cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Perceptions of emerging biotechnologies

Research on public views of biotechnology has centered on genetically modified (GM) foods. However, as the breadth of biotechnology applications grows, a better understanding of public concerns about non-agricultural biotechnology products is needed in order to develop proactive strategies to address these concerns. Here, we explore the perceived benefits and risks associated with five biotechnology products and how those perceptions translate into public opinion about the use and regulation of biotechnology in the United States. While we found greater support for non-agricultural biotechnology product, 70% of individuals surveyed showed no or little variation in their support across the products, indicating opinions about early GM products may be influencing the acceptance of emerging biotechnologies. We identified five common patterns of opinions about biotechnology and used machine learning models to integrate a wide range of factors and predict a respondent's opinion group. While the model was particularly good at identifying individuals supportive of biotechnology, differentiating between individuals from the non- and conditionally-supportive opinion groups was more challenging, emphasizing the complexity of public opinions of emerging biotechnology products.
The Effect of Mulch Type for Turfgrass Establishment within a Refined Wood Fiber Mat over Plastic

Abstract The germination and establishment of perennial ryegrass and supina bluegrass within a refined wood fiber mat (Ecomat®) placed on plastic sheeting was evaluated using seven mulches and a co...
Living in the USA, Canada, and Australia

This chapter explores participants’ experiences in three countries through their narratives as well as statistical analyses. One of the most voiced, satisfied experience is coming out of the closet. The majority of the participants said that they were happy with their life now. They feel free, no longer hide their sexuality or gender identity, made new friends, love the country, and were freed from family strain. Yet, there are some notable differences in their responses, depending, for example, on their host country and LGBT subgroup. The differences are more clearly observed in their reporting of dissatisfied experiences. Some of the notable differences in participants’ experiences in racial stereotypes/prejudice, health insurance, as well as income are explored through participants’ narratives.
How can OpenShift accelerate your Kubernetes adoption: a workshop exploring OpenShift features

OpenShift is a Kubernetes distribution which comes with additional capabilities for developers and operators to make building and running cloud-native applications easier. This hands-on workshop walked the participants through the deployment of an application in an OpenShift cluster. Origin Community Distribution of OpenShift (referred to as OKD) is the Kubernetes distribution that powers OpenShift. With Minishift version 3.x, participants can use OKD to get some hands-on experience of OpenShift locally. In addition to managed Kubernetes clusters, IBM Cloud also offers managed OpenShift clusters which leverages a lot of the same infrastructure as the Kubernetes clusters. We also demonstrated how to deploy the application into a paid IBM Cloud OpenShift cluster. We highlighted the similarities and differences between tasks performed in Kubernetes and OpenShift to illustrate the value of using OpenShift. We compared Kubernetes and OpenShift through real example configuration, setup and deployment.
Sino-Western relations, political values, and the Human Rights Council

For more than 3 decades, Western governments have insisted that political values are an appropriate subject for bilateral consultation with China, and Beijing has consistently dismissed these overtures as interference in China’s internal affairs. This essay explores these disagreements through a brief historical summary followed by a close look at the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) between 2014 and 2019. In this period, China and the transatlantic states nearly always took opposing positions in the council, and each side aligned with like-minded states to endorse their favored rights. In a major change from the 1990s and early 2000s, China has recently asserted its own brand of human rights governance under the term ‘human rights with Chinese characteristics.’ Not only does the HRC offer a vivid portrait of the extent to which China and the transatlantic states disagree on basic human rights principles, but the hostile dynamic on display in the council may be a harbinger of the difficult road ahead in Sino-Western relations.
Error Bounds for Generalized Group Sparsity.

In high-dimensional statistical inference, sparsity regularizations have shown advantages in consistency and convergence rates for coefficient estimation. We consider a generalized version of Sparse-Group Lasso which captures both element-wise sparsity and group-wise sparsity simultaneously. We state one universal theorem which is proved to obtain results on consistency and convergence rates for different forms of double sparsity regularization. The universality of the results lies in an generalization of various convergence rates for single regularization cases such as LASSO and group LASSO and also double regularization cases such as sparse-group LASSO. Our analysis identifies a generalized norm of $\epsilon$-norm, which provides a dual formulation for our double sparsity regularization.
Acenes beyond organic electronics: sensing of singlet oxygen and stimuli-responsive materials

The spectroscopic, electronic, and geometrical properties of acenes have enabled their broad applicability in organic optoelectronics. Beyond these physical characteristics of acenes, acenes also offer characteristic and predictable reaction chemistry, especially their behavior as dienes in cycloaddition reactions. Although these cycloaddition reactions, especially those with singlet oxygen (1O2) as the dienophile, are detrimental for organic electronics, this reactivity has led to several different applications such as sensing of 1O2, the release of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS), and stimuli-responsive materials for drug delivery. The rational design of acenes in these chemically-responsive applications beyond organic optoelectronics requires an understanding of how chemical structure influences both the physical properties, such as quantum yield of emission, as well as the reactivity of acenes and their cycloadducts. Therefore, the objective of this review is to summarize how cycloaddition reactions of acenes have expanded their applications in different areas of materials chemistry, and in doing so inspire and inform the rational design of acene-based materials with applications beyond organic electronics.
Introduction to Volume 24.2 Symposium: Women in the Revolution: Gender and Social Justice After the Arab Spring

