cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Regional modelling of soil carbon at multiple depths within a subtropical watershed.

article i nfo Environmental factors that exert control over fine-scale spatial patterns of soil organic carbon (SOC) within profiles and across large regions differ by geographic location and landscape setting. Regions with large SOC storage and high variability can serve as natural laboratories to investigate how environmental factors generate vertical and horizontal SOC patterns across the landscape. This was investigated in the Santa Fe River watershed (SFRW), Florida, where we modelled the spatial distribution of total C (TC) at four depths to 180 cm (0-30, 30-60, 60-120, and 120-180 cm) and at an aggregated depth of 0-100 cm. A total of 554 samples from 141 sampling sites distributed along land use and soil order combinations were analyzed for TC by high-temperature combustion. A vertical trend of TC stocks decreasing with depth was identified. Horizontal trends of TC were modelled to identify the environmental determinants of TC in the SFRW. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) and compared regression block kriging with lognormal block kriging to scale up TC across the SFRW. Total soil C was influenced by soil depth, land use, soil type, soil drainage class, and geologic unit. Regression kriging performed better than block kriging to scale up TC at three out of five depth intervals. This indicates that in the majority of cases environmental factors were the major determinants of the spatial distribution of TC relative to its spatial autocorrelation. At 60-120 and 120- 180 cm, the local spatial dependence of TC was more important than environmental factors to explain its variation across the watershed. Our models show that 54.0 Tg (teragrams) of C is held in the upper 1 m of soils in the SFRW, and significant amounts are stored in deeper layers. They also identified the major factors responsible for regional spatial patterns of TC in this subtropical region, providing information to support current efforts of conservation of soil resources in Florida, and under similar environmental conditions in the southeastern U.S. and elsewhere.
Anti-α4 Integrin Antibody Blocks Monocyte/Macrophage Traffic to the Heart and Decreases Cardiac Pathology in a SIV Infection Model of AIDS.

BackgroundCardiovascular disease (CVD), myocarditis and fibrosis are comorbidities of HIV+ individuals on durable antiretroviral therapy (ART). Although mechanisms for these vary, monocytes/macroph...
Are prostate needle biopsies predictive of the laterality of significant cancer and positive surgical margins

OBJECTIVE To determine whether data obtained from preoperative prostate needle biopsy can predict the laterality of significant cancer and positive surgical margins on final-specimen pathology after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP). PATIENTS AND METHODS Data from 490 patients undergoing LRP by one surgeon were reviewed retrospectively. The demographic characteristics, intraoperative data and pathological results were analysed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine which factors before and during LRP influenced the positive surgical margin status. RESULTS There was only minor agreement between the laterality of positive needle biopsies and laterality of any cancer and significant cancer on final-specimen pathology (κ = 0.135 and 0.151, respectively). This was irrespective of the number of needle cores obtained or final-specimen Gleason grade. Similarly, the laterality of dominant cancer on needle biopsy had only a minor agreement with the location of positive surgical margins (κ = 0.050) and fair agreement with the location of extracapsular extension on final-specimen pathology (κ = 0.235). CONCLUSIONS Preoperative needle biopsy data have only a minor correlation with the laterality of significant cancer and positive surgical margins at final pathology of LRP specimens. Recognition of this fact, and the frequent bilaterality of significant cancer, with its potential for contralateral positive surgical margins even when the biopsies are positive only unilaterally, is an important consideration when planning nerve-sparing, and potentially for focal therapy.
Insecticide resistance in the Colorado potato beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): influence of crop rotation and insecticide use.

Crop rotation is an important and effective management tactic for the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). Colorado potato beetles in rotated potato, Solanum tuberosum L., fields tend to have lower frequencies of pesticide resistance than in nonrotated fields. One explanation that has been suggested for this phenomenon is that resistant beetles disperse less readily than susceptible beetles, and that crop rotation thereby selects for susceptibility. However, a comparison of resistance frequencies and farm practices indicates that insecticide treatment histories have a greater influence on resistance than crop rotation. Crop rotation may indirectly reduce selection for resistance by reducing the number of insecticide treatments. No evidence that crop rotation selects against resistant beetles was found.
The Effect of Identity-Based GOTV Direct Mail Appeals on the Turnout of Indian Americans

This article presents the results of a randomized field experiment testing the effectiveness of three different identity-based appeals communicated via direct mail to registered Indian American voters in Queens County. The appeals made salient different identities: the voter as a U.S. citizen, a U.S. citizen and a person of color, or a U.S. citizen and an Indian American. The experiment informs the understanding of voter mobilization more generally and assists Indian American organizers in their efforts to incorporate the community into the U.S. political system. The findings show that a single mailing seems to have little effect on the turnout rates of Indian American voters, although there is some evidence that multiple mailings may have had some effect. None of the identity appeals were especially effective at bolstering turnout.
Airborne tracking resolution requirements for urban vehicles

