cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Opinion: Hijacking exogenous signals to generate new secondary metabolites during symbiotic interactions

The biosynthesis of secondary metabolites by ‘group effort’ — in which two or more species cooperate to generate a hybrid small molecule — has been vastly underappreciated. In the laboratory, biosynthetic studies typically focus on a single species that is responsible for the expression of the necessary enzymes and assembly of the small-molecule product. However, in natural environments, microorganisms live in tight associations and are surrounded by a dynamic and intricate exchange of small molecules. The biosynthetic paradigm that is emerging for these conditions is one in which exogenous signals can act as inducers of silent pathways or as alternative substrates that give rise to hybrid small molecules. Examples of such secondary metabolites of dual origin are highlighted in this Perspective article. Aside from demonstrating the remarkable metabolic economy that microorganisms use to create complex molecules, these examples also highlight the benefits of studying biosynthesis using a multispecies approach. This integrative mindset reveals not only the chemistry that underlies symbiotic biosynthetic pathways but also the naturally evolved functions of secondary metabolites that mediate or modulate interspecies interactions. Laboratory studies of natural product biosynthesis often focus on a particular secondary metabolite that is produced by a single species. This Perspective article considers examples in which bacteria and hosts work in concert to produce hybrid natural products.
Distributions and Local Structure

Uniqueness, intensities, and regularity; Absolute continuity and conditioning; Additive and maxitive processes.
Achieving higher linearity in precision standard products

Conclusion • Input Linearity • CFB to maintain gain in high bandwidths • Compensation Methods for Higher Gain Bandwidth • Settling Time, Noise Peaking, Cap Load Drive • Practical Considerations and Applications
Medicinal Uses of Vinegar

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the therapeutic properties, potential health benefits and medicinal uses of vinegar. Vinegar is used to fight infections and other acute conditions for a long time. The acetic acid in vinegar is reported to elicit the beneficial effects by alteration of metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract and in the liver. Vinegar is stated to have antimicrobial properties and has positive influence in cardiovascular diseases, seen as a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure. The antitumor effect of vinegar is shown by the ability of vinegar to induce apoptosis in human leukemia cells as well as inhibiting the proliferation of the cancer cells. The antiglycemic effect of vinegar is explored and vinegar is reported to alter the blood glucose concentration. The ingestion of vinegar is reported to be associated with satiety and decreased intake of subsequent meals; hence it can contribute to weight loss and control obesity. The safety and tolerance of medicinally ingested vinegar is discussed and it states that the high amount of acetic acid may have undesired consequences.
Mid-radiotherapy PET/CT for prognostication and detection of early progression in patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Abstract Background and purpose Pre- and mid-radiotherapy FDG-PET metrics have been proposed as biomarkers of recurrence and survival in patients treated for stage III non-small cell lung cancer. We evaluated these metrics in patients treated with definitive radiation therapy (RT). We also evaluated outcomes after progression on mid-radiotherapy PET/CT. Material and methods Seventy-seven patients treated with RT with or without chemotherapy were included in this retrospective study. Primary tumor and involved nodes were delineated. PET metrics included metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), and SUVmax. For mid-radiotherapy PET, both absolute value of these metrics and percentage decrease were analyzed. The influence of PET metrics on time to death, local recurrence, and regional/distant recurrence was assessed using Cox regression. Results 91% of patients had concurrent chemotherapy. Median follow-up was 14 months. None of the PET metrics were associated with overall survival. Several were positively associated with local recurrence: pre-radiotherapy MTV, and mid-radiotherapy MTV and TLG (p = 0.03–0.05). Ratio of mid- to pre-treatment SUVmax was associated with regional/distant recurrence (p = 0.02). 5/77 mid-radiotherapy scans showed early out-of-field progression. All of these patients died. Conclusions Several PET metrics were associated with risk of recurrence. Progression on mid-radiotherapy PET/CT was a poor prognostic factor.
Autonomous subgoal discovery and hierarchical abstraction for reinforcement learning using Monte Carlo method

Autonomous systems are often difficult to program. Reinforcement learning (RL) is an attractive alternative, as it allows the agent to learn behavior on the basis of sparse, delayed reward signals provided only when the agent reaches desired goals. However, standard reinforcement learning methods do not scale well for larger, more complex tasks. One promising approach to scaling up RL is hierarchical reinforcement learning (HRL) (Sutton, Precup, & Singh 1999; Kim & Dean 2003; Dietterich 2000; Givan, Leach, & Dean 2000; Parr 1998). Here, low-level policies, which emit the actual, primitive actions at a fast time-scale, solve only parts of the overall task. Higher-level policies solve the overall task, but they may consider only few abstract, high-level observations and actions (often referred to as macro-actions or options), at a slower time scale. This reduces each level’s search space and facilitates temporal credit assignment. Another advantage is that low-level policies can be re-used easily, either within the same task or in other tasks. One of the fundamental steps toward HRL is to automatically establish subgoals. Methods for automatically introducing subgoals have been studied in the context of adaptive production systems, where subgoals are created based on examinations of problem-solving protocols. For RL systems, several researchers have proposed methods by which policies learned for a set of related tasks are examined for commonalities or are probabilistically combined to form new policies. Subgoal discovery has been addressed by several researchers such as (McGovern & Barto 2001; Digney 1996; Drummond 1997), However the most closely related research is that of Digney (Digney 1996). In his system, states that are visited frequently or states where the reward gradient is high are chosen as subgoals. Drummond (Drummond 1997) proposed a system where an RL agent detected walls and doorways through the use of vision processing techniques applied to the learned value function. This paper presents a new method for the autonomous construction of hierarchical action and state representations in reinforcement learning, aimed at accelerating learning and extending the scope of such systems. In this approach, the agent uses information acquired while learning one task
Abdominal Contouring Outcomes in Class III Obesity: Analysis of the ACS-NSQIP Database

