cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Bioeconomic Model of Cattle Stocking on Rangeland Threatened by Invasive Plants and Nitrogen Deposition

Across western North America, invasive plant species and elevated levels of nitrogen are threatening the productivity of rangelands. A bioeconomic model of stocking cattle on these rangelands is used to show that optimal stocking depends on the competition between native grasses and the invaders. However, nitrogen deposition is important in determining the ultimate rangeland species composition. Endogenous changes in plant successional thresholds are due to the interplay of nitrogen deposition and stocking practices. Nonoptimal overstocking can create ecosystem niches for invaders where they would not have occurred at lower stocking rates, although what constitutes overstocking depends on the nitrogen levels.
Role of vascular heme oxygenase in reduced myogenic reactivity following chronic hypoxia.

Objective: Exposure to chronic hypoxia (CH) results in a persistent endothelium-dependent vascular smooth muscle hyperpolarization that diminishes vasoconstrictor reactivity. Experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that products of both cytochrome P450 epoxygenase (CYP) and heme oxygenase (HO) are required for the persistent diminished myogenic reactivity following CH.Methods: The authors examined myogenic responses of mesenteric arteries isolated from control and CH (48 h; PB = 380 mmHg) rats in the presence of a HO inhibitor (zinc protoporphyrin IX; ZnPPIX) or combined HO and CYP epoxygenase inhibition (sulfaphenazole). Arteries were isolated and cannulated and the vascular smooth muscle was loaded with the Ca2 + indicator Fura-2.Results: Control vessels maintained their internal diameter in response to step increases in intraluminal pressure, whereas arteries from CH animals passively distended. ZnPPIX augmented myogenic reactivity and [Ca2 +] in arteries from CH animals. Combined administrat...
Computer-Aided diagnosis for CT colonography

CT colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, is a promising alternative screening tool for colon cancer. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) for CT colonography has the potential to increase radiologists' diagnostic performance in the detection of polyps and to reduce variability of the diagnostic accuracy among readers. Technical developments have advanced CAD for CT colonography substantially during the last several years. This paper describes the key techniques used for CAD for detection of polyps and masses in CT colonography, the current detection performance, and challenges and the future of CAD.
New Species of Philodendron (Araceae) from Bajo Calima, Colombia

Twenty new species of Philodendron Schott (Araceae) from Bajo Calima, Colombia, are described as new: P. baudoense Croat & D. C. Bay, P. canicaule Croat & D. C. Bay, P. chrysocarpum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. coriaceum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. discretivenium Croat & D. C. Bay, P. dryanderae Croat & D. C. Bay, P. furcatum Croat, P. heterocraspedon Croat & D. C. Bay, P. hiberisiccans Croat & D. C. Bay, P. monsalveae Croat & D. C. Bay, P. ninoanum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. oblanceolatum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. polliciforme Croat & D. C. Bay, P. rhodospathiphyllum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. rubromaculatum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. striatum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. suberosum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. tricostatum Croat & D. C. Bay, P. trojitense Croat & D. C. Bay, and P. venulosum Croat & D. C. Bay.
Paraganglioma of the larynx : a critical review of the literature

The clinicopathologic features of two cases of paragangliomas of the larynx are presented along with immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and DNA image analysis. The world literature is also critically reviewed in order to develop a more accurate clinicopathologic profile of the tumor. The results indicate that paragangliomas of the larynx occur in patients averaging 47 years of age and are 3 times more common in women. Most (82%) arise from the supraglottic larynx and manifest clinically as hoarseness. They are typically benign and rarely functional. Almost all alleged malignant paragangliomas of the larynx are in reality atypical carcinoids that have been misdiagnosed. Features that distinguish paragangliomas from other similar tumors are discussed.
The fatty acid signaling molecule cis-2-decenoic acid increases metabolic activity and reverts persister cells to an antimicrobial-susceptible state.

ABSTRACT Persister cells, which are tolerant to antimicrobials, contribute to biofilm recalcitrance to therapeutic agents. In turn, the ability to kill persister cells is believed to significantly improve efforts in eradicating biofilm-related, chronic infections. While much research has focused on elucidating the mechanism(s) by which persister cells form, little is known about the mechanism or factors that enable persister cells to revert to an active and susceptible state. Here, we demonstrate that cis-2-decenoic acid (cis-DA), a fatty acid signaling molecule, is able to change the status of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli persister cells from a dormant to a metabolically active state without an increase in cell number. This cell awakening is supported by an increase of the persister cells9 respiratory activity together with changes in protein abundance and increases of the transcript expression levels of several metabolic markers, including acpP, 16S rRNA, atpH, and ppx. Given that most antimicrobials target actively growing cells, we also explored the effect of cis-DA on enhancing antibiotic efficacy in killing persister cells due to their inability to keep a persister cell state. Compared to antimicrobial treatment alone, combinational treatments of persister cell subpopulations with antimicrobials and cis-DA resulted in a significantly greater decrease in cell viability. In addition, the presence of cis-DA led to a decrease in the number of persister cells isolated. We thus demonstrate the ability of a fatty acid signaling molecule to revert bacterial cells from a tolerant phenotype to a metabolically active, antimicrobial-sensitive state.
Memory-efficient contour-based region-of-interest coding of arbitrarily large images

