cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ROLE OF CHARGE‐TRANSFER INTERACTIONS IN FLAVOPROTEIN CATALYSIS

The last decade has produced a veritable explosion of knowledge on the chemical reactivity of the isoalloxazine ring system of the flavin coenzymes, largely because of a side-by-side development with knowledge of flavoenzymes and model flavin studies. In this period the visible absorption spectra and epr spectra of the flavin semiquinone in its cationic, neutral, and anionic forms have been defined'-" (FIGURE 1 ) . In the same period a large number of flavoenzymes have been investigated by rapid reaction spectrophotometric techniques, and in nearly all cases distinctive spectra characterized by longwavelength-absorption bands have been detected as catalytic intermediates. With few exceptions, the spectra of the intermediates are unequivocally different from those of flavin semiquinone in either its neutral or its anionic form. As will be discussed in more detail below, these intermediates are in general readily thought to contain the flavin in the oxidized or reduced state, on the basis of their spectral properties. During this period the great chemical reactivity of the flavin system has been uncovered.',8 This model work has led to the synthesis of well-defined substituted isoalloxazines, with substituents at almost every atom of the isoalloxazine ring system. The recognition of this great reactivity has led to the obvious suggestion that intermediates in flavoenzyme catalysis involve covalent linkage of substrate moieties with the flavin.'-'l While the formation of such intermediates cannot be excluded rigorously on the basis of present evidence, the known spectral properties of such model substituted flavins fail to account for the intermediates observed in flavoenzyme catalysis.
Normative collective behavior in the Station building fire

Objective. This article offers a test of the normative explanation of collective behavior by examining the fire at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island that killed 100 and injured nearly 200 persons.Methods. Information on all persons at the club comes from content analysis of documents from the Rhode Island Police Department, the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, and The Providence Journal. We use negative binomial regression to test hypotheses about the effects of group-level predictors of the counts of dead and injured in 179 groups at the nightclub.Results. Results indicate that group-level factors such as distance of group members at the start of the fire, the number of intimate relations among them, the extent to which they had visited the nightclub prior to the incident, and the average length of the evacuation route they used predict counts of injured and dead. The research also looks at what behavioral differences exist between survivors and victims, ascertains the existence of role extension among employees of the nightclub, and provides support for the affirmation that dangerous contexts negate the protective influence of intimate relations in groups.Conclusion. We argue for the abandonment of current emphasis on irrationality and herd-like imitative behavior in studies of evacuation from structural fires in buildings and for the inclusion of group-level processes in social psychological explanations of these incidents.
Runx1 Activities in Superficial Zone Chondrocytes, Osteoarthritic Chondrocyte Clones and Response to Mechanical Loading

Runx1, the hematopoietic lineage determining transcription factor, is present in perichondrium and chondrocytes. Here we addressed Runx1 functions, by examining expression in cartilage during mouse and human osteoarthritis (OA) progression and in response to mechanical loading. Spared and diseased compartments in knees of OA patients and in mice with surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus were examined for changes in expression of Runx1 mRNA (Q-PCR) and protein (immunoblot, immunohistochemistry). Runx1 levels were quantified in response to static mechanical compression of bovine articular cartilage. Runx1 function was assessed by cell proliferation (Ki67, PCNA) and cell type phenotypic markers. Runx1 is enriched in superficial zone (SZ) chondrocytes of normal bovine, mouse, and human tissues. Increasing loading conditions in bovine cartilage revealed a positive correlation with a significant elevation of Runx1. Runx1 becomes highly expressed at the periphery of mouse OA lesions and in human OA chondrocyte 'clones' where Runx1 co-localizes with Vcam1, the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) marker and lubricin (Prg4), a cartilage chondroprotective protein. These OA induced cells represent a proliferative cell population, Runx1 depletion in MPCs decreases cell growth, supporting Runx1 contribution to cell expansion. The highest Runx1 levels in SZC of normal cartilage suggest a function that supports the unique phenotype of articular chondrocytes, reflected by upregulation under conditions of compression. We propose Runx1 co-expression with Vcam1 and lubricin in murine cell clusters and human 'clones' of OA cartilage, participate in a cooperative mechanism for a compensatory anabolic function.
The category of representations of a completely 0-simple semigroup

A. H. Clifford [1], [2] has shown that all finite dimensional representations of a completely 0-simple semigroup S over a field Φ.phi; can be obtained as extensions of those of its maximal subgroups and has given a method for constructing all such representations. This representation theory depends strongly on the fact the representations under consideration are finite dimensional and is not adequate to deal with the infinite dimensional case or with representations over arbitrary rings. In order to determine the structure of the (contracted) algebra Φ( S ) of S modulo its radical, one has to consider representations which are not finite dimensional or over fields; c.f. ‘6’. Hence Clifford's theory does not suffice for this purpose.
Teaching Soft Skills Employers Need

