cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of phosphorus dynamics in tropical forests – a modeling study using CLM-CNP

Abstract. Tropical forests play a significant role in the global carbon cycle and global climate. However, tropical carbon cycling and the feedbacks from tropical ecosystems to the climate system remain critical uncertainties in the current generation of carbon–climate models. One of the major uncertainties comes from the lack of representation of phosphorus (P), currently believed to be the most limiting nutrient in tropical regions. Here we introduce P dynamics and C–N–P interactions into the CLM4-CN (Community Land Model version 4 with prognostic Carbon and Nitrogen) model and investigate the role of P cycling in controlling the productivity of tropical ecosystems. The newly developed CLM-CNP model includes all major biological and geochemical processes controlling P availability in soils and the interactions between C, N, and P cycles. Model simulations at sites along a Hawaiian soil chronosequence indicate that the introduction of P limitation greatly improved the model performance at the P-limited site. The model is also able to capture the shift in nutrient limitation along this chronosequence (from N limited to P limited), as shown in the comparison of model-simulated plant responses to fertilization with the observed data. Model simulations at Amazonian forest sites show that CLM-CNP is capable of capturing the overall trend in NPP (net primary production) along the P availability gradient. This comparison also suggests a significant interaction between nutrient limitation and land use history. Model experiments under elevated atmospheric CO2 ([CO2]) conditions suggest that tropical forest responses to increasing [CO2] will interact strongly with changes in the P cycle. We highlight the importance of two feedback pathways (biochemical mineralization and desorption of secondary mineral P) that can significantly affect P availability and determine the extent of P limitation in tropical forests under elevated [CO2]. Field experiments with elevated CO2 are therefore needed to help quantify these important feedbacks. CO2 doubling model experiments show that tropical forest response to elevated [CO2] can only be predicted if the interactions between C cycle and nutrient dynamics are well understood and represented in models. Predictive modeling of C–nutrient interactions will have important implications for the prediction of future carbon uptake and storage in tropical ecosystems and global climate change.
Evolution of the Endoscope and Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Advances in instrumentation are part of the natural evolution of any surgical discipline. During this process, there are certain key junctures where the state of the art in technology truly augments the surgeon's ability to manage higher levels of pathology. The present era of endoscopic sinus surgery has been hallmarked by extension of minimally invasive techniques to complex pathologies including advanced inflammatory disease, and pathology involving the orbit, skull base, and brain. Evolution of the armamentarium for endoscopic visualization has been a central feature in this. In this article, key historical elements are reviewed and the technical principles behind these important advances in endoscopic visualization are discussed.
Development of multisensory integration from the perspective of the individual neuron

The ability to use cues from multiple senses in concert is a fundamental aspect of brain function. It maximizes the brain’s use of the information available to it at any given moment and enhances the physiological salience of external events. Because each sense conveys a unique perspective of the external world, synthesizing information across senses affords computational benefits that cannot otherwise be achieved. Multisensory integration not only has substantial survival value but can also create unique experiences that emerge when signals from different sensory channels are bound together. However, neurons in a newborn’s brain are not capable of multisensory integration, and studies in the midbrain have shown that the development of this process is not predetermined. Rather, its emergence and maturation critically depend on cross-modal experiences that alter the underlying neural circuit in such a way that optimizes multisensory integrative capabilities for the environment in which the animal will function.
Toxicity of materials used in the manufacture of lithium batteries

Abstract The growing interest in battery systems has led to major advances in high-energy and/or high-power density lithium batteries. Potential applications for lithium batteries include radio transceivers, portable electronic instrumentation, emergency locator transmitters, night vision devices, human implantable devices, as well as uses in the aerospace and defense programs. With this new technology comes the use of new solvent and electrolyte systems in the research, development, and production of lithium batteries. The goal is to enhance lithium battery technology with the use of non-hazardous materials. Therefore, the toxicity and health hazards associated with exposure to the solvents and electrolytes used in current lithium battery research and development is evaluated and described.
Karl Marx and the American Civil War

The four years between the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the surrender at Appomattox comprise a period of great effort and great achievement in the life of Karl Marx. He was forty-three years old in the spring of 1861, and his intellectual powers were at their height. He was, however, destitute financially and without influence politically. His old promise of a big book on socialist ideology had not been kept, and the despised Lassalle was the acknowledged leader of the German socialists. He was soon to experience great pain from physical afflictions, and to consider declaring bankruptcy. In February 1862, he told Engels, “A lousy life like this is not worth living.” But by the end of 1865 Marx had written drafts of the three volumes of Capital, found a publisher, and attained political leadership in the newly founded International Workingmen's Association. By the time the North claimed victory over the South, Marx could claim substantial success as a socialist theoretician and as a political leader. The ordeal of Karl Marx coincided with the ordeal of the American Federal Union.
Nature of the Quantum Corrections to the Statistical Model

