cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Biomimetic reagents for the selective free radical and acid-base chemistry of glycans: application to glycan structure determination by mass spectrometry.

Nature excels at breaking down glycans into their components, typically via enzymatic acid–base catalysis to achieve selective cleavage of the glycosidic bond. Noting the importance of proton transfer in the active site of many of these enzymes, we describe a sequestered proton reagent for acid-catalyzed glycan sequencing (PRAGS) that derivatizes the reducing terminus of glycans with a pyridine moiety possessing moderate proton affinity. Gas-phase collisional activation of PRAGS-derivatized glycans predominately generates C1–O glycosidic bond cleavages retaining the charge on the reducing terminus. The resulting systematic PRAGS-directed deconstruction of the glycan can be analyzed to extract glycan composition and sequence. Glycans are also highly susceptible to dissociation by free radicals, mainly reactive oxygen species, which inspired our development of a free radical activated glycan sequencing (FRAGS) reagent, which combines a free radical precursor with a pyridine moiety that can be coupled to the reducing terminus of target glycans. Collisional activation of FRAGS-derivatized glycans generates a free radical that reacts to yield abundant cross-ring cleavages, glycosidic bond cleavages, and combinations of these types of cleavages with retention of charge at the reducing terminus. Branched sites are identified with the FRAGS reagent by the specific fragmentation patterns that are observed only at these locations. Mechanisms of dissociation as well as application of the reagents for both linear and highly branched glycan structure analysis are investigated and discussed. The approach developed here for glycan structure analysis offers unique advantages compared to earlier studies employing mass spectrometry for this purpose.
Normal incorporation of oral iron into intestinal ferritin in inflammation.

SummaryInflammation in rats caused by turpentine abscesses depresses iron absorption by inhibiting the transfer of iron from the intestinal mucosa to the body of the animal. It has been postulated that this inhibition is due to increased sequestration of orally administered iron in intestinal ferritin. The results of the described experiments show that this is not the case and provide further evidence that ferritin does not prevent iron absorption by binding iron in the intestinal mucosa.The author appreciates the excellent technical assistance of Mr. Silas James, Jr., and the advice of Dr. Richard Coleman and Dr. Paul Heller.
Role of the Intronic Enhancer in Tumor Necrosis Factor-mediated Induction of Manganous Superoxide Dismutase

Manganous superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-inducible gene product, plays an important role in removing superoxide anions produced inside mitochondria. Two regulatory regions, the proximal promoter region (PPR), which is upstream from the transcription initiation site, and the TNF-responsive element (TNFRE), which is inside intron 2, are responsible for Mn-SOD expression. To understand how each of these regions contributes to the transcription of Mn-SOD, quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, chromatin immunoprecipitations, and in vivo nuclease sensitivity assays were performed on the murine Mn-SOD gene. These assays demonstrate that Sp1 and nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 are required for Mn-SOD induction by TNF. Sp1 bound the PPR constitutively, whereas NF-κB p65 and C/EBP-β bound the TNFRE only after TNF treatment. Binding of C/EBP-β to the TNFRE was dependent on the presence of NF-κB p65. The chromatin structure within the TNFRE became more accessible to nuclease digestion after TNF treatment. This accessibility required Sp1 and NF-κB p65. Treatment of cells with an inhibitor of histone deacetylation, or transient transfection with coactivator-expressing plasmids, enhanced the expression of Mn-SOD. NF-κB p65 binding was required for acetylation of histones H3 and H4 at the PPR and the TNFRE. Together, these data suggest communication between the PPR and the TNFRE which involves chromatin remodeling and histone acetylation during the induction process of Mn-SOD in response to TNF.
Heterochromatin replication: better late than ever

Different heterochromatic properties appear on satellite DNA during successive embryonic division cycles in Drosophila. One such property, late replication, precedes HP1 recruitment, is under the control of zygotic transcription, and helps to lengthen S phase.
A criterion for description of anisotropy and yield differential effects in pressure-insensitive metals

Abstract This paper is devoted to modeling the asymmetry and anisotropy in yielding of pressure insensitive metals. First, a new isotropic yield criterion with threefold rotational symmetry about the origin is proposed. This criterion is an odd function in the principal values of the stress deviator. It involves only one parameter that is expressible in terms of the yield strengths in compression and tension. Comparisons with the results of polycrystalline simulations performed by Hosford and Allen [Met. Trans. 4 (1973) 1424–1425] show that the proposed macroscopic criterion describes very well the asymmetry in yielding due to activation of twinning. Further, the extension of this isotropic criterion to orthotropy is developed. The proposed anisotropic criterion is applied to the description of the plastic response of hexagonal close packed (hcp) materials. It is shown that the proposed anisotropic criterion reproduces with great accuracy both the higher strength in tension than in compression and the higher tensile strength in the transverse direction than in the rolling direction observed in textured magnesium and magnesium alloys sheets (data after Kelly and Hosford [Trans. TMS-AIME 242 (1968) 654–661]).
A method for determining beam-foil excited hydrogenic populations from Lyman and Balmer decay curves which exactly accounts for cascading

