cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Towards a New Critical Literacy: Literature, Community Engagement and The Global Public Good

What does it mean for a student to be critically literate in the Twenty First Century? How do we teach critical literacy within university humanities programs in the United States? And what are the implications of critical literacy for the conception and praxis of the global good? Using Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams’ conceptions of critical literacy, I outline a pedagogical approach to literature and cultural studies that offers a conceptual space for students to imagine and engage with ideas of the global good. From the perspective of student learning, this approach to community engagement offers students opportunities to “read” their own social context critically and engage with, as well as, contribute to various local, national and global communities in meaningful, material ways. But what is important is that in doing so, such contributions come from the starting point of disciplinary knowledge, rather than from a problematic volunteerism or service framework that are often associated with the term community engagement. A critically literate approach to community engagement enables students to understand how literary studies can enrich an understanding of their global context in ways that other disciplines cannot and, therefore, the type of knowledge that the field produces. Drawing upon concrete examples of student learning from a range of university classes in which I have employed this pedagogical approach, I conclude that the student learning experience that results from such a process is qualitatively different—both with respect to the sorts of knowledge that students’ produce, as well as the dispositional affects it engenders in students’ lives. Such a learning experience holds the promise of achieving Raymond Williams’ vision of adult education as a process of “building social consciousness” and “real understanding of the world”—a substantive critical literacy for a globalized world.
Cardinals of Closed Sets in βX

It was pointed out in 6.10 that the cardinal number of β N is at least c. On the other hand, since each ultrafilter on N is a subset of the set of all subsets of N, and β N is in one-one correspondence with the set of all (z-)ultrafilters, we have |β N| ≦ 2c. This latter argument applies equally well to any completely regular space X and shows that |β N| ≦ 22|X|. (See also 9A.1.)
A mathematical model for predicting the carbon sequestration potential of ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete

Abstract A simple mathematical model that calculates the theoretical carbon sequestration potential of exposed ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete is presented, validated, and implemented herein. OPC concrete sequesters non-trivial amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) via carbonation – a chemical reaction between cement paste and atmospheric CO2. Formulated by the reaction chemistries of cement hydration and carbonation, the model accounts for cement type and content, exposure, time, and type and quantity of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). Once validated with data from literature, the model is implemented to investigate the effect of these factors and the influence of compressive strength and geometry, namely surface-area-to-volume (SA/V) ratio, on total carbon sequestration (kg CO2) of exposed concrete elements. Results demonstrate that (a) low tetracalcium aluminoferrite (C4AF) cements, (b) compressive strength, (c) high CO2 exposure, (d) no SCMs, (e) time, (f) high SA/V ratios, and (g) indoor environments enhance the in situ carbon sequestration of exposed OPC concrete.
Application of Fuzzy Preference–Analytic Hierarchy Process Logic in Evaluating Sustainability of Transportation Infrastructure Requiring Multicriteria Decision Making

AbstractSelection and construction of sustainable infrastructure is a complex process due to multicriteria decision requirements. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a widely used multicriteria...
Regulation of Gene Expression by Oxygen: Phototrophic Bacteria

Pure cultures of certain phototrophic bacteria undergo striking changes in color in response to varying oxygen tensions. Rhodobacter capsulatus cells in anaerobic cultures are dark brown. A tiny amount of oxygen during or after growth results in deep reddish purple cultures, while cells grown in the presence of atmospheric oxygen are a light pastel shade of orange-pink. This variability has fascinated microbiologists for more than half a century (van Niel 1944). As our analytical abilities and understanding of genetics have increased, we have come to recognize these color changes as parts of an intricate metabolic response to a key environmental factor: oxygen.
What Can we Take Away from Easy Arguments

ABSTRACTA ‘sceptical’ approach to easy arguments involves reducing our confidence in the supposedly uncontroversial premise with which the arguments begin. Here I address the question: if we accept Yablo's new version of a sceptical proposal, what difference might that make for the relevant meta-ontological debates? I argue that serious difficulties remain for even this ‘best’ version of a sceptical approach. Noting these difficulties might motivate us to look again at the alternative strategy—of reading the uncontroversial premise straightforwardly and thinking that doubts about the conclusion were based on artificial inflation or confusion.
Is It Time to Rethink the Notion of Carbapenem-Sparing Therapy Against Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae Bloodstream Infections? A Critical Review.