Obesity may increase the risk of complications following abdominal contouring. The aim of this study is to evaluate panniculectomy outcomes in patients with class III obesity (BMI > 40 kg/m2). The American College of Surgeon’s National Surgical Quality Improvement Program ACS-NSQIP (2010–2014) was used to identify patients who underwent panniculectomy. Class III obesity patients were identified. Demographics, comorbidities and postoperative outcomes were evaluated. Risk-adjusted multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess impact of class III obesity on panniculectomy outcomes. A total of 4497 panniculectomies were identified. Of these, 545 (12.1%) were performed in patients with class III obesity. This group was older (mean age 50.3 vs. 45.9, p < 0.01) with a higher proportion of men (23.4 vs. 12.4%, p < 0.01). Class III obesity group also had higher rates of comorbidities (p < 0.01). Postoperatively, class III obesity patients experienced much higher rates of wound complications (17.8 vs. 6.8%), sepsis (3.3 vs. 0.8%), venous thromboembolism (1.5 vs. 0.7%) and medical complications (6.4 vs. 1.8%), p < 0.05. Additionally, this group had higher rates of unplanned reoperation (9.2 vs. 3.7%) and 30-day readmissions (3.5 vs. 1.0%), p < 0.01. On risk-adjusted multivariate regression analyses, class III obesity was independently associated with increased risk of wound complications (OR 2.22, p < 0.01), sepsis (OR 3.53, p < 0.01), medical adverse events (OR 1.98, p < 0.05), unplanned reoperation (OR 1.62, p < 0.05) and 30-day readmission (OR 2.30, p < 0.05). Class III obesity patients are at significantly increased risk of adverse outcomes following abdominal contouring. Plastic surgeons should consider these risks for counseling and preoperative risk optimization. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .
Power hardware-in-loop simulation of grid-connected battery systems with reactive power control capability

This paper provides a detailed description of developing a power hardware-in-loop (P-HIL) testbed for the simulation and testing of grid-connected battery systems. The test allows not only analyzing the impact of operating grid-tied batteries on the power grid, but also analyzing less addressed battery operational issues, such as temperature, balance, age, and premature capacity loss, as well as the four quadrant energy storage inverter operation. The testbed architecture, hardware components, software systems, communications, and computer controls are explained. P-HIL model validation is provided for both static and dynamic test cases. The applications and benefits of the developed testbed are investigated to study battery characteristics during charge and discharge cycles, individual cell characteristics and cell imbalance, and impact on the power grid.
Three-dimensional wafer scale integration for ultra-large-scale cognitive systems

In this paper, we present a method to use three-dimensional wafer scale integration (3D-WSI) to build large-scale cognitive systems up to the scale of a human brain (1010 neurons, 1013 synapses). We analyze the effect of scaling by simulating some cognitive systems. The result exhibits attractive properties of the 3D-WSI technology, as compared with the traditional integration scheme using printed circuit boards. At the scale of a human brain, the 3D-WSI system reduces the communication latency by about 10X, while consuming at least 100X less communication power.
Effects of anesthesia and euthanasia solutions on the histologic quality of brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana)

Euthanasia followed by histological preparation is a common endpoint for invertebrate species utilized in research. These species present unique challenges to the histology laboratory because there...
Molecular characterization of suppressor-mutator (Spm)-induced mutations at the bronze-1 locus in maize: the bz-m13 alleles

