cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fault zone amplified waves as a possible seismic hazard along the Calaveras Fault in central California

The Calaveras fault lies within a low velocity zone (LVZ) 1-2 km wide near Gilroy, California. Accelerographs G06, located in the LVZ 1.2 km from the Calaveras fault, and G07, 4 km from G06, recorded both the M 6.2 1984 Morgan Hill and the M 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquakes. Comparison of the ground motions shows that a large 0.6-1.0 Hz velocity pulse observed at G06 during the Morgan Hill event may be amplified by focussing caused by the LVZ. Such amplified waves might be a mappable seismic hazard, and the zone of increased hazard can extend as much as 1.2 km from the surface trace of the fault. Finite-difference simulations of ground motions in a simplified LVZ model show a zone of amplified motion similar to the observations.
Space-based photometric precision from ground-based telescopes

Ground-based telescopes supported by lidar and spectrophotometric auxiliary instrumentation can attain space-based precision for all-sky photometry, with uncertainties dominated by fundamental photon counting statistics. Earth's atmosphere is a wavelength-, directionally- and time-dependent turbid refractive element for every ground-based telescope, and is the primary factor limiting photometric measurement precision. To correct accurately for the transmission of the atmosphere requires direct measurements of the wavelength-dependent transmission in the direction and at the time that the supported photometric telescope is acquiring its data. While considerable resources have been devoted to correcting the effects of the atmosphere on angular resolution, the effects on precision photometry have largely been ignored. We describe the facility-class lidar that observes the stable stratosphere, and a spectrophotometer that observes NIST absolutely calibrated standard stars, the combination of which enables fundamentally statistically limited photometric precision. This inexpensive and replicable instrument suite provides the lidar-determined monochromatic absolute transmission of Earth's atmosphere at visible and near-infrared wavelengths to 0.25% per airmass and the wavelengthdependent transparency to less than 1% uncertainty per minute. The atmospheric data are merged to create a metadata stream that allows throughput corrections from data acquired at the time of the scientific observations to be applied to broadband and spectrophotometric scientific data. This new technique replaces the classical use of nightly mean atmospheric extinction coefficients, which invoke a stationary and plane-parallel atmosphere. We demonstrate application of this instrument suite to stellar photometry, and discuss the enhanced value of routinely provably precise photometry obtained with existing and future ground-based telescopes.
Does Social Isolation Predict Hospitalization and Mortality Among HIV+ and Uninfected Older Veterans?

Objectives: To compare levels of social isolation in aging veterans with and without the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and determine associations with hospital admission and mortality. Design: Longitudinal data analysis. Setting: The Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS), at eight VA Medical Centers nationally. Participants: Veterans aged 55 and older enrolled in VACS from 2002 to 2008 (N = 1,836). Measurements: A Social Isolation Score (SIS) was created using baseline survey responses about relationship status; number of friends and family and frequency of visits; and involvement in volunteer work, religious or self-help groups, and other community activities. Scores were compared according to age and HIV status, and multivariable regression was used to assess effects of SIS on hospital admission and all-cause mortality. Results: Mean SIS was higher for HIV-positive (HIV+) individuals, with increasing difference according to age (P = .01 for trend). Social isolation was also more prevalent for HIV+ (59%) than uninfected participants (51%, P < .001). In multivariable regression analysis of HIV+ and uninfected groups combined, adjusted for demographic and clinical features, isolation was independently associated with greater risk of incident hospitalization (hazard rate (HR) = 1.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09�1.42) and risk of all-cause mortality (HR=1.28, 95% CI = 1.06�1.54). Risk estimates calculated for HIV+ and uninfected groups separately were not significantly different. Conclusion: Social isolation is associated with greater risk of hospitalization and death in HIV+ and uninfected older veterans. Despite similar effects in both groups, the population-level effect of social isolation may be greater in those who are HIV+ because of the higher prevalence of social isolation, particularly in the oldest individuals.
FTIR analysis of food poisons

Single and rapid analyses of chemical poisons or contaminants in different food matrices are explored. Various FT-IR accessories are utilized and compared for the detection sensitivity. Detection enhancements by combining with chromatographic techniques are investigated.
Prognostic and predictive value of 16p12.1 and 16q22.1 copy number changes in human breast cancer

The present study investigated DNA copy number changes mapping to the p and q arms of chromosome 16 in breast cancer with the goal to determine their potential in identifying breast cancer patients with poor prognosis. We identified the minimal overlapping regions on chromosome 16 that are commonly deleted and amplified in breast tumors. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to screen a custom-made breast carcinoma tissue microarray representing all tumor grades, in order to detect DNA copy number changes mapping to 16p12.1 and 16q22.1. We generated 16q/16p ratios for each patient and examined the correlation between DNA copy number alterations and the patients' clinical and pathological parameters. We observed lower q/p ratios in grade I invasive carcinomas, compared with grade III carcinomas, which consistently showed high q/p ratios (P < 0.0091 and 0.0075). In addition, age adjusted for grade analysis revealed that tumors from younger patients (<45 yr) had significantly higher q/p ratios, suggesting that in younger individuals those tumors might be more aggressive (P < 0.0001). The finding that higher q/p ratios occur in younger patients offers a tool to identify high-risk individuals most likely to proceed to high grade.
Modulating intrinsic connectivity: adjacent subregions within supplementary motor cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal cortex connect to separate functional networks during task and also connect during rest.