In this paper, we present a memory-efficient, contour-based, region-of-interest (ROI) algorithm designed for ultra-low-bit- rate compression of very large images. The proposed technique is integrated into a user-interactive wavelet-based image coding system in which multiple ROIs of any shape and size can be selected and coded efficiently. The coding technique compresses region-of-interest and background (non-ROI) information independently by allocating more bits to the selected targets and fewer bits to the background data. This allows the user to transmit large images at very low bandwidths with lossy/lossless ROI coding, while preserving the background content to a certain level for contextual purposes. Extremely large images (e.g., 65000 X 65000 pixels) with multiple large ROIs can be coded with minimal memory usage by using intelligent ROI tiling techniques. The foreground information at the encoder/decoder is independently extracted for each tile without adding extra ROI side information to the bit stream. The arbitrary ROI contour is down-sampled and differential chain coded (DCC) for efficient transmission. ROI wavelet masks for each tile are generated and processed independently to handle any size image and any shape/size of overlapping ROIs. The resulting system dramatically reduces the data storage and transmission bandwidth requirements for large digital images with multiple ROIs.
Preparation of a Polymer‐Supported Fluorene‐Based Receptor for Quantitative and Efficient Binding of Silver Cations

We have designed and synthesized a polymer-supported material in which a versatile fluorene-p-xylene-based receptor is woven onto the backbone of polystyrene. This polymer-supported receptor adopts a pi-prismand-like conformation through a simple C--C bond rotation that results in the quantitative binding of a single silver cation per receptor site with a remarkable efficiency that exceeds the binding abilities of the well-known tris[2.2.2]-p-cyclophane (or pi prismand) by at least a factor of 100. More importantly, the binding event can be readily monitored by 1H NMR spectroscopy, as well as by a more sensitive emission spectroscopic technique in which the quenching of fluorescence of the receptor moiety is quantitatively related to the binding of silver cations.
Adaptability via sampling

There has recently been considerable attention devoted to sample-based approaches to chance constraints in stochastic programming, and also multi-stage optimization formulations. In this short paper, we consider the merits of a joint approach. A specific motivation for us, is the possibility of developing techniques suitable for integer-constrained future stages. We propose a technique based on structured adaptability, and some recent sampling techniques, that results in sample complexity that is polynomial in the number of stages. Thus we circumvent a difficulty that has traditionally plagued sample-based approaches for multi-stage formulations. This allows us to provide a hierarchy of adaptability schemes, not only for continuous problems, but also for discrete problems.
Tweeting for class: co-construction as a means for engaging students in lectures

Motivating students to be active learners is a perennial problem in education, and is particularly challenging in lectures where instructors typically prepare content in ad-vance with little direct student participation. We describe our experience using Twitter as a tool for student "co-construction" of lecture materials. Students were required to post a tweet prior to each lecture related to that day's topic, and these tweets -- consisting of questions, examples and reflections -- were incorporated into the lecture slides and notes. Students reported that they found lectures including their tweets in the class slides to be engaging, interactive and relevant, and nearly 90% of them recommended we use our co-construction approach again.
Decentralized execution of constraint handling rules for ensembles

CHR is a declarative, concurrent and committed choice rule-based constraint programming language. In this paper, we adapt CHR to provide a decentralized execution model for parallel and distributed programs. Specifically, we consider an execution model consisting of an ensemble of computing entities, each with its own constraint store and each capable of communicating with its neighbors. We extend CHR into CHRe, in which rules are executed at a location and are allowed to access the constraint store of its immediate neighbors. We give an operational semantics for CHRe, denoted ω0e, that defines incremental and asynchronous decentralized rewriting for the class of CHRe rules characterized by purely local matching (0-neighbor restricted rules). We show the soundness of the ω0e semantics with respect to the abstract CHR semantics. We then give a safe encoding of the more general 1-neighbor restricted rules as 0-neighbor restricted rules, and discuss how this encoding can be generalized to all CHRe programs.
Radiation damage in single crystal L-Histidine as studied by low-temperature thermoluminescence techniques

