cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ultrahigh Resolution Titanium Deep Reactive Ion Etching.

Titanium (Ti) represents a promising new material for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), due to its unique combination of advantageous physical and mechanical properties. Recently, realization of this promise has been made possible with the advent of processes that enable deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of high-aspect-ratio (HAR) structures in bulk Ti substrates. However, to date, these processes have been limited to minimum feature sizes (MFS) ≥750 nm. Although this is sufficient for many applications, MFS reduction to the deep submicrometer range opens potential for further device miniaturization and an opportunity for endowing devices with unique functionalities that are derived from precisely defined structures within this length scale regime. Herein, we report results from studies seeking to create means for realizing such opportunities through extension of Ti DRIE to the deep submicrometer scale. The effects of key process parameters on etch performance were investigated, and the understanding ...
Experiences of Counselors-as-Clients in Counselor Education.

Eight professional counselors who routinely role-play as clients in 1 counselor education program participated in a focus group investigating their portrayal experiences. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, which resulted in 3 superordinate themes: missions, influential factors, and repercussions. Findings reinforce instruction of idiographic and person-centered care in counselor education.
Deceleration Rates for Safe Braking Distance Calculations

IEEE 1698, Guidelines for Safe Braking Distance Calculations - 2009 brakes down the determination of stopping distance for train control system into separate independent events. One of the most misunderstood portions of the model is Parts I and H (train deceleration). This paper looks at the reasoning behind the unique properties of these parts, how they are related as well as how to calculate them. Examples of applications will be shown and optimization techniques will be investigated to shorten the required safe stopping distance and increase capacity.Copyright © 2017 by ASME
Exploiting signal processing approaches for broadband echosounders

© International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in ICES Journal of Marine Science 74 (2017): 2262–2275, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsx155.
Stress and psychological constructs related to eating behavior are associated with anthropometry and body composition in young adults.

Abstract Background The transition to college is associated with weight gain, but the relation between eating behavior indicators and anthropometric outcomes during this period remains unclear. Objective We aimed to evaluate sex differences in stress, emotional eating, tendency to overeat, and restrained eating behavior, and determine whether the psycho-behavioral constructs assessed immediately prior to starting college are associated with anthropometry and adiposity at the start of college, and with first-semester weight gain. Methods A prospective study administered the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), Satter Eating Competence Inventory, and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to 264 participants one month before college. Body composition was assessed via dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at the start of college, and anthropometry (weight, height, waist circumference [WC]) was collected at the beginning and end of the first semester. Ordinary least squares regression tested the cross-sectional association of baseline psychological and behavioral scales with baseline DXA and anthropometry, and the longitudinal association with change in anthropometry. Results Among 264 participants, 91% (241) had baseline data, and 66% (173) completed follow-up. In sex-adjusted linear regression models, baseline TFEQ disinhibited and emotional (DE; EE) eating sub-scales were positively associated with baseline weight (P = 0.003; DE, P = 0.014; EE), body mass index (BMI, P = 0.002; DE, P = 0.001; EE), WC (P = 0.004; DE, P = 0.006; EE) and DXA fat mass index (P = 0.023; DE, P = 0.014; EE). Baseline PSS was positively associated with subsequent changes in weight and WC among males only (Pinteraction = 0.0268 and 0.0017 for weight and WC, respectively). Conclusion College freshmen with questionnaire scores indicating a greater tendency to overeat in response to external cues and emotions tended to have greater weight, BMI, and WC at the start of college. Males with higher perceived stress at college entrance subsequently gained significantly more weight in the first semester, but no such relation was evident in females.
Sphingosine-1-phosphate selectively activates vagal afferent C-fiber subtype in guinea pig esophagus.

Background Activation and sensitization of visceral afferent nerves by inflammatory mediators play important roles in visceral nociception. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a lipid with intracellular and extracellular functions. Extracellularly, it can act as an autacoid via interactions with S1P receptors. The present study aims to determine the effect of S1P on esophageal vagal afferent nerve functions. Methods Extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in ex vivo guinea pig esophageal-vagal preparations. The action potentials (APs) evoked by mechanical distension and chemical perfusions applied to the vagal afferent nerve endings in the esophagus were recorded at their intact neuronal cell bodies in either nodose or jugular ganglia. The effects of S1P and its receptor subtype agonists on vagal afferents were recorded and compared. The expression of S1P receptors (S1PR1-3) in esophageal-labeled vagal nodose and jugular neurons was studied by single-cell RT-PCR. Key results Sphingosine-1-phosphate evoked AP discharges in almost all esophageal jugular but not nodose C-fibers without changing their responses to esophageal distension. Esophageal-labeled vagal nodose and jugular neurons highly expressed transcripts of S1PR1 and S1PR3. Agonists of S1PR1 and S1PR3 each partially mimicked S1P-induced effect in jugular C-fibers, suggesting that these receptors may contribute partially to S1P-induced activation effect on esophageal jugular C-fiber subtype. Conclusions & inferences These data, for the first time, demonstrated a selective activation effect of S1P on vagal afferent nerve subtype in the gastrointestinal tract. This may help to better understand its role in visceral inflammatory nociception.
Mirrors of Affectivity and Aesthetics: Gardens, Parks, and Landscapes as Seen by Theophile de Viau and la Fontaine

