cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Magnetic Susceptibility of an Amorphous Non-Transition Metal Alloy: Mg. 70 Zn. 30

In the past, the preparation of amorphous metals by rapid quenching of the liquid has generally been limited to transition or noble metal alloys; the magnetic properties of amorphous metals containing only s-p electron (normal) metals have therefore not been studied. Recently, amorphous Mg-Zn alloy ribbons with compositions in a narrow range including Mg.70Zn.30 (the region of a deep eutectic) were prepared by melt spinning. Initial susceptibility measurements have shown that these alloys possess temperature- independent Pauli paramagnetism with susceptibilities ranging from about 5.0 emu/g-atom for Mg.75Zn.25 to about 3.0 emu/gatom for Mg.70Zn.30. A treatment of these values analogous to that for the susceptibilities of liquid metals yields a valence electron contribution corresponding to a free-electron Pauli-Landau term, without a contribution from electron-electron interactions. It is possible that this agreement is fortuitous and due to the cancellation of corrections which are required to interpret the data for liquid Mg and Zn.
Threshold-dependent transcriptional discrimination underlies stem cell homeostasis

Transcriptional mechanisms that underlie the dose-dependent regulation of gene expression in animal development have been studied extensively. However, the mechanisms of dose-dependent transcriptional regulation in plant development have not been understood. In Arabidopsis shoot apical meristems, WUSCHEL (WUS), a stem cell-promoting transcription factor, accumulates at a higher level in the rib meristem and at a lower level in the central zone where it activates its own negative regulator, CLAVATA3 (CLV3). How WUS regulates CLV3 levels has not been understood. Here we show that WUS binds a group of cis-elements, cis- regulatory module, in the CLV3-regulatory region, with different affinities and conformations, consisting of monomers at lower concentration and as dimers at a higher level. By deleting cis elements, manipulating the WUS-binding affinity and the homodimerization threshold of cis elements, and manipulating WUS levels, we show that the same cis elements mediate both the activation and repression of CLV3 at lower and higher WUS levels, respectively. The concentration-dependent transcriptional discrimination provides a mechanistic framework to explain the regulation of CLV3 levels that is critical for stem cell homeostasis.
Methane Activation at the Pd/CeO2 Interface

We combine density functional theory (DFT) and reactive force-field (ReaxFF) simulations to assess the stability and activity of unique catalytic sites at the interface between Pd clusters and a CeO2 support. ReaxFF-based Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GC-MC) simulations provide insight into the oxide structure at the Pd/CeO2 interface. Surface models derived with GC-MC are employed in reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulations, which demonstrate that methane lightoff rapidly occurs when there is Pd mixing in the CeO2 lattice. DFT investigations, utilizing models inspired by GC-MC/RMD, demonstrate that Pd4+ states are stabilized in PdOx clusters partially embedded in the CeO2 lattice, and that such sites yield low methane activation barriers. The integrated DFT/ReaxFF methodology employed here demonstrates a combined quantum/classical workflow that can be extended to examine emergent behavior in other oxide-supported metal catalysts.
Detection fidelity of AR mutations in plasma derived cell-free DNA.

// Alexa Goldstein 1, 2, 3 , Patricia Valda Toro 1, 2, 3 , Justin Lee 2, 3 , John L. Silberstein 1, 3 , Mary Nakazawa 1, 3 , Ian Waters 2, 3 , Karen Cravero 2, 3 , David Chu 2, 3 , Rory L. Cochran 2, 3 , Minsoo Kim 2, 3 , Daniel Shinn 2, 3 , Samantha Torquato 1, 2, 3 , Robert M. Hughes 1, 2, 3 , Aparna Pallavajjala 4 , Michael A. Carducci 2, 3 , Channing J. Paller 2, 3 , Samuel R. Denmeade 2, 3 , Bruce Kressel 2, 3 , Bruce J. Trock 1 , Mario A. Eisenberger 1, 2, 3 , Emmanuel S. Antonarakis 1, 2, 3 , Ben H. Park 2, 3, 5 , Paula J. Hurley 1, 2, 3 1 The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA 2 The Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA 3 The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA 4 The Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA 5 The Whiting School of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA Correspondence to: Paula J. Hurley, email: phurley2@jhmi.edu Keywords: next generation sequencing, droplet digital PCR, circulating tumor DNA, androgen receptor, DNA polymerase Received: September 22, 2016 Accepted: December 25, 2016 Published: January 31, 2017 ABSTRACT Somatic genetic alterations including copy number and point mutations in the androgen receptor ( AR) are associated with resistance to therapies targeting the androgen/AR axis in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Due to limitations associated with biopsying metastatic lesions, plasma derived cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is increasingly being used as substrate for genetic testing. AR mutations detected by deep next generation sequencing (NGS) of cfDNA from patients with mCRPC have been reported at allelic fractions ranging from over 25% to below 1%. The lower bound threshold for accurate mutation detection by deep sequencing of cfDNA has not been comprehensively determined and may have locus specific variability. Herein, we used NGS for AR mutation discovery in plasma-derived cfDNA from patients with mCRPC and then used droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) for validation. Our findings show the AR (tTC>cTC) F877L hotspot was prone to false positive mutations during NGS. The rate of error at AR (tTC>cTC) F877L during amplification prior to ddPCR was variable among high fidelity polymerases. These results highlight the importance of validating low-abundant mutations detected by NGS and optimizing and controlling for amplification conditions prior to ddPCR.
Population Densities of Lepidopteran Pests in Selected Cranberry Cultivars in Wisconsin

