cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Global impacts of gas‐phase chemistry‐aerosol interactions on direct radiative forcing by anthropogenic aerosols and ozone

We present here a first global modeling study on the influence of gas-phase chemistry/aerosol interactions on estimates of anthropogenic forcing by tropospheric O3 and aerosols. Concentrations of gas-phase species and sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, black carbon, primary organic carbon, secondary organic carbon, sea salt, and mineral dust aerosols in the preindustrial, present-day, and year 2100 (IPCC SRES A2) atmospheres are simulated online in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model II' (GISS GCM II'). With fully coupled chemistry and aerosols, the preindustrial, presentday, and year 2100 global burdens of tropospheric ozone are predicted to be 190, 319, and 519 Tg, respectively. The burdens of sulfate, nitrate, black carbon, and organic carbon are predicted respectively to be 0.32. 0.18, 0.01, 0.33 Tg in preindustrial time, 1.40, 0.48, 0.23, 1.60 Tg in presentday, and 1.37, 1.97, 0.54, 3.31 Tg in year 2100. Anthropogenic O3 is predicted to have a globally and annually averaged present-day forcing of +0.22 W m(sup -2) and year 2100 forcing of +0.57 W m(sup -2) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). Net anthropogenic TOA forcing by internally mixed sulfate, nitrate, organic carbon, and black carbon aerosols is estimated to be virtually zero in the present-day and +0.34 W m(sup -2) in year 2100, whereas it is predicted to be -0.39 W m(sup -2) in present-day and -0.61 W m(sup -2) in year 2100 if the aerosols are externally mixed. Heterogeneous reactions are shown to be important in affecting anthropogenic forcing. When reactions of N2O5, NO3, NO2, and HO2 on aerosols are accounted for, TOA anthropogenic O3 forcing is less by 20-45% in present-day and by 20-32% in year 2100 at mid to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, as compared with values predicted in the absence of heterogeneous gas aerosol reactions. Mineral dust uptake of HNO3 and O3 is shown to have practically no influence on anthropogenic O3 forcing. Heterogeneous reactions of N2Os, NO3, NO2, and HO2 are predicted to have noticeable impacts on anthropogenic aerosol forcing over industrialized areas, leading to 0-2 W m(sup -2) more anthropogenic aerosol cooling in present-day and 2-8 W m(sup -2) more cooling in year 2100 in these areas as compared with forcings calculated in the absence of heterogeneous reactions. Sea salt uptake of SO2 reduces the magnitude of TOA aerosol cooling by 0.5-1 W m(sup -2) over the oceans around 60 N in the present-day and year 2100 scenarios. Near dust sources, mineral dust uptake of SO2 and HNO3 leads to less anthropogenic aerosol cooling by 0.5-1 W m(sup -2) in the present day and 1-2 W m(sup -2) in year 2100.
The quaternary structure and oxygen equilibrium properties of the vascular hemoglobin of the terebellid polychaete, Thelepus crispus Johnson

Abstract 1. 1. The structure and oxygen equilibrium properties of the vascular hemoglobin of Thelepuscrispus have been studied. 2. 2. The pigment has an apparent molecular weight of about 3·3 × 106 and can be dissociated into a submultiple with a molecular weight of about 270,000. 3. 3. A subunit of 16, 000 molecular weight can be obtained by SDS gel electrophoresis or by Sephadex G-200 gel chromatography of the carboxymethylated apohemoglobin in 6 M urea. 4. 4. The amino acid composition of the purified pigment has been determined. 5. 5. T. crispus vascular hemoglobin exhibits a slightly sigmoid oxygen equilibrium curve and shows a Bohr effect between pH 7·0 and 7·5. 6. 6. The structure and oxygen equilibrium properties of this pigment have been determined in both 0·01 M MgCl2 and 0·01 M EDTA between pH 6 and 10. The effect of pH and the presence of either Mg2+ or EDTA on oxygen binding and quaternary structure is different from that observed for the vascular hemoglobin of the closely related terebellid polychaete, Pista pacifica. 7. 7. The structure and oxygen equilibrium properties of the hemoglobins of T. crispus and P. pacifica are compared with each other and with the high molecular weight hemoglobins of other annelid species. 8. 8. The oxygen affinity of the vascular hemoglobin of T. crispus is lower than that of its coelomic cell hemoglobin under all conditions examined. It is possible that oxygen transfer from vascular hemoglobin to coelomic cell hemoglobin occurs in this polychaete.
Photon and electron data bases and their use in radiation transport calculations

Abstract The ENDF/B-VI photon interaction library includes data to describe the interaction of photons with the elements Z = 1–100 over the energy range 10eV–100MeV. This library has been designed to meet the traditional needs of users to model the interaction and transport of primary photons. However, this library contains additional information which, used in a combination with our other data libraries, can be used to perform much more detailed calculations, e.g. emission of secondary fluorescence photons. This paper describes both traditional and more detailed uses of this library.
Structural Studies of Yeast Δ1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate Dehydrogenase (ALDH4A1): Active Site Flexibility and Oligomeric State