Objective:To present systematic recommendations for carbapenem-sparing therapy against extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) Enterobacteriaceae bloodstream infections (BSIs) derived from a critica...
Statistical and Computational Geometry of Biomolecular Structure

Recent revolutionary developments in genomics and computational structural biology lead to the rapidly increasing amount of data on biomolecular sequences and structures. The deposition rate for both sequence and structure databases continues to grow exponentially. The efficient utilization of this data depends on the availability of methods and tools for biomolecular data analysis. Significant achievements have been made in DNA and protein sequence analysis, now the focus in bioinformatics research is shifting from sequence to structural and functional data. Accurate prediction of protein three-dimensional structure from its primary sequence represents one of the greatest challenges of modern theoretical biology. Detailed knowledge of protein structure is essential for understanding the mechanisms of biological processes at molecular, cellular, and evolutionary levels.
Ensemble-Based Algorithm for Synchrophasor Data Anomaly Detection

With the advent of phasor measurement units (PMUs), high resolution synchronized phasor measurements enables real time system monitoring and control. PMUs transmit data to local controllers in substations and phasor data concentrators for system wide monitoring and control application in the control center. They provide real-time phasor data for critical power system applications such as remedial action schemes, oscillation detection, and state estimation. The quality of phasor data from PMUs is critical for smart grid applications. Several methods are developed to detect anomalies in time series data, tailored for PMU data analysis. Nevertheless, applying stand alone methods (with fixed parameters) takes great tuning effort, and does not always achieve high accuracy. In this paper, we adopt an unsupervised ensemble learning approach to develop fast, scalable bad data/event detection for PMU data. The ensemble method invokes a set of base detectors to generate anomaly scores of the PMU data, and makes decisions by aggregating the scores from each detector. We develop two algorithms: 1) a learning algorithm that trains the ensemble model and 2) an online algorithm that infers the anomaly scores with the ensemble model over PMU data streams. The proposed method provides flag for data anomalies and triggers further analysis to differentiate between events and bad data. Using both simulated and real-world PMU data, we show that our ensemble model can be efficiently trained, can achieve high accuracy in detecting diversified errors/events, and outperforms its counterparts that use single standalone detection method.
The Evolutionary Ecology of Creativity

Abstract Creativity is defined as the cognitive faculty for recombination of information units stored in the neuronal networks of the brain into novel arrangements or structures. Humans evolved the capacity for creativity (or generativity) in the context of multiple faculties for the translation of neuronal information to other forms outside the brain. They probably first evolved a faculty for translating information to patterned arrangements that were devoid of information in the form of courtship displays (similar to gibbons). Some form of proto-language (i.e., neuronal information translated to another form of information) probably evolved from the patterned arrangements (as originally suggested by Darwin) as part of a foraging strategy to cope with less productive environments (analogous to a honeybee colony). Selection pressures related to both pair-bonding and the maintenance of reciprocal exogamous networks likely drove subsequent expansion of the human brain and—when the latter reached a maximum limit—the translation of neuronal information to complex, hierarchically-organized artefacts, which is a unique human faculty. These pressures also presumably drove the emergence of creativity, represented in the archaeological record by artefacts and features that exhibit a potential for infinite recombination of components and elements within a complex, hierarchical structure.
On the Decomposition of DEA Inefficiency

DEA inefficiency can be characterized by scale and congestion components. We show that the scale and congestion depend on the different technology assumption. The scale component and congestion component depend on the input disposability and returns to scale (RTS) assumptions, respectively. It is also shown that the congestion is associated with the non-zero slack values.
Improving communication with referring oncologists (RO): Indiana University experience.

276Background: Poor communication between referring physicians and consultants can lead to disruptions in continuity of care, unnecessary testing, and iatrogenic complications. We sought to identif...
Reduced Amygdala-Prefrontal Functional Connectivity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Disruptive Behavior.

Abstract Background Disruptive behaviors are prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and often cause substantial impairments. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of disruptive behaviors remain poorly understood in ASD. In children without ASD, disruptive behavior is associated with amygdala hyperactivity and reduced connectivity with the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC). This study examined amygdala reactivity and connectivity in children with ASD with and without co-occurring disruptive behavior disorders. We also investigated differential contributions of externalizing behaviors and callous-unemotional traits to variance in amygdala connectivity and reactivity. Methods This cross-sectional study involved behavioral assessments and neuroimaging in three groups of children 8 to 16 years of age: 18 children had ASD and disruptive behavior, 20 children had ASD without disruptive behavior, and 19 children were typically developing control participants matched for age, gender, and IQ. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants completed an emotion perception task of fearful versus calm faces. Task-specific changes in amygdala reactivity and connectivity were examined using whole-brain, psychophysiological interaction, and multiple regression analyses. Results Children with ASD and disruptive behavior showed reduced amygdala–vlPFC connectivity compared with children with ASD without disruptive behavior. Externalizing behaviors and callous-unemotional traits were associated with amygdala reactivity to fearful faces in children with ASD after controlling for suppressor effects. Conclusions Reduced amygdala–vlPFC connectivity during fear processing may differentiate children with ASD and disruptive behavior from children with ASD without disruptive behavior. The presence of callous-unemotional traits may have implications for identifying differential patterns of amygdala activity associated with increased risk of aggression in ASD. These findings suggest a neural mechanism of emotion dysregulation associated with disruptive behavior in children with ASD.
Adjuncts and Minimalist Grammars