Thanks to the pioneering scholarly work done in the past decades, the baroque flowering in French literature and arts has been recognized as a major event and an important contribution to the aesthetic landscape of early modern culture. In the recently published issue of Litteratures classiques, “Le Baroque en question(s),” the editor Didier Souiller states with good reason that the relationship between the baroque and classicism has changed ... baroque aesthetics were still in full bloom during the reign of the Sun King. He adds that today we can better appreciate the works of Moliere and La Fontaine, “le plus grand poete du siecle, qui n’est plus enferme dans l’image reductrice d’auteur des seules Fables.”1
Gene Silencing through RNA Interference

A major focus of biology is determining the role that specific genes play within a cell. The ability to control gene expression is a powerful tool for biologists, and methods that facilitate the expression of genes in trans have been very useful in delineating gene function. However, methods that enable researchers to decrease or inhibit gene expression in a controlled and specific manner have been lacking. A significant advancement in the field of gene silencing is the recent discovery of RNA interference (RNAi), a post-transcriptional gene silencing mechanism first described in C. elegans and Drosophila and more recently shown to occur in mammals, including mouse and human cells. This chapter will examine several aspects of RNAi and its related gene silencing mechanisms and will discuss the impact that technologies based on these endogenous cellular processes have had on studies of gene function and on new approaches to the treatment of disease.
Predicting fear of crime: results from a community survey of a small city

Several studies have examined predictors surrounding fear of crime. Fear of crime has generally been conceptualized as an affective emotional state regarding concern over victimization or as a cognitive state of perceived risk of victimization. While there are many potential predictors of fear of crime, there are two main groups of predictors: individual demographics and neighborhood physical and social disorder. Previous research has predominantly focused on large, urban cities. Less research has been published surrounding smaller cities and towns. As such, the current study involved a mailed household survey of a small city of around 80,000 residents in Pennsylvania. The study examined demographic predictors in line with the vulnerability model and neighborhood contextual predictors of residents’ fear of crime associated with the incivilities model. While the main analyses employed a more affective measure of fear of crime, a supplementary analysis using a measure of perceived neighborhood crime problems was examined as well. Findings revealed that in line with previous research, females and minorities were more likely to be fearful of crime. However, less favorable views of local police, more physical disorder, and more social disorder were also related to greater fear of crime and accounted for a much larger proportion of the variance explaining fear of crime. Supplementary findings strongly supported the importance of neighborhood contextual factors in predicting perceptions of crime problems, including the views of police, physical, and social disorder. However, no demographic factors predicted perceived neighborhood crime problems. Implications and limitations of the study findings are discussed.
Probing nanoscale interfaces with electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Abstract Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful tool for studying nanoscale molecule-metal interfaces across a range of electrochemical applications. SERS combines molecular-level information with a high degree of surface specificity, making it an ideal tool for understanding interfacial processes, from understanding how analytes and electrolytes organize near metal surfaces to following surface-mediated reactions in real time. However, because SERS relies on the excitation of localized surface plasmons, additional effects such as the production of hot charge carriers and photothermal heating can impact electrochemical SERS signals. These effects must also be considered when using SERS for quantitative electrochemical studies.
Phosphorus loading from onsite wastewater systems to a lake (at long time scales)

Schellenger FL, Hellweger FL. Phosphorus loading from onsite wastewater systems to a lake (at long time scales). Lake Reserv Manage. 35:90–101.Phosphorus from onsite wastewater systems (OWS, septic...
TCT-415 CATHETER-BASED RENAL SYMPATHETIC DENERVATION FOR RESISTANT HYPERTENSION: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED TRIALS

Percutaenous renal artery denervation has been shown to decrease blood pressure among patients with resistant arterial hypertension. We present in this review a meta-analysis of all randomized controlled trials evaluating effectiveness and complications of catheter-based RDN for blood pressure
Tuning the Geometric and Electronic Structure of Synthetic High-Valent Heme Iron(IV)-Oxo Models in the Presence of a Lewis Acid and Various Axial Ligands.