Abstract X-irradiation of single crystal L-Histidine at 10 K produces TL glow peaks at 38, 72, 84, 122, 162, 204, and 245 K. The 84 K peak is the most intense one and is characterized by a thermal activation energy of 0.073 eV and frequency factor of 1.1×10 3 s -1 . Moreover, it is readily photobleachable, whereas the other glow peaks are not, and is tentatively correlated with the thermal decay of a carboxyl anion radical. Computer simulation of the Randall-Wilkins first-order TL expression provided a check on the experimentally derived parameters characterizing the 38 and 84 K peaks. The initial-rise method did not produce accurate parameters for the 38 K peak; however, computer simulation yielded an activation energy of 0.022 eV and a frequency factor of 20 s -1 which were in agreement with the experimental shape of the glow curve. This TL peak is attributed to the thermal destruction of an imidazole cation radical. Emission spectra measurements of the 84 K luminescence (other peaks were of insufficient intensity) indicated that TL results from thermal release of electrons and their subsequent de-excitation to the ground state via the singlet and triplet manifolds. At sufficiently high temperatures (∼78 K) one only observes singlet state emission due to intersystem crossing.
Survival of a native mammalian carnivore, the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis Kerr, 1792 (Carnivora: Felidae), in an agricultural landscape on an oceanic Philippine island

Concerns about vulnerability of mammalian carnivores to extinction, especially on small islands, appear to conflict with prior reports of endemic populations of leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis (Kerr, 1792) surviving in agricultural landscapes on oceanic islands. We investigated the persistence of the Visayan leopard cat (P. b. rabori) in the sugarcane fields on Negros, an oceanic island in central Philippines. A population remained throughout the year at our study site on a sugarcane farm, and reproduction was noted. Non-native rodents form the bulk of the cat diet, followed by reptiles, birds, amphibians, and insects. Prey species identified from the samples commonly occur in agricultural areas in the Philippines. Prey composition did not vary significantly with respect to wet and dry season, or sugarcane harvest cycle. This study provides evidence that an intensively managed agricultural landscape on this oceanic island supports a native obligate carnivore that subsists primarily on exotic rats. This study supports a prior prediction that leopard cats will show flexibility in prey selection on islands with few or no native small mammal prey species, but in this case they do so not by switching to other vertebrates and invertebrates, but rather to exotic pest species of rodents.
The ternary complex between methylamine dehydrogenase, amicyanin and cytochrome c551i

The structure of a ternary complex between methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH), amicyanin and cytochrome c551i, all from Paracoccus denitrificans has been determined at 2.4 A resolution. MADH and amicyanin associate so that the exposed edges of Tip 108 of TTQ and the His 95 ligand of copper are juxtaposed. Amicyanin and cytochrome c551i associate so that one edge of the β-sandwich of amicyanin is in contact with a chain segment of the cytochrome close to the heme propionates. The distance from the catalytically active quinone oxygen of TTQ to the copper is 16.8 A and from the copper to the iron is 24.8 A, respectively. Two efficient paths for electron flow from TTQ to copper were found, one passing through Tip 108 of MADH. Two paths from copper to iron were also found, one through the cysteine and one through the methionine ligand to copper, which converge at Tyr 30 of amicyanin.
Low-frequency wide-band impedance matching by exponential transmission lines

It is shown that by using an exponentially tapered transmission line in Ruthroff's connection it is possible to achieve impedance matching at low frequencies over a much wider band than is possible by using a uniform line. For a given ratio of load to source resistances, there is shown to exist an optimum set of line parameters for which the bandwidth obtained is a maximum.
Aqueous Cell Differentiation in Anterior Uveitis Using Fourier-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

Purpose. The differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with anterior uveitis is broad and can present a diagnostic challenge. In this study, we evaluate the characteristic findings of inflammatory cells on optical coherence tomography (OCT) both in vitro and in vivo.
Identification of a novel region of the GABA(B2) C-terminus that regulates surface expression and neuronal targeting of the GABA(B) receptor

GABAB is a G protein-coupled receptor composed of two subunits, GABAB1 and GABAB2. GABAB1 contains an endoplasmic reticulum-retention sequence and is trafficked to the cell surface only in association with GABAB2. To determine whether the C-terminus of GABAB2 regulates GABAB trafficking, we constructed forms of GABAB2 with various C-terminal truncations and examined their surface expression. Truncation of GABAB2 after residue 841 significantly reduced surface expression of both the subunit and the heterodimerized receptor. Turnover of the D841 construct, however, did not differ from that of full-length GABAB2 .T o determine whether the C-terminus of GABAB2 might target GABAB to neurites, cultured hippocampal neurons were transfected with the truncated GABAB2 constructs. Truncation of GABAB2 at residue 841 resulted in primarily somatic localization; furthermore, axonal trafficking of this construct was significantly more restricted than dendritic trafficking. Finally, to biochemically assess trafficking of the truncated GABAB2 constructs, we digested transfected HEK293 cell lysates with endoglycosidase H. When GABAB2 was truncated at residue 841, it became sensitive to digestion by this enzyme, indicating incomplete trafficking. Taken together, these data show that the region of the GABAB2 C-terminus between residues 841 and 862 is important for regulating forward trafficking and neuronal targeting of the GABAB receptor.
On the Mathematics of Using Difference Operators to Relocate Earthquakes