Supplementary motor area (SMA), the inferior frontal junction (IFJ), superior frontal junction (SFJ) and parietal cortex are active in many cognitive tasks. In a previous study, we found that subregions of each of these major areas were differentially active in component processes of executive function during working memory tasks. In the present study, each of these subregions was used as a seed in a whole brain functional connectivity analysis of working memory and resting state data. These regions show functional connectivity to different networks, thus supporting the parcellation of these major regions into functional subregions. Many regions showing significant connectivity during the working memory residual data (with task events regressed from the data) were also significantly connected during rest suggesting that these network connections to subregions within major regions of cortex are intrinsic. For some of these connections, task demands modulate activity in these intrinsic networks. Approximately half of the connections significant during task were significant during rest, indicating that some of the connections are intrinsic while others are recruited only in the service of the task. Furthermore, the network connections to traditional ‘task positive’ and ‘task negative’ (a.k.a ‘default mode’) regions shift from positive connectivity to negative connectivity depending on task demands. These findings demonstrate that such task-identified subregions are part of distinct networks, and that these networks have different patterns of connectivity for task as they do during rest, engaging connections both to task positive and task negative regions. These results have implications for understanding the parcellation of commonly active regions into more specific functional networks.
Geometry dependence of the ring-opening E2 reaction in lactones.

Gas phase bimolecular elimination reactions (E2) of lactones, with and without alkyl substitution on the omega carbon, have been studied. The comparison between the substituted and corresponding unsubstituted lactones reveals, without complications from ring strain, the effect of geometric distortion from the periplanar geometry preferred for E2 reactions. The four- and five-membered ring lactones show a significant effect from the distortion, while the six- and seven-membered rings show relatively little. The geometric distortion is clearly much more important than the ring strain. The kinetic energy dependence of the E2 reaction as well as the proton transfer reaction between fluoride and a partially deuterated δ-valerolactone has also been investigated.
New type of complex dynamics in the 1:2 spatial resonance

Abstract The amplitude equations describing the 1:2 spatial resonance in O(2) symmetric systems are re-examined. Complex dynamical behavior associated with a new class of global connections is identified and analyzed. These connections form further from the mode interaction point where the structurally stable heteroclinic cycles described by Armbruster et al. [Physica D 29 (1988) 257] no longer exist. The resulting behavior is characteristic of systems with O(2)×Z2 symmetry in which the symmetry Z2 is weakly broken.
Finding African solutions to African problems

(1998). Finding African solutions to African problems. The Washington Quarterly: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 149-158.
Relationship of Library Assessment to Student Retention

Abstract Using institution specific data related to library assessment collected as part of an Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) survey, as well as fall-to-fall retention rates obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), this study employs statistical measures of association to analyze the relationship of various assessment practices and policies, including evaluation of student learning outcomes and accessibility of assessment data and analysis, to student persistence.
The work-knowledge cohesion: Integrating knowledge management with deliverable work for knowledge-intensive services

Knowledge-intensive services are prevalent in B2B environment involving complex problems and custom solutions. As such services consume and generate a large amount of information, knowledge-sharing mechanisms are required to capture, transfer and reuse information across projects. So far, with the advent of the internet, the business community has mainly focused on web-based technologies for knowledge sharing. The most common approach is a web portal through which a practitioner can access the organization's collection of intellectual capital. This approach, however, has notable drawbacks. In particular, they often fail to stimulate active user participation, in terms of both contributing to and using the knowledge base. The problem, as we see it, is largely caused by the separation between the environment of a client engagement and that of knowledge management. In this paper, we propose a knowledge management system that is integrated into the process of delivering a client engagement. The integration is realized at two levels: at the content level, the knowledge is organized by a framework that is central to the client engagement at hand; at the tool level, the knowledge management system is embedded in the software for developing work products for a client engagement The advantages of the proposed integration over existing tools are discussed.
Ethyl lactate: a green solvent for magnetic tapecoating

The hazardous air pollutants (MEK, MIBK and toluene) used in magnetic tape coatings are replaced with ethyl lactate, which is not a hazardous air pollutant and made from renewable resources. A magnetic dispersion, containing 50/50 ethyl lactate and tetrahydrofuran, has rheological properties similar to a conventional dispersion and gave tape samples with magnetic properties comparable to VHS tape. The materials cost of the formulation containing ethyl lactate was higher than the costs of the conventional formulations.
Optimizing non-monotonic interconnect using functional simulation and logic restructuring