High-valent ferryl species (e.g., (Por)FeIV═O, Cmpd-II) are observed or proposed key oxidizing intermediates in the catalytic cycles of heme-containing enzymes (P-450s, peroxidases, catalases, and cytochrome c oxidase) involved in biological respiration and oxidative metabolism. Herein, various axially ligated iron(IV)-oxo complexes were prepared to examine the influence of the identity of the base. These were generated by addition of various axial ligands (1,5-dicyclohexylimidazole (DCHIm), a tethered-imidazole system, and sodium derivatives of 3,5-dimethoxyphenolate and imidazolate). Characterization was carried out via UV–vis, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), 57Fe Mossbauer, Fe X-ray absorption (XAS), and 54/57Fe resonance Raman (rR) spectroscopies to confirm their formation and compare the axial ligand perturbation on the electronic and geometric structures of these heme iron(IV)-oxo species. Mossbauer studies confirmed that the axially ligated derivatives were iron(IV) and six-coordinate comple...
Graph Convolutional Nets for Tool Presence Detection in Surgical Videos

Surgical tool presence detection is one of the key problems in automatic surgical video content analysis. Solving this problem benefits many applications such as the evaluation of surgical instrument usage and automatic surgical report generation. Given the fact that each video is only sparsely labeled at the frame level, meaning that only a small portion of video frames will be properly labeled, existing approaches only model this problem as an image (frame) classification problem without considering temporal information in surgical videos. In this paper, we propose a deep neural network model utilizing both spatial and temporal information from surgical videos for surgical tool presence detection. The proposed model uses Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) along the temporal dimension to learn better features by considering the relationship between continuous video frames. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work taking videos as input to solve the surgical tool presence detection problem. Our experiments demonstrate the employment of temporal information offers a significant improvement to this problem, and the proposed approach achieves better performance than all state-of-the-art methods.
Valuing humane lives in two-level utilitarianism

I examine the two-level utilitarian case for humane animal agriculture (by R. M. Hare and Gary Varner) and argue that it fails on its own terms. The case states that, at the ‘intuitive level’ of moral thinking, we can justify raising and killing animals for food, regarding them as replaceable, while treating them with respect. I show that two-level utilitarianism supports, instead, alternatives to animal agriculture. First, the case for humane animal agriculture does not follow from a commitment to two-level utilitarianism combined with a commitment to respecting animal lives. Second, the two-level utilitarian case falls prey to a compartmentalization problem and cannot uphold both respect and replaceability. What I call ‘humane lives’ are not appropriately valued by the lights of two-level utilitarianism itself.
A Case of Intussusception in a Patient with Marijuana Use: Coincidence or Possible Correlation?

'Intussusception' means invaginating or telescoping and is caused by any condition that disrupts the normal physiological mechanism of intestinal peristalsis. Intussusception is rare in adults with an incidence of two to three cases per population of 1,000,000 annually. The most common cause of intussusception in adults is a neoplasm. In this case report, we are describing the case of a 22-year-old female with a past medical history of chronic constipation and a 60-pound unintentional weight loss who presented with the sudden onset of progressively worsening, severe abdominal pain associated with nausea, episodes of non-bloody, non-bilious emesis, and dark-colored loose stools. The patient's social history was significant for extensive marijuana use for more than one year. Upon presentation, vitals were significant for mild bradycardia and examination was remarkable for diffuse abdominal pain. Initial laboratory testing was positive only for lactic acidosis. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen and pelvis revealed small bowel intussusception in the left hemiabdomen, along with periportal edema, and a small amount of pericholecystic fluid. The patient underwent both upper endoscopy and colonoscopy but no lead points for the intussusception could be identified. The patient responded to conservative management, including bowel rest, which resulted in the resolution of the intussusception on a follow-up small bowel series. Intraluminal irritants as the possible etiology of intussusception should be considered in the absence of a pathological lead point. Marijuana has been shown to act on various bowel segments and disrupts gastrointestinal motility through inhibition of cholinergic mechanisms. We believe the chronic use of marijuana could be the possible etiology of intussusception observed in our patient. Therefore, this case brings attention to the adverse effects of marijuana in light of increasing legalization and the increasing therapeutic use of marijuana and its derivatives.
Primary repair of transposition of the great arteries with an interrupted aortic arch: a case report and literature review.

Transposition of the great arteries (TGA) and interruption of the aortic arch (IAA) are uncommon congenital heart diseases. The association between TGA and IAA is rare. The aim of this study is to present a case with combined TGA and IAA, who underwent the primary repair and review the literature with similar cases. The one-month-old patient was admitted with tachypnea and cyanosis. Delayed diagnosis was caused due to the absence of prenatal examination. Echocardiography and computed tomography angiography confirmed TGA with anterior-posterior-oriented great arteries, wide patent ductus arteriosus, type B IAA, ventricular septal defect (VSD) and pulmonary arterial hypertension. The patient underwent a single-stage primary surgical repair process leading to VSD closure, reconstruction of the aortic arch and arterial switch operation in October 2019. The patient is doing well at a 3-month follow-up post-surgery. The echocardiogram suggests a normal systolic function of the ventricles and trivial regurgitation for both aortic and pulmonary valves. The single-stage repair with VSD closure, reconstruction of aortic arch and arterial switch operation might be an applicable approach for most of the patients with combined TGA and IAA. Long term follow-up is required as a high re-intervention rate for recurrent coarctation, supravalvular aortic stenosis, neoaortic valve regurgitation, obstruction of the right heart system and coronary stenosis has been reported.
Probabilistic identification of saccharide moieties in biomolecules and their protein complexes.