The proline catabolic enzyme Δ(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (ALDH4A1) catalyzes the NAD(+)-dependent oxidation of γ-glutamate semialdehyde to l-glutamate. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ALDH4A1 is encoded by the PUT2 gene and known as Put2p. Here we report the steady-state kinetic parameters of the purified recombinant enzyme, two crystal structures of Put2p, and the determination of the oligomeric state and quaternary structure from small-angle X-ray scattering and sedimentation velocity. Using Δ(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate as the substrate, catalytic parameters kcat and Km were determined to be 1.5 s(-1) and 104 μM, respectively, with a catalytic efficiency of 14000 M(-1) s(-1). Although Put2p exhibits the expected aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily fold, a large portion of the active site is disordered in the crystal structure. Electron density for the 23-residue aldehyde substrate-binding loop is absent, implying substantial conformational flexibility in solution. We furthermore report a new crystal form of human ALDH4A1 (42% identical to Put2p) that also shows disorder in this loop. The crystal structures provide evidence of multiple active site conformations in the substrate-free form of the enzyme, which is consistent with a conformational selection mechanism of substrate binding. We also show that Put2p forms a trimer-of-dimers hexamer in solution. This result is unexpected because human ALDH4A1 is dimeric, whereas some bacterial ALDH4A1s are hexameric. Thus, global sequence identity and domain of life are poor predictors of the oligomeric states of ALDH4A1. Mutation of a single Trp residue that forms knob-in-hole interactions across the dimer-dimer interface abrogates hexamer formation, suggesting that this residue is the center of a protein-protein association hot spot.
Cancer fatalities from waterborne radon (Rn-222).

A model of the biokinetics of radon in the human body following ingestion is developed from existing data. Calculations of the probability of cancer fatality from use of radon-laden water in the home then are presented. The pathways of emanation and ingestion are examined and shown to lead to roughly equal risks. The probability of fatal cancer resulting from lifetime use of water at a radon concentration of 1 pCi/L is shown to be 1 {times} 10(-6), with a reasonable range between 2 {times} 10(-7) and 5 {times} 10(-6). The allowed concentration consistent with an excess risk of 10(-4) then is approximately 100 pCi/L, which is exceeded in a significant fraction of U.S. water supplies. The lifetime number of premature deaths due to waterborne radon in the U.S. is estimated to lie between 5000 and 125,000, with a best estimate of 25,000.
A space-time smooth artificial viscosity method for nonlinear conservation laws

We introduce a new methodology for adding localized, space-time smooth, artificial viscosity to nonlinear systems of conservation laws which propagate shock waves, rarefactions, and contact discontinuities, which we call the C-method. We shall focus our attention on the compressible Euler equations in one space dimension. The novel feature of our approach involves the coupling of a linear scalar reaction-diffusion equation to our system of conservation laws, whose solution C ( x , t ) is the coefficient to an additional (and artificial) term added to the flux, which determines the location, localization, and strength of the artificial viscosity. Near shock discontinuities, C ( x , t ) is large and localized, and transitions smoothly in space-time to zero away from discontinuities. Our approach is a provably convergent, spacetime-regularized variant of the original idea of Richtmeyer and Von Neumann, and is provided at the level of the PDE, thus allowing a host of numerical discretization schemes to be employed.We demonstrate the effectiveness of the C-method with three different numerical implementations and apply these to a collection of classical problems: the Sod shock-tube, the Osher-Shu shock-tube, the Woodward-Colella blast wave and the Leblanc shock-tube. First, we use a classical continuous finite-element implementation using second-order discretization in both space and time, FEM-C. Second, we use a simplified WENO scheme within our C-method framework, WENO-C. Third, we use WENO with the Lax-Friedrichs flux together with the C-equation, and call this WENO-LF-C. All three schemes yield higher-order discretization strategies, which provide sharp shock resolution with minimal overshoot and noise, and compare well with higher-order WENO schemes that employ approximate Riemann solvers, outperforming them for the difficult Leblanc shock tube experiment.
Development of Visual Sensorimotor Systems and Their Cognitive Mediation in Autism

Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with strong genetic components. Clinically, it is characterized by impairments in verbal and non-verbal communication and social interactions and the presence of stereotypical behaviors. A wide range of sensorimotor problems have been reported in autism, which include abnormalities in manual motor, postural, and oculomotor control. In this review, we focus on oculomotor impairments as a model system for investigating sensorimotor impairments and their cognitive control in this disorder. Basic aspects of sensorimotor control for saccadic and pursuit eye movements are impaired in this population. Development of visual systems that provide input to sensorimotor systems is also affected, and this may contribute to development of atypical visual sensorimotor behaviors. Cognitive mediation of sensorimotor systems is also impaired in autism. Maturation of brain systems that support cognitive control of eye movements appears to reach a developmental plateau earlier, and as a result, individuals with autism do not achieve the same developmental level of ability and performance in adulthood that is observed in typically developing individuals. Development of visual sensorimotor processing and its cognitive control in autism is heterogeneous, suggesting distinct patterns of atypical brain development in this disorder that may have different genetic etiology and clinical implications.
Factors influencing the locational context of old people's activities.