The relatively poor scaling of interconnect in modern digital circuits necessitates a number of design optimizations, which must typically be iterated several times to meet the specified performance objectives. Such iterations are often due to the difficulty of early delay estimation, especially before placement. Therefore, effective logic restructuring to reduce interconnect delay has been a major challenge in physical synthesis, a phase during which more accurate delay estimates can be finally gathered. In this work, we develop a new approach to this problem that enhances modern high performance logic synthesis techniques with flexibility and accuracy in the physical domain. This approach is based on (1) a novel criterion based on path monotonicity, that identifies those interconnects amenable to optimization through logic restructuring and (2) a synthesis algorithm relying on logic simulation and placement information to identify placed subcircuits that hold promise for interconnect reduction. Experiments indicate that our techniques find optimization opportunities and improve interconnect delay by 11.7% on average at less than 2% wirelength and area overhead
The Biofeedback Program at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics

Abstract The following article provides a description of the history and development of the biofeedback-assisted relaxation training (BART) program at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. Biofeedback is an integral component of the multidisciplinary Abdominal Pain and Integrative Pain Management programs. A description of currently employed biofeedback-assisted relaxation training protocols, including alternative training tools (e.g., novel biofeedback games) intended to improve practice compliance is provided. Finally, biofeedback implementation strategies and barriers are considered also.
A model of project evaluation based on group decision making

Project evaluation form a vital part of todaypsilas organization administration. Different approaches have been used to analyse project evaluation based on group decision-making but none can fully explain it by satisfaction degree. A model is developed, focusing on satisfaction degree, to explain group decision-making in project evaluation. An example is provided, as well as the appropriate computational procedures, to show the usefulness of the proposed model in explaining group decision making processes in project evaluation.
Output impedance requirements for DACs

Communications applications are driving the development of high output frequency digital to analog converters (DACs) with tough SNR and SFDR frequency-domain specifications. Static measures of performance such as INL and DNL are becoming irrelevant. This paper derives and compares the output impedance required for a DAC to meet static and dynamic specifications in both single-ended and fully-differential implementations. It is shown that the output impedance required in a fully-differential implementation is much lower than that required in a single-ended one. This reduced output impedance requirement has the potential to eliminate traditional impedance-boosting cascode transistors, allowing DACs to scale with technology to reduced supply voltages.
Asymptotic forms for the states of weakly disordered systems

Abstract The Schrodinger equation is solved asymptotically in separation for a two-dimensional and a three-dimensional system, each with weak disorder similar to the Anderson model. Distributions of the phase and logarithm of the amplitude of the wavefunctions are found to be Gaussian with means and widths which in two dimensions describe power-law localized states and exponentially localized states separated in energy by a mobility edge, and in three dimensions describe extended states and exponentially localized states also separated in energy by a mobility edge. The results do not obey a single-parameter scaling law.
Space-based cryogenic liquid hydrogen reorientation activated by low frequency impulsive reverse thruster of geyser initiation

Abstract The requirement to settle or to position liquid fluid over the outlet end of spacecraft propellant tank prior to main engine restart poses a microgravity fluid behavior problem. Resettlement or reorientation of liquid propellant can be accomplished by providing optimal acceleration to the spacecraft such that the propellant is reoriented over the tank outlet without any vapor entrainment, any excessive geysering, or any other undesirable fluid motion for the space fluid management under microgravity environment. The purpose of the present study is to investigate most efficient technique for propellant resettling through the minimization of propellant usage and weight penalties. Comparison between the constant reverse gravity acceleration and impulsive reverse gravity acceleration to be used for the activation of propellant resettlement, shows that impulsive reverse gravity thrust is superior to constant reverse gravity thrust for liquid reorientation in a reduced gravity environment.
Effects of nonlocal turbulence on the mass transfer of dissolved species to reef corals

We examined the importance of nonlocal turbulence to the mass transfer of dissolved species from both cylinders and models of reef coral. Solid gypsum cylinders and gypsum-coated model coral were dissolved in an outdoor flume at mean flow speeds of 4.5 and 10 cm s21. Three model corals were used: two branched forms of the genera Acropora and Pocillopora, and one lobate form of the genus Platygyra. Turbulence intensities (Tu) were measured as the ratio of the standard deviation of the time-variant flow to the mean. Tu of between 5% and 55% were created independently of the mean flow by pumping water through two vertical arrays of jets. Mass transfer coefficients increased by 10–70% with turbulence intensity for all forms at both mean flow speeds considered (p , 0.05); however, mass transfer coefficients for the branched coral were not as sensitive to changes in turbulence intensity as for the lobate coral. Results for the cylinders were consistent with the engineering literature and indicate that the effects of turbulence intensity on mass transfer become weaker when branch size or flow speed (or both) become very small. Turbulence intensities measured around experimental coral communities and above naturally occurring reef communities typically vary between 15% and 35%. Assuming an average turbulence intensity of around 25%, then ignoring the effects of nonlocal turbulence altogether would resul ti n uncertainties in mass transfer coefficients of at most 610% for the lobate coral form and 65% for the branched coral forms. Measuring external turbulence in bulk flows is not necessary for most evaluations of biogeochemical rates in benthic reef systems.
In defense of skin: antimicrobial peptides have their day

