cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
African intellectuals in the belly of the beast: Migration, identity and the politics of African intellectuals in the North

Abstract This paper examines the ‘double consciousness’ of black African intellectual migrants in the North. It argues that the migrant is forced to come to terms with Africanite for the first time in the North. This condition of Africanite is particularly poignant for intellectual migrant who must negotiate new identities that can no longer depend on the security of nationality and ethnicity. This dilemma of being — not exactly African but not Afro-European or African-American — is the peculiar challenge of migrant African scholars. The resolution of this identity crisis is a political act that manifests itself in the lives and work of academics producing three ‘types’ of migrant intellectuals: the comprador intelligentsia, the postcolonial critics and the progressive exiles. This paper examines each of these categories and argues that we can best understand the crisis by drawing on W.E.B. DuBois' (1903) theory of ‘double consciousness.’ It is a particular sensation, this double consciousness, this sense...
Test Application for Analog/RF Circuits With Low Computational Burden

In this paper, we propose an adaptive test strategy that tailors the test sequence with respect to the properties of each individual instance of a circuit. Reducing the test set by analyzing the dropout patterns during characterization and eliminating the unnecessary tests has always been the approach for high volume production in the analog domain. However, once determined, the test set remains typically fixed for all devices. We propose to exploit the statistical diversity of the manufactured devices and adaptively eliminate tests that are determined to be unnecessary based on information obtained on the circuit under test. Test time information is incorporated in the method to yield short test time. The proposed methodology is computationally efficient and imposes very little overhead on the tester. We compare our results with other similar specification-based test reduction techniques for a low noise amplifier (LNA) circuit and an analog industrial circuit. Results show 85% test quality improvement for the same test time or 24% test time reduction for the same test quality for the LNA circuit. Moreover, near zero defective parts per million is achieved for the industrial circuit.
Dynamically Generating Policy Compliant Dialogues for Physical Access Control

Abstract We develop an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that has a verbal dialog with potential entrants to secured buildings to permit legitimate people. Our system dynamically generates these dialogs from physical access control policies. Contents, number nor the sequence of questions are pre-programmed, but dynamically generated based on the policy and the provided answers. We use Item Response Theory (IRT) to generate a non-repeating, yet a minimal sequence of questions so that all permitted entrants would satisfy an acceptable level of competence and accuracy estimation that protects against the exposure of questions generated from policies with large number of rules.
Hydrates, oil seepage, and chemosynthetic ecosystems on the Gulf of Mexico slope

The northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope has been the site of a number of recent discoveries that may dramatically alter our understanding of biological and chemical processes on the continental slope. The Geochemical and Environmental Research Group at Texas A&M University reported in Science last year (vol. 225, p. 409, 1984) the first occurrence of thermogenic gas hydrates in deep ocean sediments. The hydrate discovery sites were located at water depths of 530-560 m on the Louisiana slope. These hydrates, obtained by piston coring, ranged in size from minute crystals to objects several centimeters in diameter and were composed of methane through butane hydrocarbon gases. The hydrates were often dispersed in carbonate rubble within the cores and were distributed from the top of the core to a sediment depth of at least several meters.
Age, Duration of Mechanical Ventilation, and Outcomes of Patients Who Are Critically Ill

Background Age and duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) are strongly associated with mortality and hospital discharge disposition. Methods Electronic administrative records from a 425-bed community teaching hospital were obtained for 9,912 patients who were admitted to hospital ICUs between 2003 and 2008. Risk estimates of age and duration of MV for in-hospital mortality and discharge to home vs extended-care facilities (ECFs) also were obtained. Results Of 9,912 patients, 37 were discharged to hospice care, and 668 were 65 years and as the duration of MV increased. Although only 11.7% of patients 85 years of age who had received MV for > 7 days. For patients requiring MV for ≥ 7 days, 65 years and duration of MV remained significantly associated with outcomes, even after adjustment for hospital discharge diagnoses (Charlson scores). Conclusions This study suggests that age and duration of MV are strongly associated with mortality and posthospital disposition. If confirmed, the simple combination of age and duration of MV provides prognostic information that could be used with trajectory of illness and in the context of patients' values to inform end-of-life discussions with patients or their surrogates during a trial of critical care.
Understanding the Motivational Role of Affect: Life-span Research from an Attributional Perspective

Abstract A subset of emotions that includes pride, gratitude, guilt, anger, and sympathy are elicited by specific causal ascriptions. In addition, these emotions give rise to distinct behaviours. In this article, two experiments were discussed that examine the attributional antecedents and the behavioural consequences of the five affects listed above. The research participants ranged in age from 5 to 95, so that changes throughout the life span could be examined. Systematic associations as well as developmental trends were found. The picture of the elderly that emerged was one of kindness and altriuism: Pity and helping increased throughout the life span, whereas anger decreased. In addition, relations between attributions, emotions, and judged behaviour did not decrease among the very elderly.
Political Pluralism in Morocco

