cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DPSK Transmission Through Silicon Microring Switch for Photonic Interconnection Networks

We experimentally demonstrate for the first time switching of differential-phase-shift-keyed (DPSK) signals through a silicon photonic electrooptic microring switch. DPSK format has been shown to be robust to nonlinear effects, and has 3-dB improved receiver sensitivity with balanced detection compared to the on-off-keyed format. Moreover, an extension to multilevel phase-shift-keyed (PSK) format enables higher data bandwidth. Packetized transmissions of single- and multichannel 10-Gb/s DPSK signals are demonstrated. Error-free transmission and power penalties of less than 1.7 dB are achieved for all the examined wavelength channels, confirming format transparency of the microring switch for PSK format, and validating the use of DPSK signaling for photonic interconnection networks.
Acute renal vascular occlusion: an uncommon mimic.

Abstract Two adult patients with acute renal vascular occlusion with infarction are described. Both patients were believed to have ureteral colic. In each instance, the correct diagnosis was overlooked at the initial emergency department visit. An uncommon clinical entity that continues to go undiagnosed, acute vascular occlusion of the kidney must be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute flank pain. Absence of the nephrogram phase on an intravenous pyelogram (IVP) should alert emergency physicians to this possible diagnosis and to the need for further workup. Subsequent diagnostic evaluation should begin with renal ultrasonography to rule out obstructive uropathy. If hydroureteronephrosis is not present, follow-up perfusion studies are necessary to confirm the absence of renal perfusion. Greater awareness of this uncommon clinical entity and its potential morbidity is essential to correct diagnosis and management.
Elbow arthroscopy: Indications, approaches and syndromes

Summary Elbow arthroscopy is not commonly performed and can be challenging due to surrounding neurovascular and muscle structures. Three approaches provide access to the various compartments and joint surfaces of the elbow except the proximal radius. Indications for diagnostic arthroscopy include septic arthritis, osteochondral chip fracture, assisted reduction of adjacent epiphyseal fractures, developmental orthopaedic disease and staging of osteoarthritis. Outcome is determined by extent of joint disruption and control of infectious agents.
Sporulation of Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum Under Conditions of Restricted Growth

Glucose served as an exogenous energy source for sporulation when a limited amount was fed continuously. Excess glucose repressed sporulation.
Mild traumatic brain injury.

Mild traumatic brain injury accounts for 1% to 2% of emergency department visits in the United States. Up to 15% of these patients will have an acute intracranial lesion identified on head computed tomography; less than 1% of mild traumatic brain injuries will require neurosurgical intervention. Clinical research over the past decade has focused on identifying the subgroup of patients with mild traumatic brain injury with acute traumatic lesions on computed tomography and specifically those at risk for harboring a potentially catastrophic lesion. This research has been used to generate evidence-based guidelines to assist in clinical decision making. There is no evidence to support the use of plain film radiographs in the evaluation of patients with mild traumatic brain injury. The utility of brain-specific biomarkers is rapidly evolving, and a growing body of evidence supports their potential role in determining the need for neuroimaging. Clinical predictors for identifying patients with abnormal computed tomography have been established and, if used, may have a significant positive impact on traumatic brain injury–related morbidity and healthcare utilization in the United States. Patients with negative computed tomography are at almost no risk of deteriorating; however, they should be counseled regarding postconcussive symptoms and should be given appropriate written instructions and referrals at discharge. Mt Sinai J Med 76:129–137, 2009. © 2009 Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Nonconventional Genetic Systems

In the 1930s and 1940s, after the major discoveries of the Morgan school of genetics and before Watson and Crick's DNA molecule, biolo- gists were engaged in trying to assess the significance ofthe chromosome theory ofinheritance. In particular, the cytoplasm seemed to play almost no role in this developing field of genetics. However, there was a group that believed that the cytoplasm actually played a major role in heredity, but that this role had simply not yet been discovered. This group was led by T. M. Sonneborn and consisted, among others, of E. Caspari, S. Spiegelman, B. Ephrussi, P. Michaelis, V. Jollos, and even a few cell physiologists and developmental biologists. Sonneborn wrote a paper whose title was "Beyond the Gene," and in another paper he spoke of the cytoplasm as "partner of the genes." One of the favorite examples was to hypothesize a "bag" containing all of the genes but none of the cytoplasm of the cell and to assert the belief that in no way could such a bag ever develop into a cell. I believe that most workers would still agree with this proposition today, even if the bag also contained all the mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA as well. Even Michael Crichton, in his highly imaginative Jurassic Park (1), found it desirable to introduce his resurrected dinosaur DNA into crocodile ova depleted of their DNA in order to produce real dinosaurs! For a short period around 1945, Sonneborn and Spiegelman argued that associated with every gene there was a "plasmagene," a cytoplasmic particle with genetic properties. The plasmagene theory, however, was soon abandoned by Sonneborn and Spiegelman on the basis of mounting evidence against it, much of the evidence obtained in their own laboratories. Many of the examples discussed in those days have since turned out to be due to extrachromosomal DNA found in the cytoplasm in mito- chondria, chloroplasts, and in a variety of intracellular symbionts that Author's research supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM 31745 to Barry Polisky.
Enhancing Second Language Acquisition by a Focus on Listening Comprehension: The Potential of the Cassette