A method is presented which permits the determination of relative initialp-state populations and combineds- andd-state populations of beam-foil excited hydrogenic atoms from Lyman and Balmer decay curves. The method utilizes exact and linear cascade relationships which exist between corresponding portions of these decay curves when they are measured under common excitation conditions, and does not involve exponential curve fitting. The technique determines (but does not require a measurement of) the relative normalizations of the various decay curves by a simple linear regression, thus inferring initial populations from the renormalized relative intensities as extrapolated to the foil position. The basic relationships of the method are developed, and results are presented from a computer study of the quality of data which would be required to extract populations by this technique.
Ontogeny of hematopoietic cells in Rana pipiens: Precursor cell migration during embryogenesis☆

The initial migratory patterns of hematopoietic precursor cells during early development in Rana pipiens were investigated by tracing the distribution of diploid and/or triploid cells transplanted to cytogenetically distinct embryos. One experimental series involved the production of anterior/posterior chimeras at the level of the pronephros during embryonic (Shumway) stages 14 (62 hr), 15 (67 hr), 16 (72 hr), and 17 (84 hr). Microdensitometric Feulgen-DNA measurements of larval hematopoietic organs harvested between 25 and 30 days postfertilization indicated that the majority of precursor cells are located posterior to the pronephros at stage 14. These data also suggest that between stages 15 and 17 there is a posterior to anterior migration. Reciprocal transplantation of cytogenetically labeled dorsal lateral plate mesoderm at stages 14 and 15, followed by F-DNA analysis of the dorsal aortae and pronephroses-posterior cardinal veins at embryonic stage 20, demonstrated that precursor cells derived from the transplanted region invade the developing circulatory network during this time period. Observation of cells from stage 20 pronephroses and aortae stained with Wright-Giemsa suggests that these precursor cells are morphologically primitive at the time of initial colonization. Therefore, we propose that hematopoietic precursor cells, possibly derived from lateral plate mesoderm, migrate interstitially from the posterior of the embryo during early development and invade the anteriorly located pronephroses and dorsal aortae during stage 20.
Use of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring by Hypertensive Patients in Primary Care: Survey of a Practice‐Based Research Network Cohort

Using a survey of a cohort of primary care patients, the authors determined the proportion currently using home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) and calculated odds ratios (ORs) of factors associated with such use. Overall, 530 questionnaires were received (80% response rate); 35.2% of respondents reported that their doctor had recommended HBPM (95% confidence interval [CI], 31.1-39.3), and 43.1% reported currently using HBPM (95% CI, 38.8-47.3). Compared with patients younger than 45 years, hypertensive patients older than 65 years were more likely to be using HBPM (OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.20-5.33). Those with a history of stroke/transient ischemic attack were also more likely to use HBPM (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.00-4.24). Compared with patients with a level of hypertension knowledge 90th percentile were more likely to use HBPM (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.08-3.56). The factor most strongly associated with use of HBPM was recalling a doctor's recommendation to do so (OR, 7.93; 95% CI, 4.96-12.7).
One-stage model for color conversion.

Description of a one-stage approximation to the color-conversion model of Richards and Parks (1971). The modified model proposes three channels for color vision, each with different center-surround sensitivities. In its strongest form, the model predicts that the gain-setting control that alters the sensitivities of each channel is solely a function of achromatic contrast.
Survey of respiratory therapy education program directors in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: As background for the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) third 2015 and Beyond conference, we sought information and opinions on the ability of the current respiratory therapy education infrastructure to make changes that would assure competent respiratory therapists in the envisioned healthcare future. METHODS: After pilot testing and refining the questions, we invited the directors of 435 respiratory therapy programs (based in 411 colleges) that were fully accredited or in the process of being accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care as of May, 2010, to participate in the survey. RESULTS: Three-hundred forty-eight program directors (80%) provided valid survey responses. Three of the 5 competencies related to evidence-based medicine and respiratory care protocols were taught less often in the associate-degree programs than in the baccalaureate-degree programs. Eighty percent of the baccalaureate-degree programs, compared to 42% of the associate-degree programs, instruct students how to critique published research (P CONCLUSIONS: There are important differences between the baccalaureate-degree and associate-degree programs.
Construction and evaluation of HOEs made in light of reduced coherence.