Societies are generally neither monolithic nor homogeneous; every political system must deal with the problem of pluralism in some way. But political systems tend to be organized hierarchically, with power and authority concentrated at the top. The confrontation of social pluralism and political concentration can well give rise to tensions, since centtical structure itself, as factions form on the bases of personalities, programmes and interests. Factions can exist within a single organizational or institutional framework, or they can be reflected in competing patties, checking and balancing institutions, and separated powers. The single-party regime has often become a familiar way of containing these tensions and factions in developing countries, particularly in Africa, and the existence of many African single-party regimes has led to efforts to discover the common elements behind the common phenomenon. The purpose of this study is not to challenge these explanations, but to look more broadly into the nature of interests, factions and power in developing polities, suggesting a model of political development that puts both unipartism and political pluralism in their place. The question to be answered in relation to Morocco, becomes not: Why did the Istiqlal not become a single party? or even: Why did the divided nationalist movement not unite? but rather: How have the inevitable pressures for pluralization affected the Moroccan political system?
Hip pain in an adolescent

We have described a case of osteomyelitis of the ischium with extension into the adjacent soft tissues and abscess formation. Diagnosis and treatment were initially delayed due to the assumption that edema in the thigh muscles seen on initial MRI represented polymyositis. Subsequent radiographs demonstrated a destructive lesion containing a sequestrum within the ischium, indicative of osteomyelitis. It was, however, the MRI imaging that dramatically demonstrated the full extent of the complicating abscess which extended downward to mid-thigh and upward under the gluteal muscles almost to the top of the iliac crest. This proved to be an invaluable guide for the surgeon.
Dimensions of Poverty and Health Outcomes Among People Living with HIV Infection: Limited Resources and Competing Needs

HIV infection is concentrated in populations living in poverty. We examined the overlapping and independent effects of multiple poverty indicators on HIV-related health status. Because substance use can create competing survival needs when resources are limited, we also sought to objectively measure expenditures on food relative to alcohol and tobacco products. To achieve these aims, 459 men and 212 women living with HIV infection in Atlanta, GA completed measures of socio-demographic and heath characteristics as well as multiple indicators of poverty including housing stability, transportation, food insecurity, and substance use. Participants were given a $30 grocery gift card for their participation and we collected receipts which were coded for alcohol (beer, wine, liquors) and tobacco purchases. Results showed that participants with unsuppressed HIV replication were significantly more likely to experience multiple indicators of poverty. In addition, one in four participants purchased alcohol or tobacco products with their gift cards, with as much as one-fourth of money spent on these products. A multivariable logistic regression model showed that food insecurity was independently associated with unsuppressed HIV, and purchasing alcohol or tobacco products did not moderate this association. Results confirm previous research to show the primacy of food insecurity in relation to HIV-related health outcomes. Competing survival needs, including addictive substances, should be addressed in programs that aim to alleviate poverty to enhance the health and well-being of people with HIV infection.
Posetic quantitative superstructure/activity relationships (QSSARs) for chlorobenzenes.

As a result of the widespread industrial use of polychlorinated hydrocarbons, they have accumulated in nearly all types of environmental compartments, especially in aquatic systems. Particularly, chloroaromatics are among the most undesirable industrial effluents because of their persistence and toxicity. To predict chlorobenzene (CB) toxicities, we make use of a novel scheme that looks beyond simple molecular structure to the manner in which such a structure embeds in an overall reaction network. Thence, a resultant modeling gives a quantitative superstructure/activity relationship (QSSAR) with the (chloro-substitution) reaction network viewed mathematically as a partially ordered set (or poset). Different numerical fittings to the overall poset lead to different QSSAR models, of which we investigate three: average poset, cluster expansion, and splinoid poset QSSAR models for the CBs' toxicities against various species (Poecilia reticulata, Pimephales promelas, Daphnia magna, Rana japonica, etc). Excell...
μ-Opioid Inhibition of Ca2+ Currents and Secretion in Isolated Terminals of the Neurohypophysis Occurs via Ryanodine-Sensitive Ca2+ Stores