The scheme of correcting the Fermi-Thomas particle density formula by a power series in $\ensuremath{\hbar}$, procedures for which have been proposed by a number of authors, is examined through its application to a one-dimensional linear potential, which yields an analytical expression for the exact wave mechanical density for comparison. It is concluded that this is an asymptotic series, valid only where the particle density is large. Furthermore, terms of an oscillatory nature, which may very well transcend the so-called quantum corrections, are missing. A reason for this is offered.
Optical Associative Memories Based On Photorefractive Oscillations

We describe two novel types of optical associative memories and related experiments. A method to retrieve stored images in a hologram with the brightness of each retrieved image proportional to the overlap integral of that stored image and the input image is described. By using the bistable oscillator as a thresholding device, we demonstrate the associative features of the memories. Associative memories based on message bearing optical modes in phase conjugate resonators are also discussed.
Interpulse kinetics in copper and copper halide lasers

The various rate processes that govern the interpulse relaxation in metal vapor and metal halide vapor lasers are considered. Computer calculations indicate that the rapid metastable levels relaxation observed in copper and copper halide laser experiments requires the existence of a relatively small resonance in the cross section for metastable excitation or deexcitation near threshold. The accurate calculation of interpulse relaxation requires knowledge of rate constants presently not well known; this is especially so for metal halide lasers.
Influence of carbon vacancy formation on the elastic constants and hardening mechanisms in transition metal carbides

Abstract For group VB transition metal carbides, as compared to group IVB carbides, an anomalous rise in hardness occurs for substoichiometric carbon concentrations as compared to the stoichiometric monocarbides. Here we report the computationally derived elastic constants, electronic density of states, and activation energies for carbon vacancy migration as a function of carbon content to elucidate their effect on the hardening responses. The changes in elastic properties with respect to carbon vacancy concentration show similar behaviors of elastic softening and decreasing hardness for all of the cubic carbides. The consistent trends of vacancy diffusion energy barriers between all of the group IVB and VB transition metal carbides also suggests that carbon diffusion may not be a significant contributor to the reported hardness differences. Consequently, we propose that the anomalous hardening for substoichiometric behavior is a competition between elastic constant softening and a microstructural-based effect, i.e. domain hardening, that is present in group VB carbides but not in group IVB carbides.
Nuclear Origin of Ribonucleic Acid

LIVING hyphae of Neurospora crassa were centrifuged and their contents stratified in distinct layers. Starting at the centrifugal end, the layers were as follows (Fig. 1): glycogen, ergastoplasm (microsomes), mitochondria, nuclei, ‘supernatant’ cytoplasm, vacuoles and fat. Each fraction could be identified by cytochemical reactions. It was found that most of the cytoplasmic ribonucleic acid resided in ergastoplasm, some in mitochondria, and none was detectable in the ‘supernatant’. Nuclei were relatively poor in ribonucleic acid.
Elucidation of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Inhibition by Potent α-Ketoheterocycle Derivatives from Monte Carlo Simulations

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is a serine hydrolase responsible for the degradation of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid agonist, and oleamide, a sleep-inducing lipid. Recently, Boger and co-workers reported a potent, selective, and efficacious class of reversible α-ketoheterocycle inhibitors of FAAH that produce analgesia in animal models (J. Med. Chem. 2005, 48, 1849−1856; Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2005, 15, 1423−1428). Key aspects of the structure−activity data are addressed here through computational analysis of FAAH inhibition using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in conjunction with free energy perturbation (FEP) calculations. The MC/FEP simulations demonstrate that incorporation of pyridine at the C5 position of the 2-keto-oxazole and 2-keto-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives significantly enhances binding affinity by formation of a hydrogen-bonded array between the pyridyl nitrogen and Lys142 and Thr236. The results also attribute the activity boost upon substitution of oxazole by oxadiazole to redu...
Which Very Low Birthweight (VLBW) Infants Are Prone to Develop Severe Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)

Which Very Low Birthweight (VLBW) Infants Are Prone to Develop Severe Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)?
Sum-frequency spectroscopy of molecular adsorbates on low-index Ag surfaces: effects of azimuthal rotation.

Vibrational sum-frequency generation spectroscopy (SFG) lineshapes of p-cyanobenzenethiol on low-index Ag crystal surfaces are studied as a function of azimuthal rotation by angle ϕ. A broadband multiplex SFG method is used, with a new technique that variably suppresses the non-resonant (NR) background using time-asymmetric time-delayed picosecond laser pulses. When both resonant (R) and NR signals are present, the amplitude and phase of the R line shape can vary significantly with ϕ, leading to dramatic ϕ-dependent variations of the SFG spectrum. The CN-stretch transition of p-cyanobenzenethiol modified Ag(111) and Ag(110) surfaces has an SFG spectrum consisting of a single vibrational resonance R atop a NR background that originates from the metal surface. Using the NR suppression technique, it was found that the R amplitude of the CN-stretch was independent of ϕ on both Ag(111) and Ag(110), which proves that the CN dipole moment is parallel to the surface normal in both cases. We show that it is possib...
Transdifferentiation and adult stem cells: Myth or reality?