The chemical composition of saccharide complexes underlies their biomedical activities as biomarkers for cardiometabolic disease, various types of cancer, and other conditions. However, because these molecules may undergo major structural modifications, distinguishing between compounds of saccharide and non-saccharide origin becomes a challenging computational problem that hinders the aggregation of information about their bioactive moieties. We have developed an algorithm and software package called “Cheminformatics Tool for Probabilistic Identification of Carbohydrates” (CTPIC) that analyzes the covalent structure of a compound to yield a probabilistic measure for distinguishing saccharides and saccharide-derivatives from non-saccharides. CTPIC analysis of the RCSB Ligand Expo (database of small molecules found to bind proteins in the Protein Data Bank) led to a substantial increase in the number of ligands characterized as saccharides. CTPIC analysis of Protein Data Bank identified 7.7% of the proteins as saccharide-binding. CTPIC is freely available as a webservice at ( http://ctpic.nmrfam.wisc.edu ).
EVOLUTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MAGNETIC FIELDS FROM ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI IN GALAXY CLUSTERS. II. THE EFFECTS OF CLUSTER SIZE AND DYNAMICAL STATE

Theory and simulations suggest that magnetic fields from radio jets and lobes powered by their central super massive black holes can be an important source of magnetic fields in the galaxy clusters. This is Paper II in a series of studies where we present self-consistent high-resolution adaptive mesh refinement cosmological magnetohydrodynamic simulations that simultaneously follow the formation of a galaxy cluster and evolution of magnetic fields ejected by an active galactic nucleus. We studied 12 different galaxy clusters with virial masses ranging from 1 x 10{sup 14} to 2 x 10{sup 15} M{sub sun}. In this work, we examine the effects of the mass and merger history on the final magnetic properties. We find that the evolution of magnetic fields is qualitatively similar to those of previous studies. In most clusters, the injected magnetic fields can be transported throughout the cluster and be further amplified by the intracluster medium (ICM) turbulence during the cluster formation process with hierarchical mergers, while the amplification history and the magnetic field distribution depend on the cluster formation and magnetism history. This can be very different for different clusters. The total magnetic energies in these clusters are between 4 x 10{sup 57} and 10{sup 61}more » erg, which is mainly decided by the cluster mass, scaling approximately with the square of the total mass. Dynamically older relaxed clusters usually have more magnetic fields in their ICM. The dynamically very young clusters may be magnetized weakly since there is not enough time for magnetic fields to be amplified.« less
Safcar: Structured attention fusion for compositional action recognition

We present a general framework for compositional action recognition -- i.e. action recognition where the labels are composed out of simpler components such as subjects, atomic-actions and objects. The main challenge in compositional action recognition is that there is a combinatorially large set of possible actions that can be composed using basic components. However, compositionality also provides a structure that can be exploited. To do so, we develop and test a novel Structured Attention Fusion (SAF) self-attention mechanism to combine information from object detections, which capture the time-series structure of an action, with visual cues that capture contextual information. We show that our approach recognizes novel verb-noun compositions more effectively than current state of the art systems, and it generalizes to unseen action categories quite efficiently from only a few labeled examples. We validate our approach on the challenging Something-Else tasks from the Something-Something-V2 dataset. We further show that our framework is flexible and can generalize to a new domain by showing competitive results on the Charades-Fewshot dataset.
Transcranial Dopplers Revisited: Development of Novel Markers for Cerebral Vasospasm After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background Cerebral vasospasm has been monitored by conventional angiography or transcranial Doppler (TCD). While angiography is the most accurate and reliable method for detection, TCDs are a noninvasive alternative to monitor onset and resolution of vasospasm. We aim to determine whether alternative TCD parameters rather than Lindegaard ratio lead to an improved method to diagnose and potentially prevent cerebral vasospasm. Methods A total of 103 consecutive patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) were retrospectively reviewed and TCD studies were performed during the first 14 days post-bleed or longer if indicated. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed using significant univariate characteristics. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves evaluated the mean middle cerebral artery (MCA), peak systolic MCA (PSV MCA), and end diastolic MCA (EDV MCA) velocities as well as ratios when compared to the ipsilateral extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA). The area under the curve was calculated to compare accuracy for symptomatic vasospasm. Results Thirteen patients (12.6%) were observed to develop cerebral vasospasm. Aneurysm location (p = 0.51), Hunt and Hess grade (p = 0.44), Fischer grade (p = 0.87), comorbidities, age (p = 0.67), or gender (p = 0.41) did not appear to have any effect in predicting the presence of vasospasm. ROC curves demonstrated that MCA EDV appeared to be slightly better compared to MCA velocity in predicting symptomatic vasospasm. PSV MCA/extracranial ICA and the EDV MCA/extracranial ICA ratios appeared to be an improvement to the Lindegaard ratio in the prediction of symptomatic vasospasm. Conclusion The utility of peak systolic and end diastolic velocities, instead of the classically referenced mean velocities and Lindegaard ratio, may improve diagnostic sensitivity of cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Compulsive and compensative buying among online shoppers. An empirical study