Based on extensive insights from the foreign language classroom as well as recent studies in psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and semantics, the authors plead for more emphasis on active listening comprehension as a prerequisite for oral communication in a foreign language. The not-sufficiently-recognized potential of text-independent language cassettes for enhancing active listening comprehension is discussed. The paper presents numerous samples of excellent cassette materials and illustrates their varied use at different levels of instruction in French and German. The article concludes with some reflections on expanding and enriching the student's education through active listening in a foreign language.
Charge immobilization of the voltage sensor in domain IV is independent of sodium current inactivation

Recovery from fast inactivation in voltage-dependent Na+ channels is associated with a slow component in the time course of gating charge during repolarization (i.e. charge immobilization), which results from the slow movement of the S4 segments in domains III and IV (S4-DIII and S4-DIV). Previous studies have shown that the non-specific removal of fast inactivation by the proteolytic enzyme pronase eliminated charge immobilization, while the specific removal of fast inactivation (by intracellular MTSET modification of a cysteine substituted for the phenylalanine in the IFM motif, ICMMTSET, in the inactivation particle formed by the linker between domains III and IV) only reduced the amount of charge immobilization by nearly one-half. To investigate the molecular origin of the remaining slow component of charge immobilization we studied the human cardiac Na+ channel (hH1a) in which the outermost arginine in the S4-DIV, which contributes ∼20% to total gating charge (Qmax), was mutated to a cysteine (R1C-DIV). Gating charge could be fully restored in R1C-DIV by exposure to extracellular MTSEA, a positively charged methanethiosulphonate reagent. The RIC-DIV mutation was combined with ICMMTSET to remove fast inactivation, and the gating currents of R1C-DIV-ICMMTSET were recorded before and after modification with MTSEAo. Prior to MTSEAo, the time course of the gating charge during repolarization (off-charge) was best described by a single fast time constant. After MTSEA, the off-charge had both fast and slow components, with the slow component accounting for nearly 35% of Qmax. These results demonstrate that the slow movement of the S4-DIV during repolarization is not dependent upon the normal binding of the inactivation particle.
Tangible ideas for children: materials sciences as the future of educational technology

Traditionally, the notion of "educational technology" has been equated with "educational computing". While computer technology is, and will continue to be, a central focus of educational technology, its importance is likely to be rivaled in the coming generation by developments in materials science. This paper represents an early attempt to discuss the role of novel materials in educational settings, and in children's lives more generally. We discuss a variety of fascinating new materials, all of potential importance in education; outline a number of existing and possible educational projects to make creative use of these materials; and discuss several issues likely to become prominent in educational research as materials science increasingly takes its place at the forefront of educational technology.
Temporal and spatial variation in plasma thyroxine (T4) concentrations in juvenile alligators collected from Lake Okeechobee and the northern Everglades, Florida, USA.

We examined variation in plasma thyroxine (T 4 ) in juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) collected from three sites within the Kissimmee River drainage hasin (FL, USA). Based on historical sediment data, Moonshine Bay served as the low contaminant exposure site, Water Conservation Area 3A served as an intermediate contaminant exposure site, and Belle Glade served as the high contaminate exposure site. In May 1999, alligators (n= 22) from Water Conservation Area 3A exhibited higher T 4 concentrations than animals from both Belle Glade (n= 22; p=0.0003) and Moonshine Bay (n = 33; p = 0.001). In May 2000, alligators (n = 29) Water Conservation Area 3A again exhibited higher T, concentrations than those from Belle Glade (n = 49; p = 0.02) but not those from Moonshine Bay (n = 40). No sexual dimorphism was observed among mean T 4 concentrations within any of the sites during either year (p > 0.05). Animals within all sites exhibited higher T 4 concentrations in May 2000 when compared to May 1999. When variance was examined, animals from Water Conservation Area 3A exhibited higher variance in plasma T 4 concentrations than those from either Moonshine Bay or Belle Glade. We concluded that mean plasma T 4 concentrations did not match the sediment contaminant mixture data presently available to us, whereas variance seems to he a more reliable indicator of contaminant exposure.
Biomedicine on the spatial periphery: the (re)production of a metaphorical landscape by rural health care practitioners in northern California.