This article examines the properties of difference operators that are used to relocate earthquakes and remove path anomaly biases. There are presently three established algorithms based on such techniques: (1) the method of Jordan and Sverdrup (1981), (2) the double-difference method of Got et al. (1994), and (3) the modified double-difference method of Waldhauser and Ellsworth (2001). We show that the underlying mathematics of these three methods are similar, although there are distinct contrasts in how each is adapted. Our results provide insight into the performance of individual methods. Both the Jordan and Sverdrup (1981) and double difference methods (Got et al. , 1994; Waldhauser and Ellsworth, 2001) remove the average path anomaly bias in a set of events, but the equation weighting is more ideal in the first method. Distance dependent weighting in the Waldhauser and Ellsworth (2001) method does not reduce earthquake location-dependent path anomaly bias unless damping is applied, but damping causes the locations between earthquakes spaced far apart to be less well resolved. Alternatively, the results using Jordan and Sverdrup (1981) and Got et al. (1994) only remove a constant bias across a model subregion and cannot resolve the relative locations between subregions. The results of this study indicate that differencing operators contain the fundamental limitation that when the path anomalies from velocity heterogeneity change stongly with earthquake position, the bias effects can be reduced in the relative locations between closely spaced earthquakes, but the effects cannot be reduced in the relative locations between earthquakes spaced far apart. Manuscript received 2 July 2001.
Use of magnetic resonance imaging to assess blood-brain/blood-glioma barrier opening during conformal radiotherapy

Purpose For chemotherapy to act synergistically and safely with radiation against high-grade gliomas, drugs must pass the endothelial junctions of the blood-tumor barrier (BTB) to reach all tumor cells, and should not pass the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to cause toxicity to normal brain. The objective of this study was to assess BBB/BTB status using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during a course of radiotherapy of high-grade gliomas. Patients and Methods Sixteen patients with grade 3 or 4 supratentorial malignant glioma receiving conformal radiotherapy (RT) underwent contrast-enhanced MRI before, during, and after completion of RT. A gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) uptake index was analyzed with respect to the tumor and RT dose received. Results In the nonenhanced tumor region, contrast uptake increased significantly after the receipt of approximately 10 Gy (P < .01), and reached a maximum after the receipt of approximately 30 Gy. In the initially contrast-enhanced tumor region, c...
NARCO: Neighbor Aware Turn Model-Based Fault Tolerant Routing for NoCs

Network-on-chip (NoC) communication architectures are increasingly being used today to interconnect cores on-chip multiprocessor (CMP) based embedded systems. Permanent faults in NoCs due to fabrication challenges in sub-65 nm CMOS technologies and due to wearout underscore the need for fault tolerant design. In this letter, we propose a novel low-overhead neighbor aware, turn model based fault tolerant routing scheme (NARCO) for NoCs which combines threshold-based replication in network interfaces, a parameterizable region-based neighbor awareness in routers, and the odd-even and inverted odd-even turn models. The proposed scheme enables better packet arrival rate than state of the art, while enabling a tradeoff between communication reliability and energy overhead.
Artificial neural network techniques for estimating heavy convective rainfall and recognizing cloud mergers from satellite data

Abstract This research presents an artificial neural network (ANN) technique for heavy convective rainfall estimation and cloud merger recognition from satellite data. An Artificial Neural network expert system for Satellite-derived Estimation of Rainfall (ANSER) has been developed in the NOAA/NESDIS Satellite Applications Laboratory. Using artificial neural network group techniques, the following can be achieved: automatic recognition of cloud mergers, computation of rainfall amounts that will be ten times faster, and average errors of the rainfall estimates for the total precipitation event that will be reduced to less that 10 per cent.
Parents’, teachers’, and children's views of reading problems

Abstract This study examined children's reading difficulties from the perspectives of the children, their parents, and their teachers. Grade level differences in the types of reported reading problems, and whether or not the child, the parent, and the teacher agreed on the nature of the problem were analyzed. Forty children (grades 1–6), their parents, and their teachers participated in the study. Data were collected with child interviews and parent and teacher questionnaires. Views of the children's reading difficulties varied by grade level, by group, and by problem. Word identification difficulties were the most frequently reported problems. Little consensus existed among individual child‐parent‐teacher triads. However, parent‐teacher consensus was higher, especially for the upper elementary children. In addition, parents of younger poor readers may be more likely than parents of older poor readers to have views that differ from those of classroom teachers. The findings suggest that children, parents, ...
Predicting protein-ligand binding specificity based on ensemble clustering

