cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Single optical cycle laser pulse in the visible and near-infrared spectral range

Since the inception of the laser, pulse duration has been continuously decreased by the use of a variety of techniques: Q-switching, mode-locking, and pulse compression. We would like to present a new technique based on the addition of laser sub-harmonic, ALS, that allows the production of a single-cycle pulse with single-femtosecond pulse duration. This simple technique takes advantage of the recent progress made in the generation of a few optical cycles and in optical parametric amplification.
Usability Evaluation of AVI Clips in Online Help

This paper presents the results of a case study that evaluated the usability of AVI (audio/video interlace) clips in online help. The goal of the research was to provide data in support of the hypothesis that AVI clips encourage users to use online help. In order to collect data, a first full-scale proof-of-concept prototype was developed using Microsoft HTML Help Workshopreg and TechSmith Camtasia Recorderreg. The case study testbed was the Trackercopy application, a project activity tracking software package developed by the author. Based on the usability evaluation data collected in the case study, this paper concludes that AVI clips were helpful in encouraging the users to use online help. It also underlines the need for further research using larger population samples in a variety of application settings in conjunction with other tools such as cue cards and wizards
Genomic analysis of the eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily: a perspective

Protein kinases with a conserved catalytic domain make up one of the largest 'superfamilies' of eukaryotic proteins and play many key roles in biology and disease. Efforts to identify and classify all the members of the eukaryotic protein kinase superfamily have recently culminated in the mining of essentially complete human genome data.
Neorealism and Neoliberalism

The classic dialectic between Realist and Liberal theories of international politics, as expressed by Robert O. Keohane, ed., in Neorealism and Its Critics and Richard Rosecrance The Rise of the Trading State, can be transcended. Neither paradigm singularly explains international behavior: Realism is the dominant approach, but liberal theories of transnationalism and interdependence help to illuminate how national interests are learned and changed. Keohane and fellow critics argue that Neorealism—articulated definitively in Kenneth Waltz's Theory of International Politics (1979)—elegantly systematizes Realism, but concentrates on international system structure at the expense of system process. Focused tightly on the concept of bipolarity, Waltz's theory tends toward stasis; the unit (state) level unproductively becomes an analytical “dumping ground.” As a Neoliberal counterpoint, Rosecrance's argument does not go far enough. In the tradition of commercial liberalism, he argues that an open trading system offers states maneuverability through economic growth rather than through military conquest. He tempers his argument with Realist considerations of prudence, but fails to clarify Realist-Liberal links in his theory, or to explore fully the connections between power and non-power incentives influencing states' behavior. A synthesis of Neorealism and Neoliberalism is warranted: a systemic theory using the former to analyze at the level of structure, the latter more often at the level of process.
Fairness-Improving Adaptive Routing in Optical Burst Switching Mesh Networks

In most existing studies of optical burst switching networks, adaptive routing is based on deflection routing and/or feedback from the past intervals which often introduce excessive transmission delay and architectural complexity. Our proposed three novel adaptive routing schemes, however, consider the transient link congestion at the moment when the bursts arrive; moreover they can utilize the same offset times for the same node pairs implying zero additional transmission delay and simplicity. The proposed schemes also aim to address the intrinsic unfairness defect of existing popular signaling protocols by increasing the effective link utilization. In performance results, we proceed to show that with our routing techniques, the fairness among the bursts with different hop counts can be greatly improved; and our methods can decrease the burst loss probability significantly as well in large-scale optical burst switching WDM mesh networks.
State-of-the-art update and review: clinical trials of lipid-lowering agents.

C artery disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and other western industrialized societies.1 Yet, despite compelling epidemiologic and clinical data demonstrating that elevated total cholesterol levels are correlated with heightened coronary artery disease mortality and that lipid-lowering initiatives (including a low-total fat, low-saturated fat, low-cholesterol diet) can diminish rates of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke, we remain a “hypercholesterolemic, atherogenic society.” About 96 million US adults have serum total cholesterol levels .200 mg/dL and 38 million, .240 mg/dL.1 These disheartening facts are at odds with a concerted national effort to raise awareness about the health hazards of elevated cholesterol levels among both physicians and patients: the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP).2 In addition to addressing this educational and behavioral deficit among their patients, physicians must also strive to be more proactive themselves. Clinicians who care for patients (particularly patients with coronary artery disease) clearly can make a significant impact by implementing the epidemiologic, clinical, angiographic, and pathophysiologic principles underlying the relations between adverse cardiovascular outcomes and elevated levels of total cholesterol, lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride, (but diminished concentrations of high-density lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol). This review will attempt to address these issues in a state-of-the-art fashion that encompasses a substantial body of both published and emerging data.
Raman microspectroscopy and vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy as probes of the bulk and surface compositions of size-resolved sea spray aerosol particles