Richard L Gallo speaks to Hannah Branch, Commissioning Editor Professor Richard L Gallo completed an undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Chicago (IL, USA). He then went on to receive his MD degree and PhD in Radiation Biology and Biophysics from the University of Rochester School of Medicine (NY, USA). He completed an internship in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital (MD, USA) before training in Dermatology and completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Cell and Developmental Biology at Harvard Medical School (MA, USA). While working as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, Professor Gallo made a landmark discovery by identifying the presence of antimicrobial peptides in mammalian skin. In 1999, he became an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego (CA, USA), and Chief of Dermatology at the VA San Diego (CA, USA). Currently, he is a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Dermatology at the University of ...
Predictive genomics profiling in athletics and sports performance

Lecture 27 Genes control biological systems such as muscle, cartilage and bone formation, muscle energy production and metabolism (mitochondriogenesis, lactic acid removal), blood and tissue oxygenation (erythropoiesis, angiogenesis, vasodilatation) all essential in Athletics and Sports. DNA sequence variations in these genes confer genetic advantages that can be exploited and genetic ‘barriers’ that could be overcome to achieve optimal athletic performance. The four ‘P9s of Predictive Genomics (Personalization, Prediction, Prevention, Participation) are not only applicable but rather essential in athletics. Predictive genomic profiling for athletics reveals genetic variations that determine suitability for sports requiring either endurance or strength and speed, determine vulnerability to sports-related traumas as well as individualised nutritional requirements. Knowledge of genetic ‘suitability’ in respect to endurance capacity or strength and speed would lead to appropriate sport and athletic activity selection. Knowledge of genetic advantages and barriers would ‘direct’ an individualised training programme and nutritional plan and supplementation to achieving optimal performance, overcome the ‘pain barriers’ that results from intense exercise and pressure under competition with minimum waste of time and energy and avoidance of health risks (hypertension, cardiovascular disease, inflammation and injuries in tendons and bones) related to exercise, training and competition. Genetic ‘profiling’ for Athletics and Sports performance is an essential tool for proper Athletic activity and Sport selection as well as for the formulation of Individualized and Personalized training and nutritional programmes for optimising health and performance for the athlete.
Inhibition of lung metastases of murine renal cell carcinoma by the combination of radiation and interferon-alpha-producing tumor cell vaccine.

We have previously demonstrated in a murine lung metastasis model that local sublethal radiation of tumors can synergistically enhance their sensitivity to immunotherapy with either systemic high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) or vaccination with autologous tumor cells expressing IL-2, interferon (IFN)- &#110 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Host antitumor activity was mediated in large part by natural killer cells, which can be activated by IFN- &#102. In the present study, we used this lung metastasis model to investigate the efficacy of combined therapy with local tumor radiation and vaccination with IFN- &#102 -secreting tumor cells (Renca/IFN- &#102) . The in vitro and in vivo growth rates of Renca/IFN- &#102 cells were significantly reduced relative to normal controls. Subcutaneous vaccination with Renca/IFN- &#102 or selective X-irradiation of the left lung (300 rad) reduced the number of lung tumors by 40% and 27%, respectively. The combination of lung irradiation plus vac...
Consistent Output Series for the Antebellum and Postbellum Periods: Issues and Preliminary Results

Existing output series that cover both the antebellum and postbellum periods are inconsistent and unsuitable for comparing cyclical patterns across the nineteenth century. More consistent data show that output in cyclically sensitive sectors was no less, and probably more, volatile before the War Between the States than after it.
Total and high-molecular-weight adiponectin and risk of coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke in older adults

Context: Adiponectin is atheroprotective in the laboratory, but prospective studies have shown opposite associations with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in healthy middle-aged populations (protective) and older cohorts (adverse). Whether this relates to different proportions of high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin is unknown. Objective: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that total adiponectin is directly associated, but HMW adiponectin is inversely related, with CVD in older adults. Design, Setting, and Participants: We evaluated 3290 participants free of prevalent CVD in a longitudinal cohort study of U.S. adults aged 65 yr and older. Main Outcome Measures: We measured incident CVD (n = 1291), comprising coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke. Results: Total and HMW adiponectin were tightly correlated (r = 0.94). Cubic splines adjusted for potential confounders revealed that the associations of total and HMW adiponectin with CVD were U-shaped, with inflection points of 20 and 10 mg/lit...
Redefinition of the Herkimer Sandstone (Middle Silurian), New York

