cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Explaining Reelection in the European elections 2014

What determines the likelihood that incumbent Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are reelected? This chapter investigates the attributes and activities that national parties and voters may value when assessing incumbent MEPs’ term in office: leadership, experience, loyalty, expertise, dedication, or signaling. In a hierarchical logistic regression model, it examines the impact of a variety of legislative activities; leadership positions in European Parliament, party, and committee; seniority; and party loyalty. It also considers the extent to which the effects of these variables are conditional on ballot structure (preferential voting vs. closed party lists). The results show five factors to be positively associated with reelection: serving as party group leader, rapporteur, and intergroup chair, as well as, for those MEPs elected using preferential voting, the number of intergroups joined. Moreover, preferential voting is associated with a greater likelihood of reelection. These findings highlight, in particular, the importance of policy expertise for the electoral prospects of incumbent MEPs (as captured by rapporteurship and intergroup leadership). The results for leadership, signaling, and dedication are mixed, while party loyalty and experience have no apparent effect.
Farmers’ Expertise, a Resource to Improve Sustainability; The Case of Pesticide Application in Shallots in Brebes, Central Java

This poster presents the methodology and results of a case-study on insecticide application practices in shallots (Allium cepa) in the district of Brebes, Central Java. A set of key figures is applied to show and explain the differences in insecticide use between plots, seasons and control strategies. The methodology contained group discussions with farmers on the control of onion caterpillars (Spodoptera exigua) coupled with a monitoring system for pesticide application. The farmers distinguished physical control and chemical control. For chemical control they made distinction between preventive and curative insecticides. The mix of these elements depended on the pest incidence. As a result the insecticide costs in the dry season were four times higher than in the wet season. In villages with priority for chemical control the insecticide costs were twice as high as in the village with priority for physical control.
Introduction and Historical Accounting

Although attempts to relieve pain have been described for millennia, surgical anesthesia has only been around for some 160 years. Nineteenth-century efforts to create insensibility grew out of entertainment, offered often by itinerant showmen. Little or no education was offered in anesthesia as it seemed it required little or no apparatus to cause unconsciousness and anyone could drip ether onto a cloth. Becoming an anesthetic provider required only a self-statement. Slowly through the efforts of a few, the teaching of anesthesia has been added to medical school curricula. Departments of anesthesia have gained autonomy. Education in anesthesia culminates in successful completion of a rigorous examination process. But education remains as a lifelong process for both the profession and the individual.
Risks from Medical and Therapeutic Treatments

A number of medical therapies have been shown to adversely impact male reproductive potential. Pharmacologically mediated male infertility occurs via several basic mechanisms, including pre-testicular endocrine effects (disruption of the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadal axis), testicular effects (direct cytotoxic damage to the testicular germinal epithelium and/or cells of Leydig), and post-testicular effects (impairments of libido, erectile function, emission, and/or ejaculation which interferes with deposition of sperm in the female reproductive tract). Moreover, a wide range of radiotherapies carry long-term reproductive consequences as well. These may be broadly categorized as pre-testicular (interference with hypothalamic/pituitary function resulting from cranial irradiation) or testicular (direct cytotoxic damage to the germinal epithelium and Leydig cells, impairing spermatogenesis and testosterone production, respectively).
The effect of exercise in the treatment of obesity

Introduction/Background The world continues in the midst of a significant public health problem related to obesity and inactivity. This epidemic has far-ranging consequences on the workforce of the world and on our children, and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. Material and method A significant amount of research has been performed on the effects of exercise for the reduction of body weight. A literature review was performed to address the effects of aerobic exercise, strength training, and high intensity interval training (HIIT) on obesity and weight loss. Results Most studies indicate that exercise alone has a small effect on body weight reduction independent of caloric restriction. When combined with dietary restriction, exercise has a synergistic effect and enhances weight loss beyond the effect of diet alone. Exercise also has been shown to have significant beneficial effects on cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors independent of actual weight loss, and losing just a small amount of weight can have a significant beneficial effect. Genetic factors related to obesity have been found to be positively modified when individuals incorporate physical activity into their lifestyle. Sitting time also appears to be an independent risk factor for the development of metabolic risk factors; individuals who spend more time sitting and watching television have worse metabolic profiles, even if they achieve the recommended amount of physical activity per week. High intensity interval training has been shown to be a safe, effective, and well-tolerated mode of exercise in the obese population, and compliance may be better than continuous moderate duration exercise. Conclusion Continuous moderate intensity aerobic exercise has a synergistic effect with diet to enhance weight loss. Resistance training has significant cardiovascular and metabolic effects independent of weight loss. High intensity interval training is effective, time efficient, and well-tolerated in the obese population.
Applications of natural language processing (NLP) for improving classroom learning experiences using student surveys

Academic institutions often assess the efficacy of courses by surveying students. These surveys are critical in structuring course content and evaluating instruction. Given the critical function of...
Transfusion service knowledge and immunohaematological practices related to sickle cell disease and thalassemia.