Sea spray aerosol (SSA) represents one of the largest aerosol components in our atmosphere. SSA plays a major role in influencing climate; however the overall impacts remain poorly understood due to the overall chemical complexity. SSA is comprised of a mixture of inorganic and organic components in varying proportions that change as a function of particle size and seawater composition. In this study, nascent SSA particles were produced using breaking waves, resulting in compositions and sizes representative of the open ocean. The composition of individual SSA particles ranging in size from ca. 0.15 to 10 μm is measured using Raman microspectroscopy, while the interfacial composition of collections of size-resolved particles is probed by sum frequency generation (SFG). Raman spectra of single particles have bands in the 980 to 1030 cm−1 region associated with the symmetric stretch of the sulfate anion, the 2800 to 3000 cm−1 region associated with carbon–hydrogen stretches, and from 3200–3700 cm−1 associated with the oxygen–hydrogen stretches of water. The relative intensities of these features showed a strong dependence on particle size. In particular, submicrometer particles exhibited a larger amount of organic matter compared to supermicrometer particles. However, for external surfaces of homogeneous SSA particles (i.e. particles without a solid inclusion), and also the interfaces of mixed-phase particles, there was a strong SFG response in the aliphatic C–H stretching region for both sub- and supermicrometer particles. This finding suggests that organic material present in supermicrometer particles primarily resides at the interface. The presence of methylene contributions in the SFG spectra indicated disordered alkyl chains, in contrast to what one might expect for a surfactant layer on a sea salt particle. Changes in peak frequencies and relative intensities in the C–H stretching region are seen for some particles after the addition of bacteria, phytoplankton, and growth medium to the seawater. This study provides new insights into the bulk and surface composition of SSA particles and represents a step forward in our understanding of this globally abundant aerosol. It also provides insights into the development of model systems for SSA that may more accurately represent the organic layer at the surface.
Pediatric Tone Management

Tone management is one of the primary roles of a pediatric physiatrist. Hypertonicity frequently inhibits normal movement patterns in children with central nervous system lesions but at times can reinforce muscle group firing and be useful for a child's function. Treatment approaches should be individualized based on functional goals, degree of impairment, interference with care, and type and location of hypertonicity. Treatment plans should be created in collaboration with all individuals caring for the child. There are many causes of hypertonicity as well as many nonsurgical and surgical treatments. Historical and current evidence-based treatments are reviewed.
The Ne II spectrum

Spectra of neon-filled hollow cathode discharge lamps were observed by means of high-resolution Fourier-transform spectroscopy (FTS) covering the region from vacuum ultraviolet to near infrared. By combining these new measurements with results of other FTS and grating spectroscopy observations, we compiled a complete list of approximately 1700 spectral lines of Ne II covering the range from 324 A to 130000 A. All known energy levels of Ne II were derived from this line list with improved accuracy. The newly optimized energy levels were used to derive a set of Ritz wavelength standards in the vacuum ultraviolet that are in good agreement with the previously used data. An improved classification of energy levels was made with the help of parametric calculations, and the existing controversy in the naming of strongly mixed levels was resolved.
Adaptive smooth surface fitting with manifolds

We present a smooth, everywhere C k , analytic surface representation for closed surfaces of arbitrary topology. We demonstrate fitting this representation to meshes of varying resolutions and sampling quality. The fitting process is adaptive and provides controls for both the average and the maximum allowable error. The representation is suitable for applications which require consistent parameterizations across different surfaces.
On modelling iron core nonlinearities

An algorithm is presented for the computation of the saturation characteristics of transformer iron cores based on supplied conventional V/sub rms/-I/sub rms/ curves and no-load losses at rated frequency. Laboratory measurements on a steel sample were carried out. It is shown that the iron core losses are a nonlinear function of the applied voltage. Taking these losses into account improves the nonlinear flux-current characteristics. >
Analysis of Ni silicide abnormal growth mechanism using advanced TEM techniques

We performed detailed analysis of the abnormal growth of Ni silicide that causes leakage-current failure in CMOS devices. We investigated the three-dimensional shape and the crystal microstructure of the abnormal growth by using advanced transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques: electron tomography and spatially-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). Furthermore, we revealed that the abnormal growth is related to crystal microstructure and crystal defects. This detailed information is important in the mechanism elucidation of abnormal growth of Ni silicide. To develop a highly reliable Ni salicide process, it is essential to understand the failure mechanism of abnormal growths of Ni silicide, especially for 45 nm node devices and beyond. To conclude, we discuss the solutions for the development of a successful Ni salicide process.
Vanadium toxicity in laying hens.

