cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Oral Health Intervention for Low-Income African American Men in Atlanta, Georgia.

Objectives. To describe the Minority Men’s Oral Health Dental Access Program (MOHDAP) intervention and report participants’ outcomes and satisfaction.Methods. MOHDAP was designed to increase the oral health knowledge of low-income, African American men in Atlanta, GA, in 2013. A community-based participatory approach and needs assessment guided the intervention development, which consisted of 3 educational modules delivered over a 2-day period. All participants (n = 45; mean age = 50 years) were African American men. We assessed changes in oral health knowledge and attitudes at baseline and postintervention via survey.Results. After the intervention, the percentage of correct responses to questions about gingivitis increased by 24.2% (P = .01), about use of a hard (instead of a soft) toothbrush increased by 42.2% (P < .01), and knowledge of ways to prevent gum diseases increased by 16.0% (P = .03). The percentage agreeing with erroneous statements decreased 11.3% (P = .02) regarding oral health–related fa...
Anesthetic Efficacy of Articaine and Lidocaine in a Primary Intraseptal Injection: A Prospective, Randomized Double-Blind Study

Additional studies are needed to evaluate intraseptal anesthesia in the mandibular first molar. The purpose of this study was to compare the anesthetic efficacy of a primary intraseptal injection of articaine and lidocaine, administered with a computer-controlled local anesthetic delivery (CCLAD) system, in asymptomatic mandibular first molars. Using a crossover design, 100 subjects randomly received intraseptal injections of 1.4 mL of 4% articaine and 2% lidocaine, both with 1:100,000 epinephrine, at 2 separate appointments. Injections were given in the interdental papillae, mesial (0.7 mL) and distal (0.7 mL) to the first molar. An electric pulp tester was used to test for pulpal anesthesia. Pain of injection, postoperative pain, and pulse rate were also evaluated. Data were statistically analyzed. Anesthetic success rate for the mandibular first molar was 32% for articaine and 30% for lidocaine, with no statistically significant difference (p = .8689) between the two. No significant differences were found between formulations for pain of injection. The intraseptal injection did not cause a clinically meaningful increase in pulse rate. Postoperative pain decreased each day with no significant differences between formulations. In conclusion, a primary intraseptal injection does not achieve a high success rate of pulpal anesthesia in the mandibular first molar.
Novel cell-penetrating-amyloid peptide conjugates preferentially kill cancer cells

The goal of this study was to develop a peptide which could use the toxic effects of amyloid, a substance which is the hallmark of over 25 known human diseases, to selectively kill cancer cells. Here we demonstrate that two separate amyloid-forming hexapeptides, one from the microtubule associated protein Tau involved in formation of paired helical filaments of Alzheimer's disease, and the other an amyloid forming sequence from apolipoprotein A1, when conjugated to a cell penetrating peptide (CPP) sequence, form toxic oligomers which are stable for up to 14 h and able to enter cells by a combination of endocytosis and transduction. The amyloid peptide conjugates showed selective cytotoxicity to breast cancer, neuroblastoma and cervical cancer cells in culture compared to normal cells. Fluorescence imaging experiments showed the CPP–amyloid peptide oligomers formed intracellular fibrous amyloid, visible in the endosomes/lysosomes, cytosol and nucleus with thioflavin S (ThS) staining. Further experiments with rhodamine-conjugated Dextran, propidium iodide (PI), and acridine orange (AO) suggested the mechanism of cell death was the permeability of the lysosomal membrane brought about by the formation of amyloid pores. Cytotoxicity could be abrogated by inhibitors of lysosomal hydrolases, consistent with a model where lysosomal hydrolases leak into the cytosol and induce cytotoxicity in subsequent downstream steps. Taken together, our data suggest that CPP–amyloid peptide conjugates show potential as a new class of anti-cancer peptides (ACPs).
Neurorobotics-A Thriving Community and a Promising Pathway Toward Intelligent Cognitive Robots.

Neurorobots are robots whose control has been modeled after some aspect of the brain (Krichmar and Wagatsuma, 2011). Since the brain is so closely coupled to the body and situated in the environment, Neurorobots can be a powerful tool for studying neural function in a holistic fashion. It may also be a means to develop autonomous systems that have some level of biological intelligence. The present article provides my perspective on this field, points out some of the landmark events, and discusses its future potential.
Double-Stranded RNA and Hypovirulence of Endothia Parasitica