The paper by Kruse et al. published in this issue of Applied Physics A claims that cells isolated from pancreas of adult rats or humans can generate cells of multiple lineages. To convincingly show “transdifferentiation” of adult stem cells across lineage boundaries requires stringent experimental criteria such as clonal analyses. The data provided by Kruse et al. fall short of such standards and the conclusion that multipotential cells were isolated is unconvinving.
Growth oscillations in ballistic aggregation

The authors demonstrate the existence of growth oscillations in single clusters of particles grown stochastically according to a synchronous (finite density) version of ballistic aggregation, which is a model of relevance to a variety of experimental situations. They find clear evidence for these unexpected dynamically induced oscillations both in the propagation of the interface and in the resulting density of the cluster. They describe the general features of the spectra of the oscillations, and briefly discuss possible experimental systems in which growth oscillations might be observed.
A brief history of rideshares (and attack of the CubeSats)

Rideshares (“piggyback” launches) go almost back to the first satellite launches, with the first one in 1960. Given the extraordinary cost of launch, it is natural to seek out ways to share costs, or to make use of the unused capacity of a larger launch vehicle. One tool that would be of use to mission planners is a statistical look at past rideshares to help understand the opportunities and obstacles for prospective future rideshares. The purpose of this paper is to begin to collect the data necessary for such analyses, and to start identifying the fundamental issues. 12
Estrogen-induced effects on food intake and body weight in ovariectomized, partially lipectomized rats

Abstract Following ovariectomy, rats were either partially lipectomized (10–15% of total body lipid was removed) or left intact, and were treated with either sesame oil vehicle or estradiol benzoate (EB; 4 μg/day) for 2 weeks. Although lipectomy resulted in a change in carcass adiposity, robust behavioral and metabolic effects of EB were observed in all animals. EB treatment induced changes in all carcass components examined, including lipid, protein and water. Lipid:protein ratios were not altered by EB treatment.
Cd40 but not CD154 knockout mice have reduced inflammatory response in polymicrobial sepsis: a potential role for Escherichia coli heat shock protein 70 in CD40-mediated inflammation in vivo.

The CD40-CD154 system controls various aspects of the host inflammatory response in models of cellular and humoral immunity. Recently, we described a role for CD40 in the innate immune response in polymicrobial sepsis. However, recent data suggests that CD40 maybe activated by CD154 or directly via bacterial heat shock protein (HSP) 70. Therefore, we decided to test the mechanism of CD40 activation in murine polymicrobial sepsis. Wild-type (WT), CD40 -/- , and CD154 -/- underwent cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Compared with WT mice, CD40 -/- had improved survival in association with attenuated production of IL-12, TNF-a, and IL-6. In contrast, CD154 -/- mice behaved similar to WT mice with regard to mortality and cytokine production. The differential response of CD40 -/- and CD154 -/- mice to CLP was not due to a general attenuated response to inflammatory stimuli, as all three strains had similar survival after LPS administration, and CD40 -/- macrophages had normal production of IL-12 in response to lipopolysaccharide. In contrast, CD40 -/- macrophages had attenuated IL-12 production in response to Escherichia coli HSP70 (DnaK). Furthermore, intraperitoneal administration of DnaK resulted in a 4-fold increase in IL-12 in WT mice, which was absent in CD40 -/- mice. This data demonstrates CD154-independent CD40 activation in polymicrobial sepsis and suggests that bacterial HSP70 is capable of stimulating CD40 in vitro and in vivo.
Axial dispersion of non-Newtonian liquids in fluidized beds

The study of liquid mixing in a continuous flow system is essential for chemical reactor design. The knowledge of fluid dispersion is needed to estimate the conversion, the driving force, and the volume efficiency of the system. For tubular reactors, dispersion coefficient can be used to characterize the fluid mixing in the system. Newtonian liquids flowing through multiparticle systems, such as fixed bed and fluidized bed, have been investigated by various authors and a correlation of the dispersion coefficient has been presented. However, studies on non-Newtonian liquids flowing through fixed or fluidized beds have been very few. In this work, a systematic study on dispersion of non-Newtonian liquids through both fixed and fluidized beds was conducted. A tracer pulse technique and a moment analysis were used to determine the disperison coefficient. The rheological behavior of the non-Newtonian liquids investigated can be represented by a power law model (Ostwalt-de Waele model) as tau = k gamma/sup n/. (13 refs.)
Correlates to over-the-counter drug use among college students

