cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Albedo Measurements and Optical Sizing of Single Aerosol Particles

Aerosols play an important role in global climate change by their interactions with incoming solar radiation and outgoing longwave radiation from the planetary surface. The climate effects of aerosols depend on their scattering and absorption properties. This article describes the development of an instrument (ASTER: Aerosol Scattering To Extinction Ratio) that simultaneously measures the scattering and extinction of single aerosol particles. ASTER uses a high-Q cavity to amplify the extinction signal and innovative optics to collect the scattered light. It can distinguish many partially absorbing particles from a few black ones even if the bulk absorption is the same. Optical sizing and single-scattering albedo measurements were made for laboratory-generated particles with diameters from about 300 nanometers to above one micrometer. Using this prototype instrument, changes in albedo for single particles of 20% or greater were detected by measurement of the scattering and extinction. Optical sizing of the...
ALFRED FOUILLÉE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALISM

This essay examines the rapprochement between science and metaphysics that the French philosopher Alfred Fouillee staged in his writings from 1872 up until his death in 1912. Amidst the influx of new research in scientific psychology inundating France in the late nineteenth century, Fouillee's thought stands out for its creative effort to advance a new spiritualist philosophy on the basis of positive scientific advancements. Fouillee's work is significant for intellectual historians of thought in the fin de siecle because it challenges the common historiographical narrative, initially presented in H. Stuart Hughes's Consciousness and Society, which erroneously frames spiritualist thinkers, Henri Bergson chief among them, as leading a “revolt against positivism.” Fouillee throws into stark relief a new spiritualist current that incorporated research in the natural and human sciences from across Europe in order to craft an updated understanding of consciousness. This essay treats Fouillee's work as a historical window onto a distinctly new spiritualism whose proponents sought to overcome the old spiritualism of Victor Cousin's eclectic school, which shunned any naturalist underpinning of metaphysics. While Fouillee has already been widely historicized as a social and political thinker, this essay introduces original archival materials that help to resituate Fouillee as a leading figure of the new spiritualism animating French philosophy in the final quarter of the nineteenth century.
CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN NATURAL GAS RESERVOIRS: ENHANCED GAS RECOVERY AND NATURAL GAS STORAGE

Natural gas reservoirs are obvious targets for carbon sequestration by direct carbon dioxide (CO2) injection by virtue of their proven record of gas production and integrity against gas escape. Carbon sequestration in depleted natural gas reservoirs can be coupled with enhanced gas production by injecting CO2 into the reservoir as it is being produced, a process called Carbon Sequestration with Enhanced Gas Recovery (CSEGR). In this process, supercritical CO2 is injected deep in the reservoir while methane (CH4) is produced at wells some distance away. The active injection of CO2 causes repressurization and CH4 displacement to allow the control and enhancement of gas recovery relative to water-drive or depletion-drive reservoir operations. Carbon dioxide undergoes a large change in density as CO2 gas passes through the critical pressure at temperatures near the critical temperature. This feature makes CO2 a potentially effective cushion gas for gas storage reservoirs. Thus at the end of the CSEGR process when the reservoir is filled with CO2, additional benefit of the reservoir may be obtained through its operation as a natural gas storage reservoir. In this paper, we present discussion and simulation results from TOUGH2/EOS7C of gas mixture property prediction, gas injection, repressurization, migration, and mixing processes that occur in gas reservoirs under active CO2 injection.
Optimal sensor placement for parametric model identification of electrical networks, part I: Open loop estimation

In this paper we present an algorithm for placing sensors optimally along the edges of a large network of electrical oscillators to identify a parametric model for the network using dynamic measurements of electrical signals such as magnitudes and phase angles of voltages and currents, corrupted with Gaussian noise. We pose the identification problem as estimation of four essential parameters for each edge, namely the real and imaginary components of the edge-weight (or, equivalently the resistance and reactance along the transmission line), and the inertias of the two machines connected by this edge. We then formulate the Cramer-Rao bounds for the estimates of these four unknown parameters, and show that the bounds are functions of the sensor locations. We finally state the condition for finding the optimal sensor location to achieve the tightest Cramer-Rao bound.
Erythrocytes: surveyors as well as purveyors of oxygen?

for more than a century a large body of evidence has accumulated in the physiological and pathophysiological literature to support the close relationship between the demand of oxygen by the tissues and the supply of oxygen by the cardiorespiratory system. When the demand for oxygen changes, how is
An Investigation of the Whistle Register in the Female Voice