Individual characteristics and environmental constraints were assessed as influences of where old people usually carry out their daily activities. Data were obtained from structured interviews given to a random sample of 400 persons aged 60 and older living in a middle-class urban community. Respondents selected from 4 possible locations (dwelling, neighborhood, community, outside community) to identify where they usually pursued 13 different activities. Multiple regression analyses revealed that old people who pursued their activities outside their proximate residential environment were more likely to be white, separated-divorced, Jewish, employed, had fewer hearing difficulties, had less likely experienced a decline in health, and had available to them more flexible means of transportation. Results had implications for interpreting the effects of old age and environment on the voluntariness of activity patterns.
Multi-step A/D converters with time-multiplexed comparators

A novel design technique for multistep A/D (analog-to-digital) converters is presented. The technique involves time-multiplexing of the comparators using multiphase nonoverlapping clocks. The basic idea of the design scheme is to compare the sampled analog voltage source at each clock phase. The technique also allows performance tradeoffs between the speed of conversion and the number of comparators used in the system. Some examples illustrating the concept are presented. >
Hydrogen evolution reaction measurements of dealloyed porous NiCu

Porous metals are of interest for their high surface area and potential for enhanced catalytic behavior. Electrodeposited NiCu thin films with a range of compositions were electrochemically dealloyed to selectively remove the Cu component. The film structure, composition, and reactivity of these samples were characterized both before and after the dealloying step using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and electrochemical measurements. The catalytic behavior of the dealloyed porous Ni samples towards the hydrogen evolution reaction was measured and compared to that of the as-deposited samples. The dealloyed samples were generally more reactive than their as-deposited counterparts at low overpotentials, making the dealloying procedure a promising area of exploration for improved hydrogen evolution catalysts.
Cutting Edge: Human FcRL4 and FcRL5 Are Receptors for IgA and IgG

Fc receptor-like (FcRL) proteins are a family of cellular receptors homologous to FcγRI and are predominantly expressed by B cells. They function to costimulate or inhibit BCR signaling through consensus ITAMs and ITIMs; however, the extracellular ligands of these receptors remain unknown or controversial. In this study, we tested the ability of human FcRL proteins to bind Igs and found FcRL4 and FcRL5 to be bona fide Fc receptors. In cellular binding assays, FcRL4 bound efficiently to IgA and FcRL5 binds all IgG isotypes with varied efficiency. Additionally, we generated mAbs capable of specifically blocking these interactions. Given their expression on activated B cells and potential for inhibitory signaling, FcRL4 and FcRL5 are likely to be important for immune complex-dependent human B cell regulation, and they represent novel therapeutic targets for receptor blockade therapies.
Modulation of invasive properties of human glioblastoma cells stably expressing amino-terminal fragment of urokinase-type plasminogen activator

The binding of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) to its receptor (uPAR) on the surface of tumor cells is involved in the activation of proteolytic cascades responsible for the invasiveness of those cells. The diffuse, extensive infiltration of glioblastomas into the surrounding normal brain tissue is believed to rely on modifications of the proteolysis of extracellular matrix components; blocking the interaction between uPA and uPAR might be a suitable approach for inhibiting glioma tumorigenesis. We assessed how expression of an amino-terminal fragment (ATF) of uPA that contains binding site to uPAR affects the invasiveness of SNB19 human glioblastoma cells. SNB19 cells were transfected with an expression plasmid (pcDNA3-ATF) containing a cDNA sequence of ATF-uPA. The resulting ATF-uPA-expressing clones showed markedly less cell adhesion, spreading, and clonogenicity than did control cells. Endogenous ATF expression also significantly decreased the invasive capacity of transfected glioblastoma cells in Matrigel and spheroid-rat brain cell aggregate models. ATF-uPA transfectants were also markedly less invasive than parental SNB19 cells after injection into the brains of nude mice, suggesting that competitive inhibition of the uPA-uPAR interaction on SNB19 cells by means of transfection with ATF cDNA could be a useful therapeutic strategy for inhibiting tumor progression.
Assessing Exposures to Environmental Tobacco Smoke

The combustion of tobacco indoors results in the emission of a wide range of air contaminants that are associated with a variety of acute and chronic health and comfort effects. Exposures to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are assessed for epidemiologic studies and risk assessment and risk management applications. An individual's or population's exposure to ETS can be assessed by direct methods, which employ personal air monitoring and biomarkers, and indirect methods, which utilize various degrees of microenvironmental measurements of spaces, models, and questionnaires in combination with time-activity information. The major issues related to assessing exposures to ETS are summarized and discussed, including the physical-chemical nature of ETS air contaminants, use of proxy air contaminants to represent ETS, use of biomarkers, models for estimating ETS concentrations indoors, and the application of questionnaires.
Dicarbonyl Stress and Atherosclerosis: Is It All RAGE?