The bz-m13 allele of maize contains a defective Suppressor-mutator (dSpm) transposable element and gives rise to a variety of stable and unstable derivatives in the presence of an autonomous Suppressor-mutator (Spm) element. The dSpm-13 element of bz-m13 consists of 2,241 base pairs (bp) and is located within the second exon of the bronze-1 (bz) gene. A number of the stable derivatives, both functional and nonfunctional, derived from bz-m13 were characterized molecularly. Resu ts from genomic DNA blotting experiments indicate that the dSpm-13 element had excised from the locus in each stable derivative analyzed. The unstable derivatives bz-m13CS9 and bz-m13CS6 contain dSpm elements in the same position and orientation as the dSpm-13 element, but they differ in the length of the element. The dSpm-13CS9 element is 902 bp and arose via a deletion between two 5-bp direct repeats within the dSpm-13 element. The dSpm-13CS6 element is 2,239 bp and only differs from dSpm-13 by a 2-bp deletion at the end of one of the 13-bp terminal inverted repeats. The effect of these deletions on the frequency and timing of Spm-induced excision is discussed herein. In the absence of Spm, each of the bz-m13 alleles conditions a nonmutant phenotype despite the presence of the insertions in the second exon. The role of RNA splicing in this phenomenon and the recent finding of an acceptor splice site within the terminal inverted repeat are also discussed.
Integrated evolution of ribosomal RNAs, introns, and intron nurseries

The initial components of ribosomes first appeared more than 3.8 billion years ago during a time when many types of RNAs were evolving. While modern ribosomes are complex molecular machines consisting of rRNAs and proteins, they were assembled during early evolution by the association and joining of small functional RNA units. Introns may have provided the means to ligate many of these pieces together. All four classes of introns (group I, group II, spliceosomal, and archaeal) are present in many rRNA gene loci over a broad phylogenetic range. A survey of rRNA intron sequences across the three major life domains suggests that some of the classes of introns may have diverged from one another within rRNA gene loci. Analyses of rRNA sequences revealed self-splicing group I and group II introns are present in ancestral regions of the SSU (small subunit) and LSU (large subunit), whereas spliceosomal and archaeal introns appeared in sections of the rRNA that evolved later. Most classes of introns increased in number for approximately 1 billion years. However, their frequencies are low in the most recently evolved regions added to the SSU and LSU rRNAs. Furthermore, many of the introns appear to have been in the same locations for billions of years, suggesting an ancient origin for these sequences. In this Perspectives paper, I reviewed and analyzed rRNA intron sequences, locations, structural characteristics, and splicing mechanisms; and suggest that rRNA gene loci may have served as evolutionary nurseries for intron formation and diversification.
Insulin-like growth factor-1 inhibits spreading depression-induced trigeminal calcitonin gene related peptide, oxidative stress & neuronal activation in rat

Migraineurs can show brain hyperexcitability and oxidative stress that may promote headache. Since hyperexcitability can enhance oxidative stress which promotes hyperexcitability, ending this feed-back loop may reduce migraine. Neocortical spreading depression, an animal model of migraine begins with hyperexcitability and triggers oxidative stress in the neocortical area involved and in the trigeminal system, which is important to pain pathway nociceptive activation in migraine. Additionally, oxidative stress causes increased trigeminal ganglion calcitonin gene-related peptide release and oxidative stress can reduce spreading depression threshold. Insulin-like growth factor-1 significantly protects against spreading depression in vitro by reducing oxidative stress and it is effective against spreading depression after intranasal delivery to animals. Here, we used adult male rats and extend this work to study the trigeminal system where insulin-like growth factor-1 receptors are highly expressed. Recurrent neocortical spreading depression significantly increased surrogate markers of trigeminal activation - immunostaining for trigeminal ganglion oxidative stress, calcitonin gene related peptide levels and c-fos in the trigeminocervical complex versus sham. These effects were significantly reduced by intranasal delivery of insulin-like growth factor-1 a day before recurrent neocortical spreading depression. Furthermore, intranasal treatment with insulin-like growth factor-1 significantly reduced naive levels of trigeminal ganglion calcitonin gene related peptide versus sham with no impact on blood glucose levels. Intranasal delivery of insulin-like growth factor-1 not only mitigates neocortical spreading depression, a cause of migraine hyperexcitability modeled in animals, but also when neocortical spreading depression is triggered by supra-threshold stimuli, insulin-like growth factor-1 effectively reduces nociceptive activation in the trigeminal system.
Light and hormone interactions in the seed-to-seedling transition

Abstract Plants exhibit sensitivity to dynamic or changing environments and respond to such fluctuations through short- and long-term adaptive responses. The transition from seed to established seedling is a critical phase of the plant life cycle. This brief, but highly important, phase is linked to species persistence and impacts long-term population dynamics. During the seed-to-seedling transition, key factors that modulate plant form and function are light, hormones, and integrated signaling at the light-hormone interface. During this stage of early plant development, germination, seedling development and the critical heterotrophic-to-autotrophic conversion, the latter of which includes chloroplast development and differentiation, are modulated by external light parameters and homeostasis of several plant hormones. Specific mechanisms used to mediate responses to light and/or hormones during the seed-to-seedling transition include the regulation of gene expression, protein dynamics, and metabolites (including sugars and reactive oxygen species). In this review, we highlight key mechanistic factors and components that are especially linked to integrating responses to light and hormones during germination and the post-germinative seed-to-seedling transition. These light-/hormone-dependent mechanisms have implications for short- and long-term dynamics and diversity of natural plant species and communities.
Ambulatory bariatric surgery: does it really lead to higher rates of adverse events?