The behaviour of adverbs and adjectives has qualities of both ordinary selection and something else, something unique to modifiers. This makes them difficult to model. Modifiers are generally optional and transparent to selection while arguments are required and driven by selection. Cinque [4] proposes that adverbs, functional heads, and descriptive adjectives are underlyingly uniformly ordered across languages and models them by ordinary Merge or selection. Such a model captures only the ordering restrictions on these morphemes; it fails to capture their optionality and transparency to selection. I propose a model of adjunction with a separate Adjoin function that allows the derivation to keep track of both the true head of the phrase and the place in the Cinque hierarchy of the modifier, preventing inverted modifier orders in the absence of Move.
Drug-Induced Injury, Vascular, Congenital, and Miscellaneous Disorders

Jejunum and ileum are the longest parts in human gut and are the main locations where nutrition absorption occurs. The disease spectrum of jejunum and ileum is a bit different from that in duodenum and colon. Because of limited endoscopic accessibility and availability of tissue sample, many entities are less understood or recognized by pathologists. Besides Crohn’s disease, there are many nonneoplastic or congenital disorders in jejunum and ileum that can cause significant clinical issues and remain as diagnostic challenges for both clinicians and pathologists. In this chapter, we will focus on drug-induced injury, especially nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)-induced enteropathy, ischemia or vasculitis, and congenital or other uncommon disorders that mainly involve jejunum and ileum.
$sup 31$P(d,$alpha$)$sup 29$Si REACTION FROM 7.3 TO 12.0 MeV.

Cross sections for the reaction $^{31}\mathrm{P}(d, \ensuremath{\alpha})^{29}\mathrm{Si}$ have been measured for laboratory deuteron energies from 7.300 to 12.020 MeV. The data have been analyzed in terms of Ericson fluctuation theory, from which the coherence width in $^{33}\mathrm{S}$ has been obtained for the whole range of data and for the data divided into halves. The fraction of the reaction proceeding via a direct mechanism has also been determined by Ericson-type analysis. To obtain this fraction, it was necessary to take into account the particle decay of the compound nucleus through 3040 channels in order to calculate realistically the fluctuation damping coefficient.
Anxiety Disorders Among Older Adults: Empirically Supported Treatments and Special Considerations

This chapter introduces the therapeutic approaches and major clinical themes in the treatment of late-life anxiety. Late-life anxiety disorders are prevalent, disabling, and often undertreated. Furthermore, when treatment is sought, most older adults are not offered empirically supported care, making effective treatment less likely. However, numerous modalities for effective treatment exist, including pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches. Many older adults respond well to monotherapy strategies, while others benefit from augmented or combined approaches to address the needs most relevant to older adults. In this chapter, we review the evidence regarding appropriate psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions for treating late-life anxiety disorders. We also address themes common to older adults, including cognitive impairment, age-related socioemotional changes, medical comorbidities, and treatment underutilization, and provide the reader with strategies for managing these complex issues in late-life anxiety.
CRAMStrack: Enhanced Nonlinear RSSI Tracking by Using Circular Multi-Sectors

Indoor localization using a Received Signal Strength Indicator (namely, RSSI localization) has been considered a poor measurement for target tracking. The main cause of this inaccurate measurement is that RSSI’s behaviors heavily depend on environmental factors. That is, one significant challenge to localization using RSSI is that the strength of a signal varies with the environment confounding wireless communications power and signal control. In this paper, we propose Circular RSSI And Multi-Sector tracking (CRAMStrack), a novel approach to reducing the uncertainty of RSSI localization by modifying the relationship of RSSI-to-Distance (RtD), based on the sectors of a circle and the position of the tracked target. Traditional RSSI tracking uses one uniform RtD relationship to locate a target whereas CRAMStrack utilizes multiple RtD responses for each wireless sensor. The paper examines CRAMStrack’s tracking ability in a Euclidean space with estimation techniques. Real-world experiments demonstrate CRAMStrack in a testbed environment to locate targets in both stationary, linear, and non-linear movement patterns with single and group-based formations. The track accuracy was about 1.46m for moving targets, while CRAMStrack had a 40% reduction in Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) over Uni-RtD using neighboring sensor information.
Climate Change and the Coastal Zone Management Act: The Role of Federalism in Adaptation Strategies

This chapter discusses the role of coastal zone management under conditions of climate change in the United States. More specifically, this chapter explores coastal zone management by examining the relationship between coastal states and the federal government, political entities that share interests and rights in coastal areas under constitutional federalism. To help place this review of federalism into a coastal management context, a particular federal law, the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), will provide the context to highlight federal and coastal state interactions when managing coastal resources in an era of climate change. The CZMA will also provide a legal foundation from which coastal states and federal government interactions will be analyzed to see the influence of federalism when responding to threats in coastal areas caused by climate change.
Residuals-based distributionally robust optimization with covariate information