The present study examines the phenomenon of compensative and compulsive buying among online shoppers. Firstly, the obtained empirical data make it possible to estimate the prevalence of compensative and compulsive buying among the general population of Poles aged 15 years old and over, with the sample split into users and non-users of the e-commerce market offer. Secondly, the conducted analysis shows to what extent the prevalence of compulsive and compensative buying is differentiated by the frequency of online shopping, by the extent of the expenditures on online shopping compared with offline shopping, by attitudes towards online shopping, and by sociodemographic conditions (gender, age, monthly net income of household). The findings come from a survey conducted in 2019 based on a nationwide statistically representative sample of 1,000 Poles aged 15 years old and over. Drawing on this survey based on the German Compulsive Buying Indicator (GCBI), the prevalence of compulsive buying is observed at about 3% and compensative buying at about 12%. Dividing the general population into online and offline shoppers, one can see serious differences between both target groups; the share of compulsive and compensative buyers in the segment of online shoppers amounts to 3.6% and 16.9%, while among non-online shoppers- 3.3% and 10.1%. The strongest susceptibility to compulsive buying is characteristic of female online shoppers having very positive attitudes towards online shopping and doing online shopping very frequently.
Xyce parallel electronic simulator reference guide, version 6.1

This document is a reference guide to the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator, and is a companion document to the Xyce Users Guide [1] . The focus of this document is (to the extent possible) exhaustively list device parameters, solver options, parser options, and other usage details of Xyce. This document is not intended to be a tutorial. Users who are new to circuit simulation are better served by the Xyce Users Guide [1] .
Flow-signal correlation in seal whisker array sensing.

Phocid seals detect and track artificial or biogenic hydrodynamic trails based on mechanical signals of their whisker arrays. In this paper, we investigated the correlations between flow structures and whisker array signals using a simplified numerical model of fluid-structure interaction (FSI). Three-dimensional (3D) wakes of moving paddles in three different shapes (rectangular plate, undulated plate, and circular cylinder) were simulated using an in-house immersed-boundary-method-based computational fluid dynamics solver. One-way FSI was then simulated to obtain the dynamic behavior and root signal of each whisker in the two whisker arrays on a seal head in each wake. The position, geometry, and material properties of each whisker were modeled based on the measurements reported in literatures. The correlations between the wake structures and whisker array signals were analyzed. It was found that the patterns of the signals on the whisker arrays can reflect the strength, timing, and moving trajectories of the jets induced by the vortices in the wakes. Specifically, the rectangular plate generates the strongest starting vortex ring as well as the strongest jets, while the undulated plate generates the weakest ones. These flow features are fully reflected by the largest whisker signal magnitude in the rectangular plate sensing and the smallest one in the undulated plate sensing. Moreover, the timing of the signal initiation and the maximum signal agree well with the timing of the jet reaching the arrays and the maximum flow speed, respectively. The correlation coefficient between the moving trajectories of the jet and the movement of the high signal level region in the array was found to be higher than 0.9 in the rectangular plate case. The results provide a physical insight into the mechanisms of seal whisker flow sensing.
Proximal Reinforcement Learning: Efficient Off-Policy Evaluation in Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes

In applications of offline reinforcement learning to observational data, such as in healthcare or education, a general concern is that observed actions might be affected by unobserved factors, inducing confounding and biasing estimates derived under the assumption of a perfect Markov decision process (MDP) model. Here we tackle this by considering off-policy evaluation in a partially observed MDP (POMDP). Specifically, we consider estimating the value of a given target policy in a POMDP given trajectories with only partial state observations generated by a different and unknown policy that may depend on the unobserved state. We tackle two questions: what conditions allow us to identify the target policy value from the observed data and, given identification, how to best estimate it. To answer these, we extend the framework of proximal causal inference to our POMDP setting, providing a variety of settings where identification is made possible by the existence of so-called bridge functions. We then show how to construct semiparametrically efficient estimators in these settings. We term the resulting framework proximal reinforcement learning (PRL). We demonstrate the benefits of PRL in an extensive simulation study.
Packing the power

In this article, the author explains how Lattice Semiconductor has developed a mixed signal programmable logic device, offering engineers greater control of power within microelectronic circuits.
Volatility Derivatives in Practice: Activity and Impact

