cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Marked for Death: An Empirical Criminal Careers Analysis of Death Sentences in a Sample of Convicted Male Homicide Offenders

Abstract Background Although prior criminal record and concurrent criminal charges constitute the main eligibility and aggravating circumstances used in capital sentencing, relatively little research has examined the criminal careers of offenders who are ultimately sentenced to death. Materials and Methods Using official criminal history data for 618 incarcerated male homicide offenders selected from 8 states—191 of whom were sentenced to death—the current study explored the criminal careers of offenders that received the most severe legal punishment. Results Poisson regression incidence rate ratio models indicated that multiple measures of prior criminal activity including contemporaneous and prior history of violence, prior incarceration, early onset of arrest, juvenile homicide offending, and juvenile child molestation were associated with subsequently being sentenced to death. Separate models for white, African American, and Hispanic males showed contrasting effects in their criminal careers and varying relationships between prior criminal career and current capital offending. Conclusion The current study adds to the literature on lifespan criminality by applying Poisson regression analyses and a criminal careers approach to study the most extreme offenders including those sentenced to death.
The Engineering Radiation Problem - an example of the interaction between engineering and mathematics

Die Strahlung als Problem in der Technik (im Gegensatz zur Strahlung als Problem der Astrophysik z. B.) beschaftigt sich mit Interreflektionen, die durch das Vorhandensein von Wanden - den wesentlichen Elementen jedes Bausystems - bedingt sind. Das Thema wird dargestellt in Form eines Beispiels der charakteristischen Schwierigkeiten, die durch die komplexe Geometrie des Systems bedingt sind - ein Problem von groser Wichtigkeit fur die technische Praxis, dem man oft aus durchsichtigen Grunden mit Hilfe der herkommlichen mathematischen Analysis aus dem Wege geht. Es scheint, das zur Erzielung einer numerischen Losung die Formulierung des Problems als Integrodifferentialgleichungen ungeeignet und auf diesem Gebiet die Netzwerk-Methode geeigneter ist, wie schon von Mises in einer seiner letzten Arbeiten tatsachlich ausgefuhrt hat. The engineering problem in radiation (as contrasted, say, to problems of interest to astrophysics) has to deal with interreflections introduced by the presence of walls - essential elements of any engineering system. The subject is presented as an example of the characteristic difficulties introduced by the complex geometry of the system - a problem of great importance to engineering practice and, for obvious reasons, often side-stepped in a conventional mathematical analysis. It appears that, for the purpose of a numerical solution, the calculus formulation of the problem is inadequate and that, in this respect, the network method is more suitable, as it has been indeed pointed out by von Mises in one of his last publications.
Multivariate Bayes Wavelet Shrinkage and Applications

In recent years, wavelet shrinkage has become a very appealing method for data de- noising and density function estimation. In particular, Bayesian modelling via hierarchical priors has introduced novel approaches for Wavelet analysis that had become very popular, and are very competitive with standard hard or soft thresholding rules. In this sense, this paper proposes a hierarchical prior that is elicited on the model parameters describing the wavelet coefficients after applying a Discrete Wavelet Transformation (DWT). In difference to other approaches, the prior proposes a multivariate Normal distribution with a covariance matrix that allows for correlations among Wavelet coefficients corresponding to the same level of detail. In addition, an extra scale parameter is incorporated that permits an additional shrinkage level over the coefficients. The posterior distribution for this shrinkage procedure is not available in closed form but it is easily sampled through Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Applications on a set of test signals and two noisy signals are presented.
“This Could Be a Good Avenue for You”: Influential Strategies in the Hiring of Exotic Dancers

To date there remains a lack of substantive investigation into the hiring processes and recruitment strategies employed by those in power at exotic dance clubs. The researcher acted as a covert, complete participant in job inquiries at 25 exotic dance clubs in three Midwestern cities in order to elucidate gendered influence as evidenced by techniques incorporated in the interview process. Emergent patterns and themes suggest the need for a reworking of the conceptualization of the socialization process of exotic dancers to include tactics for maximizing earning potential and managing stigma that are introduced in the initial club contact and job interview.
Solvent techniques for the direct colorimetric determination of copper and iron in oils.

SUMMARY— The standard procedure for determining trace metals in biological materials requires the ashing of the sample to obtain an aqueous solution. Once this sample is prepared, numerous methods may be employed to determine the metal content. With oils the common ashing techniques lead to serious errors because of spattering, foaming, and volatilization of the sample. In the past, several methods have been developed to eliminate the ashing procedure but large samples (20–50 g) or special equipment was necessary. To allow use of very small oil samples (0.5–2 g) for determining iron and copper, solvent procedures which eliminated the ashing step were developed. The iron procedure is based on the standard aqueous 1,10-o-phenanthroline method modified to employ an initial solvent extraction procedure. Comparison of this method with the aqueous ash procedure on oils of known iron content showed the methods to be equivalent in precision. The solvent procedure is capable of determining 0.1 ppm of iron in the oil. The direct solvent copper procedure based on the sodium-diethyldithiocarbamate aqueous method showed similar results. Because of the ease of performance and the small sample size required, these tests would be useful in food and biological research.
Rapid Frequency-Domain Modeling Methods for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight Control Applications