OBJECTIVES To assess current knowledge of National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes (NHLBI) and Thalassemia International Federation (TIF) recommendations, blood banking practices and perceived challenges among transfusion services in the management of patients with haemoglobinopathies. BACKGROUND Previous reports have demonstrated variations in transfusion practices for sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia patients. Recently, NHLBI/TIF have provided transfusion recommendations for patients with haemoglobinopathies. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted of transfusion services from the state of Georgia previously identified as having SCD/thalassemia populations. The survey assessed transfusion service practices in pre-transfusion testing and blood product selection; awareness/implementation of NHLBI/TIF transfusion-based recommendations and perceived challenges in transfusing haemoglobinopathy patients. RESULTS Responses were received from 35 of 49 (71%) institutions. Only institutions indicating transfusing SCD or thalassemia patients (32) were included in analysis. Seventy-one percent of non-sickle cell treatment centres (SCTCs) and 20% of non-thalassemia treatment centres follow NHLBI and TIF recommendations to perform a red blood cell phenotype beyond ABO/Rh(D) and provide Rh and Kell prophylactically matched units for SCD and thalassemia patients, respectively. Forty percent of institutions (33% of non-SCTCs) employ RBC genotyping to evaluate the red cell phenotype for SCD patients. Over 77% of institutions do not utilise a reliable method to identify SCD patients prior to transfusion, such as a required question/answer field on type/screen or crossmatch orders. CONCLUSION Many healthcare systems' transfusion practices for haemoglobinopathy patients are discordant with NHLBI/TIF recommendations. Efforts are needed to increase awareness and implementation of current recommendations among all transfusion services seeing these patients.
Fungal Infections in Children

Fungal infections of the skin represent a relatively common problem in pediatric dermatology. Although fungal infections of the feet, nails, and groin are uncommon in the pediatric age group, fungal infections of the scalp are very common and must be diagnosed early because they may lead to permanent hair loss if left untreated. Perhaps the most significant change in fungal infections in children has occurred in tinea capitis, including the causative agent and the type of infection this organism may produce; these factors are focused upon in this article. Also discussed are infections caused by the yeast organisms Candida albicans and Pityrosporum orbiculare, as well as the deep mycoses, specifically chromoblastomycosis and cutaneous aspergillosis.
Is hands-on experience more effective than didactic workshops in postgraduate cancer pain education?

Abstract Background. This study examined the nurse outcomes of a cancer pain education program for nurses of patients from 11 different ethnic groups. Methods. Four hundred ninety six home, hospital, and hospice nurses participated in a one‐day workshop or two half‐day workshops on cancer pain assessment and management. Of these, 116 were randomized to participate in a bedside‐precepted visit with an oncology nurse specialist with pain specialization and a focus group to discuss attitudinal issues. Eighty‐six nurses served as controls. Pre‐, post‐ and one‐year follow‐up tests were administered. Results. Attitudes, knowledge, and application skills significantly improved for workshop‐only and enriched‐model nurses relative to controls. Conclusion. For postgraduate nurses, daylong cancer pain education workshops were, in the group studied, as effective as hands‐on experience in improving cancer pain knowledge and changing attitudes. Both the workshop‐only and the enriched‐model nurses relative to controls h...
Acute and delayed toxicity from co-ingestion of methylene chloride and methanol

Methylene chloride is a volatile, chlorinated hydrocarbon and colorless solvent found in multiple industrial products including paint strippers, metal cleaners, automotive products, pesticides and aerosol containers. Occupational exposure to methylene chloride is reported in automotive technicians, painters, and other industrial workers with adverse health effects including gastrointestinal, neurological, as well as hepato-renal injuries. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies methylene chloride as a 2 A carcinogen. Through a series of reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), metabolism of methylene chloride leads to the formation of formyl chloride, and ultimately carbon monoxide (CO). Most reports of methylene chloride toxicity are due to dermal and inhalational exposure in occupational settings. Ingestion of methylene chloride is uncommon, yet can lead to significant toxicity and prolonged CO toxicity. Methylene chloride is frequently formulated with methanol; individuals who intentionally ingest methylene chloride can experience concomitant methanol toxicity. We present a case of acute ingestion of paint stripper containing methanol and methylene chloride. We discuss the clinical presentation, key management decisions, relevant pathophysiology and biochemistry, as well as the clinical course and management.
Adversarial Model Extraction on Graph Neural Networks.