This study identifies the soft skills community colleges teach in an office technology course and determines whether the skills taught are congruent with the soft skills employers require in today's entry-level office work. A qualitative content analysis of a community college office technology soft skills course was performed using 23 soft skills employers require for entry-level office work. Nine of the 16 colleges in the South Carolina Technical College System were teaching an office technology soft skills course in 2007–2008, and they provided course content for analysis. Data determined that the skills taught in the office technology soft skills course are by vast majority congruent with the soft skills employers require in today's entry-level office work.
The synthesis of (+−) a-citromycinone via a 1,4-dipole-metallated p-quinol strategy

Abstract The synthesis of the compound having the structure assigned to α-citromycinone has been completed in 4% overall yield from 2-ethyl-5,8-dimethoxy-7-bromo-1-tetralone.
Angiotensin II Decreases a Resting K+ Conductance in Rat Bulbospinal Neurons of the C1 Area

In the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), angiotensin II (Ang II) receptors are concentrated in the region that contains neurons innervating sympathetic preganglionic neurons. We sought to determine whether these bulbospinal cells are sensitive to Ang II. Retrogradely labeled bulbospinal RVLM neurons (N = 125) were recorded in thin slices from neonatal rats. Most (33 of 46) histologically recovered bulbospinal neurons were C1 cells (immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase [TH-ir] or phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase [PNMT-ir]). Bulbospinal RVLM neurons were spontaneously active (2.7 +/- 0.2 spikes per second, n = 69) with 'resting' potential of -54 +/- 0.4 mV (n = 77) and input resistance of 879 +/- 53 M omega (n = 47). Ang II (0.3 to 1 mumol/L) increased the spontaneous firing rate of most bulbospinal neurons (+250%, 28 of 39). In current-clamp mode, Ang II (1 mumol/L) produced depolarization (+6.8 +/- 0.6 mV, n = 59 neurons) and increased input resistance (+21 +/- 2%, n = 36 neurons). In voltage-clamp mode, Ang II elicited an inward current (9.7 +/- 0.9 pA; holding potential, -40 to -55 mV; n = 25 neurons) that reversed polarity at the K+ equilibrium potential (n = 8 neurons) and was barium sensitive (n = 4 neurons). Ang II-evoked conductance change was voltage independent (-40 to -140 mV, n = 8 neurons). The effects of Ang II were blocked by losartan (9 of 9 neurons) but persisted in low Ca2+/high Mg2+ (7 of 7 neurons). Ang II-sensitive cells were inhibited by alpha 2-adrenergic receptor agonists (12 of 15 neurons). Ang II excited 91% (30 of 33) of TH-ir or PNMT-ir cells but 23% (3 of 13) of non-TH-ir neurons. In conclusion, RVLM bulbospinal cells express Ang II type-1 receptors whose activation leads to a reduction in resting K+ conductance.
Ant Colony Optimal Algorithm: Fast Ants on the Optical Pipelined R-Mesh

In this paper, we demonstrate how to implement and improve two ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms on the optical pipelined reconfigurable mesh (PR-mesh): the generic ACO and the fast ant colony optimization (FACO) algorithm. The run-time complexity of our improved generic ACO algorithm, with x generations each generation having m ants, on an n times n PR-mesh is O((x middot m + n)log n), which outperforms the currently best known electrical model implemented in (Merkle and Middendorf, 2002) with run-time complexity of O(x middot (m + n)log n). Our FACO algorithm on PR-mesh yields O(((z/(n*middot;log 2 n)) + n/log n) middot log log n) run-time complexity for n2 jobs while the existing FACO algorithm on the electrical model yields a run-time complexity of O((z + n)log* n) but can only handle log2 n jobs, where z is the total number of ants from all generations. In addition, we propose a theoretical FACO algorithm on a three dimensional PR-mesh solving n2 jobs in O(x middot (m + n) middot log n) time
Splicing of a Critical Exon of Human Survival Motor Neuron Is Regulated by a Unique Silencer Element Located in the Last Intron

Humans have two nearly identical copies of the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) gene, SMN1 and SMN2. In spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), SMN2 is not able to compensate for the loss of SMN1 due to exclusion of exon 7. Here we describe a novel inhibitory element located immediately downstream of the 5' splice site in intron 7. We call this element intronic splicing silencer N1 (ISS-N1). Deletion of ISS-N1 promoted exon 7 inclusion in mRNAs derived from the SMN2 minigene. Underlining the dominant role of ISS-N1 in exon 7 skipping, abrogation of a number of positive cis elements was tolerated when ISS-N1 was deleted. Confirming the silencer function of ISS-N1, an antisense oligonucleotide against ISS-N1 restored exon 7 inclusion in mRNAs derived from the SMN2 minigene or from endogenous SMN2. Consistently, this oligonucleotide increased the levels of SMN protein in SMA patient-derived cells that carry only the SMN2 gene. Our findings underscore for the first time the profound impact of an evolutionarily nonconserved intronic element on SMN2 exon 7 splicing. Considering that oligonucleotides annealing to intronic sequences do not interfere with exon-junction complex formation or mRNA transport and translation, ISS-N1 provides a very specific and efficient therapeutic target for antisense oligonucleotide-mediated correction of SMN2 splicing in SMA.
Summary: HFV and pulmonary physiology