The concept of biological control as a means of reducing the impact of disease or pest losses is an appealing one. The realization that the chemicals traditionally used to control pests can accumulate and have an adverse impact on the environment has created an interest in biological control as an alternative method of reducing the impact of pests. Biological control, however, has not generally proven to be successful, particularly in controlling microbial pests of plants. The difficulty in controlling microbial pests is that such control is dependent upon the use of other microorganisms that act as either antagonists or competitors of the pest species. For this approach to be successful, the competitor must be better adapted to the environment than the pest. This is difficult to achieve outside the laboratory where environmental conditions are so variable. The failure rate of biological control strategies has discouraged their widespread use (4).
Simple Models for Age Dependent Predation

The study of predator-prey systems has had a long history in theoretical ecology, dating from the time of Lotka and Volterra. More recently the effects of age structure on the dynamics of interacting predator-prey systems has been considered. In this note I will summarize results described in more detail elsewhere on the stability and dynamics of a particular class of interactions between age structured prey and predators, namely age dependent predation. Numerous examples ranging from molluscs to insects to fish illustrate this phenomenon.
Impact of timing of delivery on maternal and neonatal outcomes for women after three previous caesarean deliveries; a secondary analysis of the caesarean section registry.

Background As more women are presenting with three previous caesarean deliveries (CD), providers may suggest early term delivery as a means to avoid the risk of spontaneous labour and associated maternal morbidity. Objective To determine whether early term delivery is associated with lower maternal and neonatal morbidity for women with three previous CD. Study design Secondary analysis of a prospective registry of CD at 19 US academic centres from 1999 to 2002. Population Women with three previous CD undergoing scheduled or emergent delivery with live, singleton gestations 37-41+ weeks of gestation were included. Women with non-low transverse incisions, antepartum stillbirth, previous myomectomy, fetal anomalies, more or fewer than three previous CD or attempting trial of labour after caesarean section were excluded. Methods Gestational age was categorised by week. We fitted logistic regression models to adjust for clinically relevant or statistically significant confounders. Main outcome measures The primary and secondary outcomes were composites, respectively, of maternal and neonatal morbidity. Results In all, 821 women met the inclusion criteria; maternal morbidity composite occurred in 9.86% and neonatal morbidity occurred in 10.5%. After adjusting for confounding variables, maternal and neonatal morbidity occurred least frequently at 39 weeks. Conclusions In women with three previous CDs, adverse maternal outcomes do not increase with increasing gestational age beyond 37 weeks but early term elective repeat CDs are associated with higher neonatal morbidity. Elective delivery of women with three previous CD at 39 weeks of gestation is safe in the absence of maternal or fetal indications for early term delivery. Tweetable abstract Delivery of women with three previous caesarean deliveries at 39 weeks, in the absence of maternal or fetal indications for early term delivery, is associated with decreased maternal morbidity.
Scale-dependent foraging and patch choice in fractal environments

Many spatially complex environments are fractal, and consumers in these environments face scale-dependent trade-offs between encountering high densities of small resource patches versus low densities of large resource patches. I address the effects of these trade-offs on foraging by incorporating scale-dependent encounter of resources in fractal landscapes into classical optimal foraging theory. This model is then used to predict optimal scales of perception (foraging scale) and patch choice in response to spatial features of landscapes. The model predicts that, for a given density of resources, landscapes with greater extent and fractal dimension and that contain patchy (low fractal dimension) resources favour large foraging scales and specialization on a small proportion of resource patches. Fragmented (low fractal dimension) landscapes of small extent with dispersed (high fractal dimension) resources favour smaller foraging scales and generalists that use a large proportion of available resource patches. These predictions synthesize the results of other spatially explicit consumer–resource models into a simple framework and agree reasonably well with results of several empirical studies. This study thus places optimal foraging theory in a spatial context and suggests evolutionary mechanisms of consumers' responses to important spatial phenomena (e.g. habitat fragmentation, resource aggregation).
Asparagine-linked glycosylation is not directly coupled to protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The yeast oligosaccharyltransferase (OST) is unable to glycosylate acceptor sites in human proteins that are cotranslationally glycosylated by the STT3A complex. N-linked glycosylation and protein ...
Assessing XMT‐Measurement Variability of Air‐Water Interfacial Areas in Natural Porous Media