Abstract FOLLOWING our observations (Berg, 1963) that certain commercial phosphorus supplements contained sufficient vanadium to suppress growth of chicks when added to a corn-soy ration, a preliminary study was made to compare the performance of laying hens fed rations supplemented with “high vanadium” and “low vanadium” phosphate sources. The results of the preliminary test suggested that a more detailed study of the effects of adding varying levels of vanadium to a laying ration should be made. PROCEDURE In the preliminary study, 40, approximately 12 months old, strain cross White Leghorn hens were divided into four groups of 10 each. The birds were kept in individual wire cages. Two diets, differing only as to source of tricalcium phosphate, were prepared using the formula of ration 1, Table 1. Each diet was fed to two groups for eight weeks. Haugh units and shell thickness were determined for three eggs laid by each bird…
Ion Optical Properties of Quadrupole Mass Filters

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the ion optical properties of quadrupole mass filters. It describes the new design approaches. The chapter starts from elementary descriptions of phase-space dynamics and the use of matrix methods in ion optics. The adaptation to the quadrupole mass filter is described. The methods of calculation are discussed in some detail. For the mass filter in its normal mode of operation, a basic data collection has been compiled; so that the detailed calculations do not need to be continually repeated by others. The experimental evidence that supports the validity of the design theory is summarized and the need for more measurements is outlined. The problems of quadrupole field distortions are briefly discussed. Some of the alternative modes of operation of the mass filter are explored to further illustrate the utility of the new approaches to design theory. The objective of this chapter is to make available to anyone interested in quadrupole performance, for any type of application, the means with which to calculate the design details— that is, the optimum coupling of the source to analyzer and the performance tradeoffs that inevitably occur.
Responding To State Sales Tax Laws For Online Retailers - A Case Study Of Amazon And The States

As state budgets have come under increasing pressure, many states have enacted so called Amazon taxes that seek to have large online retailers collect state sales tax. States are attempting to expand the concept of nexus to include marketing affiliates and corporate subsidiaries. Amazon and other large retailers have reacted in different ways depending on the state and the specific legislation. This paper discusses the potential impact of these new laws and how both states and online retailers have dealt with the issues involved.
Ecological and Structural Determinants of Declining Labor Force Participation of African-American Men

Many studies have reported increasing equality in occupation and income attainments for employed white and African-American men in the United States since 1940 (e.g., Siegel 1967; Johnson and Sell 1978; Fossett, Galle, and Kelly 1986; Farley 1985; National Research Council 1989; Farley and Allen 1987; Smith and Welch 1984, 1986).2 One should view these findings cautiously, however, because most of the studies confined their analyses to aggregate outcomes. Recent research suggests that national-level analyses of employed men may lead to overly optimistic conclusions about trends in racial differences in labor force outcomes. Indeed, increased racial equality of labor force outcomes in the United States is likely to be more modest or even nonexistent: (a) when racial comparisons are of employment and amount of labor force participation instead of occupation and income and (b) when the data represent lower levels of aggregation than the nation as a whole.
Nitrogen mustard as a teratogenic agent in the mouse.

SummaryA single intra-abdominal injection of nitrogen mustard in an amount equivalent to about 1 μg per g of body weight and administered on the 10th to 12th day of gestation has no apparent effect on a pregnant mouse, but may have a pronounced effect on the young in utero. Some of the latter are killed outright and others show a wide range of resultant anomalies. Only anomalies involving the feet are reported here. The grades and distribution of deficiencies in the feet reveal a significant difference in responses on the 2 sides of the body and a considerable developmental autonomy on the part of each individual foot.
Efficacy of reduced rate fumigant alternatives and methyl bromide against soilborne pathogens and weeds in western forest nurseries

Abstract Preplant soil fumigation is commonly used to control soilborne pathogens and weeds in forest seedling nurseries of Oregon and Washington. However, lower chemical inputs are desired to meet state and federal application regulations, to minimize buffer zone size requirements, and to help protect the environment. Therefore, the objectives of this research were to evaluate the efficacy of three reduced rate soil fumigants under totally impermeable film (TIF) in managing soilborne diseases and weeds, and to determine if combined applications of up to four biocontrol agents improved soilborne disease control. Reduced rates of methyl bromide, metam sodium, and 1,3-dichloropropene, all applied in combination with chloropicrin, were effective in decreasing soil populations of Pythium and Fusarium as well as the presence of Pythium in root debris from the previous crop. The roots of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) seedlings transplanted into each fumigant treatment were also colonized less by Pythium and Fusarium than those transplanted into nonfumigated control plots. However, biocontrol treatments were not effective against either pathogen. Weed biomass and weeding times were also significantly reduced by fumigation. Application costs were similar for all three fumigant treatments, but seedling size was largest from the methyl bromide and metam sodium treatments followed by the 1,3-dichloropropene treatment. Based on the results of this study, reduced rates of methyl bromide, metam sodium, and 1,3-dichloropropene show promise in managing soilborne diseases and weeds in forest nurseries.
Experimental verification of the minimum number of diffractive zones for effective chromatic correction in the LWIR