Atherosclerotic vascular disease is a major cause of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and a significant driver of health care costs in patients with diabetes. Systemic abnormalities, including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, oxidative stress, accentuated renin-angiotensin system, and tissue inflammation, have been proposed to play a role in mediating accelerated atherosclerosis in diabetes (1). Hyperglycemia not only predicts CV disease risk in individuals without known CV disease or diabetes (2), but atherosclerosis is also quite prevalent in prediabetes (3). Although difficult to achieve, near-normal glycemic control is not typically associated with further reduction in macrovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes (4). Consequently, elucidating mechanisms by which hyperglycemia affects atherosclerosis is necessary to identify novel therapeutic targets. Increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been identified as a common upstream event that mediates the atherogenic effects of hyperglycemia (5). ROS increases the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), augments the expression of the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) and its ligands, activates protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms (primarily PKCβ isoform), and accentuates flux through the hexosamine and polyol pathways (5). Among these, the ligand-RAGE axis appears to play a major role in vascular dysfunction in diabetes. AGEs, S100/calgranulins, and high-mobility group box 1 are principal endogenous ligands for RAGE (6). Persistent activation of RAGE promotes atherosclerosis by activating a diverse array of intracellular signaling pathways that stimulate expression of cytokines, cellular adhesion molecules, growth factors, ROS, and vascular matrix metalloproteinases (6). Diabetes-induced atherosclerosis …
Genomic Diversification in Strains of Rickettsia felis Isolated from Different Arthropods

Rickettsia felis (Alphaproteobacteria: Rickettsiales) is the causative agent of an emerging flea-borne rickettsiosis with worldwide occurrence. Originally described from the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, recent reports have identified R. felis from other flea species, as well as other insects and ticks. This diverse host range for R. felis may indicate an underlying genetic variability associated with host-specific strains. Accordingly, to determine a potential genetic basis for host specialization, we sequenced the genome of R. felis str. LSU-Lb, which is an obligate mutualist of the parthenogenic booklouse Liposcelis bostrychophila (Insecta: Psocoptera). We also sequenced the genome of R. felis str. LSU, the second genome sequence for cat flea-associated strains (cf. R. felis str. URRWXCal2), which are presumably facultative parasites of fleas. Phylogenomics analysis revealed R. felis str. LSU-Lb diverged from the flea-associated strains. Unexpectedly, R. felis str. LSU was found to be divergent from R. felis str. URRWXCal2, despite sharing similar hosts. Although all three R. felis genomes contain the pRF plasmid, R. felis str. LSU-Lb carries an additional unique plasmid, pLbaR (plasmid of L. bostrychophila associated Rickettsia), nearly half of which encodes a unique 23-gene integrative conjugative element. Remarkably, pLbaR also encodes a repeats-in-toxin-like type I secretion system and associated toxin, heretofore unknown from other Rickettsiales genomes, which likely originated from lateral gene transfer with another obligate intracellular parasite of arthropods, Cardinium (Bacteroidetes). Collectively, our study reveals unexpected genomic diversity across three R. felis strains and identifies several diversifying factors that differentiate facultative parasites of fleas from obligate mutualists of booklice.
Complete functors in homology I. Chain maps and endomorphisms

There is a sense in which the homology group HA of a free Abelian chain complex A may be said to be a ‘complete system of invariants’ of A, to within chain equivalence; certainly any graded Abelian group G is isomorphic to HA for a suitable A, and if HA and HB are isomorphic then A and B are chain equivalent. Such a result is useful in showing that it is fruitless to seek other homotopy invariants of A; whatever depends only on the homotopy class of A depends only on HA, so that we can, for instance, predict the existence of a formula giving H(A ⊗ G), to within isomorphism, in terms of HA and G. The theorem on the existence and uniqueness to within chain equivalence of projective resolutions of modules is a variant of the above theorem, more general in one direction and more special in another.
Evidence for supernova injection into the solar nebula and the decoupling of r-process nucleosynthesis

The isotopic composition of our Solar System reflects the blending of materials derived from numerous past nucleosynthetic events, each characterized by a distinct isotopic signature. We show that the isotopic compositions of elements spanning a large mass range in the earliest formed solids in our Solar System, calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs), are uniform, and yet distinct from the average Solar System composition. Relative to younger objects in the Solar System, CAIs contain positive r-process anomalies in isotopes A 140. This fundamental difference in the isotopic character of CAIs around mass 140 necessitates (i) the existence of multiple sources for r-process nucleosynthesis and (ii) the injection of supernova material into a reservoir untapped by CAIs. A scenario of late supernova injection into the protoplanetary disk is consistent with formation of our Solar System in an active star-forming region of the galaxy.
Reward Scheduling for QoS in Cloud Applications

We present a novel QoS scheduling algorithm for multi-tiered storage servers made up of hard disks and SSDs. The work is motivated by the difference in access times for a workload as its SSD hit ratio changes. Our scheme is designed to reward clients according to their runtime behavior, while honoring their static QoS settings including shares (or weights), reservations and limits. A model based on entitlements is developed to describe the reward allocation policy (RAP). Simulation results show the advantages of RAP over conventional proportional share allocation in adapting to dynamically varying workloads. The proposed algorithm allows the client to directly reap the benefits of application performance tuning as if the client is on a dedicated system, addressing a key complaint of clients when moving to a shared infrastructure.
Understanding the Organization of Industrial Ecosystems