μ-Opioid agonists have no effect on calcium currents (ICa) in neurohypophysial terminals when recorded using the classic whole-cell patch-clamp configuration. However, μ-opioid receptor (MOR)-mediated inhibition of ICa is reliably demonstrated using the perforated-patch configuration. This suggests that the MOR-signaling pathway is sensitive to intraterminal dialysis and is therefore mediated by a readily diffusible second messenger. Using the perforated patch-clamp technique and ratio-calcium-imaging methods, we describe a diffusible second messenger pathway stimulated by the MOR that inhibits voltage-gated calcium channels in isolated terminals from the rat neurohypophysis (NH). Our results show a rise in basal intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) in response to application of [d-Ala2-N-Me-Phe4,Gly5-ol]-Enkephalin (DAMGO), a MOR agonist, that is blocked by d-Phe-Cys-Tyr-d-Trp-Orn-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2 (CTOP), a MOR antagonist. Buffering DAMGO-induced changes in [Ca2+]i with BAPTA-AM completely blocked the inhibition of both ICa and high-K+-induced rises in [Ca2+]i due to MOR activation, but had no effect on κ-opioid receptor (KOR)-mediated inhibition. Given the presence of ryanodine-sensitive stores in isolated terminals, we tested 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine diphosphate ribose (8Br-cADPr), a competitive inhibitor of cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPr) signaling that partially relieves DAMGO inhibition of ICa and completely relieves MOR-mediated inhibition of high-K+-induced and DAMGO-induced rises in [Ca2+]i. Furthermore, antagonist concentrations of ryanodine completely blocked MOR-induced increases in [Ca2+]i and inhibition of ICa and high-K+-induced rises in [Ca2+]i while not affecting KOR-mediated inhibition. Antagonist concentrations of ryanodine also blocked MOR-mediated inhibition of electrically-evoked increases in capacitance. These results strongly suggest that a key diffusible second messenger mediating the MOR-signaling pathway in NH terminals is [Ca2+]i released by cADPr from ryanodine-sensitive stores.
Solvent Effects on the Conformational Preferences of Serotonin: Serotonin−(H2O)n, n = 1,2

Neutral serotonin−(H2O)n clusters with n = 1,2 have been studied under jet-cooled conditions using a combination of resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI), UV−UV hole-burning (UVHB), and resonant ion-dip infrared (RIDIR) spectroscopy. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, SERO) is a close analogue of tryptamine, differing by the addition of an OH substituent in the 5-position on the indole ring, but sharing the same ethylamine side chain in the 3-position. Three conformational isomers of SERO−(H2O)1 were observed via UVHB, with S0−S1 origins at 32 671 (A), 32 454 (B), and 32 188 cm−1 (C). RIDIR spectroscopy provided infrared spectra in the hydride stretch region that reflected the hydrogen-bonding arrangement of each conformer. Two of the three SERO−(H2O)1 conformers have RIDIR spectra nearly identical to that of the only observed conformer of tryptamine−(H2O)1, differing only in the orientation of the 5-OH group (syn vs anti). In this structure, the H2O molecule acts as H-bond donor to the NH2 group on the ethy...
Evolving concepts: the negative effect of minimal hepatic encephalopathy and role for prophylaxis in patients with cirrhosis

Abstract Background Hepatic encephalopathy (HE), which may be categorized as minimal or overt, is a serious and progressive neuropsychiatric condition that occurs in patients with liver disease or portosystemic shunting. Overt HE (OHE) presents as a wide spectrum of clinical signs and symptoms, ranging in severity from mild confusion to life-threatening coma. Minimal HE (MHE) is a more subtle form of the condition; it is characterized by deficits in cognitive function in patients with a normal clinical examination. Objective The purpose was to review the effect of MHE on patients and caregivers, as well as its currently available diagnostic and treatment options. Methods A MEDLINE search of published diagnostic assessments, clinical trials, and guidelines from 1985 to 2012 were reviewed and analyzed to assess the potential effect of MHE in the clinical practice setting. Results Accumulating evidence suggests that MHE has a substantial negative effect on patient quality of life, particularly in activities that require attention, motor skills, and visuospatial ability. Because MHE lacks obvious clinical signs, specialized testing is required for diagnosis, although there is no consensus on the most appropriate assessment tools or treatment algorithms. Compounds derived from bacterial activities in the gut can cause neurochemical changes in the brain. These gut-derived toxins (eg, ammonia, benzodiazepine-like substances) are implicated in the pathophysiology of OHE. In patients with liver disease or portosystemic shunting, these toxins are inefficiently detoxified, accumulate in the blood, cross the blood-brain barrier, and result in abnormalities such as altered neurotransmission, astrocyte swelling, and impaired energy metabolism. Therefore, treatments have focused on toxin removal and the management of gut flora levels. Several studies have indicated that probiotics, nonabsorbable disaccharides, and nonsystemic antibiotics can all be effective in improving the symptoms of MHE. Furthermore, prophylaxis for MHE in patients with cirrhosis could serve to improve patient quality of life while preventing its transition to OHE. Conclusions Although MHE detection and treatment is not currently the standard of care, several therapies have been reported to improve cognitive function and quality of life. Interest is increasing in the proactive diagnosis and management of MHE in the clinical practice setting. However, research is required to determine the conditions under which the putative benefits of prophylactic MHE therapy outweigh the costs.
In Vitro Studies on the Conversion of Carotene to Vitamin A in Dairy Calves