This study investigates the accuracy and reproducibility of air-water interfacial areas measured with high-resolution synchrotron x-ray microtomography (XMT). Columns packed with one of two relatively coarse-grained monodisperse granular media, glass beads or a well-sorted quartz sand, were imaged over several years, encompassing changes in acquisition equipment, improved image quality, and enhancements to image acquisition and processing software. For the glass beads, the specific solid surface area (SSSA-XMT) of 31.6 ±1 cm-1 determined from direct analysis of the segmented solid-phase image data is statistically identical to the independently calculated geometric specific solid surface area (GSSA, 32 ±1 cm-1) and to the measured SSSA (28 ±3 cm-1) obtained with the N2BET method (NBET). The maximum specific air-water interfacial area (Amax) is 27.4 (±2) cm-1, which compares very well to the SSSA-XMT, GSSA, and SSSA-NBET values. For the sand, the SSSA-XMT (111 ±2 cm-1) and GSSA (113 ±1 cm-1) are similar. The mean Amax is 96 ±5 cm-1, which compares well to both the SSSA and the GSSA values. The XMT-SSSA values deviated from the GSSA values by 7-16% for the first four experiments, but were essentially identical for the later experiments. This indicates that enhancements in image acquisition and processing improved data accuracy. The Amax values ranged from 74 cm-1 to 101 cm-1, with a coefficient of variation (COV) of 9%. The maximum capillary interfacial area ranged from 12 cm-1 to 19 cm-1, for a COV of 10%. The COVs for both decreased to 5-6% for the latter five experiments. These results demonstrate that XMT imaging provides accurate and reproducible measurements of total and capillary interfacial areas.
Zero-Power Chemical Sensor Based on a Polymer/Metal Micromechanical Switch

This paper reports on the first proof-of-concept experimental demonstration of a zero-power chemical sensor. Differently than any other chemical sensors, the proposed device relies on a chemically actuated micromechanical switch to digitize the chemical concentration in the environment without consuming any electrical power. The switch is implemented with a polymer-metal bimaterial cantilever that deforms when exposed to targeted chemical vapor. It is only triggered when the concentration of targeted chemicals is above a predetermined threshold, otherwise the device remains dormant with zero power consumption. Such a unique feature is expected to enable large area deployment of low-cost, ultra-miniaturized sensors for chemical detection. The first prototype shown here is capable of detecting ethanol vapor with concentration of 2.46% (mixed with dry air).
Non-Sparse PCA in High Dimensions via Cone Projected Power Iteration

In this paper, we propose a cone projected power iteration algorithm to recover the first principal eigenvector from a noisy positive semidefinite matrix. When the true principal eigenvector is assumed to belong to a convex cone, the proposed algorithm is fast and has a tractable error. Specifically, the method achieves polynomial time complexity for certain convex cones equipped with fast projection such as the monotone cone. It attains a small error when the noisy matrix has a small cone-restricted operator norm. We supplement the above results with a minimax lower bound of the error under the spiked covariance model. Our numerical experiments on simulated and real data, show that our method achieves shorter run time and smaller error in comparison to the ordinary power iteration and some sparse principal component analysis algorithms if the principal eigenvector is in a convex cone.
GANA: graph convolutional network based automated netlist annotation for analog circuits

Automated subcircuit identification and annotation enables the creation of hierarchical representations of analog netlists, and can facilitate a variety of design automation tasks such as circuit layout and optimization. Subcircuit identification must navigate the numerous alternative structures that can implement any analog function, but traditional graph-based methods cannot easily identify the large number of such structural variants. The novel approach in this paper is based on the use of a trained graph convolutional neural network (GCN) that identifies netlist elements for circuit blocks at upper levels of the design hierarchy. Structures at lower levels of hierarchy are identified using graph-based algorithms. The proposed recognition scheme organically detects layout constraints, such as symmetry and matching, whose identification is essential for high-quality hierarchical layout. The subcircuit identification method demonstrates a high degree of accuracy over a wide range of analog designs, successfully identifies larger circuits that contain sub-blocks such as OTAs, LNAs, mixers, oscillators, and band-pass filters, and provides hierarchical decompositions of such circuits.
Multimodal Imaging in Ocular Siderosis

Purpose:This report aims to characterize ocular changes in a case of ocular siderosis with iron toxicity using multimodal imaging and electroretinography.Methods:A 34-year-old woman presented with ...
Three-Dimensional Mapping of Resistivity and Microstructure of Composite Electrodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Nanoparticle silicon-graphite composite electrodes are a viable way to advance the cycle life and energy density of lithium-ion batteries. However, characterization of composite electrode architectures is complicated by the heterogeneous mixture of electrode components and nanoscale diameter of particles, which falls beneath the lateral and depth resolution of most laboratory-based instruments. In this work, we report an original laboratory-based scanning probe microscopy approach to investigate composite electrode microstructures with nanometer-scale resolution via contrast in the electronic properties of electrode components. Applying this technique to silicon-based composite anodes demonstrates that graphite, SiOx nanoparticles, carbon black, and LiPAA binder are all readily distinguished by their intrinsic electronic properties, with measured electronic resistivity closely matching their known material properties. Resolution is demonstrated by identification of individual nanoparticles as small as ∼20 nm. This technique presents future utility in multiscale characterization to better understand particle dispersion, localized lithiation, and degradation processes in composite electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.
Total current fluctuations in the asymmetric simple exclusion process