AbstractBackground: Over-the-counter (OTC) drug use is an increasing problem among college students. Purpose: The present study examined correlates to OTC drug use among this population. Methods: After a comprehensive review of the literature, a three-page survey was developed to examine the research questions. Students were surveyed in health, fitness and leisure classes. Results: Results indicated that approximately 16% of students used OTC drugs in their lifetime. No significant differences were found based on sex and grade whereas significant differences were found based on perceived harm and friends’ use of drugs. OTC drug use was also associated with recent use of other substances. Discussion: The present study indicates substantial rates of OTC use among college students. Findings may aid prevention specialists and college health professionals in developing effective prevention and intervention programs.
Prevalence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and PD-L1 expression in the soft tissue sarcoma microenvironment ☆ ☆☆

The prognostic and predictive implications of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is unknown in sarcoma. We sought to examine the immune milieu in sarcoma specimens. We evaluated PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry in sarcoma specimens and quantified tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). We correlated expression with clinical parameters and outcomes. Fifty sarcoma patients treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center were selected. Using the DAKO PD-L1 immunohistochemistry assay and archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens; PD-L1 expression was examined. Macrophage and lymphocyte PD-L1 status was determined qualitatively. TIL was quantified. Associations between PD-L1 expression in tumor, macrophages and lymphocytes, TIL and clinical-pathological characteristics were performed. The median age was 46 years (range, 22-76), and 66% of patients were men. Tumor, lymphocyte and macrophage PD-L1 expression was noted in 12%, 30% and 58%, respectively, with the highest prevalence in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (29%). Lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration was present in 98% and 90%, respectively. There was no association between clinical features, overall survival and PD-L1 expression in tumor or immune infiltrates. Lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration is common in sarcoma, but PD-L1 tumor expression is uncommon in sarcoma with the highest frequency observed in gastrointestinal stromal tumors. There was no association between PD-L1 expression, TIL and clinicopathological features and overall survival; however, this is limited by the heterogenous patient sample and minimal death events in the studied cohort.
Reproducing polynomial (singularity) particle methods and adaptive meshless methods for two-dimensional elliptic boundary value problems

Abstract Oh et al. [H.-S. Oh, J.G. Kim, J.W. Jeong, The closed form reproducing polynomial particle shape functions for meshfree particle methods, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 196 (2007) 3435–3461] introduced the reproducing polynomial particle (RPP) shape functions that are piecewise polynomial and satisfy the Kronecker delta property. In this paper, we introduce reproducing polynomial particle methods (RPPM) that is the Galerkin approximation method associated with the use of the RPP approximation space. Planting particles in the computation domain in a patchwise uniform manner, we also introduce patchwise RPPM. Furthermore, constructing partition of unity functions with flat-top adaptively, we introduce adaptive patchwise RPPM and compare it with reproducing singularity particle methods (RSPM) that is the Galerkin approximation method associated with the use of reproducing singularity particle (RSP) shape functions.
The effects of uncertainty on the WTA–WTP gap

We analyze the effects of uncertainty on WTA, WTP and the WTA–WTP gap. Extending the approach of Weber (Econom Lett 80:311–315, 2003) to the case of lotteries, we develop an exact expression for the WTA–WTP gap that allows identification of its magnitude under different utility specifications. Reinterpreting and extending results by Gabillon(Econom Lett 116:157–160, 2012), we also identify generally the relationship between an agent’s utility of income and the gap’s algebraic sign, as well as the effects of risk increases on WTA and WTP. Finally, we derive the limit behavior of the gap as income or risk increase.
Stimulation by nerve growth factor of specific protein synthesis in rat PC12 pheochromocytoma cells.

Abstract PC12 cells are a clonal line derived from a rat adrenal pheochromocytoma. When treated with ngm/ml levels of nerve growth factor PC12 cells stop dividing, extend long neurities and become electrically excitable. We have used polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulphate to study the effects of nerve growth factor treatment on PC12 proteins. Treatment with nerve growth factor has very little effect on the relative abundances of major PC12 proteins. One consistent effect of the factor is induction of a polypeptide (designated p80) of apparent molecular weight 80,000. Induction of p80 is apparent within 1 day after addition of nerve growth factor and thus precedes neurite outgrowth; maximal induction is reached by 2–3 days of nerve growth factor treatment. Induction of p80 appears to be due to increased polypeptide synthesis rather than to increased stability of pre-existing molecules. Induction is rapidly reversible upon removal of nerve growth factor from cells pretreated with the factor. Induction and maintenance of p80 synthesis by nerve growth factor are selectively sensitive to camptothecin, an inhibitor of ribonucleic acid synthesis. Induction of p80 occurs normally in cells treated with nerve growth factor when process outgrowth is blocked by anti-microtubule agents or by growth in suspension. Induction is also normal when cells are treated with nerve growth factor in the absence of serum. The results suggest that transcription-dependent induction of specific protein synthesis is an early effect of nerve growth factor on PC12 cells and may play a role in bringing about nerve growth factor-induced changes in cell shape, division and physiological properties.
Underlying mechanisms in substance abuse: Examples from research on smoking