Protein structure comparison algorithms can be used to identify distantly related proteins or to categorize differences in binding specificities. When they are presented in different conformations, distantly related proteins can go unrecognized unless flexible representations of whole protein structures are used. Such representations offer a sophisticated description of backbone motion, but they do not incorporate the potential motion of every atom. Thus, existing representations, both rigid and flexible, cannot compensate for atomic motions that can make binding sites with similar binding preferences appear different. To bridge this gap, this paper presents a tool for comparing protein binding sites despite conformational changes in the binding site. Our method employs ensemble clustering techniques to incorporate the diversity of binding site variations observed in conformational samples of binding site motion. We applied the method on protein conformations of serine proteases and enolase superfamilies. Our results demonstrate that this approach can distinguish proteins with similar binding preferences in the presence of considerable binding site flexibility.
Removal of Inorganic Iodide in the Automated Serum Protein-Bound Iodine Determination

Values for serum protein-bound iodine (PBI) concentration obtained by the AutoAnalyzer method are too high because of the failure of the batch (Technicon) process to completely remove inorganic iodide. The Technicon method removes about 98% of the inorganic iodide; this incomplete adsorption of inorganic iodide would give falsely elevated PBI values in serums with high iodide concentrations. A rapid, economical method for removing serum inorganic iodide to the extent of 99.8% by a single pass of serum through a small column packed with an anion-exchange resin is described. Using Dowex-1 x 8, 20-50 mesh, 2 ml. of serum is filtered in 30 sec. directly into an AutoAnalyzer sample cup. Filtration through the column eliminates all possibility of clogging the sample probe with either resin beads or serum clots. The column method requires a little less serum than the batch process.
Community Development Financial Institutions: Board Size and Diversity as Governance Mechanisms

CDFIs serve an important social function because they provide access to financial services to underserved low-income individuals and households. Understanding which governance mechanisms promote efficient use of scarce resources that these organizations control is important because only sustainable institutions have the potential to revitalize low-income communities and change low-income individuals' lives in the long-term. The focus of this paper is on evaluating the impact of board size and diversity on the performance of two types of CDFIs: Community Development Credit Unions and Community Development Loan Funds. The results show that CD Credit Unions with larger boards are more efficient in delivering outreach, but board size is not related to CD Loan Funds' performance. There is some evidence that CDCUs with boards dominated by women are more efficient in fulfilling their outreach missions but CDLFs with more gender and racially diverse boards achieve worse financial results suggesting that group cohesion may be important in organizations with multiple, especially non-complementary, objectives (such as outreach and financial self-sufficiency). The results also suggest that there is room for direct involvement of banks in community development activities rather than relying only on investment and lending to intermediaries such as CDFIs.
Human papillomavirus-16 modifies the exposure-response between alcohol and tobacco with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

1745 Introduction: Positive serology to human papillomavirus-16 (HPV16) has been found to increase the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) more than four-fold; however, it is not known how HPV16 influences the risk of HNSCC from alcohol and tobacco. Methods: Cases of incident HNSCC from the Greater Boston Metropolitan area diagnosed between December 1999 to December 2003 were identified from nine medical facilities in Boston, Massachusetts. Population-based controls were frequency-matched to cases on age, gender, and town of residence. Subjects completed a questionnaire that collected decade-specific data on smoking and alcohol consumption. Subjects also provided sera samples from which presence of HPV type 16 antibodies were detected. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) as measures of disease risk. Categories for alcohol (in average drinks per week (dpw)) and tobacco (as pack-years) were analyzed in quartiles, as determined by the combined distribution of cases and controls (alcohol quartiles: 0-3, 4-7, 8-23, ≥24 dpw; tobacco quartiles: never smoker, >0-21, 22-46, ≥47 pack-yrs). ORs were relative to the lowest consumption categories for alcohol and tobacco and controlled for age, gender, race, education and either alcohol or tobacco. Results: Alcohol, tobacco, and HPV16 serology was available for 486 cases of HNSCC and 549 controls. HPV16 status was a statistically significant modifier for the association between alcohol and HNSCC (p=0.03). Among those who were HPV16 negative, increasing alcohol consumption increased risk of HNSCC (OR quartile2 =1.1 (0.7, 1.8), OR quartile3 =1.9 (1.2, 3.1), OR quartile4 =4.0 (2.4, 6.7)). Among the HPV16 positive, HNSCC risk was no longer influenced by alcohol consumption (OR quartile2 =0.7 (0.2, 1.8), OR quartile3 =0.4 (0.2, 1.2), OR quartile4 =0.6 (0.2, 1.9)). Smoking remained a risk factor regardless of HPV16 serology, although the risk of HNSCC from smoking was stronger among the HPV16 negative (OR quartile2 =1.3 (0.8, 2.1), OR quartile3 =2.1 (1.3, 3.4), OR quartile4 =4.6 (2.8, 7.5)) than among the HPV16 positive (OR quartile2 =1.0 (0.4, 2.5), OR quartile3 =1.4 (0.5, 3.7), OR quartile4 =2.4 (0.7, 7.7)), which was a borderline statistically significant interaction (p=0.09). The joint effects between smoking and alcohol on HNSCC risk were only evident among those who were HPV16 negative. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that HPV16 abrogates the synergy of alcohol and tobacco in the induction of HNSCC.
Sustainable Community Development and Rural Poverty in South China