This paper details the development, experimentation, collected data and the results of research designed to gain an understanding of the temporal and spatial image collection guidelines for tracking urban vehicles. More specifically, a quantitative understanding of the relationship between human observer performance and the spatial and temporal resolution is sought. Performance is measured as a function of the number of video frames per second, imager spatial resolution and the ability of the observer to accurately determine the destination of a moving vehicle target. The research is restricted to data and imagery collected from altitudes typical of modern low to mid altitude persistent surveillance platforms using a wide field of view. The ability of the human observer to perform an unaided track of the vehicle was determined by their completion of carefully designed perception experiments. In these experiments, the observers were presented with simulated imagery from Night Vision's EOSim urban terrain simulator. The details of the simulated targets and backgrounds, the design of the experiments and their associated results are included in this treatment.
Byzantine Fault-Tolerant Web Services for n-Tier and Service Oriented Architectures

Mission-critical services must be replicated to guarantee correctness and high availability in spite of arbitrary (Byzantine) faults. Traditional Byzantine fault tolerance protocols suffer from several major limitations. Some protocols do not support interoperability between replicated services. Other protocols provide poor fault isolation between services leading to cascading failures across organizational and application boundaries. Moreover, traditional protocols are unsuitable for applications with tiered architectures, long-running threads of computation, or asynchronous interaction between services. We present Perpetual, a protocol that supports Byzantine fault-tolerant execution of replicated services while enforcing strict fault isolation. Perpetual enables interaction between replicated services that may invoke and process remote requests asynchronously in long-running threads of computation. We present a modular implementation, an Axis2 Web Services extension, and experimental results that demonstrate only a moderate overhead due to replication.
The effect of intrinsic curvature on supercoiling: Predictions of elasticity theory

Elasticity theory of naturally curved rods is employed to study the effects of intrinsic curvature on the properties of the equilibrium conformations of supercoiled DNA. The results stand in sharp contrast to those obtained when the molecule is viewed as being straight in its relaxed form. Starting from very fundamental principles of the theory, we show that the torsion of an open segment with a curved duplex axis can vary when the temperature, and along with it, the intrinsic twist is changed. Conversely, an imposed helicity, such as might be associated with binding to a histone, can change the intrinsic twist. It is also shown that another consequence of the presence of naturally curved sequences is that the twist density will, in general, vary with position along the chain in all equilibrium states. Then portions of the molecule will be more or less susceptible to interaction with other agents sensitive to such a variation. Finally, some closed equilibrium global structures uniquely associated with intrinsic curvature are discussed. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Eating Quality of Ground Chicken-Soy Patties

Abstract Effects that particle size, percentages, and types of textured soy protein (TSP) have on cooking and sensory properties when used as an extender of ground chicken patties were determined. Patties containing minced TSP particles had lower drip loss, scored lower in meat flavor, and were less firm than patties containing flake or chunk TSP particles. Increasing TSP decreased cooking loss, cooking time, and chicken flavor and increased cereal flavor. Patties containing 15% TSP were firmer and less juicy than those containing 21% or 30%. However, acceptability scores were the same for 15% and 21% TSP patties and significantly higher than for 30% TSP patties. Patties with thermal compacted (tcp) soy protein were generally more acceptable than those with textured soy protein (tp).
Vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers: moving from research to manufacturing

After more than a decade of research, vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are making the transition into the manufacturing arena. We review unique VCSEL properties found in their structure, growth, fabrication, and performance, which have precipitated their commercial acceptance. The short optical cavity that is formed between two distributed Bragg reflector mirrors is a distinctive VCSEL attribute. The spectral alignment between the resonance of the optical cavity formed by these mirrors and the laser gain bandwidth is shown to influence the VCSEL performance. Thus, epitaxial VCSEL growth by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy aided by in situ reflectance monitoring is discussed with an emphasis on uniformity and reproducibility. We also describe the fabrication techniques and VCSEL structures used to obtain transverse electrical and optical confinement, including etched air-post, ion-implanted, and selectively oxidized VCSELs. For the latter, wet oxidation of AlGaAs to form buried-oxide apertures has enabled record laser performance, such as ultralow threshold current and high efficiency. Numerous applications for VCSELs have been identified that leverage their manufacturing and performance advantages.
Micafungin induced apoptosis in Candida parapsilosis independent of its susceptibility to micafungin