Along with the advent of deep neural networks came various methods of exploitation, such as fooling the classifier or contaminating its training data. Another such attack is known as model extraction, where provided API access to some black box neural network, the adversary extracts the underlying model. This is done by querying the model in such a way that the underlying neural network provides enough information to the adversary to be reconstructed. While several works have achieved impressive results with neural network extraction in the propositional domain, this problem has not yet been considered over the relational domain, where data samples are no longer considered to be independent and identically distributed (iid). Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) are a popular deep learning framework to perform machine learning tasks over relational data. In this work, we formalize an instance of GNN extraction, present a solution with preliminary results, and discuss our assumptions and future directions.
Computational model discovery with reinforcement learning

The motivation of this study is to leverage recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence research to unlock novel solutions to important scientific problems encountered in computational science. To address the human intelligence limitations in discovering reduced-order models, we propose to supplement human thinking with artificial intelligence. Our three-pronged strategy consists of learning (i) models expressed in analytical form, (ii) which are evaluated a posteriori, and iii) using exclusively integral quantities from the reference solution as prior knowledge. In point (i), we pursue interpretable models expressed symbolically as opposed to black-box neural networks, the latter only being used during learning to efficiently parameterize the large search space of possible models. In point (ii), learned models are dynamically evaluated a posteriori in the computational solver instead of based on a priori information from preprocessed high-fidelity data, thereby accounting for the specificity of the solver at hand such as its numerics. Finally in point (iii), the exploration of new models is solely guided by predefined integral quantities, e.g., averaged quantities of engineering interest in Reynolds-averaged or large-eddy simulations (LES). We use a coupled deep reinforcement learning framework and computational solver to concurrently achieve these objectives. The combination of reinforcement learning with objectives (i), (ii) and (iii) differentiate our work from previous modeling attempts based on machine learning. In this report, we provide a high-level description of the model discovery framework with reinforcement learning. The method is detailed for the application of discovering missing terms in differential equations. An elementary instantiation of the method is described that discovers missing terms in the Burgers' equation.
3D printing of a biocompatible double network elastomer with digital control of mechanical properties

The majority of 3D-printed biodegradable biomaterials are brittle, limiting their potential application to compliant tissues. Poly (glycerol sebacate) acrylate (PGSA) is a synthetic biodegradable and biocompatible elastomer, compatible with light-based 3D printing. In this work we employed digital-light-processing (DLP)-based 3D printing to create a complex PGSA network structure. Nature-inspired double network (DN) structures with two geometrically interconnected segments with different mechanical properties were printed from the same material in a single shot. Such capability has not been demonstrated by any other fabrication technique. The biocompatibility of PGSA after 3D printing was confirmed via cell-viability analysis. We used a finite element analysis (FEA) model to predict the failure of the DN structure under uniaxial tension. FEA confirmed the soft segments act as sacrificial elements while the hard segments retain structural integrity. The simulation demonstrated that the DN design absorbs 100% more energy before rupture than the network structure made by single exposure condition (SN), doubling the toughness of the overall structure. Using the FEA-informed design, a new DN structure was printed and the FEA predicted tensile test results agreed with tensile testing of the printed structure. This work demonstrated how geometrically-optimized material design can be easily and rapidly achieved by using DLP-based 3D printing, where well-defined patterns of different stiffnesses can be simultaneously formed using the same elastic biomaterial, and overall mechanical properties can be specifically optimized for different biomedical applications.
Rural–urban differences in health-related quality of life: patterns for cancer survivors compared to other older adults

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among older cancer survivors can be impaired by factors such as treatment, comorbidities, and social challenges. These HRQOL impairments may be especially pronounced in rural areas, where older adults have higher cancer burden and more comorbidities and risk factors for poor health. This study aimed to assess rural–urban differences in HRQOL for older cancer survivors and controls. Data came from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (SEER-MHOS), which links cancer incidence from 18 U.S. population-based cancer registries to survey data for Medicare Advantage Organization enrollees (1998–2014). HRQOL measures were 8 standardized subscales and 2 global summary measures. We matched (2:1) controls to breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer survivors, creating an analytic dataset of 271,640 participants (ages 65+). HRQOL measures were analyzed with linear regression models including multiplicative interaction terms (rurality by cancer status), controlling for sociodemographics, cohort, and multimorbidities. HRQOL scores were higher in urban than rural areas (e.g., global physical component summary score for breast cancer survivors: urban mean = 38.7, standard error [SE] = 0.08; rural mean = 37.9, SE = 0.32; p < 0.05), and were generally lower among cancer survivors compared to controls. Rural cancer survivors had particularly poor vitality (colorectal: p = 0.05), social functioning (lung: p = 0.05), role limitation-physical (prostate: p < 0.01), role limitation-emotional (prostate: p < 0.01), and global mental component summary (prostate: p = 0.02). Supportive interventions are needed to increase physical, social, and emotional HRQOL among older cancer survivors in rural areas. These interventions could target cancer-related stigma (particularly for lung and prostate cancers) and/or access to screening, treatment, and ancillary healthcare resources.
Dusty winds - II. Observational implications