In September 2014, two journals from the University of Iowa College of Law undertook an unprecedented collaboration. Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems (“TLCP”) paired with the Journal of Gender, Race & Justice (“JGRJ”) to present Women in the Revolution: Gender and Social Justice After the Arab Spring. The symposium topic included both national and international aspects that played well to the strengths of each publication. The term “Arab Spring” emerged as a result of the revolutionary events in several Arab countries from the winter of 2010 to the spring of 2011. To shed light on the complex situation, the TLCP-JGRJ symposium was the first American law journal publication exclusively dedicated to Muslim/Arab women’s rights in the post-Arab Spring world. Moreover, the symposium let Muslim women speak for themselves by featuring seven distinguished Muslim women professors, lawyers, and activists. They were a diverse group of individuals, and they were careful to indicate that they do not speak for all Muslims, all women, all people from their familial homelands, or all people in the United States. There were two fascinating keynoter speakers—Professor Mounira Maya Charrad, University of Texas Department of Sociology, and Ms. Fatina Abdrabboh, Esq., Director of the Michigan chapter of the American Arab Antidiscrimination Committee. Other speakers included: Professor Sahar Aziz, Texas AM Professor Karima Bennoune, U.C. Davis Law School; Associate Dean Seval Yildirim, Whittier Law School; Professor Shafiqa Ahmadi, University of Southern California School of Education; and Sara Ghadiri, Esq., UI College of Law class of 2014 and former TLCP Editor-in-Chief. In addition, UI Religious Studies Department Professor Ahmed Souaiaia moderated a panel involving Dean Yildirim, Professors Aziz, Bennoune, and Ahmadi, and Ms. Ghadiri.
A Global Approach for Reduced-Order Models of Flapping Flexible Wings

In this paper, we propose a global approach to develop a Reduced-Order Model (ROM) for flexible flapping-wing dynamics by applying POD/Galerkin projection on a uniform Eulerian description of fluid, structure, and their interaction. Because fluid and structure are treated simultaneously and in a similar manner, the model reduction process can be greatly simplified. Shown in our test case (k = 1), global POD can efficiently capture 85% of combined kinetic energy with only 2 modes and more than 95% with 6 modes. The leading POD modes show both features of vortex dynamics and structural dynamics. With combined POD modes, a global Galerkin projection based-on Eulerian description of both fluid and solid is then suggested as the step towards final ROMs.
Operationalizing a routine wastewater monitoring laboratory for SARS-CoV-2

Wastewater-based testing for SARS-CoV-2 is a novel tool for public health monitoring, but additional laboratory capacity is needed to provide routine monitoring at all locations where it has the potential to be useful. Few standardization practices for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater analysis currently exist, and quality assurance/quality control procedures may vary across laboratories. Alongside counterparts at many academic institutions, we built out a laboratory for routine monitoring of wastewater at the University of California, Berkeley. Here, we detail our groups establishment of a wastewater testing laboratory including standard operating procedures, laboratory buildout and workflow, and a quality assurance plan. We present a complete data analysis pipeline and quality scoring framework and discuss the data reporting process. We hope that this information will aid others at research institutions, public health departments, and wastewater agencies in developing programs to support wastewater monitoring for public health decision-making.
Determining the 3D genome structure of a single mammalian cell with Dip-C.

Summary 3D genome structure is highly heterogeneous among single cells and contributes to cellular functions. Our single-cell chromatin conformation capture (3C/Hi-C) technique, Dip-C, enables high-resolution (20 kb or ∼100 nm) 3D genome structure determination from single human and mouse cells. Dip-C is robust, fast, cheap, and does not require specialized equipment. This protocol describes using human and mouse brain samples to perform Dip-C, which has also been applied to other tissue types including the human blood and mouse eye, nose, and embryo. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Tan et al. (2021) .
Climate risk management in agriculture using alternative electricity and water resources: a stochastic programming framework

