cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Continuously-variable infrared line absorption due to narrow space-charge channels

Abstract Magnetic fields normal to semiconductor surfaces create discrete Landau levels in a narrow space-charge channel. Transitions between these levels cause an infrared line absorption spectrum whose frequencies are determined by the electric and magnetic field strengths at the surface.
Analysis of Protein Kinase Autophosphorylation Using Expressed Protein Ligation and Computational Modeling

Protein kinases represent a family of enzymes that are critical in cell signaling. One mechanism by which protein kinases are regulated is via autophosphorylation. In the studies described here, we have examined the mechanism of autophosphosphorylation at serine 338 in the regulation of protein kinase A (PKA). Expressed protein ligation allowed for the covalent linkage of an ATP moiety to a Ser mimic at this phosphorylation site. Using a combination of size exclusion chromatography, fluorescence nucleotide binding, kinase measurements, and limited proteolysis assays on this semisynthetic ATP-linked protein, we have obtained unique evidence for an intramolecular autophosphorylation mechanism in PKA regulation. Computational analysis provided a plausible model for a PKA conformation consistent with intramolecular phosphoryl transfer. This approach could be applied to other autoprocessing enzymes by exploiting appropriate transition state analogue motifs in the context of protein semisynthesis.
UPDATE ON METABOLIC LIVER DISEASE

Wilson's disease, genetic and neonatal hemochromatosis, protoporphyria, tyrosinemia, and alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency are updated. Cost effectiveness of screening is discussed. Current therapies are evaluated, including the role of transplantation. The molecular biologic technique PCR is covered. Gene therapy is introduced.
Active Control of Gear Noise Using Magnetic Bearings for Actuation

This paper investigates experimentally the active control of gear noise and vibration using magnetic bearing actuators in a feedforward active control scheme. The dynamic forces caused by gear meshing can produce large noise and vibration signatures that can cause annoyance and also fatigue mechanical components. In this work active magnetic bearings were used as actuators to introduce control forces very close to the source of the disturbance i.e. directly onto the rotating shaft. The proximity of the actuators to the source ensures that substantial control can be achieved using a small number of actuators. A four-square gear rig was constructed in order to test the control methodology experimentally. A proximity sensor placed near the gear teeth was used as a reference sensor and used to drive the two magnetic bearing actuators through a time domain filtered X-LMS control system to minimize the outputs from both vibration and pressure error sensors. At one microphone over 20 dB of reduction in acoustic levels was achieved at the gear mesh frequency and an overall reduction of 6 dB was demonstrated at four microphones. It is also shown that gear mesh noise and sideband frequencies can be simultaneously controlled.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF NITINOL AND STAINLESS STEEL IN THE BLADDER: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

ABSTRACTPurpose:: We tested the biocompatibility of nitinol, a nickel titanium alloy, and stainless steel (SS) as bladder implant materials.Materials and Methods:: Rats received a nitinol implant, an SS implant or were sham controls. Two, 3, 6 and 8 weeks following implantation 24-hour voiding behavior studies were performed to investigate bladder irritation. All animals were sacrificed 8 weeks after implantation and a sample of urine was aspirated for culture. The bladders were examined by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Results:: No visible encrustations or infections were noted in urine. Voiding frequency in the light period 6 weeks after implantation was significantly decreased in the 2 implant groups compared with sham controls. There were no other significant differences in frequency or mean volume per void in the light or dark periods at any time point. Light microscopy demonstrated similar implant tissue effects in all groups with little or no inflammation or fibrosis. Unde...
Antibacterial-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Clinical Impact and Complex Regulation of Chromosomally Encoded Resistance Mechanisms

Summary: Treatment of infectious diseases becomes more challenging with each passing year. This is especially true for infections caused by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with its ability to rapidly develop resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics. Although the import of resistance mechanisms on mobile genetic elements is always a concern, the most difficult challenge we face with P. aeruginosa is its ability to rapidly develop resistance during the course of treating an infection. The chromosomally encoded AmpC cephalosporinase, the outer membrane porin OprD, and the multidrug efflux pumps are particularly relevant to this therapeutic challenge. The discussion presented in this review highlights the clinical significance of these chromosomally encoded resistance mechanisms, as well as the complex mechanisms/pathways by which P. aeruginosa regulates their expression. Although a great deal of knowledge has been gained toward understanding the regulation of AmpC, OprD, and efflux pumps in P. aeruginosa, it is clear that we have much to learn about how this resourceful pathogen coregulates different resistance mechanisms to overcome the antibacterial challenges it faces.
Role of parietal pericardium in acute, severe mitral regurgitation in dogs