We compare observations of asymptotic giant branch stars and predictions of the Elitzur & Ivezic steady-state radiatively driven dusty wind model. The model results are described by a set of similarity functions of a single independent variable, and imply general scaling relations among the system parameters. We find that the model properly reproduces various correlations among the observed quantities and demonstrates that dust drift through the gas has a major impact on the structure of most winds. From data for nearby oxygen-rich and carbon-rich mass-losing stars we find that (1) the dispersion in grain properties within each group is rather small; (2) both the dust cross-section per gas particle and the dust-to-gas mass ratio are similar for the two samples even though the stellar atmospheres and grain properties are very different; (3) the dust abundance in both outflows is significantly below the Galactic average, indicating that most of the Galactic dust is not stardust – contrary to popular belief, but in support of Draine. Our model results can be easily applied to recent massive data sets, such as the Spitzer SAGE survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and incorporated in galaxy evolution models.
Genome editing in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells via CRISPR-Cas9-mediated homology-independent targeted integration

Ex vivo gene correction of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for treatment of inherited human blood disorders. Use of engineered nucleases to target therapeutic transgenes to their endogenous genetic loci addresses many of the limitations associated with viral vector-based gene replacement strategies, such as insertional mutagenesis, variable gene dosage, and ectopic expression. Common methods of nuclease-mediated site-specific integration utilize the homology-directed repair (HDR) pathway. However, these approaches are inefficient in HSPCs, where non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is the primary DNA repair mechanism. Recently, a novel NHEJ-based approach to CRISPR-Cas9-mediated transgene knockin, known as homology-independent targeted integration (HITI), has demonstrated improved site-specific integration frequencies in non-dividing cells. Here we utilize a HITI-based approach to achieve robust site-specific transgene integration in human mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ HSPCs. As proof of concept, a reporter gene was targeted to a clinically relevant genetic locus using a recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 6 vector and single guide RNA/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes. We demonstrate high levels of stable HITI-mediated genome editing (∼21%) in repopulating HSPCs after transplantation into immunodeficient mice. Our study demonstrates that HITI-mediated genome editing provides an effective alternative to HDR-based transgene integration in CD34+ HSPCs.
Mechanisms by Which the Fun for Wellness Intervention May Promote Subjective Well-Being in Adults with Obesity: a Reanalysis Using Baseline Target Moderation.

Fun For Wellness (FFW) is a self-efficacy theory-based online behavioral intervention that aims to promote growth in physical activity and well-being. The FFW conceptual model for the promotion of subjective well-being posits that FFW exerts both a positive direct effect, and a positive indirect effect through well-being self-efficacy, on subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is defined in FFW as an individual’s satisfaction with their status in seven key domains of their life. Well-being self-efficacy is defined in FFW as the degree to which an individual perceives that they have the capability to attain a positive status in seven key domains of their life. The objective of this study was to use baseline target moderation to assess variation in the impact of FFW on subjective well-being dimensions in adults with obesity. Data (N = 667) from the Well-Being and Physical Activity Study (ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03194854) were reanalyzed. There was evidence that well-being self-efficacy at baseline moderated the direct effect of FFW on well-being self-efficacy at 30 days post-baseline for the occupational and psychological dimensions. Both of these findings suggest a “compensatory” effect. Similarly, there was evidence that well-being self-efficacy at baseline moderated the indirect effect of FFW on subjective well-being at 60 days post-baseline through well-being self-efficacy at 30 days post-baseline for the occupational and psychological dimensions. Both of these findings suggest a “compensatory” effect. Finally, there was evidence that well-being self-efficacy at baseline moderated the direct effect of FFW on subjective well-being at 60 days post-baseline for the community, occupational, and physical dimensions. Each of these three findings suggests some version of a “rich-get-richer” effect. In summary, results provide both supportive and unsupportive (i.e., interpersonal, economic, and overall dimensions) evidence regarding variation in the impact of the FFW intervention and should impact the design of future FFW trials.
Development of student metacognition and progression of expertise across chemistry and biochemistry classes (LB114)

