cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Client/Server Architecture in the ADAMS Parallel Object-Oriented Database System

This paper describes issues encountered in the design and implementation of a parallel object-oriented database system. In particular, we find that the design of a client/server interface (that is, whether to use a page server or query server architecture) depends greatly on the expected application environment. We believe that the query server model is more appropriate for most scientific database applications. This paper develops the reasons for this assertion. Then we discuss the implementation of a working parallel object-oriented, database system, called ADAMS, that has been developed at the University of Virginia. ADAMS is best known as the database system underlying the “Oracle of Bacon” website, which is currently responding to over 5 million queries per year. We show that set operations such as union and intersection can be performed in a completely data-parallel fashion, and that implicit join queries can be performed with very few inter-processor messages in a way that scales well. All data access in the system can be completely monitored, so these observations are supported by experimental results. Finally, we compare our approach with an equivalent page server version.
WSN07-4: Analytical Modeling and QoS Application of the P-Persistent 802.11 MAC Protocol

In this paper, we present analytical models for the average packet service time, end-to-end delay and system capacity for the p-persistent 802.11 MAC protocol. Models for both the "no retry limit" and "finite retry limit" cases are presented. The analytical models are validated by extensive simulation results. The advantage of the P-persistent 802.11 MAC protocol over the legacy 802.11 MAC protocol in providing throughput differentiation is illustrated.
Cine transnacional, el sistema de festivales y la transformación digital

Este articulo considera la idea del cine transnacional desde varias perspectivas distintas: primero, como un termino que compite con otros -tales como “cine del mundo”, “cine independiente”, “cine con acento” o “cine periferico”-, que buscan tambien definir el cine no hollywoodiense. A pesar de ser en si mismo un concepto problematico, el termino “cine transnacional” es el que mejor representa la situacion de la cinematografia actual bajo las condiciones que marca la globalizacion. En segundo lugar, el cine transnacional resalta los desafios, contradicciones y posibilidades de su principal punto de encuentro e intercambio: el circuito de festivales internacionales de cine. En tercer lugar, el cine transnacional nos ayuda a entender los cambios producidos por el “giro digital” en el cine no hollywoodiense y, de este modo, redefine lo que queremos decir en la actualidad con “cine nacional”, “cine de autor” y “cine de pequenas naciones”.
Glioblastoma Eradication Following Immune Checkpoint Blockade in an Orthotopic, Immunocompetent Model

Inhibition of immune checkpoints, including cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), programmed death-1 (PD-1), and its ligand PD-L1, has demonstrated exciting and durable remissions across a spectrum of malignancies. Combinatorial regimens blocking complementary immune checkpoints further enhance the therapeutic benefit. The activity of these agents for patients with glioblastoma, a generally lethal primary brain tumor associated with significant systemic and microenvironmental immunosuppression, is not known. We therefore systematically evaluated the antitumor efficacy of murine antibodies targeting a broad panel of immune checkpoint molecules, including CTLA-4, PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 when administered as single-agent therapy and in combinatorial regimens against an orthotopic, immunocompetent murine glioblastoma model. In these experiments, we observed long-term tumor-free survival following single-agent anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-CTLA-4 therapy in 50%, 20%, and 15% of treated animals, respectively. Combination therapy of anti-CTLA-4 plus anti-PD-1 cured 75% of the animals, even against advanced, later-stage tumors. In long-term survivors, tumor growth was not seen upon intracranial tumor rechallenge, suggesting that tumor-specific immune memory responses were generated. Inhibitory immune checkpoint blockade quantitatively increased activated CD8(+) and natural killer cells and decreased suppressive immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and draining cervical lymph nodes. Our results support prioritizing the clinical evaluation of PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4 single-agent targeted therapy as well as combination therapy of CTLA-4 plus PD-1 blockade for patients with glioblastoma.
Boundary detection system for cartilage thickness measurement on OCT images

A new semi-automatic image processing method for detecting cartilage boundaries in OCT is described. The boundary detection system consists of adaptive filtering technique for speckle reduction, edge detection, and edge linking by graph searching.
Control of Cold Start Emissions through Modulation of Engine Exhaust Gases

This paper presents a computational investigation of the effect of engine exhaust gas modulations on the performance of an automotive catalytic converter during cold starts. The objective is to assess if the modulations can result in faster catalyst light-off conditions and thus reduce cold-start emissions. The study employs a single-channel based, one-dimensional, non-adiabatic model. The modulations are generated by forcing the variations in exhaust gases air-fuel ratio and gas compositions. The results show that the imposed modulations cause a significant departure in the catalyst behavior from its steady behavior, and modulations have both favorable and harmful effects on pollutant conversion during the cold-starts. The operating conditions and the modulating gas composition have substantial influence on catalyst behavior.
Estimating the Abundance of Corn Ear worm Eggs