We consider data-driven approaches that integrate a machine learning prediction model within distributionally robust optimization (DRO) given limited joint observations of uncertain parameters and covariates. Our framework is flexible in the sense that it can accommodate a variety of learning setups and DRO ambiguity sets. We investigate the asymptotic and finite sample properties of solutions obtained using Wasserstein, sample robust optimization, and phi-divergence-based ambiguity sets within our DRO formulations, and explore cross-validation approaches for sizing these ambiguity sets. Through numerical experiments, we validate our theoretical results, study the effectiveness of our approaches for sizing ambiguity sets, and illustrate the benefits of our DRO formulations in the limited data regime even when the prediction model is misspecified.
Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid Detection Using Molecularly Imprinted Polyaniline on a Paper Substrate

Perfluorinated compounds like perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) are synthetic water pollutants and have accumulated in environments for decades, causing a serious global health issue. Conventional assays rely on liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy that are very expensive and complicated and thus limit the large-scale monitoring of PFOS in wastewater. To achieve low-cost and accurate detection of PFOS, we designed a paper-based sensor with molecularly imprinted polyaniline electrodes that have recognition sites specific to PFOS. The calibration curve of resistivity ratios as a function of PFOS concentrations has a linear range from 1 to 100 ppt with a coefficient of determination of 0.995. The estimated limit of detection is 1.02 ppt. We also investigated attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of the surface of the polyaniline (PANI) electrodes to propose the potential recognition sites in polyaniline matrix and the detection mechanism. This electrical paper sensor with low cost and excellent sensitivity and selectivity provides the potential for large-scale monitoring of wastewater.
Supply Chain Leakage of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Climate change has been a major global risk and a key driver for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. Yet, internal emissions reduction of firms may create a leakage that leads to higher emissions in the supply chain. The related literature suggests that such emissions leakage is explained by the pollution haven hypothesis. We propose and find evidence for an alternative reason for supply chain leakage, one that is driven by innovation and optimization of supply chain activities. Using panel data from Bloomberg Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Bloomberg Supply Chain (SPLC), we estimate our models at a firm and supplier dyadic level using two-way cluster robust standard error and dyadic robust error estimations, treating different sources of endogeneity. We find empirical evidence of a supply chain leakage effect – a higher level of supplier emissions is associated with a lower level of firm internal emissions. More importantly, supplier innovation can be a major driver behind the leakage – the supply chain leakage effect is heightened when a supplier is more innovative. Further, the role of innovation is strengthened when a supplier has similar technological capabilities to the focal firm. We also find that climate risk exposure impacts supply chain leakage in an asymmetrical pattern—focal firm climate risks heighten leakage while supplier climate risks mitigate leakage. Our findings suggest that supply chain leakage may not be completely driven by pollution haven motives, but by supply chain innovation and optimization that may be beneficial in the long term.
Geographic Networks and Spillovers between Banks

I identify a novel interconnection that forms between banks that engage in home lending in the same geographic region and show that it facilitates bank-to-bank spillovers. Exploiting home price changes initiated by the shock of the Great Recession and heterogeneity in such changes across markets to capture variations in negative shocks to banks via market exposure, I find that a bank contracts lending more if its linkages are more shocked. Results suggest investor-runs as the underlying spillover mechanism: Because similar banks lend in similar markets, investors lose confidence on the quality of banks that are geographically linked with shocked banks and run on them, thus resulting in banks to contract lending.
EXTENDING PRODUCT FAMILY DESIGN METHODS TO PRODUCT-SERVICE-SYSTEM FAMILY DESIGN

Although product family design methods are well established, little research has focused on Product-Service-System (PSS) family design. A PSS family design method is proposed in this paper that parallels methodology for designing product families. Separate platforms are proposed for products and for services. However, couplings between product and service platforms are identified and incorporated into the design method. Design problem formulations are proposed for PSS family platforms and for the PSS family itself, using a module-based approach, in contrast to a platform scaling approach. Alternative methods are investigated and compared for solving these problems. The application domain of Assistive Mobility (AM) is identified as a promising PSS family in this work. If smart technologies are integrated into AM devices, such as manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs, walkers, and rollators, then patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as device maintenance, services are enabled with these smart technologies, demonstrating that smart AM devices are a promising PSS family.
Current and future prospective of biosensing molecules for point-of-care sensors for diabetes biomarker

Abstract Diabetes is a chronic illness all over the world, and is one of the fastest growing global health emergencies of the 21st century. Since diabetes is a multi-system disease requiring complex management, the comprehensive care of patients with diabetes is necessary. However, frequent testing will be problematic for patients, and the laboratory results informing health care professional may not be promptly, thereby may delay appropriate management. Therefore, the availability of point-of care testing (POCT) or near patient testing which is conducted outside of a centralized laboratory by clinical staff, for biomolecules necessary for the management of patients with diabetes, is important. Diabetes mellitus is best managed by tight glycemic control, which will be achieved by glucose monitoring. Diagnoses of diabetes are carried out based on glycated hemoglobin and blood glucose concentration. In addition to glucose, glycated protein, ketone, insulin, glucagon and incretins are being the target for POCT monitoring. Recently, varieties of biosensing principles for these diabetes biomarkers have been reported based on novel biosensing principles together with the development of novel biosensing molecules. The purpose of this study was to explore current available biosensing molecules which have been utilized for the development of POCT sensor for the molecules related with the diagnosis, managements and treatment of diabetic patients.
New Bounds on Diffsequences