I examine the use of spatial concepts by rural health care practitioners in Northern California and suggest that rural and urban spatial metaphors are important means of expressing and (re)producing problems associated with their search for legitimacy and moral authority within afield of relations defined by biomedicine. I present three broad ways in which spatial metaphors are used by rural health care practitioners to continuously enact a “metaphorical landscape.” I situate this landscape in the context of a hierarchical field of relations within biomedicine, which is itself underpinned by a distinct urban bias and the uneven distribution of material and technological resources. I suggest that this landscape is partly the result of the rural health care practitioners' position within this field of relations and partly the result of implicit and historically situated frameworks of spatial meanings derived from capitalism, [rural health care practitioner, United States, landscape, metaphor, embodiment]
A group support system for military mission analysis

Due to the changing nature of threats to the United States, the US Army is in the process of changing the way it is organized, equipped, staffed, and even how it fights. This new army is called the objective force and incorporates distributed, collaboration technologies as a force multiplier. To research how to effectively use these technologies, the Army Research Laboratory, the Battle Command Battle Laboratory - Leavenworth, and instructors of the Command and General Staff Officers Course exposed two sections of a core course in tactics to a group support system to perform mission analysis. This paper details the mapping of the mission analysis to the group support system and summarizes the experiences of these officers.
Geometrically Tunable Optical Properties of Metal Nanoparticles

Noble metal nanoparticles exhibit fascinating geometrically tunable optical properties that are dominated by their localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs). By judiciously tailoring the geometric parameters of a metal nanoparticle, one can fine-tune the nanoparticle’s optical responses in a precisely controllable manner and thereby selectively implement desired optical properties into nanomaterial systems or nanodevices for specific applications. In this chapter, we present a review on the recent experimental and theoretical advances in the understanding of the geometry–optical property relationship of metallic nanoparticles in various geometries.
Growth of Salmonella serovars, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Staphylococcus aureus during thawing of whole chicken and retail ground beef portions at 22 and 30°C

Food regulatory agencies advise against thawing frozen meat and poultry at room temperature. In this study, whole chickens (1,670 g) and ground beef (453 and 1,359 g) were inoculated with Salmonella serovars, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Staphylococcus aureus on the surface (all products) and in the center (ground beef). After freezing at -20 degrees C for 24 h, products were thawed at 22 or 30 degrees C for 9 h. Pathogen growth was predicted using product time and temperature data and growth values from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Pathogen Modeling Program 7.0 predictive models of pathogen growth. No pathogen growth was predicted for whole chicken or 1,359 g of ground beef thawed at 30 degrees C or 453 g of ground beef thawed at 22 degrees C. Growth ( or = 1,670 g of whole chicken at 453 g ground beef portions at < or = 22 degrees C for < or = 9 h are not particularly hazardous practices. Thawing smaller portions at higher temperatures and/or for longer times cannot be recommended, however. Use of values derived from the Pathogen Modeling Program 7.0 model provided realistic predictions of pathogen growth during thawing of frozen ground beef and chicken.
The Mechanisms of Market Inefficiency

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Efficient Capital Market Hypothesis (ECMH) became one of the most widely-accepted and influential ideas in finance economics. More recently, however, the idea of market efficiency has fallen into disrepute as a result of market events and growing empirical evidence of inefficiencies. This essay argues that the weaknesses of the efficient market theory are, and were, apparent from a careful inspection of its initial premises, including the presumptions of homogeneous investor expectations, effective arbitrage, and investor rationality. By the same token, a wide range of market phenomena inconsistent with the ECHM can be explained using market models that modify these three assumptions. In illustration, this Article explores three important strands of today's finance literature: (1) the expanding body of work on asset pricing when investors have heterogeneous expectations; (2) recent theoretical and empirical scholarship on how and why arbitrage may move certain types of publicly available information into price more slowly and incompletely than earlier writings suggested; and (3) the exploding literature in behavioral finance, which examines what happens to prices when market participants do not all share rational expectations. Taken together, these three bodies of work show signs of providing the essential framework on which a new and more powerful working model of securities markets can be built.
Review: Jules Hardouin-Mansart by Bertrand Jestaz; Jules Hardouin-Mansart, 1646–1708 by Alexandre Gady; Bâtir pour le roi: Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646–1708) by Alexandre Gady