The moths of the corn ear worm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), prefer to oviposit on fresh corn silk. A method is being sought, for use by field men, by which potentially heavily infested plantings can be located early enough for the successful application of insecticides. Two seasons' studies of the adaptation of black light traps to this use were unsuccessful. Wide variations existed between counts of eggs on corn silks made in the field and numbers actually present. A method was devised for removing eggs from silk for rapid counting under a low-power microscope. Silks were clipped from ears, brought to the laboratory and washed in clear gasoline in a 500 ml. flask. They were removed with a bristle- tipped stirring rod, the gasoline was floated and decanted off with 70% ethyl alcohol and the eggs, in the alcohol, were poured out into a watch glass.
Chlamydospore induction in pure culture in Fusarium solani.

SUMMARYChlamydospore initiation by ungerminated or pre-germinated macrospores of Fusarium solani f. sp. phaseoli is induced by incubation in a complete medium at pH 4.0; this low pH may be achieved...
Theoretical Study of the Dynamics of Collisions Between HCl and ω-Hydroxylated Alkanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers

We present a classical-trajectory study of collisions of HCl with hydroxylated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers. The potential-energy surface used in the trajectory propagation is a combination of the standard OPLS force field to describe the surface and an analytical potential for the gas/surface interaction developed in this work. The gas/surface potential has been derived based on high-quality electronic-structure calculations of model HCl−alcohol systems in the gas phase and includes a flexible Buckingham term and a Coulombic term. The results of the trajectories calculations are in good agreement with recent molecular-beam experiments on the same system, thereby lending support to the accuracy of the calculations. The collision dynamics differ vastly from prior scattering studies involving rare gases and CO, primarily because the gas/surface attraction governed by hydrogen bonding dramatically increases the ability of the gas molecules to trap on the surface for extended times. The properties of...
Surface Reaction Rate and Probability of Ozone and Alpha-Terpineol on Glass, Polyvinyl Chloride, and Latex Paint Surfaces

Ozone can react homogeneously with unsaturated organic compounds in buildings to generate undesirable products. However, these reactions can also occur on indoor surfaces, especially for low-volatility organics. Conversion rates of ozone with α-terpineol, a representative low-volatility compound, were quantified on surfaces that mimic indoor substrates. Rates were measured for α-terpineol adsorbed to beads of glass, polyvinylchloride (PVC), and dry latex paint, in a plug flow reactor. A newly defined second-order surface reaction rate coefficient, k(2), was derived from the flow reactor model. The value of k(2) ranged from 0.68 × 10(-14) cm(4)s(-1)molecule(-1) for α-terpineol adsorbed to PVC to 3.17 × 10(-14) cm(4)s(-1)molecule(-1) for glass, but was insensitive to relative humidity. Further, k(2) is only weakly influenced by the adsorbed mass but instead appears to be more strongly related to the interfacial activity α-terpineol. The minimum reaction probability ranged from 3.79 × 10(-6) for glass at 20% RH to 6.75 × 10(-5) for PVC at 50% RH. The combination of high equilibrium surface coverage and high reactivity for α-terpineol suggests that surface conversion rates are fast enough to compete with or even overwhelm other removal mechanisms in buildings such as gas-phase conversion and air exchange.
A primer on the use of dual-energy CT in the evaluation of commonly encountered neoplasms

Technical improvements in the acquisition and display of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) have made this technique increasingly applicable to clinical practice, particularly in the setting of oncologic imaging. DECT allows for qualitative and quantitative analysis of tissue composition beyond the standard anatomical evaluation possible with single-energy computed tomography. For example, DECT can be used to interrogate iodine and calcium concentrations and to increase iodine signal, which makes many pathologic processes more conspicuous and provides improved understanding of internal structure within mass lesions. A working understanding of common postprocessing DECT displays will allow radiologists to maximize the additional diagnostic information available in DECT examinations. In this article, we describe common strategies for DECT interrogation by organ system, which may improve the conspicuity and understanding of suspected malignancies.
Mottled contrast in TEM images of mica crystals

Mottling in [uv0] micrographs is a common feature of phyllosilicates observed with transmission electron microscopes and has been attributed to various mechanisms. The similar appearance of the mottling among various samples suggests that it arises from a common mechanism. Diffraction-contrast experiments demonstrate that it is caused by variations in basal plane spacings. A second type of mottling was identified that has not been previously described. This mottling is most apparent in dark-field images obtained with the electron beam oriented approximately normal to the basal plane, but the mechanism responsible for this mottling could not be determined. Both types of mottling occur as primary features but can be affected or even created by beam-induced changes. The induced nature of some mottling suggests that caution should be used when interpreting mottled features.
About Canavati Fractional Ostrowski Inequalities

Here we present Ostrowski type inequalities involving left and right Canavati type generalised fractional derivatives. Combining these we obtain fractional Ostrowski type inequalities of mixed form. Then we establish Ostrowski type inequalities for ordinary and fractional derivatives involving complex valued functions defined on the unit circle.
The clinical diagnosis of pinealoma.