Despite repeated exposure while progressing along a typical Undergraduate Science curriculum, learners find many fundamental concepts challenging to master. A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences identifies as one of the enduring challenges in education the application of material in a new context. However, when the mind’s ability to monitor and control its own activities is facilitated (metacognitive skills), the ability to transfer improves. This investigation aims to determine which previously acquired concepts from other classes are difficult to apply in an undergrad introductory level Biochemistry course and simultaneously explores the students’ metacognitive awareness. Biochemistry is often taken as the final science course and is taught in an active learning environment, including group work and frequent prompts for reflection. A pre-instruction test revealed a moderate degree of mastery of problems that were identical to questions used in the finals of prerequisite chemistry classes. ...
The Epidemiology of Vitreoretinal Interface Abnormalities as Detected by Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography: The Beaver Dam Eye Study

Purpose To describe the prevalence and interrelationships of epiretinal membranes (ERMs), vitreomacular traction (VMT), macular cysts, paravascular cysts (PVCs), lamellar macular holes (LMHs), full-thickness macular holes (FTMHs), and visual impairment in a population-based study of older adults. Design Cross-sectional study. Participants There were 1913 participants aged 63 to 102 years at the 20-year Beaver Dam Eye Study follow-up examination in 2008–2010, of whom 1540 (2980 eyes) had gradable spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) scans of the macula in at least 1 eye. Methods The presence of ERMs and other retinal lesions was determined by standardized grading of macular SD OCT scans and photographs of 3 standard fields. Main Outcome Measures Epiretinal membranes, VMT, macular cysts, PVCs, LMHs, FTMHs, and visual impairment. Results By using SD OCT, the prevalence of ERMs (34.1%), VMT (1.6%), macular cysts (5.6%), PVCs (20.0%), LMHs (3.6%), and FTMHs (0.4%) was estimated. The prevalence of macular cysts ( P P P = 0.005) increased with age; the prevalence of PVCs ( P = 0.05) decreased with age; and the prevalence of LMHs was not associated with age ( P = 0.70). The prevalence of macular cysts, LMHs, and ERMs was higher in eyes with a history of cataract surgery. Macular cysts and ERMs were more common in eyes with retinal diseases, such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion, and retinal detachment, than in eyes without these conditions. Macular cysts, ERMs, and FTMHs were associated with visual impairment. While adjusting for age and sex, macular cysts (odds ratio [OR], 3.96; P P = 0.007), LMHs (OR, 10.62; P P = 0.01), and visual impairment (OR, 3.23; P Conclusions Epiretinal membranes are associated with macular cysts, PVCs, LMHs, VMT, and visual impairment. Further follow-up will allow better understanding of the natural history of ERMs and VMT and their relationships to the development of macular cysts and LMHs in the aging population.
EXPERIMENTS IN STRATIFIED COMBUSTION WITH A RAPID COMPRESSION MACHINE

High-speed movies and analysis of rapid compression machine experiments were used to study mechanisms that control combustion rates in the Texaco Controlled Combustion System. The Texaco system is a spark-ignited, direct injection, stratified charge engine with a deep cup in the piston, relatively high swirl in the combustion chamber, and injection-controlled timing. The fuel injection nozzle is directed at spark plug electrodes. Air swirl is oriented to carry fuel from the injector to the spark plug. The Texaco stratified charge engine has demonstrated good fuel economy, relatively low emissions, and a wide fuel tolerance. A rapid compression machine was employed to obtain performance data and high-speed combustion photographs with the Texaco geometry. Experimental results were analyzed to describe the combustion process, particularly physical mechanisms that control mixing and combustion rates. Air motion in the combustion chamber appeared to be dominated by air swirl, and simple mass and momentum arguments could be used to calculate air swirl at top dead center. Fuel jet motion for the injector to the spark plug could be computed with a single jet mixing model. A similar model also appeared to be appropriate for calculating the motion of unburned fuel-air mixture in the wake of spark plug electrodes.
Gender Differentiation in Paid and Unpaid Work during the Transition to Parenthood

The transition to parenthood may be especially difficult because relationships need to be largely reorganized to meet demanding new challenges. For scholars interested in gender inequality, the transition to parenthood is a critical time in which gender differentiation is generated by both economic and cultural forces. Although newly married childless couples tend to share both paid and unpaid labor rather equally, when men and women become parents, their patterns become increasingly differentiated by gender. Cultural beliefs that emphasize mothers as the primary parent and fathers as secondary reinforce unequal patterns in housework and childcare. Time availability models, bargaining perspectives, and gender theories all have been used to explain these patterns. Some changes that could help ease the transition to parenthood include expanding US parental leave policies, improving available childcare, adding flexible work policies, and offering more couples-focused intervention programs. Although much is known about the topic, more research is needed for the literature to reflect the new generation of global and diverse parents.
Using Incentives to Overcome the Negative Effects of Faultline Conflict on Individual Effort