We hypothesized that the cell wall inhibitor micafungin (MICA) induces apoptosis in both MICA-susceptible (MICA-S) and MICA-non- susceptible (MICA-NS) Candida parapsilosis . Antifungal activity and apoptosis were analyzed in MICA-S and MICA-NS C. parapsilosis strains following expo- sure to micafungin for 3 h at 37°C in RPMI 1640 medium. Apoptosis was char- acterized by detecting phosphatidylserine externalization (PS), plasma mem- brane integrity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial membrane potential changes, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release, and caspase-like activity. Apoptosis was detected in MICA exposed (0.25 to 1 mg/L) susceptible C. parapsilosis strains and was associated with apoptosis of 20-52% of analyzed cells versus only 5-30% of apoptosis in MICA-NS cells ex- posed to micafungin (0.5 to 2 mg/L; P = 0.001). The MICA antifungal activity was correlated with apoptotic cells showing increased dihydrorhodamine-123 staining (indicating ROS production), Rh-123 staining (decreased mitochondri- al membrane potential), elevated ATP, and increased metacaspase activity. In conclusion, MICA is pro-apoptotic in MICA-S cells, but still exerts apoptotic effects in MICA -NS C. parapsilosis .
PLASTICITY OF FEEDBACK INPUTS IN THE APTERONOTID ELECTROSENSORY SYSTEM

Weakly electric fish generate an electric field surrounding their body by means of an electric organ typically located within the trunk and tail. Electroreceptors scattered over the surface of the body encode the amplitude and timing of the electric organ discharge (EOD), and central components of the electrosensory system analyze the information provided by the electroreceptor afferents. The electrosensory system is used for electrolocation, for the detection and analysis of objects near the fish which distort the EOD and for electrocommunication. Since the electric organ is typically located in the tail, any movement of this structure relative to the rest of the body alters the EOD field, resulting in large changes in receptor afferent activity. The amplitude of these reafferent stimuli can exceed the amplitudes of near-threshold electrolocation signals by several orders of magnitude. This review summarizes recent studies of the South American weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus aimed at determining how the animals differentiate self-generated or reafferent electrosensory stimuli from those that are more behaviorally relevant. Cells within the earliest stages of central electrosensory processing utilize an adaptive filtering technique which allows the system preferentially to attenuate reafferent as well as other predictable patterns of sensory input without degrading responses to more novel stimuli. Synaptic plasticity within the system underlies the adaptive component of the filter and enables the system to learn to reject new stimulus patterns if these become predictable. A Ca2+-mediated form of postsynaptic depression contributes to this synaptic plasticity. The filter mechanism seen in A. leptorhynchus is surprisingly similar to adaptive filters described previously in mormyrid weakly electric fish and in elasmobranchs, suggesting that this mechanism may be a common feature of sensory processing systems.
Statistical Inference for the Overlap Hypothesis

For prototype growth data suppose that X t represents the height of an individual at time t. The overlap hypothesis asserts that there is no correlation between X 1 and the gain in height, X 2 - X 1, or that the correlation between X 1 and X 2 is the same as that between X 1 and X 1 - X 2. An estimate of the correlation when either of these hypotheses holds is obtained. A statistical test for the hypothesis is also developed, and indications of a multivariate version are presented.
The importance of subduction-related margin-parallel shear zones along transpressional convergent plate margins

Structural and tectonic models of ancient convergent margins commonly assume simple orthogonal convergence and collision; hence, they are easily represented in cross-sectional models. These simplified models, useful for predicting first-order relationships between geologic elements, often do not consider a margin-parallel component of relative motion. A growing body of evidence suggests that during oblique convergence, subduction-related margin-parallel strike-slip shear zones (MPSZs) play an important role in the evolution of many convergent margins.
BEST1: the Best Target for Gene and Cell Therapies

A retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) disorder, bestrophinopathy has recently been proven to be amenable to gene and cell-based therapies in preclinical models. RPE disorders and allied retinal degenerations exhibit significant genetic heterogeneity, and diverse mutations can result in similar disease phenotypes. Several RPE disorders have recently become targets for gene therapies in humans. The year 2011 brought a new advance in cell-based therapies, with the Food and Drug Administration approving clinical trials using embryonic stem cells for an RPE disorder known as age-related macular degeneration. Recent studies on induced pluripotent stem (iPS)-RPE generation indicate strong potential for developing patient-specific disease models in vitro, which could eventually enable personalized treatment. This mini-review will briefly highlight the suitability of the retina for gene and cell therapies, the pathophysiology of bestrophinopathy, and the research and treatment opportunities afforded by stem cell and genetic therapies.
Concentration of Sindbis virus with optimized gradient insulator-based dielectrophoresis

Biotechnology, separation science, and clinical research are impacted by microfluidic devices. Separation and manipulation of bioparticles such as DNA, protein and viruses are performed on these platforms. Microfluidic systems provide many attractive features, including small sample size, rapid detection, high sensitivity and short processing time. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) and electrophoresis are especially well suited to microscale bioparticle control and have been demonstrated in many formats. In this work, an optimized gradient insulator-based DEP device was utilized for concentration of Sindbis virus, an animal virus with a diameter of 68 nm. Within only a few seconds, the concentration of Sindbis virus can be increased by two to six times in the channel under easily accessible voltages as low as about 70 V. Compared with traditional diagnostic methods used in virology, DEP-based microfluidics can enable faster isolation, detection and concentration of viruses in a single step within a short time.
Rural hospitals closings: a case study of the effects in Texas on infant mortality and accidental deaths.