Stratigraphic usage of the “Herkimer Sandstone,” the uppermost Clinton unit in east-central New York, has been inconsistent. In this revision, the Herkimer is considered a formation with western and eastern lithofacies, each of which is called a member. The Joslin Hill Member, consisting of shale, dolostone, sandstone, and hematitic beds, represents the Herkimer Formation in the western part of the outcrop belt (Oneida, Rome, and Utica quadrangles). In the vicinity of Ilion Gorge, the Herkimer undergoes an eastward change into an orthoquartzite for which the name Jordanville Member is proposed.
Envelope Protein Glycosylation Status Influences Mouse Neuroinvasion Phenotype of Genetic Lineage 1 West Nile Virus Strains

The introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into North America has been associated with relatively high rates of neurological disease and death in humans, birds, horses, and some other animals. Previous studies identified strains in both genetic lineage 1 and genetic lineage 2, including North American isolates of lineage 1, that were highly virulent in a mouse neuroinvasion model, while other strains were avirulent or significantly attenuated (D. W. C. Beasley, L. Li, M. T. Suderman, and A. D. T. Barrett, Virology 296:17-23, 2002). To begin to elucidate the basis for these differences, we compared a highly virulent New York 1999 (NY99) isolate with a related Old World lineage 1 strain, An4766 (ETH76a), which is attenuated for mouse neuroinvasion. Genomic sequencing of ETH76a revealed a relatively small number of nucleotide (5.1%) and amino acid (0.6%) differences compared with NY99. These differences were located throughout the genome and included five amino acid differences in the envelope protein gene. Substitution of premembrane and envelope genes of ETH76a into a NY99 infectious clone backbone yielded a virus with altered in vitro growth characteristics and a mouse virulence phenotype comparable to ETH76a. Further site-specific mutagenesis studies revealed that the altered phenotype was primarily mediated via loss of envelope protein glycosylation and that this was associated with altered stability of the virion at mildly acidic pH. Therefore, the enhanced virulence of North American WNV strains compared with other Old World lineage 1 strains is at least partly mediated by envelope protein glycosylation.
Actin and microtubules drive differential aspects of planar cell polarity in multiciliated cells

Planar cell polarization represents the ability of cells to orient within the plane of a tissue orthogonal to the apical basal axis. The proper polarized function of multiciliated cells requires the coordination of cilia spacing and cilia polarity as well as the timing of cilia beating during metachronal synchrony. The planar cell polarity pathway and hydrodynamic forces have been shown to instruct cilia polarity. In this paper, we show how intracellular effectors interpret polarity to organize cellular morphology in accordance with asymmetric cellular function. We observe that both cellular actin and microtubule networks undergo drastic reorganization, providing differential roles during the polarized organization of cilia. Using computational angular correlation analysis of cilia orientation, we report a graded cellular organization downstream of cell polarity cues. Actin dynamics are required for proper cilia spacing, global coordination of cilia polarity, and coordination of metachronic cilia beating, whereas cytoplasmic microtubule dynamics are required for local coordination of polarity between neighboring cilia.
Mutation of Mapped TIA-1/TIAR Binding Sites in the 3′ Terminal Stem-Loop of West Nile Virus Minus-Strand RNA in an Infectious Clone Negatively Affects Genomic RNA Amplification

Previous data showed that the cellular proteins TIA-1 and TIAR bound specifically to the West Nile virus 3' minus-strand stem-loop [WNV3'(-)SL] RNA (37) and colocalized with flavivirus replication complexes in WNV- and dengue virus-infected cells (21). In the present study, the sites on the WNV3'(-)SL RNA required for efficient in vitro T-cell intracellular antigen-related (TIAR) and T-cell intracellular antigen-1 (TIA-1) protein binding were mapped to short AU sequences (UAAUU) located in two internal loops of the WNV3'(-)SL RNA structure. Infectious clone RNAs with all or most of the binding site nucleotides in one of the 3' (-)SL loops deleted or substituted did not produce detectable virus after transfection or subsequent passage. With one exception, deletion/mutation of a single terminal nucleotide in one of the binding sequences had little effect on the efficiency of protein binding or virus production, but mutation of a nucleotide in the middle of a binding sequence reduced both the in vitro protein binding efficiency and virus production. Plaque size, intracellular genomic RNA levels, and virus production progressively decreased with decreasing in vitro TIAR/TIA-1 binding activity, but the translation efficiency of the various mutant RNAs was similar to that of the parental RNA. Several of the mutant RNAs that inefficiently interacted with TIAR/TIA-1 in vitro rapidly reverted in vivo, indicating that they could replicate at a low level and suggesting that an interaction between TIAR/TIA-1 and the viral 3'(-)SL RNA is not required for initial low-level symmetric RNA replication but instead facilitates the subsequent asymmetric amplification of genome RNA from the minus-strand template.
Is Contextualism Statable