Host plant resistance, an important strategy of integrated pest management, was examined in the American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton (Ericaceae). Despite the pressure on cranberry growers to reduce pesticide usage, host plant resistance is not used to help manage insect populations. This study measured field population densities of the three most economically important pest insects in Wisconsin, namely, cranberry fruitworm (Acrobasis vaccinii Riley), sparganothis fruitworm (Sparganothis sulfureana Clemens), and blackheaded fireworm (Rhopobota naevana Hubner), in five different cranberry cultivars, i.e., ‘Stevens', ‘Ben Lear', ‘GH1', ‘Mullica Queen’, and ‘HyRed'. Population densities of male moths of all three species were assessed using pheromone traps in beds of the different cranberry cultivars in commercial marshes in central Wisconsin. For each cultivar, damaged cranberries were collected, and the number of damaged berries and the number of larvae feeding within berries were compared among cultivars. More than 99% of larvae collected were cranberry fruitworm. Mullica Queen and Ben Lear had more damaged berries than Stevens or GH1, and had more larvae than GH1. Conversely, fewer adult male sparganothis fruitworm were found in Ben Lear and Mullica Queen beds than in beds of Stevens or GH1. Adult populations of cranberry fruitworm and blackheaded fireworm were not different among cultivars. Our findings provide evidence of different levels of resistance in common cranberry cultivars, which should inform future plantings and breeding programs.
SOFT POWER - A MAJOR TOOL IN MODI’S FOREIGN POLICY KIT

While India has always had various soft power strategies, they had limited success as they were not coupled with hard power such as a strong military force and advanced defense capabilities, notably nuclear capability. However, the past decade was an important turning point which marked India’s growing hard power, fuelled by robust economic growth and its assertive maritime policies, which in turn made strengthened its soft power projection. Soft power has become one of the cornerstones of the current Indian Premier Narendra Modi Doctrine and is an important theme in most of his state visits. This paper analyzes the different soft power components used by the Indian government, especially the Modi government, in order to further its foreign policy goals, as well as some of the limitations to India’s soft power potential. This paper is organized in the following manner: the first section defines soft power, Modi’s dominant foreign policy canons and how his government differs from the previous governments in the use of soft power; the second section focuses on the four broad tenets of Indian soft power namely civilization and ancient heritage (Buddhism, yoga, Ayurveda, Sanskrit etc.), democracy, Bollywood, economic aid and to a small extent, Modi’s personal charisma and how their exercise relates to India’s foreign policy objectives; the third section addresses the shortcomings of Indian soft power and the fourth section concludes the paper.
PRINCIPLES FOR THE NON-MECHANICAL COOLING OF BUILDINGS

Abstract Overheated areas of the earth are determined and classified as climate regions. Typical bio-climatic zones, within these regions, are determined and traditional shelter and settlements that have evolved over 6,000 years, as minimal energy users, are identified and analysed for their thermal comfort performances. Historically proven principles are extracted and examined for their appropriate applicability in passive cooling of contemporary and future buildings and communities. Significant examples are reviewed. Data, tools and methods to assist in the design of passive energy responsive shelter and settlement are discussed. Recent developments in thermo-dynamic architecture have extended the cooling comfort performance of buildings through controlled radiation, conduction, convection and evaporation channels. The principles that enable increased cooling capabilities under arid and humid overheated conditions are identified, classified and evaluated. Significant examples are reviewed and some projected buildings are discussed. The cooling effects of site and landscape design in and around buildings and urban areas are evaluated. Examples of successful experiences are demonstrated. Information and methods are provided to enable the professional designer to achieve desirable cooling in tropical and sub-tropical areas.
A numerical method for deriving shape functions of nanoparticles for pair distribution function refinements.