The major conclusion reached by this writer is that HFV can be considerably better than CMV in fluid-filled or collapsed lungs. However, the reason for success has nothing to do with unique molecular flow regimes for gas in the airways during HFV, but is the natural consequence of HFV permitting lung volume stability without as high peak pressures (as in CMV) following a "conventional" hyperinflation. If this lesson alone can be absorbed and used by all in the HFV field, this meeting will have been a success and the future of HFV will not look so dark after all.
Statistical Adjustment of Satellite Microwave Monthly Rainfall Estimates over Amazonia

Abstract A technique is described for quantifying nonlinear adjustment to the half-degree monthly rainfall estimates over land, derived from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) observations. The technique uses a function that represents the distortion between the probability distributions of SSM/I and rain gauge half-degree monthly rainfall. The proposed adjustment procedure is assessed and evaluated with a 10-yr period (1988–97) of SSM/I observations over the northern South America region (15°N–15°S, 80°–35°W), which includes the Amazon basin. The rain estimates are derived from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Profiling (GPROF) algorithm instantaneous rain-rate retrievals, averaged in half-degree areas and aggregated into monthly accumulations. Monthly rain accumulations from a network of 650 rain gauges distributed across the Amazon basin and the state of Ceara in northeastern Brazil are used for calibration and validation, respectively. Assessment of the adjustment r...
CULTURAL DEPRIVATION: OPERATIONAL DEFINITION IN TERMS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Without further definition, the concept of cultural deprivation has little use for formulating specific research or educational programs. In this study, the ability to name common vegetables developed more slowly among children from an urban poverty area than among private school children—indicating that “cultural deprivation” must account not only for deficiencies in experience but for deficiency in the conditions of learning as well.
Nitric oxide isotopic analyzer based on a compact dual-modulation Faraday rotation spectrometer.

We have developed a transportable spectroscopic nitrogen isotopic analyzer. The spectrometer is based on dual-modulation Faraday rotation spectroscopy of nitric oxide isotopologues with near shot-noise limited performance and baseline-free operation. Noise analysis indicates minor isotope (15NO) detection sensitivity of 0.36 ppbv·Hz−1/2, corresponding to noise-equivalent Faraday rotation angle (NEA) of 1.31 × 10−8 rad·Hz−1/2 and noise-equivalent absorbance (αL)min of 6.27 × 10−8 Hz−1/2. White-noise limited performance at 2.8× the shot-noise limit is observed up to ~1000 s, allowing reliable calibration and sample measurement within the drift-free interval of the spectrometer. Integration with wet-chemistry based on acidic vanadium(III) enables conversion of aqueous nitrate/nitrite samples to gaseous NO for total nitrogen isotope analysis. Isotopic ratiometry is accomplished via time-multiplexed measurements of two NO isotope transitions. For 5 μmol potassium nitrate samples, the instrument consistently yields ratiometric precision below 0.3‰, thus demonstrating potential as an in situ diagnostic tool for environmental nitrogen cycle studies.
K-Shell Photoabsorption of Magnesium Ions

We report the results of extensive R-matrix calculations for the X-ray photoabsorption of all magnesium ions in the vicinity of the K-edge.
Indentation of a laminated composite plate with an interlayer rectangular void

We employ the Eshelby–Stroh formalism to study generalized plane strain infinitesimal deformations caused due to the indentation by a rigid circular cylinder of an elastic laminated plate with a throughthe-width rectangular void between two adjoining layers. Assuming that the void does not close during the indentation process, we find the indentation modulus (i.e., the slope of the indentation load vs. the indentation depth curve) as a function of the void size, the void position, elastic moduli of the layers, and boundary conditions at the edges. The change in the indentation modulus caused by an interlayer void parallel to the major surfaces of an anisotropic plate can potentially be used to estimate the void size and location. Due to their high specific stiffness and specific strength, composite are being increasingly used in numerous engineering applications. However, mechanical properties of composites may degrade severely with repeated impact and cyclic loading. Failures of structures, particularly aircraft structures, often have tragic consequences. Applications of composites tend to be limited or inhibited by the lack of long-term service experience and the difficulty to accurately quantify damage and thus determine the remaining useful life of the structure. Damage detection techniques such as thermal deplying and optical microscopy require either the partial or the total destruction of the structural component [2]. Most conventional nondestructive evaluation techniques such as ultrasonic C-scan, X-ray, thermography and eddy current have limited applications as they require a structural component to be taken out of service for a substantial length of time for damage inspection and assessment. Global damage detection methods [3], based on the assumption that a change in physical properties of a structure alters its modal characteristics, have also been developed. These methods either depend on analytical models or prior test data for the detection and the location of damage or on the output from several sensors bonded to the structure. Technical issues that need to be considered during in situ monitoring of structures include the following: surface-bonded resistive strain gauges are susceptible to electromagnetic and electrical interference in addition to physical damage, and the acoustic emission suffers from low signal-tonoise ratio. Sometimes it is advisable to simultaneously use two or
The association of obesity with sex hormone‐binding globulin is stronger than the association with ageing – implications for the interpretation of total testosterone measurements