Sustainable development and poverty are conceptually related but the relationship between them has not been clarified. Are they complementary or competitive problems, or is there no relationship between them? If they are complementary problems, sustainable development leads to poverty. If they are competitive, humans can switch from poverty to a sustainable development path. This thesis explores whether sustainable development and poverty have a competitive relationship. Through careful choices, poverty can be reduced even as sustainable development objectives are achieved.Sustainable development is defined here as the process of creating opportunity for humans to improve their well-being. Poverty is deprivation of such an opportunity. The relationship is examined by testing the hypothesis that positive (negative) indicators of sustainable development are negatively (positively) related to poverty. Four regression models are set up and estimated to test the hypothesis. Poverty is measured by the poverty rate, poverty gap, share of thatched homes and income. These measures are regressed on eighteen sustainable development indicators, respectively. The coefficients of these models are estimated from a dataset of 4,074 poor villages of Guangxi in South China. The results reveal that poverty is the opposite state of sustainable development in terms of environmental, economic and social dimensions. The competitive relationship is confirmed. The relationship between sustainable development and poverty implies that they share a common goal. Sustainable development can alleviate both present poverty and potential future poverty. However, some economic activities are found to reduce present poverty but undermine sustainable development. Policy must be carefully planned to avoid the shrinking of opportunity for both present and future generations.
Mass Customization and Guardrails: 'You Can't Be All Things to All People'

A mass customization (“customer as designer”) strategy enables a firm to yield a closer match between its products and customer tastes. A mismatch between those tastes and the delivered product implies a cost to the consumer. Rather than assume all products, other than the one purchased, are immaterial to the customer, we consider the brand-level issue of mismatch between customers’ tastes and the firm’s full range of products. To this end, we permit consumers’ utility to depend upon the distance between their ideal point and the limits of the firm’s product varieties, which we refer to as guardrail products. Mass customization can thus reduce product-specific “fit” costs yet exacerbate brand-level fit. In the absence of brand-level costs, the firm extracts maximal revenue from consumers by offering a range of varieties to cover all possible consumer tastes at a uniform price We show that considering a brand level cost implies that the firm should limit the breadth of the mass customization region to be less than full market coverage. More interestingly, we also find that the firm should optimally implement a differential pricing scheme for those product varieties at the outer extremes of its product line, catering to those consumers with more extreme tastes. Given that a continuum of prices will likely not be practical in application, we also consider the more pragmatic approach of a set of fixed (non-customized) products to serve customers at the taste extremes, with a corresponding set of (lower) fixed prices. We prove this heuristic solution performs close to optimal.
Isomerase-catalyzed binding of interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 to the EVH1 domain of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein.

Interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK1) is a crucial signaling kinase in the immune system, involved in Toll-like receptor signaling. Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) is a central player in cell migration that regulates actin polymerization and connects signaling events to cytoskeletal remodeling. A VASP–IRAK1 interaction is thought to be important in controlling macrophage migration in response to protein kinase C-e activation. We show that the monomeric VASP EVH1 domain directly binds to the 168WPPPP172 motif in the IRAK1 undefined domain (IRAK1-UD) with moderate affinity (KDApp = 203 ± 3 μM). We further show that this motif adopts distinct cis and trans isomers for the Trp168–Pro169 peptide bond with nearly equal populations, and that binding to the VASP EVH1 domain is specific for the trans isomer, coupling binding to isomerization. Nuclear magnetic resonance line shape analysis and tryptophan fluorescence experiments reveal the complete kinetics and thermodynamics of the bindin...
Deformable Graph Model for Tracking Epithelial Cell Sheets in Fluorescence Microscopy

We propose a novel method for tracking cells that are connected through a visible network of membrane junctions. Tissues of this form are common in epithelial cell sheets and resemble planar graphs where each face corresponds to a cell. We leverage this structure and develop a method to track the entire tissue as a deformable graph. This coupled model in which vertices inform the optimal placement of edges and vice versa captures global relationships between tissue components and leads to accurate and robust cell tracking. We compare the performance of our method with that of four reference tracking algorithms on four data sets that present unique tracking challenges. Our method exhibits consistently superior performance in tracking all cells accurately over all image frames, and is robust over a wide range of image intensity and cell shape profiles. This may be an important tool for characterizing tissues of this type especially in the field of developmental biology where automated cell analysis can help elucidate the mechanisms behind controlled cell-shape changes.
PAIS: Parallelization aware instruction scheduling for improving soft-error reliability of GPU-based systems