Supplementary material is available on the JIE Web site Summary Industrial symbiosis (IS) has been used to describe the physical exchange and shared management of input and output materials by geographically proximate firms. Firms that engage in IS are said to belong to an industrial ecosystem. Symbiosis has been found to be motivated by economic considerations, such as lowering costs for waste disposal, as well as by environmental ones, such as accessing limited water supplies. Communication and trust among managers are thought to play important roles in exchanges; however, empirical studies have not beenpreviously conducted. Thisstudy usedsocial network analysis (SNA) to identify the prevalence of industrial symbiosis linkages in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. The study quantified patterns in various relationships among firms and managers, including formal relations through supply chains, and informal ones through interpersonal interactions. SNA and statistical methods were used to explore how these ties correlate with observed industrial symbiosis activities. IS linkages were found to be less prevalent than product sales among firms and were concentrated among pharmaceutical firms at the core of the regional network. Trust among managers and position in the social hierarchy were found to be correlated with IS but not supply chain links. SNA was useful for examining the organization of different relationships in the industrial ecosystem, but contextual information is still needed to add meaning to its
Knowledge Spillovers, Innovation and Growth

Cohen and Levinthal (1989) introduced the notion of absorptive capacity and demonstrated that knowledge spillovers can induce complementarities in R&D efforts. We show that this idea has rich implications when analysing important aspects of the growth process such as cross-country convergence and divergence, the international co-ordination of climate change policies, and the role of openness in the production of ideas. We also show that the notion of absorptive capacity sets an agenda for new empirical and theoretical analyses of the role of R&D spillovers in innovation and growth.
Modulation of Nonneutralizing HIV-1 gp41 Responses by an MHC-Restricted TH Epitope Overlapping Those of Membrane Proximal External Region Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

A goal of HIV-1 vaccine development is to elicit broadly neutralizing Abs (BnAbs), but current immunization strategies fail to induce BnAbs, and for unknown reasons, often induce nonneutralizing Abs instead. To explore potential host genetic contributions controlling Ab responses to the HIV-1 Envelope, we have used congenic strains to identify a critical role for MHC class II restriction in modulating Ab responses to the membrane proximal external region (MPER) of gp41, a key vaccine target. Immunized H-2d–congenic strains had more rapid, sustained, and elevated MPER+ Ab titers than those bearing other haplotypes, regardless of immunogen, adjuvant, or prime or boost regimen used, including formulations designed to provide T cell help. H-2d–restricted MPER+ serum Ab responses depended on CD4 TH interactions with class II (as revealed in immunized intra–H-2d/b congenic or CD154−/− H-2d strains, and by selective abrogation of MPER restimulated, H-2d–restricted primed splenocytes by class II–blocking Abs), and failed to neutralize HIV-1 in the TZM-b/l neutralization assay, coinciding with lack of specificity for an aspartate residue in the neutralization core of BnAb 2F5. Unexpectedly, H-2d–restricted MPER+ responses functionally mapped to a core TH epitope partially overlapping the 2F5/z13/4E10 BnAb epitopes as well as nonneutralizing B cell–Ab binding residues. We propose that class II restriction contributes to the general heterogeneity of nonneutralizing gp41 responses induced by Envelope. Moreover, the proximity of TH and B cell epitopes in this restriction may have to be considered in redesigning minimal MPER immunogens aimed at exclusively binding BnAb epitopes and triggering MPER+ BnAbs.
Review and Stability Analysis of PLL-Based Interleaving Control of DCM/CCM Boundary Boost PFC Converters

In this paper, a systematic review of phase-locked loop (PLL)-based closed-loop control methods for interleaved discontinuous conduction mode/continuous conduction mode (DCM/CCM) boundary boost power factor correction (PFC) converters is presented. A detailed analysis of the stability of the PLL with instant averaging filter is performed and verified by simulation. The stability of the PLL with instant averaging filter and with RC filter is compared by simulation. Based on the simulation results, it is concluded that the PLL-based closed-loop methods always provide stable operation, unlike the open-loop control methods, where the only method that results in stable operation is the slave synchronization to the turn- on instant of the master with current-mode control. It is also shown that the dynamic response of the PLL-based closed-loop methods with master-slave approach and democratic approach is almost identical. Experimental results obtained on a 300-W, universal input, 400-V output, interleaved DCM/CCM boundary boost PFC prototype circuit with a dedicated controller IC utilizing a democratic, PLL-based closed-loop method are also provided.
Bank Capital and Financial Stability: An Economic Tradeoff or a Faustian Bargain?

Financial crises impose large and persistent social costs, making banking stability an important regulatory goal. This paper provides a review of the central issues related to the role bank capital plays in financial stability and the prudential regulation issues engendered by this centrality. I begin with a description of the views of three distinct groups on bank capital: bankers, regulators and academics. Because social efficiency and financial stability concerns may call for higher capital levels than those that are privately-optimal for banks, regulatory capital requirements become germane. But it is often argued that such requirements may themselves entail various bank-level and social costs. Recognition of these costs means that, while there is broad agreement that banking stability would be enhanced by higher capital levels in banking, there is substantial disagreement in the theoretical literature over whether capital requirements should be significantly higher. The issue thus needs empirical adjudication. The empirical evidence reveals that, in the cross-section of banks, higher capital ratios are associated with higher lending, higher liquidity creation, higher bank values, and higher probabilities of surviving crises. Moreover, increases in capital requirements are met with modest declines in bank lending. While the issues are complex and the evidence does not conclusively settle the issue, the overarching message from the research and recent experience is that higher leverage in banking leads to higher systemic risk and a higher probability of a large government-funded bailout that may cause government debt to spike up and trigger a sovereign debt crisis with devastating social costs. This means that an important goal of capital regulation reform, as well as tax policy, ought to be to increase capital levels in banking, thereby strengthening a form of “private deposit insurance.” The paper discusses the contemporary thinking on these issues, and concludes with an indication of the most compelling open research questions.
Transference of Sr-89 and Ca-45 from Egg Shell to Egg Contents and Embryo