SummaryObjective Total testosterone concentrations are influenced by sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations, which are decreased by obesity and increased with ageing. Therefore, we sought to understand and compare the associations of ageing and obesity with SHBG. Design We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of the associations of obesity and age on SHBG and testosterone measurements in men being evaluated for hypogonadism. Patients, Measurements and Analysis A total of 3671 men who underwent laboratory testing for testosterone deficiency from the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System from 1997 through 2007 was included. Univariate and multivariate linear regression modelling of the associations between age and body mass index (BMI) and SHBG was performed. Results Obesity was associated with a significantly lower SHBG [β = −1·26 (95% CI −1·14, −1·38) nmol/l] per unit increase in BMI. In contrast, ageing was associated with a significantly increased SHBG [β = 0·46 (95% CI 0·39, 0·53) nmol/l per year] (P 30 kg/m2) had significantly lower SHBG and total testosterone concentrations than nonobese men [(mean ± SD) SHBG: 36 ± 22 vs 50 ± 27 nmol/l and total testosterone: 10·5 ± 5·4 nmol/l vs 14·1 ± 7·4 nmol/l; (P < 0·001 for both comparisons)], but calculated free testosterone concentrations did not differ between obese and nonobese men. Conclusions We found that the association between obesity and lowered SHBG is greater than the association of ageing with increased SHBG. These competing effects may impact total testosterone measurements for the diagnosis of low testosterone, particularly in obese men.
Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) Survival at Two Eastern Mojave Desert Sites: Death by Short-Term Drought?

Survival of adult Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) appears related to site-specific variation in precipitation and productivity of annual plants. We studied adult tortoise survival rates at two closely situated, but physiographically different, sites in the eastern Mojave Desert over a nine-year period (spring 1992 to spring 2001). Survival rates were initially derived from population surveys conducted over a three-year period and by radio-telemetry monitoring over a seven-year period beginning in 1994. After a period of initial stability, survival rates on the two sites diverged over the study period, and seven-year survival rates estimated from radio-telemetry monitoring were 0.900 and 0.269, respectively. A die-off in 1996 on the latter site appears to have been triggered by a period of drought, which began in the summer of 1995, coupled with a failure of annual vegetation production in 1996. Depressed survival rates on this site were associated with drought conditions during three of four years. Although the decline had the appearance of an epizootic, there were no clinical signs of disease. Relatively short-term drought, combined with little or no annual biomass, appears to have caused severe reductions in tortoise survival. If periods of drought-induced low survival are common over relatively small areas, then source-sink population dynamics may be an important factor determining tortoise population densities.
Carybdea alata auct. (Cubozoa): rediscovery of the Alatina grandis type

Numerous nominal species have been considered synonymous with Carybdea alata Reynaud, 1830 (cf. Gershwin 2005). A recent revision concluded that several of the species collectively referred to as C. alata are valid and indeed separate species (Gershwin 2005; but see also Bentlage et al. 2010). Additionally, these species (including C. alata ) were moved into the genus Alatina Gershwin 2005 (family Alatinidae Gershwin, 2005) because of stark morphological differences they display compared to the other species of Carybdea. In particular, Alatina species possess crescentic phacellae and a rhopaliar niche ostium that is covered by a single upper and two lateral scales (t-shaped sensu Gershwin 2005; cf. Bigelow 1938) compared to a single upper covering scale (heart-shaped sensu Gershwin 2005; cf. Bigelow 1938) and epaulette-like or linear phacellae in the corners of the stomach in Carybdea species. Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses support the separation of Carybdea and Alatina (Bentlage et al. 2010). Alatina grandis posed a problem in Gershwin's (2005) revision, as the type of this species appeared to be lost to science, preventing a closer investigation of its identity. I located a type specimen of the species in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM). The purpose of this letter is to draw attention to this important specimen, and highlight directions for future studies on the evolutionary history of the genus Alatina .
Linking drug-eluting stent kinetics and clinical outcomes: insights from optical coherence tomography.