Over 550 rural hospitals have closed across the nation since 1981 (OTA, November 1989). The Senate Special Committee on Aging (1988) estimated that as many as 600 of the nation's 2,700 remaining hospitals are at a risk of closing. These large numbers have created a sense of concern and anxiety about the effects that the lost hospitals will have on the lives of rural citizens. It is important to understand whether or not the loss of health care facilities has negatively affected the lives of rural citizens. Long term costs, both social and economic, derived from lost health care facilities can have devastating effects on the development of a community or region. McDermott, Cornia, and Parsons (1990) demonstrated that rural hospitals make significant economic contri butions to the communities they serve, implying an economic loss when they close. Knowing that, a related question is: how does the loss of rural hospitals and related loss of health care access substan tively affect rural citizens? This study addresses that question on the scale of a case study analysis using two basic indicators of mortality as vicarious measures of health status and health care accessibility.
Effect of in situ Polymer Adsorption on the Synthesis of Monodisperse TiO2 Powders

Monodisperse and spherical titania powders were prepared by the hydrolysis of titanium tetraethoxide in ethanol with hydroxy-propyl cellulose(HPC) present during particle precipitation. The mean particle size decreased as the concentration of tLPC increased. The critical concentration of HPC for the in situ stabilization of titania powder suspensions was determined by a photographic method, and found to be independent of the molecular weight of HPC within the molecular range of 60,000 to 300,000. The amount of HPC adsorbed on the particle surface, determined by a colorimetric method using a UV-visible spectrophotometer, decreased with the increasing molecular weight of HPC. Suspension stability was confirmed by theoretical calculations based on experimental results.
Crystallization Kinetics of Plasma-Produced Amorphous Silicon Nanoparticles

The use of a continuous flow non-thermal plasma reactor for the formation of silicon nanoparticles has attracted great interest because of the advantageous properties of the process [1]. Despite the short residence time in the plasma (around 10 milliseconds), a significant fraction of the precursor, silane, is converted and collected in the form of nanopowder. The structure of the produced powder can be tuned between amorphous and crystalline by adjusting the power of the radio-frequency excitation source, with higher power leading to the formation of crystalline particles. Numerical modeling suggests that higher excitation power results in a higher plasma density, which in turn increases the nanoparticle heating rate due to the interaction between ions, free radicals and the nanopowder suspended in the plasma [2]. While the experimental evidence suggests that plasma heating may be responsible for the formation of crystalline powder, an understanding of the mechanism that leads to the crystallization of the powder while in the plasma is lacking. In this work, we present an experimental investigation on the crystallization kinetic of plasma-produced amorphous powder. Silicon nanoparticles are nucleated and grown using a non-thermal plasma reactor similar to the one described in [1], but operated at low power to give amorphous nanoparticles in a 3-10 nm size range. The particles are then extracted from the reactor using an orifice and aerodynamically dragged into a low pressure reactor placed in a tube furnace capable of reaching temperatures up to 1000°C. Raman and TEM have been used to monitor the crystalline fraction of the material as a function of the residence time and temperature. It is expected that for a residence time in the annealing region of approximately ∼300 milliseconds, a temperature of at least 750 °C is needed to observe the onset of crystallization. A range of crystalline percentages can be observed from 750 °C to 830 °C. A discussion of particle growth and particle interaction, based on experimental evidence, will be presented with its relation to the overall effect on crystallization. Further data analysis allows extrapolating the crystallization rate for the case of this simple, purely thermal system. We conclude that thermal effects alone are not sufficient to explain the formation of crystalline powder in non-thermal plasma reactors.
Electrically tunable plasmonic behavior of nanocube-polymer nanomaterials induced by a redox-active electrochromic polymer

We present a plasmon-active hybrid nanomaterial design with electrochemical tunability of the localized surface plasmon resonances. The plasmonic-active nanostructures are composed of silver nanocube aggregates embedded into an electrochromic polymer coating on an indium tin oxide electrode with the nanocube aggregation controlled by the surface pressure. Such polymer–nanocube hybrid nanomaterials demonstrated unique tunable plasmonic behavior under an applied electrochemical potential. A significant reversible experimental peak shift of 22 nm at an electrical potential of 200 mV has been achieved in these measurements. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations show that, under full oxidation potential, a maximal spectral shift of ca. 80 nm can be potentially achieved, which corresponds to a high sensitivity of 178 nm per refractive index unit. Furthermore, FDTD modeling suggests that the electrochemically controlled tunability of plasmonic peaks is caused by reversible changes in the refractive in...
Invited Review: Nutrition in the Neurologically Injured Patient