Summary 1.Data obtained from the in vitro incubation of small intestine of dairy calves with a colloidal carotene solution indicate that the small intestine is a site of conversion of carotene to vitamin A. 2.The incubation of minced liver tissue with a colloidal carotene solution resulted in a conversion of carotene to vitamin A. 3.Conversion of carotene to vitamin A apparently is not a function of blood plasma.
The effects of hydrostatic pressure on A1 adenosine receptor signal transduction in brain membranes of two congeneric marine fishes

Summary To investigate the effects of deep-sea temperatures and hydrostatic pressures on transmembrane signal transduction, the Ax adenosine receptor/inhibitory G protein/adenylyl cyclase complex was studied in brain membranes from two congeneric marine fishes that live at different depths. These scorpaenid species, Sebastolobus alascanus and S. altivelis, have been used as a model system to study adaptations to the deep sea. At 5°C and atmospheric pressure the basal adenylyl cyclase activities of the two species are similar. The inhibition of adenylyl cyclase by the Ax adenosine receptor-specific agonist, A^-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA), was dependent on GTP. The IC50 values for inhibition of adenylyl cyclase by CPA were2.0±1.14/imoll~ 1 and 1.6±1.06forS. alascanus and S. altivelis, respectively. The Ax adenosine receptor antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-l,3-dipropylxanthine reversed the CPA-induced inhibition of adenylyl cyclase in a concentrationdependent manner. Brain membranes prepared from the Sebastolobus species incubated at 48.1 MPa (0.1MPa = l atmosphere) and 5°C for 2.5 h did not lose basal adenylyl cyclase activity or sensitivity to inhibition by CPA when assayed at atmospheric pressure. In contrast, rat brain membranes lost 59 % of their activity under these conditions. At atmospheric pressure, the Km values of 2-deoxy-ATP were identical for the Sebastolobus species adenylyl cyclases. Increased pressure increased the Km values in both species. However, the Km of 2-deoxy-ATP was less sensitive to pressure for the enzyme from the deeper-living S. altivelis. Basal adenylyl cyclase activity and the inhibitory effect of lOO/imoll" 1 CPA were assayed at 0.1, 13.7 and 41.2MPa. Increased pressure inhibited basal adenylyl
Generating customized text and graphics in the COMET explanation testbed

It is shown how COMET, a system that uses natural language and graphics generation components to produce the text and pictures of its explanations dynamically, can create a variety of different explanations to explain the same concepts, and thus better meets the needs of different users. The authors focus on four ways in which COMET produces different explanations for the same concepts, describing how it is influenced by the plan containing the concept, by user background knowledge, by previous dialogue, and by interactive exploration of an explanation. >
Bacterial community structure and functional contributions to emergence of health or necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants

Preterm infants represent a unique patient population that is born functionally immature and must accomplish development under the influence of a hospital environment. Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is an inflammatory intestinal disorder affecting preterm infants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the progression of intestinal microbiota community development between preterm infants who remained healthy compared to preterm infants who developed NEC. Weekly fecal samples from ten preterm infants, five with NEC and five matched healthy controls were obtained. Bacterial DNA from individual fecal samples was subjected to sequencing of 16S rRNA-based inventories using the 454 GS-FLX platform. Fecal samples from control infants demonstrated a temporal pattern in their microbiota, which converged toward that of a healthy full term breast-fed infant. Microbiota development in NEC patients diverged from controls beginning three weeks prior to diagnosis. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was performed to identify functional differences in the respective microbiota of fecal samples from a set of twins in which one twin developed NEC and one did not. The majority of the differentially abundant genes in the NEC patient were associated with carbohydrate metabolism and mapped to members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. This may indicate an adaptation of the community to an altered profile of substrate availability for specific members as a first step towards the development of NEC. We propose that the microbial communities as a whole may metabolize milk differently, resulting in differential substrate availability for specific microbial groups. Additional differentially represented gene sets of interest were related to antibiotic resistance and vitamin biosynthesis. Our results suggest that there is a temporal component to microbiome development in healthy preterm infants. Thus, bacteriotherapy for the treatment or prevention of NEC must consider this temporal component of the microbial community in addition to its taxonomic composition and functional content.
Automated cable detection in sonar imagery

The classical paradigm of line and curve detection in images, as prescribed by the Hough transform, breaks down in cluttered and noisy imagery. In this paper we present an "upgraded" and ultimately more robust approach to line detection in images. The classical approach to line detection in imagery is low-pass filtering, followed by edge detection, followed by the application of the Hough transform. Peaks in the Hough transform correspond to straight line segments in the image. In our approach we replace low pass filtering by anisotropic diffusion; we replace edge detection by phase analysis of frequency components; and finally, lines corresponding to peaks in the Hough transform are statistically analyzed to reveal the most prominent and likely line segments (especially if the line thickness is known a priori) in the context of sampling distributions. The technique is demonstrated on real and synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) imagery.
Predicting change impact from logical models

To improve the ability of predicting the impact scope of a given change, we present two approaches applicable to the maintenance of object-oriented software systems. Our first approach exclusively uses a logical model extracted from UML relations among classes, and our other, hybrid approach additionally considers information mined from version histories. Using the open source Hadoop system, we evaluate our approaches by comparing our impact predictions with predictions generated using existing data mining techniques, and with actual change sets obtained from bug reports. We show that both our approaches produce better predictions when the system is immature and the version history is not well-established, and our hybrid approach produces comparable results with data mining as the system evolves.
Predicting aqueous free energies of solvation as functions of temperature.