The purpose of the study was concerned with specific elements of the portion of the female voice commonly referred to as whistle or flute register. Three elements of vocal production were chosen for which past research has demonstrated relationships to source function. These elements included spectral characteristics, airflow rates, and perceptual identification. The research compared what the singer-subjects perceived as being whistle register phonations with that which they perceived as being head register phonations. A comparative technique was utilized where pitch, intensity and phonemic category were held relatively constant, register, therefore, being the only variable. Spectral characteristics and airflow rates of the two subject-determined registers were compared. In addition, an attempt was made to determine if the whistle register could be perceptually differentiated on the basis of voice quality,
Britain, England and Europe Cultures in Contraflow

`Europe' and national identity are not necessarily in conflict, as the examples of Spain, Greece, Germany and Italy in their different ways suggest. The same may be true of some of the constituent ...
Characteristics of network traffic flow anomalies

One of the primary tasks of network administrators is monitoring routers and switches for anomalous traffic behavior such as outages, configuration changes, flash crowds and abuse. Recognizing and identifying anomalous behavior is often based on ad hoc methods developed from years of experience in managing networks. A variety of commercial and open source tools have been developed to assist in this process, however these require policies and/or or thresholds to be defined by the user in order to trigger alerts. The better the description of the anomalous behavior, the more effective these tools become. In this extended abstract we describe a project focused on precise characterization of anomalous network traffic behavior. The first step in our project is to gather passive measurements of network traffic at the IP flow level. IP flow level data as defined in [1] is a unidirectional series of IP packets of a given protocol traveling between a source and a destination IP/port pair within a certain period of time. While flow level data is certainly not as precise as passive measurements of packet level data, we demonstrate that it is sufficient for exposing many different types of aberrant network traffic behavior in close to real time. It also has the benefit of generating much smaller data sets than packet level measurements which can become a significant issue in large, heavily used networks. We use the FlowScan [2] open source software to gather and analyze network flow data. FlowScan takes Netflow [3] feeds from Cisco or other Lightweight Flow Accounting Protocol (LFAP) enabled routers, processes the data and then it in an efficient data structure. FlowScan also has a graphical interface which is currently the principal means for anomaly identification by network managers. FlowScan is currently deployed at the border router at the University of Wisconsin Madison as well as over 100 other sites nation wide.
The Political Economy Of Medicare

ABSTRACT: Medicare spends more than $200 billion a year; the politics surrounding the Medicare program cannot be fully understood without an adequate appreciation of that fact. An understanding of ...
Food Insecurity and Compensatory Feeding Practices Among Urban Black Families

OBJECTIVE. In this we study explored the relationship between food insecurity and compensatory maternal feeding practices that may be perceived as buffers against periodic food shortages among urban black families. METHODS. We interviewed a convenience sample of black mothers of children aged 2 to 13 years. Food-security status (predictor) was determined at the household level. Five maternal feeding practices (outcomes) were assessed. Two were based on Birch9s Child Feeding Questionnaire (restricting access to certain foods and pressuring a child to eat), and 3 were derived from investigators9 clinical experience (use of high-energy supplements, added sugar in beverages, and perceived appetite stimulants). Anthropometric data were collected from mothers and children. RESULTS. A total of 278 mother–child dyads were analyzed, and 28% of these mothers reported being food insecure. Use of Child Feeding Questionnaire feeding practices was defined as the top quartile of responses. Use of nutritional supplements, defined as “at least 1 to 2 times monthly,” ranged from 13% to 25%. In logistic regression models adjusted for child age, weight status, and ethnicity and maternal weight status, mothers from food-insecure households were significantly more likely to use high-energy supplements and appetite stimulants. The odds of using the remaining compensatory feeding practices (adding sugars to beverages, pressuring a child to eat, and restricting access to certain foods) were elevated among food-insecure households but did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS. Household food insecurity was independently associated with 2 of the 5 maternal compensatory feeding practices studied, and such practices may alter the feeding environment. Longitudinal research is necessary to determine how the relationship between food security and compensatory maternal feeding practices may affect child weight trajectories.
Whisking as a “voluntary” response: operant control of whisking parameters and effects of whisker denervation

The rat’s ability to vary its whisking “strategies” to meet the functional demands of a discriminative task suggests that whisking may be characterized as a “voluntary” behavior—an operant—and like other operants, should be modifiable by appropriate manipulations of response–reinforcer contingencies. To test this hypothesis we have used high-resolution, optoelectronic “real-time” recording procedures to monitor the movements of individual whiskers and reinforce specific movement parameters (amplitude, frequency). In one operant paradigm (N = 9) whisks with protractions above a specified amplitude were reinforced (Variable Interval 30 s) in the presence of a tone, but extinguished (EXT) in its absence. In a second paradigm (N = 3), rats were reinforced on two different VI schedules (VI-20s/VI-120s) signaled, respectively, by the presence or absence of the tone. Selective reinforcement of whisking movements maintained the behavior over many weeks of testing and brought it under stimulus and schedule control...
The Current State of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Education in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Programs.