Modeling of the flight dynamics of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) poses unique challenges that are not present with manned aircraft. The use of analytical modeling methods based on first principles is often difficult for UAVs because of short design cycles, reduced development costs, and many unconventional designs. Also, without the need to carry a pilot, UAVs are often much smaller and lighter than manned aircraft. The lower weights and inertias result in higher natural frequencies and quicker vehicle responses requiring high bandwidth dynamics models. Frequency-domain system identification is especially well suited to the modeling of UAVs. With the availability of flight hardware early in many UAV programs, dynamic response models of the vehicle can be identified and validated rapidly with flight data. The system identification method also allows for rapid updating of vehicle response models as physical changes are made to the vehicle configuration. The use of frequency-domain system identification in the development and operation of a number of UAV programs is discussed. The example aircraft programs include Northrop Grumman’s Fire Scout vertical takeoff unmanned air vehicle demonstrator based on the Schweizer 300
Metastatic Ewing sarcoma masquerading as olfactory neuroblastoma

Ewing sarcoma is a malignant tumor of bone that rarely spreads to the head and neck. We describe an unusual case of metastatic Ewing sarcoma involving the calvarium mimicking olfactory neuroblastoma, an uncommon neuroectodermal tumor of the anterior skull base. Pertinent clinical, radiological, and pathologic features of these tumors are described, with particular attention to their imaging characteristics.
IL-7– and IL-15–Mediated TCR Sensitization Enables T Cell Responses to Self-Antigens

Regulation of the ERK pathway is intimately involved in determining whether TCR stimulation is productive or induces anergy. T cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have increased ERK responsiveness, which may be relevant for disease pathogenesis. Inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α did not reproduce the TCR hypersensitivity typical for RA in T cells from healthy individuals. In contrast, priming with the homeostatic cytokines (HCs) IL-7 and IL-15 amplified ERK phosphorylation to TCR stimulation 2- to 3-fold. The underlying mechanism involved a priming of the SOS-dependent amplification loop of RAS activation. The sensitization of the TCR signaling pathway has downstream consequences, such as increased proliferation and preferential Th1 differentiation. Importantly, priming with IL-7 or IL-15 enabled T cell responses to autoantigens associated with RA. Production of HCs is induced in lymphopenic conditions, which have been shown to predispose for autoimmunity and which appear to be present in the preclinical stages of RA. We propose that HCs, possibly induced by lymphopenia, decrease the signaling threshold for TCR activation and are thereby partly responsible for autoimmunity in RA.
Osteopathic approach to chronic constipation in Prader–Willi Syndrome: A case report

Abstract Prader–Willi Syndrome is a genetic disorder resulting from the lack of paternal expression of the 15q11.2-q13 chromosome with an estimated prevalence of 1/10,000–1/30,000. Gastrointestinal complaints are common in patients with Prader–Willi Syndrome, with an estimated 25–30 percent of those suffering from constipation. This case report examines an 18-year-old female with Prader–Willi Syndrome who presented with the complaint of chronic constipation. The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) resulted in a significant improvement of this patient's bowel function. The authors theorize that osteopathic manipulative medicine could be useful as an adjunct therapy to pharmacologic intervention for chronic constipation in patients with Prader–Willi Syndrome.
PET/CT imaging of renal cell carcinoma with (18)F-VM4-037: a phase II pilot study.

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX) is a potential imaging biomarker of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Here, we report the results of a phase II clinical trial of a small molecule radiotracer targeting CA-IX (18F-VM4-037) in ccRCC. Between October 2012 and May 2013, 11 patients with kidney masses underwent 18F-VM4-037 PET/CT prior to surgery. Dynamic imaging was performed for the first 45 min post injection and whole-body imaging was obtained at 60 min post injection. Tumors were surgically excised or biopsied within 4 weeks of imaging. All patients tolerated the radiotracer well with no adverse events. Ten of the 11 patients had histologically confirmed malignancy. One patient had a Bosniak Type 3 cyst with no tumor found at surgery. Two patients had extrarenal disease and 9 had tumors only in the kidney. Primary ccRCC lesions were difficult to visualize on PET alone due to high uptake of the tracer in the adjacent normal kidney parenchyma, however when viewed in conjunction with CT, the tumors were easily localized. Metastatic lesions were clearly visible on PET. Mean SUV for primary kidney lesions was 2.55 in all patients; in patients with histologically confirmed ccRCC, the mean SUV was 3.16. The time-activity curves (TAC) are consistent with reversible ligand binding with peak activity concentration at 8 min post injection followed by washout. Distribution Volume Ratio (DVR) of the lesions was measured using the Logan graphical analysis method. The mean DVR value across the 9 kidney lesions was 5.2 ± 2.8, (range 0.68–10.34). 18F-VM4-037 is a well-tolerated PET agent that allows same day imaging of CA-IX expression. The agent demonstrated moderate signal uptake in primary tumors and excellent visualization of CA-IX positive metastases. While the evaluation of primary ccRCC lesions is challenging due to high background activity in the normal kidney parenchyma, 18F-VM4-037 may be most useful in the evaluation of metastatic ccRCC lesions.
From pork to policy: The rise of programmatic campaigning in Japanese elections