This work introduces a model, solvation model 6 with temperature dependence (SM6T), to predict the temperature dependence of aqueous free energies of solvation for compounds containing H, C, and O in the range 273−373 K. In particular, we extend solvation model 6 (SM6), which was previously developed (Kelly, C. P.; Cramer, C. J.; Truhlar, D. G. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2005, 1, 1133) for predicting aqueous free energies of solvation at 298 K, to predict the variation of the free energy of solvation relative to 298 K. Also, we describe the database of experimental aqueous free energies of solvation for compounds containing H, C, and O that was used to parametrize and test the new model. SM6T partitions the temperature dependence of the free energy of solvation into two components: the temperature dependence of the bulk electrostatic contribution to the free energy of solvation, which is computed using the generalized Born equation, and the temperature dependence of first-solvation-shell effects which is mo...
Feasability problems in transferring large reactive power over the large distances

In this paper an attempt is made to formulate potential problems in the operation of large electric power systems under the changing strategies currently taking place. The system operates at the conditions for which it was not originally designed and the control actions are needed to compensate for this factor. If the normal operating conditions are such that large reactive power is transferred over the large distances, any unplanned event (line, generator, load outage) could lead the system to severe voltage problems. Control means for preventing this from happening are illustrated on two system examples.
Hysteresis models: non-linear magnetism on length scales from the atomistic to the macroscopic

When materials are exposed to high levels of external magnetic field, the response of materials eventually extends beyond the simple linear regime. Under these conditions it is found that the change in response of the materials is no longer reversible. These phenomena are well documented in the experimental literature. However, the theoretical non-linear description of the response of materials is only at a very early stage of development compared to with the low amplitude linear/reversible model theories. High performance computing is enabling researchers to model magnetic devices at smaller and smaller length scales, while at the same time accurate first principles calculations of magnetic properties now extend to systems involving thousands of atoms. The two different approaches, continuum versus discrete, are approaching each other at the mesoscopic length scales. The lecture will discuss some of the model theories that have been developed to describe the properties of magnetic materials. Beginning with first principles theories, the lecture will then trace the development of model theories at increasing length scales through micromagnetics, macroscopic Preisach, domain rotational models and phenomenological models of domain wall motion such as the stochastic process model.
Medial temporal lobe contributions to cued retrieval of items and contexts.

Several models have proposed that different regions of the medial temporal lobes contribute to different aspects of episodic memory. For instance, according to one view, the perirhinal cortex represents specific items, parahippocampal cortex represents information regarding the context in which these items were encountered, and the hippocampus represents item–context bindings. Here, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test a specific prediction of this model—namely, that successful retrieval of items from context cues will elicit perirhinal recruitment and that successful retrieval of contexts from item cues will elicit parahippocampal cortex recruitment. Retrieval of the bound representation in either case was expected to elicit hippocampal engagement. To test these predictions, we had participants study several item–context pairs (i.e., pictures of objects and scenes, respectively), and then had them attempt to recall items from associated context cues and contexts from associated item cues during a scanned retrieval session. Results based on both univariate and multivariate analyses confirmed a role for hippocampus in content-general relational memory retrieval, and a role for parahippocampal cortex in successful retrieval of contexts from item cues. However, we also found that activity differences in perirhinal cortex were correlated with successful cued recall for both items and contexts. These findings provide partial support for the above predictions and are discussed with respect to several models of medial temporal lobe function.
Constraint-based generalization: learning game-playing plans from single examples

Constraint-based Generalization is a technique for deducing generalizations from a single example. We show how this technique can be used for learning tactical combinations in games and discuss an implementation which learns forced wins in tic-tac-toe, go-moku, and chess.
Photocaged permeability: a new strategy for controlled drug release

Light is used to release a drug from a cell impermeable small molecule, uncloaking its cytotoxic effect on cancer cells.
Sedimentology and geochemistry of Archean silica granules