Abstract Recent work on underlying mechanisms in substance abuse is reviewed using cigarette smoking as the focus. Smoking was chosen as an example because current technology makes possible laboratory research on underlying mechanisms without compromising relevance. A stimulus control model of smoking examining the contribution of environmental events is presented; the model is plausible but largely untested. A physiological control model of smoking examining the contribution of internal biochemical events is described; inconsistencies in research findings are discussed. For both models, implications for basic research and/or for treatment research are considered. A key premise is that research on underlying mechanisms may lead to rational therapies—treatments which are more effective than those currently available.
CHARACTERIZATION OF HARTMANN TUBE FLOW WITH POROUS PRESSURE-SENSITIVE PAINT

The Hartmann tube is a device that generates highintensity sound through the oscillation of a shock wave. Shock oscillations are created by the flow of an underexpanded jet interacting with a resonance cavity. Recent interest in the Hartmann tube has focused on using the high-intensity sound for flow-control applications. In this work, pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) was used to characterize the unsteady flowfield of the Hartmann tube. PSP effectively resolved the shock oscillations at 12 kHz. Furthermore, PSP was used to measure propagating acoustic waves emanating from the Hartmann tube. This work provides new insight into the relationship between the unsteady fluid dynamics and acoustics of the Hartmann tube – including the nature of the shock oscillations, unsteady flow interaction with the resonance cavity, and directionality of the radiated sound.
Tobacco, Alcohol, and Caffeine Use during Pregnancy

Research on the effects of smoking, alcohol, and caffeine on the outcomes of pregnancy is reviewed. The strength of the evidence on the effects of these substances is varied, ranging from some clear and consistent findings for smoking to inconsistent findings for caffeine. Evidence regarding alcohol is strong in some areas and less consistent in others. The implications for clinical practice, particularly that effects vary with both the timing and the amount of the substances used, are discussed.
Large-signal behavioral modeling of nonlinear amplifiers based on load-pull AM-AM and AM-PM measurements

This paper presents an improved behavioral modeling technique that generates large-signal models for nonlinear amplifiers or devices based on load-pull AM-AM and AM-PM measurement datasets. The generated behavioral model characterizes the incident and scattering waveforms at two ports in the frequency domain based on the large-signal scattering function theory. The advantage of this technique is that it is derived entirely from load-pull measurements and provides an analytic method to utilize the load-pull measurements in practical designs. Examples are given to demonstrate the ability of the behavioral models to predict the load-related nonlinearities of the device-under-test
Conformal deformations, Ricci curvature and energy conditions on globally hyperbolic spacetimes.

We consider globally hyperbolic spacetimes (M, g) of dimension ≥ 3 satisfying the curvature condition Ric (g) (v, v) ≥ 0 for all non-spacelike tangent vectors v in TM. This curvature condition arises naturally as an energy condition in cosmology. Suppose (M, g) admits a smooth globally hyperbolic time function h: M → such that for some t0, the Cauchy surface h−1(t0) satisfies the strict curvature condition Ric (g) (v, v) > 0 for all non-spacelike v attached to h−1(t0). Then M admits a metric g′ conformal to g satisfying the strict curvature condition Ric (g′) (v, v) > 0 for all non-spacelike v in TM. If the curvature and strict curvature conditions are restricted to null vectors, the analogous result may be obtained. Similar results may also be obtained for the scalar curvature in dimension ≥ 2 and for non-positive Ricci curvature.
Recombinant Equine Luteinizing Hormone (reLH) Stimulates Production of Progesterone from Murine Leydig, Equine Granulosal, and Ovine Small Luteal Cells

INTRODUCTION Gonadotropic hormones are often utilized in assisted reproductive technology protocols. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is commonly used to induce ovulation in the equine. However, several studies have shown that horses become less responsive to hCG during the course of a breeding season apparently due to production of antibodies to the human protein. A hormone, that induces ovulation but does not activate the antibody response, would provide a desirable alternative to hCG. A new single chain recombinant equine luteinizing hormone (reLH), with a linker protein between the a and b subunits, was recently developed. Recombinant eLH was evaluated for its ability to stimulate production of progesterone in cell lines from three species including murine Leydig tumor (MA10), equine granulosal, and ovine small luteal cells (SLC). The objective of the current study was to evaluate the ability of reLH to stimulate production of progesterone compared to the response induced by other well characterized glycoprotein hormones including equine chroinic gonadotropin (eCG), equine LH (eLH), ovine LH (oLH), and hCG. We hypothesized that production of progesterone from cells treated with reLH will resemble the secretory profile of progesterone stimulated by hGC and it will be higher that the induced by the other secretagoges evaluated.
Evidence Against Hydrogen-Based Microbial Ecosystems in Basalt Aquifers