Abstract Background Exposure to musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) is now a mandatory component of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR 61% had mandatory MSUS training (28.2% when including nonrespondents); and 44.4% had a formal curriculum (20.5% when including nonrespondents). The most common MSUS educational tools used were lecture (88.9%), outpatient clinic (86.1%), and hands-on workshops (86.1%). Sixty-one percent of responding programs evaluate residents with formal assessment tools. Overall, faculty at 38.8% and 44.4% of programs believed that at least 50% of residents who graduate are competent in diagnostic and interventional MSUS, respectively. These rates were significantly associated with the use of formal assessment. Conclusion MSUS education is growing in PM&R, but many programs still have not adopted a formal educational curriculum. Formal assessment to evaluate resident MSUS skills significantly improves faculty-perceived MSUS competency.
Normalization of atropine-induced postprandial dysrhythmias with gastric pacing

Gastric pacing has received increasing attention recently. However, few studies have systematically assessed the effect of pacing on gastric dysrhythmias. The aims of this study were to investigate...
Causes and Consequences of Auditor Changes: A Comparison of Accelerated and Non-Accelerated Filers

This study uses three general hypotheses -- realignment, opinion shopping, and litigation risk -- to examine the determinants of auditor changes for a sample of companies. We also look at the reaction of the stock market to auditor changes. Our overall results are primarily consistent with prior research findings. However, we find that non-accelerated filers have important differences from accelerated filers both in the determinants of auditor changes and the market reactions to those changes. Non-accelerated filers appear to be less prone to opinion shopping and have fewer realignment issues driving changes than their accelerated counterparts. Auditor changes for both accelerated and non-accelerated filers, and particularly auditor resignations, are related to litigation risk factors. However, the pattern of significant individual litigation risk variables is different and more pronounced for non-accelerated filers. Our findings also demonstrate that the stock market reaction to auditor changes is different for accelerated filers compared to non-accelerated filers.
Exploring the Black Box: The Appraisal of University Administrative Records

Although acknowledged as an essential archival function, appraisal is a complex process that is not fully understood. The authors examine the premises from which T.R. Schellenberg derived many of the practices used to appraise modern records and identify some problems in the widespread use of his approach. As an alternative, they offer a model comprised of the elements that should be considered when making an appraisal decision. Three interrelated categories of elements are discussed: value-of-information, costs-of-retention, and implications-of-the-appraisal-recommendations. While the focus is upon the appraisal of university administrative records, this model represents another step toward the development of a more systematic understanding of the entire appraisal process.
Diverse Pathways of Oxidative Folding of Disulfide Proteins: Underlying Causes and Folding Models

The pathway of oxidative folding of disulfide proteins exhibits a high degree of diversity, which is manifested mainly by distinct structural heterogeneity and diverse rearrangement pathways of folding intermediates. During the past two decades, the scope of this diversity has widened through studies of more than 30 disulfide-rich proteins by various laboratories. A more comprehensive landscape of the mechanism of protein oxidative folding has emerged. This review will cover three themes. (1) Elaboration of the scope of diversity of disulfide folding pathways, including the two opposite extreme models, represented by bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and hirudin. (2) Demonstration of experimental evidence accounting for the underlying mechanism of the folding diversity. (3) Discussion of the convergence between the extreme models of oxidative folding and models of conventional conformational folding (framework model, hydrophobic collapse model).
HYBRIDIZATION IN THE ANNUAL SUNFLOWERS: HELIANTHUS ANNUUS x H. DEBILIS VAR. CUCUMERIFOLIUS

In 1945 seeds of sunflowers from three localities in Texas were sent to the writer by E. Mortensen. When plants from these seeds were grown they were found to approach H. debilis var. cucumerifolius in many characters although on the whole they were nearer to H. annuus in appearance (fig. 1 ). Subsequently a large amount of herbarium material was studied and it was concluded that natural hybridization between these two species probably occurs in eastern Texas. Field work in Texas in 1949 verified this conclusion, and some observations on the variation of these two species with an analysis of both natural and artificial hybrids is presented in the following paper. Helianthus annuus is a wide-spread weed in much of North America and is morphologically quite diverse. Preliminary remarks concerning its variability have already appeared (Heiser, 1949). Plants of H. annus from eastern Texas are usually very distinctive. The lemon yellow rays, the deep irregular serration (fig. 3, e) and somewhat undulate margin of the leaf, the purple mottled stems, and a tendency to produce long lateral branches from the base of the plant rather effectively distinguish most eastern Texas populations of this species from populations of H. annuus occurring elsewhere, although these traits occasionally appear outside of eastern Texas. In addition, the eastern Texas plants of H. annuus generally have few rays, small disks and bracts, and small achenes. These three
Newborn screening for sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies: overview of legal issues.