We examine two related propositions central to the subfield of comparative politics: that candidates for office adopt different electoral strategies under different electoral systems and rely more on particularism when faced with intraparty competition. We apply an innovative methodological approach that combines probabilistic topic modeling with in-depth qualitative interpretations of each topic to an original collection of 7,497 Japanese-language candidate election manifestos used in elections on either side of Japan’s 1994 electoral reform. We find that the reform, which eliminated intraparty competition, was associated with a decline in particularism and an increase in promises of programmatic goods such as national security among candidates affiliated with Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party. This is not explained by the entry of new candidates or other variables that could plausibly increase discussion of national security. Consistent with the theory, we find that opposition candidates relied on progra...
Changes in feedstock quality in willow chip piles created in winter from a commercial scale harvest

Abstract Storage and handling are important facets of biomass logistics because there are associated costs and biomass properties can change significantly as material proceeds through the supply chain. Thus, this aspect of biomass supply systems requires continued study. Shrub willow chips were harvested, and used to create six piles that each contained between 10 and 22 Mg (fresh biomass). Material was monitored for several months in temporary storage to assess changes in biomass quality (moisture, ash and energy content). Internal pile temperatures increased due to biological activity and conditions within a pile quickly differentiated based on location (shell, core, top, and side). Mean moisture content increased from 42 to 47% (mass fraction) between harvest and delivery of the chips, but ranged between 37 and over 60% over the next three months depending on pile location with the shell generally drier than the core. Mean ash content increased 1 to 2% points (mass fraction) between harvesting, reloading and delivery to the trial location, but became more variable during storage. Higher heating values (HHV) were stable between 18.6 and 19.0 MJ kg−1 over the six months, but lower heating values (LHV) ranged between 8.6 and 11.7 MJ kg−1 and mirrored changes in moisture content. There was minimal change in chip quality over two months, but quality became more variable over longer time periods. This period could be extended, and negative effects on chip quality could be mitigated, by improving storage methods, blending different types of chips, or employing pretreatments.
Interactions between Methane and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A High Accuracy Benchmark Study.

Minimum energy structures and interaction energies are obtained for a series of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) interacting with a methane molecule. The PAHs include benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, tetracene, pyrene, and coronene. Interaction energies are calculated using the highest level of theory and basis set available, that is, complete-basis-set extrapolated MP2 plus a conventional or explicitly correlated CCSD(T) correction in moderately sized basis sets. The results show that the singly coordinated minimum configuration observed earlier for benzene–methane is no longer the global minimum one for naphthalene and larger PAHs. Instead, triply coordinated geometries are lower in energy. The global minimum structures for methane interacting with extended systems like graphene sheets and carbon nanotubes are likely to be triply coordinated as well. A variety of novel dispersion-including DFT approaches are compared against the wave-function-based benchmark potential energy curves...
Solar Photon Pathlength Diagnostics from Weak Oxygen Line Profiles, A Challenge for Fourier Transform Spectroscopy

Multiple-scattering processes in the cloudy atmosphere are poorly understood due to 3D variability; yet they dominate the shortwave radiative transfer, hence the balance of the climate system. We show that a wealth of information about shortwave transport can be inferred from the shape of weak O2lines in the A- or B-band. This defines a difficult, but not impossible, task for modern FTS technology.
Computational Design of Intrinsic Molecular Rectifiers Based on Asymmetric Functionalization of N-Phenylbenzamide

We report a systematic computational search of molecular frameworks for intrinsic rectification of electron transport. The screening of molecular rectifiers includes 52 molecules and conformers spanning over 9 series of structural motifs. N-Phenylbenzamide is found to be a promising framework with both suitable conductance and rectification properties. A targeted screening performed on 30 additional derivatives and conformers of N-phenylbenzamide yielded enhanced rectification based on asymmetric functionalization. We demonstrate that electron-donating substituent groups that maintain an asymmetric distribution of charge in the dominant transport channel (e.g., HOMO) enhance rectification by raising the channel closer to the Fermi level. These findings are particularly valuable for the design of molecular assemblies that could ensure directionality of electron transport in a wide range of applications, from molecular electronics to catalytic reactions.
Genetic risk analysis of a patient with fulminant autoimmune type 1 diabetes mellitus secondary to combination ipilimumab and nivolumab immunotherapy.

Checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy is becoming an effective treatment modality for an increasing number of malignancies. As a result, autoinflammatory side-effects are also being observed more commonly in the clinic. We are currently unable to predict which patients will develop more severe toxicities associated with these treatment regimens. We present a patient with stage IV melanoma that developed rapid onset autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D) in response to combination ipilimumab and nivolumab immunotherapy. At the time of the patient’s presentation with diabetes ketoacidosis, a confirmed anti-GAD antibody seroconversion was noted. Longer-term follow-up of this patient has demonstrated a durable complete response based on PET CT imaging along with a persistently undetectable C-peptide level. Single nucleotide polymorphism gene sequencing and HLA risk allele analysis has revealed the patient to lack any established genetic predisposition to the development of autoimmune T1D. While larger studies are necessary to better understand the role of genetic risk factors for the development of autoimmune toxicities in those patients undergoing checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy, these results suggest that pre-screening patients for known T1D risk alleles may not be indicated. Additional investigation is needed to determine whether an approach such as T cell receptor clonotypic analysis to identify the presence of autoreactive T cell clones may be an effective approach for predicting which patients are at risk for the development of autoinflammatory toxicities while undergoing checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy.
Resistance of spores of Bacillus subtilis var. niger produced from subcultures of spores surviving hydrogen peroxide exposure.

The purpose of this work was to determine if the resistance of bacterial spores could be increased by subculturing spores that had survived exposure to hydrogen peroxide. Spores surviving exposure to 5% hydrogen peroxide held at 50 C were subcultured, allowed to sporulate and subsequently exposed to hydrogen peroxide as before. After 10 generations of subculturing, the resistance of the spores had not increased. It is concluded that, in food processes in which high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide are used to sterilize food processing equipment and food packaging materials, the development of a resistant spore population is unlikely.
Predicting nutrient digestibility in high-producing dairy cows

Our objective was to determine the effects of dry matter intake (DMI), body weight (BW), and diet characteristics on total tract digestibilities of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and starch (DMD, NDFD, and StarchD, respectively) in high-producing dairy cows. Our database was composed of 1,942 observations from 662 cows in 54 studies from Michigan, Ohio, and Georgia. On average, cows ate 23 ± 4.5 kg of dry matter/d, weighed 669 ± 79 kg, and produced 38 ± 10 kg of milk/d. Diets were 31 ± 5% neutral detergent fiber, 27 ± 6% starch, 2.6 ± 1.2% fatty acids, and 17 ± 1.4% crude protein. Digestibility means were 66 ± 6, 42 ± 11, and 93 ± 5% for DMD, NDFD, and StarchD, respectively. Forage sources included corn silage, alfalfa, and grasses. Corn source was classified by its ruminal fermentability. Data were analyzed using a mixed effects model, including diet chemical composition, forage source, and corn source, all expressed as percentage of dry matter, except for DMI, which was expressed as percentage of BW (DMI%BW); location and 2-way interactions were fixed effects. Cow, block, period, treatment, and study were included as random effects. Best fitting candidate models were generated using backward and stepwise regression methods. Additionally, the simplest model was generated using only DMI and location as fixed effects and all random effects. Candidate models were cross-validated across studies, and the resulting predictive correlation coefficients across studies (PC) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) were compared by t-test. For each nutrient, the digestibility model that resulted in the highest PC and lowest RMSEP was determined to be the best fitting model. We observed heterogeneous coefficients among the different locations, suggesting that specific location factors influenced digestibilities. The overall location-averaged best fitting prediction equations were: DMD = 69 - 0.83 × DMI%BW (PC = 0.22, RMSEP = 5.39); NDFD = 53 + 0.26 × grass %DM - 0.59 × starch %DM + 3.06 × DMI%BW - 0.46 × DMI%BW2 (PC = 0.53, RMSEP = 9.70); and StarchD = 96 + 0.19 × HFERM%DM - 0.12 × starch %DM - 1.13 × DMI%BW (PC = 0.34, RMSEP = 4.77); where HFERM%DM is highly-fermentable corn source as percentage of DM. Our results confirm that digestibility is reduced as DMI increases, albeit at a lower rate than that reported in National Research Council. Furthermore, dietary starch depresses NDFD. Whereas DMD can be predicted based on DMI only, the best predictions for NDFD and StarchD require diet characteristics in addition to DMI.
High N-Acetyltransferase 1 Expression Is Associated with Estrogen Receptor Expression in Breast Tumors, but Is not Under Direct Regulation by Estradiol, 5α-androstane-3β,17β-Diol, or Dihydrotestosterone in Breast Cancer Cells.