It has been proposed that hydrogen produced from basalt-ground-water interactions may serve as an energy source that supports the existence of microorganisms in the deep subsurface on Earth and possibly on other planets. However, experiments demonstrated that hydrogen is not produced from basalt at an environmentally relevant, alkaline pH. Small amounts of hydrogen were produced at a lower pH in laboratory incubations, but even this hydrogen production was transitory. Furthermore, geochemical considerations suggest that previously reported rates of hydrogen production cannot be sustained over geologically significant time frames. These findings indicate that hydrogen production from basalt-ground-water interactions may not support microbial metabolism in the subsurface.
Adaptive beam-steering antenna for improved coverage of non-contact vital sign radar detection

This paper presents an adaptive beam-steering antenna for non-contact vital sign radar system at 5.8 GHz. A 2X2 microstrip patch antenna and two phase shifters are manufactured on the same board. Phase shifters consisting of 4 single pole double throw (SPDT) switches are integrated into the matching network of the phase array antenna to save the area. Beam-steering function is controlled by the active phase shifter. The DC bias circuit of the phase shifter is connected with the back side of the antenna through headers. Both simulation and measurement show an antenna bandwidth of 200 MHz centered at 5.8 GHz, which is suitable for a 5.8 GHz non-contact vital sign radar system. The radiation beam of this antenna can steer from -22° to 22° in H-plane, which increases the antenna coverage to 85° without sacrificing antenna gain. Measurement shows the adaptive beam-steering antenna can successfully detect human vital signs while the fixed-beam 2×2 antenna fails due to the limited and fixed antenna beam coverage. The improved performance without increasing antenna area makes the adaptive beam-steering antenna more suitable for commercial application.
White Blood Cell Differentials of Northern Cricket Frogs (Acris c. crepitans) with a Compilation of Published Values from Other Amphibians

Abstract Herpetologists are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of hematological parameters for evaluating the welfare of their study animals. In particular, differential counts of white blood cells (from blood smears) are now commonly performed on amphibians, although interpretation of such counts relies on some knowledge of the normal range for the species in question, and for many species this range is not known. In this study we examined blood smears from 79 cricket frogs (Acris c. crepitans) from two ponds in northeastern Georgia to establish reference ranges of white blood cell differentials for this species and to explore possible differences in relative white blood cell numbers between sexes, ponds, and body sizes. For comparison, we also compiled values of many other amphibians from published and unpublished records. We found that lymphocytes made up the majority (68.3%) of white blood cells in cricket frogs, followed by neutrophils (22.4%). There was no difference in relative cell numb...
Modern Chemotherapy for Brucellosis in Humans

The most effective, least toxic chemotherapy for human brucellosis is still undecided. In vitro, the antibiotics most active against Brucella include the tetracyclines, the aminoglycosides, the aminopenicillins, some cephalosporins, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin, rifampin, and some new fluorinated quinolones. Because Brucella species are facultative intracellular parasites, the penetration of drugs into and within phagocytes and phagosomes can be problematic and can best be studied in experimental animals or tissue cultures. In humans, the effectiveness of various regimens of chemotherapy has been compared best in acute bacteremic infections by assessment of the control of symptoms, bacteremia, complications, and relapses. The standard therapy against which all other therapies have been judged is a combination of tetracycline and streptomycin, which is almost universally effective but fails to prevent relapse in 10% of cases. A combination of oral doxycycline and rifampin is convenient and currently popular; it is highly effective, with an average relapse rate of only 8.4%. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is less effective in controlling bacteremia and other manifestations: in collected series, 5.7% of cases did not respond and 12% relapsed. Drug-resistant Brucella strains are rarely a cause of therapy failure. Localized brucellosis poses special problems, often requiring surgery in addition to prolonged combined chemotherapy.
Dynamic internal testing of CMOS circuits using hot luminescence

Subnanosecond pulses of hot electron luminescence are shown to be generated coincident with logic state switching of individual devices in CMOS circuits. These pulses are used to directly observe 90 ps gate delays in a ring oscillator as well as the logic switching and gate delays of a counter. By use of a detector with both space- and time-resolution, the dynamics of all the gates of the circuit are simultaneously measured. This noninvasive technique can be extended to smaller device size, as well as probing from the backside of the wafer. The optical emission may provide an alternative to electron beam testing for measuring the dynamics of high-speed CMOS circuits.
Label Disambiguation and Sequence Modeling for Identifying Human Activities from Wearable Physiological Sensors

Wearable physiological sensors can provide a faithful record of a patient's physiological states without constant attention of caregivers. A computer program that can infer human activities from physiological recordings will be an valuable tool for physicians. In this paper we investigate to what extent current machine learning algorithms can correctly identify human activities from physiological sensors. We further identify two challenges that developers need to address. The first problem is that the labels of training data are inevitably noisy due to difficulties of annotating thousands hours of data. The second problem lies in the continuous nature of human activities, which violates the independence assumption made by many learning algorithms. We approach the first problem of noisy labeling in the multiple-label framework, and develop a conditional Markov Models to take temporal context into consideration. We evaluate the proposed methods on 12,000 hours of the physiological recordings. The results show that Support Vector Machines are effective to identify human activities from physiological signals, and efforts of disambiguating noisy labels are worthwhile.
Eco-bursaries as incentives for conservation around Arabuko-Sokoke forest, Kenya.