Abstract Background Correlating patient outcomes with length of stay (LoS) is an important consideration in metabolic and bariatric surgery. At present, conflicting data exists regarding patient safety for ambulatory (AMB) metabolic and bariatric surgery. Objective Outcomes for AMB–metabolic and bariatric surgery patients (LoS Setting MBSAQIP national database. Methods The MBSAQIP registry was queried for patients undergoing SG or RYGB (2015–2017) and patients grouped as AMB/non-AMB. Exclusion criteria included LoS >4 days, age 75 years, revision surgery, gastric banding, body mass index Results After exclusions were applied 408,895 patients remained (9973 AMB). Overall, 111,279 patients underwent RYGB (1032 AMB) and 297,616 underwent SG (8941 AMB), with similar demographic characteristics and co-morbidities between groups. For AMB patients, there was no increase in 30-day mortality, reoperation, or readmission, and fewer drains were placed versus matched non-AMB patients. In AMB-SG patients more surgical site infections were reported versus non–AMB-SG, although AMB-SG patients had fewer intensive care unit admissions. For AMB-RYGB, no differences in complications were detected versus non–AMB-RYGB. Conclusion Based on our analysis of the MBSAQIP database, patients undergoing laparoscopic RYGB or SG procedures can be safely discharged on the day of their procedure without increased incidence of mortality, reoperation, or readmission.
Outcomes of Universal COVID-19 Testing Following Detection of Incident Cases in 11 Long-term Care Facilities.

This cross-sectional study evaluates the outcomes of universal COVID-19 testing following discovery of incident cases in 11 long-term care facilities in the US.
Estudios feministas de discapacidad en Iberoamérica: una aproximación al estado de la discusión

espanolEl objetivo del presente articulo es la aproximacion a un estado de la discusion iberoamericana sobre estudios feministas de discapacidad, basado en reflexiones teoricas y antecedentes empiricos de articulos de las dos primeras decadas del siglo XXI, y puntos de divergencia con estudios del Norte global. Afirma que las diferencias emergen de la tension epistemologica y ontologica en torno a la cualidad prelinguistica de los cuerpos, entendidos como experiencias encarnadas y territorializadas de discursos performativos y materialidades, donde se intersectan fronteras binarias de la matriz moderno/colonial. EnglishThe objective of the article is to offer an approach to the status of the Ibero-American discussion on feminist disability studies. It is based on articles from the first two decades of the 21st century showing theoretical reflections, empirical academic background, and points of divergence with studies from the global North. The paper states that differences emerge from the epistemological and ontological tension around the pre-linguistic trait of bodies, understood as embodied and territorialized experiences of performative discourses and materialities, where binary boundaries of the modern / colonial matrix intersect. portuguesO objetivo do presente artigo e a aproximacao a um estado da discussao em Ibero-America sobre estudos feministas da deficiencia, baseado em reflexoes teoricas e antecedentes empiricos de artigos das duas primeiras decadas do seculo XXI, e pontos de divergencia com estudos do Norte global. Afirma que as diferencas emergem da tensao epistemologica e ontologica ao redor da qualidade pre-linguistica dos corpos, entendidos como experiencias encarnadas e territorializadas de discursos performativos e materialidades, onde se intersectam fronteiras binarias da matriz moderno/colonial.
Temporal Bet-Hedging in Sand Fly Oviposition: Pharate Phlebotomus papatasi Sand Fly Neonates Regulate Hatching Time in Response to Organic Matter and Proximity to Conspecific Eggs.

In phlebotomine sand fly, the topic of the factors stimulating or inhibiting egg hatching has been largely ignored. In this study, we evaluated the hypothesis that pharate neonate sand flies are ab...
J. M. Keynes's Analysis of the Vertical, Horizontal and Normal Ranges of the LM Curve (Liquidity Preference Function) on Pages 207-208 in Chapter 15 of the General Theory

J. M. Keynes gave a very detailed analysis of the three different ranges of the LM curve (normal, vertical, horizontal) on pages 207-208 of the General Theory in chapter 15 in the course of his discussions of the problem of Absolute Liquidity Preference in relation to the question of the effectiveness of monetary policy. This analysis dealt with the ineffectiveness of monetary policy once the long run rate of interest had fallen below a range of 2% to 2.5 %. This would correspond to a short term rate of interest of 0% once the various premiums that are added to the short run rate are subtracted from the long run rate. Hicks also dealt with the problem of the zero bound when the short run rate of interest had fallen to 0 % in his April, 1937 Econometrica paper, but made no mention of such a problem in his June, 1936 Economic Journal article reviewing the General Theory. Unfortunately, he incorrectly referenced pages 200-201 of the General Theory on page 154 in his footnote 5 in his 1937 Econometrica paper as being the supposed foundation for his different treatment of the potential problem of the ineffectiveness of monetary policy once the short run rate of interest had fallen to 0%. There is no such discussion by Keynes of this problem on pages 201-202 of the General Theory. Keynes’s discussion appears on pages 207-208. Hicks’s discussions on pages 153-154, as well as his figures on pp. 153-154 of his Econometrica article, add nothing to Keynes’s technical discussions and real world examples. Only at the very end of Hicks’s paper does he add something original, that was not explicitly mentioned by Keynes in the General Theory. Hicks, in his discussions of a horizontal IS curve range, did make a small unique contribution. Klein ‘s 1947 discussions of a vertical range for the IS curve is also a small contribution to IS-LM.
Malignant Dysrhythmias – Brugada Type 1 Pattern Formation in the Presence of Fever