We use unique regulatory data to examine open positions and activity in both listed and OTC volatility derivatives. Gross vega notional outstanding for index variance swaps is over USD 2 billion, with dealers short vega in order to supply the long vega demand of asset managers. For maturities less than one year, VIX futures are far more actively traded and have a higher notional amount outstanding than S&P 500 variance swaps. To the extent that dealers take on risk when facilitating trades, we estimate that the long volatility bias of asset managers puts upward pressure on VIX futures prices. Hedge funds have offset this potential impact by actively taking a net short position in nearby contracts. In our 2011‐2014 sample, the net impact added less than half a volatility point, on average, to nearby VIX futures contracts but added between one and two volatility points for contracts in less liquid, longer‐dated parts of the curve. We find no evidence that this price impact forces VIX futures outside no‐arbitrage bounds.
Spectral Studies on Monoamine Oxidase Modified with N-(1-Pyrene) Malemide Fluorescent Probe

Monoamine oxidase is involved in the control of the biogenic amines degradation in the brain and central nervous system (Singer et al., 1979; Usdin, 1976). This involvement has stimulated considerable interest in the physiocochemical and enzymatic properties of the enzyme. The enzyme contains four sulfhydryl groups per subunit of enzyme only one of which is thought to be essential (Oi et al., 1971). Physiochemical studies have indicated that the enzyme is made up of two identical subunits (Igaue et al., 1969). From the effect of pH on the kinetic properties of the enyzme, it was concluded that a cysteine residue in the enzyme is catalytically important in the breakdown of amines. Gomes et al. (1969) have shown that 5,5’dithiobis 2-nitrobenzoic acid (DTNB) reacts with several cysteine residues and causes inactivation of the enzyme, however, the study concluded that only one sulfhydryl residue was essential per subunit of the enzyme. It was suggested that this sulfhydryl residue may be a component of the active site. As a first step toward a three-dimensional model of bovine liver monoamine oxidase-B, Zeidan et al. (1980) embarked upon a specific study of the environment of the sulfhydryl residue using conventional ESR spin-labeling techniques. The details of this aspect of MAO research have been elaborated elsewhere (Zeidan et al., 1980).
Effects of livestock exclusion on in-stream habitat and benthic invertebrate assemblages in montane streams

SUMMARY 1. Stream and riparian ecosystems in arid montane areas, like the interior western United States, are often just narrow mesic strands, but support diverse and productive habitats. Meadows along many such streams have long been used for rangeland grazing, and, while impacts to riparian areas are relatively well known, the effect of livestock grazing on aquatic life in streams has received less attention. 2. Attempts to link grazing impacts to disturbance have been hindered by the lack of spatial and temporal replication. In this study, we compared channel features and benthic macroinvertebrate communities (i) between 16 stream reaches on two grazed allotments and between 22 reaches on two allotments where livestock had been completely removed for 4 years, (ii) before and after the 4-year grazing respite at a subset of eight sites and (iii) inside and outside of small-scale fenced grazing exclosures (eight pairings; 10+ year exclosures) in the meadows of the Golden Trout Wilderness, California (U.S.A.). 3. We evaluated grazing disturbance at the reach scale in terms of the effects of livestock trampling on per cent bank erosion and found that macroinvertebrate richness metrics were negatively correlated with bank erosion, while the percentage of tolerant taxa increased. 4. All macroinvertebrate richness metrics were significantly lower in grazed areas. Bank angle, temperature, fine sediment cover and erosion were higher in grazed areas, while riparian cover was lower. Regression models identified riparian cover, in-stream substratum, bank conditions and bankfull width-to-depth ratios as the most important for explaining variability in macroinvertebrate richness metrics. 5. Small-scale grazing exclosures showed no improvements for in-stream communities and only moderate positive effects on riparian vegetation. In contrast, metrics of macroinvertebrate richness increased significantly after a 4-year period of no grazing. 6. The success of grazing removal reported here suggests that short-term removal of livestock at the larger, allotment meadow spatial scale is more effective than long-term, but small-scale, local riparian area fencing, and yields promising results in achieving stream channel, riparian and aquatic biological recovery.
Learning to Influence Emotional Responses for Interactive Storytelling

We present an architecture for interactive storytelling. The system interleaves pre-authored text and videos to generate a story. Between iterations, the player is given an opportunity to answer questions that help to drive the narrative. Videos are used to have an effect on the emotional response of the players. The system is capable of performing modeling of both videos and players to better adapt the narrative progression in response to the player’s answers to questions. The system is designed to serve two purposes: 1) to label natural language utterances and passages for use in a text classification system; and 2) to serve as a test environment for computational models of influence and persuasion. We motivate the approach we have taken by describing research efforts on classifying emotion in natural language and on the use of influence to affect decision making. The architecture and prototype system is described in detail. A summary of human-subject experiments planned are included as well.
Retinoic acid upregulates cone arrestin expression in retinoblastoma cells through a Cis element in the distal promoter region.