Bertrand Jestaz . Jules Hardouin-Mansart . Paris:: Editions A. et J. Picard: 2008, 2 vols., 399, 255 pp., 54 color and 328 b/w illus. €79, ISBN 9782708408173 Alexandre Gady editor. Jules Hardouin-Mansart, 1646–1708 . Paris:: Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme: 2010, 612 pp., 400 color and 94 b/w illus. €96, ISBN 9782735111879 Alexandre Gady . Bâtir pour le roi: Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646–1708) . Paris:: Musee Carnavalet—Histoire de Paris: 2009, 33 pp., some color illus., plans. €2, ISBN 978275961042 Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646–1708) was the son of an obscure painter, Raphael Hardouin. As a youth, he first trained with his great uncle, the famous Francois Mansart, whose prestigious family name he added to his own after the elder architect died in 1666. In 1673 he became involved with the Bâtiments du roi (the king's works), when its superintendent, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, selected him for an inspection mission to the Languedoc. Hardouin-Mansart's career was launched, and it progressed rapidly thereafter. A member of the Royal Academy of Architecture in 1675, he became First Architect of the King in 1681 and, unexpectedly for a building professional, Surintendant des Bâtiments in 1699. Only once before had this prestigious position, traditionally earmarked for the nobility, been held by an architect, Philibert Delorme. As superintendent and first architect, Hardouin-Mansart took on simultaneously the roles of client and architect—a convenient, if ethically problematic, convergence. This concentration of power helped him reorganize the Bâtiments. Prefiguring the modern architectural office, he set up a hierarchical structure from the apex of which he oversaw numerous draftsmen and building managers. This efficient configuration enabled him to satisfy both Louis XIV's voracious appetite for building and the copious demands placed on the Bâtiments, which included not only public buildings in the provinces but also private requests from members of the court. As his career advanced, Hardouin-Mansart also rose through the ranks of society: he was ennobled in 1682; the king bestowed on him the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Michel in 1693; and in 1699 he took his place among the landed gentry as the Comte de Sagonne. To an extent, Hardouin-Mansart's professional and social success had a negative effect on the critical reception of his work. The Duc de Saint-Simon, ever on guard to preserve the privileges of the old …
Photoluminescence Characterization of p-type GaN:Mg

We report on results of low-temperature photoluminescence measurements performed on GaN films, grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on sapphire substrates. The GaN films are either Mg doped (p-type) or consist of a Mg-doped layer on top of a Si doped GaN layer (n-type). In the p-doped samples, the sharpness of the donor-acceptor-pair transition is striking, three phonon replicas are clearly resolved. A transition band occurs around 3.4 eV, which becomes dominant for samples with an np-layer structure. The position and the composition of the near band edge transitions are influenced by the growth of the buffer layers. Depending on the growth conditions a transition at 3.51 eV can be observed.
Study on Filming High Yield Cultivation Technique of Rice to Save Water and Increase Temperature

In order to increase the efficient of active accumulated temperature in Heilongjiang province,release the contradiction between paddy field area expansion and limited water resource,the effect of rice growth,tillering dynamic change and yield components were studied by the method filming and irrigation.The result showed that there was improvement function of filming to rice growth,it could shorten growth period,increase soil temperature,decrease leaf chlorophyll content slowly,increase leaf area index by 47.37% and yield by 10.37%.It was a saving water and increasing temperature high yield cultivation technique with obvious effect and easily grasped by farmers.
Improvement in linearity and regulation of stiffness that results from actions of stretch reflex.

We studied stretch reflexes of soleus muscles of intercollicularly decerebrated cats using a new technique for estimating the component of a stretch reflex that results from the purely mechanical p...
The Customer's Non-Waivable Right to Choose Arbitration in the Securities Industry

Arbitration has been the predominant form of dispute resolution in the securities industry since the 1980s. Virtually all brokerage firms include pre-dispute arbitration agreements (PDAAs) in their retail customer contracts, and have successfully fought off challenges to their validity. Additionally, the industry has long mandated that firms submit to arbitration at the demand of a customer, even in the absence of a PDAA. More recently, however, brokerage firms have been arguing that forum selection clauses in their agreements with sophisticated customers (such as institutional investors and issuers) supersede firms’ duty to arbitrate under FINRA Rule 12200. The Courts of Appeal currently are split on the question of whether, under general principles of contract interpretation, FINRA member firms can circumvent their duty to arbitrate by inserting forum selection clauses in their customer agreements.Most of these courts have not addressed the argument that the anti-waiver provision of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 29(a)) bars securities firms from forcing customers to waive their right to arbitrate disputes. The Supreme Court long ago interpreted § 29(a) to apply to waivers of substantive rights arising under the Exchange Act. Is the right to arbitrate in the FINRA forum, which is heavily regulated by the SEC to promote investor protection, a right that cannot be waived? This paper will explore the interaction between the anti-waiver provision of the Exchange Act, and the right of a customer to demand a particular dispute resolution process. This paper argues that investors’ long-standing right to choose arbitration in the securities industry is a right that brokerage firms cannot force their customers to waive.
Possible Effects of Internet Use on Cognitive Development in Adolescence

The rise of digital media use and the ability to be in almost constant connection to the Internet has raised a number of concerns about how Internet use could impact cognitive abilities. In particular, parents and policy makers are concerned with how being ‘constantly online’ might disrupt social and cognitive development. This review integrates the latest empirical evidence on Internet use with relevant experimental studies to discuss how online behaviors, and the structure of the online environment, might affect the cognitive development of adolescents. Popular concerns are discussed in light of the reviewed evidence, and remaining gaps in knowledge are highlighted.
The chemical senses