The main purpose of screening is to identify infants with sickle cell anemia so that appropriate health care might be given to such infants. The following four types of legal issues will be considered: the extent to which existing state newborn screening laws can accommodate sickle cell anemia, the malpractice concerns related to sickle cell anemia screening, the need for protection of the confidentiality of the data collected by such testing, and the legal issues raised by discrimination against sickle cell carriers. These legal issues cannot be considered in a vacuum, however. Attention must be given to the history of sickle cell screening laws in this country. When state laws mandating sickle cell anemia screening were passed in the early 1970s, they were aimed at giving people information that was helpful for making reproductive choices. Two carriers who were married, for example, had a 25% risk of giving birth to a child with sickle cell anemia. However, because there were no health care measures that could be taken to cure an affected fetus or even to safely diagnose the condition prenatally, the only potential effect of the law was to deter such couples from having children altogether, a tactic criticized as genocidal. Moreover, the early laws lacked provisions for counseling and, thus, fostered misunderstanding and anxiety. The information collected by screening programs apparently also served as a basis for discrimination against people with sickle cell trait. The issues presented by sickle cell anemia screening of newborns are somewhat different because screening is not for the primary purpose of changing reproductive behavior but rather to identify infants who then can be treated.
The Process of Process Management: Enabling High Performance in a Digital World

Business strategies and operations are driven by scores of ever-shifting factors: from legal regulations to technological innovations and an all present digitalization. Companies need a powerful management approach to achieve high performance in today’s digital world. In effect, they must know how and when to enhance their business processes, which processes are optimal candidates for intervention, and how to move rapidly from strategy to execution.
Constructing Expertise: Terrorist Recruitment and “Talent Spotting” in the PIRA, Al Qaeda, and ISIS

ABSTRACTThe academic literature is divided with regard to whether terrorist recruits are dangerous masterminds, “malevolently creative,” and capable of perpetrating well-planned mass casualty attacks in the heart of European capitals. Or whether they are imbeciles, incapable of carrying out the most basic tasks, who mostly end up blowing themselves up by accident. This duality about the capabilities of terrorists is reflected in analyses of terrorist incidents. In fact, both depictions of terrorist recruits are accurate. Acuity and professionalism are not movement dependent (the same group may attract a variety of recruits) and might, instead, reflect a recruitment cycle that terrorist groups experience—one that alternates between labor-intensive and expertise-intensive periods of recruitment. The phases may shift because of external pressures (periods of territorial expansion/contraction) and opportunities (need for better quality recruits) with associated shifts in how groups use propaganda to attract a...
Aging, overconfidence, and portfolio choice

Abstract Research has shown that older investors’ confidence in financial skills and capability does not diminish with declining financial proficiency, and this overconfidence gap rather widens with age. Using data from the Cognitive Economics Study (CogEcon), this study examines whether and to what extent the age-related increase in overconfidence explains the riskiness of retirement portfolio. Results from the two-part models indicate that rising overconfidence is associated with a greater risky asset ownership and less share of cash equivalents, even after accounting for post-crash sentiment changes and market conditions. Further analyses find that financial advice plays an essential role in dampening the effect of overconfidence. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of cognitive bias in explaining late-life equity ownership and financial advisor as an emotional circuit breaker.
The Crucial Role of Cardiac Imaging in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR): Pre- and Post-procedural Assessment

Transcatheter valve interventions have emerged as one of the most important developments in structural heart disease over the past 20 years. Initially, these interventions were directed at patients with severe aortic stenosis and high surgical risk; however, their applications have extended to involve other native valves’ pathologies, degenerated prosthetic valves, as well as patients of lower surgical risk. In this article, we discuss the importance of cardiac imaging in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) by exploring the current practices, guidelines, and recommendations with the supporting data. We believe that the key for a successful TAVR is careful pre-procedural planning and early detection of any possible post-implantation complications. To achieve this, multimodality imaging is cornerstone. Throughout the stages of patient-evaluation, echocardiography and computed tomography play complementary roles. MRI, on the other hand, has emerged as a useful tool in quantifying post-implantation paravalvular regurgitation.
Imagination, Possibility, and Plovers

In this paper, I explore two aphorisms common in the literature on modal epistemology. The first, The imagination is to the possible as perception is to the actual, I have considered before. (Hanrahan 2007, 2008a, b) From it, I generated a theory that holds that our imagination can provide us with a guide to possibility, if via our best explanation we can tell a story about the sensory images we have called forth that would justify our taking them to be veridical perceptions. Unfortunately, this theory has a limited scope. In this paper, I look to expand its scope by reconsidering this first aphorism in conjunction with the second aphorism, What is actual is also possible. While I do succeed at expanding the scope of my theory, there are still challenges to be met.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Leadership: A Review of Research on Library Leadership in the 21st Century