Purpose This study was initiated to investigate the molecular mechanisms of activation of expression of the human cone arrestin (hCAR) gene by retinoic acid (RA), in an in vitro model of retinoblastoma cells. Methods Human retinoblastoma Weri-Rb-1 or Y79 cell lines were cultured in the absence or presence of RA analogues with transcription or translation inhibitors for various periods. The mRNAs encoding hCAR, retinoic acid receptor (RAR), and retinoid X receptor (RXR) subtypes were analyzed by Northern blot. Immunoblot analysis of hCAR protein was also performed. The hCAR promoter's activity and its responsiveness to RA treatment was evaluated by transient transfection of the hCAR promotor-luciferase reporter constructs, followed by promoter deletion analysis to map the specific regions responsible for the RA response. Results In our in vitro model, both all-trans RA and 9-cis RA induced hCAR mRNA in a time- and dose-dependent manner. RA's effect was blocked by either RNA or protein synthesis inhibitors; however, hCAR mRNA's stability was not affected by RA, as determined by RNA decay experiments. Although all RAR and RXR subtypes were detected, only RXRgamma and RARalpha increased dramatically after treatment with RA. An RXR-specific agonist, but not an RAR-specific agonist, also increased hCAR mRNA and protein expression in both Weri-Rb-1 and Y79 cells. RA stimulated hCAR promoter-luciferase activity in transient transfection studies. Subsequently, a region between -852 and -702 of the hCAR promoter, with RA-responsive elements (RAREs), was discovered to be responsible for the RA response. Conclusions The hCAR gene is transcriptionally upregulated by RA acting through cis elements within -852 to -702 of the hCAR 5' flanking region. Based on the cumulative data, RXRgamma is most likely the RA receptor subtype involved in hCAR regulation by RA.
A world record accelerating gradient in a niobium superconducting accelerator cavity

A two-cell, 3 GHz, niobium superconducting accelerator cavity has sustained a continuous wave (CW) accelerating gradient of 34.6 MV/m, with a corresponding peak surface electric field of 100 MV/m, record performances in each category for a superconducting accelerator cavity. Field emission (FE) loading of the cavity initially limited the cavity to E/sub acc/=21 MV/m (E/sub peak/=60 MV/m). The record field was achieved by reducing the FE loading through high peak power (HPP) RF processing of the cavity. Analysis of previous results of the HPP experimental program indicated that maximum fields under both pulsed and CW conditions were limited by thermal breakdown, which is related to the surface magnetic field in the cavity. The two-cell cavity shape was chosen to bypass the thermal breakdown limitations by reducing the ratio of peak surface magnetic field to peak surface electric field, from a value of H/sub peakE/sub peak/=23 Oe/(MV/m) in the previous cavity, to 14 Oe/(MV/m) in the two-cell cavity. A simple thermal model accurately simulates the pulsed breakdown. >
Model for the solution of supersonic viscous interaction effects on blunted cones

over the past decade. The practical application of such investigations: space vehicle re-entry and high altitude flight, has initiated the development of numerous analytical and numerical models to accurately predict the viscous inviscid interaction and its effect on fluid properties, particularly pressure distribution. A proper assessment of the effects of interaction on blunted surfaces can only be accomplished by a theory which allows for both pressure and vorticity interaction phenomena for the high Mach number, low Reynolds number flows of practical interest. Previous investigations by the authors13'14 have attempted to establish a model which allows for the inclusion of all interaction effects directly, i.e., by solving the entire viscous and inviscid flowfield at the same time and establishing unique solutions. The model's main features are: its inclusion of viscous transports in the characteristic equations, the matching of the subsonic viscous flow (solved by a second-order, implicit CrankNicholson scheme) to the supersonic flow in the transonic zone, the inclusion of the normal momentum equation (thus allowing for transverse pressure gradients, whose importance is increased in thick, high curvature boundary layers), and the solution of the entire interaction problem by a marching technique. It is shown herein that the model's predictions of pressure distribution and heat transfer for high Mach number, low Reynolds number, flows over blunted cones are in excellent agreement with experimental data, whereas other interaction models do not exhibit such accuracy.
Weekly chemotherapy with radiation versus high-dose cisplatin with radiation as organ preservation for patients with HPV-positive and HPV-negative locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx.