In spite of concerted efforts by many investigators, the function of the pineal gland remains an enigma. Certainly un­ derstanding has progressed since the ob­ servations of the philosopher Herophilus who thought that the pineal was a sphinc­ ter to control the flow of thought from the ventricles or Descartes’ proclamation that the pineal was the “ Seat of the Soul.” U n­ fortunately, no investigator has yet iden­ tified a single hormone produced exclu­ sively by the pineal gland that influences a distanttargetorgan(s). Therefore, a review of pineal physiology is a prerequisite to understanding the difficulties encoun­ tered in the diagnosis of pineal gland tumors.
A 1.3µW, 5pJ/cycle sub-threshold MSP430 processor in 90nm xLP FDSOI for energy-efficient IoT applications

This paper presents an implementation of a 16-bit MSP430 processor for ultra-low-power (ULP) systems catering to battery-less wireless sensor nodes, biomedical, and other IoT applications. Implemented in a custom extremely low power (xLP) 90nm FDSOI process, the processor consumes 1.3µW operating at 0.4V while executing a peak detection algorithm at 250 kHz. It supports the standard MSP430 instruction set architecture (ISA) and demonstrates QRS peak detection for an Electrocardiogram (ECG) application. The measured energy while executing peak detection at 250 kHz was 5pJ per cycle at 0.4V. The fabricated xLP devices show 55% reduction in threshold voltage (Vth) variation compared to similar-sized transistors in a traditional FDSOI process.
Effect of basolateral or apical hyposmolarity on apical maxi K channels of everted rat collecting tubule

We are able to evert and perfuse rat cortical collecting tubules (CCT) at 37 degrees C. Patch-clamp techniques were used to study high-conductance potassium channels (maxi K) on the apical membrane...
Time Zone Effect and the Margins of Exports

The negative effect of time zone on trade flows has recently been established in the literature. However, thus far, no paper has explored the differing time zone effect on the intensive and extensive margin. Utilising product-level trade data, this paper examines the impact of time zone differences on the intensive and extensive margin of exports. Furthermore, this paper examines the non-linear impact of different levels of time zone differences on exports. Using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation, the results indicate that the time zone differences negatively affect exports primarily via the extensive margin, with no effect on the intensive margin, which suggests that time zone differences act as a fixed cost of exporting. Furthermore, quartile analysis shows non-linearities in the time zone measure, more specifically that time zones matter more at larger time zone differences. These results can have important policy implications for nations looking to increase their trade presence.
An Assessment of Levels of Safety in Psychiatric Units.

OBJECTIVES: This article aims to understand the incident patterns in relation to different types of spaces within a psychiatric unit, which are discussed using the five levels of safety framework. BACKGROUND: Implementing measures to improve patient safety is essential particularly in a psychiatric hospital, where limited research has been conducted on inpatient safety. Therefore, this article aims to understand the incident patterns from the lens of the five levels of safety framework, which categorizes spaces according to the level of patient supervision in psychiatric facilities, as follows: service areas, corridors, dayrooms, patient rooms and bathrooms, seclusions and admissions. METHODS: In an 81-bed psychiatric hospital, this mixed-method study drew 7 years of incident reports and caregivers' perceptions gathered through focus groups. Incident reports on physical safety were analyzed based on the five levels of safety framework (N = 1,316). Focus groups (n = 9) explored the caregivers' viewpoints on patient safety and five categories of spaces. RESULTS: Overall findings support the five levels of safety pattern, confirming that most incidents occurred in patient rooms and bathrooms; moreover, relatively fewer incidents happened in dayrooms and corridors. Elopements are higher in hallways and dayrooms. Suicide is most common in patient rooms and bathrooms, and violence is more frequent in dayrooms. Focus groups results yielded insightful recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Levels of safety framework can be adapted to seven categories where seclusion room and admission area would be two of the spaces with least incidents.© The Author(s) 2016. Language: en
Role of the C-Terminal and Central Region of Gastrin for Recognition by the Human CCK2 Receptor