N-acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1) is an enzyme that metabolizes carcinogens, which suggests a potential role in breast carcinogenesis. High NAT1 expression in breast tumors is associated with estrogen receptor α (ERα+) and the luminal subtype. We report that NAT1 mRNA transcript, protein, and enzyme activity were higher in human breast tumors with high expression of ERα/ESR1 compared with normal breast tissue. There was a strong correlation between NATb promoter and NAT1 protein expression/enzyme activity. High NAT1 expression in tumors was not the result of adipocytes, as evidenced by low perilipin (PLIN) expression. ESR1, NAT1, and XBP1 expression were associated in tumor biopsies. Direct regulation of NAT1 transcription by estradiol (E2) was investigated in ERα (+) MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cells. E2 did not increase NAT1 transcript expression but increased progesterone receptor expression in a dose-dependent manner. Likewise, NAT1 transcript levels were not increased by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or 5α-androstane-3β, (3β-adiol) 17β-diol. Dithiothreitol increased levels of the activated, spliced XBP1 in ERα (+) MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cells but did not affect NAT1 or ESR1 expression. We conclude that NAT1 expression is not directly regulated by E2, DHT, 3β-adiol, or dithiothreitol despite high NAT1 and ESR1 expression in luminal A breast cancer cells, suggesting that ESR1, XBP1, and NAT1 expression may share a common transcriptional network arising from the luminal epithelium associated with better survival in breast cancer. Clusters of high-expression genes, including NAT1, in breast tumors might serve as potential targets for novel therapeutic drug development.
Manual Breathing and Coughing AIDS

This article describes the four stages of cough mechanics. Concise steps on effective clinical evaluation of patients’ coughs are presented, followed by numerous ideas on appropriate ways to intervene to improve cough effectiveness. These ideas include educating the patient on more active strategies to maximize each stage of effective coughing, suggesting position, and describing four manually assisted techniques and five self-assisted techniques to maximize the patient‘s ability to cough.
Precision of NO2 photolysis rate measurements

Gas-phase kinetic calculations indicate that actinometric measurements of the rate of solar photolysis of NO2 in nitrogen can be in error by +5 to -15% or more, unless odd oxygen N2O5 chemistry, and trace oxygen content are considered. A field experiment confirms that the effect of the quartz tube on the measured photolysis rate is less than 1.7%.
Aligning Instruction with Academic Content Standards: Finding the Link:

For students to have full access to the general curriculum, they need the opportunity to learn academic content that links closely to the standards for their grade level. In this article, we synthesize what we have learned through our research on aligning instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities with state's academic content standards. In finding these links between state content standards and instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities, we have discovered that it is important to understand (a) the implications of current federal policy; (b) the evidence for academic learning by this population; (c) the nature of national and state standards; (d) the importance of starting with universal design and general education collaboration; and (e) the concept of alignment.
Dual-modal in vivo fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging using a heterodimeric peptide

A heterodimeric peptide labeled with IRDye800 is used to perform dual-modal imaging of human esophageal xenograft tumors in vivo. Fluorescence and photoacoustic images provide complementary visualization of tumor dimensions in planar and sagittal views, respectively, demonstrating promise for targeted cancer diagnosis and staging.
A review on screening tests for vestibular disorders.

Although many studies have reported on tests of the vestibular system a valid and reliable, evidence-based screening battery for easy clinical use remains elusive. Many screening tests attempt to a...
Experimental investigations of liquid-infused surface robustness under turbulent flow

Liquid-infused surfaces present a novel coating for passive drag reduction in turbulent flows. Conceptually similar to superhydrophobic surfaces, which are composed of air pockets trapped within hydrophobic roughness, liquid-infused surfaces instead rely on a preferentially wetting, liquid lubricant to create a heterogeneous surface of fluid–solid and fluid–fluid interfaces. The mobility of the lubricant within the textures allows the fluid–fluid interfaces to support a finite interfacial slip velocity. In the proper configuration, the collection of slipping interfaces can result in a significant reduction in skin friction drag. However, sustaining this drag reduction is predicated on maintaining the integrity of the lubricating layer. While liquid-infused surfaces are robust to the most common sources of superhydrophobic surface failure, they exhibit a distinct susceptibility to shear/slip-driven drainage. Here, the robustness and behavior of lubricant-infused streamwise microgrooves are studied, in a turbulent channel flow facility. In the presence of external turbulent shear flow, a finite length of lubricant is found to be retained within the microtextures by a mechanism analogous to capillary rise, consistent with the observations of Wexler et al. (Phys Rev Lett 114(16):168301, 2015b), while the remainder of the lubricant is driven out of the surface. This retention mechanism is exploited to maintain a lubricating layer over a larger surface area by using a novel chemical patterning technique. Chemical barriers are scribed along the streamwise length of the grooves. These periodic barriers disrupt the continuity of the streamwise groove and inhibit the downstream drainage of the lubricant. The effectiveness of this approach is evaluated in a turbulent channel flow with promising results.
Length and Charge of Water-Soluble Peptoids Impact Binding to Phospholipid Membranes.