Using interferometers adjusted for extended source operation, it is shown that holographic optical elements (HOEs) can be constructed with any designed conjugate focal planes. Noise and diffraction efficiency measurements show that the reduced coherence method can yield HOEs of high diffraction efficiency and good SNR.
The Living Columbariinae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda: Turbinellidae) of New Zealand

The Columbariinae have been represented in the fauna of New Zealand from the Paleocene until the Recent, providing the longest known continuous record for the subfamily. Seven living species, representing the genera Columbarium, Coluzea, and Fulgurofusus, are recognized, and include two species, Fulgurofusus maxwelli and Fulgurofusus marshalli that are described as new. The New Zealand columbariine fauna is unusually diverse at the generic level, and includes the largest members of the subfamily, as well as the only primarily sublittoral species. The morphology, anatomy, and distribution of the living species are discussed, as are their relationships to living and fossil congeners.
Trend Mining for Predictive Product Design

The Preference Trend Mining (PTM) algorithm that we propose in this work aims to address some fundamental challenges of current demand modeling techniques being employed in the product design community. The first contribution is a multistage predictive modeling approach that captures changes in consumer preferences (as they relate to product design) over time, hereby enabling design engineers to anticipate next generation product features before they become mainstream/unimportant. Because consumer preferences may exhibit monotonically increasing or decreasing, seasonal or unobservable trends, we proposed employing a statistical trend detection technique to help detect time series attribute patterns. A time series exponential smoothing technique is then used to forecast future attribute trend patterns and generate a demand model that reflects emerging product preferences over time. The second contribution of this work is a novel classification scheme for attributes that have low predictive power and hence may be omitted from a predictive model. We propose classifying such attributes as either obsolete, nonstandard or standard, with the appropriate classification given based on the time series entropy values that an attribute exhibits. By modeling attribute irrelevance, design engineers can determine when to retire certain product features (deemed obsolete) or incorporate others into the actual product architecture (standard) while developing modules for those attributes exhibiting inconsistent patterns throughout time (nonstandard). A cell phone example containing 12 time stamped data sets (January 2009-December 2009) is used to validate the proposed Preference Trend Mining model and compare it to traditional demand modeling techniques for predictive accuracy and ease of model generation.© 2010 ASME
How ethnic media producers constitute their communities of practice: An ecological approach

Almost 60 million Americans regularly get their news and other information from ethnically targeted television, radio, newspapers, and websites (Allen, 2009). However, there is little research on ethnic media producers. Data collected in group discussions with media producers serving a variety of immigrant populations in Los Angeles were analyzed to investigate how they negotiate and develop their professional identities.Husband’s (2005) work on ethnic media newsrooms as communities of practice provided an explanatory framework for how respondents managed professional constraints resulting from their managers’ priorities and limited institutional resources. Moreover, though, we found that respondents were deeply influenced by ecological forces beyond their workplaces – specifically, by their encounters with mainstream media producers and organizations, mainstream society institutions, and the ethnic communities they serve. How respondents negotiated challenges to their professional identities sheds light ...
New Algorithms for 2D and 3D Point Matching: Pose Estimation and Correspondence

A fundamental open problem in computer vision-determining pose and correspondence between two sets of points in space--is solved with a novel, robust and easily implementable algorithm. The technique works on noisy point sets that may be of unequal sizes and may differ by non-rigid transformations. A 2D variation calculates the pose between point sets related by an affine transformation--translation, rotation, scale and shear. A 3D to 3D variation calculates translation and rotation. An objective describing the problem is derived from Mean field theory. The objective is minimized with clocked (EM-like) dynamics. Experiments with both handwritten and synthetic data provide empirical evidence for the method.
Mechanisms of Leukocyte Transendothelial Migration

Neither the innate nor adaptive immune system “responds” unless leukocytes cross blood vessels. This process occurs through diapedesis, in which the leukocyte moves in an ameboid fashion through tightly apposed endothelial borders and, in some cases, through the endothelial cell itself. This review focuses on the active role of the endothelial cell in diapedesis. Several mechanisms play a critical role in transendothelial migration, including signals derived from clustering of apically disposed intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, disruption or loosening of adherens junctions, and targeted recycling of platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule and other molecules from the recently described lateral border recycling compartment. Surprisingly, many of the same molecules and mechanisms that regulate paracellular migration also control transcellular migration. A hypothesis that integrates the various known mechanisms of transmigration is proposed.
Effect of exercise on left ventricular ejection fraction in men with coronary artery disease

Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was measured at rest and during supine bicycle exercise in 31 men with arteriographically defined coronary disease and in 15 normal men. LVEF was calculated from a left ventricular time vs activity curve (collimated scintillation probe, 99m Technetium) as the fracitonal fall in count-rate divided by the background-corrected left ventricular end-diastolic count-rate. In normal men LVEF at rest averaged .59 +/- .06 (+/-SD) and during exercise was .72 +/- .08. LVEF did not increase with exercise in men with coronary disease (.55 +/- .03 to .57 +/- .03; N = 31; AVE +/-SEM; NS). In 17 men with coronary disease who had ST segment depression with exercise, LVEF either decreased or was unaltered in all (55 +/- .04 to .49 +/- .03; P less than 0.05); whereas in 14 without ST depression, LVEF increased in 10 (71 per cent) and was unaltered in 4 (29 per cent) (.54 +/- .04 to .66 +/- .04; P less than 0.01). Results suggest that LVEF during exercise normally increases, but in men with coronary disease LVEF either fails to increase or actually decreases. In addition there appears to be a relationship between ST segment changes during exercise and ejection fraction.
Iron‐responsive chromatin remodelling and MAPK signalling enhance adhesion in Candida albicans

Recent cumulative data show that various transcription factors are recruited to the chromatin in an iron-responsive manner to affect diverse cellular functions in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. Here we identified groups of iron-responsive genes in C. albicans by chromatin remodelling analysis at gene promoters, using micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion followed by deep sequencing. Chromatin in the promoter regions of iron uptake and utilization genes showed repressed and active configuration, respectively, under iron-replete conditions. GO Term enrichment analysis of genes with differentially remodelled chromatin, in respective promoter locales, suggested that many genes involved in adhesion are also iron-responsive. C. albicans was observed to be more self-adherent (twofold increase) and formed higher biofilm mass (77% increase) in the presence of iron. Furthermore, we identified various known and novel adhesion-related genes with iron-dependent active chromatin profiles that are indicative of potential upregulation under iron-replete conditions. Transcription factor Cph1 that is activated upon Cek1 phosphorylation also showed an active chromatin profile under iron-replete conditions and cells showed iron-responsive Cek1 MAPK phosphorylation in the presence of iron. Thus, iron affects diverse biological functions by modulating chromatin profiles of large gene sets and by signalling through Cek1 MAPK in C. albicans.
Conversational Patterns across Gender, Class, and Ethnicity: Implications for Classroom Discourse

Tannen (1984) introduces the term “conversational style” to refer to the unique collection of communicative habits that individuals develop — all the ways they say what they mean — influenced by regional and cultural background, ethnicity, class, age, and gender, as well as numerous other influences such as sexual orientation, profession, and personality. According to Tannen, when individuals’ systems for signaling meaning and framing interaction are relatively similar, meaning is likely to be understood more or less as intended. When they are relatively different, speakers’ meaning, interactional intentions, and abilities may be misjudged.
Seismicity within Arizona during the Deployment of the EarthScope USArray Transportable Array

A detailed record of earthquake frequency and distribution is essential to understanding regional tectonic strain and seismic hazard, particularly in regions of low, but significant, seismicity levels. Comprehensive analyses of seismicity within Arizona have not been previously possible due to a lack of seismic stations in many regions, contributing to the perception that earthquakes within Arizona are rare and generally limited to the north‐central and northwestern portions of the state. The EarthScope USArray Transportable Array (TA) was deployed within Arizona from April 2006 to March 2009 and provided the opportunity to examine seismicity on a statewide scale. In this study, we developed a streamlined workflow for producing a comprehensive earthquake catalog using TA data. We combined our new catalog with historical earthquake catalogs from several sources to produce the first comprehensive historical earthquake catalog for the state of Arizona. The TA‐derived catalog is complete to local magnitude ( M L)∼1.2, contains crustal events as small as M L 0.0, and includes events located within several previously unidentified areas of seismic activity in Arizona. We also identified 16 earthquake clusters, many of which have swarmlike behavior. These earthquake clusters account for 42% of the events identified during the study period, and they occur in all physiographic, geophysical, and tectonic settings. We suggest that swarms and clusters, such as those documented in this study, may represent an important mechanism for small‐scale tectonic strain release within intraplate regions with otherwise apparently low seismicity levels. Online Material: Figures comparing earthquake depth to physiographic province, elevation, crustal thickness, and heat flow; data tables including earthquake catalogs and velocity models; and an introductory User's Guide to the Antelope Environmental Data Collection Software suite.
Disease and freeways drive genetic change in urban bobcat populations.

Urbanization profoundly impacts animal populations by causing isolation, increased susceptibility to disease, and exposure to toxicants. Genetic effects include reduced effective population size, increased population substructure, and decreased adaptive potential. We investigated the influence that urbanization and a disease epizootic had on the population genetics of bobcats (Lynx rufus) distributed across a highly fragmented urban landscape. We genotyped more than 300 bobcats, sampled from 1996 to 2012, for variation at nine neutral and seven immune gene-linked microsatellite loci. We found that two freeways are significant barriers to gene flow. Further, a 3-year disease epizootic, associated with secondary anticoagulant rodenticide exposure, caused a population bottleneck that led to significant genetic differentiation between pre- and post-disease populations that was greater than that between populations separated by major freeways for >60 years. However, balancing selection acted on immune-linked loci during the epizootic, maintaining variation at functional regions. Conservation assessments need to assay loci that are potentially under selection to better preserve the adaptive potential of populations at the urban–wildland interface. Further, interconnected regions that contain appropriate habitat for wildlife will be critical to the long-term viability of animal populations in urban landscapes.
Psychopharmacology: a house divided.