ABSTRACT: In this study, we investigate the effects of faultline-induced conflict on individual effort and how incentives can be designed to overcome these negative effects. Faultlines are hypothetical dividing lines between group members based on various member attributes that can potentially split the overall group into subgroups. Results from our experiment show that team members are more likely to perceive conflict when they face a faultline-related issue, which, in turn, leads to lower effort by individual team members. Consistent with the theory of cooperation and competition, incentives moderate the effect of conflict on effort, such that team incentives have a greater effect to increase effort than individual incentives when the level of conflict is high, rather than low. Collectively, our findings suggest that competitive team incentives may be an effective tool to overcome the negative effects of faultline conflict in a group.
The CIT toroidal field coil and structure design and assembly approach

The Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) toroidal field (TF) coils are capable of providing an 11-T field at a plasma major radius of 2.1 m. The plasma current will be about 12 MA. The TF coil design is based on a bucked inner leg support concept. The liquid-nitrogen-precooled TF coils are constructed of Bitter plates and are fully encased. The bucking cylinder and the TF inner case designs are integrated into a toroidally continuous structure which also provides radial support for the ohmic heating solenoid. The all-welded support structure and coil cases are made of low-nickel austenitic stainless steel. Reinforced copper or copper-alloy conductors are required for the coils to withstand the high stresses induced by the magnetic forces and thermal fields. An important design consideration is the effect of distortion in the structure due to final welding at assembly. The assembly method presently described was selected from several alternates to minimize field welding and permit staged overlapping of the TF coil/structure and the vacuum vessel fabrication, delivery, and assembly schedules. In addition to the description of the TF coil and structure design and assembly sequence, the R&D programs leading to the qualification of the selected welded assembly method are described. >
A possible mechanism for intermittent oscillations in the KIII model of dynamic memories - the case study of olfaction

Stability issues in Freeman's KIII model of the olfactory system are addressed. A possible mechanism for switching between various parts of the KIII attractor in response to external stimuli is outlined. It is shown that, in harmony with Haken's slaving principle, any particular system state (memory slot) can be described as a mixture of trajectories corresponding to a number of different attractors. Phase diagrams of the crucial KII sub-sets are constructed to illustrate the inherent multivaluedness (fuzziness) of the attractor landscape. In digital simulations, the overlap of the attractors can be conveniently embodied in a noisy representation, due to the fragmentation of the attractor basins and attractor crowding. Examples are introduced to illustrate the use of the observed phenomena to achieve the desired switching properties of the model.
Potential Gain from Insertion of Major Genes into Dairy Cattle

Abstract Transgenesis could be used to enhance genetic improvement of dairy cattle. Cost-benefit analyses for a mastitis resistance, somatotropin, and a major production gene linked to a genetic defect indicate that economic gains are possible. High cost of producing transgenes can be recovered from the dairy industry when additive or dominant genes are introduced into commercial populations via AI sires with royalties collected on founder sires and sons. Progeny test of founder transgenic sires requires larger numbers of daughters and test for recessive effects and Mendelian transmission to offspring. Some potentially useful genes have already been isolated and cloned (growth hormone, casein, and mastitis resistance genes), but transgenesis cannot be applied to commercial populations before serious deficiencies of the technology are resolved. Ways to control reliably the time and location of gene expression and the site of insertion must be found to avoid deleterious side effects, undue complications of selection programs, and initially very slow increase in gene frequency. Introducing transgenes may require quite large populations because to obtain one successful transgenic sire, 2 to 12 transgenic bulls must be tested with at least 200 daughters each. With highly controllable gene expression, transgenes may permit temporary increases in rate of genetic progress for traits currently of primary importance and, in particular, achieve improvements where existing genetic variation does not allow sufficient change (mastitis resistance, milk composition) and where desirable genes (animal welfare, e.g., polled gene) cannot be selected for because they are not carried by individuals of high genetic merit.
Persuasion as Ethical Argument.

You are, at the least, obliged not to be ignorant, not to be dogmatic, not to be arrogant. You must explain fully, offer carefully collected evidence, and reason logically. You must disavow coercion, manipulation, and image-making. You must welcome, not threaten; disclose, not deceive; be generous, not hostile. You must, in your argument, make a common world, with room in it for yourself and your reader. (231)
Is mycophenolate mofetil a safe and effective treatment for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Is mycophenolate mofetil a safe and effective treatment for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus?
Assessing the Scope of Immigrant Organizations: Official Undercounts and Actual Underrepresentation

We examine the official scope and actual coverage of immigrant civil society in seven California cities using a widely employed 501(c)3 database. First, we code immigrant organizations in official ...
Ecosystem responses to water and nitrogen amendment in a California grassland