In the structural refinement of nanoparticles, discrete atomistic modeling can be used for small nanocrystals (< 15 nm), but becomes computationally unfeasible at larger sizes, where instead unit-cell-based small-box modeling is usually employed. However, the effect of the nanocrystal's shape is often ignored or accounted for with a spherical model regardless of the actual shape due to the complexities of solving and implementing accurate shape effects. Recent advancements have provided a way to determine the shape function directly from a pair distribution function calculated from a discrete atomistic model of any given shape, including both regular polyhedra (e.g. cubes, spheres, octahedra) and anisotropic shapes (e.g. rods, discs, ellipsoids) [Olds et al. (2015). J. Appl. Cryst. 48, 1651–1659], although this approach is still limited to small size regimes due to computational demands. In order to accurately account for the effects of nanoparticle size and shape in small-box refinements, a numerical or analytical description is needed. This article presents a methodology to derive numerical approximations of nanoparticle shape functions by fitting to a training set of known shape functions; the numerical approximations can then be employed on larger sizes yielding a more accurate and physically meaningful refined nanoparticle size. The method is demonstrated on a series of simulated and real data sets, and a table of pre-calculated shape function expressions for a selection of common shapes is provided.
Stroke of the Pen, Law of the Land?

The Antiquities Act has long had power beyond the confines of its language. Presidents have used it to set aside large, landscape-level monuments despite the Act’s primary focus on prehistoric ruins and artifacts. Similarly, presidents have significantly reduced the size of monuments despite the absence of any language in the Act expressly granting such power. Now that President Trump has ordered a review of monuments created since 1996, a new chapter in the meaning of the Act may be about to be written. Depending on how the courts choose to read congressional silence, which is always a tricky proposition, national monuments may prove to be less permanent than once envisioned.
An evaluation of the Google Chrome extension security architecture

Vulnerabilities in browser extensions put users at risk by providing a way for website and network attackers to gain access to users' private data and credentials. Extensions can also introduce vulnerabilities into the websites that they modify. In 2009, Google Chrome introduced a new extension platform with several features intended to prevent and mitigate extension vulnerabilities: strong isolation between websites and extensions, privilege separation within an extension, and an extension permission system. We performed a security review of 100 Chrome extensions and found 70 vulnerabilities across 40 extensions. Given these vulnerabilities, we evaluate how well each of the security mechanisms defends against extension vulnerabilities. We find that the mechanisms mostly succeed at preventing direct web attacks on extensions, but new security mechanisms are needed to protect users from network attacks on extensions, website metadata attacks on extensions, and vulnerabilities that extensions add to websites. We propose and evaluate additional defenses, and we conclude that banning HTTP scripts and inline scripts would prevent 47 of the 50 most severe vulnerabilities with only modest impact on developers.
Sobre la relación postmoderna entre pensar y obrar y la influencia de los medios de comunicación

Las ideas abstractas rigen nuestra actuacion cada vez menos. Nuestra manera habitual de actuar –movida mas por impulsos y deseos que por juicios teoricos– es la que acaba generando un discurso legitimador de la propia conducta. La mayor parte de los problemas morales contemporaneos son consecuencia, en buena medida, de la crisis del pensamiento, tan caracteristica de la llamada epoca postmoderna. El presente articulo se propone ofrecer algunas consideraciones respecto a la interaccion entre pensamiento y accion propia de la postmodernidad, y de que manera inciden en ella los medios de comunicacion.
Clemency and the Unitary Executive

President Obama’s use of enforcement discretion to achieve important domestic policy initiatives – including in the field of criminal law – have sparked a vigorous debate about where the President’s duty under the Take Care Clause ends and legitimate enforcement discretion begins. But even with broad power to set enforcement charging policies, the President controls only the discretion of his or her agents at the front-end to achieve policy goals. What about enforcement decisions already made, either by his or her own agents or actors in previous administrations, with which the President disagrees? The Framers anticipated this issue in the context of criminal law and vested the President with broad and explicit back-end control through the constitutional pardon power. But while centralized authority over enforcement discretion at the front-end has grown, the clemency power finds itself falling into desuetude.This Article explores the fall of the clemency power and argues for its resurrection as a critical mechanism for the President to assert control over the executive branch in criminal cases. While clemency has typically been referred to as an exercise of mercy and even analogized to religious forgiveness, it also serves a more structurally important role in the American constitutional order that has been all but overlooked. It is a critical mechanism for the President to control the executive department. Those in favor of a unitary executive should encourage its more robust employment. But even critics of unitary executive theory should embrace clemency as a mechanism of control because, whatever the merits of other unitary executive claims involving military power or oversight over administrative agencies, clemency stands on different footing. It is explicitly and unambiguously grounded in the Constitution’s text, and it comes with an established historical pedigree. It is also a crucial checking mechanism given the landscape of criminal justice today. The current environment of overbroad federal criminal laws and excessive charging by federal prosecutors has produced a criminal justice system of unprecedented size and scope with overcrowded and expensive federal prisons and hundreds of thousands of individuals hindered from reentering society because of a federal record. Clemency is a key tool for addressing poor enforcement decisions and injustices in this system, as well as checking disparities in how different United States Attorneys enforce the law.
Microstructure Noise and Realized Variance in the Live Cattle Futures Market