Abstract Background Psychopharmacology and psychiatry during the past 50 years have focused on the specificity model in which it is assumed that psychiatric disorders are specific entities which should respond to drugs with specific mechanisms of action. However, the validity of this model has been challenged by the approval of multiple drugs for the same disorder, as well as the approval of single agents for a variety of disorders which have little in common. As an example of this unacknowledged paradigm shift, I will examine the foundation for using antipsychotics in the treatment of depression. Methods An extensive literature search of studies investigating various mechanisms of actions of antipsychotics and antidepressants with the goal of identifying neurochemical processes common to both. Results The neurochemical differences in these classes of drugs appear to be profound, although several processes are common in both, including some degree of neuroprotection and changes in the epigenome. Whether these common features have any effect on clinical outcome remains in doubt. Conclusions While psychopharmacology and psychiatry remain largely committed to the specificity model, it appears that clinicians are prescribing on a dimensional model wherein symptoms are being treated with a variety of drugs, regardless of the diagnosis.
Does Integrated Behavioral Health Care Reduce Mental Health Disparities for Latinos? Initial Findings

Integrated behavioral health care (IBHC) is a model of mental health care service delivery that seeks to reduce stigma and service utilization barriers by embedding mental health professionals into the primary care team. This study explored whether IBHC service referrals, utilization, and outcomes were comparable for Latinos and non-Latino White primary care patients. Data for the current study were collected from 793 consecutive patients (63.8% Latino; M age = 29.02 years [SD = 17.96]; 35.1% under 18 years; 65.3% women; 54.3% uninsured) seen for behavioral health services in 2 primary care clinics during a 10.5 month period. The most common presenting concerns were depression (21.6%), anxiety (18.5%), adjustment disorder (13.0%), and externalizing behavior problems (9.8%). Results revealed that while Latino patients had significantly lower self-reported psychiatric distress, significantly higher clinician-assigned global assessment of functioning scores, and fewer received a psychiatric diagnosis at their initial visit compared to non-Latino White patients, both groups had comparable utilization rates, comparable and clinically significant improvements in symptoms (Cohen's d values > .50), and expressed high satisfaction with integrated behavioral services. These data provide preliminary evidence suggesting integration of behavioral health services into primary care clinics may help reduce mental health disparities for Latinos.
Real-time landmine detection with ground-penetrating radar using discriminative and adaptive hidden Markov models

We propose a real-time software system for landmine detection using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). The system includes an efficient and adaptive preprocessing component; a hidden Markov model-(HMM-) based detector; a corrective training component; and an incremental update of the background model. The preprocessing is based on frequency-domain processing and performs ground-level alignment and background removal. The HMM detector is an improvement of a previously proposed system (baseline). It includes additional pre-and postprocessing steps to improve the time efficiency and enable real-time application. The corrective training component is used to adjust the initial model parameters to minimize the number of misclassification sequences. This component could be used offline, or online through feedback to adapt an initial model to specific sites and environments. The background update component adjusts the parameters of the background model to adapt it to each lane during testing. The proposed software system is applied to data acquired from three outdoor test sites at different geographic locations, using a state-of-the-art array GPR prototype. The first collection was used as training, and the other two (contain data from more than 1200 m2 of simulated dirt and gravel roads) for testing. Our results indicate that, on average, the corrective training can improve the performance by about 10% for each site. For individual lanes, the performance gain can reach 50%.
Regional moisture balance control of landslide motion: implications for landslide forecasting in a changing climate

I correlated 12 years of annual movement of 18 points on a large, continuously moving, deep-seated landslide with a regional moisture balance index (moisture balance drought index, MBDI). I used MBDI values calculated from a combination of historical precipitation and air temperature data from A.D. 1895 to 2010, and downscaled climate projections using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change A2 emissions scenario for 2011–2099. At the landslide, temperature is projected to increase ~0.5 °C/10 yr between 2011 and 2099, while precipitation decreases at a rate of ~2 mm/10 yr. Landslide movement correlated with the MBDI with integration periods of 12 and 48 months. The correlation between movement and MBDI suggests that the MBDI functions as a proxy for groundwater pore pressures and landslide mobility. I used the correlation to forecast decreasing landslide movement between 2011 and 2099, with the head of the landslide expected to stop moving in the mid-21 st century. The MBDI, or a similar moisture balance index that accounts for evapotranspiration, has considerable potential as a tool for forecasting the magnitude of ongoing deep-seated landslide movement, and for assessing the onset or likelihood of regional, deep-seated landslide activity.
Supercovariant derivatives, super-Weyl groups, and N = 2 supergravity