Climate change, extreme weather events, and water scarcity have severely impacted the agricultural sector. Under scarce conventional water supplies, a farm faces a decision between reducing production through deficit irrigation and leveraging alternative water and energy resources to continue producing large quantities of crops and these investments would have to be balanced against an unknown climate. Therefore, we develop a framework for farm investment decisions structured as a two-stage stochastic quadratically constrained linear program that maximizes farm profit over a 25-year period while considering an uncertain future climate and the costs of investing and operating various electricity and water technologies. We create four representative climate futures and two climate probability distributions that represent different beliefs that the decision maker might have about the likelihood of each climate scenario occurring. Then, we compare four solutions where decisions are made on information ranging from perfectly knowing the climate and weather to only the average precipitation. Our results show that expected profit and crop yield heavily depend on a decision maker’s given climate probability distributions. Aggressively preparing for an extreme climate can cause significant losses if a more moderate climate is realized. Furthermore, given a future climate, year-to-year weather variability can also corrode the potential cost savings from investing in alternative resources. The insights from this framework can help agricultural decision makers determine how to address climate uncertainty, water scarcity, and to a limited degree weather variability via investments in alternative water and electricity resources that can help improve resilience and fortify profits.
Numerical Modeling of Wave-Enhanced Turbulence in the Oceanic Upper Layer

A coupled model of air-wave-sea interaction is modified based on a new roughness formulation and the latest data. The model parameters for aerodynamic roughness from below (ARB) and wave-dependent roughness from above (ARA, z 0a ) are assumed equal. The combined roughness is assumed to be a function of friction velocity, gravity, air and seawater densities, and wave age (c w ). The model is used in a study of wave-enhanced turbulence under breaking waves to predict turbulent dissipation (e), ARA, and drag coefficient (C d ). Both waves and shear production are considered as sources of ocean turbulent energy. The atmospheric part of the model is used only to specify a correct condition at the interface. Numerical experiments are performed to study the e-distribution, z 0a and C d , and to compare with data. The major achievement is model verification using all available data. The first full application of this model is in conjunction with an ocean circulation model in a coupled circulation-wave system. Simulations show that the e-distribution is strongly dependent on local wind-forced wave heights. For each wind and wave state there is a particular wave-dependent depth that is verified by data. The comparison shows that the model predicted e agrees well with the observed e of the z −4 law distribution of Gargett (1989). Simulations also show that waves have an important role in causing e to differ from the classical wall-layer theory and z 0a , with a value of 0.30 for the empirical constant a a . The model-predicted e, z 0a , C d and C gd agree well with data.
Normality of adult dietary protein requirement distribution (820.11)

Nitrogen balance data consistently suggest that the dietary protein requirement of adult humans follows a lognormal distribution. In contrast, statistical theory and the associated physiology imply...
The simulation of hospital patient treatment systems

A simulation model of function-oriented patient treatment systems in general hospitals is proposed for studying the effectiveness of scheduling diagnostic and clinical treatments for patients. The effectiveness of a system can be measured by a number of criteria. The simulation model is characterized by a computerized procedure for generating a tentative feasible schedule and for improving the schedule according to certain heuristics. Possible applications of the simulated model are briefly discussed.
Linguistic Design of Nonlinear Controllers

In this article a simplified fuzzy controller implementation is explored and shows clearly that it is an input-output interpolating algorithm derived from a set of production rules. The simplified controller development is similar to that in the literature. Unique to this work is the compelling description of fuzzy controllers as interpolating devices, with the explanation supported analytically. Such a presentation is in contrast to the usual description of a fuzzy controller as a rule-based expert system that bypasses an underlying analytical description of the relationship between input and output produced by the rule base. The reader is given an analysis showing that a fuzzy controller can be viewed as an input-output relationship represented by a breakpoint function, and that the breakpoint function may be obtained directly from the control rules in simple cases. For engineers and others trained in conventional control theory, this article demonstrates that they need not be practiced in fuzzy set theory or fuzzy logic to take advantage of the utility of the fuzzy technique in designing nonlinear controllers.
Sewage pollution: mitigation is key for coral reef stewardship.

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide, and land-derived sources of pollution, including sewage, are a major force driving that deterioration. This review presents evidence that sewage discharge occurs in waters surrounding at least 104 of 112 reef geographies. Studies often refer to sewage as a single stressor. However, we show that it is more accurately characterized as a multiple stressor. Many of the individual agents found within sewage, specifically freshwater, inorganic nutrients, pathogens, endocrine disrupters, suspended solids, sediments, and heavy metals, can severely impair coral growth and/or reproduction. These components of sewage may interact with each other to create as-yet poorly understood synergisms (e.g., nutrients facilitate pathogen growth), and escalate impacts of other, non-sewage–based stressors. Surprisingly few published studies have examined impacts of sewage in the field, but those that have suggest negative effects on coral reefs. Because sewage discharge proximal to sensitive coral reefs is widespread across the tropics, it is imperative for coral reef–focused institutions to increase investment in threat-abatement strategies for mitigating sewage pollution.
RNA polymerase activity is associated with viral particles isolated from Leishmania braziliensis subsp. guyanensis

Abstract Viral particles purified from species of the protozoan parasite Leishmania braziliensis subsp. guyanensis by centrifugation in CsCl gradients were examined for the presence of viral polymerase. We demonstrated that RNA-dependent RNA polymerase is associated with viral particles. Viral transcription was studied in vitro with pulse-chase experiments and by assaying the RNase sensitivity of the viral transcripts. Viral polymerase synthesized full-length transcripts within 1 h. Double-strained, genome-length, and single-stranded RNAs were produced in this system. The nature of the RNA extracted from virions was also tested by RNase protection assays; both single-stranded and double-stranded RNAs were found.
Directional Glyphs in Maya Inscriptions and Codices