Abstract Driggers and Comar (1949) reported that Ca-45 could be found in the shell of an egg laid 15 minutes after dosing and that 30 to 35 percent of the ingested Ca-45 was present in an egg laid 24 hours after dosing. Driggers et al. (1951) later showed that Ca-45 administered to laying hens could be transferred to the chick by way of the egg with the highest concentration being found in chicks from eggs laid 2 days after administration of the isotope. Nozaki et al. (1954) using the first and second eggs laid by hens within 3 days after oral administration of Ca-45 found that 25 percent of the total amount of calcium in the embryo came from the yolk and 75 percent came from the shell. Edwards and Mraz (1961) reported that Ca-45, Sr-89, and Ba-133 were transferred from the shell to the embryo. The present studies were conducted…
Radiative inverse seesaw mechanism for nonzero neutrino mass

If the canonical seesaw mechanism alone is responsible for neutrino mass, i.e. ${m}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{-}{m}_{D}^{2}/{m}_{N}$, it would be difficult to prove at the TeV energy scale. A new verifiable mechanism of neutrino mass is proposed, using the inverse seesaw, with new physics at the TeV scale, such that ${m}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}\ensuremath{\simeq}{m}_{D}^{2}{ϵ}_{L}/{m}_{N}^{2}$, where ${ϵ}_{L}$ is a two-loop effect. Dark-matter candidates also appear naturally.
Colored Perceptions Racially Distinctive Names and Assessments of Skin Color

Scholars are increasingly employing skin color measures to investigate racial stratification beyond the dimensions of self- or other-classification. Current understandings of the relationship betwe...
Computerization of Recording and Calculating Egg Production with Programming Designed for Scientific Research

Abstract A computerized system for recording and calculating egg production, titled EGGSPERT, was developed to decrease the amount of time required for manual calculation of hen-day production. For 4 wk of production, hard-shelled (HS), soft-shelled (SS), shell-less (SL), SS + SL, and total hen-day egg productions were recorded and calculated both by hand and by the EGGSPERT system for 900 hens divided into 60 experimental units. Both methods of egg production analysis produced similar results with respect to HS, SS, SS + SL, and total hen-day production. However, analysis of SL egg production revealed a small, although significant (P
Experimental determination of the nonlinear shear behavior of fiber-reinforced laminae under impact loading

A procedure is developed for the experimental determination of the nonlinear shear behavior of fiber-reinforced composites by testing angle-ply laminates. It is shown that, for the E glass/epoxy used in this work, the popular ±45 deg specimens fail prematurely due to transverse stresses, thus limiting the range for which the shear stress-strain curve can be obtained. By selecting an appropriate fiber orientation, ±41 deg in the present work, premature failure can be prevented and the nonlinear shear response can be obtained almost to shear failure. The experimental program involved four groups of tensile specimens (±30 deg, ±35 deg ±41 deg and ±45 deg) tested under impact conditions using a drop weight testing machine. Analysis was performed using classical plate theory and an incremental loading procedure. Some problems involved in conducting dynamic tests are discussed and a solution is presented.
Newton's Identities

The usual developments of Newton's identities, the relation between the elementary symmetric functions of xl, x2, .. ., xn and the sums of the powers of the xi, are unsatisfactory, for they all involve a trick of one kind or another. In this note we show that with the proper notation, the derivation of Newton's identities is both natural and simple. The elementary symmetric functions of xl, .. ., xn are Sk= E Xl x1x* x Xik for k = 1, 2, ... ,n, 1 <'I <i2 < . . 1 <ik <n and the Newton functions are:
Vitamin D, calcium, and cardiovascular mortality: a perspective from a plenary lecture given at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

ABSTRACT Objective To examine data showing associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and calcium intake and cardiovascular mortality. Methods The articles reviewed include those published from 1992-2011 derived from search engines (PubMed, Scopus, Medscape) using the following search terms: vitamin D, calcium, cardiovascular events, cardiovascular mortality, all-cause mortality, vascular calcification, chronic kidney disease, renal stones, and hypercalci- uria. Because these articles were not weighted (graded) on the level of evidence, this review reflects my own perspective on the data and how they should be applied to clinical management. Results For skeletal health, vitamin D and calcium are both needed to ensure proper skeletal growth (modeling) and repair (remodeling). Nutritional deficiencies of either vitamin D or calcium may lead to a spectrum of metabolic bone disorders. Excessive consumption of either nutrient has been linked to a variety of medical disorders, such as hypercalcemia or renal stones. There have also been associations between vitamin D or calcium intake and cardiovascular disease. However, neither of these associations have established evidence nor known causality for increasing cardiovascular risk or all-cause mortality in patients with creatinine clearances greater than 60 mL/ min. In patients with more severe chronic kidney disease, stronger data link excess calcium (or phosphorus) intake and increase in vascular calcification, but not mortality. The safe upper limit for vitamin D intake is at least 4000 IU daily and probably 10 000 IU daily; for calcium, the safe upper limit is between 2000 and 3000 mg daily. Conclusions While no solid scientific evidence validates that serum vitamin D levels between 15 and 70 ng/ mL are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk, stronger but inconsistent evidence shows an association between calcium supplementation greater than 500 mg daily and an increase in cardiovascular disease risk. Most professional societies suggest that replacement levels of these nutrients be personalized with the goal of reaching a 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration between 30 and 50 ng/ mL and a calcium intake of 1200 mg daily. (Endocr Pract. 2011;17:798-806)
Effect of rhizobia inoculation, N and P supply on Orobanche foetida parasitising faba bean (Vicia faba minor) under field conditions