In this study, we provide a quantitative description of the adsorption of water-soluble N-substituted glycine oligomers (peptoids) to supported lipid bilayers that mimic mammalian plasma membranes. We prepared a small array of systematically varied peptoid sequences ranging in length from 3 to 15 residues. Using the nonlinear optical method second harmonic generation (SHG), we directly monitored adsorption of aqueous solutions of 3- and 15-residue peptoids to phospholipid membranes of varying physical phase, cholesterol content, and head group charge in physiologically relevant pH buffer conditions without the use of extrinsic labels. Equilibrium binding constants and relative surface coverages of adsorbed peptoids were determined from fits to the Langmuir model. Three- and 15-residue peptoids did not interact with cholesterol-containing lipids or charged lipids in the same manner, suggesting that a peptoid’s adsorption mechanism changes with sequence length. In a comparison of four three-residue peptoids...
The pediatric asthma risk score (PARS): making the move to the most accurate pediatric asthma risk screening tool.

Asthma affects 25.7 million people in the United States including 7.0 million children [1], and its global pharmacotherapeutic costs exceed $5 billion per year [2]. Primary prevention of asthma has...
When Someone Other than the Addressed Recipient Speaks Next: Three Kinds of Intervening Action After the Selection of Next Speaker

Although speakers in conversation have ways to indicate which one of their recipients ought to speak next, who actually comes to speak next is not an automatic result. There are circumstances in wh...
The Riemann-Roch Theorem

We recall that a discrete valuation ring o is a principal ideal ring (and therefore a unique factorization ring) having only one prime. If t is a generator of this prime, we call t a local parameter.
The impact of telemental health use on healthcare costs among commercially insured adults with mental health conditions.

To determine the impact of telemental health (TMH) use on total healthcare costs and mental health (MH)-related costs paid by a third party among adults with mental health conditions (MHC). This st...
Narrative Founder Identity: Weaving the Past Life Stories Together to Make Sense of Self

It is argued that founders’ identities provide valuable insights in understanding differences across those founders’ behaviors and their enterprises. Until recently, however, entrepreneurship liter...
Active viral population dynamics in frozen Arctic peat soil revealed with H218O stable isotope probing metagenomics

Winter soil processes are critical to the carbon balance of northern ecosystems, yet the microbial ecology governing biogeochemical cycling in frozen soils is largely unknown. We used stable isotope probing targeted metagenomics to reveal the genomic potential of active microbial populations, with an emphasis on viruses, in soils. Peat soils were incubated under simulated winter conditions (subzero and anoxic) with H218O or natural abundance water for 184 and 370 days. Isotope incorporation revealed 46 active bacterial populations (MAGs; spanning 9 bacterial phyla) and 243 active viral populations (vOTUs). Active hosts were predicted for 33% of the active vOTUs and were some of the most abundant MAGs, having capacity for fermentation and carbohydrate utilization. Additionally, almost one-third of vOTUs carried auxiliary metabolic genes spanning five functional categories, highlighting the potential impact of viruses in microbial biogeochemistry. CO2 production throughout the incubation supports our evidence of microbial activities under winter conditions. Our results revealed a multi-trophic and changing microbial community in tandem with a changing viral community targeting dominant active bacteria consistent with the kill-the-winner hypothesis. These data have important implications for low-temperature soil processes in northern peatlands and reveal active host-linked soil viral ecology, with potential multifaceted biogeochemical impacts.
Mechanisms of Embodied Learning Through Gestures and Actions: Lessons from Development

The body plays a central role in learning across the lifespan. Looking at embodiment through the lens of human development can therefore help us recognize important patterns and consistencies across time and contexts that may otherwise go unnoticed. This chapter takes an in-depth look at gesture, a type of representational action that is particularly prevalent in learning and educational settings. Throughout the chapter, we also contrast hand gestures with other types of actions—goal-directed actions and demonstration actions—to help elucidate the features of bodily movement that are most likely to lead to the acquisition of new conceptual knowledge. We argue that gestures, and some demonstration actions, serve a unique role in learning across childhood precisely because they bridge the gap between body and mind. Gestures are produced by the body but, unlike goal-directed actions, are necessarily produced along with spoken language and must be integrated with that language. Moreover, gestures have a representational capacity that goes beyond the immediate context to promote learning and conceptual development.
Social Engineering: Is This Really As Bad As It Sounds?

Sociological practice and clinical sociology need to be supplemented by an engineering wing in the discipline. Engineering is, ultimately, the application of general theoretical principles to concrete problems, and there is no reason why sociology cannot also be an engineering discipline. There is nothing inherent in the subject matter of sociology that prevents this engineering orientation from emerging. Rather, the prospects for an engineering approach in sociology depend upon the development of more precise theories, the testing of such theories, and the willingness of practitioners to use theoretical ideas when addressing the problems of clients.
Issues Surrounding Accounting Lab And Online Accounting Resource Implementation

Students find themselves troubled with understanding concepts and processes involved in different subject areas. Many times they seek assistance but find themselves at a loss. Being aware of support resources and having assistance at ones disposal can eliminate the stress of searching for help. Nevertheless, as in the movies, the question begs to be answered, If you build it, will they come? Plainly speaking, will students take advantage of resources offered to them and benefit from them? This study focuses on students perceptions of an Accounting Lab and accounting online solutions available to assist the learning process.
Intermolecular energy transfer between lanthanide complexes in aqueous solution—III: Studies of terbium(III) and europium(III) complexes of trimellitic, pyromellitic and trimesic acids