The world's ecosystems are experiencing simultaneous changes in the supply of multiple limiting resources. Two of these, water and nitrogen (N) can strongly limit grassland production and can affect community composition and biogeochemical cycles in different ways. Grassland ecosystems in California may be particularly vulnerable to current and predicted changes in precipitation and N deposition, and ecosystem responses to potential interactive effects of water and N are not well understood. Here, we show strong colimitation of plant production resulting from factorial addition of water and N. In addition, water and N addition in combination led to increased dominance of the two most abundant grass species, while N addition regardless of water availability led to decreased species diversity. Late season carbon (C) flux response to water addition depended on N. Only plots that received additional water, but not N, still showed net ecosystem C uptake at the end of the experiment. Our results suggest that grassland ecosystem response to N deposition will be strongly dependent on future precipitation patterns.
Room Temperature Hydrosilylation of Silicon Nanocrystals with Bifunctional Terminal Alkenes

H-terminated Si nanocrystals undergo room temperature hydrosilylation with bifunctional alkenes with distal polar moieties-ethyl ester, methyl ester, or carboxylic acids-without the aid of light or added catalyst. The passivated Si nanocrystals exhibit bright photoluminescence (PL) and disperse in polar solvents, including water. We propose a reaction mechanism in which ester or carboxylic acid groups facilitate direct nucleophilic attack of the highly curved Si surface of the nanocrystals by the alkene.
Paleocurrent Patterns Along Continental Margin of Central California During Cretaceous Time: ABSTRACT

Cretaceous turbidites exhibiting numerous paleocurrent features crop out across a 300 sq mi area long the northeastern flank of the Diablo Range in central-western California. More than 400 pieces of data on sole marks, sandstone and conglomerate grain fabrics, carbonaceous fragment orientation, and parting lineation were used to deduce the trend and sense of the ancient turbidity currents which deposited the beds. In the northern part of the area the sense of current movement was from northwest to southeast (same as Ojakangas farther north in the Sacramento Valley), though some data indicate an opposite sense of movement. In the central part of the area the sense of movement was northeast-southwest and southeast-northwest. In the southern part of the area the sense of current movement was northwest-southeast and northeast-southwest. Possible source areas include an ancient craton on the east and an offshore island arc, such as that visualized by Kay, or possibly Klamath Island, Mohavia, and Salinia as visualized by Reed. Coalescing submarine fans with apexes pointing north, east, and southeast toward an ancient craton seem to fit best the observed paleocurrent pattern. The paleocurrent data provide no evidence for a Cretaceous source area, such as Salinia or an island arc, west or southwest of present-day central-western California. The sequence of beds studied is more than 20,000 ft thick, and ranges in age from Aptian to Maestrichtian; older strata may be present. Current trends show little variation with stratigraphic position. End_of_Article - Last_Page 712------------
Secretion of noninfectious dengue virus-like particles and identification of amino acids in the stem region involved in intracellular retention of envelope protein.

DNA plasmids that express flavivirus premembrane/membrane (prM/M) and envelope (E) proteins in the form of virus-like particles (VLPs) have an excellent potential as DNA vaccine candidates against virus infection. The plasmid-expressed VLPs are also useful as safe, noninfectious antigens in serodiagnostic assays. We have constructed plasmids containing the prM/M and E gene regions for DENV-1, -3, and -4 that express and secrete VLPs when electroporated into Chinese hamster ovary cells. Constructs containing the full-length DENV-1 E protein gene did not secrete VLPs into tissue culture fluid effectively. However, a 16-fold increase in ELISA titers of DENV-1 VLPs was achieved after replacing the carboxy-terminal 20% region of DENV-1 E protein gene with the corresponding sequence of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). DENV-3 plasmids containing either the full-length DENV-3 E protein gene or the 20% JEV sequence replacement secreted VLPs to similarly high levels. Whereas DENV-4 VLPs were secreted to high levels by plasmids containing the full-length DENV-4 E protein gene but not by the chimeric plasmid containing 20% JEV E replacement. Domain substitutions by replacing prM/M protein stem-anchor region with the corresponding prM/M stem-anchor region of JEV or DENV-2 in the chimeric DENV-4 construct failed to promote the secretion of DENV-4 VLPs. Using the DENV-2 chimeric plasmid with carboxy-terminal 10% of JEV E gene, the sequence responsible for intracellular localization of E protein was mapped onto the E-H1 α-helix domain of DENV-2 E protein. Substitution of three amino acids from the DENV-2 sequence to the corresponding amino acids in the JEV sequence (I398L, M401A, and M412L) in the E-H1 was sufficient to promote extracellular secretion and resulted in detectable titers of DENV-2 VLP secretion.
Compressing Intermediate Keys between Mappers and Reducers in SciHadoop