With the move to smaller pixel sizes in the longwave IR region there has been a push for shorter focal length lenses that are smaller, cheaper and lighter and that resolve lower spatial frequencies. As a result lenses must have better correction for both chromatic and monochromatic aberrations. This leads to the increased use of aspheres and diffractive optical elements (kinoforms). With recent developments in the molding of chalcogenide materials these aspheres and kinoforms are more cost effective to manufacture. Without kinoforms the axial color can be on the order of 15 μm which degrades the performance of the lens at the Nyquist frequency. The kinoforms are now on smaller elements and are correcting chromatic aberration which is on the order of the design wavelength. This leads to kinoform structures that do not require large phase changes and therefore have 1.5 to just over 2 zones. The question becomes how many zones are required to correct small amounts of chromatic aberration in the system and are they functioning as predicted by the lens design software? We investigate both the design performance and the as-built performance of two designs that incorporate kinoforms for the correction of axial chromatic aberration.
Notes on the developmental pathogenesis of narcissistic personality disorder.

Narcissistic personality disorder is considered here as a higher-order borderline personality disorder: Both share related pathogeneses in terms of impaired parent-child relationships. The author develops his view of these disorders as arising from impaired separation-individuation, drawing on both “classic” and object-relations concepts as expressed in the contributions of Mahler, Kernberg, Kohut, Gerald Adler, Masterson, and himself. Emphasis is placed on pre-Oedipal developmental arrest as fundamental to the separation-individuation failure that characterizes these cases.
Something old, something new: options for treating relapsed mantle cell lymphoma.

Dr. Ruan and colleagues provide an excellent summary of available treatment options, as well as new drugs on the horizon, for the management of relapsed mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). As the authors emphasize, treatment of relapsed MCL is strongly influenced by the patient’s first-line therapy and needs to be individualized based on both patient and disease characteristics.
Design of process and environment adaptive ultra-low power wireless circuits and systems

The explosive growth of portable battery operated devices has mandated design of low power circuits and systems to prolong battery life. These devices fabricated in modern nanoscale CMOS technologies suffer from severe process variation due to the reduced controllability of the fabrication process, causing yield loss. This calls for integrated low power and process tolerant design techniques, or design of systems that can adapt to its process and environment to maintain its performance while minimizing power consumption. Currently, most of the wireless circuits are designed to meet minimum quality-of-service requirements under worst-case wireless link conditions (interference, noise, multi-path effects), leading to high power consumption when the channel is better than worst-case. In this research, we develop a multi-dimensional adaptation approach for wireless transmitters and receivers that optimally trades-off power vs. performance across temporally changing operating conditions by concurrently tuning control parameters in the RF front end to lower power consumption. Tunable circuits (e.g. LNA) with built-in tuning knobs providing independent controllability of important specifications allow optimal adaptation. Process sensing using intelligent test and calibration facilitates yield improvement and the design of process tolerant environment adaptive systems.
Proteomic analysis reveals diverse proline hydroxylation-mediated oxygen-sensing cellular pathways in cancer cells

// Tong Zhou 1, * , Luke Erber 1, * , Bing Liu 2 , Yankun Gao 1 , Hai-Bin Ruan 2 , Yue Chen 1 1 Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota at Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA 2 Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yue Chen email: YueChen@umn.edu Keywords: proline hydroxylation, oxygen-sensing, posttranslational modification, hypoxia, LCMS Received: April 27, 2016 Accepted: September 25, 2016 Published: October 13, 2016 ABSTRACT Proline hydroxylation is a critical cellular mechanism regulating oxygen-response pathways in tumor initiation and progression. Yet, its substrate diversity and functions remain largely unknown. Here, we report a system-wide analysis to characterize proline hydroxylation substrates in cancer cells using an immunoaffinity-purification assisted proteomics strategy. We identified 562 sites from 272 proteins in HeLa cells. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that proline hydroxylation substrates are significantly enriched with mRNA processing and stress-response cellular pathways with canonical and diverse flanking sequence motifs. Structural analysis indicates a significant enrichment of proline hydroxylation participating in the secondary structure of substrate proteins. Our study identified and validated Brd4, a key transcription factor, as a novel proline hydroxylation substrate. Functional analysis showed that the inhibition of proline hydroxylation pathway significantly reduced the proline hydroxylation abundance on Brd4 and affected Brd4-mediated transcriptional activity as well as cell proliferation in AML leukemia cells. Taken together, our study identified a broad regulatory role of proline hydroxylation in cellular oxygen-sensing pathways and revealed potentially new targets that dynamically respond to hypoxia microenvironment in tumor cells.
Discovery and design of self-assembling peptides