Head injury is characterized by both the direct injury to the brain and the overall systemic response to the brain injury. The systemic response usually includes an increase in energy expenditure, which can be quantitated by using indirect calorimetry, increased urinary nitrogen excretion, hyperglycemia, hypoalbuminemia, and elevated liver function tests. The mechanism for this hypermetabolism is probably multifactorial and includes the release of mediators in response to the injury (eg, catecholamines, cytokines), steroid therapy, nutrient administration and intercurrent complications, eg, infection. The nutritional management of the patient remains controversial. The issues that have been and that continue to be investigated are the amount and type of nutrients that will optimally allow for nerve regeneration and the optimal route of nutrient administration—enteral versus parenteral. This article reviews the proposed mechanisms for the metabolic response to head injury and the experience with nutritional support in this patient population.
Analysis of epidemic situation of human brucellosis in Jilin province during 1990-2010

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis in Jilin province from 1990 to 2010,and provide scientific evidence for the prevention and control of the disease.Methods Data were collected from surveillance and investigation of human brucellosis in Jilin province during 1990-2010,and analyzed by descriptive study and statistics methods.Results About 11 771 cases were reported during 21 years,the incidence rate was 0.000 to 12.626 per 100 000,the average incidence rate was 2.236 per 100 000.The disease distributed widely with cases reporting in nine regions,Baicheng and Songyuan were regions with high prevalence rate of human brucellosis,the incidence mainly concentrated from March to July.The incidence rate in males was higher that in females,most cases were the farmers aged 30-54 years.Conclusion The infection of human brucellosis in Jilin province shows an increasing trend and widening scope.The incidence of human brucellosis has significant seasonal,regional,gender and age difference.It is necessary to strengthen the quarantine and management in livestock trading,active surveillance in livestock market and health education by close multi-sectoral cooperation to prevent and control brucellosis in Jilin province.
Laparoscopy for Impalpable Testes: Significance of the Patent Processus Vaginalis

AbstractLaparoscopy often is performed in the evaluation of boys with an impalpable testis. Previously it has been reported that if laparoscopy disclosed a patent processus vaginalis the testis was likely to be present, whereas if the processus vaginalis was closed then the testis usually was absent. This study was performed to examine this association further. In 111 boys with 124 impalpable testes 45 testes (36%) were viable and suitable for orchiopexy, including 7 that were in the inguinal canal and 38 intra-abdominal testes. Another 79 testes (64%) were absent or vanishing, including 72 in which the cord structures had descended through the internal ring, 5 in which the vas and vessels ended blindly in the abdominal cavity, and 2 in which the testis, vas and vessels could not be identified. When a patent processus vaginalis was present 43 of 47 testes (91%) were viable, whereas if it was closed 75 of 77 (97%) had vanished or were absent. An algorithm for surgical management of the impalpable testis ba...
Examining Visual-Spatial Paths for Mobile Authentication

by people's strong memory for visual-spatial paths (e.g., commuting paths), we present in this paper an introductory exploration of the use of these paths for memorable, strong mobile authentication. In a preliminary study, we evaluated several low- fidelity representations for encoding relatively strong (~20 bit) secrets as visual-spatial paths: a 2D birds-eye view, a 3D third- person view, and 3D immersed view. We found that the 3D immersed view worked best for memorability, and used this initial study to inspire the design for a novel mobile authentication application: the Memory Palace. We ran a within-subjects experiment to evaluate our Memory Palace authentication concept against Android's 9-dot Patternlock along two dimensions: memorability and resilience to shoulder surfing. Results from our experiment suggest people have significantly higher memorability for visual-spatial secrets encoded in the Memory Palace which were also significantly more resilient against shoulder surfing. We conclude with directions for further work: specifically, creating sharable paths for more socially compatible authentication and segmenting secret paths for simple, non-binary access control.
Laughter in Interaction: Who laughs first

Because shared laughs begin recurrently through a sequence in which one person's laughter invites others to join, the issue of “who laughs first” becomes an important one. From a conversation analytic perspective this question gets framed sequentially. Identity is treated in terms of “who” holds the floor and is current speaker; who is some co-present other; who offers an invitation to laugh; who is the recipient; who is teasing; who is the victim of a tease; who is telling about troubles; etc. These sorts of “who”s shape (and get constituted through) the organization of talk in specifiable ways. Participants orient to them, and they are demonstrably relevant to the analysis of shared laughter initiation. “Current speaker” designates the party (usually an individual, but possibly a group, as in the case of audience laughter) who occupies a turn at talk and has some degree of rights and/or obligations to produce speech and/or action. “Other” designates participant(s) not holding the turn at talk. These terms reflect the premise, put forth by Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson (1974), that turns are a scarce resource, available only to one party at a time. Although this is not essential, people in all sorts of interactions organize their participation in this way. The sequential roles “current speaker” and “other” come up for grabs at each transition relevance place (TRP) (Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson, 1974).
Decreased Myofilament Calcium Sensitivity Plays a Significant Role in Muscle Fatigue.