For a set of positive integers $D$, a $k$-term $D$-diffsequence is a sequence of positive integers $a_1<a_2<\cdots<a_k$ such that $a_i-a_{i-1}\in D$ for $i=2,3,\cdots,k$. For $k\in\mathbb{Z}^+$ and $D\subset \mathbb{Z}^+$, we define $\Delta(D,k)$, if it exists, to be the smallest integer $n$ such that every $2$-coloring of $\{1,2,\cdots,n\}$ contains a monochromatic $D$-diffsequence of length $k$. We improve the lower bound on $\Delta(D,k)$ where $D=\{2^i\mid i\in\mathbb{Z}_{\geq{0}}\}$, proving a conjecture of Chokshi, Clifton, Landman, and Sawin. We also determine all sets of the form $D=\{d_1,d_2,\cdots\}$ with $d_i\mid d_{i+1}$ for which $\Delta(D,k)$ exists.
Financial Liberalization and Consumption Volatility in Developing Countries

One of the chief benefits of financial liberalization proposed by theoretical literature is that it should allow countries to better smooth consumption through international risk sharing. Recent empirical evidence does not support this prediction. In developing countries, financial liberalization seems to be associated with an increase in consumption volatility. This paper seeks to rationalize the evidence by linking it to two important features of developing countries. First, domestic financial markets are underdeveloped. We model this by adopting the Kocherlakota (1996) framework of risk sharing subject to limited commitment. Second, access to international markets is not available to all members of society. We show that when risks are idiosyncratic, that is, insurable within the domestic economy, opening up to international markets reduces the amount of risk sharing attained at home and raises the volatility of consumption. When risk is aggregate to the economy, the underdeveloped financial system prevents the pooling of aggregate risk across agents for the purposes of insurance in the international markets. Thus, while the volatility of consumption coming from aggregate risk decreases with financial liberalization, it does so by much less than would be predicted by a representative agent model.
Semantic Integration and Querying of Heterogeneous Data Sources Using a Hypergraph Data Model

Information integration in the World Wide Web has evolved to a new framework where the information is represented and manipulated using a wide range of modeling languages. Current approaches to data integration use wrappers to convert the different modeling languages into a common data model. In this work we use a nested hypergraph based data model (called HDM) as a common data model for integrating different structured or semi-structured data. We present a hypergraph query language (HQL) that allows the integration of the wrapped data sources through the creation of views for mediators, and the querying of the wrapped data sources and the mediator views by the end users. We also show that HQL queries (views) can be constructed from other views and/or source schemas using a set of primitive transformations. Our integration architecture is flexible and allows some (or all) of the views in a mediator to be materialized.
Exploring diabetes beliefs in at-risk Appalachia.

Purpose: This study quantifies and describes perceptions of susceptibility and severity of diabetes; cultural beliefs, barriers, and knowledge about diabetes; and social stigma associated with diabetes in an Eastern Appalachian Kentucky population. Methods: A 55-item intercept survey was administered in 2 large retail outlets in Eastern Kentucky. Individuals were screened to ensure an age range of 25-55 and an “at-risk” diabetes status (according to the American Diabetes Association's requirements). Descriptive statistics and t tests were used to describe the data. Differences across demographic variables were tested via an analysis of variance. Findings: Most respondents agreed that diabetes is a growing problem in their community, yet the overall levels of perceived susceptibility and perceived severity were lower than expected (susceptibility = 3.88 on a 5-point scale and severity = 3.5). Women, however, perceived higher susceptibility than men. Social stigma did not emerge as a strong concern or worry. The only group differences noted focused on barriers to care and disease management. Specifically, men without a family history of diabetes were significantly less likely than men with a family history to agree that the community should help persons living with diabetes manage their disease (P= .034). Conclusions: There appears to be a gap between actual and perceived risk levels for developing diabetes. Additionally, it seems that diabetes is viewed as an intrapersonal issue rather than a community-level problem. Yet, for men, a personal experience with the disease may be enough to change the belief that diabetes is an individual problem.
The Current Status of LIGO

LIGO promises to open a new window on here to fore unobservable astrophysical processes in the universe through its ability to detect directly gravitational waves. The detection of gravitational radiation, in itself a formidable scientific challenge, will also allow us to observe the dynamics of astrophysical events such as binary star coalescences and supernovae explosions in new ways. The LIGO detectors will become operational in 2000.
Attitude Change Following Near-Death Experiences

(1980). Attitude Change Following Near-Death Experiences. Psychiatry: Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 234-242.
Reflections on the Batesian synthesis.