Abstract We analyze the kinematic constraints for N = 2 Poincare supergravity within the context of “superconformal symmetry breakdown”. We find that N = 2 supergravity is described in terms of two independent supertensors: Wαβij and Tαi. We also discuss general properties of superspace covariant derivatives to derive the relation of superspace to component approaches.
Biorthogonal partners and applications

Two digital filters H(z) and F(z) are said to be biorthogonal partners of each other if their cascade H(z)F(z) satisfies the Nyquist or zero-crossing property. Biorthogonal partners arise in many different contexts such as filterbank theory, exact and least squares digital interpolation, and multiresolution theory. They also play a central role in the theory of equalization, especially, fractionally spaced equalizers in digital communications. We first develop several theoretical properties of biorthogonal partners. We also develop conditions for the existence of biorthogonal partners and FIR biorthogonal pairs and establish the connections to the Riesz basis property. We then explain how these results play a role in many of the above-mentioned applications.
Organic mechanism and the soul of science.

One of Donald Bates’s most striking claims was that the bio-medical sciences were central to the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century and that its innovators drew heavily on the “organic mechanism” of the ancients. The paper elaborates on and defends Bates’s proposal against a more conventional reading of the Scientific Revolution as driven by celestial and terrestrial mechanics and physics
Range Errors in Wind Profiling Caused by Strong Reflectivity Gradients

Abstract Comparisons of data taken by collocated Doppler wind profilers using 100-, 500-, and 1000-m pulse lengths show that the velocity profiles obtained with the longer pulses are displaced in height from contemporaneous profiles measured with the shorter pulses. These differences are larger than can be expected from random measurement errors. In addition, there is evidence that the 500-m pulse may underestimate the wind speed when compared with the 100-m pulse. The standard radar equation does not adequately account for the conditions under which observations are made. In particular, it assumes that atmospheric reflectivity is constant throughout the pulse volume and that observations can be assigned to the peak of the range-weighting function. However, observations from several tropical profilers show that reflectivity gradients with magnitudes greater than 10 dB km−1 are common. Here, a more general radar equation is used to simulate the radar response to the atmosphere. The simulation shows that at...
Lack of neural compensatory mechanisms of BDNF val66met met carriers and APOE E4 carriers in healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease

Compromises in compensatory neurobiologic mechanisms due to aging and/or genetic factors (i.e., APOE gene) may influence brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) val66met polymorphism effects on temporal lobe morphometry and memory performance. We studied 2 cohorts from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative: 175 healthy subjects and 222 with prodromal and established Alzheimer's disease. Yearly structural magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive performance assessments were carried out over 3 years of follow-up. Both cohorts had similar BDNF Val/Val and Met allele carriers' (including both Val/Met and Met/Met individuals) distribution. In healthy subjects, a significant trend for thinner posterior cingulate and precuneus cortices was detected in Met carriers compared to Val homozygotes in APOE E4 carriers, with large and medium effect sizes, respectively. The mild cognitive impairment/Alzheimer's disease cohort showed a longitudinal decline in entorhinal thickness in BDNF Met carriers compared to Val/Val in APOE E4 carriers, with effect sizes ranging from medium to large. In addition, an effect of BDNF genotype was found in APOE E4 carriers for episodic memory (logical memory and ADAS-Cog) and semantic fluency measures, with Met carriers performing worse in all cases. These findings suggest a lack of compensatory mechanisms in BDNF Met carriers and APOE E4 carriers in healthy and pathological aging.
Diffraction and Light Scattering

Light interacts with matter. This is the foundation for all the rich phenomena and useful applications associated with light and biological media. The interaction takes many forms. Light can be absorbed, or transmitted, or reflected, or scattered.
Ruminal Fermentations to Produce Liquid and Gaseous Fuels