Drug-eluting stent release kinetics matter. This is demonstrated by the study of Guagliumi et al. ([1][1]) in this issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions , which provides a description of the vascular responses to the next generation Resolute zotarolimus-eluting (sustained release) stent (
Deciding Whether the Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

Professors Thomas H. Koenig & Michael L. Rustad’s review essay highlights the importance of Russell Murphy’s recent book, Voices of the Death Penalty Debate: A Citizen’s Guide to Capital Punishment for social science classes as well as the legal academy. This review essay contends that Murphy’s narrative approach to death penalty arguments is pedagogically the most sound approach to thinking about the death penalty.Lawyers, journalists, and informed members of the public need this book because it dispassionately examines the arguments for and against the death penalty in an innovative format: through witness testimony. The title of this book reflects Murphy’s sincere attempt to present the arguments and the witnesses’ testimony in a fair and impartial manner that is in the best tradition of field studies in sociology. This is a “deliberately different” book in that it presents multiple perspectives through the narratives of major participants in the death penalty debates: criminologists, legal academics, social scientists, religious leaders, family members of victims, and former death row inmates vindicated by later discovered evidence. The review essay concludes that this book is a significant contribution to the social science literature in that it enables students, scholars, and policymakers to consider diverse arguments in a format that is fair and balanced.
Thinking in action

When thought overwhelms the mind, the mind uses the body and the world. Several studies reveal ways that people alone or together use gesture and marks on paper to structure and augment their thought for comprehension, inference, and discovery. The studies show that the mapping of thought to gesture or the page is more direct than the arbitrary mapping to language and suggest that these forms of visual/spatial/action representation are used to “translate” language into mental representations. It is argued that actions in space create patterns in the world that reflect abstractions, that the actions are incorporated into gestures and the patterns into diagrams, a network that integrates gesture, action, the designed world, and abstraction dubbed spraction.
Commitment Uncertainty: A Theoretical Overview

This article provides a conceptual overview of commitment uncertainty and fluctuations in commitment. In doing so, we distinguish commitment uncertainty from related concepts, such as ambivalence about commitment and doubt. In addition, we describe the onset and course of commitment uncertainty. Finally, we highlight several issues regarding the treatment of individuals and couples who express commitment uncertainty.
META: Middleware for Events, Transactions, and Analytics

Businesses that receive events in the form of messages and react to them quickly can take advantage of opportunities and avoid risks as they occur. Since quick reactions are important, event processing middleware is a core technology in many businesses. However, the need to act quickly must be balanced against the need to act profitably, and the best action often depends on more context than just the latest event. Unfortunately, the context is often too large to analyze in the time allotted to processing an event. Instead, out-of-band analytics can train an analytical model, against which an event can be quickly scored. We built middleware that combines transactional event processing with analytics, using a data store to bridge between the two. Since the integration happens in the middleware, solution developers need not integrate technologies for events and analytics by hand. At the surface, our Middleware for Events, Transactions, and Analytics (META) offers a unified rule-based programming model. Internally, META uses the X10 distributed programming language. A core technical challenge involved ensuring that the solutions are highly available on unreliable commodity hardware, and continuously available through updates. This paper describes the programming model of META, its architecture, and its distributed runtime system.
Content Matters: Why Nurturing Creativity Is So Different in Different Domains

Creativity brings joy, wonder, efficiency, excitement, and pleasure into our lives. Although creativity can also be malevolent (see, e.g., Cropley et al., Creat Res J 20(2):105–115, 2008), for the most part creativity makes life better, and most of us would like to have and to experience more of it. Nurturing creativity is therefore something that many of us would like to do. We’d like to help our students, our colleagues, our employees (or employers), and of course ourselves be more creative.
Hispanics and Health Care in the United States: Access, Information and Knowledge

The Hispanic population is the largest growing minority group in the United States. A helpful resource to assist in designing programs and interventions aimed at Hispanic communities was recently completed by the Pew Hispanic Center and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Over 4,000 Hispanic adults were included in the study which highlights how the diverse characteristics of the Hispanic population affect their health care needs and their comprehension of health care resources.
The recent structure-based coarse graining of polymer melts using PRISM theory does not give thermodynamic consistency

Abstract The full thermodynamic consistency claimed by Guenza and co-workers in their recent papers (J. McCarty et al., Macromolecules 45 (2012) 8482; A. J. Clark et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 168301; and A. J. Clark et al., J. Chem. Phys. 139 (2013) 124906), where they performed structure-based coarse graining of homopolymer melts using the polymer reference interaction site model theory, directly contradicts the well-established and widely cited finding by several research groups. In this Communication, we clearly showed that (1) the full thermodynamic consistency claimed by Guenza and co-workers is simply due to the (incorrect) approximations used in their analytical derivation, (2) none of their criticisms on our work (D. Yang, Q. Wang, J. Chem. Phys. 142 (2015) 054905) given in their Comment (A. J. Clark et al., J. Chem. Phys. 143 (2015) 067101) is valid, and (3) the simulation-free coarse-graining strategy presented in our work is crucially different from the coarse-graining approach in their recent papers.
Hypothesis Testing and p-values