Muscle fatigue can result from either the accumulation of metabolic by-products (e.g., Pi and H+) or a decrease in myoplasmic Ca++; however, individually, neither change can explain quantitatively the decrease in force capacity. Therefore, the emerging view is that, by decreasing the sensitivity of myofilaments to calcium, Pi and H+ act synergistically with decreased Ca++ levels to contribute to fatigue.
Escapement mechanisms and the conversion of disequilibria; the engines of creation

Abstract Virtually every interesting natural phenomenon, not least life itself, entails physical systems being forced to flow thermodynamically up-hill, away from equilibrium rather than towards it. This requires the action of a mechanism, acting as an “engine”, which lashes the up-hill process to a more powerful one proceeding in its spontaneous, down-hill direction; in this way converting one disequilibrium into another. All organized and dynamic elements of creation, from the galactic to the atomic, can be viewed as powered by, or being the result of, engines of disequilibria conversion; each a link in a great hierarchical cascade of conversions. There is, however, widespread misunderstanding about how disequilibria conversions happen–and indeed about what physically causes them to happen–especially regarding the role of energy and of the physical meaning of free energy. We attempt here to describe and justify what we assert is the correct alternative view of how phenomena are powered in nature, focusing especially on the molecular-level conversion processes (often called “energy conserving”) that power life and that must, then acting in an entirely abiotic context, have driven it first into being.
A tale of two sites: Dual social network site use and social network development

Abstract Previous work on social network sites (SNSs) has extensively examined Facebook use. Grounded in the scholarship of social capital and social relationship maintenance, we examined international students’ participation with Facebook versus a SNS in their home-country (Renren or Cyworld). We anticipated that social network building on Facebook would be driven by desires to expand bridging social capital, whereas SNS use on Renren/Cyworld would function to maintain existing bonds. A survey of 335 Chinese and Korean students in the U.S. showed that when given multiple choices of SNSs, the affordances of SNSs are sustained across cultures, networks, and sites. We conclude with thoughts as to how our findings might be used to help people manage social relationships across two different sites in their home country and new country of residence.
A Partitioned-Stator Flux-Switching Permanent-Magnet Machine With Mechanical Flux Adjusters for Hybrid Electric Vehicles

In this paper, three partitioned-stator (PS) machines, namely the PS flux-switching permanent-magnet (PS-FSPM) machine, the PS-FS hybrid-excitation machine, and the flux adjuster PS-FSPM (FA-PS-FSPM) machine are proposed for the hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Owing to the installation of additional inner-stators, all three proposed machines can offer satisfactory power and torque densities. In particular, the FA-PS-FSPM machine artfully utilizes its inner space to accommodate the mechanical FAs, such that outstanding flux-weakening capability for wide-speed range operation can be achieved. To verify the proposed concept, the established machines are purposely compared with the profound Prius HEV machine based on finite-element method.
Robust Distributed Estimation for Linear Systems Under Intermittent Information

We provide a comprehensive solution to the estimation problem of the state for a linear time-invariant system in a distributed fashion over networks that allow only intermittent information transmission. By attaching to each node an observer that employs information received from its neighbors triggered by asynchronous communication events, we propose a distributed state observer that guarantees global exponential stability of the zero estimation error set. The design of parameters is formulated as linear matrix inequalities. A thorough robustness analysis of the proposed observer to unmodeled dynamics, unknown communication times, as well as measurement and communication noise characterized in terms of input-to-state stability is presented. These properties of the proposed observer are shown analytically and validated numerically.
Accurate vehicle position estimation using a Kalman filter and neural network-based approach

Accurate detection of vehicle position plays an important role in many intelligent transportation systems, especially vehicle-to-vehicle applications. In this paper, we propose an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) based method to detect Global Positioning System (GPS) errors for such vehicle-based applications. A machine learning methodology is presented for Kalman filter parameter tuning with application to GPS error correction in vehicle positioning. We also present a model free neural network that is trained on past vehicle GPS trajectories to predict the current vehicle position. Experimental results on real-world data show that the proposed system is effective for detecting and reducing GPS errors. The machine learning algorithm for EKF parameter tuning can be implemented through in-vehicle learning, and the proposed GPS error detection method can be implemented for in-vehicle applications.
Exterior minimum-penalty path-following methods in semidefinite programming

A semidefinite programming problem is a mathematical program in which the objective function is linear in the unknowns and the constraint set is defined by a linear matrix inequality. This problem is nonlinear, nondifferentiable but convex. It covers several standard problems, such as linear and quadratic programming, and has many applications in engineering. In this paper, we introduce the notion of minimal-penalty path, which is defined as the collection of minimizers for a family of convex optimization problems, and propose two methods for solving the problem by following the minimal-penalty path from the exterior of the feasible set. Our first method, which is also a constraint-aggregation method, achieves the solution by solving a sequence of linear programs, but exhibits a zigzagging behavior around the minimal-penalty path. Our second method eliminates the above drawback by following efficiently the minimum-penalty path through the centering and ascending steps. The global convergence of the methods is proved and their performance is illustrated by means of an example.
Synonyms and homonyms as seen in comparative linguistics