A phonetic and semantic interpretation of the directional glyphs in Maya inscriptions and codices reveals that they did not refer to the cardinal directions. The glyphs that have been identified previously with north and south can be read phonetically as zenith and nadir, respectively. The glyphs for east and west refer semantically to the rising and setting sun. These data support Clemency Coggins's recent suggestion that Classic Maya directional symbolism was related to the path of the sun across the sky and through the underworld, rather than to the cardinal directions.
Magnetization Noise Induced Collapse and Revival of Rabi Oscillations in circuit QED

We use a quasi-Hamiltonian formalism to describe the dissipative dynamics of a circuit-QED qubit that is affected by several fluctuating two-level systems with a $1/f$-noise power spectrum. The qubit-resonator interactions are described by the Jaynes-Cummings model. We argue that the presence of pure dephasing noise in such a qubit-resonator system will also induce an energy relaxation mechanism via a fluctuating dipole-coupling term. This random modulation of the coupling is seen to lead to rich physical behavior. For non-Markovian noise, the coupling can either worsen or alleviate decoherence, depending on the initial conditions. The magnetization noise leads to behavior resembling the collapse and revival of Rabi oscillations if the photons are in a coherent state. For a broad distribution of noise couplings, the frequency of these oscillations depends on the mean noise strength. We describe this behavior semianalytically and find it to be independent of the number of fluctuators. This phenomenon could be used as an in situ probe of the noise characteristics.
Olfactory Thresholds for Nicotine and Menthol in Smokers (Abstinent and Nonabstinent) and Nonsmokers

Nonsmokers and smokers were compared for olfactory sensitivity to two odors associated with cigarettes: nicotine and menthol. Smokers were tested twice--while nonabstinent, and after 16-20 h of smoking abstinence. Smokers showed a higher olfactory threshold for nicotine than did nonsmokers, but the same threshold for menthol. Furthermore, when the smokers were abstinent, they showed a lower olfactory threshold for nicotine than when they were nonabstinent, but again, the same threshold for menthol. These results suggest a nicotine specific olfactory deficit in smokers that is reduced during abstinence.
Dehydroepiandrosterone and 16α-Br-epiandrosterone inhibit 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate stimulation of superoxide radical production by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Both dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and the synthetic steroid 16 alpha-Br-epiandrosterone (Br-Epi), a more potent inhibitor of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) than DHEA, inhibit the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) stimulation of superoxide anion (O2-) formation by human neutrophils. DHEA has previously been shown to inhibit the development of spontaneous breast cancer and chemically induced tumors of the lung and colon as well as TPA promoted skin tumors in the mouse. The inhibition of TPA stimulated O2- formation by DHEA may contribute to the cancer preventive activity of this steroid.
Low oxidation potential conducting polymers based on 1,4-bis[2-(3,4-ethylenedioxy)thienyl]-2,5-dialkoxybenzenes

Abstract Palladium-catalyzed coupling techniques have been used to prepare a series of 1,4-bis[2-(3,4-ethylenedioxy)thienyl]-2,5-dialkoxybenzenes which can be polymerized chemically or electrochemically. The polymers have been characterized by electrochemistry, spectroelectrochemistry, in situ EPR electrochemistry, and in situ conductivity. The highly electron rich nature of these polymers leads to extremely low oxidation potentials (E 1/2.p = −0.15 to −0.35V vs . Ag/Ag + ). Mild polymerization conditions can be used, resulting in fewer side reactions and more stable polymers; e.g. only a 25% loss in electro activity occurs over 3000 redox cycles when switching polymer 2c. These polymers are stable over a broad potential range, allowing them to be used as modified electrode materials; for example, ferrocene can be repeatedly oxidized and reduced on the polymer surface. In situ EPR electrochemistry and in situ conductivity were used to better understand the polymer redox processes, which are solvent-dependent. Maximum conductivity is attained in the bipolaronic state, but stable polarons can be formed in certain solvents. The polymers are electrochromic, reversibly switching from red to blue upon oxidation with electronic bandgaps at ca . 1.9 eV.
Alloying to increase the band gap for improving thermoelectric properties of Ag2Te

Ag_(2)Te simultaneously shows high mobility and low thermal conductivity, however the relatively low band gap of ~0.2 eV prevents it from achieving high thermoelectric figure of merit, zT, in the high temperature phase. In this study, the band gap of Ag_(2)Te has been increased enabling a zT of unity by forming alloys and composites with PbTe, thereby demonstrating the importance of exploiting potentially good thermoelectrics among these small band gap semiconductors and similar materials.
Positive contrast obtained in reacquisition following interpolation of nonreinforced or partially reinforced trials