For decades the semiconductor industry has been driven by Moore's Law and performed aggressive technology scaling to achieve low-power and high-performance. Meanwhile, the semiconductor industry has faced severe reliability challenges like soft-error. Many methodologies (such as redundancy methodologies) have been proposed to improve the soft-error reliability of GPU based systems. However, the GPU compiler has yet to be considered for improving the soft-error reliability of the GPU. In this paper, we propose a novel GPU architecture-aware compilation methodology to further improve the soft-error reliability. The proposed methodology jointly considers the parallel behavior of the GPU and the applications and minimizes the vulnerability of the GPU applications during instruction scheduling. The experimental results show that our methodology is able to perform the scheduling within 5.88 seconds on average and achieves soft-error reliability improvement up to 40% compared to the state-of-the-art compilation techniques. The results show that the performance and power overheads of our methodology are less than 10% in most of the cases.
Evangelical Ideology and Group Formation

Evangelicals have generated significant social movement development in Britain and America during the past two hundred years. Abolition, Prohibition and numerous broad-based movements designed to promote public education, health and ‘morals’ developed with the intellectual, political and financial support of evangelical organizations. More recently, abortion, pornography and related ‘family’ issues have mobilized evangelicals into political organizations. In each instance, an evangelical religious ideology structured believers’ views on a specific issue, encouraged their involvement in a social and political campaign, and defined group goals.
Paradigm Shifts in Breast Care Delivery: Impact of Imaging in a Multidisciplinary Environment.

OBJECTIVE. The practice of breast imaging in a collaborative multidisciplinary environment adds significant value to outcomes in women's health care. In this article, we describe multidisciplinary ...
Family and Other Unpaid Caregivers and Older Adults with and without Dementia and Disability

Objectives To estimate the number of caregivers providing assistance to community-dwelling older persons with and without dementia and with or without substantial disability; to describe the characteristics of caregivers and care recipients in these groups; to characterize the health-related tasks that caregivers provide; and to estimate associations between the numbers of tasks and caregiver burden. Design Nationally representative surveys of caregivers and older adults in the United States. Setting 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving. Participants Community-dwelling older adults and their family caregivers, who were selected on the basis of having assisted with mobility, self-care, household activities, transportation, or medical tasks. Measurements Caregiver burden (emotional, physical, financial difficulties) and restrictions on social participation. Results Although much larger proportions of older adults with dementia and disability (98.4%, n = 1.0 million) and dementia but not disability (95.5%, n = 1.3 million) received caregiving assistance, the largest absolute number of individuals receiving assistance were older adults without dementia or disability (4.0 million). Within each caregiver group, caregivers provided assistance with at least one task across domains of activity of daily living and instrumental activity of daily living–related assistance (>98%), health systems logistics (>70%), and health management (>50%). There was a significant linear association between number of tasks provided and risk of burden in virtually all caregiver groups and domains of assistance. Conclusion Caregivers of care recipients without dementia or disability accounted for the largest absolute number of helpers. These caregivers, similar to caregivers of care recipients with dementia or disability, delivered a broad spectrum of health-related tasks and experienced caregiver burden and restrictions on social participation. Findings support the need for interventions that address the needs of caregivers who have not typically been defined as high risk.
Integration von Lastmanagementstrategien in die Produktionssteuerung

Kurzfassung Konfrontiert mit dem Anstieg der Strompreise im Zuge der Energiewende rucken Strategien zur Energiekostenminimierung starker in den Betrachtungsfokus von Unternehmen. Dem Lastmanagement zur Reduzierung von Spitzenlasten und zur kurzfristigen Bedarfsanpassung an ein volatiles Angebot kommt dabei eine grose Bedeutung zu. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Uberblick daruber, wie sich die Lastmanagementpotentiale eines Unternehmens in die Produktionssteuerung integrieren lassen. Es wird eine Moglichkeit vorgestellt, wie verbrauchssteuernde Masnahmen in einem produzierenden Unternehmen ermittelt werden konnen und eine Beschreibung der ermittelten Masnahmen fur die Produktionssteuerung aufgezeigt.
E-079 Assessment of aneurysm neck geometry and volumes using automated postprocessing workflow