Recently, U.S. live cattle futures prices have experienced high levels of intraday price variance, which have raised concerns about the possible impact of microstructure noise from high frequency trading on market instability. This article identifies both the magnitude and the duration of the bias caused by market microstructure noise in measuring efficient price variance in the live cattle futures market from 2011 to 2016, with emphasis on price variance behavior in recent years. Market microstructure noise increases observed price variance, but its effects are not large and do not last more than three to four minutes in response to changing information. Intraday price variance has increased in recent years, but the findings provide little evidence that high frequency traders were responsible for economically meaningful market noise. Informatively, steps taken by the CME and cattle producers to mitigate noise have not been fruitful to date, and signal that the magnitude of noise will likely vary with the magnitude of changes in demand and cyclical supply.
Inducing Compensatory Changes in Gait Similar to External Perturbations Using an Immersive Head Mounted Display

Understanding the sensorimotor control mechanisms that mediate gait compensation during environmental perturbation is a crucial step in developing tailored rehabilitative therapies to restore ambulation in patient populations. Current methods to evaluate the effects of environmental perturbations involve costly systems that physically perturb patients to elicit a compensatory response. Studies have shown that visual feedback alone can elicit dramatic changes in gait; however, the impact of fully immersive visual feedback is not well studied. Here we examined whether a low cost immersive virtual reality (VR) system can elicit perturbation responses similar to a physical disruption. We examined the responses of 11 subjects as they walked through a VR environment consisting of a bridge spanning a lake. While subjects walked on a treadmill mounted to a 6 degree-of-freedom motion base, pseudorandom roll perturbations (3, 6, 11 deg.) were applied visually to the bridge with (VP trials) and without (V trials) the corresponding physical displacement of the motion base. Significant differences were found between normal (unperturbed) walking and normal walking in the VR environment (p .05). The results demonstrate that visual perturbations provided in an immersive virtual environment can induce compensatory changes in gait during treadmill walking that are consistent with a physical perturbation. The application of environmental perturbations in VR systems could provide a cost-effective approach for gait rehabilitation in patient populations.
Development of Statewide Annual Average Daily Traffic Estimation Model from Short-Term Counts: A Comparative Study for South Carolina:

Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) is an important parameter for traffic engineering analysis. Departments of Transportation continually collect traffic count using both permanent count stations (...
Teeth marks: a close reading of the Translator’s Dilemma

Wole Soyinka was Africa’s first Nobel laurate in literature and is therefore without question a luminary and major force in African Literature. But so also is Daniel Orowole Fagunwa who is a lumina...
QURE: Qubit Re-allocation in Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum Computers

Concerted efforts by the academia and the industries e.g., IBM, Google and Intel have brought us to the era of Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers. Qubits, the basic elements of quantum computer, have been proven extremely susceptible to different noises. Recent experiments have exhibited spatial variations among the qubits in NISQ hardware. Therefore, conventional mapping of qubit done without quality awareness results in significant loss of fidelity for a given workload. In this paper, we have analyzed the effects of various noise sources on the overall fidelity of the given workload for a real NISQ hardware. We have also presented novel optimization technique namely, Qubit Re-allocation (QURE) to maximize the sequence fidelity of a given workload. QURE is scalable and can be applied to future large scale quantum computers. QURE can improve the fidelity of a quantum workload up to 1.54X (1.39X on average) in simulation and up to 1.7X in real device compared to variation oblivious qubit allocation without incurring any physical overhead. CCS CONCEPTS • Hardware → Quantum error correction and fault tolerance;
Flexible phosphorene devices and circuits

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors with high carrier mobilities and sizeable bandgap are desirable for future high-speed and low power mechanically flexible nanoelectronics. In this work, we report encapsulated bottom-gated black phosphorus (BP) field-effect transistors (FETs) on flexible polyimide affording maximum carrier mobility of about 310cm2/V∙s and current on/off ratio exceeding 103. Essential circuits of flexible electronic systems enabled by the device ambipolar functionality, high-mobility and current saturation are demonstrated in this work, including digital inverter, frequency doubler, and analog amplifiers featuring a voltage gain of ~8.7, which is the state-of-the-art value for flexible 2D semiconductor based amplifiers. In addition, we demonstrate the single FET based flexible BP amplitude-modulated (AM) demodulator, an active stage in radio receivers.
A Low FODMAP Diet May Reduce Symptoms in Patients With Fecal Incontinence.