A limit theorem for the total current in the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) with step initial condition is proven. This extends the result of Johansson on TASEP to ASEP.
Writing Assignments to Support the Learning Goals of a CURE

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are purported to support a range of learning objectives and outcomes for students. Pedagogical approaches are needed to promote these learning objectives as students engage in classroom research activities. The goal of this article is to describe a series of five writing assignments designed to contribute to the learning objectives of a CURE by introducing students to a wider variety of scientific practices, specifically analyzing data, constructing explanations, and communicating findings. Two writing assignments are data-based explanations requiring students to describe and reason about the results of laboratory experiments. Three writing assignments require students to respond within particular rhetorical contexts—a blog post, a scientific news article, and a grant preproposal. The assignments were implemented in a single semester during an introductory organic chemistry CURE focused on polymer chemistry. In this article, we describe the assignments, how they were implemented, and provide an overview of students’ responses. Additionally, we present results from specific questions on a student assessment of learning gains survey that indicate that students found the writing assignments to promote the specific learning goals of the CURE. While the described assignments were implemented in a CURE, we envision the possibility for future adaptation and application in other instructional laboratory settings to support students’ engagement with the aforementioned scientific practices.
A cross-sectional survey of anxiety levels of oral and maxillofacial surgery residents during the early COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased anxiety among the general population. The purpose of this project was to investigate attitudes and anxiety among oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) residents during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods This was a cross-sectional study. OMS residents were sent electronic invitations to answer a survey. The survey was sent in April and May 2020. Residents enrolled in OMS residency programs accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation were included. Predictor variable was attitudes of OMS residents toward the pandemic. The outcome variable was anxiety levels of OMS residents due to the pandemic according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-A. Other variables were demographic characteristics, general knowledge regarding the pandemic, and attitudes of OMS residents toward the pandemic. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher's exact test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression (P Results We received 275 responses. The majority of respondents were males (74.5%) aged 26 to 30 (52.7%). Residents reported different levels of anxiety (i.e., mild 58.2%, severe 41.8%). Based on multivariate analysis, moderate or severe anxiety was associated with being female (P = .048) and a senior resident (P = .049). Factors such as potential deployment to other services, availability of personal protective equipment, and unclear disease status of patients contributed to anxiety. Conclusion Our study found that during the early COVID-19 pandemic, all residents experienced some anxiety. Senior OMS residents and female OMS residents experience higher anxiety levels than other residents.
The Childe of Bristowe, The Prioress’s Tale, and the Possibility of Neighbor Love

This article explores deeply unsettled aspects of medieval discourses on usury and neighbor love during the later Middle Ages. A comparative analysis of the anonymous fifteenth-century poem The Chi...
Linking supply chain management and lean capability to firm performance

The rise of supply chain management and lean in industrial application has led to increased attention in research. While various theoretical frameworks have been proposed for supply chain management and lean separately, little has been done on the interaction of these two areas and their respective impact on firm performance. This paper extends the literature by examining supply chain management practice, lean capability, and firm performance, and also the particular role of supply chain management on lean capability. Through a structural equation model, we are able to show that lean capability has a substantial effect on firm performance and that a higher level of supply chain management practice leads to higher lean capability. This implies that firms should emphasise on the development of their lean capability and seek more engagement in supply chain management.
Implicit Laplacian of Enhanced Edge (ILEE): An unguided quantitative cytoskeletal imaging algorithm

The eukaryotic cytoskeleton plays essential roles in cell signaling, trafficking, and motion. Recent work towards defining the temporal and spatial dynamics of cytoskeletal organization, including as a function of cell status, has utilized quantitative analysis of cytoskeletal fluorescence images as a standard approach to define cytoskeletal function. However, due to the uneven spatial distribution of the cytoskeleton, including varied shape and unstable binding efficiency to staining markers, these approaches may not segment cytoskeletal fractions accurately. Additionally, quantitative approaches currently suffer from human bias as well as information loss caused by z-axis projection of raw images. To overcome these obstacles, we developed Implicit Laplacian of Enhanced Edge (ILEE), a cytoskeletal component segmentation algorithm, which uses an 2D/3D-compatible, unguided local thresholding approach, therefore providing less biased and stable results. Empowered by ILEE, we constructed a Python based library for automated quantitative analysis of cytoskeleton images, which computes cytoskeletal indices that covers density, bundling, severing, branching, and directionality. Comparing to various classic approaches, ILEE library generates descriptive data with higher accuracy, robustness, and efficiency. In addition to the analysis described herein, we have developed an open-access ILEE library for community use.
Is there an optimal adjunct therapy to traditional cytotoxic induction