Incentives used to encourage local residents to support conservation range from integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs), which indirectly connect improved livelihoods with biodiversity protection, to direct payments for ecosystem services (PES). A unique hybrid between these two strategies, the Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Ecotourism Scheme (ASSETS), provides secondary-school bursaries to encourage stewardship of a biodiverse highly-imperiled Kenyan forest. Household surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to assess the effectiveness of ASSETS by comparing attitudes and perceptions toward the forest among scheme beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. The most commonly identified benefit of the forest was resource extraction (for example fuelwood), followed by ecosystem services (such as source of rain). Those in favour of forest clearing tended not to be ASSETS beneficiaries, were less-educated, and were less likely to mention ecosystem services and tourism as forest benefits. ASSETS appears to shape pro-conservation attitudes among beneficiaries and foster a sense of responsibility toward the forest. Challenges for ASSETS are similar to those faced by many conservation and development projects, namely unsteady funding and the risk that the extremely poor may be overlooked. ASSETS may serve as an effective hybrid between the PES and ICDP approaches, and such educational support provides a promising conservation incentive.
Millimeter-Wave Wafer-Scale Silicon BiCMOS Power Amplifiers Using Free-Space Power Combining

This paper presents the first millimeter-wave wafer-scale power-amplifier array implemented in a 0.13-μ m BiCMOS technology. The power combining is done in the free-space using high efficiency on-chip antennas. A 3 × 3 power-amplifier array is demonstrated with an equivalent isotropic radiated power of 33-35 dBm at 90-98 GHz. This results in a total on-chip power of 21-23 dBm and a total radiated power of 17.5-19.5 dBm. The measured patterns of the array show single-mode operation and ~100% free-space power-combining efficiency with a 3-dB beamwidth of 28° and a directivity of 15.5 dB (gain of 12 dB). The total power-combining efficiency including the antenna losses is 45±10%. The application areas are in millimeter-wave transmitters and wafer-scale phased arrays.
The effects of anticipated regret on risk preferences of social and problem gamblers

Anticipated regret is an important determinant in risky decision making, however only a few studies have explored its role in problem gambling. This study tested for differences in the anticipation of regret among social and problem gamblers and examined how these differences affect risk preferences in a gambling task. The extent of problem gambling was assessed using the South Oaks Gambling Screen and participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the risky feedback condition, the feeling of regret was avoided by choosing the risky gamble, whereas in the safe feedback condition the safe gamble was the regret-minimizing option. Problem gambling was associated with the choice of the risky gamble in both conditions indicating less sensitivity to anticipated regret. It was also associated with risk seeking across feedback conditions when the stakes of winning and loosing were higher. These findings suggest that less regret or the poor anticipation of regret might contribute to excessive gambling and thus need to be addressed in cognitive treatments of problem gambling.
Pre-bond testable low-power clock tree design for 3D stacked ICs

Pre-bond testing of 3D stacked ICs involves testing individual dies before bonding. The overall yield of 3D ICs improves with pre-bond testability because designers can avoid stacking defective dies with good ones. However, pre-bond testability presents unique challenges to 3D clock tree design. First, each die needs a complete 2D clock tree for the pre-bond testing. In addition, the entire 3D stack needs a complete 3D clock tree for post-bond testing and normal operations. In the case of two-die stack, a straightforward solution is to have two complete 2D clock trees connected with a single Through-Silicon-Via (TSV). We show that this solution suffers from long wirelength and high clock power consumption. Instead, our algorithm minimizes the overall wirelength and clock power consumption while providing the pre-bond testability and post-bond operability under given skew and slew constraints. Compared with the single-TSV solution, SPICE simulation results show that our multi-TSV approach significantly reduces the clock power by up to 15.9% for two-die and 29.7% for four-die stack. In addition, the wirelength reduction is up to 24.4% and 42.0%.
Using a global VNIR soil-spectral library for local soil characterization and landscape modeling in a 2nd-order Uganda watershed

Abstract Combining global soil-spectral libraries with local calibration samples has the potential to provide improved visible and near-infrared (VNIR, 400–2500 nm) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) soil characterization predictions than with either global or local calibrations alone. In this study, a geographically diverse “global” soil-spectral library with 4184 samples was augmented with up to 418 “local” calibration soil samples distributed across a 2nd-order Ugandan watershed to predict the amount of clay-size material (CLAY), soil organic carbon (SOC) and proportion of expansible 2:1 clays (termed “montmorillonite” or MT in the global library). Stochastic gradient boosted regression trees (BRT) were employed for model construction, with a variety of calibration and validation schemes tested. Using the global library combined with 13- and 14-fold cross-validation by local profile for CLAY and SOC, respectively, yielded dambo/upland RMSD values of 89/68 g kg− 1 for CLAY (N = 429/410) and 4.2/2.6 g kg− 1 for SOC (N = 272/105). These results were obtained despite the challenge of combining spectral libraries constructed using different spectroradiometers and laboratory reference measurements (total combustion vs. Walkley–Black, hydrometer vs. pipette). Using only the global library, a VNIR-derived index of MT content was significantly correlated with the square root of X-ray diffraction (XRD) MT peak intensity for local dambo soils (r2 = 0.52, N = 59, p
Do Moderate‐Intensity and Vigorous‐Intensity Physical Activities Reduce Mortality Rates to the Same Extent?