Abstract Mitral regurgitation (MR) resulting from acute disruption of the mitral valve apparatus leads to serious hemodynamic sequelae. The lesion produces major elevation of left atrial (LA) and pulmonary artery pressures and decreases forward cardiac output. Clinlcal studies have shown hemodynamic patterns in acute MR similar to those seen in constrictive pericardial disease, suggesting that the pericardium serves to importantly limit cardiac filling in this condition. This hypothesis has not been tested in an animal model in which the intrapericardial pressure can be directly measured. In the present study intrapericardial and intracardiac pressures were measured in 8 dogs before and after the production of acute MR. After production of MR, mean LA pressure increased from 8 ± 3 to 20 ± 7 mm Hg (p = 0.004) and the peak LA V wave averaged 31 ± 13 mm Hg. Mean right atrial pressure increased slightly, from 4 ± 2 to 5 ± 1 mm Hg ( p mm Hg, p=0.001) and there was no tendency to equalization of pressure between right- and left-sided cardiac chambers. Thus, the role of the pericardium in the immediate hemodynamic response to acute, severe MR is minor.
Bootstrap currents in radiofrequency driven tokamak equilibria

As a result of certain experimental observations, interest in the bootstrap current arising from neoclassical transport in tokamaks has increased recently. In this study, the bootstrap current is calculated for a number of radiofrequency (RF) current driven tokamaks. Two-dimensional, self-consistent, steady state tokamak MHD equiJibria are obtained by including both the transport driven bootstrap current and the externally driven RF current. Self-consistency is accomplished by iterating the two-dimensional MHD equilibrium calculation and the current calculation (including bootstrap current and RF ray tracing). The parameter ? = 1 ?(?/?B) is defined as a measure of the RF current drive power reduction achieved when bootstrap currents are included in the calculation (? = e R0I/PCD is the current drive efficiency without the benefit of bootstrap current and ?B = eR0I/PCD is the higher efficiency obtained when bootstrap effects are included). For INTOR-type reactor parameters with e = (0.7?1.4) ? 1020 m?3, ? ? 0.4?0.9 (40-90% reduction of RF power) is obtained. Calculations for other reactor parameters of interest are also carried out. It is found that for reactor-grade plasmas, the bootstrap current contribution to the toroidal current is, in general, important. In some cases, it is even found that the bootstrap current density locally exceeds the required current density of the initial target equilibrium. An approximate scaling law for P, based on the parametric survey performed, is also obtained.
Discrete compressional Alfvén eigenmode spectrum in tokamaks

The spectrum of compressional Alfven eigenmodes (CAE) is analysed and shown to be discrete in tokamaks with low aspect ratio, such as the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), as well as in conventional tokamaks, such as DIII-D. The study is focused on recent similarity experiments on NSTX and DIII-D in which sub-cyclotron frequency instabilities of CAEs were observed at similar plasma conditions (W.W. Heidbrink et al 2006 Nucl. Fusion 46 324). The global ideal MHD code NOVA recovers the main properties of these modes predicted by theory and observed in both devices. The discrete spectrum of CAEs is characterized by three quantum mode numbers for each eigenmode, (M, S and n), where M, S and n are poloidal, radial and toroidal mode numbers, respectively. The expected mode frequency splitting corresponding to each of these mode numbers seems to be observed in experiments and is consistent with our numerical analysis. The polarization of the observed magnetic field oscillations in NSTX was measured and is also consistent with the numerical analysis, which helps to identify them as CAE activity. CAE mode structure was obtained and shown to be localized in both radial and poloidal directions with typical radial localization toward the plasma edge and poloidal localization at the low field side of the plasma cross section.
Characterization of depleted uranium oxides fabricated using different processing methods

Identifying both physical and chemical characteristics of Special Nuclear Material (SNM) production processes is the corner stone of nuclear forensics. Typically, processing markers are based on measuring an interdicted sample’s bulk chemical properties, such as the elemental or isotopic composition, or focusing on the chemical and physical morphology of only a few particles. Therefore, it is imperative that known SNM processes be fully characterized from bulk to trace level for each particle size range. This report outlines a series of particle size measurements and fractionation techniques that can be applied to a bulk SNM powders, categorizing both chemical and physical properties in discrete particle size fractions. This will be demonstrated by characterizing the process signatures of a series of different depleted uranium oxides prepared at increasing firing temperatures (350–1100 °C). Results will demonstrate how each oxides’ material density, particle size distribution, and morphology varies.
Dynamic Sharing of Large-Scale Visualization

Visualization is a research tool that computational scientists use for qualitative exploration, hypothesis verification, and result presentation. Driven by needs for large user groups to collaborate across geographical distances, visualization must now also serve as an effective means to share concrete data as well as abstract ideas over the Internet. Yet there is simply no expeditious and practical way for users collaborating in this wide area to share large visualizations in a dynamic fashion. Using distributed heterogeneous resources as a basic parallel infrastructure to compute visualization could provide great potential usability, scalability, and cost efficiency. To justify our viewpoint, we describe a sample system of this nature and demonstrate its efficacy with a recently generated real-world large data set
Geographic distributions of Idh -1 alleles in a cricket are linked to differential enzyme kinetic performance across thermal environments