Abstract The traditional cytotoxic induction regimen for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is seven days of standard-dose cytarabine and three days of an anthracycline antibiotic (such as daunorubicin or idarubicin), commonly known as “7 + 3.” Many studies have been conducted to find an additional agent that might improve efficacy. Data from select studies has shown, in certain populations, benefit to adding cladribine, clofarabine and lomustine to a traditional backbone. For mutation-based chemotherapy regimens, midostaurin with 7 + 3 is the current standard of care for FLT3-mutant, younger AML patients. As we learn more about the synergism of molecular agents and traditional anti-cancer treatments, we can hopefully develop novel regimens without abandoning some of the benefits of these mutation agnostic historical therapies.
Chemically modified polymeric resins for separation of cations, organic acids, and small polar molecules by high performance liquid chromatography

This thesis is divided into 4 parts: a review, ion chromatography of metal cations on carboxylic resins, separation of hydrophilic organic acids and small polar compounds on macroporous resin columns, and use of eluent modifiers for liquid chromatographic separation of carboxylic acids using conductivity detection.
The Global Diffusion of Law: Transnational Crime and the Case of Human Trafficking

This article theorizes and analyzes the diffusion of criminal law globally. The past few decades have seen the proliferation of new laws criminalizing certain transnational practices, from money laundering to corruption; from insider trading to trafficking in weapons and drugs. Human trafficking is one example. How do we understand the fairly rapid move in the past two decades for many countries to criminalize the exploitative transshipment of people across borders? Our argument focuses on the perceived negative externalities associated with human trafficking. A focus on the negative externalities encourages states rationally to imitate the policies of states to whose policies they are especially sensitive. Additionally, the more exposed governments are to media information about the criminal aspects of trafficking networks, the more they are likely to adopt new laws criminalizing the practice. We test our argument about sensitivity to negative policy externalities using GPS data on road connectivity and find that policies of neighbors weighted by the density of trans-border roads clearly and consistently predicts the diffusion of criminalization of human trafficking in national law. We believe these results are in tension with theories of sociological institutionalism to the extent that the latter emphasizes the quasi-rational character of certain manifestations of institutional isomorphism, and suggest a future research agenda that draws on inter-subjective problem definition followed by more rationalist explanations, including competition and externalities, for the diffusion of actual policy adoption.
Exploding the Myth of the Authoritarian Advantage

racy (Diamond and Plattner 1994), Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy Revisited (Diamond and Plattner 1993a), and The Global Resurgence of Democracy (Diamond and Plattner 1993b). Like the other books in this series, Economic Reform and Democracy is a collection of articles commissioned for a conference sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, revised, printed in the journal, and finally reprinted in book form. Thus, this book, like the others in the series, was produced with an explicit ideological commitment to the promotion of democracy. This prodemocracy bias notwithstanding, the chapters in the book are without exception cautious in their claims, thorough in their examination of the evidence, and convincing in their modest conclusions.
Inhibition of rat Na+–HCO3– cotransporter (NBCn1) function and expression by the alternative splice domain

The Na+–HCO3– cotransporter NBCn1 (SLC4A7) has multiple variants depending upon splice domains in the cytoplasmic amino- and carboxy-termini of the protein. In this study, we examined the role of the amino-terminal splice domain containing 123 amino acids (cassette II) in the regulation of NBCn1 function and expression. Polymerase chain reaction detected NBCn1 mRNAs containing cassette II in a variety of tissues. Two variants, NBCn1-B containing cassette II and NBCn1-E lacking cassette II, were expressed in Xenopus oocytes and assessed by two-electrode voltage clamp to measure the ionic current mediated by the transporters. The two variants showed similar current–voltage (I–V) relations when measured 3–4 days after RNA injection. Replacment of Cl− with gluconate did not affect the I–V relations. When exposed to solutions containing 20–50 mm Na+, the current produced by NBCn1-B was slightly more positive than that produced by NBCn1-E. The two currents were similar at 100 mm Na+. The slope conductances for the two variants were progressively increased at higher Na+ levels, and the increases were parallel and superimposed. Measured at different time points after RNA injection, NBCn1-B produced lower conductance than NBCn1-E at 24–48 h. Protein expression of NBCn1-B was also low at these time points as determined by immunoblot of oocyte membrane preparation. Expressed in opossum kidney (OK) cells, NBCn1-E caused a 1.5-fold increase in ouabain-sensitive production of p-nitrophenol from p-phenyl phosphate compared with control preparations, whereas NBCn1-B had negligible effect. We conclude that the primary function of cassette II is to reduce NBCn1 protein expression.
The Proximity Effect