Robert Fogelin argues that David Lewis's contextualist response to scepticism, cannot be coherently stated.1 Is he right? If so, is he right only about Lewis? Or has he pointed to a problem for contextualism generally? The basic insight of contextualist responses to scepticism is that the evaluation-conditions for attributions of knowledge are subject to variation. A sense of what is at issue here can be gleaned from comparing contextualism with the "uniformitarian" conception of knowledge embodied in traditional foundationalism. Traditional foundationalist epistemologies identify a privileged stratum of intrinsically credible basic beliefs. To amount to knowledge, a belief must then be either itself basic or adequately supported by basic beliefs, no matter what the belief or the circumstances in which it is held. Notoriously, this conception of knowledge and justification invites scepticism. All the sceptic need do is formulate a hypothesis which is wildly at variance with our ordinary beliefs but able to accommodate the same range of basic evidence. Descartes's Evil Deceiver and the contemporary brain-in-a-vat thought experiment are well-known examples of such hypotheses.
Using Unscripted Spoken Texts in the Teaching of Second Language Listening

Most spoken texts that are used in second language (L2) listening classroom activities are scripted texts, where the text is written, revised, polished, and then read aloud with artificially clear enunciation and slow rate of speech. This article explores the field’s overreliance on these scripted texts, at the expense of including unscripted spoken texts that have very different textual and phonological characteristics. It describes how scripted and unscripted texts differ and examines why textbook publishers might avoid using unscripted spoken texts. The article concludes with a number of suggestions for incorporating unscripted spoken texts into the teaching of L2 listening comprehension, with the goals of making learners aware of the textual and phonological characteristics of unscripted texts, preparing L2 learners to be able to comprehend real-world spoken language, and promoting learners’ communicative competence. doi: 10.1002/tesj.120 Itis an only too well-known phenomenon—a learner has studied a foreign language for years, diligently attending class; spending hundreds of classroom hours reading, writing, speaking, and listening to the target language; interacting with other learners; studying word lists; and completing workbook after workbook of grammar activities. Yet when that learner finds herself in a “realworld” language context trying to converse with a speaker of the target language, she is unable to comprehend almost anything of what that speaker says. At least part of the reason that this phenomenon is so prevalent is the way foreign languages are taught in the classroom. Even
Feeling Fear A Humanbecoming Study of Older Adults

The purpose of this study is to enhance understanding of the lived experience of feeling fear. Parse's phenomenological-hermeneutic method was used to answer the research question: What is the structure of the lived experience of feeling fear? Ten older adults living in or near New York City participated in the study. Data were collected through dialogical engagement and analyzed through the extraction-synthesis processes. Core concepts were identified and discussed. The structure, feeling fear is haunting possibilities with cautious perseverance arising with reassuring affiliations amid defiance, is the central finding of this study. This finding was connected to the humanbecoming theory and extant literature, contributing to nursing knowledge, expanding the theory, and enhancing of understanding about feeling fear with older adults.
Contextualizing the Thirteenth Amendment: James Ashley and Antislavery Constitutionalism

This article discusses a moment of constitutional development in which popular constitutionalism, that is, constitutional interpretation outside of the Courts, had a profound impact on the development of constitutional law. It describes a group of antislavery activists who argued that slavery was unconstitutional prior to its abolition by the Thirteenth Amendment. Though the Supreme Court rejected their arguments in the Dred Scott decision, the antislavery constitutionalists strongly influenced the Reconstruction Era Congress. James Ashley, a member of the Reconstruction Congress, spearheaded the successful effort to transform antislavery constitutionalism into law by enacting the Thirteenth Amendment. The article examines the tenets of antislavery constitutionalism and details how Ashley articulated that philosophy in speeches which he gave on the campaign trail and during congressional debates over that Amendment. This history not only illustrates the salutary impact that popular constitutionalism has on constitutional development, but it also provides lessons for understanding the meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment. First, the Amendment not only ended slavery, but it was also a transformative amendment which established freedom. Second, the Amendment bestowed broad power on Congress to define that freedom, incorporating into the constitution an institutional role for the popular constitutionalism that contributed to its formation.
Earthquake and Wave Design Criteria for Offshore Platforms

A method that applies experience, projections of environmental conditions, response analyses, and reliability logic is used to develop earthquake and wave design criteria for one class of offshore platform system. The system consists of a steel, tubular-membered, template-type superstructure supported on piles and firm soils, in 300 ft of water. Three fictitious sites are considered: Eastern Gulf of Alaska, Southern California, and the Santa Barbara Channel. Ranges of design wave heights and ground motion velocities are given. Results are compared with those appropriate for a conventional building structure and with those from API RP 2A guidelines for fixed offshore platforms. Good agreement with API guidelines is indicated.
Bioinformatic scaling of allosteric interactions in biomedical isozymes

Abstract Allosteric (long-range) interactions can be surprisingly strong in proteins of biomedical interest. Here we use bioinformatic scaling to connect prior results on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to promising new drugs that inhibit cancer cell metabolism. Many parallel features are apparent, which explain how even one amino acid mutation, remote from active sites, can alter medical results. The enzyme twins involved are cyclooxygenase (aspirin) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). The IDH results are accurate to 1% and are overdetermined by adjusting a single bioinformatic scaling parameter. It appears that the final stage in optimizing protein functionality may involve leveling of the hydrophobic limits of the arms of conformational hydrophilic hinges.
Self-assembled gemcitabine-gadolinium nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging and cancer therapy.