The argument in “Medicine and the Soul of Science” can be strengthened by understanding that what used to be called “the Western intellectual tradition” is a hodgepodge of Middle Eastern, Greek, Indian, Chinese, and other approaches and methods that converged in the Islamic world before ca. 1000 CE when Europeans began to borrow and adapt it, and by integrating the results of recent research on all of these scientific, technological, and medical traditions.
Analytical results for the I–V characteristics of a fully depleted SOI-MOSFET

Explicit formulae for the I–V characteristics of an SOI/SOS MOSFET operating in the fully depleted mode are derived by extending the asymptotic method of Ward. A detailed comparison with test data is presented and the model is shown to be effective over a range of device geometries for a half micrometre technology and voltages up to and including the kink attributable to impact ionisation.
Correlation between follicular diameters and flushing versus no flushing on oocyte maturity, fertilization rate and embryo quality

Objective To determine (a) the correlation between follicular sizes, oocyte maturity, normal fertilization rate, cleavage and embryo quality; and (b) to establish whether oocytes recovered with or without follicular flushing have different developmental competence.
Total body potassium in normal children.

Extract: Normative data for total body potassium on 462 children (232 boys and 230 girls) are presented. The regression of total body potassium on weight can be described as a straight line for males (grams K = 4.32 + 2.12 × weight) and two significantly different lines for females (grams K = −1.50 + 2.32 × weight for weight ≤ 30 kg, and grams K = 34.90 + 1.11 × weight for weight > 30 kg), with less potassium per kilogram for females weighing more than 30 kg. No sex-related difference is found between 12 and 30 kg. When the regression of total body potassium on height is examined, it is found that a logarithmic transformation of potassium values results in a similar pattern, with no sex-related differences between 100 and 135 cm and less potassium per centimeter in females over this height. For males, log K in grams = 1.761 + 0.0182 × cm of height; and for females, log Kin grams = 1.595 + 0.01942 × cm for height ≤ 135 cm, and log K in grams = 2.574 + 0.01215 × cm for height > 135 cm. The logarithmic transformation of K versus height is proposed as a standard because it reflects changes in slope associated with known physiologic and endocrinologic changes occurring with puberty and may be more sensitive than weight in predicting abnormal values in individual patients. Speculation: Since the regression of total body potassium on height appears to be a straight line common to both sexes 100–130 cm tall, with a diverging line indicating progressively less potassium per centimeter for females over 135 cm in height, these data were compared with available data for infants. The total body K values of infants between 50 and 80 cm in length appear to fall on a line with a steeper slope than values of children 100 to 135 cm tall. This observation suggests that, during the 1st year of life, increasing total body potassium per centimeter of length reflects maturation of body composition. Further extension of such observations to low birth weight infants might be expected to give information on their body composition.
Dynamic and Contrasting Information by Oriented-Sample Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy of Membrane Proteins

Oriented-sample NMR (OS NMR) has emerged as a powerful technique for structure determination of membrane proteins in their native-like lipid environment. We have developed a model relating OS NMR lineshapes to uniaxial ordering (mosaic spread) and rotational diffusion of the protein within the membrane. The model is exemplified by 15N NMR spectra of Pf1 coat protein in both magnetically aligned phage and reconstituted in oriented bicelles. In the case of Pf1 phage, the lineshapes are dominated by static uniaxial disorder; whereas fast rotational diffusion of the protein is responsible for the motional line narrowing in perpendicularly oriented bicelles. From the analysis of 15N NMR linewidths, rotational diffusion coefficient can be estimated. Since the value of the diffusion coefficient is ultimately related to the overall protein size, information about oligomerization states is potentially obtainable. Second, the use of various membrane-embedded radicals allows one to both dramatically speed up data acquisition, on the one hand, and obtain contrasting information for membrane-embedded proteins, on the other. While membrane-bound paramagnetic species drastically affect the T1Z relaxation times (at 2:1 molar ratio relative to the protein), the transverse T2 relaxation is only slightly affected. 5-DOXYL stearic acid, TEMPOL, and CAT-1 radicals exhibit different partitioning within the membrane, and result in differential paramagnetic effect on the spectral peaks arising from different residues of Pf1 protein in bicelles. This allows one to obtain contrasting information about the location of the residues relative to the membrane. As was shown by EPR, TEMPOL partitions itself equally in and out of the membrane, and almost uniformly affects all residues within the bilayer. By contrast, 5-DOXYL stearic acid affects mostly the residues below the interfacial region, while CAT-1 affects the residues located within the polar head groups.
New chelate ring opening reactions leading to the synthesis of novel mixed ligand complexes of the octahedral metal carbonyls

Abstract Reactions of the four-membered ring chelate CH3N(PF2)2Cr(CO)4 with trivalent phosphorous ligands (L) at 80°C leads to facile opening of the chelate ring to give the mixed ligand complexes trans-CH3N(PF2)2Cr(CO)4L (L=C6H5)3P or monodentate C6H5N(PF2)2) containing a monodentate CH3N(PF2)2 ligand.
Ovarian Control of Vitellogenin Synthesis by the Fat Body in Aedes aegypti