Geographic clines within species are often interpreted as evidence of adaptation to varying environmental conditions. However, clines can also result from genetic drift, and these competing hypotheses must therefore be tested empirically. The striped ground cricket, Allonemobius socius, is widely-distributed in the eastern United States, and clines have been documented in both life-history traits and genetic alleles. One clinally-distributed locus, isocitrate dehydrogenase (Idh-1), has been shown previously to exhibit significant correlations between allele frequencies and environmental conditions (temperature and rainfall). Further, an empirical study revealed a significant genotype-by-environmental interaction (GxE) between Idh-1 genotype and temperature which affected fitness. Here, we use enzyme kinetics to further explore GxE between Idh-1 genotype and temperature, and test the predictions of kinetic activity expected under drift or selection. We found significant GxE between temperature and three enzyme kinetic parameters, providing further evidence that the natural distributions of Idh-1 allele frequencies in A. socius are maintained by natural selection. Differences in enzyme kinetic activity across temperatures also mirror many of the geographic patterns observed in allele frequencies. This study further supports the hypothesis that the natural distribution of Idh-1 alleles in A. socius is driven by natural selection on differential enzymatic performance. This example is one of several which clearly document a functional basis for both the maintenance of common alleles and observed clines in allele frequencies, and provides further evidence for the non-neutrality of some allozyme alleles.
Were the Victorians cleverer than us? Maybe, maybe not

Abstract Woodley et al. (2013) noted an increasing trend in reported values of visual reaction times collected over 115 years and concluded that it indicated a decline of intelligence over that period. But because visual reaction times vary with a great many factors in addition to intelligence (notably stimulus luminance) that inference is underdetermined.
Structure and regulation of the neutrophil respiratory burst oxidase : comparison with nonphagocyte oxidases

Neutrophils play an essential role in the body's innate defense against pathogens and are one of the primary mediators of the inflammatory response. To defend the host, neutrophils use a wide range of microbicidal products, such as oxidants, microbicidal peptides, and lytic enzymes. The generation of microbicidal oxidants by neutrophils results from the activation of a multiprotein enzyme complex known as the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, which is responsible for transferring electrons from NADPH to O2, resulting in the formation of superoxide anion. During oxidase activation, cytosolic oxidase proteins translocate to the phagosome or plasma membrane, where they assemble around a central membrane-bound component known as flavocytochrome b. This process is highly regulated, involving phosphorylation, translocation, and multiple conformational changes. Originally, it was thought that the NADPH oxidase was restricted to phagocytes and used solely in host defense. However, recent studies indicate that similar NADPH oxidase systems are present in a wide variety of nonphagocytic cells. Although the nature of these nonphagocyte NADPH oxidases is still being defined, it is clear that they are functionally distinct from the phagocyte oxidases. It should be noted, however, that structural features of many nonphagocyte oxidase proteins do seem to be similar to those of their phagocyte counterparts. In this review, key structural and functional features of the neutrophil NADPH oxidase and its protein components are described, including a consideration of transcriptional and post-translational regulatory features. Furthermore, relevant details about structural and functional features of various nonphagocyte oxidase proteins will be included for comparison.
Changes in the Spatial Distribution of Visual Attention after Early Deafness

There is much anecdotal suggestion of improved visual skills in congenitally deaf individuals. However, this claim has only been met by mixed results from careful investigations of visual skills in deaf individuals. Psychophysical assessments of visual functions have failed, for the most part, to validate the view of enhanced visual skills after deafness. Only a few studies have shown an advantage for deaf individuals in visual tasks. Interestingly, all of these studies share the requirement that participants process visual information in their peripheral visual field under demanding conditions of attention. This work has led us to propose that congenital auditory deprivation alters the gradient of visual attention from central to peripheral field by enhancing peripheral processing. This hypothesis was tested by adapting a search task from Lavie and colleagues in which the interference from distracting information on the search task provides a measure of attentional resources. These authors have established that during an easy central search for a target, any surplus attention remaining will involuntarily process a peripheral distractor that the subject has been instructed to ignore. Attentional resources can be measured by adjusting the difficulty of the search task to the point at which no surplus resources are available for the distractor. Through modification of this paradigm, central and peripheral attentional resources were compared in deaf and hearing individuals. Deaf individuals possessed greater attentional resources in the periphery but less in the center when compared to hearing individuals. Furthermore, based on results from native hearing signers, it was shown that sign language alone could not be responsible for these changes. We conclude that auditory deprivation from birth leads to compensatory changes within the visual system that enhance attentional processing of the peripheral visual field.
Scaling with digital connection: Services innovation