While the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) receives information from all sensory modalities, it is most intimately linked to the chemical senses of smell and taste. Portions of the OFC receive robust projections directly from the primary olfactory and gustatory cortices, and these areas are often referred to as the secondary olfactory and gustatory cortex. Given the prominence of the OFC’s involvement in chemosensory processing, examination of the manner in which the OFC codes and uses chemosensory information provides a critical avenue for understanding OFC functions more generally. A review of the animal literature on the OFC suggests the pervasiveness of chemosensory issues even in tasks that are usually interpreted primarily in terms of learning and executive functions. Indeed, most of the basic concepts and theories regarding OFC processing originate from paradigms that utilize or manipulate aspects of food reward or the contingencies necessary to obtain food reward. For instance, animal studies of the OFC’s role in learning and emotion have almost always relied on chemosensory stimuli as either reinforcers or associative cues. Many of the non-chemosensory functions of the OFC may actually represent evolutionary extensions or exaptions of processes involved in coding chemosensory information (exaption is used here to refer to a trait evolved for one purpose that is later used for another). If this hypothesis is correct, the chemosensory functions of the OFC provide a critical context for understanding the broad range of topics covered in this book. The present chapter reviews data on the primate and human OFC’s involvement in chemosensory processing and feeding behavior.
BUREAUCRACY AND EFFICIENCY: ENUGU STATE CIVIL SERVICE IN FOCUS

This paper tries to assess the level of efficiency in the bureaucracy and the functions of the bureaucracy. It is hoped that the study will help to educate civil servants on their expected roles and factors that can make them to be more efficient in the delivery of social service to the citizenry. The paper adopted the bureaucratic theory as the theoretical frame work which lays emphasis on the adherence of the ideal type principles of bureaucracy as advocated by Max Weber the study exposed several issues about the bureaucracy and efficiency among which; are that disregard of administrative ethics as one of the major causes of inefficiency in the civil service. It was equally discovered that there has emerged new approaches that are better than the ideal type. The paper recommends that civil servants should be enlightened on the need to be administratively ethical.
Creating and Implementing a Book Talk Series to Promote Hospital Library Awareness Among Hospital Associates

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this project was to introduce a new hospital library manager and revitalize library services to associates after a five-month hiring gap between library managers. The new library manager’s goals were to establish the hospital library as an associate gathering place, create current awareness, introduce herself to a diverse group of associates, and foster the hospital’s value of development in personal and professional growth for staff members.
Discourse-Based Modeling for AAC

This paper presents a method for an AAC system to predict a whole response given features of the previous utterance from the interlocutor. It uses a large corpus of scripted dialogs, computes a variety of lexical, syntactic and whole phrase features for the previous utterance, and predicts features that the response should have, using an entropy-based measure. We evaluate the system on a held-out portion of the corpus. We find that for about 3.5% of cases in the held-out corpus, we are able to predict a response, and among those, over half are either exact or at least reasonable substitutes for the actual response. We also present some results on keystroke savings. Finally we compare our approach to a state-of-the-art chatbot, and show (not surprisingly) that a system like ours, tuned for a particular style of conversation, outperforms one that is not. Predicting possible responses automatically by mining a corpus of dialogues is a novel contribution to the literature on whole utterance-based methods in AAC. Also useful, we believe, is our estimate that about 3.5--4.0% of utterances in dialogs are in principle predictable given previous context.
NoC-Aware Computational Sprinting

The continuation of technology scaling leads to a utilization wall challenge [24]: to maintain a constant power envelope, the fraction of a silicon chip that can be operated at full frequency is dropping exponentially with each generation of process technology. Consequently, a large portion of silicon chips will become dark or dim silicon, i.e., either idle or significantly under-clocked. However, most previous work focuses on energy-efficient core/cache design while the impact of on-chip interconnect is neglected. In fact, Network-on-chip (NoC) plays a vital role in message passing and memory access that directly influences the overall performance of many-core processors. Recent studies show that NoCs can draw a substantial percentage of a chip’s power, by up to 10–36 % [9, 17, 23, 25]. Therefore, how to design the interconnection network is critical to tackle the challenges of multicore scaling in the dark silicon age.
The true self and existential structure? Unexpected effects of mortality salience and personal need for structure on belief in a true self

Two studies examined (what seemed to be) a relatively straightforward prediction that mortality salience would increase belief in a true self. This hypothesis was based on existing evidence that th...
Stimulation of Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport by forskolin-activated adenylyl cyclase in fetal human nonpigmented epithelial cells.