Brugada is a malignant cardiac dysrhythmia characterized by ST elevations in precordial leads V1 to V3. It is an autosomal dominant disease, and patients are usually asymptomatic. Often the initial presenting symptom of this syndrome is syncope or sudden cardiac death (SCD). In patients with this syndrome, the only definitive treatment is the implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator device (ICD). Previously it has been reported that Brugada type EKG patterns have been observed in patients who have used sodium channel blocking medications/drugs and in patients who are febrile. In this case, a 58 year-old male presented to our emergency department with a fever of five days duration and a non-productive cough. The patient was initially diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia, however during the initial workup his EKG demonstrated a Brugada type EKG pattern. The patient did not have any history of cardiac disease, nor was there any history of syncope or SCD in his family. The patient was eventually discharged from the hospital four days after his initial presentation and instructed to follow up with cardiology. Brugada type EKG patterns are known to occur in patients in febrile states and in those patients using certain types of medications. In those patients who present under the above mentioned conditions who are otherwise asymptomatic, the literature does not support the implantation of an ICD.
International Law and the Limits of Macroeconomic Cooperation

The macroeconomic policies of states can produce significant costs and benefits for other states, yet international macroeconomic cooperation has been one of the weakest areas of international law. We ask why states have had such trouble cooperating over macroeconomic issues when they have been relatively successful at cooperation over other economic matters such as international trade. We argue that although the theoretical benefits of macroeconomic cooperation are real, in practice it is difficult to sustain because optimal cooperative policies are often uncertain and time variant, making it exceedingly difficult to craft clear rules for cooperation in many areas. It also is often difficult or impossible to design credible selfenforcement mechanisms. Recent cooperation on bank capital standards, the history of exchange rate cooperation, the European monetary union, and the prospects for broader monetary and fiscal cooperation all are discussed. Finally, we contrast the reasons for successful cooperation on international trade policy.
The effect of continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration on amino acid delivery, clearance, and removal in children.

In critically ill children with acute kidney injury (AKI), continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT) enables nutrition provision. The magnitude of amino acid loss during continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) is unknown and needs accurate quantification. We investigated the mass removal and clearance of amino acids in pediatric CVVHDF. This is a prospective observational cohort study of patients receiving CVVHDF from August 2014 to January 2016 in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary children’s hospital. Fifteen patients (40% male, median age 2.0 (IQR 0.7, 8.0) years) were enrolled. Median PICU and hospital lengths of stay were 20 (9, 59) and 36 (22, 132) days, respectively. Overall survival to discharge was 66.7%. Median daily protein prescription was 2.00 (1.25, 2.80) g/kg/day. Median daily amino acid mass removal was 299.0 (174.9, 452.0) mg/kg body weight, and median daily amino acid mass clearance was 18.2 (13.5, 27.9) ml/min/m2, resulting in a median 14.6 (8.3, 26.7) % protein loss. The rate of amino acid loss increased with increasing dialysis dose and blood flow rate. CVVHDF prescription and related amino acid loss impact nutrition provision, with 14.6% of the prescribed protein removed. Current recommendations for protein provision for children requiring CVVHDF should be adjusted to compensate for circuit-related loss.
Empowerment programs for parental mental health of preterm infants: A meta-analysis

Abstract Objective To assess the effectiveness of empowerment programs on mental health in parents of preterm infants. Methods Ten databases were searched for randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published from inception to March 2020, and two reviewers independently and critically assessed trial quality and extracted data. Results Eight studies with a total of 1029 participants met the inclusion criteria. Empowerment programs significantly improved parental mental health, particularly maternal stress and depression. This meta-analysis also indicated that Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE) had a medium effect on maternal mental health. Both empowerment-based health education and empowerment programs conducted during the infants’ hospitalisation had large effects on maternal mental health, whereas those conducted from hospitalisation to one week after discharge showed no significant effect. Conclusion Empowerment programs have positive effects on parental mental health, especially for mothers. Practice implications Our study provides objective evidence for the development of future empowerment programs.
Property, Predation, and Informal Governance