Peptides are ubiquitous in nature and useful in many fields, from agriculture as pesticides, in medicine as antibacterial and antifungal drugs founded in the innate immune systems, to medicinal chemistry as hormones. However, the concept of peptides as materials was not recognized until 1990 when a self-assembling peptide as a repeating segment in a yeast protein was serendipitously discovered. Peptide materials are so called because they have bona fide materials property and are made from simple amino acids with well-ordered nanostructures under physiological conditions. These structures include well-ordered nanofibres, nanotubes and nanovesicles. These peptide materials have been used for: (i) three-dimensional tissue cell cultures of primary cells and stem cells, (ii) three-dimensional tissue printing, (iii) sustained releases of small molecules, growth factors, monoclonal antibody and siRNA, (iv) accelerated wound healing in reparative and regenerative medicine as well as tissue engineering, (v) used to stabilize membrane proteins including difficult G-protein coupled receptors and photosystem I for designing nanobiodevices, (vi) a few self-assembling peptides have been used in human clinical trials for accelerated wound healings in surgical uses and (vii) in human clinical trials for siRNA delivery for treatment of cancers. It is likely that these self-assembling peptides will open doors for more and more diverse uses. The field of self-assembling peptides is growing in a number of directions in areas of materials, synthetic biology, and clinical medicine and beyond.
Species With Greater Aerial Maneuverability Have Higher Frequency of Collisions With Aircraft: A Comparative Study

Antipredator responses may appear unsuccessful when animals are exposed to approaching vehicles, often resulting in mortality. Recent studies have addressed whether certain biological traits are associated with variation in collision risk with cars, but not with higher speed-vehicles like aircraft. Our goal was to establish the association between different species traits (i.e., body mass, eye size, brain size, wing loading, wing aspect ratio) and the frequency of bird collisions with aircraft (hereafter, bird strikes) using a comparative approach controlling for the effects of shared ancestry. We proposed directional predictions as to how each of the species traits would affect the frequency of bird strikes. Considering 39 bird species with all traits represented, the model containing wing loading had the best fit to account for the variance in bird strikes across species. In another model with 54 species exploring the fit to different polynomial models but considering only wing loading, we found that wing loading was negatively and linearly associated with the frequency of bird strikes. Counterintuitively, species with lower wing loading (hence, higher maneuverability) had a higher frequency of bird strikes. We discuss potential non-mutually exclusive explanations (e.g., high wing loading species fly faster, thus gaining some extra time to avoid the aircraft flight path; high wing loading species are hazed more intensively at airports, which could lower collisions, etc.). Ultimately, our findings uncovered that species with low wing loading get struck at a higher rate at airports, which reduces the safety risk for humans because these species tend not to cause damaging strikes, but the consequences of their potentially higher local mortality are unknown.
Mitochondrial Skeletal and Cardiac Myopathy Responsive to Aggressive Immunosuppression in Rapidly Progressing Systemic Sclerosis (P5.077)