Introduction Fecal incontinence (FI) is a common complaint and is often associated with diarrhea and urgency. Foods high in fermentable oligo-, di-, and mono-saccharides and polyols (FODMAP) cause symptoms of diarrhea and urgency. Therefore, this study assesses the impact of a low FODMAP diet on the occurrence of FI due to loose stool. Methods This study is a retrospective chart review of patients with FI seen in the Michigan Bowel Control Program clinic between August 2012 and December 2017. Patients who had FI with loose stool without red flag signs and who were recommended a low FODMAP diet and underwent formal dietary instruction with a Michigan Medicine dietician were included. Results Sixty-five patients with FI who underwent formal dietary teaching were included in this study. Eighty-eight percent of the patients were white, and 87% were women with a mean age of 62 years (±14 years). Additionally, the chart review showed that 35% of the patients had FI daily, 21.5% had FI weekly, and 5% had FI monthly. About 64.6% of the patients (42) had reported a reduction in their FI symptoms with the low FODMAP diet. There was no demographic or clinical characteristic that predicted the response to a low FODMAP diet. Discussion In this case series, dietary manipulation with a low FODMAP diet was a useful tool to treat patients who suffer from FI due to loose stool. Further confirmatory, prospective randomized controlled trials are required to see the true efficacy of a low FODMAP diet in patients who suffer with FI.
Dynamical Effects in Protein Electrochemistry

Electrochemical measurements of electron transfer from an electrode to proteins immobilized at protective layers of varying thickness have shown the presence of two characteristic regimes: (i) exponential (tunneling) decay of the rate constant with the distance to the electrode and (ii) a plateau region where the rate is independent of the distance to the electrode. The reaction in the plateau region is viewed as friction-controlled electron transfer, with the rate constant inversely proportional to the medium relaxation time. Fitting the rates to established theories requires medium relaxation times far exceeding common estimates and relaxation times obtained from computer simulations of the Stokes-shift dynamics. There is a significant disconnect between experimental observations and theoretical expectations. This difficulty is resolved here by allowing additional dissipative dynamics consisting of protein’s low-frequency oscillations in a soft harmonic potential describing binding of the protein to the...
A Generic High Bandwidth Data Acquisition Card for Physics Experiments

In high energy physics and nuclear physics experiments, particularly the ones based on a particle accelerator, the data rate from the detector is usually in the order of terabytes per second. These high throughput data from detector front-end electronics (FEEs) need to be transmitted to the back-end computing farm for high-level event selection and building. A data acquisition (DAQ) system with the features of high density, scalable, and easily upgradeable is crucial to simplify the readout architecture of the whole experiment. This article will introduce the design of a generic high bandwidth PCIe card, which can be used as the important input–output card in a scalable DAQ system. It can factorize FEEs from data handling and reduce the amount of custom hardware in favor of scalable detector-independent commercial hardware and software. Besides the 48 channels of bidirectional high-speed fiber optical links with front ends, it also supports to synchronize with the experiment timing system and to fan-out the clock and trigger information with a fixed latency to the FEEs.
Contingent valuation using dichotomous choice models.

This paper demonstrates a new use of Logit models in recreation research beyond analysis of recreation participation/site choice: use in valuation of recreation benefits. The use of logistic regres...
Abnormal Tuning in Nucleus Prepositus Hypoglossi of Monkeys With “A” Pattern Exotropia

Purpose In many individuals with pattern strabismus, the vertical misalignment varies with horizontal eye position. It has been proposed that these cross-axis effects result from abnormal cross-talk between brainstem structures that would normally encode horizontal and vertical eye position and velocity. The nucleus prepositus hypoglossi (NPH) is an ideal structure to test this overarching hypothesis. Neurons in the NPH are believed to mathematically integrate eye velocity signals to generate a tonic signal related to horizontal eye position. We hypothesized that, in monkeys with A-pattern exotropia and vertical inconcomitance, these neurons would show an abnormally large sensitivity to vertical eye position. Methods Three rhesus monkeys (1 normal and 2 with A-pattern exotropia) were trained to maintain fixation on a visual target as it stepped to various locations on a tangent screen. Extracellular neural activity was recorded from neurons in the NPH. Each neuron's sensitivity to horizontal and vertical eye position was estimated using multiple linear regression and preferred directions computed for each eye. Results Unexpectedly, the mean preferred directions for the left eye were normal in the monkeys with A-pattern exotropia. For the right eye, there was a clear upward deviation for the right NPH and a downward deviation for the left NPH. In addition, the R2 values were significantly lower for model fits for neurons recorded from the exotropic monkeys. Conclusions We suggest that vertical inconcomitance results from inappropriate vertical-to-horizontal cross-talk that affects the two eyes differently.
Knowlton Roberts Ii (a)