Successful governance implies that organizations, networks, or practices create public or club goods by constraining behavior, sharing information, or providing resources. While effective governance may require a functional state, compelling studies have theorized informal governance without Leviathan’s backing in a vast number of domains, so much so that few exceptions exist in which the state is deemed an absolute sine qua non. One such exception is the security of private property rights. The consensus on the impossibility of informal property rights’ protection partly derives from our ruler-centric concept of the state as a powerful sovereign, first vividly conceptualized in analytic narratives based on medieval Europe. The conventional diagnosis of top-down ruler-sanctioned predation generates the key prescription for sovereigns aiming to increase tax revenue and investment: institutional commitment constraining the upper executive. I offer an alternative perspective on PR security and informal governance. I conceptualize and empirically validate four ideal types of state threats to private property, and show that informal governance is a viable solution to a particularly pernicious – but understudied – threat type.
Privatization, the State, and the Transformation of World-Class Research Universities

In May of this year, the University of Southern California (USC) succeeded in attracting two prominent neuroscientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (University of Southern California, 2013). Over the last 50 years, academic staff have moved from university to university in the United States quite often.
Effects of 8 weeks pre-workout dietary supplement ingestion with and without synephrine on blood chemistry panel.

Background A number of nutritional strategies have been developed to optimize nutrient delivery prior to exercise. As a result, a number of pre-workout supplements have been developed to increase energy availability, promote vasodilation, and/ or positively affect exercise capacity. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 8 weeks pre-workout dietary supplement ingestion with and without synephrine on blood chemistry panel.
Fast Fourier Transforms and Nufft

The fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm is one of most fundamental and powerful computational tools in computational science and engineering. In this article, the development of the fast Fourier transform algorithm is reviewed, some representative applications in electromagnetics are illustrated, and some recent developments in extending the FFT algorithms to nonuniformly sampled data and to discontinuous functions are summarized. Keywords: fourier transform; fast Fourier transform (FFT); discrete Fourier transform (DFT); nonuniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT); discontinuous fast Fourier transform (DFFT)
Amikacin Therapy of Exacerbations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis

Amikacin, a new semisynthetic aminoglycoside antibiotic with activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, was used to treat 22 acute exacerbations of chronic pulmonary infections in 18 patients with cystic fibrosis. Patients ranged from 5 to 32 years of age and had mucoid P. aeruginosa isolated from sputum. The amikacin dose was usually 7.5 mg/kg every eight hours but was increased to 10 mg/kg and/or carbenicillin was added in selected cases depending on clinical course. Although P. aeruginosa was not eliminated from our patients' sputum except in two cases, there was a good clinical response in 19 of 22 courses. Significant improvement in chest x-ray films, spirometry, or arterial oxygen tension was documented in 11 of 17 courses. One instance of serum creatinine level elevation could not be attributed to this antibiotic. Two patients showed minimal (15 dB) unilateral high-frequency hearing loss on serial audiograms. Activity against many gentamicin-resistant strains and high blood levels are among the attractive properties of amikacin. Amikacin is clinically effective in treating Pseudomonas-associated pulmonary infections complicating cystic fibrosis.
Optical beamforming for ultrasonic phased arrays

This paper describes potentially low cost, lightweight, and compact optical beamforming techniques for ultrasonic phased arrays. The use of a pair of tiny stamp-size low cost nematic liquid crystal (NLC) 2-D optical array devices for the transducer control sites allows compact, low control power beamforming for large (i.e., >128 element) 2-D transducer arrays. 8eing able to control many elements (e.g. 512) in a 2-D format leads to higher resolution ultrasonic detection that can be very useful in certain imaging applications such as tumor detection in the medical profession and tiny crack detection in machine parts inspection. The optical method also provides a high degree of carrier tunability. Thus, compared to an all-electronic controller, the proposed optical method for ultrasonic arrays can be beneficial in certain scenarios where cost, power, tunability, remote control, and resolution are key issues.
Trilene, an adjunct to obstetrical anesthesia and analgesia.

Abstract Trilene is a potent analgesic drug. Its margin of safety and ease of administration will ultimately make it a standard agent on all delivery floors. Trilene's wide variety of uses will probably allow almost every obstetrician to find a place for it in his obstetrical practice.
Electric Propulsion [History]

In the beginning of the 20th century, there were three candidate propulsion systems to replace the horse and buggy for personal transportation: steam, electric, and internal combustion engines. There were several reasons why the internal combustion engine won out. One was the invention of the electric starter first put in production in 1912. The driver no longer needed strength to crank the engine. Together with the Bosch ignition, major contributions made to the car business by the electrical engineers were combustion engine and electrical starters. Electric lights followed and then the radio in the 1930-the Motorola. But what really spelled the death of the electric car was the discovery of low-cost petroleum, the ability of oil refiners to crack heavy crude into gasoline, and the development of powerful, efficient engines using custom-made fuels in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Greatly contributing, of course, was the genius of manufacturers such as Henry Ford, which reduced the cost of making mass-produced automobiles so that many could afford them. The next set of vehicles was a trio of electric, hybrid, and conventional vehicles designed and built to meet the needs of urban commuters. These vehicles also demonstrated that the conventional vehicle had the lowest cost and highest performance and could meet emissions requirements, which in the 1970s was the primary driver.
A Host-Specific, Temperature-Sensitive Translation Defect Determines the Attenuation Phenotype of a Human Rhinovirus/Poliovirus Chimera, PV1(RIPO)