Abstract Nanoparticles with combined diagnostic and therapeutic functions are promising tools for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Here, we demonstrate a theranostic nanoparticle that integrates an active gemcitabine metabolite and a gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging agent via a facile supramolecular self-assembly synthesis, where the anti-cancer drug gemcitabine-5′-monophosphate (a phosphorylated active metabolite of the anti-cancer drug gemcitabine) was used to coordinate with Gd(III) to self-assemble into theranostic nanoparticles. The formulation exhibits a strong T 1 contrast signal for magnetic resonance imaging of tumors in vivo, with enhanced retention time. Furthermore, the nanoparticles did not require other inert nanocarriers or excipients and thus had an exceptionally high drug loading (55 wt%), resulting in the inhibition of MDA-MB-231 tumor growth in mice. Statement of Significance Recent advances in nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have spurred the development of “theranostic” multifunctional nanoparticles, which combine therapeutic and diagnostic functionalities in a single formulation. Developing simple and efficient synthetic strategies for the construction of nanotheranostics with high drug loading remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate a theranostic nanoparticle that integrates high loadings of an active gemcitabine metabolite and a gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging agent via a facile synthesis. The nanoparticles were better T 1 contrast agents than currently used Gd-DTPA and had prolonged retention in tumor. Moreover they exhibited enhanced in vivo antitumor activity compared to free drug in a breast cancer xenograft mouse model. The strategy provides a scalable way to fabricate nanoparticles that enables enhancement of both therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities.
When do students recognize relationships between molecular structure and properties? A longitudinal comparison of the impact of traditional and transformed curricula

The ability to use a chemical structure to predict and explain phenomenon is essential to a robust understanding of chemistry; however, previous research has shown that students find it difficult to make the connection between structure and properties. In this study we examine how student recognition of the connections between structure and properties evolves during the first two years of college chemistry courses. In addition, we investigate how an alternative general chemistry curriculum (Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything (CLUE)) impacts students' understanding during these first two-years. Using discrete-time survival analysis to analyze student responses to the Implicit Information from Lewis Structures Instrument (IILSI), we found that it takes multiple semesters for students enrolled in a traditional curriculum to recognize that chemical structures can be used as models to predict chemical and physical properties. Students in the CLUE curriculum, however, tend to make this connection earlier than a matched cohort of students from a traditional curriculum, and this advantage is maintained throughout the two semesters of organic chemistry. In general, the control group takes an additional year of organic chemistry to reach the same level as the CLUE students after a year of general chemistry.
A Mixture Clustering Model for Pseudo Feedback in Information Retrieval

In this paper, we present a new mixture model for performing pseudo feedback for information retrieval. The basic idea is to treat the words in each feedback document as observations from a two-component multinomial mixture model, where one component is a topic model anchored to the original query model through a prior and the other is fixed to some background word distribution. We estimate the topic model based on the feedback documents and use it as a new query model for ranking documents.
Why Should Men Leave Great Fortunes to Their Children

In an important 1988 article, legal historian John Langbein identified what he regarded as fundamental shifts in the contemporary ethos and practice of wealth transmission in America. Langbein wrote, Whereas of old wealth transmission from parents to children tended to center upon major items of patrimony such as the family farm or the family firm, today for the broad middle classes, wealth transmission centers on a radically different kind of asset: the investment in skills. In consequence, intergenerational wealth transmission no longer occurs primarily upon the death of the parents, but rather, when the children are growing up, hence, during the parents’ lifetimes (Langbein, 1988, p. 723).
Synthesis of a crystalline molecular complex of Y2+, [(18-crown-6)K][(C5H4SiMe3)3Y].

The La2+ complex [K(18-crown-6)(OEt2)][Cp″3La] (1) [Cp″ = C5H3(SiMe3)2-1,3], can be synthesized under N2, but in the presence of KC5Me5, 1 reduces N2 to the (N═N)2– product [(C5Me5)2(THF)La]2(μ-η2:η2-N2). This suggests a dichotomy in terms of ligands that optimize isolation of reduced dinitrogen complexes versus isolation of divalent complexes of the rare earths. To determine whether the first crystalline molecular Y2+ complex could be isolated using this logic, Cp′3Y (2) (Cp′ = C5H4SiMe3) was synthesized from YCl3 and KCp′ and reduced with KC8 in the presence of 18-crown-6 in Et2O at −45 °C under argon. EPR evidence was consistent with Y2+ and crystallization provided the first structurally characterizable molecular Y2+ complex, dark-maroon-purple [(18-crown-6)K][Cp′3Y] (3).
Effect of Beta-Aminopropionitrile on Reproduction of Chickens.