In Hadoop mappers send data to reducers in the form of key/value pairs. The default design of Hadoop's process for transmitting this intermediate data can cause a very high overhead, especially for scientific data containing multiple variables in a multi-dimensional space. For example, for a 3D scalar field of a variable “windspeed1” the size of keys was 6.75 times the size of values. Much of the disk and network bandwidth of “shuffling” this intermediate data is consumed by repeatedly transmitting the variable name for each value. This significant waste of resources is due to an assumption fundamental to Hadoop's design that all key/values are independent. This assumption is inadequate for scientific data which is often organized in regular grids, a structure that can be described in small, constant size. Earlier we presented SciHadoop, a slightly modified version of Hadoop designed for processing scientific data. We reported on experiments with SciHadoop which confirm that the size of intermediate data has a significant impact on overall performance. Here we show preliminary designs of multiple lossless approaches to compressing intermediate data, one of which results in up to five orders of magnitude reduction the original key/value ratio.
Tissue hemoglobin O2 saturation during resuscitation of traumatic shock monitored using near infrared spectrometry.

Background: Near infrared (NIR) spectrometry offers a noninvasive monitor of tissue hemoglobin O 2 saturation and has been developed to report a quantitative clinical variable, Sto 2 [= HbO 2 /(HbO 2 + Hb)]. In this study, a prototype NIR oximeter was used to investigate the hypothesis that changes in systemic O 2 delivery index (Do 2 I) would be reflected by changes in Sto 2 in skeletal muscle, subcutaneous tissue, or both, as reperfusion occurs during shock resuscitation. Sto 2 was also compared with other indices of severity of shock or adequacy of resuscitation, including arterial base deficit, lactate, gastric mucosal Pco 2 (Pgco 2 ), and mixed venous hemoglobin O 2 saturation (Svo 2 ). Methods: Skeletal muscle and subcutaneous tissue Sto 2 were monitored simultaneously in eight severely injured trauma patients (88% blunt mechanism; age, 42 ± 6 years; Injury Severity Score, 27 ± 3) during standardized shock resuscitation in the intensive care unit with the primary goal of Do 2 I ≥ 600 mL O 2 /min/m 2 for 24 hours, and for an additional 12 hours during transition from resuscitation to standard intensive care unit care. Results: Skeletal muscle Sto 2 increased significantly from 15 ± 2% (mean ± SEM) at the start of resuscitation to 49 ± 14% at 24 hours, and to ∼55% from 25 to 36 hours. Subcutaneous tissue Sto 2 ∼ 82% and was significantly greater than skeletal muscle Sto 2 throughout. Do 2 I increased significantly from 372 ± 54 to 718 ± 47 mL O 2 /min/m 2 during resuscitation. Over 36 hours, mean Do 2 I and skeletal muscle Sto 2 were highly correlated (r = 0.95). Neither Do 2 I-Pgco 2 nor Do 2 I-Svo 2 were significantly correlated; neither Svo 2 nor subcutaneous tissue Sto 2 changed significantly. Conclusion: Hemoglobin O 2 saturation was monitored non-invasively and simultaneously in skeletal muscle and subcutaneous tissues as Sto 2 (%) by using a prototype NIR oximeter. Skeletal muscle Sto 2 tracked systemic O 2 delivery during and after resuscitation. As a rapidly deployable, noninvasive monitor of peripheral tissue oxygenation and O 2 delivery, skeletal muscle Sto 2 obtained using NIR spectrometry would be useful to guide resuscitation in the intensive care unit, to monitor resuscitation status in the operating room, and, potentially, in combination with indicators such as base deficit and lactate, to detect shock during initial assessment of the severe trauma patient in the emergency department.
Cylindrical PVF2 electromechanical transducers

Abstract Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVF 2 ) is a piezoelectric polymer available in thin films. It has many electromechanical applications, such as a replacement for ceramic piezoelectric materials and as non-planar transducer structures unique for such materials available in films or sheets. One such structure is formed by rolling up a PVF 2 sheet into a hollow column to form a simple self-supporting piezoelectric transducer structure operating in the length-extender mode as a compressive member. The mechanical deflection and stiffness for this type of structure can be adjusted independently by means of the dimensions of the sheet length and width. Design, fabrication and test procedures are presented for typical cases of this cylindrical structure in the configuration of 2 × 3 element Braille cell array.
Geodesic completeness in static space-times

Let (H, h) be a Riemannian manifold and assume f: H→(0, ∞) is a smooth function. The Lorentzian warped product (a, b) f ×H,−∞≤a<b≤∞, with metric ds2=(−f2 dt2) ⊕ h is called a standard static space-time. A study is made of geodesic completeness in standard static space-times. Sufficient conditions on the warping function f: H→(0, ∞) are obtained for (a, b) f ×H ×H to be timelike and null geodesically complete. In the timelike case, the sufficient condition is independent of the completeness of the Riemannian manifold (H, h).