The ruminant animal has evolved to effectively utilize relatively recalcitrant cellulosic biomass to fulfill its needs for growth and reproduction. Although the animal has developed a unique biomass pretreatment process based on mastication and rumination, the key driver of biomass utilization is the microbiota residing in the rumen. The ruminal microflora, largely comprised of anaerobic bacteria, can ferment all of the non-lignin biomass components, primarily to volatile fatty acids (VFAs), methane, and carbon dioxide. Methane is a well-known and widely utilized fuel for human activities, but most of the energy in the fermentation products resides in the VFA, which serves as the primary energy source for the animal. Because VFA can be converted by chemical and electrochemical routes to hydrocarbons, alcohols, or esters, they are the central components of the “carboxylate platform” for biofuel production. The ruminal fermentation can readily be conducted in bioreactors (i.e., extraruminally) and shares several attractive features with carboxylate platform processes based on “stuck” anaerobic digestion: feedstock flexibility, high solid loading rate, non-aseptic operation, and wide substrate range. The extraruminal fermentation has the additional benefit of a short run time (days, as opposed to weeks). This chapter summarizes current knowledge in the potential for fuel production using the ruminal fermentation, along with the potential for certain members of the ruminal community to be used for production of specific chemicals in pure culture or defined mixed culture.
Antibiosis Among Selected Paspalum Taxa to the Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract Twenty-one taxa of the warm-season perennial grass, Paspalum spp., were evaluated for response to the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), an important pest of turfgrass. In studies using excised grass clippings conducted in a growth chamber and on whole plants in a greenhouse, the most resistant taxon was P. ionanthum Chase (PI 404,449) as measured by larval and pupal weights, days to develop to pupal stage, and survival. Paspalum notatum Fluegge var. saurae Parodi (PI 422,024), P. notatum Fluegge (PI 310,146), P. thunbergii Kunth ex Steud. (PI 286,486) and P. macrophyllum Kunth. (PI 282,807) showed moderate resistance, whereas the turf-type P. vaginatum Swartz taxa were highly susceptible. Identifying resistant Paspalum taxa can inform plant breeding programs in development of pest-resistant grasses, a foundational integrated pest management strategy.
>70% Power-Added-Efficiency Dual-Gate, Cascode GaN HEMTs Without Harmonic Tuning

We report the state-of-the-art performance of deep-submicrometer gate length dual-gate GaN HEMTs and cascode GaN HEMTs with $10\times $ reduced gate-to-drain feedback capacitance compared with single-gate GaN HEMTs. With 150-nm gate length field-plated gate structures, these GaN HEMTs demonstrated improvement of small-signal gain by 10 dB, compared with single-gate GaN HEMTs. Large-signal load-pull measurements showed peak power-added-efficiency (PAE) of 71%–74% without harmonic tuning at 10 GHz, up to a measured continuous-wave output power level of 2.3–2.5 W. The 74% PAE is very close to a theoretical maximum PAE of 78.5% without harmonic tuning. Compared with single-gate GaN HEMTs, both the dual-gate and cascode GaN HEMTs offer $\sim 10$ % improvement in peak PAE at the output power of 2.3–2.5 W.
New and emerging medical therapies in Parkinson's disease.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most challenging neurodegenerative disorders to treat as it manifests with a large variety of troublesome, and often disabling, motor and non-motor symptoms. Despite limitations, such as motor and other complications, levodopa remains the most effective drug in the treatment of PD.Areas covered: In this review, we focus on phase 2 and 3 studies describing new and emerging medical therapies in PD. We discuss new formulations of levodopa, medications that prolong levodopa response and ameliorate levodopa-induced dyskinesias, and innovative delivery methods that are currently being evaluated in clinical trials or are in development with the promise of better efficacy and tolerability. We also describe novel non-dopaminergic drugs that have been identified for treatment of motor and non-motor symptoms. A specific section is designated for potential disease modifying therapies.Expert Opinion: Alternative formulations of levodopa appear to be promisin...
Debating Islam: Negotiating Religion, Europe and the Self, edited by Samuel M. Behloul, Susanne Leuenberger, and Andreas Tunger-Zanetti, Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2014, 372 pp., ISBN 978 3 8376 2249 2, US$45.00 (paperback)

At least since Charles Martel defeated a Moorish army near Tours in 732 and continuing through the first and second crusades, the Reconquista, and the various sieges of Vienna, Islam has been an in...
The Effect of Cysteine on the Trypanocidal Activity and Toxicity of Antimonials

ganic antimony compounds in protozoan and helminthic infections is not understood. In the case of arsenicals, Voegtlin and others found that glutathione, cysteine and its related substances reduce the trypanocidal activity and toxicity of the trivalent arsenic compounds. They proposed the theory that arsenoxide reacts with the sulfhydril groupings in cells and in this way interferes with cellular respiration.'-5 In view of the similarity in chemical properties of arsenic and antimony, it is interesting to note that cysteine likewise decreases the toxicity of anthiomaline (Lithium antimonyl thiomalate) in mice.6 The aim of the present work is to investigate the effect of cysteine on the trypanocidal activity and toxicity of various types of antimonials in order to throw some light on the mechanism of their antiprotozoan action.
Corruption and Anticorruption: The Case of India:

India is corrupt, but according to Transparency International, it is less so than it used to be and less so than many similar countries. People often blame India’s corruption on the system of busin...
Status,Problems and Countermeasures on Statistical Reports of County-level Occupational Diseases

The statistical report of occupational diseases is an important basis for preventive and control plan of occupational diseases.It is necessary to strengthen work guidance and training,make the synchronization of practical work and the network direct reporting,clear reporting time,develop work systems,stick to strict management,and attach importance to the file-building.In reporting,some of the direct reporting users do not timely report pesticide poisoning;direct reporting users have privileges of examination and verification at county level;some users are short of professional knowledge,and some poisoning reported cases are reported repeatedly.In the future,it is necessary to establish coordination mechanisms and duty institutions to bring the report into the annual assessment,to pay attention to fix bugs,to enhance self-learning and training,and remove the second reported card.
Ping-Pong: Musically Discovering Locations.