The production of biogenic silica has dominated the marine silica cycle since early Paleozoic time, drawing down the concentration of dissolved silica in modern seawater to a few parts per million (ppm). Prior to the biological innovation of the first silica biomineralizing organisms in late Proterozoic time, inputs of silica into Precambrian seawater were balanced by strictly chemical silica and silicate precipitation processes, although the mechanics of this abiotic marine silica cycle remain poorly understood. Cherty sedimentary rocks are abundant in Archean sequences, and many previous authors have suggested that primary precipitation of amorphous silica could have occurred in Archean seawater. The recent discovery that many pure chert layers in early Archean rocks formed as sedimentary beds of sand-sized, subspherical silica granules has provided direct evidence for primary silica deposition. Here, we provide further sedimentological and geochemical analyses of early Archean silica granules in order to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of granule formation. Silica granules are common components of sedimentary cherts from a variety of depositional settings and water depths. The abundance and widespread distribution of silica granules in Archean rocks suggest that they represented a significant primary silica depositional mode and that most formed by precipitation in the upper part of the water column. The regular occurrence of silica granules as centimeter-scale layers within banded chert alternating with layers of black or ferruginous chert containing few granules indicates episodic granule sedimentation. Contrasting silicon isotopic compositions of granules from different depositional environments indicate that isotopic signatures were modified during early diagenesis. Looking to modern siliceous sinters for insight into silica precipitation, we suggest that silica granules may have formed via multiple stages of aggregation of silica nanospheres and microspheres. Consistent with this hypothesis, Archean ocean chemistry would have favored particle aggregation over gelling. Granule formation would have been most favorable under conditions promoting rapid silica polymerization, including high salinity and/or high concentrations of dissolved silica. Our observations suggest that granule sedimentation was often episodic, suggesting that granule formation may have also been episodic, perhaps linked to variations in these key parameters.
The Student Activities Interest Questionnaire: Relating Holland's Vocational Theory to Student Involvement:

Both campus involvement and person-environment fit have been identified as factors predicting students' persistence in college. The Student Activities Interest Questionnaire (SAIQ) was developed in order to assist students in identifying campus involvement opportunities that match their personal interests, based on a classification system corresponding to Holland's hexagonal model of occupational preference. In this article, the authors describe the construction and validation of the instrument, and discuss its potential uses in promoting student retention.
Mitogenic Responses Mediated Through the Proteinase-Activated Receptor-2 Are Induced by Expressed Forms of Mast Cell α- or β-Tryptases

The proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) is the second member of a putative larger class of proteolytically activated receptors that mediate cell activation events by receptor cleavage or synthetic peptidomimetics corresponding to the newly generated N-terminus. To further study the previously identified mitogenic effects of PAR-2, we used the interleukin-3 (IL-3)–dependent murine lymphoid cell line, BaF3, for generation of stable cell lines expressing PAR-2 (BaF3/PAR-2) or the noncleavable PAR-2 mutant PAR-2Arg36 → Ala36. Only BaF3 cells expressing either wild-type or mutated receptor exhibited mitogenic responses when grown in IL-3–deficient media supplemented with PAR-2 activating peptide (SLIGRL, PAR39-44). This effect was dose dependent with an EC50 of ∼80 μmol/L, sustained at 24, 48, and 72 hours, and was also demonstrable using thrombin receptor peptide TR42-47. Because tryptase shares ∼70% homology with trypsin (previously shown to activate PAR-2), we studied recombinantly expressed forms of α- and β-tryptases as candidate protease agonists for PAR-2. Hydrolytic activity of the chromogenic substrate tosyl-glycyl-prolyl-argly-4-nitroanilide acetate was present as a sharp peak at Mr ∼130, confirming the presence of secretable and functionally active homotetrameric α- and β-tryptases in transfected COS-1 cells. Dose-dependent proliferative responses were evident using either secreted form of tryptase with maximal responses seen at ∼3 pmol/L (0.1 U/L). Receptor proteolysis was necessary and sufficient for mitogenesis because active site-blocked tryptase failed to induce this response, and proliferative responses were abrogated in BaF3 cells expressing PAR-2Arg36 → Ala36. These results specifically identify both forms of mast cell tryptases as serine protease agonists for PAR-2 and have implications for elucidating molecular mechanisms regulating cellular activation events mediated by proteases generated during inflammatory, fibrinolytic, or hemostatic-regulated pathways.
Synaptic plasticity and depression: new insights from stress and rapid-acting antidepressants

Depression is a common, devastating illness. Current pharmacotherapies help many patients, but high rates of a partial response or no response, and the delayed onset of the effects of antidepressant therapies, leave many patients inadequately treated. However, new insights into the neurobiology of stress and human mood disorders have shed light on mechanisms underlying the vulnerability of individuals to depression and have pointed to novel antidepressants. Environmental events and other risk factors contribute to depression through converging molecular and cellular mechanisms that disrupt neuronal function and morphology, resulting in dysfunction of the circuitry that is essential for mood regulation and cognitive function. Although current antidepressants, such as serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, produce subtle changes that take effect in weeks or months, it has recently been shown that treatment with new agents results in an improvement in mood ratings within hours of dosing patients who are resistant to typical antidepressants. Within a similar time scale, these new agents have also been shown to reverse the synaptic deficits caused by stress.
Medulloblastoma Presenting as Leukemia

