oxidation. Since AR remains a driver of PCa in advanced disease, strategies targeting both lipid metabolism and AR are starting to emerge, providing new opportunities to re-sensitize tumors to endocrine therapies with lipid metabolic approaches.
Updated Estimates of Global Cosmological Parameters Determined Using Classical Double Radio Galaxies

A sample of 20 powerful extended radio galaxies with redshifts between zero and two were used to determine constraints on global cosmological parameters. Data for six radio sources were obtained from the VLA archive, analyzed, and combined with the sample of 14 radio galaxies used previously by Guerra & Daly to determine cosmological parameters. The new results are consistent with our previous results, and indicate that the current value of the mean mass density of the universe is significantly less than the critical value. A universe with $\Omega_m$ in matter of unity is ruled out at 99.0% confidence, and the best fitting values of $\Omega_m$ in matter are $0.10^{+0.25}_{-0.10}$ and $-0.25^{+0.35}_{-0.25}$ assuming zero space curvature and zero cosmological constant, respectively. The radio properties of each source are also used to determine the density of the gas in the vicinity of the source, and the beam power of the source. The six new radio sources have physical characteristics similar to those found for the original 14 sources. The density of the gas around these radio sources is typical of gas in present day clusters of galaxies. The beam powers are typically about $10^{45} {erg s}^{-1}$.