INSECT yolk proteins, or vitellogenins, are synthesized and secreted by the fat body1–4, and are sequestered from the haemolymph by the developing oocytes5–7. Hormonal involvement in this process has been suggested by our work with the fat body of Aedes aegypti4,8, and we now report that a factor, produced by the ovary, acts directly on the fat body to activate and maintain synthesis.
Synthesis of Mesoporous V−Mg−O Nanofibers

A mesostructured V−Mg−O was synthesized for catalytic purposes using vanadium(V) oxide and magnesium chloride as sources and various surfactants or surfactant mixtures as templates. Among the surfa...
Magnetic Fields in the Heliosheath and Distant Heliosphere: Voyager 1 and 2 Observations During 2005 and 2006

This paper examines the variability of daily averages of the magnetic field strength B in the heliosheath and in the distant solar wind measured by Voyager 1 (V1) and Voyager 2 (V2), respectively, from 2005.0 to 2006.9. In the heliosheath, a spatial gradient of (0.0023 ± 0.0011) nT AU-1 is observed, which constrains models of the inner heliosheath. This gradent is small compared to the expected average gradient of B across the entire heliosheath. In the heliosheath the profile of B is generally filamentary with numerous jumps, but a large-amplitude sine wave with a period of ≈200 days was observed by V1 at the end of the interval. The fluctuations of daily averages of B observed by V1 and V2 have a Gaussian distribution and lognormal distribution, respectively. The autocorrelation of B(t) from day of year (DOY) 1-512 was an exponential function with an e-folding time of ≈3.7 ± 0.5 days for V1 and 2.5 ± 0.3 days for V2. On scales from 1-4 days, the autocorrelation function was a power law with exponent α = -0.440 ± 0.031 for V1 and α = -0.497 ± 0.002 for V2. The distribution of differences of successive daily averages of B for both V1 and V2 is the Tsallis distribution of nonextensive statistical mechanics with the nonextensivity parameter q = 1.55 ± 0.05. V2 (at ≈S26°) observed both positive and negative magnetic polarities throughout the interval from 2005.0 to 2006.9. There is evidence that V1 (at N34°) might be entering a region of negative magnetic polarity as the latitudinal extent of the heliospheric current sheet decreases during the declining phase of solar cycle 23.
BMP signaling is required for septation of the outflow tract of the mammalian heart.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) constitute a family of ∼20 growth factors involved in a tremendous variety of embryonic inductive processes. BMPs elicit dose-dependent effects on patterning during gastrulation and gradients of BMP activity are thought to be established through regulation of the relative concentrations of BMP receptors, ligands and antagonists. We tested whether later developmental events also are sensitive to reduced levels of BMP signaling. We engineered a knockout mouse that expresses a BMP type II receptor that lacks half of the ligand-binding domain. This altered receptor is expressed at levels comparable with the wild-type allele, but has reduced signaling capability. Unlike Bmpr2-null mice, mice homozygous for this hypomorphic receptor undergo normal gastrulation, providing genetic evidence of the dose-dependent effects of BMPs during mammalian development. Mutants, however, die at midgestation with cardiovascular and skeletal defects, demonstrating that the development of these tissues requires wild-type levels of BMP signaling. The most striking defects occur in the outflow tract of the heart, with absence of septation of the conotruncus below the valve level and interrupted aortic arch, a phenotype known in humans as persistent truncus arteriosus (type A4). In addition, semilunar valves do not form in mutants, while the atrioventricular valves appear unaffected. Abnormal septation of the heart and valve anomalies are the most frequent forms of congenital cardiac defects in humans; however, most mouse models display broad defects throughout cardiac tissues. The more restricted spectrum of cardiac anomalies in Bmpr2 ΔE2 mutants makes this strain a key murine model to understand the embryonic defects of persistent truncus arteriosus and impaired semilunar valve formation in humans.
Chordal Cutting A New Therapeutic Approach for Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation

BACKGROUND Mitral regurgitation (MR) conveys adverse prognosis in ischemic heart disease. Because such MR is related to increased leaflet tethering by displaced attachments to the papillary muscles (PMs), it is incompletely treated by annular reduction. We therefore addressed the hypothesis that such MR can be reduced by cutting a limited number of critically positioned chordae to the leaflet base that most restrict closure but are not required to prevent prolapse. This was tested in 8 mitral valves: a porcine in vitro pilot with PM displacement and 7 sheep with acute inferobasal infarcts studied in vivo with three-dimensional (3D) echo to quantify MR in relation to 3D valve geometry. METHODS AND RESULTS In all 8 valves, PM displacement restricted leaflet closure, with anterior leaflet angulation at the basal chord insertion, and mild-to-moderate MR. Cutting the 2 central basal chordae reversed this without prolapse. In vivo, MR increased from 0.8+/-0.2 to 7.1+/-0.5 mL/beat after infarction and then decreased to 0.9+/-0.1 mL/beat with chordal cutting (P<0.0001); this paralleled changes in the 3D leaflet area required to cover the orifice as dictated by chordal tethering (r(2)=0.76). CONCLUSIONS Cutting a minimum number of basal chordae can improve coaptation and reduce ischemic MR. Such an approach also suggests the potential for future minimally invasive implementation.
The Aquatic Acidification Index: A New Regulatory Metric Linking Atmospheric and Biogeochemical Models to Assess Potential Aquatic Ecosystem Recovery