SummaryMono-beta-aminopropionitrile • fumarate (BAPN) at .03% and .06% of the diet of laying hens reduced egg production from 62% to 29% at the lower level and from 62% to 12% at the higher level of supplementation. These levels of supplementation caused a high incidence of soft shelled and malformed eggs. After 4 weeks supplementation 33% of all eggs laid were soft shelled at the .03% dietary level of BAPN and 78% were soft shelled at the .06% level. BAPN at the level of .01% of the diet did not affect egg production or shell formation. Hatchability of fertile eggs was decreased by levels of .01%, .03% and .06% of BAPN in the diet. Hatchability was reduced to 41% in the group receiving .01% BAPN after 4 weeks supplementation compared to the control at 61%. Hatchability decreased to 0 in 4 weeks at the .03% level and to 0 in 3 weeks in the group receiving .06% BAPN. Following removal of BAPN from the diet both egg production and hatchability increased and the percent of soft shelled eggs decreased. Hemorr...
PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE INACTIVATION EFFICACY OF PHOTOCATALTIC CERAMICS TILE ON VIRUS

Objective To observe the inactivation efficiency of photocataltic ceramics tile on influenza and poliomyelitis virus. Methods The inactivation efficiency of photocataltic ceramics tile on virus was detected by cell cultural and real-time PCR techniques. Results The inactivation logarithm values of influenza and poliomyelitis virus polluted on the photocataltic ceramics tile were 1. 66 TCID 50 and 0. 33 TCID 50 respectively after being under the fluorescent light for 4 hours. Those of influenza and poliomyelitis virus polluted on the photocataltic ceramics tile without lighting for 4 hours were 0. 15 TCID 50 and 0. 05 TCID 50 respectively. Conclusion The photocataltic ceramics tile can inactivate influenza and poliomyelitis viruses to some extent under fluorescent light,but can not damage the virus nucleic acid.
The Corporation as a Technique of International Administration

T HHE MOST DYNAMIC AND SERVICEABLE CONCEPT in the portfolio of modern business, the idea of the corporation, traces its lineage directly back to a great thirteenth century canonist, Pope Innocent IV. During an incubation period of four centuries, the corporate concept was in large measure the handmaiden of institutionalized religion.1 It was the legal device whereby a small collective enterprise devoted to God, learning or charity, such as an abbey or university, could preserve its continued existence, its legal rights, and its properties, even though the original human members of the group enterprise had all died. In the seventeenth century, a new and more ambitious field was carved out for corporate action. The economic exploitation of the wealth to be found in the new hemisphere of the Americas and the old continent of Asia became the province of compact and aggressive groups of merchant adventurers collectively organized as an English (or Dutch, or Portuguese) East India (or a Hudson Bay, or a Muscovy) Company. These companies, in addition to their monopoly privileges and (shall we say sovereign?) immunities from import and export laws and customs duties, had the power to tax their own members, decide their own disputes, and defend themselves against pirates and other external enemies. The English East India Company, it may be noted, not only remained on to subsidize Charles Lamb, John Stuart Mill, and a number of great Orientalists, but ruled India with an iron grip until the middle of the nineteenth century.2 In fact, the maintenance of fortifications and consular agents and
Osteoarthritis: Bone as an imaging biomarker and treatment target in OA

Radiographic joint-space width is the standard structural outcome for trials in knee osteoarthritis (OA), but MRI provides comprehensive 3D insights into the multi-tissue pathology of OA and could provide a superior means of monitoring disease progression and response to treatment. A new study highlights bone as an imaging biomarker.
Generations of Feeling: A History of Emotions, 600-1700

Generations of Feeling is the first book to provide a comprehensive history of emotions in pre- and early modern Western Europe. Charting the varieties, transformations and constants of human sentiments over the course of eleven centuries, Barbara H. Rosenwein explores the feelings expressed in a wide range of 'emotional communities' as well as the theories that served to inform and reflect their times. Focusing specifically on groups within England and France, chapters address communities as diverse as the monastery of Rievaulx in twelfth-century England and the ducal court of fifteenth-century Burgundy, assessing the ways in which emotional norms and modes of expression respond to, and in turn create, their social, religious, ideological, and cultural environments. Contemplating emotions experienced 'on the ground' as well as those theorized in the treatises of Alcuin, Thomas Aquinas, Jean Gerson and Thomas Hobbes, this insightful study offers a profound new narrative of emotional life in the West.