Purpose Use post processing techniques to assess the neck diameters of intracranial aneurysms using intraluminal navigation and to assess aneurysm volumes. Comparison of aneurysm volumes calculated using modeling methods with approximation method commonly used in clinical practice. Materials and methods Intracranial 3D Digital subtraction angiographic images obtained on a Siemens Artis Zee angiography suite were reviewed on 23 patients with intracranial aneurysms. Post processing was performed on a dedicated Leonardo workstation. Vessel segmentation was performed. After applying thresholding, intraluminal navigation was performed using the platform to assess the geometry of the aneurysm neck. Neck width and length as well as aneurysm volumes were measured. Relationship of the neck to adjacent arterial ostia was also assessed. Results Aneurysm neck dimensions (length and width) were very well visualized in the intraluminal navigation images. Relationship of vessel ostia to the neck were also well evaluated in this series. Automated aneurysm volume calculations compared well with standard A*B*C/2 approximations with aneurysm diameters measured manually from orthogonal DSA and 3D DSA images. Comparison between two techniques was performed using Bland-Altman diagrams. Conclusion Intraluminal navigation by post processing provides another tool to look at the neck of an intracranial aneurysm to allow better planning for endovascular embolization procedures. Particularly, neck width and length assessment would allow for selection of adjunctive balloon or stent assisted coiling techniques if the neck is wide in 2 dimensions. Also aneurysm volumes calculated by this method compare well with approximation formulas and potentially provide more accurate calculations for determination of packing density. References . Brinjikji W, Cloft HJ, et al. Difficult Aneurysms for Endovascular Treatment: Overwide or Undertall? AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2009;30:1513–1517. Originally published online on May 20, 2009, 10.3174/ajnr.A1633. . Erhardt S, Marbacher S, et al. Comparison between routine cylindrical cerebral aneurysm volume approximation and three-dimensional volume measurements in experimental aneurysms. Neurol Res. 2014 Aug;36(8):739–45. doi:10.1179/1743132813Y.0000000316. Epub 2014 Jan 20. Disclosures: K. Raghuram: None. A. Saleem: None.
Use of communication plans by certified nursing assistants: little things mean a lot

ABSTRACTBackground: Many residents in long-term care facilities in the United States have communication disorders that impede interactions with staff, particularly certified nursing assistants (CNA...
Fluoropyrimidine-induced cardiac toxicity: challenging the current paradigm.

Background: Fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy [5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and capecitabine] are commonly used agents in the treatment of various solid malignancies. However, their use has been limited by cardiac toxicity, presenting as a wide spectrum of asymptomatic (e.g., EKG changes) and symptomatic (e.g., chest pain) manifestations related to coronary vasospasm leading to myocardial ischemia. Historically, patients with suspected coronary vasospasm have been treated with traditional acute ischemic workup and various combinations of anti-anginal therapies. In addition, most patients typically are not rechallenged with fluoropyrimidine after experiencing initial cardiovascular side-effects with resulting interruption of planned chemotherapy regimens. Methods: We report a case series of 11 consecutive patients in a single-center with suspected fluoropyrimidine-induced coronary vasospasm who were successfully rechallenged with the culprit drug to allow for planned chemotherapy completion. Our protocol utilized rechallenge with bolus infusional regimen of intravenous fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy and oral capecitabine with cardioprotective pretreatment with two calcium blockers and long-acting oral nitrate therapy. Results: We were successfully able to continue and complete the previously planned first-line chemotherapy regimen for all 11 patients with minimal therapeutic interruption. There have been no cardiac events or evidence of recurrent coronary spasm after completion of therapy with discontinuation of prophylactic medications upon therapy completion. Conclusions: We report a single-institution experience of successful rechallenge with fluoropyrimidines with careful cardiac monitoring and the combined use of calcium channel blockers and long-acting nitrates. With further study, this algorithm can be used to safely continue fluoropyrimidines, a potentially curative regimen in the treatment of many solid tumors.
Multivariate physiological recordings in an experimental hemorrhage model.

Abstract In this paper we describe a data set of multivariate physiological measurements recorded from conscious sheep (N = 8; 37.4 ± 1.1 kg) during hemorrhage. Hemorrhage was experimentally induced in each animal by withdrawing blood from a femoral artery at two different rates (fast: 1.25 mL/kg/min; and slow: 0.25 mL/kg/min). Data, including physiological waveforms and continuous/intermittent measurements, were transformed to digital file formats (European Data Format [EDF] for waveforms and Comma-Separated Values [CSV] for continuous and intermittent measurements) as a comprehensive data set and stored and publicly shared here (Appendix A). The data set comprises experimental information (e.g., hemorrhage rate, animal weight, event times), physiological waveforms (arterial and central venous blood pressure, electrocardiogram), time-series records of non-invasive physiological measurements (SpO2, tissue oximetry), intermittent arterial and venous blood gas analyses (e.g., hemoglobin, lactate, SaO2, SvO2) and intermittent thermodilution cardiac output measurements. A detailed explanation of the hemodynamic and pulmonary changes during hemorrhage is available in a previous publication (Scully et al., 2016) [1] .
Synoptic Environments and Characteristics of Convection Reaching the Tropopause over Northeast China

AbstractOvershooting convection that penetrates the lapse rate tropopause is defined globally using 3 years of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) observations and ERA-Interim data. Overshooting convection in the subtropics is mainly found over a few hot spot regions, including central North America and Argentina. A relatively high density of events with overshooting convection is also found over northeast China in the summer months, where 203 events are identified during 2014–16. These convective events extending above the tropopause occur under various synoptic conditions. The synoptic conditions during these events are categorized into three different types, namely, trough, cutoff low, and ridge types, with a subjective analysis based on the wind and pressure fields at 500 hPa. The precipitation systems with overshooting convection ahead of a deep trough have larger sizes than other types. Those in the cutoff low environment are mostly embedded within a large precipitation system. The ridge-type sys...