US National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are based on quantitative linkages between ambient air concentrations and an effects indicator. Critical loads (CLs) can provide quantitative information on safe levels of atmospheric deposition to aquatic systems, but CLs cannot be directly used in the NAAQS context because they are not expressed in terms of atmospheric concentrations. Here, we describe the aquatic acidification index (AAI) model that incorporates CL concepts and relates atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur concentrations to an acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) effects indicator (Fig. 1). The AAI estimates the potential surface water ANC associated with a set of atmospheric concentrations of nitrogen and sulfur and a region's biogeochemical and hydrological attributes by combining steady-state CL modeling with air quality modeling outputs. Initial applications of the AAI model yielded results consistent with well-recognized spatial patterns of acid-sensitive aquatic systems. Furthermore, the response of AAI predictions to future year changes in NO x and SO x emissions suggest that planned national emission reduction strategies designed to reduce ozone and particulate matter air pollution will produce increases in surface water ANC.
Surface cooled convection simulations with application to ice-covered seas

Some idealized numerical experiments were carried out to study certain basic aspects of convective motions likely to occur during cooling and ice formation in the Nordic seas. The studies were restricted to two-dimensional motions in shallow water up to 300m deep. The freezing point was not assumed to depend on salinity. Cooling rates of 200–500 W m-2 (mass flux rates of (4–10) X 10−5 kgm−2 s−1), and brine discharge rates of (4–8) X 10−5 kgm−2 s−1 were assumed, the latter corresponding roughly to a cm h−1 ice growth. The initial fluid state was assumed to be homogeneous, having been thoroughly stirred by the preceding strong wind events common to those regions. It was assumed that upon reaching the freezing temperature, all further cooling of the surface goes into ice formation, thus losing the buoyancy forcing owing to the cooling-associated mass flux. Under these conditions, the results showed that the occurrence of freezing regions and ice formation can either inhibit or enhance convection in the underlying water masses, depending on the ratio of the cooling-associated mass flux loss (owing to ice formation) to the brine release mass flux gain. Another important dependence was found on diffusivity, which can enhance (or diminish) the heat advected from the ambient ocean below. The augmentation of the upward heat flux by the higher diffusivity delayed both the onset of freezing and the growth of the freezing area, thus diminishing the loss of buoyancy forcing owing to the (higher) cooling-associated mass flux. For a cooling/brine mass flux ratio of five, the kinetic energy of the no-freezing system exceeded that of the freezing system by a factor of three. For cooling rates of 476W m-2 the maximum vertical velocities of the no-freeze simulation steadied at about 10 cm s−1, and for the case of cooling-freezing with a mass flux ratio of about five, at about 5 cm s−1 These values are within the range observed in penetrative ocean convection, or simulated by previous modelers in convection experiments. In the case of insufficient cooling (238 vs. 476 W m-2 the freezing point was reached only briefly, with brine injection lasting for a period of about 3 h. Then the heat transported from below by the convective cells (mainly driven by cooling-associated buoyancy) raised the surface temperature to above freezing conditions.
Alu recombination-mediated structural deletions in the chimpanzee genome.

With more than 1.2 million copies, Alu elements are one of the most important sources of structural variation in primate genomes. Here, we compare the chimpanzee and human genomes to determine the extent of Alu recombination-mediated deletion (ARMD) in the chimpanzee genome since the divergence of the chimpanzee and human lineages (∼6 million y ago). Combining computational data analysis and experimental verification, we have identified 663 chimpanzee lineage-specific deletions (involving a total of ∼771 kb of genomic sequence) attributable to this process. The ARMD events essentially counteract the genomic expansion caused by chimpanzee-specific Alu inserts. The RefSeq databases indicate that 13 exons in six genes, annotated as either demonstrably or putatively functional in the human genome, and 299 intronic regions have been deleted through ARMDs in the chimpanzee lineage. Therefore, our data suggest that this process may contribute to the genomic and phenotypic diversity between chimpanzees and humans. In addition, we found four independent ARMD events at orthologous loci in the gorilla or orangutan genomes. This suggests that human orthologs of loci at which ARMD events have already occurred in other nonhuman primate genomes may be “at-risk” motifs for future deletions, which may subsequently contribute to human lineage-specific genetic rearrangements and disorders.