Background Optimal treatment for locally advanced SCCOP is not well defined. Here we retrospectively compare survival and toxicities from two different organ preservation protocols.
The effect of receipt personalization on tipping behavior

Research has shown that personalizing receipts, such as drawing “smiley faces” and writing “thank you” notes on customer bills to express gratitude, can result in larger tips for restaurant wait staff. Although the practice of receipt personalization has been supported using field experiments, limited research has examined the effectiveness of this technique based on the level of service quality provided by restaurant wait staff. Using a scenario-based approach, we found from this study that adding a personalized message significantly lowers tip percentages. Moreover, the negative effect is magnified when service quality fails to exceed customer expectations. Implications related to the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PATHOLOGIES OF AXONAL TRANSPORT IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES

Gene products such as organelles, proteins and RNAs are actively transported to synaptic terminals for the remodeling of pre-existing neuronal connections and formation of new ones. Proteins described as molecular motors mediate this transport and utilize specialized cytoskeletal proteins that function as molecular tracks for the motor based transport of cargos. Molecular motors such as kinesins and dynein's move along microtubule tracks formed by tubulins whereas myosin motors utilize tracks formed by actin. Deficits in active transport of gene products have been implicated in a number of neurological disorders. We describe such disorders collectively as “transportopathies”. Here we review current knowledge of critical components of active transport and their relevance to neurodegenerative diseases.
Recent developments of bio-molecular motors as on-chip devices using single molecule techniques

The integration of microfluidic devices with single molecule motor detection techniques allows chip based devices to reach sensitivity levels previously unattainable.
Reliability of flush blood pressure measurements in the sick newborn infant.

To test the reliability of the flush blood pressure in the sick newborn infant under a variety of conditions, correlations of intra-aortic pressures with flush pressures from each extremity were obtained in 23 newborn infants. Statistical analysis indicated good correlations of mean aortic pressures with flush pressures in all extremities; the best correlation was in the right arm. Limitations of the flush method are discussed.
Actuality and Responsibility

Actual-sequence views of responsibility are views according to which moral responsibility is a function of actual sequences, histories, or ancestries. In recent years these views have acquired much popularity as an attractive kind of compatibilist answer to the problem of determinism and the freedom of the will. But what does it mean to say that responsibility is ‘a function of the actual sequence’? In this paper I examine different possible ways to cash out this idea. I show that one of them is immune to important objections to which the others are prey. This motivates a type of actual-sequence view that is unorthodox in two main respects. First, it understands the expression ‘the actual sequence’ in a way that is different from the way in which it seems typically to have been understood. Second, on this view, non-actualized possibilities of a certain kind are always relevant to the moral responsibility of agents.
α and β-solamarine in kennebec Solanum tuberosum leaves and aged tuber slices

Abstract Two major steroid glycoalkaloids, in addition to α-solanine and α-chaconine, were isolated from leaves and aged tuber slices of potato, Solanum tuberosum L. var Kennebec. They are glycosides of tomatidenol and have been identified as α- and β-solamarine. The compounds were not found in tuber peel or freshly sliced Kennebec tubers or in 20 other cultivars.
Cytogenetic effects of cyclohexylamine and N-OH-cyclohexylamine on human leucocytes and Chinese hamster bone marrow.

SOME humans metabolize the commonly used artificial sweetener, cyclamate, to cyclohexylamine (CHA) and N-hydroxycyclo-hexylamine (N-OHCHA). There have been three reports1–3 that cyclamate and its metabolic byproducts cause a significant amount of cytogenetic damage in cultured human cells and the bone marrow and spermatogonial cells of the rat, but unfortunately they do not give quantitative cytogenetic data, other than the percentages of cells with “breaks”. In our experiments, we attempted to detect significant cytogenetic damage to human leucocytes treated in vitro or in a host-mediated assay system with CHA or N-OHCHA. At the same time, bone marrow from Chinese hamsters was studied for cytogenetic effects after daily injections of CHA.
Influence of Organic and Synthetic Fertility on Nitrate Runoff and Leaching, Soil Fertility, and Sweet Corn Yield and Quality

Abstract Organic farming practices have been reported to reduce agricultural pollution and improve yield and quality compared to conventional practices. Frequently, research has involved comparing completely conventional and organic farming systems over many years. This study was conducted to test whether the use of organic fertilizers versus synthetic fertilizers improved soil fertility and sweet corn (Zea mays L. var rugosa Bonaf.) vigor, yield, size, and nutrient content and minimized nitrate (NO3) leaching and runoff after a single growing season. Sweet corn vigor, yield, and nutrient content were superior for synthetically fertilized sweet corn compared to organically fertilized corn. Runoff NO3 levels were similar regardless of fertilizer type. The use of organic fertilizers neither improved crop yield and quality nor reduced NO3 loss after a single season. These findings are consistent with previous research that reports that more than a single season of organic management is needed to improve soil...
The performance of DSM-III-R major depression criteria in the diagnosis of bipolar mixed states

Two hundred thirty-seven (237) manic patients diagnosed by DSM-III-R criteria as either purely manic (204) or mixed bipolar (33) were reviewed for analysis of the diagnostic performance of the DSM-III-R criteria required to diagnose the mixed bipolar state. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic efficiency of each of the 9 DSM-III-R criteria for major depression in this cohort. As predicted, four of the major depression criteria had low diagnostic utility, with PPV's less than 0.3. Those items were: weight change; sleep disturbance; psychomotor change; and diminished ability to think or concentrate or indecisiveness. Four symptoms: anhedonia, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation had acceptable utility for the diagnosis of mixed states.