Estimates of the ambient ultraviolet ionizing background from modeling of the observed deficit of Lyα forest lines near quasars (the “proximity effect”) are reviewed, including new results from a survey carried out at the Multiple Mirror Telescope. The observed evolution of Lyα forest clouds atz ~ 1.6-4 cannot be reproduced by the evolution in the ultraviolet background implied by the proximity effect measurements, for either the cold-dark-matter minihalo or IGM pressure-confined clouds in their simplest forms. Sources of uncertainty in the ultraviolet background estimates from the proximity effect are discussed.
Quantifying sources of methane using light alkanes in the Los Angeles basin, California

[1] Methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and C2–C5 alkanes were measured throughout the Los Angeles (L.A.) basin in May and June 2010. We use these data to show that the emission ratios of CH4/CO and CH4/CO2 in the L.A. basin are larger than expected from population-apportioned bottom-up state inventories, consistent with previously published work. We use experimentally determined CH4/CO and CH4/CO2 emission ratios in combination with annual State of California CO and CO2 inventories to derive a yearly emission rate of CH4 to the L.A. basin. We further use the airborne measurements to directly derive CH4 emission rates from dairy operations in Chino, and from the two largest landfills in the L.A. basin, and show these sources are accurately represented in the California Air Resources Board greenhouse gas inventory for CH4. We then use measurements of C2–C5 alkanes to quantify the relative contribution of other CH4 sources in the L.A. basin, with results differing from those of previous studies. The atmospheric data are consistent with the majority of CH4 emissions in the region coming from fugitive losses from natural gas in pipelines and urban distribution systems and/or geologic seeps, as well as landfills and dairies. The local oil and gas industry also provides a significant source of CH4 in the area. The addition of CH4 emissions from natural gas pipelines and urban distribution systems and/or geologic seeps and from the local oil and gas industry is sufficient to account for the differences between the top-down and bottom-up CH4 inventories identified in previously published work.
Financial Performance, Pollution Measures and the Propensity to Use Corporate Responsibility Reporting: Implications for Business and Legal Scholarship

Thousands of companies around the world, including a majority of the Global Fortune 250, voluntarily report on their environmental, societal, and economic impacts, a practice known as corporate responsibility (CR) reporting. The practice is alternatively known as corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, sustainability reporting, citizenship reporting, or triple bottom line (TBL) reporting. A brief history of regulation-by-disclosure and CR reporting is presented. The authors then review related business and legal scholarship. Two broad lines of inquiry emerge: first, are CR disclosures associated with businesses that perform well financially, and, second, are CR disclosures associated with businesses that perform well environmentally. The authors test both of these relationships simultaneously using logistic regression. The authors discuss the results of the statistical testing and conclude with suggestions for future lines of research. This article therefore makes a significant contribution to legal and management scholarship by determining the impact that financial and environmental variables have on whether or not a company utilizes CR reporting. The results should provoke further research in the fields of both business and law.
On Liberty and the Fourteenth Amendment: The Original Understanding of the Lockean Provisos

The debate as to what unenumerated rights, if any, are protected by the Constitution is directly relevant to the most controversial issues in constitutional law today — from gay marriage, to gun control measures, to substance control regulation, to specific personal liberties, and finally to property regulation to name just a few. Much of the unenumerated rights debate centers on the U.S. Supreme Court’s substantive due process clause caselaw interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment. These cases address the question of which specific rights are implicated by the protection of life, liberty, and property in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? Some justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have written or joined opinions that argue that the answer to this question can be found by looking for rights that are deeply rooted in American history and tradition at the most specific level of generality available. State constitutional case law from 1776 up to 1868 when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified is thus potentially of great relevance to understanding American history and tradition, because by 1868, the year the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, two-thirds of the existing State constitutions contained what we refer to as “Lockean Provisos,” provisions protecting life, liberty, and property and guaranteeing inalienable, natural or inherent rights of an unenumerated rights type. In this Article, we identify and exhaustively analyze nearly a century of State case law, from the time of the Founding until 1868, in which State courts interpret and apply State constitutional Lockean Provisos to an enormous variety of issues. From this robust body of State constitutional case law, we conclude that the Lockean Provisos in most State constitutions had great significance with respect to the abolition of slavery and the extension of civil and political rights to individuals and minority group members living in the Northern States. At the same time, with respect to property regulation, State courts struggled to give concrete meaning to the Lockean Provisos in their State constitutions, and while not discounting the possibility that some regulations could violate the Proviso, the State courts generally deferred to the legislature. This evidence suggests that “liberty,” in the context of the Fourteenth Amendment, is best understood broadly to encompass natural rights and to require that civil and political rights be extended to minorities, a finding of particular relevance to the debate on gay marriage. However, the range of issues potentially implicated by the Lockean Provisos and inconsistent rulings in many areas also suggests that determining which specific rights are implicated by the protection of “liberty” posed the same challenge to State courts between 1776 and 1868 that present courts face today and that the quest to identify unenumerated rights that are deeply rooted in American history and tradition is itself somewhat quixotic.
An Examination of Emotional Information Management in Gift Giving and Receipt