Abstract Two experiments investigated the effects of shifting from either nonreinforcement or partial reinforcement (PRF) to continuous reinforcement conditions (CRF). In the first experiment, three groups of rats were given food reinforcement under CRF conditions in a runway followed by regular extinction trials (RE), extinction trials where Ss were delayed for 30 sec before entering the empty goal box (DE), or CRF trials where Ss were delayed for 30 sec before entering the baited goal box (DF). Then all Ss were run on the delayed reinforcement condition (DF). In the final delayed reinforcement condition, group DE ran significantly faster than group DF, reflecting positive contrast. In the second experiment, four groups of rats were trained in a runway to receive either 4% or 18% sucrose reinforcers under either PRF or CRF conditions. Then all Ss were transferred to a Skinner box and bar presses were continuously reinforced, with each S continuing to receive the same sucrose concentration as before. The former PRF Ss, regardless of the reinforcer, bar pressed at a significantly higher rate in the Skinner box than the former CRF Ss. The evidence seemed to favor the view that the effectiveness of a reinforcer is not an absolute, unchanging quantity but rather depends on the historical context in which the reinforcer occurs.
From practice to academia A second career in academic medicine

Career changes in all vocations are relatively common in the forties age group due to a variety of factors which include a crisis period caused by polarities of Generativity versus Stagnation as conceptualized by Erik H. Erikson. Generativity is served not only by procreativity but also by guiding the next generation through teaching. The result can be the strength of Care. Stagnation can result in unhappiness, irrational and destructive behavior, or withdrawal. Concepts of young, old and mortality also come into focus. A successful career change from private practice to academic medicine depends upon a combination of power, opportunity, and character. To be successful, the change should be made for positive reasons and be based upon youthful concepts in the cold reality of the financial and intellectual challenges of a new and competitive career. If properly done, both the personal rewards and the contribution to future medical care can be quite positive.
DNA complementary to parathyroid mRNA directs synthesis of pre-proparathyroid hormone in a linked transcription-translation system.

DNA complementary in sequence to the messenger RNA for pre-proparathyroid hormone was synthesised using reverse transcriptase. In a linked transcription–translation system using RNA polymerase and cell-free extract from wheat germ, the DNA directed the synthesis of a protein identified as pre-proparathyroid hormone by N-terminal Sequencing and by electrophoretic and immunologic criteria.
Benchmarking consumer perceptions of retail constructs for apparel merchandisers using magnitude estimation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish a measurement process for consumer perceptions and judgments of strategic importance to apparel retailers like hedonic and utilitarian shopping behavior, as well as internal process benchmarks such as apparel brands' names, store signage, and textile preferences. The paper aims to provide a simple, flexible and easy to use measurement technique that can be applied to small samples of respondents in order to capture their overall perceptions and judgments of key interest to management.Design/methodology/approach – Magnitude estimation, along with a repeated measures design, was tested and evaluated based on the validation process put forth by Steven's power law. Data were collected from three focus groups whose respondents were selected based on their store loyalty and prior purchase of women's petit apparel in a discount outlet store. Their responses were benchmarked with those of other competitive discount retailers and with selected internal process me...
Reduction of Secondary Echoes Generated from Ultrasound Transducer Face in Photoacoustic Imaging Implemented in Reflection Geometry

A method to reduce image artifacts arising from secondary ultrasound echoes during photoacoustic imaging is presented. Experimental results presented indicate a significant improvement in the image quality by the use this technique.
Viral infection of the lung: Host response and sequelae

Because of its essential role in gas exchange and oxygen delivery, the lung has evolved a variety of strategies to control inflammation and maintain homeostasis. Invasion of the lung by pathogens (and in some instances exposure to certain noninfectious particulates) disrupts this equilibrium and triggers a cascade of events aimed at preventing or limiting colonization (and more importantly infection) by pathogenic microorganisms. In this review we focus on viral infection of the lung and summarize recent advances in our understanding of the triggering of innate and adaptive immune responses to viral respiratory tract infection, mechanisms of viral clearance, and the well-recognized consequences of acute viral infection complicating underlying lung diseases, such as asthma.
The postradiation neck: evaluating response to treatment and recognizing complications.

OBJECTIVE. We summarize the rationale for and physiology of radiation therapy for the treatment of head and neck cancer and review the imaging findings of expected changes and complications after radiation to the neck. It is important to be able to recognize these features at all stages during management of patients with squamous cell carcinoma and other head and neck malignancies and to be able to distinguish these changes from residual or recurrent disease.CONCLUSION. Radiation therapy results in imaging findings of tissue edema followed by fibrosis, scarring, and atrophy. Complications from radiation therapy can occur months to years after treatment. Findings of a new mass, lymphadenopathy, or bone or cartilage destruction must be viewed as concerning for recurrent disease.
Sudden oak death and Phytophthora ramorum in the USA: a management challenge