Objective: To report mitochondrial pathology and perivascular epimysial inflammation without myositis in rapidly progressing systemic sclerosis with cardiac and skeletal myopathy. Background: Rapidly progressing myopathy is a rare presentation in systemic sclerosis, as the associated muscle weakness is commonly indolent. Prior case series reported that such rapidly progressing cardiac and skeletal myopathy has histopathological features of polymyositis and dermatomyositis. Design/Methods: Case report Results: A 32-year-old man with exercise-induced muscle cramps and a maternal family history of depression, fibromyalgia and “hypochondria”, presented with fulminant non-ischemic cardiac failure necessitating AICD, followed by rapid development of skeletal muscle atrophy, fasciculations and weakness, rendering him wheelchair-bound. This was followed by Raynaud’s phenomenon, sclerodactyly, and widespread salt-and-pepper pigmentation. Labs showed ANA 1:40, positive anti-RNA Polymerase III Ab and anti-smooth muscle Ab, elevated sIL-2R and IL-6, with negative anti-scl70 and anti-Jo-1. The diagnosis was systemic sclerosis. Skeletal muscle biopsy showed a mixed, epimysial, perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate, comprising CD4, CD8, and CD20 immunoreactive cells. An increase in subsarcolemmal mitochondria was identified and confirmed by electron microscopy. No pathologic features of a specific inflammatory myopathy were present. EMG showed lack of myositis and widespread myopathic units in limb and paraspinal muscles. Cardiac biopsy showed interstitial fibrosis. Muscle strength and endurance improved significantly by at least 1 MRC grade after methylprednisolone and Rituximab. Cyclosporine and IVIG were added to his regimen. Molecular mitochondrial analysis and repeat echocardiogram are pending. Conclusions: Perivascular epimysial inflammation is rarely seen in any disease. Mitochondrial myopathy without myositis has not been reported in systemic sclerosis. We propose that ischemia caused by vasculopathy and fibrosis in systemic sclerosis, together with subclinical mitochondrial pathology, severely affected skeletal and cardiac muscle due to their high metabolic demands. An unusual presentation of myopathy in autoimmune disease suggests an underlying latent pathology, such as mitochondrial myopathy. Rapidly progressing autoimmune disease necessitates aggressive immunosuppression. Disclosure: Dr. Yeo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bunin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jovan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Cykowski has nothing to disclose. Dr. Smith has nothing to disclose.
Should Alcohol Taxes Be Raised

As a percentage of price, alcohol taxes have fallen by half over the past quarter-century. This article considers the question of whether those taxes should now be raised. It examines Pigouvian arguments for increased taxes to counter negative externalities from alcohol and finds them ambiguous: there is some evidence that current tax rates are already too high, while other evidence supports a higher tax. The article does find some support for the argument that alcohol taxes are a more efficient way to raise government revenue than other forms of taxation, but the evidence on this is not definitive. The paper includes an appended comment from Jeffrey Miron.
A Discharge Check List for Psychiatric Patients

Psychiatric discharge planning can be considered part of the psychiatric rehabilitation model that addresses biopsychosocial needs in a manner similar to the physical rehabilitation process. The discharge checklist can be used as an interdisciplinary tool to review the patient's discharge needs and to include the patient in the planning process. Areas pertinent to psychiatric discharge planning that are included on the discharge checklist are : medications, activities of daily living, mental health after-care, residence, and physical health care. Special education and the need for financial assistance also can be reviewed with the patient.
Demonstration of retrotransposition of the Tf1 element in fission yeast

Tf1, a retrotransposon from fission yeast, has LTRs and coding sequences resembling the protease, reverse transcriptase and integrase domains of retroviral pol genes. A unique aspect of Tf1 is that it contains a single open reading frame whereas other retroviruses and retrotransposons usually possess two or more open reading frames. To determine whether Tf1 can transpose, we overproduced Tf1 transcripts encoded by a plasmid copy of the element marked with a neo gene. Approximately 0.1-4.0% of the cell population acquired chromosomally inherited resistance to G418. DNA blot analysis demonstrated that such strains had acquired both Tf1 and neo specific sequences within a restriction fragment of the same size; the size of this restriction fragment varied between different isolates. Structural analysis of the cloned DNA flanking the Tf1-neo element of two transposition candidates with the same regions in the parent strain showed that the ability to grow on G418 was due to transposition of Tf1-neo and not other types of recombination events.
Life Divided: Vegetable Life in Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas crafted a new theory of life and souls. Expanding on the divided philosophy of Albert the Great, he pushed humans and vegetables farther apart. Human souls took on the subjective and spiritual life of Augustine in addition to the rational life of Plato and Aristotle. Vegetable and animal souls followed the path of Aristotle’s biological activities. Commonly understood as mortal, material, or lower souls by this time, they shifted from processes in-action and in-fulfillment to proto-agents with biological faculties. The resulting awkward hybrid emphasizes human transcendence and vegetable physicality but leaves brute animals floating in between. Aquinas also spoke of humans as essentially embodied, but capable of existing immaterially between death and resurrection.
A Guide to the Guide to the Republican Better Way Plan