Digitization of production factors, including the knowledge for knowledge workers and consumers, opens almost infinite potential to connect persons, systems, processes, enterprises, products, and services. This digital connection has ushered in computerized manufacturing, global supply chain integration, the Internet, e-commerce/business, P2P social media, and many emerging services innovation. Digital connection brings about increasingly large scale systems and applications, which present sweeping challenges to many academic disciplines. We provide an analysis for digital connection from the perspective of new services innovation. New results proposed include a formulation of new micro-economic production functions and a model for achieving economy of scale through the sharing of extended cyber-infrastructure.
Reply to Comment on 'Atomistic simulation of cross-slip processes in model fcc structures'

Abstract The procedure used by Rao et al. (1999, Phil. Mag. A. 79, 1167) for evaluating the cross-slip energy in fcc Cu is explained in detail.
A decision theory based scheduling procedure for single-machine weighted earliness and tardiness problems

Abstract We consider the dynamic single-machine scheduling problem where the objective is to minimize the sum of weighted earliness and weighted tardiness costs. A single pass heuristic, based on decision theory, is developed for constructing schedules. The heuristic permits schedules with idle time between jobs and behaves like a dispatching procedure. The performance of the new heuristic is examined using 116 published problems for which the optimum solution is known. Its performance is also investigated using 540 randomly generated problems covering a variety of conditions by comparing it to two well known dispatching procedures, adapted for dynamic early/tardy problems. The results indicate that the heuristic performs very well.
Editorial: How to Write More Effective, User-Friendly Reviews for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology

A previous editorial provided guidelines for reviewers for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology (JPP), including recommendations concerning content and organization of the review (Drotar, 2009a). Feedback from our associate editors who manage JPP manuscripts and from authors has underscored the need to provide additional guidance to reviewers to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of their reviews for our authors and editors. The primary impetus for this editorial is that some authors and managing editors of manuscripts submitted to JPP have been concerned about the length and focus of reviews and the burden on authors that results. Lengthy, unfocused reviews can also place a significant burden on reviewers. We recognize that the length of reviews can reflect the care, conscientiousness, and high standards of our reviewers. It should be noted that we have received many positive comments about the quality of the reviews for JPP and very much appreciate our reviewers’ efforts. We do not want our reviewers to compromise their standards because this would neither facilitate science nor be a true service to authors. On the other hand, we believe that there is a need for reviews to be more focused, efficient, and less burdensome on authors. We believe this can be done without sacrificing quality and high standards for reviews. To address this need, this editorial provides suggestions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of reviews and reduce the collective burden on authors, managing editors, and reviewers.
Serotonin receptor imaging: clinically useful?

Serotonin is a modulatory neurotransmitter in the human brain that regulates mood, anger, reward, aggression, and appetite and plays a central role in brain development. These effects are mediated through the interaction of serotonin with at least 15 different receptor molecules. Through the development and careful characterization of novel radiotracers, we have been able to visualize and quantify in vivo many of the key molecular sites—including serotonin receptors, reuptake transporters, and enzymes—responsible for serotonin metabolism. The clinical goals of serotonin imaging are to aid in determining the pathophysiology of brain disorders, to determine novel therapeutic strategies, to predict treatment, to estimate risk, and to determine individualized dosing strategies. Despite the contradictory results of early studies, the field as a whole has made significant progress on nearly all of these fronts, and advances in methodology suggest paths toward coherence. Through concerted, directed, and cooperative efforts, the routine use of serotonin imaging in the clinic will most likely be achieved in the next decade.
Critical role of biklf in erythroid cell differentiation in zebrafish

Hematopoietic cells arise from ventral mesoderm in different vertebrates, but the mechanisms through which various factors contribute to the hematopoietic processes, including erythrogenesis, remain incompletely understood. The Kruppel-like transcription factor Biklf is preferentially expressed in blood islands throughout zebrafish embryogenesis, marking the region of future erythropoiesis [1]. In this paper, we show that expression of biklf is significantly suppressed in the blood-less mutants vampire and m683 in which primitive hematopoiesis is impaired. Knockdown of biklf using morpholino-based antisense oligonucleotides (biklf-MO) led to a potent reduction in the number of circulating blood cells and deficiency in hemoglobin production. Consistently, we found that the expression of beta(e3)globin is strongly suppressed in biklf-MO-injected embryos, while gata1 expression is partly inhibited at the 10-somite stage. In addition, analysis of reporter constructs driven by the GATA1 and beta-globin promoters showed that Biklf can positively regulate both genes. These results indicate that Biklf is required for erythroid cell differentiation in zebrafish.
Outcomes of endovascular interventions for salvage of renal transplant allografts