This case is an updated version of the Knowlton Roberts case series (UVA-OB-0737 and 0738). The case is best used as a vehicle to understand another person's point of view and to see what happens when points of view are misunderstood or misinterpreted. The A case presents a series of situations and interactions that require consideration of why each person acted as they did. The role of untested assumptions and leaps to conclusions also feature prominently in the case. Excerpt UVA-OB-1025 Oct. 26, 2011 KNOWLTON ROBERTS II (A) Here he was again—alone at the office, comfortable—just the way Dr. Knowlton Roberts II liked it. A biochemist, Roberts had all the natural curiosity generally associated with a scientist; he had joined a biopharmaceutical companyR&D, three years earlier because of a desire to make a difference in the fight against disease. Roberts believed that the relatively young frontier of biotechnology was the place where dreams could be made. He recalled what his boss, Dr. Jeffery Kim, had said when he was hired: “If you can produce, you will have all the opportunities you've ever dreamed of at this place.” Indeed, produce he did. Conducting a nuts-and-bolts retest on a potential new compound that was being developed as a receptor antagonist but had failed affinity tests, Roberts had unintentionally found something else. The compound closely resembled the natural substrate for the rate-limiting enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the molecule in question and just might work as an inhibitor. Roberts followed his hunch, and it looked like he hit the jackpot. Kim was overjoyed and quickly appointed Roberts as project head to oversee the compound development. Roberts couldn't believe his luck. From discovering the compound, getting a new project, and being selected as its head—well, Roberts thought, it almost seems miraculous. Then Tim Rankle showed up. Meeting Tim Rankle . . .
Wisdom of the crowd and stock price crash risk: evidence from social media

In this study, we investigate the impact of social media on future stock price crash risk. A stock price crash occurs when managers hoard bad news over an extended period and disclose all the bad news at once. Using Stocktwits data, we calculate informed tweets measure, which is the number of tweets with hyperlinks to original source of information divided by the total number of tweets. Our results demonstrate that future stock price crash risk is lower when the proportion of informed tweets is higher, suggesting that informed tweets on social media disseminate information and limit managers’ ability to hoard bad news. The results continue to hold when we address potential endogeneity issues using two-stage least squares regression, change analysis, and firm-fixed effect models. The cross-sectional analyses suggest that the effect of informed tweets on social media is stronger when the information environment is lower, further supporting the hoarding aversion effect. The results also suggest that informed tweets on social media serve as external monitoring mechanism. Controlling for alternative information acquisition channels, such as Google or the SEC EDGAR database does not change the inferences.
Contagious yawning and psychopathy

Abstract Psychopathy is characterized by a general antisocial lifestyle with behaviors including being selfish, manipulative, impulsive, fearless, callous, possibly domineering, and particularly lacking in empathy. Contagious yawning in our species has been strongly linked to empathy. We exposed 135 students, male and female, who completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), to a yawning paradigm intended to induce a reactionary yawn. Further, we exposed males to an emotion-related startle paradigm meant to assess peripheral amygdalar reactivity. We found that scores on the PPI-R subscale Coldheartedness significantly predicted a reduced chance of yawning. Further, we found that emotion-related startle amplitudes were predictive of frequency of contagious yawning. These data suggest that psychopathic traits may be related to the empathic nature of contagious yawning in our species.
Concept Analysis of Risk in Relation to Coronary Heart Disease Among Filipino‐Americans

PURPOSE. To analyze the concept of risk in relation to coronary heart disease (CHD) among Filipino-Americans (FAs) and provide a new definition of risk. SOURCE. Published literature. CONCLUSION. This concept analysis provided a new meaning of risk in relation to CHD among FAs and shed light on further understanding of risk. Risk has been laced with negativity in health care, but based on the current literature, risk can be conceptualized in a positive perspective, especially in the area of chronic health disease such as CHD. However, further research is needed in the conceptualization of risk related to CHD for consistency, adequacy, and meaning.
Increased T Cell Glucose Uptake Reflects Acute Rejection in Lung Grafts

Although T cells are required for acute lung rejection, other graft-infiltrating cells such as neutrophils accumulate in allografts and are also high glucose utilizers. Positron emission tomography (PET) with the glucose probe [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([(18)F]FDG) has been employed to image solid organ acute rejection, but the sources of glucose utilization remain undefined. Using a mouse model of orthotopic lung transplantation, we analyzed glucose probe uptake in the grafts of syngeneic and allogeneic recipients with or without immunosuppression treatment. Pulmonary microPET scans demonstrated significantly higher [(18)F]FDG uptake in rejecting allografts when compared to transplanted lungs of either immunosuppressed or syngeneic recipients. [(18)F]FDG uptake was also markedly attenuated following T cell depletion therapy in lung recipients with ongoing acute rejection. Flow cytometric analysis using the fluorescent deoxyglucose analog 2-NBDG revealed that T cells, and in particular CD8(+) T cells, were the largest glucose utilizers in acutely rejecting lung grafts followed by neutrophils and antigen-presenting cells. These data indicate that imaging modalities tailored toward assessing T cell metabolism may be useful in identifying acute rejection in lung recipients.
ChSeq: A database of chameleon sequences

Chameleon sequences (ChSeqs) refer to sequence strings of identical amino acids that can adopt different conformations in protein structures. Researchers have detected and studied ChSeqs to understand the interplay between local and global interactions in protein structure formation. The different secondary structures adopted by one ChSeq challenge sequence-based secondary structure predictors. With increasing numbers of available Protein Data Bank structures, we here identify a large set of ChSeqs ranging from 6 to 10 residues in length. The homologous ChSeqs discovered highlight the structural plasticity involved in biological function. When compared with previous studies, the set of unrelated ChSeqs found represents an about 20-fold increase in the number of detected sequences, as well as an increase in the longest ChSeq length from 8 to 10 residues. We applied secondary structure predictors on our ChSeqs and found that methods based on a sequence profile outperformed methods based on a single sequence. For the unrelated ChSeqs, the evolutionary information provided by the sequence profile typically allows successful prediction of the prevailing secondary structure adopted in each protein family. Our dataset will facilitate future studies of ChSeqs, as well as interpretations of the interplay between local and nonlocal interactions. A user-friendly web interface for this ChSeq database is available at prodata.swmed.edu/chseq.
I've Got You Under My Skin: Marital Biography and Biological Risk.