PURPOSE To determine the stoichiometry of Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport in fetal human nonpigmented ciliary epithelial cells and the effect of forskolin, an adenylyl cyclase activator, on Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport. METHODS 86Rb+ as a marker for K+ was used to study ouabain-insensitive, bumetanide-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake in cultured human nonpigmented epithelial (NPE) monolayers. RESULTS The dependence of ouabain-insensitive, bumetanide-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake upon Na+, K+, and Cl- concentrations was determined. Maximal uptake was observed at about 12 mM, 20 mM, and 120 mM of these ions, respectively. Analysis by Hill plot suggested that the stoichiometry of Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport is 1:1:2, making this an electroneutral process. Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport was found to be stimulated approximately 1.5- to 2-fold after incubation of cells for 15 minutes with 1 microM forskolin. neither ouabain-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake nor bumetanide-insensitive, ouabain-insensitive uptake was affected. 8-Bromoadenosine cAMP and 8-chlorophenylthio cAMP at 1 mM stimulated Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport approximately 30% to 40%, whereas 1,9 dideoxyforskolin, a non-adenylyl cyclase-activating analogue of forskolin, had little effect. Stimulation of Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport by forskolin was blocked by prior exposure of cells to 10 microM H-89, a protein kinase A inhibitor. Stimulation by forskolin was also observed in the presence of either 1 mM DIDS, 30 microM NPPB, 3 mM DPC, or 5 mM BaCl2, although all four channel blockers inhibited Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport to various degrees. CONCLUSIONS The data suggest that the human NPE Na+,K+,Cl- cotransporter transports Na+, K+, and Cl- in the ratio of 1:1:2. Activation of adenylyl cyclase stimulates Na+,K+,Cl(-)-cotransport via a mechanism involving protein kinase A. Reduction of Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport by chloride channel blockers raises the possibility that activities of some ion channels can influence the rate of ion influx via Na+,K+,Cl- cotransport.
Development and Application of qPCR and RPA Genus- and Species-Specific Detection of Phytophthora sojae and P. sansomeana Root Rot Pathogens of Soybean

Phytophthora root rot of soybean, caused by Phytophthora sojae, is one of the most important diseases in the Midwestern United States, and is estimated to cause losses of up to 1.2 million metric tons per year. Disease may also be caused by P. sansomeana; however, the prevalence and damage caused by this species is not well known, partly due to limitations of current diagnostic tools. Efficient, accurate, and sensitive detection of pathogens is crucial for management. Thus, multiplex qPCR and isothermal RPA (recombinase polymerase amplification) assays were developed using a hierarchical approach to detect these Phytophthora spp. The assays consist of a genus-specific probe and two species-specific probes that target the atp9-nad9 region of the mitochondrial genome that is highly specific for the genus Phytophthora. The qPCR approach multiplexes the three probes and a plant internal control. The RPA assays run each probe independently with a plant internal control multiplexed in one amplification, obtaining a result in as little as 20 mins. The multicopy mitochondrial genome provides sensitivity with sufficient variability to discern among different Phytophthora spp. The assays were highly specific when tested against a panel of 100 Phytophthora taxa and range of Pythium spp. The consistent detection level of the assay was 100 fg for the qPCR assay and 10 pg for the RPA assay. The assays were validated on symptomatic plants collected from Michigan (U.S.) and Ontario (Canada) during the 2013 field season, showing correlation with isolation. In 2014, the assays were validated with samples from nine soybean producing states in the U.S. The assays are valuable diagnostic tools for detection of Phytophthora spp. affecting soybean.
Main Software Tools

In this chapter, the goal is to go over the main software tools provided by ROBOTIS using a simple demonstration system having two servo motors but swapping out different controllers (CM-5, CM-50, CM-510, CM-530 and CM-9.04-B/C) as needed. ROBOTIS also provided other software tools as mobile apps on Android and iOS devices (please see Chaps. 11 and 12 for more details about their applications).
Glutamate Uptake and Na,K-ATPase Activity in Rat Astrocyte Cultures Exposed to Ischemia

In this study we demonstrate the stimulation of both glutamate uptake and Na,K-ATPase activity in rat astrocyte cultures in response to a sublethal ischemic insult in vitro. To measure sodium pump activity and glutamate uptake, 3H-glutamate and 86Rb were simultaneously added to the cultures in the presence or absence of 2 mM ouabain. Na,K-ATPase activity was defined as ouabainsensitive 86Rb uptake. Cell death was assessed by exclusion of the vital dye, calcein-AM from cells. Concomitant transient increases (2–3 fold above control levels) in both Na,K-ATPase and glutamate transporter activities were observed in astrocytes after 2–4 hours of ischemia. By contrast, 24 hours of ischemia caused a profound loss of both activities which paralleled significant cell death. The addition of 5 mM glucose to the cells after 4 hours of ischemia prevented the loss of sodium pump activity and glutamate uptake, and rescued astrocytes from the lethal effects of 24 hours of ischemia.
Phase-locked loops using switched-gain control