Abstract Intermolecular energy transfer, emission intensity, and emission lifetime measurements were used to study the solution phase coordination chemistry of terbium(III) and europium(III) complexes of trimellitic and pyromellitic acids at low pH. Solid polymeric compounds were found to precipitate out of solution once the pH reached 3.0, and these compounds were characterized by analytical means. In addition, the adduct formed between Tb3+ and trimesic was also characterized and found to be polymeric. The trimellitic and pyromellitic acid complexes appear to begin metal-ligand binding as the pH is raised from 1.5 to 2.5, and polymeric association among the complexes appears to begin at a pH of 2.5. The extent of polymerization increases up to the point of precipitation.
Constructing the self

The attempt to understand the neural underpinnings of human cognition began about a century and a half ago, with the discovery that language processing depended on the left cerebral hemisphere. Comparable discoveries followed, but it was not until the last three decades that a loose coalition of disciplines interested in these issues came into its own and began expanding as a field. The field is known as cognitive neuroscience, and its spectacular development over the past few years has been due to the practical and theoretical maturity of psychology and neurobiology, along with the advent of major advances in neuroimaging.
A unified theory of Stark broadening for hydrogenic ions—II. Line wings

Abstract The consequences of the attractive Coulomb force between positively charged hydrogenic radiators and electrons on line broadening in the quasistatic wings are examined. Due to the speeding up of the electrons by the Coulomb attraction, static results are not obtained until further out into the wings for (e.g.) He II lines, as compared to the analogous hydrogen lines. In fact, for low principal quantum numbers the region of validity is outside of, or close to, the limit ħΔω ⪅ kT imposed by the weak coupling approximation. The effects of doubly-excited bound states are discussed in detail and we conclude that within the validity range of the Unified Theory all except possibly the most tightly bound doubly-excited states (which can give rise to “satellites” to the ionic lines) are relatively unimportant. In the near line wings the profile goes approximately as Δω- 5 2 . But in the far line wings (ħΔω ⪅ kT) the wings lie somewhat above the Δω- 5 2 wing of neutral species and a Δω- 9 4 dependence is more appropriate. No exponential divergence of the spectrum is obtained for large Δω when bound states (for which a classical distribution of states is inappropriate) are excluded. Unfortunately, no conclusive experimental comparisons are possible with presently available data.
Socioeconomic Implications of the Increasing Foreign Remittance to Nepal: Evidence from the Nepal Living Standard Survey

The period since the 1990s witnessed a strong economic performance and labour demand in many countries in the Middle East, East Asia, and West, which coincided with the major political turmoil in Nepal causing enormous increase in emigration and foreign remittance. Using micro-data for 1996 and 2004, this paper examines foreign remittance to Nepal and its socioeconomic implications. Data indicate that foreign remittance has helped increase income sizably and reduce poverty and income inequality marginally. Various family and individual characteristics are used to test whether the socioeconomically disadvantaged groups such as those with low non-remittance income and assets, low caste and ethnic backgrounds, and from rural areas and remote regions benefited equally from foreign remittance. Analytical strategy involved estimating regressions of foreign remittance using the Generalized Least Squares estimator for families with foreign remittance and Three Stage Least Squares estimator for all families to minimize self-selection and simultaneous causality bias. Although non-remittance income and some of the low caste, ethnic, and spatiality backgrounds showed less consistent relationships, findings suggest that smaller families particularly with low asset-holding and socioeconomic backgrounds were likely to receive less remittance. These findings highlight an important progress that the Nepali society is making toward levelling the playing field in foreign employment and remittance with migration to the regions and countries other than India offering better remittance prospects. Yet, further policy efforts are needed to ensure that foreign employment and remittance do not exacerbate the increasingly polarizing economic structure leaving the bottom sections of the society further worse off.
A fast, inexpensive means of creating tactile "drawings" of graphs and networks for blind students

The communication of graphical information inherent in the sciences and engineering professions is a challenge when the intended recipient is blind. This paper describes several methods for producing raised 2D graphics for blind students. Most existing methods require advance preparation for each new drawing, are comparatively slow and may require moderately expensive materials. They are not suitable for real-time in-the classroom generation of images. However, they do produce long-lasting drawings. This paper also describes an inexpensive technique for generating raised 2D simple graphs and networks in real time. The technique is intuitive and takes no training. An aide or fellow student can generate depictions of graphs as the lecturer is producing them for the class, thereby enabling a blind student to understand and participate in discussions of spontaneously generated figures. Blind students can also create the figures themselves using the same materials, and the results are readily interpretable by sighted people.
Potential benefits and limitations of utilizing chondroprogenitors in cell-based cartilage therapy