The literature of library leadership in the 21st century is as extensive as it is varied. Nonetheless, general themes emerge that reflect an evolving leadership imperative in a period of continuous change for the library organization. The first of a two-part review, this paper outlines research and research-related scholarship on library leadership published in the professional and scholarly literature since 2000. The review is organized within two broad areas: Leadership Competencies and Leadership Theory in Practice. Leadership Competencies includes work that explores applied leadership skills, leadership characteristics, and leadership and change. Leadership Theory in Practice includes research that connects leadership theory with library leadership challenges. Research in this area explores the intersection of leadership and organizational culture, the role of emotional intelligence in leadership, and transformation, situational, and managerial leadership.
Clinical Features of Restrictive Cardiomyopathy and Constrictive Pericarditis

Abstract Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) and constrictive pericarditis (CP) are uncommon cardiac diseases of childhood. RCM is a disease of the myocardium, while CP is a disease of the pericardium; however, they are both diseases of diastolic dysfunction and can present very similarly. Differentiating the two is important because their prognosis and treatment are divergent. This chapter reviews the epidemiology, etiologies, pathology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, outcome, and management of pediatric patients with RCM and those with CP.
HIV and Alzheimer’s Disease: Tat, Beta-Amyloid, and Neprilysin (P5.148)

Objective: To determine if HIV Tat protein inhibits the enzyme neprilysin which degrades beta-amyloid proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Background: Highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) has improved the survival of people living with HIV, but cognitive impairment - including dementia and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) - can still result in significant morbidity and diminish medication compliance. Previous studies have examined whether HIV Tat may promote the premature development of AD pathology by inhibiting neprilysin, the main enzyme responsible for degrading beta-amyloid 1–42 peptide (Aβ42), with mixed results. It is also not known how effective Tat can inhibit neprilysin-mediated Aβ42 degradation. Design/Methods: We designed in vitro experiments to determine the neprilysin inhibition properties of full-length Tat (amino acid 1–87), and calculated inhibition constant (Ki) for Tat at physiologic concentrations of neprilysin using a fluorogenic reporter assay. We also tested if Aβ42 at physiologic concentrations inhibit neprilysin, and compared the Ki values between Tat and Aβ42. Results: The average CSF neprilysin concentration from 103 subjects was 2.00 ng/mL (SD=0.35 ng/mL), and African Americans had lower CSF neprilysin levels than Caucasians (p in vitro with Ki of 18 nM. At neprilysin concentration of 2.00 ng/mL or above, the estimated Ki is much higher (85 nM) which likely accounts for the variable neprilysin inhibition in prior studies using a maximum of 30 nM Tat. By comparison, Aβ42 inhibits neprilysin in vitro at Ki of 20 pM which is well below the physiologic CSF Aβ42 concentrations. Conclusions: Compared to Aβ42, HIV Tat is a relatively weak inhibitor of neprilysin. Future studies will need to identify brain Tat concentration in HIV patients using post mortem tissue, and determine if people with HIV and lower neprilysin levels are more susceptible to HAND. Disclosure: Dr. Ozturk has nothing to disclose. Dr. Howell has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hu has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Hoffman LaRoche, Abbvie, AARP. Dr. Hu has received research support from Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Fujirebio.
Factors Affecting the Interferon Response of Mice to Polynucleotides

Natural and synthetic RNA’s such as polyinosinic · polycytidylic acid (poly I · poly C) stimulate the production of interferon in mice and other animals (Isaacs et al., 1961; Field et al., 1967). The mouse is an important model system for studying the role of interferon in the control of viral infections. The understanding of this model system requires knowledge of the interferon response to RNA stimulators. The present study was made to help determine the dose-response kinetics of interferon production following single and multiple injections of the synthetic RNA, poly I · poly C.
The Hegemony of Language Separation: Discontents en Programas de Lenguaje Dual en Paraguay and El Paso

While language hegemonies often take the form of one language imposed upon speakers of another, this article focuses on the hegemony of language boundaries themselves imposed upon everyday language practices, and in particular, upon those of teachers and students in bilingual classrooms. This examination of two different borderland contexts—El Paso, Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border and a central Paraguayan community on an urban-rural Spanish-Guarani speaking border—illustrates how similar dominant ideologies and discourses worked in both places to make it seem as if what participants saw as “language separation” was pedagogically and socially superior to what they saw as people’s everyday “mixed” language use. While teachers’ languaging in practice refused these boundaries, it remained unaffirmed by any explicitly positive discourse. With others, I argue that discourses that explicitly affirm and valorize translanguaging practices must become more available to teachers as ways to name, understand, and evaluate their own (and students’) language use. And specifically, here I highlight the embracing of translanguaging in formal, public events beyond the classroom as key to this process, illustrating this proposal with two such moments in the El Paso and Paraguayan borderland contexts.
Mean square stability for systems on stochastically generated discrete time scales