Oaks and tanoaks in California and Oregon coastal forests are being ravaged by sudden oak death. The exotic causal agent, Phytophthora ramorum, is an oomycete in the Straminipile group, a relative of diatoms and algae. P. ramorum also infects many popular horticultural plants (i.e. camellia and rhododendron), causing ramorum blight, with symptoms expressed as leaf spots, twig blight and shoot dieback. P. ramorum has raised important biosecurity issues, which continue to reverberate through the agriculture, forestry and horticulture industries as well as associated government management, regulatory and scientific agencies. The continued spread of this and other new Phytophthora spp. presents significant impetus for adjustments in the management and regulation of forest pathogens and nursery stock.
Serogroup Conversion of Vibrio cholerae in Aquatic Reservoirs

The environmental reservoirs for Vibrio cholerae are natural aquatic habitats, where it colonizes the chitinous exoskeletons of copepod molts. Growth of V. cholerae on a chitin surface induces competence for natural transformation, a mechanism for intra-species gene exchange. The antigenically diverse O-serogroup determinants of V. cholerae are encoded by a genetically variable biosynthetic cluster of genes that is flanked on either side by chromosomal regions that are conserved between different serogroups. To determine whether this genomic motif and chitin-induced natural transformation might enable the exchange of serogroup-specific gene clusters between different O serogroups of V. cholerae, a strain of V. cholerae O1 El Tor was co-cultured with a strain of V. cholerae O139 Bengal within a biofilm on the same chitin surface immersed in seawater, and O1-to-O139 transformants were obtained. Serogroup conversion of the O1 recipient by the O139 donor was demonstrated by comparative genomic hybridization, biochemical and serological characterization of the O-antigenic determinant, and resistance of O1-to-O139 transformants to bacteriolysis by a virulent O1-specific phage. Serogroup conversion was shown to have occurred as a single-step exchange of large fragments of DNA. Crossovers were localized to regions of homology common to other V. cholerae serogroups that flank serogroup-specific encoding sequences. This result and the successful serogroup conversion of an O1 strain by O37 genomic DNA indicate that chitin-induced natural transformation might be a common mechanism for serogroup conversion in aquatic habitats and for the emergence of V. cholerae variants that are better adapted for survival in environmental niches or more pathogenic for humans.
Automating Climate Science: Large Ensemble Simulations on the TeraGrid with the GriPhyN Virtual Data System

Ensemble simulations are a promising technique for identifying the signal of atmospheric response to extra-tropical sea surface temperature variability with high statistical significance. The basic idea is to perform multiple simulations from slightly different initial conditions and then to study the average signal of the ensemble. A significant obstacle to performing such ensemble simulations is the bookkeeping required to prepare, execute, and track the progress of hundreds of different computations. We describe an ensemble simulation experiment in which the Fast Ocean Atmosphere Model was run on the U.S. TeraGrid. In this experiment, we used the GriPhyN Virtual Data System to manage our ensemble simulations and their execution on distributed resources, achieving dramatic (order-of-magnitude) reductions in turnaround time relative to previous manual experiments.
Effects of Conjugation and Aromaticity on the Sulfoxide Bond1

An ab initio computational study on a series of sulfoxides is reported. The SO bond dissociation energy (BDE) of sulfoxides in which the sulfur atom is included in a formally aromatic ring (e.g., thiophene sulfoxide) is found to be decreased by as much as 25 kcal/mol, compared to DMSO. A complementary effect is observed for sulfoxides in which the sulfur is included in a formally antiaromatic ring (e.g., thiirene sulfoxide), in which SO BDEs are increased by as much as 15 kcal/mol. Both effects are attenuated by benzannulation. Examination of calculated geometries and isodesmic reactions with pure hydrocarbons leads to the conclusion that the observed effects are due to a severe disruption of the (anti) aromaticity of the sulfur-containing ring on oxidation. The cyclic sulfoxides appear to be neither significantly aromatic nor antiaromatic by energetic considerations. No significant SO bond strength effect is observed for simple conjugation. Inversion barriers for several sulfoxides are also calculated.
The Effect of Phorate Applied to Seed on the Growth, Development and Insects Attacking Grain Sorghum

Seed of sorghum variety RS610 was treated with phorate (Thimet 44-D) at the rate of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 pounds of active ingredient per 100 pounds of seed, with and without Arasan 75 at 10-2/3 ounces. Additional treatments included Arasan 75 and Sticker 25-1 alone and in combination. In field tests the 2- and 4-pound rates seriously reduced stand and delayed plant development as measured by pollen shedding. Plants from seed treated with the 0.5- and I-pound rates shed pollen earlier than the untreated. Highly significant differences in seed yield were associated with differences in stand. The plots receiving the phorate treatments had significantly less yield than the untreated. In greenhouse tests, germination was reduced by the higher dosages and prolonged about 3 days. Treated seed, after 10 months storage, showed a great reduction in germination. Per cent germination under greenhouse conditions was highly significantly correlated with the field stand. Arasan reduced the toxic effect of the phorate. The sticker showed some deleterious effect on germination, which was reduced when combined with Arasan. The higher dosage rates controlled the corn leaf aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), during the earlier period of growth. However, the phorate treatments gave no control of aphid populations on bagged heads of sorghum in the field.
Detection of potential ligands for nuclear receptors in cellular extracts