Metastasis of medulloblastoma outside the neuraxis before craniotomy has been documented previously in only two cases. A young woman was found to have a leukemic syndrome secondary to skeletal metastases of medulloblastoma 12 months before signs of an intracranial mass appeared. At autopsy, the histologic features of the cerebellar medulloblastoma and those of the skeletal metastases were the same. The case provides evidence that medulloblastoma can metastasize early, that craniotomy is not a prerequisite for metastasis, that medulloblastoma responds to chemotherapy, and that small cell undifferentiated tumors may masquerade as acute undifferentiated leukemias.
Proportion of Expectations Fulfilled: A New Method to Report Patient-centered Outcomes of Spine Surgery.

STUDY DESIGN Prospective lumbar and cervical surgery cohorts. OBJECTIVE Compare fulfillment of expectations with traditional global outcomes and provide evidence for its validity. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA New lumbar and cervical spine surgery Expectations Surveys can be used to measure fulfillment of expectations and their performance should be compared with existing outcomes. METHODS Three hundred thirty-six lumbar and 133 cervical spine surgery patients preoperatively completed valid 20-item Expectations Surveys measuring symptoms, function, and psychological well-being. Approximately 2 years postoperatively patients rated how much improvement they received for each item. The proportion of expectations fulfilled was compared with traditional outcomes, including global satisfaction and change in standard spine questionnaires, with correlation coefficients (r) and areas under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUC). RESULTS Ninety percent of lumbar patients had some expectations fulfilled (24% had all expectations fulfilled completely or exceeded). The mean proportion of expectations fulfilled was 0.66 and was associated with satisfaction (r = 0.73 (95% CI 0.68-0.78); AUC = 0.92 (95% CI 0.89-0.95) (P < 0.0001)). Based on the association with satisfaction, a clinically important proportion of expectations fulfilled for lumbar surgery is approximately 0.60 (sensitivity 0.90, specificity 0.79).Ninety-one percent of cervical patients had some expectations fulfilled (31% had all expectations fulfilled completely or exceeded). The mean proportion of expectations fulfilled was 0.78 and was associated with satisfaction (r = 0.62 (95% CI 0.50-0.72); AUC = 0.92 (95% CI 0.87-0.97) (P < 0.0001)). Based on the association with satisfaction, a clinically important proportion of expectations fulfilled for cervical surgery is approximately 0.62 (sensitivity 0.91, specificity 0.80). CONCLUSION The proportion of expectations fulfilled is a new patient-centered outcome that measures results of spine surgery. Unique features of this novel outcome are that it requires prospectively acquired pre- and postoperative data, provides details about in what ways patients believe surgery did and did not meet goals, and offers surgeons opportunities to address unfilled expectations directly. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 1.
The effect of pH on human platelet aggregation induced by epinephrine and ADP.

SummaryPlatelet rich plasma exposed to air undergoes pH drift in the alkaline direction due to diffusion of CO2. A simple technique has been developed to control this variable in aggregation studie...
India's post‐green‐revolution agricultural performance: what is driving growth?

Following a period of poor performance in the 1990s, India's agricultural growth rate has reaccelerated in the 2000s. Some believe the reacceleration has been a product of intensified investment, which in turn has spurred yield growth. Others suggest it is because India's newly wealthy citizens have demanded greater product diversification. To examine these hypotheses, we use growth accounting techniques in conjunction with more complete agricultural production data than in past studies to construct state, regional, and national output, input, and total factor productivity quantity indexes, which can be decomposed into their underlying sources. Sectoral performance evaluation suggests that, since 1980, output growth has diffused away from the northern “grain belt” and toward high-value agriculture in traditionally less-productive regions. Productivity growth, rather than resource use, has accounted for these geographical and intensity shifts. The growth burst has not, as the literature has primarily argued, been uniquely explainable by yield growth or product diversification but by a variety of factors, including area expansion. For example, the contributions of irrigation technologies permitting double-cropping have until now been largely ignored.
Comment: The Variance of Slopes of Lines Fitted by Groups: An Analysis of the Johnstone and Velleman Monte Carlo Results

where m = integer of n/3. (All of Johnstone and Velleman's results are for n = 3m + 1, but there seems to be good reason to expect similar results for n = 3m and n = 3m + 2.) Tables 1 (for equispaced) and 2 (for random Gaussian) set out expressions of the form (1) that seem to fit the data reasonably, with footnotes giving changes required to fit the reported (all for m = oo) efficiencies in those few cases where the fit seemed inadequate. Of the 85 others covered by Table 1, only 7 exceed ? 1%. Of these 7, 2 are within 1 standard error and 3 more are within 2 standard errors.
Climate Induced Spillover and Implications for U.S. Security.