Chondroprogenitor cells are a subpopulation of multipotent progenitors that are primed for chondrogenesis. They are believed to have the biological repertoire to be ideal for cell-based cartilage therapy. In addition to summarizing recent advances in chondroprogenitor cell characterization, this review discusses the projected pros and cons of utilizing chondroprogenitors in regenerative medicine and compares them with that of pre-existing methods, including autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and the utilization of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the purpose of cartilage tissue repair.
A Tighter Relative-Error Bound for Balanced Stochastic Truncation

The properties of balanced stochastic truncation (BST) model reduction for stable multi-input multi-output systems are reviewed and analysed. A relative-error bound for BST is obtained as 2?n i=p+1 ? i /(1-? i ). This error bound is tighter than the relative-error bound previously derived by Green.
Parametric resonance and energy transfer in suction stabilized floating platforms: a brief survey

In this work, the floating platforms for offshore wind turbines are briefly reviewed and parametric resonance and energy transfer in Suction Stabilized Floating (SSF) platforms is studied via analytical techniques and compared with the experimental results. Suction stabilization increases the effective metacentric height or righting lever and increases the stability margin. This paper discusses this suction stabilization effect and investigates its influence on the stability and parametric resonance in a floating platform. Similar to ships, these floating platforms show a heave-roll coupling. Simple mathematical models describing the effect of parametric resonance and stability margin of suction stabilized floating platform are derived and the analytical results are verified using experimental techniques. The concept of SSF platforms can be used to design platforms for offshore floating structures.
Calcineurin mediates alpha-adrenergic stimulation of Na+,K(+)-ATPase activity in renal tubule cells.

Abstract The alpha-adrenergic agonist oxymetazoline increased Na+,K(+)-ATPase activity of single proximal convoluted tubules dissected from rat kidney. Activation of the enzyme by oxymetazoline was prevented by either the alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist prazosin or the alpha 2-adrenergic antagonist yohimbine and was mimicked by the calcium ionophore A23187. The effect of oxymetazoline on Na+,K(+)-ATPase activity was prevented by a specific peptide inhibitor of calcineurin, as well as by FK 506, an immunosuppressant agent known to inhibit calcineurin; these results indicate that the action of oxymetazoline is mediated via activation of calcineurin (a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase). Activation of the Na+,K(+)-ATPase by either oxymetazoline or A23187 was associated with a greater than 2-fold increase in its affinity for Na+. The results provide a biochemical mechanism by which norepinephrine, released from renal nerve terminals, stimulates Na+ retention.
Predicting Survival following Surgery for Bronchogenic Carcinoma

Data from 987 patients in a collaborative clinical trial were analyzed, by use of multivariate techniques to separate the effects of prognostic factors and to arrive at a mechanism useful to the clinician for prognosis. One-fifth of the total variation was accounted for by four factors. Nearly half of this (42 percent) was due to stage of disease, followed by tumor size (32 percent), cell type (10 percent) and postsurgical complications (7 percent). The absence of significant interactions simplified survival prediction. A mechanism is presented utilizing a table-look-up method for the first three variables to arrive at both expected mean survival and probabilities of surviving one, three, or five or more years. Two subgroups stood out: (a) patients having poor survival (14 percent of cases) averaging eight months, usually were stage III with medium to medium-large tumors of anaplastic cells, and (b) patients having superior survival (17 percent of cases) averaging 52 months, usually were stage I with small to small-medium tumors and all but anaplastic cell types.
SHORT COMMUNICATION Rate of and Additive Influences on the Oxidation of HCN

Abstract The oxidation of HCN was studied in the temperature range of 1023–1098 K, using a Vycor stirred-flow reactor and dilute mixtures of HCN and oxygen in He. The rate was found to be 1.25-order in HCN and 0.5-order in oxygen. The activation energy and log frequency factor are 97.3 (kcal/mole) and 22.5 (using (1/mole)0.25 sec−1) respectively. The oxidation products for HCN/O2 mixtures were found to be CO2, H2O, and N2. The order indicates a complex mechanism is operating; however, the activation energy appears to be too large for a chain or surface mechanism. In order to simulate the reaction environment that HCN would experience during heterocycle or coal combustion, additives were introduced to the reaction mixture. Benzene was added over a wide range of conditions, which did increase the rate of HCN consumption at low equivalence ratios, but at a ratio of about 0.85 the extent of consumption of all reactants decreased; HCN consumption dropped drastically and benzene consumption was reduced a small ...
Measuring customer‐based brand equity

Brand equity is very important to marketers of consumer goods and services. Brand equity facilitates in the effectiveness of brand extensions and brand introductions. This is because consumers who trust and display loyalty toward a brand are willing to try to adopt brand extensions. While there have been methods to measure the financial value of brand equity, measurement of customer‐based brand equity has been lacking. Presents a scale to measure customer‐based brand equity. The customer‐based brand equity scale is developed based on the five underlying dimensions of brand equity: performance, value, social image, trustworthiness and commitment. In empirical tests, brands that scored higher on the customer‐based brand equity scale generally had higher prices. Discusses the implications for managers.