Abstract We consider dynamic systems which evolve on discrete time domains where the time steps form a sequence of independent, identically distributed random variables. In particular, we classify the mean-square stability of linear systems on these time domains using quadratic Lyapunov functionals. In the case where the system matrix is a function of the time step, our results agree with and generalize stability results found in the Markov jump linear systems literature. In the case where the system matrix is constant, our results generalize, illuminate, and extend to the stochastic realm results in the field of dynamic equations on time scales. In order to help see the factors that contribute to stability, we prove a sufficient condition for the solvability of the Lyapunov equation by appealing to a fixed point theorem of Ran and Reurings. Finally, an example using observer-based feedback control is presented to demonstrate the utility of the results to control engineers who cannot guarantee uniform timing of the system.
The Animal Figure in and around the Little House: Tame-Wild Liminality in Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie".

This essay deploys an animal studies, posthumanist approach to Laura’s identification with Jack and horses throughout the Little House series. Part wolf and partly domesticated, Jack mediates the impossible longings within Laura to be free and yet under control—to be independent yet maintain the approval of her parents, especially her mother. Jack is replaced by horses later in the series, and horses take over Jack’s function in negotiating as transitional objects between Laura’s paradoxical longings to be wild and civilized, free and socially acceptable. Horses lead her to Almanzo, who becomes the final negotiation between Laura’s longings for freedom and domestication. Animal studies frameworks have recently challenged the model of domestication as subjugation, arguing for coevolution as a more appropriate theory in which both “domesticator” and “domesticated” animal bring agency to the process of collaboration. Through both Jack and other animals in Little House, Wilder promotes this model not only for animals but for women, pioneering not only a landscape but a new model for expressing the agency of the silenced, marginalized subject. Not only does this model hold value for understanding women’s literature, but it also defines children’s literature as fostering deep identification with posthumanist inquiry.
A direct approach to estimate the anisotropy of protein structures from small-angle X-ray scattering

In the field of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), the task of estimating the size of particles in solution is usually synonymous with the Guinier plot. The approximation behind this plot, developed by Guinier in 1939, provides a simple yet accurate characterization of the scattering behavior of particles at low scattering angle or momentum transfer q, together with a computationally efficient way of inferring their radii of gyration RG. Moreover, this approximation is valid beyond spherical scatterers, making its use ubiquitous in the SAXS world. However, when it is important to estimate further particle characteristics, such as the anisotropy of the scatterer's shape, no similar or extended approximations are available. Existing tools to characterize the shape of scatterers rely either on prior knowledge of the scatterers' geometry or on iterative procedures to infer the particle shape ab initio. In this work, a low-angle approximation of the scattering intensity I(q) for ellipsoids of revolution is developed and it is shown how the size and anisotropy information can be extracted from the parameters of that approximation. The goal of the approximation is not to estimate a particle's full structure in detail, and thus this approach will be less accurate than well known iterative and ab initio reconstruction tools available in the literature. However, it can be considered as an extension of the Guinier approximation and used to generate initial estimates for the aforementioned iterative techniques, which usually rely on RG and Dmax for initialization. This formulation also demonstrates that nonlinearity in the Guinier plot can arise from anisotropy in the scattering particles. Beyond ideal ellipsoids of revolution, it is shown that this approximation can be used to estimate the size and shape of molecules in solution, in both computational and experimental scenarios. The limits of the approach are discussed and the impact of a particle's anisotropy in the Guinier estimate of RG is assessed.
(Sar-1,D-Ala-12)Galanin-1-16-NH 2

(Sar-1,D-Ala-12)Galanin-1-16-NH2 is a peptide fragment of the endogenous neurotransmitter …
Optimizing extracellular vesicle yield for clinical application

Background & Aim Regenerative medicine has seen great expansion in the last decade, with more than one thousand current clinical trials involving mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC) treatment. In recent years, multiple groups have shown that MSCs exert their beneficial effects by the release of paracrine factors, including growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs are contained within multi-vesicular bodies and released to the cytoplasm by exocytosis. EV cargo includes free fatty acids, miRNA, and proteins. The therapeutic advantages of cell-free EVs include their small size, low immunogenicity, inability to form tumors, and ability to reach target sites by systemic delivery. The goal of this project is to develop a GMP protocol for the manufacturing of clinical-grade EVs that meet regulatory requirements. Methods, Results & Conclusion Condition media from clinical-grade MSCs (cultured in an automated bioreactor) were used, and EVs were isolated by tangential flow filtration (TFF). The primary independent variables assessed in this project were 1) filter pore size, 2) storage solution, and 3) freeze-thaw. Particle size and counts were analyzed by nanoparticle tracking analysis and protein content by bicinchoninic acid (BCA) protein BCA analysis. Other optimizations included filtration settings, filtration flow rate, pre-centrifugation, sample volume:filter surface ratio, and fibronectin contamination. A filter size of 500kD resulted in a 53.5% increase in particle size compared to a 300kD filter. More particles were detected in phosphate buffered saline(PBS)-isolated EVs compared to lactated ringers solution (LRS)-isolated EVs; however, EVs stored in PBS were 27% larger than EVs stored in LRS. EV particle counts post-freezing also consistently increased compared to freshly-isolated EVs. These results show that TFF is a promising closed system for manufacturing clinical-grade EVs.
A Spatiotemporal Approach for Secure Crowdsourced Radio Environment Map Construction