Introduction Renal transplantation has been performed with increasing frequency, and interventions to preserve graft function and integrity have been steadily increasing. This study examines the outcomes of endovascular therapy based on indication for renal transplant allograft salvage. Methods A prospective transplant registry was queried for all patients undergoing endovascular interventions for transplant allograft salvage from 2002 to 2011. Demographics, perioperative data, and transplant function outcomes were extracted and analyzed. Results Among 34 renal transplant recipients (62% men) who underwent endovascular interventions for graft salvage, the mean age was 48.2 years (range, 18-74 years). The indications for intervention included worsening renal function in 15, renovascular hypertension in 11, and structural abnormalities identified on noninvasive imaging in eight. Transluminal angioplasty with and without stenting was done in 26 patients: 14 patients (41.2%) with significant transplant stenosis, 11 (32.4%) with peripheral arterial disease in proximal iliac vessels, and one patient with iliac dissection. Five arteriovenous fistulas and two pseudoaneurysms required embolization. One patient required lysis for deep venous thrombosis causing obstruction of allograft outflow. There were no periprocedural deaths, and 30-day morbidity was 17.6%. Renal function improved or stabilized in 67% of patients with worsening renal function. Better blood pressure control was achieved in patients with renovascular hypertension. Mean follow-up was 4.2 years. There were no significant differences in transplant allograft survival during the duration of follow-up based on primary indication for endovascular intervention, but transplant graft survival at follow-up was significantly better in patients with renovascular hypertension at the initial endovascular intervention. Conclusions Endovascular salvage of renal allograft transplants can be safely done for various indications. The maximum benefit in renal function as assessed by serum creatinine and control of blood pressure is seen in patients with worsening renal function and in the presence of renovascular hypertension, respectively. Long-term transplant graft function was significantly better in patients with renovascular hypertension at the initial endovascular intervention.
Shadow Profiling: Hiding Instrumentation Costs with Parallelism

In profiling, a tradeoff exists between information and overhead. For example, hardware-sampling profilers incur negligible overhead, but the information they collect is consequently very coarse. Other profilers use instrumentation tools to gather temporal traces such as path profiles and hot memory streams, but they have high overhead. Runtime and feedback-directed compilation systems need detailed information to aggressively optimize, but the cost of gathering profiles can outweigh the benefits. Shadow profiling is a novel method for sampling long traces of instrumented code in parallel with normal execution, taking advantage of the trend of increasing numbers of cores. Each instrumented sample can be many millions of instructions in length. The primary goal is to incur negligible overhead, yet attain profile information that is nearly as accurate as a perfect profile. The profiler requires no modifications to the operating system or hardware, and is tunable to allow for greater coverage or lower overhead. We evaluate the performance and accuracy of this new profiling technique for two common types of instrumentation-based profiles: interprocedural path profiling and value profiling. Overall, profiles collected using the shadow profiling framework are 94% accurate versus perfect value profiles, while incurring less than 1% overhead. Consequently, this technique increases the viability of dynamic and continuous optimization systems by hiding the high overhead of instrumentation and enabling the online collection of many types of profiles that were previously too costly.
Transient time-domain electromagnetics

For externally imposed electric and magnetic sources, the electromagnetic (EM) field equations may be derived from the symmetrical Maxwell's equations. Two variational principles for the initial boundary-value problem of electromagnetics are derived. The first one of the Gurtin type is deduced from the integro-differential equations equivalent to the EM field equations, while the second one is a simplified version of the first variational principle.The variational field equations are placed in a form suitable for a finite-element formulation in space. An explicit central-differences scheme is then applied to the finite-element variational equation to yield a recursive relation for time integration.The results from a Newmont electromagnetic pulse (EMP) survey done in the Mutooroo prospect in Australia are verified numerically. The finite-element model which simulates the Mutooroo survey assumes a thin vertical dike embedded in conductive host rock that is overlain by a thick layer of conductive overburden. The effect of overburden on the time-domain EM response appears first at the transmitter, continues to build up, eventually splits into two parts, and migrates away from the transmitter. As such, the effect of overburden is being migrated away, the effect of the deep-seated dike and the host rock on the response emerges and decays. The calculated EMP anomalies due to the dike agree with the corresponding field survey results in their shapes and magnitudes. The zero crossover point of the antisymmetrical vertical magnetic component and the anomaly peak of the symmetrical horizontal magnetic component are located immediately above the dike on the surface, the magnitudes of which are quantitatively comparable. The electric field decays more slowly than the magnetic field and could provide additional information in the exploration of mineral deposits.The agreement between the finite-element solution and the field results thus provides a means of interpreting time-domain EM survey data.
Interactive Ways to Teach Cost-Effective Research Using Google Scholar and LexisNexis