ABSTRACTOrobanche foetida is a chlorophyll-lacking holoparasite that subsists on the roots of plants and causes significant damage to the culture of some leguminous plants particularly faba bean. To evaluate the effect of rhizobia as a biological agent and the effect of nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorus (P) to control O. foetida parasitism in faba bean (Vicia faba minor), a trial was conducted in infested and non-infested fields with O. foetida in the Oued Beja Agricultural Experimental Unit, Tunisia. This field trial was performed during two consecutive cropping seasons using the susceptible cv. Badi, two selected rhizobia strains (Bj1 and Mat) and N combined or not with P. Mat strain showed an antagonistic effect which displayed a parasitism index two-fold lower than the control and carried two times less of emerged parasite spikes at crop maturity. Seed-yield losses caused by O. foetida infestation were very high and reached 95% for the control. Despite this high reduction, faba bean inoculated with Mat s...
Comparison of edible oil intakes among residents in Guangdong between 2002 and 2012

Objective To study the edible oil intakes among Guangdong residents between 2002 and 2012 and to provide evidence for developing strategies to intervene their intake of edible oil. Methods Using multi-stage stratified cluster sampling,8 counties were selected from 1 large city,1 medium-sized and small city and 6 rural areas in 2002; 6 resident / village committees were randomly selected in each county and 30 households were then randomly sampled from each resident / village committee. Seven counties were selected from 2 large cities,3 medium-sized and small cities and 2 rural areas; 6 resident / village committees were randomly selected in each county and 30 households were then randomly sampled from each resident / village committee in 2012. Family members aged 2 years and over were interviewed adopting the method of questionnaires and dietary surveys. Contents of the questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics and economic income of the participants. The gravimetric method was used for dietary surveys. Data of the surveys were analyzed by using descriptive epidemiological method. Results A total of 4 801 residents( 2 408 males and 2 394 females) and 3 222 residents( 1 466 males and 1 756 females) aged 2 years and over were investigated in 2002 and 2012,respectively. The average daily edible oil intakes were 31. 2,33. 1,and 33. 8 g in 2002,and 43. 7,32. 1,and 32. 0 g in 2012 for residents in large, medium-sized and small cities,and rural areas in Guangdong,respectively. Percentages of edible oil daily intake per person were 21. 5%( 117 /544),24. 8%( 129 /521),and 39. 7%( 1 483 /3 736) in 2002,and 35. 1%( 279 /795),24. 8%( 374 /1 509),and 29. 1%( 267 /918) in 2012,respectively,for residents in large,medium-sized and small cities,and rural areas,exceeding the Recommended Daily Allowances( RDA) of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents. The percentage of residents whose edible oil intakes exceeded RDA to the total number of survey population was significantly decreased from 36. 0%( 1 729/4 801) in 2002 to 28. 6%( 920/3 222) in 2012( P 0. 01). The differences of percentages exceeding RDA for edible oil intakes were statistically significant in three areas in 2002( P 0. 01),of which the percentage in rural areas was all higher than the ones in the large,medium-sized and small cities( all P 0. 01). The differences of percentages exceeding RDA for edible oil intakes were statistically significant in three areas in 2012( P 0. 01),of which the percentage in large cities was higher than the ones in medium-sized and small cities and rural areas( all P 0. 01). Conclusion Compared with 2002,the percentage of exceeding RDA for edible oil intakes was decreased in 2012. However,the health education still needs to be strengthened.
Confederate Bushwhacker: Mark Twain in the Shadow of the Civil War. By Jerome Loving. (Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2013. Pp. xi, 243. $27.95.)