A recently developed system that uses pitched sounds to discover relative 3D positions of a group of devices located in a shared physical space is described. The measurements are coordinated over an IP network in a decentralized manner, while the actual measurements are carried out measuring the time-of-flight of the notes played by different devices. Approaches to sonify the discovery process are discussed. A specific instantiation of the system is described in detail. The melody is specified in the form of a score, available to every device in the network. The system performs the melody by playing different notes consecutively on different devices, keeping a consistent timing, while carrying out the inter-device measurements necessary to discover the geometrical configuration of the devices in the physical space.
Measurement of Optical Constants in the Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectral Region

Publisher Summary The optical constants of an isotropic material are the index of refraction n and the extinction coefficient k . They are respectively the real and imaginary components of the complex index of refraction. They can be measured at a given wavelength by direct methods or inferred from the photometric or polarimetric measurements. A number of methods exist for extracting n and k from specular-reflectance measurements at both normal and oblique incidence; and for semi-infinite media and layers on substrates. This chapter discusses the most useful methods for obtaining n and k in the vacuum ultraviolet and explores the problems encountered in applying these methods. The specular reflectance of a substance at an angle of incidence Φ, measured from a normal surface, is related to the complex index of refraction by the generalized Fresnel reflection coefficients. It is noted that these equations cannot be solved explicitly for n and k . Because the equations have two unknown measurements, however, two independent measurements are necessary if a solution is to be obtained.
Axial Muscles and Connective Tissues of the Bottlenose Dolphin

I do not think that anyone who has not dissected the spinal muscles of a cetacean can quite appreciate the impracticability of homologizing exactly all of the elements.
Brain drug targeting: Protein neurotherapeutics and peptide radiopharmaceuticals

Introduction The human brain uses less than a dozen monoaminergic or aminoacidergic neurotransmitter systems, but employs hundreds of peptidergic neurotransmission and neuromodulation systems. Therefore, targeting neuropeptide receptor systems in the brain offers numerous opportunities for the development of novel neurotherapeutics and neurodiagnostics for the treatment and diagnosis of brain diseases (Pardridge, 1991). One approach to the development of peptide-based neuropharmaceuticals is the discovery of small molecule peptidomimetics. However, there are two problems with small molecule drug development. First, small molecule peptidomimetic drugs, should they be discovered, tend to be peptide receptor antagonists, not agonists (Hefti, 1997). When the endogenous ligand is more than 10 amino acids in length, there are few, if any, examples of pharmacologically active small molecule peptidomimetics in clinical practice. The second problem is that, even if a small molecule peptidomimetic drug was discovered, the molecule would still need a blood–brain barrier (BBB) drug-targeting system if the molecule did not have the dual molecular characteristics of (a) lipid-solubility, and (b) molecular weight under a threshold of 400–600 Da (Chapter 3). Given the problems inherent in the drug discovery of functional small molecule peptidomimetics, and given the abundance of known endogenous neuropeptides that are biochemically characterized, one could ask why there is not a single neuropeptide presently in clinical practice as either a neurotherapeutic or neurodiagnostic agent for the central nervous system (CNS)? Neuropeptides have not been developed as neuropharmaceuticals because, with few exceptions, neuropeptides do not cross the BBB in pharmacologically significant amounts.
Subtle consumer-photo quality evaluation

Subjective test methodologies are morphing to enable researchers to answer questions relevant to rapidly evolving technologies in an efficient and reliable manner. This paper is an exploration of how subjective testing that employs crowdsourcing can be refined to drive stability and reliability in subjective results. We investigate how various design decisions can lead to disparate subjective responses; motivated by the need for efficient acquisition of large volumes of data, and the need to understand and mitigate pitfalls in online tests, when the stimuli are complex and subtle as is the case in popular consumer scenarios.
Polymer insulator test evaluation

Nonceramic insulators consist of a fiberglass core rod, metal end fittings, and weathershed housing. The weathershed homing is made of a polymeric material. Since the weathershed materials may be subject in service to degradation of aging due to harsh environmental conditions, laboratory tests are used to evaluate their performance. The use of fog chambers is one of the most commonly used laboratory tests. A test program was designed to study the joint effects of fog salinity and pre-deposited contamination on polymer insulators in a fog chamber. The paper reviews the evaluation aspects of test data related to leakage current pulses, cumulative charges and pre-deposit flashover voltages.