Database-driven Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) is the de-facto technical paradigm adopted by Federal Communications Commission for increasing spectrum efficiency, which allows licensed spectrum to be opportunistically used by secondary users. In database-driven DSS, a geo-location database administrator (DBA) maintains spectrum availability information over its service region in the form of a Radio Environment Map (REM), where the received signal strength from the primary user at every location is either directly measured via spectrum sensing or estimated via statistical spatial interpolation. Crowdsourcing-based spectrum sensing is a promising approach for periodically collecting spectrum measurements over a large geographic area but is unfortunately vulnerable to false spectrum measurements. Despite a large body of prior work on secure cooperative spectrum sensing, how to construct an accurate REM in the presence of false measurements remains an open challenge. In this paper, we introduce ST-REM, a novel spatiotemporal approach for securely constructing an REM in the presence of false spectrum measurements. Inspired by the self-label techniques developed for semi-supervised learning, ST-REM iteratively constructs an REM from a small number of spectrum measurements from trusted anchor sensors and many more measurements from mobile users. During each iteration, the DBA evaluates the trustworthiness of each measurement by jointly considering its spatial fitness with other trusted measurements and the mobile user’s long-term behavior. By gradually incorporating the most trustworthy spectrum measurements, the DBA is able to construct a REM with high accuracy. Extensive simulation studies using a real spectrum measurement dataset confirm the efficacy and efficiency of ST-REM.
α1-Adrenergic tone does not influence the transmural distribution of myocardial blood flow during exercise in dogs with pressure overload left ventricular hypertrophy

This study was carried out to test the hypothesis that α1-adrenergic activation during exercise causes preferential vasoconstriction of subepicardial coronary resistance vessels, thereby augmenting blood flow to the subendocardium. Studies were performed in 7 dogs in which left ventricular hypertrophy was produced by banding the ascending aorta at 6–9 weeks of age. Animals were studied at approximately 1 year of age when the left ventricular/body weight ratio was 7.7±0.3 g/kg (mean±SE). Left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery flow was measured with a Doppler velocity flow probe at rest and during a three-stage graded treadmill exercise protocol. The transmural distribution of myocardial blood flow was assessed with radioactive microspheres. Coronary blood flow increased progressively as a function of heart rate and rate-pressure product in response to exercise. In contrast to normal dogs which maintain preferential blood flow to the subendocardium (ENDO) relative to the subepicardium (EPI) during exercise, the ENDO/EPI flow ratio in the hypertrophied left ventricles was 0.88±0.10 during exercise. Selective α1-adrenergic blockade by infusion of prazosin (10 μg/kg) into the LAD decreased mean aortic pressure during exercise from 86±6 to 76±4 mmHg (p<0.05), but did not change coronary pressure, heart rate, left ventricular systolic or end-diastolic pressures, or LVdP/dtmax. Coronary blood flow was not significantly altered by prazosin at rest, but was progressively increased during increasing levels of exercise levels. During the heaviest level of exercise prazosin caused a 22±3% increase in mean myocardial blood flow which was similar in all transmural layers, with no change in the transmural distribution of perfusion (ENDO/EPI=0.85±0.09). These findings demonstrate that α1-adrenergic vasoconstrictor tone limits blood flow during exercise in the hypertrophied left ventricle, but do not support the concept that α1-adrenergic activation augments perfusion of the subendocardium during exercise.
Political Corruption Cycles: High-Frequency Evidence from Argentina’s Notebooks Scandal:

Exploiting daily records documenting how an organization of high-level bureaucrats in Argentina collected bribes and delivered them to party leaders from 2009 to 2015, I detect with unprecedented a...
POETS AND READERS IN SEVENTH-CENTURY ROME: POPE HONORIUS, LUCRETIUS, AND THE DOORS OF ST. PETER'S

This essay offers several reasons for reconsidering seventh-century Rome's reputation as a literary dark age. It provides close readings of several epigrams inscribed in Roman churches during and soon after the papacy of Honorius I (625–38) as evidence for a revived literary scene in the city during these years. It also argues that the intertextual maneuvers deployed by these epigrams suggest, contrary to current opinion, that Lucretius's De rerum natura had Roman readers in the early seventh century. Lucretius's “popularity” in contemporary Visigothic Spain; the likelihood that Honorius's younger contemporary and acquaintance, Jonas of Bobbio, was familiar with Lucretius; and the eventual presence of a (lost) manuscript of the De rerum natura in the library of the Bobbio monastery are enlisted in order to set both early seventh-century Rome and the De rerum natura in wider historical context. In general, this essay encourages the re-evaluation of the place of epigraphic poetry in our histories of late Latin literature and literary culture.
Ureteral Stent Fracture After Irreversible Electroporation for Treatment of Metastatic Rectal Adenocarcinoma.