In response to external stimuli, steroid receptors are directly influenced to transactivate gene expression. Assuming they exist, identification of ligands for orphan steroid receptors is a key to understanding their physiology. In the orphan subgroup of the steroid receptor superfamily, the putative carboxyl terminal ligand-binding domain (LBD) is well conserved among members of the superfamily, which suggests a role in ligand binding. A consequence of ligand binding is the induction of a significant conformational change within the LBD which is necessary for the transactivation function. This characteristic conformational change can be detected by partial proteolytic digestion and has been localized by mutational analysis and epitopic mapping of the LBD using monoclonal antibodies. Based on this finding, a sensitive in vitro assay was developed for the rapid screening and identification of potential ligands for orphan receptors. We examined the patterns of conformational changes in the androgen receptor...
Treatment of test anxiety by group implosive therapy.

36 test anxious Ss were randomly assigned to 3 groups. One group served as the no-treatment control, while the other two groups received either placebo-attention or implosive therapy. Implosive therapy consisted of 5 30-min. sessions of treatment in which Ss were asked to imagine highly anxiety-evoking scenes pertaining to test anxiety while concentrating on experiencing the accompanying sensations as intensely as possible. The placebo group imagined non-relevant scenes while concentrating on experiencing the accompanying sensations as intensely as possible. The results indicated a significant difference in terms of anxiety reduction between the no-treatment control group and the implosive-therapy group. No significant difference was obtained between the placebo group and the implosive-therapy group, or between the placebo group and the no-treatment group. The importance of a placebo group in behavior therapy research was noted.
Total pinealectomy by an occipital parasagittal approach in sheep

A reliable method of total pinealectomy in sheep without a resulting significant neurological deficit has been developed and is described. The known effect of light on sheep gonadotropin levels helps validate these studies of its pineal gland. Special attention is given to delineation of the surgical anatomy of the gland and its relationship under magnification to the central draining veins of the brain. In this large mammal this relationship differs considerably from that of humans. The application of an intrahemispheric occipital exposure using magnification, as well as the preoperative administration of steroids and osmotic agents, helped to minimize the effects of retraction and resultant cerebral edema. We have thus been able to increase the rate of successful pinealectomy to 83%, allowing the development of groups of animals suitable for studies of the neuroendocrine function of the pineal and pituitary glands.
Fluorous 2,4-Dichloro-1,3,5-triazines (F-DCTs) as Nucleophile Scavengers

2,4,6-Trichloro-1,3,5-triazine (cyanuric chloride) and its derivatives have been widely used as chlorination and condensation agents in organic synthesis, as complexation agents in analytical chemistry, as multi-step redox agents in electrochemistry, as pesticides and herbicides in agricultural chemistry, as templates in crystal engineering, as scaffolds in combinatorial chemistry, and as building blocks for peptidomimetics [1]. 2-Chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (CDMT) is a well-known amide coupling agent [2]. The polymer-supported [3] and the fluorous [4,5] version of CDMTs have been developed for parallel and combinatorial syntheses. 2,4-Dichloro-6-methoxy-1,3,5-triazines (DCT) [6] and its solid-supported analogs [7] have also been employed as amide coupling agents as well as nucleophile scavengers. We recently synthesized fluorous alkoxy- and alkylthio-attached DCT compounds 1 and 2, and explored their utility in fluorous amide coupling reactions [8]. We report here the use of F-DCTs as nucleophile scavengers for fluorous solution-phase synthesis [9,10]. Since F-DCTs have two active electrophiles, we expected they can be used to remove two equivalents of nucleophiles from the reaction mixtures. Open in a separate window
Prescribing Practices, Knowledge, and Use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) by a National Sample of Medical Toxicologists, 2012

Prescription opioid analgesic misuse and addiction are a significant public health concern in the USA. Through their concurrent roles as prescribers and public health stewards, medical toxicologists (MTs) have a unique perspective on this issue. They represent a physician group with a particular interest in prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) because of their subspecialty knowledge of the negative consequences of opioid overprescribing in terms of misuse, diversion, addiction, and overdose death. This study surveyed a national sample of MTs about their opioid prescribing patterns and their knowledge and use of PDMPs. A link to a Web-based survey was disseminated by email to the physician membership of the American College of Medical Toxicology. The survey assessed the circumstances and details of the respondents prescribing practices for opioids and their knowledge and use of PDMPs. This included focused questions regarding their perceived limitation of their current PDMP. Responses were received from 205/445 surveys (46 %), representing responses from 35 states. The majority (78 %) of MTs responding to the survey reported that they primarily practice emergency medicine. Although awareness of PDMPs, in general, was high, approximately 25 % reported no knowledge of or did not have access to their state’s PDMP. Barriers to use included time and complexity required to access relevant information. MTs prescribe opioids primarily to patients in the Emergency Department (ED) for acute pain or acute exacerbations of chronic pain. MTs are generally aware of PDMPs, although many were unaware of or not using their state-based PDMPs when prescribing opioids in clinical practice.
A set-theoretic random utility model of choice behavior