We describe a switched-gain control (SGC) technique for improving the settling time and peak overshoot of phase-locked loops (PLLs). We improve upon previous work by designing the controller to work with time-varying inputs, such as linear phase ramps in PLLs. We then develop circuits to implement the resulting control laws. Our results are supported by transistor-level simulations in a 0.18μm CMOS process.
Intent-Aware Contextual Recommendation System

Recommender systems take inputs from user history, use an internal ranking algorithm to generate results and possibly optimize this ranking based on feedback. However, often the recommender system is unaware of the actual intent of the user and simply provides recommendations dynamically without properly understanding the thought process of the user. An intelligent recommender system is not only useful for the user but also for businesses which want to learn the tendencies of their users. Finding out tendencies or intents of a user is a difficult problem to solve. Keeping this in mind, we sought out to create an intelligent system which will keep track of the user's activity on a web application as well as determine the intent of the user in each session. We devised a way to encode the user's activity through the sessions. Then, we have represented the information seen by the user in a high dimensional format which is reduced to lower dimensions using tensor factorization techniques. The aspect of intent awareness or intent scoring is dealt with at this stage. Finally, combining the user activity data with the contextual information gives the recommendation score. The final recommendations are then ranked using some filtering and collaborative recommendation techniques to show the top-k recommendations to the user. A provision for feedback is also envisioned in the current system which informs the model to update the various weights involved in the recommender system architecture. Our overall model aims to combine both frequency-based and context-based recommendation systems and quantify the intent of a user to provide better recommendations. We ran experiments on real-world timestamped user activity data, in the setting of recommending reports to the users of a business analytics tool/application and the results are better than the baselines. We also tuned certain aspects of our model to arrive at optimized results.
Investigation of cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate plastics in museum collections using ion chromatography and size exclusion chromatography

Abstract One of the goals of the Preservation of Plastics Project at the Getty Conservation Institute is to investigate preventative and conservation strategies for objects made of cellulose ester plastics. To achieve this goal, several analytical protocols were developed and applied to cellulose ester sculptures, design art objects and reference materials. Ion chromatography, size exclusion chromatography, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were employed to measure nitric and acetic acids, molecular weight and plasticizer content. The degree of substitution and degree of polymerization for cellulose ester plastics were determined and compared to condition surveys. Cellulose nitrate sculptures by Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner, combs from the Harald Szeemann archival collection of the Getty Research Institute, and cellulose acetate sculptures by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Marcel Duchamp were included in this study.
IgG subclasses reactive with Neisseria gonorrhoeae antigens in the immune response to infection

IgG subclasses reactive with gonococcal antigens were measured in sera and saline vaginal washes obtained from women infected with N. gonorrhoeae. The response of the IgG subclasses was determined by Western blot assay. Serum IgG3 gave the strongest reaction with gonococcal antigens, followed by IgGl and IgG4. IgG3 also was the predominant reactive subclass in vaginal fluid, with some reactive IgG4 and a minimal response with IgGl. Little reactive IgG2 was detected in the sera and none in vaginal fluid specimens. Variation from patient-to-patient was observed in the serum IgG subclass specificity to the antigens.
Mechanisms of Cerebral Edema Leading to Early Seizures After Traumatic Brain Injury

Epidemiological data support a link between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and seizures. TBI accounts for approximately 16 % of acute symptomatic seizures which usually occur in the first week after trauma. Children are at higher risk for posttraumatic seizures than adults and experience greater morbidity and mortality from cerebral edema (CE). CE is responsible for half of the mortality associated with TBI. A recent book chapter summarizes the most important features of posttraumatic seizure. In this chapter we will summarize features relevant to the link between cerebral edema, cerebrovascular events and seizures after TBI. In addition, we will discuss the potential autoimmune implications of TBI.
A Novel Subsurface Upflow Wetland with the Aid of Biosorption-Activated Media for Nutrient Removal

Abstract The major causes of nutrient problems are widely acknowledged to be nonpoint sources of pollution from both urban and rural areas, including conventional septic tanks or onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS). In this chapter, an extensive literature review of the myriad of alternative passive and non-passive technologies available leads to a new constructed wetland technology that is designed as a subsurface upflow wetland (SUW) with innovative subsurface hydraulic flow patterns, green reactive sorption media, and various plant species. The biosorption-activated media (BAM) are used before the standard drainfield design, and the SUW is used to replace the conventional drainfield. The SUW must have a seepage area for the effluent if reuse of the water is not planned. The SUW system installed at Central Florida underwent intensive sampling for system performance, modeling of the processes, pollutant transport and fate measures, and an assessment for integration of the planning, design, installation, maintenance, and management functions for future implementation and certification testing. Such an SUW system has proven advantageous relative to the conventional OSTDS. The average effluent nitrates are less than 10 mg L − 1 and fecal and E. coli data indicate that their removal is significant for all cases in the field campaign.
Peri-operative modified FOLFIRINOX in resectable pancreatic cancer: A pilot study.