La notion de synonyme peut etre exploree en examinant la construction des blocs qui sont utilises pour creer des mots dans les langues indiennes d'Amerique. Les procedes cognitifs universels sont similaires entre les locuteurs des langues indo-europeennes et des langues non-ouest, comme dans les concepts haut et bas. Les relations cognitives nous donnent une idee de la signification, et de la maniere dont l'esprit travail
Current Transient Studies of Al-a-As2Se3 Contacts

Results are reported of current transients after a voltage step is applied to an a-As2Se3 sample with an oxidized Al contact. Most of the results can be explained using the multiple-trapping model if it is assumed that there is a hole-accumulation region near the contact.
Cross-Species Transmission of Poxviruses

The poxviruses are an ancient group of intracellular pathogens whose “survival strategy” is based on the release of hardy virions from sites of replication on the external surface of the body. Their large size, complex genomes, and ability to replicate in the cytoplasm independent of the nucleus suggest that an ancestral agent was a free-living microbe that adapted to a lifestyle of intracellular parasitism by evolving a secure and efficient means of transmission to new hosts. The great age of the poxviruses is reflected in their division into two subfamilies, the entomopoxviruses that infect insects and the chordopoxviruses that infect vertebrates, indicating that an early progenitor parasitized creatures ancestral to both groups (Iyer et al., 2001; McLysaght et al., 2003; Gubser et al., 2004). The entomopoxviruses have become so highly adapted to their insect hosts over hundreds of millions of years of co-evolution that they are unable to cause productive infection in humans or other animals; they are therefore not considered further in this chapter. The radiation of vertebrate animals into the myriad varieties that exist today has been accompanied by the differentiation of the chordopoxviruses that infect them, resulting in the existence of eight currently recognized viral genera and a large number of named species (Table 4.1; Fig. 4.1A). An additional candidate genus, Deerpoxvirus, has recently been described, and it seems certain that a large number of other poxviruses remain to be identified (Afonso et al., 2005). Division into genera is based principally on antigenic criteria, as determined by serologic assays and the ability of infection by one virus to induce resistance to subsequent infection by another. For example, although both orf virus and sheeppox virus cause disease in sheep, the former is assigned to the genus Parapoxvirus and the latter to the capripoxviruses, in part because the two agents do not cross-protect against each other. Within each genus,
Attack Resilient Distributed Estimation: A Consensus+Innovations Approach

This paper studies fully distributed parameter estimation under sensor attacks. A group of agents make measurements of a bounded parameter and a fraction of the agents' sensor measurements falls under integrity attack. When a sensor is under attack, its measurement can take any value as determined by the attacker. The agents exchange messages over a communication network to ensure that all agents are able to correctly estimate the parameter of interest. This paper presents a consensus+innovations algorithm for attack resilient distributed parameter estimation. The algorithm achieves the same level of resilience as the most resilient centralized estimator – if less than half of the agents' sensors are under attack, then all agents correctly estimate the parameter of interest, regardless of the topology of the inter-agent communication network, as long as it is connected. This paper illustrates the performance of the algorithm under adversarial attack through numerical simulations.
Quantitative synapse analysis for cell-type specific connectomics

Anatomical methods for determining cell-type specific connectivity are essential to inspire and constrain our understanding of neural circuit function. We developed new genetically-encoded reagents for fluorescence-synapse labeling and connectivity analysis in brain tissue, using a fluorogen-activating protein (FAP)- or YFP-coupled, postsynaptically-localized neuroligin-1 targeting sequence (FAP/YFPpost). Sparse viral expression of FAP/YFPpost with the cell-filling, red fluorophore dTomato (dTom) enabled high-throughput, compartment-specific localization of synapses across diverse neuron types in mouse somatosensory cortex. High-resolution confocal image stacks of virally-transduced neurons were used for 3D reconstructions of postsynaptic cells and automated detection of synaptic puncta. We took advantage of the bright, far-red emission of FAPpost puncta for multichannel fluorescence alignment of dendrites, synapses, and presynaptic neurites to assess subtype-specific inhibitory connectivity onto L2 neocortical pyramidal (Pyr) neurons. Quantitative and compartment-specific comparisons show that PV inputs are the dominant source of inhibition at both the soma and across all dendritic branches examined and were particularly concentrated at the primary apical dendrite, a previously unrecognized compartment of L2 Pyr neurons. Our fluorescence-based synapse labeling reagents will facilitate large-scale and cell-type specific quantitation of changes in synaptic connectivity across development, learning, and disease states.
Interplay of the Norrin and Wnt7a/Wnt7b Signaling Systems in Blood-Brain Barrier and Blood-Retina Barrier Development and Maintenance