Suppose we want to know if exposure to asbestos is associated with lung disease. We take some rats and randomly divide them into two groups. We expose one group to asbestos and leave the second group unexposed. Then we compare the disease rate in the two groups. Consider the following two hypotheses: The Null Hypothesis: The disease rate is the same in the two groups. The Alternative Hypothesis: The disease rate is not the same in the two groups.
A Statistical Description of Plant Shoot Architecture

Plant architectures can be characterized statistically by their spatial density function, which specifies the probability of finding a branch at each location in the territory occupied by a plant. Using high-precision 3D scanning, we analyzed 557 plant shoot architectures, representing three species, grown across three to five environmental conditions, and through 20-30 developmental time points. We found two elegant properties in the spatial density functions of these architectures: all functions could be nearly modified in one direction without affecting the density in orthogonal directions (called "separability"), and all functions shared the same underlying shape, aside from stretching and compression (called "self-similarity"). Surprisingly, despite their striking visual diversity, we discovered that all architectures could be described as variations on a single underlying function: a Gaussian density function truncated at roughly two SDs. We also observed systematic variation in the spatial density functions across species, growth conditions, and time, which suggests functional specialization despite following the same general design form.
Geologic Carbon Storage Capacity Estimation Using Enhanced Analytical Simulation Tool (EASiTool)

Abstract An enhanced simulation tool was developed that can be used by CO2 sequestration stakeholders in their decision-making process to increase their confidence in investing the geological CO2 storage capacity. The analytical simulation tool provides a science based estimate of storage capacity by applying novel analytical models for both closed- and open boundary aquifers and analyzes the possibility of enhancing storage efficiency by integrating brine management (brine-extraction technology). The EASiTool is capable of estimating injectivity in individual wells and at the reservoir scale for both open- and closed boundary reservoirs. Active pressure management technologies using brine-extraction wells to remove some of the brine and relieve pressure build-up was integrated into the analytical models, both to enhance storage capacity and control pressure build-up. The EASiTool can be used to provide reservoir-scale storage-capacity estimates.
When Elephants Fight, It’s the Grass That Suffers

Publicly, the United States positions itself as the world’s protector and enforcer of democracy. This role, however, is more preferential than universal — especially in the case of the developing conflict in Syria. As the policy has evolved along with the ever-changing dynamics on the ground, it is clear that there are inherent contradictions between the moralistic rhetoric of policy and the amoral empirical realities of policy implementation. U.S. government officials have publicly pledged their support of the Syrian people, called for the abdication of Assad, and stated that the use of chemical weapons is a red line that, if crossed, would provoke military intervention. The U.S., however, has delivered on none of these commitments. In fact, the administration’s foreign policy response to Syria has left many questions unanswered. On one hand, the lack of impactful initiatives to deter the bloodshed over the past five years makes it clear that the U.S. policy did not aim to do so in the first place. If the U.S.’s response to this crisis continues in its current form, and Assad’s regime continues, violence and repression will persist. To this end, democracy will be impossible in Syria, and those who will truly bear the burden of such inaction will be the people of Syria. What exact proposals in need of reversing this conflict are uncertain, but what remains clear is that the U.S. faces an impasse due to its irrevocable decisions, and whatever is to occur in the future will ultimately be decided by the will of the Syrian people.
AGS 2009 Guidelines for Pharmacological Management of Persistent Pain in Older Adults

In 1998, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) published their first guideline on managing pain in older adults. Since then, two additional guidelines have been published to update clinicians on the management of persistent pain in older adults. The most recent of these was recently released in 2009, as Guidelines for Pharmacological Management of Persistent Pain in Older Adults [1,2]. The most recent guidelines used a system of evaluation, called the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). This system evaluates evidence in the literature based on degrees of quality and strength. Recommendations were subsequently made in accordance with the risks or benefits of using a pharmacotherapy couched with the weight of evidence in one direction or the other. Hence, weak recommendations were given in unclear circumstances where the benefits were balanced by approximately equal risks or where data where inadequate to place sufficient confidence in a strong recommendation. The recommendations appear below.
Reduced linear noise approximation for biochemical reaction networks with time-scale separation: The stochastic tQSSA+

Biochemical reaction networks often involve reactions that take place on different time scales, giving rise to “slow” and “fast” system variables. This property is widely used in the analysis of systems to obtain dynamical models with reduced dimensions. In this paper, we consider stochastic dynamics of biochemical reaction networks modeled using the Linear Noise Approximation (LNA). Under time-scale separation conditions, we obtain a reduced-order LNA that approximates both the slow and fast variables in the system. We mathematically prove that the first and second moments of this reduced-order model converge to those of the full system as the time-scale separation becomes large. These mathematical results, in particular, provide a rigorous justification to the accuracy of LNA models derived using the stochastic total quasi-steady state approximation (tQSSA). Since, in contrast to the stochastic tQSSA, our reduced-order model also provides approximations for the fast variable stochastic properties, we te...
The Heat Shock Response: A Model System for the Study of Gene Regulation in Drosophila