Gift giving is prominent in marketplace exchanges and has robust emotional implications for both the giver and recipient. For example, prior to and during the selection of a gift, the giver endures positive and negative emotions, as he/she grapples with selecting the perfect gift, and ponders if the recipient will actually cherish the purchased item. During this dynamic exchange process, emotional recognition, management of emotions, emotional empathy, and anticipated elation are oft experienced by both the giver and recipient. However, research examining such emotions quantitatively in a gifting context is scant and models of these faculties in the gift-giving milieu are nonexistent. To help fill this research fissure, four studies are developed; they, in general, investigate determinants of feelings linked with the gestation, prestation, and reformulation stages of the gift-giving event. Specifically, Study 1 (giver's perspective) and Study 2 (receiver's perspective) reveal a mediation void in the models tested. Heeding these results, Study 3 (gift given) and Study 4 (gift received) introduce anticipated elation as a key factor between the aforementioned emotive factors and the emotional responses inherent in the gift-giving stages, among others. Managerial implications and future research directions are offered.
Role of the thymus in humoral immunity.

Abstract Congenital absence of the thymus in man has been associated with markedly defective humoral immune responses in spite of normal immunoglobulin production. This is probably due to lack of thymus-dependent antigen-reactive cells. Some infants with incomplete defects in embryogenesis of the third and fourth pharyngeal pouches have very small thymus glands which are histologically normal but inadequate for optimal immunological function. Such individuals appear to have a significant but very limited pool of competent antigen-reactive cells. This situation seems to be almost identical to that found after neonatal thymectomy in rodents and fowl, or after reconstitution of irradiated thymectomised animals with bone-marrow. The nearly normal antibody responses to some antigens in such animals and in infants with partial defects is not considered to be evidence for a separate class of antigen-reactive cells independent of thymic function. Available data support the contention that at least a few thymus-dependent antigen-reactive lymphocytes are required for initiating production of any specific antibody. When thymic function is greatly reduced, however, it is proposed that the humoral immune response is limited primarily by the availability of competent thymus-independent ("bursal equivalent" precursors of antibody-forming cells. Thus the "two-component" concept of immunological development is regarded as reconcilable with evidence that thymus-dependent antigen-reactive cells are needed to initiate both humoral and cellular immune processes.
Analysis of a CR1 (chicken repeat) sequence flanking the 5' end of the gene encoding α-skeletal actin

Abstract Genomic Southern blots of chicken DNA, probed with radiolabeled DNA fragments that flank the 5′ end of the asa gene encoding chicken α-skeletal actin, indicate the presence of repetitive nucleotide sequences. Sequence analysis of this region reveals a member of the CR1 family of middle-repetitive elements. A 186-bp restriction fragment carrying the 3′-end of this CR1 element binds factor(s) present in nuclear extracts, as assayed band-shift electrophoresis. However, the CR1 repeat has limited influence on transcription from the α-skeletal actin promoter, as assessed by CAT assays of transfected chicken myoblasts and fibroblasts.
Kinetics of glyburide metabolism by hepatic and placental microsomes of human and baboon

Glyburide (glibenclamide) is under investigation for treatment of gestational diabetes. Two metabolites of glyburide have been previously identified in patients, namely, 4-trans-(M1) and 3-cis-(M2) hydroxycyclohexyl glyburide. Recently, the metabolism of glyburide by microsomes of liver and placenta from humans and baboons revealed the formation of four additional metabolites: 4-cis-(M2a), 3-trans-(M3), and 2-trans-(M4) hydroxycyclohexyl glyburide, and ethyl-hydroxy glyburide (M5). The aim of this investigation was to determine the kinetics for the metabolism of glyburide by cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes of human and baboon placental and hepatic microsomes. The metabolism of glyburide by microsomes from the four organs revealed saturation kinetics and apparent K(m) values between 4 and 12 microM. However, the rates for formation of the metabolites varied between organs and species. M1 was the major metabolite (36% of total), formed by human hepatic microsomes with V(max) of 80+/-13 pmol mg protein(-1)min(-1), and together with M2, accounted for only 51% of the total. M5 was the major metabolite (87%) formed by human placental microsomes with V(max) of 11 pmol mg protein(-1)min(-1). In baboon liver, M5 had the highest rate of formation (V(max) 135+/-32 pmol mg protein(-1)min(-1), 39% of total), and in its placenta, was M4 (V(max) 0.7+/-0.1 pmol mg protein(-1)min(-1), 65%). The activity of human and baboon hepatic microsomes in metabolizing glyburide was similar, but the activity of human and baboon placental microsomes was 7% and 0.3% of their respective hepatic microsomes. The data obtained suggest that more than 1 CYP isozyme is responsible for catalyzing the hydroxylation of glyburide.
Lectures on the Foundations of Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics

This is an outline of a series of lectures I delivered at the Technion in Haifa, Israel, in the summer of 1972. This outline gives my view of what the basic concepts of modern continuum mechanics and thermodynamics are and how they should be presented to graduate students of mathematics and theoretical mechanics. This view evolved gradually over the past eight years. A first version was given in a series of lectures I delivered at the Summer Session in Bressanone, Italy, in 1965 (reference [1]). The material was reworked several times for an introductory graduate course repeatedly given at Carnegie-Mellon University and for lecture series given at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1968 and in Jablonna, Poland, in 1970. This paper is the latest version, and it renders reference [1] obsolete.
Numerical study of a flat-tube high power density solid oxide fuel cell: Part I. Heat/mass transfer and fluid flow

The flat-tube high power density (HPD) solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a new design developed by Siemens Westinghouse, based on their formerly developed tubular type SOFC. It has increased power density, but still maintains the beneficial feature of secure sealing of a tubular SOFC. In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model to simulate the steady state heat/mass transfer and fluid flow of a flat-tube HPD-SOFC is developed. In the numerical computation, governing equations for continuity, momentum, mass, and energy conservation are solved simultaneously. The highly coupled temperature, concentration and flow fields of the air stream and the fuel stream inside and outside the different chambers of a flat-tube HPD-SOFC are investigated. The variation of the temperature, concentration and flow fields with the current output is studied. The heat/mass transfer and fluid flow modeling and results will be used to simulate the overall performance of a flat-tube HPD-SOFC, and to help optimize the design and operation of a SOFC stack in practical applications.
How Robots Can Affect Human Behavior: Investigating the Effects of Robotic Displays of Protest and Distress

The rise of military drones and other robots deployed in ethically-sensitive contexts has fueled interest in developing autonomous agents that behave ethically. The ability for autonomous agents to independently reason about situational ethics will inevitably lead to confrontations between robots and human operators regarding the morality of issued commands. Ideally, a robot would be able to successfully convince a human operator to abandon a potentially unethical course of action. To investigate this issue, we conducted an experiment to measure how successfully a humanoid robot could dissuade a person from performing a task using verbal refusals and affective displays that conveyed distress. The results demonstrate a significant behavioral effect on task-completion as well as significant effects on subjective metrics such as how comfortable subjects felt ordering the robot to complete the task. We discuss the potential relationship between the level of perceived agency of the robot and the sensitivity of subjects to robotic confrontation. Additionally, the possible ethical pitfalls of utilizing robotic displays of affect to shape human behavior are also discussed.
An analysis of the asymptotic behavior of cross-wind-integrated ground-level concentrations using Lagrangian stochastic simulation

Abstract This paper examines the asymptotic behavior as a function of downwind distance of ground-level cross-wind-integrated concentration (CWIC) caused by a continuous ground-level source in the atmospheric surface layer. We first present asymptotic expressions obtained from an analysis of data from Project Prairie Grass (PPG, Barad, 1958), and then derive corresponding formulae from data generated using Lagrangian stochastic (LS) model simulations. Under stable and neutral stratification, the formulae derived from PPG data agree well with that from LS simulations. Assuming that the Lagrangian stochastic model represents current understanding of dispersion, this agreement suggests that the formulations for stable and neutral conditions are credible. On the other hand, for unstable stratification, we find that while the LS model yields a “− 3 2 ” law, the PPG data suggest a fall-off with distance that is closer to a “ − 2” slope. At the present time, we cannot identify the reasons for this disagreement.
Commentary: The Role of Administering Organizations

THE AMERICAN Arbitration Association handled over 500 international arbitrations last year. Some of them involved sovereigns or agencies of sovereigns and used the UNCITRAL Rules. The UNCITRAL Rules are an alternative in several BITs. I am, of course, referring to the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law which were adopted in 1976. The UNCITRAL Rules have influenced several other international rules, including the AAA's international rules and the rules used for the Iran-US Claims Tribunal, and NAFTA permits investors to choose either ICSID or UNCITRAL. If one decides to use the UNCITRAL Rules, the default provision regarding the number of arbitrators is three. If parties wanted to designate only one, they would have specifically to so designate. The place of arbitration and the language should also be designated. From our experience at the AAA, almost all cases are done in English, although an increasing number are being done in Spanish from start to finish, including the correspondence. In the …