This special Issue of the Columbia Journal of Tax Law is bound to have both an immediate impact and a lasting significance. The immediate impact is assured because the sole focus of this Issue is the tax plan proposed by the Congressional Republicans as part of their broad reform agenda called A Better Way: Our Vision For A Confident America.[1] As this Issue goes to print, the Better Way Plan (or the Plan for short) is being debated in the White House, on Capitol Hill, in the press, in academic circles, think tanks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and all major law and accounting firms, as well as in many other places. For anyone thinking through the implications of the Plan, this Issue is a must read. At the same time, the contributions in this Issue will provide a lasting benefit to the tax policy community. Even though the intellectual foundations of the tax system proposed in the Plan were laid decades ago, the core ideas underlying the Plan have never been considered, tested, and scrutinized nearly as rigorously and comprehensively as they are now. Simply put, the level of intellectual capital that is being invested in analyzing the Plan is extraordinary. This Issue combines some of the best applied work on the subject to date. So it will benefit academics, policymakers, and practitioners thinking about the tax systems similar to the one proposed in the Plan for decades to come. This Issue is a guide to the Plan based on what we know so far, and this Introduction is a guide to the Issue.
Family caregiver use and value of support services in the VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers

Context:The US Congress in 2010 established the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) healthcare system, expanding services for family caregivers of eligible veterans with injuries sustained or aggravated in the line of duty on or after 11 September 2001. The program includes a Caregiver Support Coordinator, stipends for caregivers, education/training, and additional services. Objective: The primary goal of this study was to examine the types of services that family caregivers of veterans use and value, how services are used and any limitations family caregivers’ experienced. Given that few interventions assess caregiver satisfaction with services, there is a gap in the existing literature addressing these outcomes. Methods: We assessed how caregivers use and value services with a national, web-based survey (N=1,407 caregivers) and semi-structured phone interviews (N=50 caregivers). Findings: Caregivers rated all services as helpful and especially valued financial support to be with the veteran, training in skills for symptom management, and assistance with navigating the healthcare system. A majority reported more confidence in caregiving, knowing about resources for caregiving and feeling better prepared to support the veteran’s progress and healthcare engagement. However, only a minority reported awareness of the full range of PCAFC services. Limitations: There was a low response rate to the survey, which may have implications for generalisability to the whole population of caregivers accessing PCAFC. Additionally, we rely on self-report rather than objective measures of service use and outcomes. Implications: This is the first in-depth examination of experiences of caregivers of using the innovative PCAFC model of support. It acknowledges the important role of caregivers in health and long-term (social) care delivery and can be used to inform development of strategies outside the VA healthcare system to recognise caregivers. Findings suggest that a system-wide program to effectively include caregivers as part of the care team should include mechanisms to help connect caregivers with an array of resources, options from which to find those which best fit their personal needs and preferences.
Increasing ethanol yield through fiber conversion in corn dry grind process

Abstract Conversion of corn fiber to ethanol in the dry grind process could increase ethanol yields, reduce downstream processing costs and improve overall process profitability. This work investigates the in-situ conversion of corn fiber into ethanol (cellulase addition during simultaneous saccharification and fermentation) during dry grind process. Addition of 30 FPU/g fiber cellulase resulted in 4.6% increase in ethanol yield compared to the conventional process. Use of excess cellulase (120 FPU/g fiber) resulted in incomplete fermentation and lower ethanol yield compared to the conventional process. Multiple factors including high concentrations of ethanol and phenolic compounds were responsible for yeast stress and incomplete fermentation in excess cellulase experiments.
Understanding Multi-lingual Threat Intelligence for AI based Cyber-defense Systems

Information across political, cultural, and geographical boundaries is widely communicated over a global Internet. Today we have a multilingual Internet where people converse in languages like English, Mandarin, Russian, Hindi, etc. Cyber threats in particular, originate from and are mitigated over a broad range of geographic regions. Although cybersecurity web data is vastly available on the web, it is disparate among major natural languages, decreasing interoperability on a multilingual level. The vast geographic distribution of cyber attacks increases the difficulty of employing strong cyber risk management across organizations worldwide. Cybersecurity actors, both attackers and defenders, converse over social media, blogs, dark web vulnerability markets,etc in diverse languages. These non-traditional sources are becoming an important asset for threat intelligence mining and many times are first to receive the latest intelligence about vulnerabilities, exploits, and threats. These sources are prime tools for dissemination of integral threat intelligence data, ranging from political factors such as the international origination and intention behind attacks, to technical factors such as sources of new software vulnerabilities and exploits.
Celebrity attraction in the minors: the case of Tim Tebow

The movement of former college football star and NFL player Tim Tebow to the sport of baseball attracted considerable attention in 2017. Although many viewed his desire to play baseball as a publicity stunt, the athlete repeated stated his desires and intention to play baseball by working his way up through the minor leagues. Tim Tebow is not a normal sports figure, as he tends to be highly polarizing based mainly upon his willingness to voice his Christian faith in the public arena. This study examines the role of Tim Tebow on attendance by specifying various attendance models that relate to the teams and leagues in which he participated during the 2017 season. His mere presence was shown to substantially increase attendance, both at home and on the road, and the findings reveal that his actual performance did not significantly alter fan preferences to watch him play.
Can CpG methylation serve as surrogate markers for immune infiltration in cancer