By using a rhinosvirus/poliovirus type 1 chimera, PV1(RIPO), with the cognate internal ribosome entry site (IRES) of human rhinovirus type 2 (HRV2), we set out to shed light on the mechanism by which this variant expresses its attenuated phenotype in poliovirus-sensitive, CD155 transgenic (tg) mice and cynomolgus monkeys. Here we report that replication of PV1(RIPO) is restricted not only in human cells of neuronal origin, as was reported previously, but also in cells of murine origin at physiological temperature. This block in replication was enhanced at 39.5°C but, remarkably, it was absent at 33°C. PV1(RIPO) variants that overcame the replication block were derived by serial passage under restrictive conditions in either mouse cells or human neuronal cells. All adapting mutations mapped to the 5'-nontranslated region of PV1(RIPO). Variants selected in mouse cells, but not in human neuronal cells, exhibited increased mouse neurovirulence in vivo. The observed strong mouse-specific defect of PV1(RIPO) at nonpermissive temperature correlated with the translational activity of the HRV2 IRES in this chimeric virus. These unexpected results must be kept in mind when poliovirus variants are tested in CD155 tg mice for their neurovirulent potential, particularly in assays of live attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine lots. Virulence may be masked by adverse species-specific conditions in mouse cells that may not allow accurate prediction of neurovirulence in the human host. Thus, novel poliovirus variants in line for possible development of human vaccines must be tested in nonhuman primates.
Cutting single-walled carbon nanotubes

A two-step process is utilized for cutting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The first step requires the breakage of carbon?carbon bonds in the lattice while the second step is aimed at etching at these damage sites to create short, cut nanotubes. To achieve monodisperse lengths from any cutting strategy requires control of both steps. Room-temperature piranha and ammonium persulfate solutions have shown the ability to exploit the damage sites and etch SWNTs in a controlled manner. Despite the aggressive nature of these oxidizing solutions, the etch rate for SWNTs is relatively slow and almost no new sidewall damage is introduced. Carbon?carbon bond breakage can be introduced through fluorination to ~C2F, and subsequent etching using piranha solutions has been shown to be very effective in cutting nanotubes. The final average length of the nanotubes is approximately?100?nm with carbon yields as high as 70?80%.
Competitive protein-binding radioassay for 25-hydroxycholecalciferol.

ABSTRACT Rachitic kidney cytosol is employed in a simple and sensitive method for the determination of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-HCC) in human plasma. The mean plasma 25-HCC level in 40 volunteers was 27.3 ± 11.8 (SD) ng/ml, whereas lifeguards and patients with biliary cirrhosis displayed significantly higher and lower concentrations, respectively.
Real-time recognition of self-similar landmarks

Abstract Mobile robot localization and navigation require robust and efficient methods for utilizing perceptual information. In this paper we propose a design for simple visual landmarks that can be unobtrusively added to an environment for navigation without a global geometric map of the workspace. We describe self-similar intensity patterns together with an efficient and reliable algorithm for their detection in real-time that can handle a wide range of affine transformations. An implementation of the method is available at www.middlebury.edu/~schar/landmark .
Comparative discharges of fresh and waste water along the California coast

As the population of California grows, the discharge of domestic and industrial waste water and power-plant cooling water into coastal waters continuously increases. About 0.75 × 106 m3 of industrial waste water, 3.75 × 106 m3 of domestic waste water, and 26.5 × 106 m3 of thermal effluent are discharged daily into California's nearshore waters. These waters do not have an infinite capacity to break down and disperse the pollutants. Waste water discharged near shore may remain there for considerable time and have a significant effect on water quality and marine life. The low population and wet climate of the northern coastal region have led to small discharges of waste water but very large inputs of fresh water to the ocean. Southward along the Pacific Coast the climate becomes more arid, and population increases. This combination leads to a large excess of waste-water over fresh-water discharge. Many individual waste-water discharges exceed the average daily discharge of most of the rivers which enter the coastal waters.
Nonminating Presidential Candidates: The Primary Season Compared to Two Alternatives

Study of the impact of the McGovern-Fraser reforms on presidential nominations, though extensive, has focused largely on (1) the effects of reduced control by party leaders, and (2) the nature of inputs including votes, media, and money Despite the unusual practice of holding separate contests in multiple states to select a single nominee, little research explicitly addresses how such sequential contests function to transmit voters' preferences. I use computer simulations to tackle this seemingly intractable question and compare the results of a primary season to two alternatives, a single national primary and a national primary followed by a runoff. Using first a uniform distribution of voter preferences and then a distribution based on ANES data, I explore the impact different decision rules have on (1) a party's ability to satisfy its own voters' preferences, and (2) its competitiveness in the general election. I find that, on average, the primary season does better both at estimating party voters' preferences and at selecting candidates nearer the general electorate median. A primary followed by a runoff yields results close to those for the primary season, whereas a single primary generates results not dissimilar to those created by random selection. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the system used to nominate presidential candidates.
Collagen-Binding Peptide Interaction with Retinal Tissue Surfaces