With a push in the legal market to minimize research costs, law schools should teach students about free and low-cost alternatives to LexisNexis and Westlaw. My article focuses on Google Scholar and Lexis. It starts on page 40 of the attached newsletter. This article discusses an interactive way to teach law students about the content and features of Google Scholar and about its benefits and limitations. This article also describes an innovative way to teach students about the cost of researching on Lexis.com outside of the law school bubble and addresses how to integrate Google Scholar and Lexis.com while researching. I have included my in-class exercise at the end of the article. Of course, the teaching methods discussed in this article could be used to teach cost-effective research on Westlaw Classic, WestlawNext, and Lexis Advance.
President Obama and Gay Rights: The 2008 and 2012 Presidential Elections

We examine the role and potential impact of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) voters in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. We look at trend data from 1990 to 2010 to assess the fluctuations in support for the Democratic Party by GLB voters, specifically a substantial decrease in support during the 2010 midterm elections. We use data from the 2008 election to assess the estimated contribution the GLB vote made toward President Obama's margin of victory in key battleground states. Looking at the Obama administration's record on gay rights, specifically the failure to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), we argue that the Democratic Party could be held accountable in the 2012 election for their failure to provide protection from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Potentially the 2012 election will be closer than the 2008 race, highlighting the importance of the GLB vote to President Obama's reelection in key states. We argue that if President Obama incorporates strong support for ENDA into his reelection platform, the Democratic Party has the chance to recapture the GLB votes it lost in 2010 and maintain enough of the 2008 electoral votes that led to President Obama's victory.
Objectives, design and enrollment results from the Infant Susceptibility to Pulmonary Infections and Asthma Following RSV Exposure Study (INSPIRE)

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection (LRI) during infancy has been consistently associated with an increased risk of childhood asthma. In addition, evidence supports that this relationship is causal. However, the mechanisms through which RSV contributes to asthma development are not understood. The INSPIRE (Infant Susceptibility to Pulmonary Infections and Asthma Following RSV Exposure) study objectives are to: 1) characterize the host phenotypic response to RSV infection in infancy and the risk of recurrent wheeze and asthma, 2) identify the immune response and lung injury patterns of RSV infection that are associated with the development of early childhood wheezing illness and asthma, and 3) determine the contribution of specific RSV strains to early childhood wheezing and asthma development. This article describes the INSPIRE study, including study aims, design, recruitment results, and enrolled population characteristics. The cohort is a population based longitudinal birth cohort of term healthy infants enrolled during the first months of life over a two year period. Respiratory infection surveillance was conducted from November to March of the first year of life, through surveys administered every two weeks. In-person illness visits were conducted if infants met pre-specified criteria for a respiratory illness visit. Infants will be followed annually to ages 3-4 years for assessment of the primary endpoint: wheezing illness. Nasal, urine, stool and blood samples were collected at various time points throughout the study for measurements of host and viral factors that predict wheezing illness. Nested case-control studies will additionally be used to address other primary and secondary hypotheses. In the INSPIRE study, 1952 infants (48% female) were enrolled during the two enrollment years and follow-up will continue through 2016. The mean age of enrollment was 60 days. During winter viral season, more than 14,000 surveillance surveys were carried out resulting in 2,103 respiratory illness visits on 1189 infants. First year follow-up has been completed on over 95% percent of participants from the first year of enrollment. With ongoing follow-up for wheezing and childhood asthma outcomes, the INSPIRE study will advance our understanding of the complex causal relationship between RSV infection and early childhood wheezing and asthma.
Description and interpretation of fluvial deposits: a critical perspective

A critique is given of recent methods proposed for the standardized description, classification and interpretation of fluvial deposits in terms of: (1) hierarchies of strata and their bounding surfaces; (2) lithofacies; (3) lithofacies associations (architectural elements); (4) geometry of sedimentary bodies. Much of the descriptive information can be conveyed using clear, explicit diagrams without recourse to complicated terminology. Any classification that is used should be based on easily measurable parameters which are used to define mutually exclusive classes. Terms used to refer to these classes should be explicit. Little agreement exists on the best terms to describe strata, mainly because existing terminology was not designed to account for all the different superimposed stratal scales. A simple terminology is suggested here whereby the relative scales of hierarchies of strata and cross-strata are specified. Methods of describing hierarchies of strata by numerically ordering stratal bounding surfaces (rather than the strata themselves) are difficult to use in practice. The use of standardized lithofacies codes tends to discourage close observation and recognition of varieties and superpositions of lithofacies, has led to proliferation of acronyms, and to the suggestion that a particular lithofacies has a unique interpretation. In fact, many interpretations associated with these lithofacies codes are misleading or wrong. In a commonly used classification system of lithofacies associations (architectural elements) the different classes are not mutually exclusive, they are referred to using a mixture of descriptive and interpretive terms, and each element is represented graphically by only a single two-dimensional section. Terms used to describe the three-dimensional geometry of a sediment body should only be used to refer to two-dimensional sections if three-dimensional form can be reconstructed unambiguously. Fluvial ‘facies models’ are constructed to relate lithofacies associations and geometry to parameters such as channel and floodplain geometry, modes of channel migration and deposition rates. Most are of limited use or misleading because insufficient three-dimensional information is shown. In addition, they commonly incorrectly associate channel planform (e.g. meandering, braided) with a characteristic lithofacies association and geometry, whereas other factors may play a dominant role.
Sisyphus and the Triumphs of Medicine