β-Catenin signaling controls the development and maintenance of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and the blood–retina barrier (BRB), but the division of labor and degree of redundancy between the two principal ligand–receptor systems—the Norrin and Wnt7a/Wnt7b systems—are incompletely defined. Here, we present a loss-of-function genetic analysis of postnatal BBB and BRB maintenance in mice that shows striking threshold and partial redundancy effects. In particular, the combined loss of Wnt7a and Norrin or Wnt7a and Frizzled4 (Fz4) leads to anatomically localized BBB defects that are far more severe than observed with loss of Wnt7a, Norrin, or Fz4 alone. In the cerebellum, selective loss of Wnt7a in glia combined with ubiquitous loss of Norrin recapitulates the phenotype observed with ubiquitous loss of both Wnt7a and Norrin, implying that glia are the source of Wnt7a in the cerebellum. Tspan12, a coactivator of Norrin signaling in the retina, is also active in BBB maintenance but is less potent than Norrin, consistent with a model in which Tspan12 enhances the amplitude of the Norrin signal in vascular endothelial cells. Finally, in the context of a partially impaired Norrin system, the retina reveals a small contribution to BRB development from the Wnt7a/Wnt7b system. Taken together, these experiments define the extent of CNS region-specific cooperation for several components of the Norrin and Wnt7a/Wnt7b systems, and they reveal substantial regional heterogeneity in the extent to which partially redundant ligands, receptors, and coactivators maintain the BBB and BRB.
Sheep With the Homozygous Lysine-171 Prion Protein Genotype Are Resistant to Classical Scrapie After Experimental Oronasal Inoculation.

Scrapie is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of sheep resulting from the accumulation of a misfolded form of the prion protein (PrPSc). Polymorphisms in the host prion protein gene (PRNP) can affec...
Pluralism About Pluralisms

This chapter is concerned with domain-specific alethic pluralism and domain-specific logical pluralism. If domain-specific alethic pluralism entails domain-specific logical pluralism, and vice versa, then in some sense we really only have one pluralism, not two. If, however, the two sorts of pluralism are independent of each other, then we truly have two distinct kinds of pluralism—that is, we have a plurality of pluralisms. The purpose of this chapter is to argue that domain-specific alethic pluralism does not entail domain-specific logical pluralism (contrary to arguments given by Lynch and Pedersen), nor does domain-specific logical pluralism entail domain-specific alethic pluralism, and hence we do have such a plurality of pluralisms. To accomplish this, in Sect. 2 I show how one can be a domain-specific logical pluralist while being a truth monist, and how one can be a domain-specific truth pluralist while being a logical monist. I will then, in Sect. 3, use the argument of Sect. 2 to identify the mistake in the arguments of Lynch and Pedersen. Section 4 will then further flesh out the model, distinguishing between different senses in which a domain might be epistemically constrained.
Outcomes of head and neck surgery in patients with a history of solid organ transplantation

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Examine the prevalence and outcomes of head and neck surgeries in patients with a history of organ transplantation. STUDY DESIGN A retrospective cross-sectional analysis utilizing the Nationwide Readmissions Database, 2010 to 2014. METHODS The study population included adults patients who underwent head and neck surgeries. Patients with a reported history of solid organ transplantation were compared to patients with no such history. RESULTS The study population included 322 transplant patients (76.4% kidney, 8.7% liver, 8.4% heart, 3.0% kidney/pancreas, 2.3% lung, 0.9% kidney/liver, 0.4% pancreas) and 120,401 controls who underwent comparable procedures. Main surgeries that were performed in cases included 37.8% parathyroid, 17.7% thyroid, 11.2% major salivary gland, 10.6% major mouth/tonsil, and 9.6% major nose/paranasal sinuses. Encountering transplant patients in otolaryngology practice has been increasing annually by three patients for every 10,000 procedures performed in the United States. There was no difference in the overall postoperative complications risk (12.5% vs. 10.1%, P = .26); however, cases had a higher risk of acute renal failure (5.4% vs. 1.1%, P < .001) and shock state (0.3% vs. 0.02%, P < .001). Readmission risk was higher for cases (6.8% vs. 3.4%, P = .003). There was no reported in-hospital mortality among cases. CONCLUSIONS Transplant patients are increasingly encountered in otolaryngology practices. The most common transplanted organ is kidney, and the most commonly performed procedure is parathyroidectomy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA Laryngoscope, 130:E89-E97, 2020.
Prospects for Electric Dipole Moment Measurement Using Electrostatic Accelerators

Electrostatic accelerators have played a glorious role in physics, especially for low energy atomic and nuclear physics and electron microscopy. But circular accelerators have depended almost exclu...