Developing nations incur a greater risk to climate change than the developed world due to poorly managed human/natural resources, unreliable infrastructure and brittle governing/economic institutions. These vulnerabilities often give rise to a climate induced “domino effect” of reduced natural resource production-leading to economic hardship, social unrest, and humanitarian crises. Integral to this cascading set of events is increased human migration, leading to the “spillover” of impacts to adjoining areas with even broader impact on global markets and security. Given the complexity of factors influencing human migration and the resultant spill-over effect, quantitative tools are needed to aid policy analysis. Toward this need, a series of migration models were developed along with a system dynamics model of the spillover effect. The migration decision models were structured according to two interacting paths, one that captured long-term “chronic” impacts related to protracted deteriorating quality of life and a second focused on short-term “acute” impacts of disaster and/or conflict. Chronic migration dynamics were modeled for two different cases; one that looked only at emigration but at a national level for the entire world; and a second that looked at both emigration and immigration but focused on a single nation. Model parameterization for each ofmore » the migration models was accomplished through regression analysis using decadal data spanning the period 1960-2010. A similar approach was taken with acute migration dynamics except regression analysis utilized annual data sets limited to a shorter time horizon (2001-2013). The system dynamics spillover model was organized around two broad modules, one simulating the decision dynamics of migration and a second module that treats the changing environmental conditions that influence the migration decision. The environmental module informs the migration decision, endogenously simulating interactions/changes in the economy, labor, population, conflict, water, and food. A regional model focused on Mali in western Africa was used as a test case to demonstrate the efficacy of the model.« less
New Compensatory Strategy and Simulation of Unified Power Quality Condition

Unified power quality conditioner is the effective device to solve harmonic and voltage dips.And compared with the UPQC consumed energy which based on the traditional voltage dips compensatory strategy,the paper put forward a new kind of compensatory strategy.According to the corresponding voltage dips' degree and the load factor angle,the compensatory strategy determined the compensating voltage amplitude of serial side.Under the certain control strategy,the specific compensating voltage angle was input to make the device's serial side only to compensate reactive power,and the active power is zero.This strategy can complete the network voltage dips compensation,load reactive power compensation,effectively reduce the whole device's active output and capacity,expand the scope of compensation,and extend the time of compensation.The simulation shows that this method is effective and feasible.
The Interactive Effects of Religiosity and Priming Religion Following Recall of a Values Violation

ABSTRACTReligion is a multifaceted construct that serves many functions, including setting clear moral guidelines for behavior. When individuals violate these cherished values, what effect do reminders of religion have, and do they affect individuals of varying religiousness similarly? We explored the interactive effects of priming religion and individual religious commitment on reported responses following a violation of one's sexual values. Participants were randomly assigned to read a religious essay or a neutral essay and then to describe a time they violated their sexual values while in a relationship. Results revealed that the religious prime intensified the association between religious commitment and perceived negative effects on one's partner, which, in turn, were associated with lower relationship satisfaction. These results suggest religion helps regulate social behavior by increasing the negative perceptions of the fallout after violating one's sexual values.
Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources using APCS-MLR and PMF receptor modeling techniques in three major rivers of South Florida.

Abstract In this study, principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis (FA), and the absolute principal component score-multiple linear regression (APCS-MLR) receptor modeling technique were used to assess the water quality and identify and quantify the potential pollution sources affecting the water quality of three major rivers of South Florida. For this purpose, 15 years (2000–2014) dataset of 12 water quality variables covering 16 monitoring stations, and approximately 35,000 observations was used. The PCA/FA method identified five and four potential pollution sources in wet and dry seasons, respectively, and the effective mechanisms, rules and causes were explained. The APCS-MLR apportioned their contributions to each water quality variable. Results showed that the point source pollution discharges from anthropogenic factors due to the discharge of agriculture waste and domestic and industrial wastewater were the major sources of river water contamination. Also, the studied variables were categorized into three groups of nutrients (total kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus, total phosphate, and ammonia-N), water murkiness conducive parameters (total suspended solids, turbidity, and chlorophyll- a ), and salt ions (magnesium, chloride, and sodium), and average contributions of different potential pollution sources to these categories were considered separately. The data matrix was also subjected to PMF receptor model using the EPA PMF-5.0 program and the two-way model described was performed for the PMF analyses. Comparison of the obtained results of PMF and APCS-MLR models showed that there were some significant differences in estimated contribution for each potential pollution source, especially in the wet season. Eventually, it was concluded that the APCS-MLR receptor modeling approach appears to be more physically plausible for the current study. It is believed that the results of apportionment could be very useful to the local authorities for the control and management of pollution and better protection of important riverine water quality.