Because they wage a losing battle against death, all physicians resemble Sisyphus, eternally condemned to perform an impossible task. Yet like him, physicians must realize that the small successes they can achieve while contending against destiny are what count.
Computer-Based Screening for the New Modified Alternate Assessment.

The final regulations of the No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a, 2007b) indicate that a small group of students with disabilities can be counted as proficient through an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards. This new policy gives individualized education program teams the responsibility of identifying students eligible for this assessment. The Computer-Based Alternate Assessment Screening (C-BAAS) tests in reading and mathematics are designed to assist with this determination. A concurrent validity study with students (n = 463) from Indiana indicates that the C-BAAS tests share large correlations with state general achievement tests and might be appropriate screening tools for predicting below proficient achievement. Predictive validity studies with students in Idaho (n = 161) and Arizona (n = 70), using a set of conditional probability indices, show that C-BAAS tests meet or exceed the performance of multiple published screening systems for acad...
THE EFFECT OF QUESTION WORDING ON PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Analyses of question wording experiments on the General Social Survey spending items showed consistent wording effects for several issues across three years. An examination of types of wording change indicate that even minor changes can affect responses. However, an examination of interactions with respondent individual differences showed no consistent pattern. Since 1973 the General Social Survey has included questions that ask the public to evaluate a variety of government spending policies. These "spending items" have played an important role in tracking public support for government fiscal involvement in 15 key policy areas such as defense, aid to minorities, education, and foreign aid. However, since most of the issues in the spending item questions can be de- scribed using a variety of labels, each potentially evoking a different symbol (Fee, 1981), and since the choice of a label for an issue can dramatically affect responses (Smith, 1987), it seemed natural to ex- plore whether support for these issues depended upon the choice of words used to describe them.
Exact Shape of the Lowest Landau Level in a Double-Layer System and a Superlattice with Uncorrelated Disorder.

We extend Wegner's exact solution for the 2D density of states at the lowest Landau level with a short-range disorder to the cases of a double-layer system and a superlattice. For the double-layer system, an analytical expression for the density of states, illustrating the interplay between the tunnel splitting of Landau levels and the disorder-induced broadening, is obtained. For the superlattice, we derive an integral equation, the eigenvalue of which determines the exact density of states. By solving this equation numerically, we trace the disappearance of the miniband with increasing disorder.
Fictions of Sovereignly: Of Prosthetic Petro‐Capitalism, Neoliberal States, and Phantom‐Like Citizens in Ecuador

This article explores how rights and accountability are produced and erased under neoliberal regimes. It examines a class-action law suit against Texaco Inc. filed in the U.S. on behalf of 30,000 campesinos and indigenas from the Ecuadorian Amazon. The $1.5 billion lawsuit alleged that over 25 years of environmental contamination from Texaco operations exposed local inhabitants to lethal toxins. By probing the connections between what the author terms the prosthetics of corporate capitalism and the phantomness of citizenship, the articles suggests that formal membership in a nation-state is not a sufficient, or necessary condition for substantive citizenship in Ecuador. By suing Texaco in New York, phantom citizens nurtured the possibility of inhabiting an alternative anatomy as political subjects and held out the possibility of an expanded jurisdiction for righting wrongs
The E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Adaptor Ndfip1 Regulates Th17 Differentiation by Limiting the Production of Proinflammatory Cytokines

Ndfip1 is an adaptor for the E3 ubiquitin ligase Itch. Both Ndfip1- and Itch-deficient T cells are biased toward Th2 cytokine production. In this study, we demonstrate that lungs from Ndfip1(-/-) mice showed increased numbers of neutrophils and Th17 cells. This was not because Ndfip1(-/-) T cells are biased toward Th17 differentiation. In fact, fewer Ndfip1(-/-) T cells differentiated into Th17 cells in vitro due to high IL-4 production. Rather, Th17 differentiation was increased in Ndfip1(-/-) mice due to increased numbers of IL-6-producing eosinophils. IL-6 levels in mice that lacked both Ndfip1 and IL-4 were similar to wild-type controls, and these mice had fewer Th17 cells in their lungs. These results indicate that Th2 inflammation, such as that observed in Ndfip1(-/-) mice, can increase Th17 differentiation by recruiting IL-6-producing eosinophils into secondary lymphoid organs and tissues. This may explain why Th17 cells develop within an ongoing Th2 inflammatory response.
The Matter of Religion and Science: Response to Huston Smith