Recent reports describe how genome-wide transcriptional analysis of cancer tissues can be exploited to identify molecular signatures of immune infiltration in cancer. We hypothesize that immune infiltration in cancer may also be defined by changes in certain epigenetic signatures. In this context, a primary objective is to identify site-specific CpG markers whose levels of methylation may be highly indicative of known transcriptional markers of immune infiltration such as GZMA, PRF1, T cell receptor genes, PDCD1, and CTLA4. This has been accomplished by integrating genome-wide transcriptional expression and methylation data for different types of cancer (melanoma, kidney cancers, lung cancers, gliomas, head and neck cancer). Our findings establish that cancers of related histology also have a high degree of similarity in immune-infiltration CpG markers. For example, the epigenetic immune infiltration signatures in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), mesothelioma (MESO), lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) are distinctly similar. So are glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and brain lower grade glioma (LGG); and kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma (KIRP) and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). Kidney chromophobe (KICH), on the other hand has markers that are unique to this cohort. The strong relationships between immune infiltration and CpG methylation (for certain sites) in cancer tissues were not observed upon integrated analysis of publicly available cancer cell line datasets. Results from comparative pathways analyses offer further justification to methylation at certain CpG sites as being indicators of cancer immune infiltration, and possibly of predicting patient response to immunotherapeutic drugs. Achieving this target objective would significantly enhance therapeutic outcomes employing immunotherapy through focused patient-centric personalized medicine.
Public Space, Common Space, and the Spaces In–Between: A Case Study of Philadelphia's LOVE Park:

This study concerns the struggle for Philadelphia's LOVE Park, which involved the general public and its functionaries on one side and skateboarders on the other. This paper argues LOVE Park was on...
Virtual septoplasty: a method to predict surgical outcomes for patients with nasal airway obstruction.

A deviated nasal septum is the most common etiology for nasal airway obstruction (NAO), and septoplasty is the most common surgical procedure performed by ear–nose–throat surgeons in adults. However, quantitative criteria are rarely adopted to select patients for surgery, which may explain why up to 50% of patients report persistent or recurrent symptoms of nasal obstruction postoperatively. This study reports a systematic virtual surgery method to identify patients who may benefit from septoplasty. One patient with symptoms of NAO due to a septal deviation was selected to illustrate the virtual surgery concept. Virtual septoplasty was implemented in three steps: (1) determining if septal geometry is abnormal preoperatively, (2) virtually correcting the deviation while preserving the anatomical shape of the septum, and (3) estimating the post-surgical improvement in airflow using computational fluid dynamics. Anatomical and functional changes predicted by the virtual surgery method were compared to a standard septoplasty performed independently from the computational analysis. A benchmark healthy nasal septum geometry was obtained by averaging the septum dimensions of 47 healthy individuals. A comparison of the nasal septum geometry in the NAO patient with the benchmark geometry identified the precise locations where septal deviation and thickness exceeded the healthy range. Good agreement was found between the virtual surgery predictions and the actual surgical outcomes for both airspace minimal cross-sectional area (0.05 cm2 pre-surgery, 0.54 cm2 virtual surgery, 0.50 cm2 actual surgery) and nasal resistance (0.91 Pa.s/ml pre-surgery, 0.08 Pa.s/ml virtual surgery, 0.08 Pa.s/ml actual surgery). Previous virtual surgery methods for NAO were based on manual edits and subjective criteria. The virtual septoplasty method proposed in this study is objective and has the potential to be fully automated. Future implementation of this method in virtual surgery planning software has the potential to improve septoplasty outcomes.
Paracrine and cell autonomous signalling in pancreatic cancer progression and metastasis

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) shows remarkable propensity to metastasize. This predilection to escape from the primary tumor is driven by paracrine and autocrine mechanisms that guide cancer cells through a multi-step process concluding with colonization in distant tissues. Although cell-intrinsic features support the metastatic ability of cancer cells, permissive microenvironments within the primary organ and at sites of distant metastasis may be rate-limiting. Identification of cancer cell-extrinsic factors that regulate formation of these environments lend new therapeutic targets for intervening on the metastatic cascade. In addition, the bipolar, yet fundamental, role of the immune system in the metastatic process presents therapeutic opportunities. Herein, we review the current knowledge of the metastatic cascade in PDAC, and propose that genomically stable determinants of metastasis (e.g. the pro-metastatic niche and immune system) are actionable targets for preventing, containing, and treating metastasis in PDAC.