Although the life course perspective is a useful paradigm for understanding how health differentials among older adults arise (Halfon & Hochstein, 2002), the importance of social relationships over the life course, especially those pertaining to marriage, in shaping these differentials are often overlooked. We argue that marriage is fundamentally important for understanding life course origins of health because of the consequences of marital status transitions and timing and the importance of marital exposure. Several recent studies illustrate the importance of considering marital biography regarding heart disease, chronic conditions, functional limitations, self-reported health, and all-cause mortality (Dupre, Beck, & Meadows, 2009; Hughes & Waite, 2009; Zhang & Hayward, 2006). Although these studies represent a significant step forward in documenting the importance of marital biography for health outcomes, data limitations have precluded their assessment of possible “under-the-skin” processes that are thought to mediate these relationships. Biological risk measures capture under-the-skin processes involved in the development of several major diseases prevalent among older adults, in particular cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. This study builds on previous research in that we examined how three types of biological risk—cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammation—are related to marital biography. Understanding these relationships is important for at least three reasons. First, although biological risk is frequently invoked to explain the marriage – health association, no one has explicitly tested how marital biography is related to biological risk. Evidence that such a relationship exists would strengthen claims that marriage has a direct effect on morbidity and mortality. Second, self-reported health measures in the marriage and health literature may reflect reporting biases. By using biological markers, we traversed this problem. Although work on marital biography and mortality also overcomes this issue, these studies tend to examine all-cause mortality and thus do not capture specific biological pathways. Third, our analyses provide clues as to how marital biography influences the etiology of prevalent health conditions such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. For instance, certain systems may be more affected than others by marital biography, or different dimensions of marital biography may differ in their impact on biological risk. Finally, our analyses contribute to an ongoing discussion regarding the differential effects of marriage on health for men and women.
The Early Universe: Historical & Philosophical Perspectives

Cosmology is more closely linked with philosophy (e.g. the theory of knowledge) than more typical physical sciences, like solid state physics and electrodynamics. The reasons why is to throw light on the special intellectual problems facing cosmologists, just because their ambition is to discover about the physical world in its entirety. In other branches of physics, we can separate particular “hypotheses” (postsuppositions). which provide explanations of specific phenomena, from those general presuppositions that underlie the concepts governing the field or set of phenomena involved. This cannot easily be done in cosmology: the very comprehensiveness of the subject is the source of its special problems. Other fields are limited to specific kinds of phenomena and subject matters: cosmology is the science of everything at once.1
Quantum optics. Photons yield to peer pressure.

In 1960 the invention of the laser allowed classical light to be amplified inside a cavity. New experiments show that photons in a special quantum state can also be amplified.
Towards the Integration of Geometric and Appearance-Based Object Recognition

Progress in object recognition has been relatively slow over the last five years or so. Despite the considerable progress in our understanding due to research in appearance-based methods, invariants and generic models our ability to recog- nize man-made and natural objects in cluttered scenes with complex illumination has not significantly increased.
"What Have You Done for Me Lately?": Exploring Effectiveness in Public Relations.

We're not asked to show numbers, but we always have to show value. It's sort of, "What have you done for me lately?" —Vice president, corporate communications, mortgage banking company, on accountability in public relations
Transcriptional Interference Antagonizes Proviral Gene Expression to Promote HIV Latency

Eradication of the latent HIV reservoir remains a major barrier to curing AIDS. However, the mechanisms that direct viral persistence in the host are not well understood. Studying a model system of postintegration latency, we found that viral integration into the actively transcribed host genes led to transcriptional interference (TI) caused by the elongating RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) transcribing through the viral promoter. The resulting physical exclusion of preinitiation complex formation on the 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) promoted the silencing of HIV transcription. This block could be counteracted by inhibiting the upstream transcription or cooperatively activating viral transcription initiation and elongation. Importantly, PCR-based analysis, which detects host transcription through the 5'LTR independently of the viral integration site, revealed substantial levels of this transcription in HIV-infected primary CD4(+) T cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that TI contributes significantly to HIV latency and should be considered when attempting to purge the latent reservoir.
Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of High-Affinity, Systemically-Active Galanin Analogues with Potent Anticonvulsant Activities