Huston Smith's Why Religion Matters is the culminating reflections of one of the most respected religion scholars of our day. In this work, Smith sees modern society to be in the midst of a spiritual crisis. According to Smith, this crisis has been brought about by the advance of science and the inroads into what Smith calls the traditional worldview. While Smith's work is of some importance, I believe that several of its fundamental claims are mistaken. Smith often does not accurately portray the content of science and frequently conflates the actual practice of science with philosophical scientism. Smith wrongly blames science alone for the decline of religion among Western elites. His claim that all religions can be equivocally described in terms of the traditional worldview is also problematic. Despite this, Smith does have a clear conception of what the issues are in the relation between science and religion. It is my hope that these issues will continue to be taken seriously.
Enhancing Realism in Modeling Merge Junctions in Analytical Models for System-Optimal Dynamic Traffic Assignment

The existing analytical system-optimal dynamic traffic assignment (SO-DTA) model formulated with the linear programming (LP) approach usually assumes system control over vehicles in the entire network. This property would give rise to unreasonable priorities at merge junctions that are sometimes physically impossible to realize for the given roadway configuration. In this paper, we demonstrate that models with and without considering the merge-priority ratio would exhibit very different traffic patterns and route-choice behavior. To realistically model traffic flow on a transportation network, one should properly distinguish the level of control by drivers, roadway geometry, and system providers. This paper also attempts to develop an LP module that explicitly considers the merge-priority ratio of a merge junction and can potentially be incorporated into the existing LP formulation of the SO-DTA problem based on the cell-transmission model. By more realistically modelling the behavior of vehicles at merge junctions, the obtained solution can be used as a benchmark to compare control strategies developed without explicitly considering the merge-priority ratio at merge junctions or strategies developed with heuristic approaches.
Sexual Dimorphisms of Adrenal Steroids, Sex Hormones, and Immunological Biomarkers and Possible Risk Factors for Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis

Innate immunity and immunological biomarkers are believed to be interrelated with sex hormones and other neuroendocrine factors. Sexual dimorphism mechanisms may be operating in certain rheumatic and inflammatory diseases which occur more frequently in women than men, as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Less data have been available on altered interrelations of the combined neuroendocrine and immune (NEI) systems as risk factors for development of certain diseases. In this study, serological interrelations of NEI biomarkers are analyzed before symptomatic onset of RA (pre-RA) versus control (CN) subjects, stratified by sex. Sexual dimorphism was found in serum levels of acute serum amyloid A (ASAA), soluble interleukin-2 receptor alpha (sIL-2Rα), and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (sTNF-R1). Multiple steroidal and hormonal (neuroendocrine) factors also showed highly (p < 0.001) significant sexual dimorphism in their assayed values, but less for cortisol (p = 0.012), and not for 17-hydroxyprogesterone (p = 0.176). After stratification by sex and risk of developing RA, differential NEI correlational patterns were observed in the interplay of the NEI systems between the pre-RA and CN groups, which deserve further investigation.
Synthesis and reactions of 1-Azirines

Publisher Summary Azirine is the term used to describe a three-membered heterocycle containing one nitrogen atom and one double bond. There are two isomeric azirines (1 and 2), which have been designated by Chemical Abstracts and “The Ring Index,” as 1H- and 2H-azirine, respectively. The 2-azirine ring system is of theoretical interest since it is a cyclic conjugated structure containing 477 electrons and is predicted by Huckel's rule not to be stabilized by cyclic delocalization. Electronically it is analogous to cyclobutadiene. The chapter discusses about synthesis of 1-azirines and neber reaction and related reactions, the preparation and decomposition of vinyl azides, photolysis and pyrolysis of isoxazoles, and some miscellaneous 1 -azirine synthesis. Reactions of 1-azirines in case of electrophilic reagents, nucleophilic reagents, and cycloadditions are also studied. It is clear from this review that our knowledge of the azirine ring system is still in its infancy. Although a considerable number of 1-azirines have been prepared in a very short time, discovery of new and refinement of old synthetic techniques are clearly needed. Finally, the 1-azirine ring system is potentially a very valuable starting point for the preparation of new and unusual heterocyclic compounds. Already a number of very interesting aziridines have been prepared and 1 -azirines were key intermediates for the preparation of the 1 -azabicyclo[2.1 .0]pentane and 1-azabicyclo[l.l .0]butane ring systems.