One of the current challenges in treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the surface modification of the retinal Bruch membrane. In this study, the collagen fibers of the inner collagenous zone of the Bruch membrane were identified as type I and type III. Subsequently, the adsorption of a collagen-binding peptide onto the inner collagenous zone surface was investigated. The collagen-binding peptide was able to bind specifically to the collagen fibers while maintaining the biological activity of the N-terminus biotin tag. These results indicate that the collagen-binding peptide may be used as an anchor to immobilize bioactive molecules on the inner collagenous zone surface of the Bruch membrane.
Feather Weight of Early (k+) and Late (K) Feathering Young Adult Broilers

Abstract Chickens from a commercial broiler stock were tested to ascertain whether presence of the sex-linked early (k+) and late (K) feathering alleles caused a difference in feather cover (weight of feathers) at 147 and 196 days of age. There were no differences between early and late feathering females for absolute feather weight or feather weight as a percentage of body weight. Early feathering males had heavier body weights and feather weights than early feathering females, but there was no difference between sexes for percent feather weight. Females at 147 days of age had greater percent feather weight than at 196 days of age due to an increase in body weight but not in feather weight.
Improved biochemical preservation of lung slices during cold storage.

Background. Development of lung preservation solutions typically requires whole-organ models which are animal and labor intensive. These models rely on physiologic rather than biochemical endpoints, making accurate comparison of the relative efficacy of individual solution components difficult. We hypothesized that lung slices could be used to assess preservation of biochemical function during cold storage. Materials and methods. Whole rat lungs were precision cut into slices with a thickness of 500 μm and preserved at 4°C in the following solutions: University of Wisconsin (UW), Euro-Collins (EC), low-potassium–dextran (LPD), Kyoto (K), normal saline (NS), or a novel lung preservation solution (NPS) developed using this model. Lung biochemical function was assessed by ATP content (ηmol ATP/mg wet wt) and capacity for protein synthesis (cpm/mg protein) immediately following slicing (0 h) and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 h of cold storage. Six slices were assayed at each time point for each solution. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and are presented as means ± SD. Results. ATP content was significantly higher in the lung slices stored in NPS compared with all other solutions at each time point (P < 0.0001). Protein synthesis was significantly higher in the lung slices stored in NPS compared with all other solutions at 6, 12, and 18 h of preservation (P < 0.05). Conclusions. This lung slice model allows the rapid and efficient screening of lung preservation solutions and their components using quantifiable biochemical endpoints. Using this model, we have developed a novel solution that improves the biochemical preservation of lung slices during cold storage.
Temperature and Salinity Structure in the Weddell Sea

Abstract The general circulation of water in the Weddell Sea is part of a large cyclonic gyre. A section taken across this gyre from the Scotia Ridge to Cape Norvegia shows that the Warm Deep Water forms an asymmetric lens-like structure with the thickest portion south of the center of the sea. This large-scale feature of the Weddell Sea is evidently due to a divergent Ekman flux driven by the general atmospheric circulation and upwelling in the center of the gyre. Vertical profiles of temperature and salinity in the center of the gyre show small step-like structures in the upper part of the transition from colder, less salty Winter Water to the warmer, saltier Warm Deep Water below and large step-like structures in the tower part of the transition region. Double-diffusive convection can take place in both regions. Circumstantial evidence leads one to believe that the cabbeling instability is effective in the large-step region. Internal waves and shear instabilities may also he mechanisms that contribute ...
Myocardial contractility in ovariectomized rats

Abstract Maximal, isometric, developed tension was measured in isolated papillary muscles from normal and ovariectomized rats. From a comparison of 33 normal rats and 33 ovariectomized rats, there is no evidence to indicate that the development of tension by papillary muscle is altered by ovariectomy.
MBE growth of strained-layer superlattices and quantum wells

Abstract The use of strain in superlattice and quantum well semiconductor structures to produce properties not available in bulk alloys has become important in the design of advanced electronic devices. One such system is the InAsSb strained-layer superlattice, in which tensile strain parallel to [100] interfaces results in lowering of the energy gap, enabling the fabrication of detectors with cutoff wavelength in excess of 12 μm. We discuss the molecular beam epitaxial growth of alloy and superlattice materials suitable for such structures and characterization of materials with significant optical absorption beyond 12 μm.
Shock-induced fighting in septal-lesioned rats

Emotionality ratings of rats with bilateral lesions in the septal area were elevated two days and 30 days after lesion placement. At approximately 85 days after lesioning, pairs of septal animals exhibited significantly more fighting in response to electric shock stimulation than control animals even though at this time their emotionality ratings did not differ from those of control animals.