Galanin is an endogenous neuropeptide that modulates seizures in the brain. Because this neuropeptide does not penetrate the blood−brain barrier, we designed truncated galanin analogues in which nonessential amino acid residues were replaced by cationic and/or lipoamino acid residues. The analogues prevented seizures in the 6 Hz mouse model of epilepsy following intraperitoneal administration. The most active analogue, Gal-B2 (NAX 5055), contained the -Lys-Lys-Lys(palmitoyl)-Lys-NH2 motif and exhibited high affinity for galanin receptors (Ki = 3.5 nM and 51.5 nM for GalR1 and GalR2, respectively), logD = 1.24, minimal helical conformation and improved metabolic stability. Structure−activity-relationship analysis suggested that cationization combined with position-specific lipidization was critical for improving the systemic activity of the analogues. Because the anticonvulsant activity of galanin is mediated by the receptors located in hippocampus and other limbic brain structures, our data suggest that t...
Surface tension lowering substance in Eustachian tube function.

Direct evidence is presented that establishes the existence of an Eusta-chian tube surface tension lowering substance (S.T.L.S.) in the canine experimental model. The physiological role of this Eustachian tube S.T.L.S. is to facilitate middle ear ventilation by lowering the opening pressure needed to aerate the Eustachian tube and middle ear. While S.T.L.S. possesses characteristics similar to those of the pulmonary surfactant, experimental data suggest that it does not reduce the surface tension in the auditory conduit of the middle ear to the degree that the surfactant does in pulmonary system. Neither does Eustachian S.T.L.S. exhibit the physical characteristic of “hysteresis” that the alveolar surfactant demonstrates. The paper presents brief discussion of the physical phenomenon of surface tension as it exists in the Eustachian tube. Various methods of physical surface chemistry used in measuring the surface pressure of the canine Eustachian S.T.L.S. extract are discussed, including criticism of the indirect methodology of previous researchers in investigating the possibility of an Eustachian tube S.T.L.S. Direct methodology, utilizing the Langmuir Trough with Wilhelmy surface balance, was employed. S.T.L.S. is considered in its physiologic role in maintaining Eustachian tube patency. It is suggested that a decreased amount of Eustachian S.T.L.S. may be implicated in the pathophysiology of the serous acellular sterile middle ear transudate in serous otitis media. Finally, it is stressed that this preliminary work needs further histochemical and physiological investigation.
Southern Ocean exports carbon less efficiently than previously thought

The Southern Ocean is a major source of gas exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean, accounting for almost 20% of global ocean carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake. Phytoplankton fix CO2, converting it to other carbon compounds, and some of this biogenic carbon sinks to the deeper ocean, where it is effectively removed from the atmosphere. Better understanding of the rate of export of carbon particulate matter from the upper ocean is key to improving uncertainties in models that include the Southern Ocean's role in the carbon cycle.
Pattern of rewarding stimulation affects the development of conditioned taste preferences

Abstract Research was undertaken to assess the importance of a response contingency on the development of conditioned taste preferences (CTPs). Water deprived rats implanted with lateral hypothalamic electrodes were given access to a lever which produced rewarding brain stimulation (response contingent rewarding stimulation) or had the stimulation administered at a rate determined by the experimenter (non-contingent rewarding stimulation) after drinking a novel tasting (coffee) solution. Consumption of the novel tasting solution was measured in a subsequent preference test. The results indicate that while response contingent stimulation produces reliable CTPs, non-contingent stimulation shows no evidence of inducing such preferences at any of the stimulation parameters employed. It was concluded that a reliable rate free measure of the rewarding aspects of brain stimulation could not be developed using non-contingent rewarding brain stimulation in conjunction with the CTP paradigm.
Knowledge free and ‘unfree’: Epistemic tensions in plant knowledge at the Cape in the 17th and 18 th centuries1

ABSTRACT This article utilises the same epistemic objects, particular indigenous medicinal plants of the Cape region, to explore the gamut of epistemologies in contested, dynamic tension in the early Cape Colony: That of the frontiersman, the Khoikhoi, the Sonqua or Sankwe, and the slave. Drawing on a transdisciplinary set of literatures, the article puts Africana studies, the study of indigenous knowledge systems, and social studies of science and technology in wider conversation with each other, and argues for the adoption of an epistemic openness, methodologies which ‘braid’ seemingly separate strands of social history and differing knowledge practices, and cross-border collaboration among scholars of African and African diasporic knowledges. The findings and interpretation suggest new ways to view the ‘multiplexity’ of early indigenous southern African botanical, therapeutic and ecological knowledges, as well as the necessity for rethinking both the construction of colonial sciences and contemporary c...
New syntheses of the novel immunoactivator FR900483

Synthese de dihydroxy-3,4 pyrroline-1 methanol-5 a partir de di-O-benzyl-3,4 O-tributylsilyl-6 glucal ou d'O-benzyl-1 O-isopropylidene-4,5 arabinopyranoside