Background: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a soft tissue ablation technique using electrical pulses without thermal energy to create pores in the cell membrane, resulting in death from apopt...
Early Intervention Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

One of the most widely known applications of behavior analysis is through early intervention services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this chapter, we begin with a brief history of early intervention services over the past 30 years and how early behavior analysts changed the trajectory for children with ASD. Following the success of these early and intensive treatments, applied behavior analysis therapy became one of the most well-researched and supported interventions for children with ASD. This chapter provides an overview of the typical process of early intervention service provision from initial referral and intake to transition and termination of services. Differences in teaching methodologies, such as discrete trial training versus natural environment teaching, as well as factors to consider when selecting treatment strategies are also discussed. In addition, this chapter describes the best practices in clinical supervision and training for professionals in the field and alerts the reader to specific ethical codes throughout the chapter referencing the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s Professional and Ethical Compliance Code. While early intervention is one of the more established practices in the field of behavior analysis, we still have a lot to learn in order to make our treatments the most meaningful for our clients and society.
Nitrate-induced improvements in exercise performance are coincident with exuberant changes in metabolic genes and the metabolome in zebrafish (Danio rerio) skeletal muscle

We show that skeletal muscle nitrate concentration is higher with supplementation at rest and was lower in groups with increasing exercise duration in a zebrafish model. The higher availability of ...
Cryopreservation of seminal vesicle derived spermatozoa from Bombus impatiens and Apis mellifera - Implications for artificial insemination of bumble bees.

Abstract This study evaluates the efficacy of a cryopreservation protocol for spermatozoa derived from the accessory testis of male Bombus impatiens. It is also the first report of successful cryopreservation of bumble bee spermatozoa. The spermatozoa viability was compared with the similarly treated honey bee spermatozoa derived from its accessory testis. The semen was frozen using a yolk-free non-activating buffer containing dimethyl sulphoxide and stored in liquid nitrogen for 24 h to ~14 days. Thereafter, the frozen samples were thawed rapidly and assessed by staining with live/dead differentiating fluorescent dyes. Semen viability in cryopreserved samples (55.8 ± 14.0%) was significantly different than controls (96.2 ± 10.5%). Similar assessment with A. mellifera resulted in 82.2 ± 7.0% viable cryopreserved spermatozoa versus 99.4 ± 0.1% in controls. A similar proportion of the sperm cells were also capable of motility upon dilution of the extender medium with phosphate buffered saline. The proportion of viable accessory testis derived sperm cells obtained post-cryopreservation was estimated to be sufficient to initiate long term storage and artificial insemination programs.
Systemic anticoagulation is associated with decreased mortality and morbidity in acute pancreatitis.

Abstract Background/objectives Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a procoagulant state, and markers of coagulopathy are associated with AP severity. We aimed to explore the association of systemic anticoagulation therapy before AP onset with the inpatient outcomes of patients with acute pancreatitis. Methods This case-control, retrospective study used data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (Jan 2014–Dec 2016). We used medical coding data to identify patients with a principal diagnosis of AP who were receiving systemic anticoagulation therapy. Patients with anticoagulation were matched to those without it on the propensity for having anticoagulation. The propensity for having anticoagulation was estimated using a logistic regression model, matching for age, gender, race, median household income for patients' zip code, Charlson comorbidity score, region of hospital, location of hospital (urban/rural), teaching status of hospital, if admission day was on a weekend, pancreatic cancer class, obesity, tobacco usage. Secondary outcomes were inpatient outcomes and hospital expenditures. Results A total of 190,474 patients admitted for acute pancreatitis were identified, out of which 7827 patients were on anticoagulation. After propensity matching, 5776 matched pairs were successfully identified. Patients with AP on anticoagulation tended to have lower risk for ICU admission, acute kidney injury, organ failure or inpatient mortality. However, the group with anticoagulation had longer hospital length of stay and higher hospital costs. Conclusions Anticoagulation therapy may have a pivotal role in the pathogenesis and progression of AP. These data suggest a potential therapeutic role for anticoagulants in AP. Further studies are needed to better understand these observations.