Background Limited data exist directly comparing the relative benefits of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activities with all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) disease mortality rates when controlling for physical activity volume. Methods and Results We followed 7979 men (Harvard Alumni Health Study, 1988–2008) and 38 671 women (Women9s Health Study, 1992–2012), assessing their physical activity and health habits through repeated questionnaires. Over a mean follow-up of 17.3 years in men and 16.4 years in women, there were 3551 deaths (1077 from CV disease) among men and 3170 deaths (620 from CV disease) among women. Those who met or exceeded an equivalent of the federal guidelines recommendation of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, or a combination of the 2 that expended similar energy experienced significantly lower all-cause and CV disease–related mortality rates (men, 28% to 36% and 31% to 34%, respectively; women: 38% to 55% and 22% to 44%, respectively). When comparing different combinations of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity and all-cause mortality rates, we observed sex-related differences. Holding constant the volume of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity, men experienced a modest additional benefit when expending a greater proportion of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity in vigorous-intensity activities ( P trend =0.04), but women did not ( P trend Conclusions The present data support guidelines recommending 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week, or an equivalent combination for mortality benefits. Among men, but not women, additional modest reductions in all-cause mortality rates are associated with a greater proportion of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity performed at a vigorous intensity.
Same Sibling Marrow following Cord Allogeneic Transplantation as Therapy for Second Relapse Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in a Pediatric Patient

Optimal therapy for relapsed APL in pediatric patients is controversial. Allogeneic HSCT is an alternative, with event-free survival of 70-75%. We report a pediatric patient with APL who relapsed 28 months after CBT from her sibling and then was treated with BMT from the same donor. Bone marrow was selected for higher cell dose, donor availability, and partial donor chimerism. Persistent molecular remission was achieved, currently at 65 months after BMT. This case suggests the potential role of GVL activity in APL and illustrates the use of different cell sources from the same donor in allogeneic transplantation for pediatric patients.
A unified probabilistic model of user activities and relations on social networking sites

In this work, we investigate the bidirectional mutual interactions (BMI) between users' activities and user-user relationships on social networking sites. We analyze and study the fundamental mechanism that drives the characteristics and dynamics of BMI is the underlying social influence. We make an attempt at a unified probabilistic approach, called joint activity and relation (JAR), for modeling and predicting users' activities and user-user relationships simultaneously in a single coherent framework. Instead of incorporating social influence in an ad hoc manner, we show that social influence can be captured quantitatively. Based on JAR, we learn social influence between users and users' personal preferences for both user activity prediction and user-user relation discovery through statistical inference. To address the challenges of the introduced multiple layers of hidden variables in JAR, we propose a new learning algorithm based on expectation maximization (EM) and we further propose a powerful and efficient generalization of the EM based algorithm for model fitting. We show that JAR exploits mutual interactions and benefits, by taking advantage of the learned social influence and users' personal preferences, for enhanced user activity prediction and user-user relation discovery. We further experiment with real world dataset to verify the claimed advantages achieving substantial performance gains.
Menopausal Symptoms and Sleep Quality During Menopausal Transition and Postmenopause.

Background: Menopausal symptoms and sleep difficulty were physiological processes that were affected by genetic and other factors. This study was to investigate the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and sleep quality in menopausal transition (MT) and postmenopause (PM) women in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Methods: A community-based survey of women's menopausal symptoms and sleep quality was conducted between July 2012 and May 2013 at six municipal districts of Taiyuan, Shanxi. A sample of 2429 women aged 40–59 years was divided into four groups: early MT, late MT, early PM, and late PM. Sleep quality in the past 2 weeks before the interview was recorded. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Results: The prevalence of menopausal symptoms was 49.8%. Mild, moderate, and severe symptoms were observed in 28.9%, 18.5%, and 2.5% of participants, respectively. The highest prevalence of menopausal symptoms occurred in the early postmenopausal stage; the subsequences were the late postmenopausal stage and the early MT stage. Interestingly, among the 13 items of modified Kupperman index, the five most common symptoms were fatigue, arthralgia and myalgia, decreased libido, insomnia, and nervousness. Meanwhile, 55% perimenopausal women had poor sleep. Conclusions: Menopausal symptoms are common but mild among women in Taiyuan, Shanxi during MT and PM. In these stages, the prevalence of poor sleep is high.