4103Background: Surgical resection followed by adjuvant gemcitabine or 5-FU is standard for resectable pancreatic cancer (PC). FOLFIRINOX has substantial activity in metastatic PC. The efficacy and...
In Search of Pedagogy Volume II: The Selected Works of Jerome Bruner, 1979-2006

Jerome Bruner is one of the best-known and most influential psychologists of the twentieth century. His theories about cognitive development dominate psychology around the world today, but it is in the field of education where his influence has been especially felt. In this two volume set, Bruner has selected and assembled his most important writings about education. Volume I spans the twenty years from 1957 to 1978 and Volume II covers 1979 to 2006. Volume I starts with a specially written introduction by Bruner, in which he gives an overview of the 1957-1978 years and contextualises his selection of papers. The articles and chapters then reveal the thinking, the concepts and the empirical research of that time that have made Bruner one of the most respected and cited educational authorities of our time.
Florence: Capital of the Kingdom of Italy, 1865–71

The publication of this multidisciplinary collection of essays on Florence as the center of the newly emerging Italian state between 1865 and 1871 coincides with the city’s one-hundred-and-fiftieth...
Research and Scholarship

This chapter highlights the journey of two doctors and a health sciences librarian as they navigate the research and scholarly works related to medical education. Aided by their personal experiences and stories, the authors relay advice about what they wished they would have known about research and scholarship in their early academic careers. They provide a definition of research and discuss aspects of the research process including: types, methodologies, steps to success, and valuable research skills. The chapter concludes with sample cases to summarize the topics discussed in the chapter.
Structural Rearrangements of Subnanometer Cu Oxide Clusters Govern Catalytic Oxidation

Sub-nanometer metal oxide clusters are very important materials that are widely used, for example, in catalysis or electronic devices such as sensors. Hence, it is critical to understand the atomic...
Beyond conventional physical bounds with spacetime metamaterials

Although recent advances in metamaterials and metasurfaces have dramatically extended their capabilities, the impact and applicability of such engineered materials is still hindered by several physical limitations and bounds, especially in relation to bandwidth and size restrictions. Lately the notion of dynamic spatio-temporal modulation of material properties has been the subject of growing interest and research efforts, opening a new landscape of opportunities, and providing new means to go beyond various conventional limits in photonic systems. Here, we provide an overview of our recent work on overcoming the bandwidth restrictions for open resonators, scatterers, and metasurfaces. We also discuss the exciting possibility of enabling novel, anomalous, nonlinear wave dynamics through judicious modulation of material properties in both space and time.
Correction to: The strength of green ties: Massachusetts cranberry grower social networks and effects on climate change attitudes and action

The original article has been corrected. Unfortunately the name of the second author was misspelled. This has been corrected.
Principles of convergence in nature and society and their application: from nanoscale, digits, and logic steps to global progress

Knowledge, technology, and society as well as natural systems are increasingly coherent and complex, and new systems are continuously formed at their interfaces. Convergence is a problem-solving strategy to holistically understand, create, and transform a system for reaching a common goal, such as advancing an emerging technology in society. The systems may be either in natural, scientific, technological, economic, or societal settings. Convergence offers a unifying strategy applicable to all systems that can be modeled as evolving neural-like networks. The paper presents an overview of the convergence science including underlying theories, principles, and methods and illustrates its implementation in key areas of application. The convergence approach begins with deep integration of previously separated fields, communities, and modes of thinking, to form and improve a new system, from where solutions divergence to previously unattainable applications and outcomes. The worldwide science and technology (S&T) landscape is changing at the beginning of the twenty-first century because of convergence. First, there is the affirmation of three transdisciplinary general-purpose technologies—nanotechnology, digital technology, and artificial intelligence (AI). A second main characteristics is the deep integration of five foundational science and technology fields (NBICA: nanoscale, modern biology, information, cognition, and artificial intelligence) from their basic elements—atoms, genes, bits, neurons, and logic steps and their collective action—to address global challenges and opportunities. The affirmation of nanotechnology at the confluence of disciplines toward systematic control of matter at the nanoscale has been an enabling inspiration and foundation for other S&T fields, emerging industries, and convergence solutions in society. Several future opportunities for implementation of convergence principles are the global S&T system, realizing sustainable society, advancing human capabilities, and conflict resolution.
How to Belong: Women’s Agency in a Transnational World: by Belinda A. Stillion Southard, The Pennsylvania State UP, 2018, x + 148 pp., $79.95 (hardcover), $32.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-271-08201-1

Belinda A. Stillion Southard’s new book makes a compelling case for rhetorical practices that foster transnational belonging and advocacy among women. At a time when marginalized communities are ac...