From the very beginning, the author of this study is honest with readers: This is not a feature‐length treatment of Samuel Langhorne Clemens's life; rather, it is a microbiography of Clemens, alias...
National Character and Transnational Professionalism

Delving into the writings of British and German soldiers, one constant uniting all periods and authors is that commentaries regarding their foreign allies are almost always couched in terms of their national or ethnic origin. Indeed, whenever descriptions are made of allied or auxiliary forces, be they regiments, armies or merely one or a handful of individuals, they are simply referred to as a collective: as ‘Germans’ or ‘English’. The usage of this language reveals the degree to which men in these multinational armies saw the respective components with regard to their nationality, and in doing so used terms that carried with them not only an indication of their national origin, but a collection of characterizations and stereotypes prevalent in popular discourse. This chapter seeks to examine some of these popular conceptions, with the goal of providing a background and a point of comparison for the personal writings and opinions of soldier-authors. The focus here is on stereotypes and, particularly, the discourse concerning ‘national character’, a term common among the writings of soldiers through which their accounts of foreign soldiery were often filtered and which entailed a set of theories about a polity’s collective psychology and innate traits. This emphasis on national character is relevant to the entire period under examination, but gained more value, and greater emphasis at the beginning of the nineteenth century with the proliferation of nationalism in Western Europe.
Der Mensch als Fahrer

Um die im Zuge der Automatisierung immer komplexer werdende und veranderte Mensch-Fahrzeug-Interaktion besser deuten zu konnen, werden nachfolgend die visuellen, kognitiven und motorischen Prozesse der manuellen Fahrzeugfuhrung naher betrachtet. Hauptbestandteile sind dabei die Einflussfaktoren fur ein adaquates Fahrerverhalten, die Informationsaufnahme (Abschnitt 2.1.1), die Informationsverarbeitung (Abschnitt 2.1.2) sowie die Uberfuhrung der Informationen in eine Handlung (Abschnitt 2.1.3). In dieser Darstellung wird sich auf die manuelle Fahrt konzentriert. Der Ubertrag auf die veranderten Aufgaben des Fahrers bei der Interaktion mit einem teilautomatisierten System wird in Kapitel 4 vorgenommen.
El fetiche etnográfico de Michael Taussig

El antropologo Michael Taussig ha producido una gran cantidad de trabajo etnografico sobre America Latina en el que toma por objeto la universalidad de la cultura burguesa y en el que, al reorientar la mirada del etnografo hacia los elementos embriagantes y orgiasticos de la vida, atenua las lineas que dividen ciencia y arte. En este ensayo tengo la intencion de mostrar lo siguiente: 1) que sus etnografias sobre magia, violencia y el Estado, estan enraizadas en su priorizacion del mundo fenomenologico y en una concepcion materialista en deuda con la teoria estetica alemana del siglo XIX y con la antropologia especulativa de Karl Marx y Walter Benjamin; 2) que su proyecto etnografico no consiste en la eliminacion de la ciencia del ambito de la etnografia, sino en disminuir el papel de la explicacion en favor de una forma de escritura que, como el arte, trabaja para refundar las imagenes del mundo
Internal Body Temperatures of an Overwintering Adult Terrapene carolina (Eastern Box Turtle)

Abstract Terrapene carolina (Eastern Box Turtle) is the only turtle species in which adults are known to be tolerant of freezing. We report the first systematically collected data on internal body temperatures of an overwintering Eastern Box Turtle. Despite nearby air temperatures as low as -21.8 °C, this turtle probably supercooled rather than froze. Snow cover, thermal inertia, and the insulating effects of its refugium's substrate may have protected this turtle from the very cold conditions.
Increased stream discharge after the 3 September 2016 Mw 5.8 Pawnee, Oklahoma earthquake

Earthquakes influence hydrogeological processes and properties in Earth's crust, some of which affect surface waters. We document increased discharge in a stream after the 3 September 2016 Mw 5.8 earthquake near Pawnee, Oklahoma, an event likely induced by underground wastewater disposal. Discharge increased by an order of magnitude and remained elevated until the change was obscured by rain 1 week later. Given the earthquake magnitude and distance from the stream, by comparison with previous examples of responses to earthquakes, increased discharge after this earthquake is expected. While the mechanism increasing discharge cannot be confirmed, the observations require changes in physical properties of the subsurface. Fluid injection may thus influence hydrogeological properties of shallow groundwater systems and aquifers indirectly by inducing seismicity, if the induced seismic events are large enough.
Persistent Carotid-Basilar and Carotid-Vertebral Anastomoses

Carotid-basilar and carotid-vertebral anastomoses are remnants of the early fetal vasculature, in which four paired, presegmental arteries are seen as early as 6 weeks gestational age, when the embryo is 4–5 mm in size. These arteries are the trigeminal, otic, hypoglossal, and proatlantal intersegmental arteries (in order of anterior-posterior or rostral-caudal location, depending on gestational age and named by adjacent structures). As the bilateral, posteriorly located longitudinal neural arteries regress and join together to form the basilar artery, the lack of regression of these presegmental arteries leads to carotid-basilar anastomoses (persistent trigeminal, otic and hypoglossal arteries) or carotid-vertebral anastomoses (persistent proatlantal intersegmental artery). Together, these variants have an overall incidence of about 0.1–1.0 % of the population, although carotid-vertebral anastomoses are much rarer, occurring in less than 0.1 % of the population.
A Brief History of the Public Good

At the moment, the viability of “the public good,” which has a long history in America, is being fiercely contested. Neoliberal thinkers have challenged the very idea of a public good—especially as a concept independent of economic considerations. Following the work of economist Gary Becker on human capital, the civic and moral benefits traditionally associated with higher education and a liberal arts education have also been called into question. In this chapter, we briefly survey the history of this important American idea and map its journey into current debates about public policy, higher education, and the community college.