Abstract A random utility model of choice was developed by combining the basic ideas of the well-known theories of Thurstone and Restle. The new model has exactly the same number of free parameters as Tversky's Elimination-by-Aspects model. Furthermore, both models were found to fit, with equal accuracy, the data reported by Rumelhart and Greeno, and Tversky. It was concluded that although the two theories are not identical, they may be difficult to discriminate empirically.
ALIX Is Recruited Temporarily into HIV-1 Budding Sites at the End of Gag Assembly

Polymerization of Gag on the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane drives the assembly of Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1). Gag recruits components of the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) to facilitate membrane fission and virion release. ESCRT assembly is initiated by recruitment of ALIX and TSG101/ESCRT-I, which bind directly to the viral Gag protein and then recruit the downstream ESCRT-III and VPS4 factors to complete the budding process. In contrast to previous models, we show that ALIX is recruited transiently at the end of Gag assembly, and that most ALIX molecules are recycled into the cytosol as the virus buds, although a subset remains within the virion. Our experiments imply that ALIX is recruited to the neck of the assembling virion and is mostly recycled after virion release.
Factors controlling ionospheric outflows as observed at intermediate altitudes

[1] Data acquired by the Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) Small Explorer during the 24–25 September 1998 geomagnetic storm have been used to determine the controlling parameters for ionospheric outflows. The data were restricted to dayside magnetic local times. Two primary sources of ion outflows are considered: ion heating through dissipation of downward Poynting flux and electron heating through soft electron precipitation. Ion outflows are shown to be correlated with both, although ion outflows have a higher correlation with soft electrons, measured by the density of precipitating electrons. At 4000 km altitude it is found that fi = 1.022 × 109±0.341nep2.200±0.489, where fi is the ion flux in cm−2 s−1 and nep is precipitating electron density, with a correlation coefficient r = 0.855, based on log-log regression. This scaling law can be mapped to other altitudes by scaling the flux and density with the magnetic field magnitude. The ion flux is also correlated with the Poynting flux, fi = 2.142 × 107±0.242S1.265±0.445, where S is the Poynting flux at 4000 km altitude in mW m−2 and r = 0.721. Either of these two scaling laws can be used specify ion outflow fluxes, since there is a strong intercorrelation between the various parameters. In particular the present study cannot completely eliminate either of the two candidate processes (ion versus electron heating in the ionosphere, corresponding to Poynting flux versus soft electron precipitation). Soft electron precipitation does have a higher correlation coefficient, however, and if possible the precipitating electron density scaling law should be used. Since Poynting flux may be more easily specified in global simulations, for example, this scaling law is a useful alternate. For the interval under study the ion outflows were dominated by oxygen ions, predominantly in the form of ion conics, with a characteristic energy of order 10–30 eV.
Low Birth Weight (LBW) infants' exploratory behavior at 12 and 24 months: Effects of intraventricular hemorrhage and mothers' attention directing behaviors

Abstract Medically high-risk (HR), low birth weight (LBW) preterm infants ( n = 11 with significant degrees of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) were seen at 12 and 24 months of age. This HR group was compared with a low-risk (LR) LBW preterm group ( n = 16) with respiratory distress syndrome or mild grades of IVH, and a normal full-term (FT) group ( n = 12). Infants and their mothers were observed in a 10-min toy-centered play interaction to determine if more advanced exploratory play occurred in association with specific maternal attention-directing behaviors. Results showed that the FT infants were able to respond with advanced exploratory play to unstructured as well as structured strategies, but that higher level play for the LR infants was associated with structured strategies. The HR infants showed fewer play responses than the other two infant groups regardless of whether mothers used structured or unstructured strategies. All infant groups showed more exploratory play behavior in relation to mothers' maintaining versus redirecting behavior.
A thermodynamic study of solid Pd-Pt alloys

The vapor pressure of palladium over nine Pd-Pt alloys was measured by the torsion-effusion method. Calorimetric heat-of-solution measurements were carried out on specimens from the same alloys to derive the enthalpy of formation. The activities and partial and integral free energies at 1600°K, computed from the vapor-pressure measurements, were combined with the integral enthalpies at 298°K to determine the integral entropies, assuming Neumann-Kopp behavior. The activities and the free energies of formation exhibit very small negative deviations from ideal behavior. The enthalpies of formation are moderately negative over the entire composition range. The entropies of formation are positive but smaller than the ideal entropies at 1600°K. The thermodynamic results provide additional evidence for the existence of short-range order in the Pd-Pt system.