It is generally believed that development in higher organisms is controlled by sets of coordinately regulated genes, sometimes referred to as “batteries of genes”. Such gene batteries would provide the most economical explanation for cases where a single developmental stimulus, such as a hormone, seems to induce a complex but well-regulated differentiation response.
A feasibility study of electronic geriatric assessment for real-time morbidity evaluation.

e21523Background: Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a multi-disciplinary screening tool that can predict toxicity and survival in cancer patients (pts) and help improve decisions and outc...
‘Ought’-contextualism beyond the parochial

Despite increasing prominence, ‘ought’-contextualism is regarded with suspicion by most metaethicists. As I’ll argue, however, contextualism is a very weak claim, that every metaethicist can sign up to. The real controversy concerns how contextualism is developed. I then draw an oft-overlooked distinction between “parochial” contextualism—on which the contextually-relevant standards are those that the speaker, or others in her environment, subscribe to—and “aspirational” contextualism—on which the contextually-relevant standards are the objective standards (if any) for the relevant domain. However, I argue that neither view is acceptable. I suggest an original compromise: “ecumenical contextualism”, on which some uses of ‘ought’ are parochial, others aspirational. Ecumenical contextualism is compatible with realism or antirealism, but either combination yields interesting results. And though it’s a cognitivist view, it is strengthened by incorporating an expressivist insight: for robustly normative usages of ‘ought’, the contextually-relevant standards must be endorsed by the speaker.
Identifying Clusters of Recent and Rapid HIV Transmission Through Analysis of Molecular Surveillance Data.

BACKGROUND Detecting recent and rapid spread of HIV can help prioritize prevention and early treatment for those at highest risk of transmission. HIV genetic sequence data can identify transmission clusters, but previous approaches have not distinguished clusters of recent, rapid transmission. We assessed an analytic approach to identify such clusters in the United States. METHODS We analyzed 156,553 partial HIV-1 polymerase sequences reported to the National HIV Surveillance System and inferred transmission clusters using 2 genetic distance thresholds (0.5% and 1.5%) and 2 periods for diagnoses (all years and 2013-2015, ie, recent diagnoses). For rapidly growing clusters (with ≥5 diagnoses during 2015), molecular clock phylogenetic analysis estimated the time to most recent common ancestor for all divergence events within the cluster. Cluster transmission rates were estimated using these phylogenies. RESULTS A distance threshold of 1.5% identified 103 rapidly growing clusters using all diagnoses and 73 using recent diagnoses; at 0.5%, 15 clusters were identified using all diagnoses and 13 using recent diagnoses. Molecular clock analysis estimated that the 13 clusters identified at 0.5% using recent diagnoses had been diversifying for a median of 4.7 years, compared with 6.5-13.2 years using other approaches. The 13 clusters at 0.5% had a transmission rate of 33/100 person-years, compared with previous national estimates of 4/100 person-years. CONCLUSIONS Our approach identified clusters with transmission rates 8 times those of previous national estimates. This method can identify groups involved in rapid transmission and help programs effectively direct and prioritize limited public health resources.
Sedation in ACHD

Over the last decade, focus on appropriate sedation management in the intensive care unit (ICU) is rising. ICU delirium, psychological trauma, and prolonged immobilization have been recognized as major factors impacting the outcome of critically ill patients. Current guidelines incorporate the management of pain, agitation, and delirium with a focus on decreasing sedation-induced adverse events. More specific analgesic and sedation strategies, daily spontaneous awakening and breathing trials, early extubation and mobilization, and measures to decrease ICU delirium are being implemented resulting in improved outcomes. With the constant rise of congenital heart disease (CHD) patients reaching adult age, ICUs and their intensivists are confronted with particular challenges when these patients become critically ill. Unique physiologic and psychosocial aspects often require adjustment in the medical management, including sedation regimens. With an understanding of the interaction between sedatives and the adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) pathophysiology, modern ICU sedation management can be applied to optimize outcomes in this specific patient population. In this chapter, we will discuss current ICU sedatives, specific ACHD pathophysiology, and how these two interact. We will describe modern aspects of critical care sedation and their application to critically ill patients with CHD.
Twenty Five Years of Stochastic Canonical Equation K 40 for Normalized Spectral Functions of Ace-Gram Matrices

Twenty-five years ago in [Gir12, p.269] the general formula for the Stieltjes transform of limit normalized spectral function µ(u) of eigenvalues of the large order ACE-Gram matrices $$ \int_0^\infty {(1} + tu{)^{ - 1}}\;{\rm{d}}\mu {\rm{(}}u{\rm{) = }}\int_0^1 x {d_x}{G_t}(x),\;t > 0, $$ was found, where G t (x) satisfies the so-called Stochastic canonical equation for ACE-Gram matrices (Gram matrices with asymptotically constant entries): $$ {G_t}\;(x) = \;P\;\left\{ {\left. {\frac{1}{{1\; + \;t{\theta _1}\;{\rm{\{ }}\omega {\rm{, (1 + }}t{\theta _2}{\rm{\{ (*), }}{G_t}{\rm{(*)\} }}{{\rm{)}}^{ - 1}}{\rm{\} }}}}\;{\rm{ < }}x} \right\}} \right., $$ the random functional θ 1{ω, ✱} is given on the set of bounded random real continuous functions, the random functional θ 2{ω, G t (✱)} is given on the set of distribution functions G t (x) and these functionals are mutually independent.
Wind energy, the price of carbon allowances, and CO2 emissions: Evidence from Ireland

Abstract Increased reliance on renewable energy is an important component of the European Union's action plan for reducing carbon emissions. Another key instrument is the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS), which caps the overall level of emissions and then permits trade among the emitters. Using data from Ireland, this paper examines the effects of wind energy and the EU ETS on carbon emissions from electricity generation. We estimate a time-series econometric model of CO2 emissions for each half hour over the period 1 January 2015 through 17 April 2018. Results indicate that increases in the carbon allowance price significantly reduce carbon emissions when errors in load assessments and wind energy forecasts are equal to zero. Specifically, emissions over the out-of-sample evaluation period would have been 6% higher in the absence of the EU ETS. Moreover, findings suggest that higher wind energy penetration levels substantially reduce emissions. In particular, out-of-sample analysis suggests that emissions would have been 14.6 percent higher in the absence of wind energy.
Observations of Hail–Wind Ratios from Convective Storm Reports across the Continental United States

AbstractThe objective of this study is to provide guidance on when hail and/or wind is climatologically most likely (temporally and spatially) based on the ratio of severe hail reports to severe wi...
An Update on the Role of Common Genetic Variation Underlying Substance Use Disorders

Sample size increases have resulted in novel and replicable loci for substance use disorders (SUDs). We summarize some of the latest insights into SUD genetics and discuss next steps for the field. Genome-wide association studies have substantiated the role of previously known variants (e.g., rs1229984 in ADH1B for alcohol) and identified several novel loci for alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, opioid, and cocaine use disorders. SUDs are genetically correlated with psychiatric outcomes, while liability to substance use is inconsistently associated with these outcomes and more closely associated with lifestyle factors. Specific variant associations appear to differ somewhat across populations, although similar genes and systems are implicated. The next decade of human genetic studies of addiction should focus on expanding to non-European populations, consider pleiotropy across SUDs and with other psychiatric disorders, and leverage human and cross-species functional data to elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying SUDs.
Self-Preserving Mixing Properties of Steady Round Nonbuoyant Turbulent Jets in Uniform Crossflows

The self-preserving mixing properties of steady round nonbuoyant turbulent jets in uniform crossflows were investigated experimentally. The experiments involved steady round nonbuoyant fresh water jet sources injected into uniform and steady fresh water crossflows within the windowed test section of a water channel facility. Mean and fluctuating concentrations of source fluid were measured over cross sections of the flow using planar-laser-induced-fluorescence (PLIF). The self-preserving penetration properties of the flow were correlated successfully similar to Diez [ASME J. Heat Transfer, 125, pp. 1046–1057 (2003)] whereas the self-preserving structure properties of the flow were correlated successfully based on scaling analysis due to Fischer [Academic Press, New York, pp. 315–389 (1979)]; both approaches involve assumptions of no-slip convection in the cross stream direction (parallel to the crossflow) and a self-preserving nonbuoyant line puff having a conserved momentum force per unit length that moves in the streamwise direction (parallel to the initial source flow). The self-preserving flow structure consisted of two counter-rotating vortices, with their axes nearly aligned with the crossflow (horizontal) direction, that move away from the source in the streamwise direction due to the action of source momentum. Present measurements extended up to 260 and 440 source diameters from the source in the streamwise and cross stream directions, respectively, and yielded the following results: jet motion in the cross stream direction satisfied the no-slip convection approximation; geometrical features, such as the penetration of flow boundaries and the trajectories of the axes of the counter-rotating vortices, reached self-preserving behavior at streamwise distances greater than 40–50 source diameters from the source; and parameters associated with the structure of the flow, e.g., contours and profiles of mean and fluctuating concentrations of source fluid, reached self-preserving behavior at streamwise (vertical) distances from the source greater than 80 source diameters from the source. The counter-rotating vortex structure of the self-preserving flow was responsible for substantial increases in the rate of mixing of the source fluid with the ambient fluid compared to corresponding axisymmetric flows in still environments, e.g., transverse dimensions in the presence of the self-preserving counter-rotating vortex structure were 2–3 times larger than transverse dimensions in self-preserving axisymmetric flows at comparable conditions.