The effects of gastrin are mediated through the cholecystokinin-2 (CCK2) receptor, which has been cloned from a number of sources and found to possess an overall amino acid identity of 72% [1]. CD and NMR spectroscopy have identified a β-turn from residues 11–14, which may be important for receptor recognition [2,3]. Structure-activity studies using rodents have shown that the C-terminal Phe is important for agonist activity. Removal of Phe17 results in peptides that act as antagonists of gas-trin-induced acid secretion in rats [4]. Interspecies differences, however, bring into question the relevance of such findings with regard to humans. In the current study, the importance of the C-terminal Phe and putative β-turn of gastrin for binding to the human CCK2 receptor was examined. The C-terminal heptapeptide [Leu15]G(11–17), with the sequence Ala-Tyr-Gly-Trp-Leu-Asp-Phe-NH2, was used as the basis for this study. Two sets of analogs were synthesized involving either substitution of Gly13 with constrained amino acids or removal or replacement of Phe17 (Table 1). Binding of the peptides to human CCK2 receptors stably expressed in CHO cells was examined in competition with [3H-propionyl]CCK-8. Structures of [Leu15]G(11–17), [Pro13,Leu15]G(11–17), and [Aib13,Leu15]G(11–17) were simulated by MD using the GROMACS 2.0 package.
Generating microwave pulses with plasma

The control of electromagnetic radiation with plasmas is studied in a microwave resonant cavity fabricated using additive manufacturing and copper electroplating. The resonant cavity is created between two conducting posts in a rectangular waveguide at 12.3 GHz and scattering parameters of electromagnetic radiation are measured using a vector network analyzer. Plasma is introduced in the resonator in order to change the refractive index; control of the discharge voltage varies the frequency response. The plasma is also pulsed to create a time varying electron density and resonance frequency. In this way microwave pulses can be formed from a continuous microwave input, and the output pulse's width and delay can be controlled by the input microwave frequency.
Optimization for adaptive antenna arrays with mutually coupled elements via spatially smoothed ESPRIT

The paper presents an adaptive technique for a mutually coupled array. It employs amplitude and phase optimization to create multiple nulls to suppress multiple jammers, and is based on forward/backward smoothed ESPRIT (estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance technique). Both current amplitudes and phases are simultaneously adjusted to maximize the SIR (signal-to-interference ratio). To take account of mutual coupling, the self and mutual impedances of the array are computed.
Conditional survival in melanoma and thyroid cancer patients.

6599 Background: Melanoma and thyroid cancer are two increasingly common malignancies. Although likelihood of survival from both cancers can vary by disease severity, it isn't known how patients' life expectancy changes the further they are from time of diagnosis. Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, End Results (SEER) data we selected patients diagnosed with melanoma (N=95,041) or well-differentiated thyroid cancer (N=43,392) between 1998 - 2005. Patients were followed for up to 12 years. Cox regression provided estimates of disease-specific survival by SEER stage and age, which we then transformed to estimate conditional five year survival. Results: Patients with localized melanoma and thyroid cancer have an excellent five year survival at time of diagnosis and for subsequent years. For both regional melanoma and thyroid cancer there is an age gradient with improved conditional survival in melanoma patients over time. For distant melanoma, the initial five year survival is poor but improves rapidl...
Building Reading Skills in the Mathematics Class.

During the past several years, the authors have jointly conducted research on reading mathematics. Mary Ann Hater is an associate professor of mathematics and education at the College of Mount Saint Joseph. She teaches mathematics and education courses and directs a mathematics laboratory for elementary teachers. Robert Kane is chairman of mathematics and science education at Purdue University. Mary Ann Byrne is assistant professor of mathematics education at the University of Georgia.
Randomized trial of exercise vs. usual care on cancer biomarkers in ovarian cancer survivors: The Women’s Activity and Lifestyle Study in Connecticut (WALC).

5561Background: Physical activity (PA) has been associated with a lower risk of developing or dying of many cancers, including ovarian cancer (OC). Inflammatory and metabolic pathways may underlie these associations. We examined the effect of exercise (EX) vs. attention control (AC) on insulin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, leptin, adiponectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), TNF-α, and IL-6 in women with OC. Methods: We randomized 144 inactive, post-chemotherapy OC survivors into a 6-month (6M) RCT of EX vs. AC; blood samples were available on a subgroup EX (n=53) vs. AC (n=51). All women received weekly phone calls; those in the EX arm were counseled on increasing their PA to 150 min/wk of aerobic exercise and those in the AC arm given information on health topics. Fasting blood samples were drawn at baseline (BL) and 6M. Biomarkers were assayed by ELISA, auto analyzer or RIA. Mixed model repeated analysis was used to compare BL to 6M changes in biomarkers, and included adjustment for BL biomarker level...
The Effect of Sampling-Time Variation on Latent Growth Curve Models

Longitudinal data are often collected in waves in which a participant’s data can be collected at different times within each wave, resulting in sampling-time variation that is unaccounted for when waves are treated as single time points. Little research has been reported on the effects of this temporal imprecision on longitudinal growth-curve modeling. This article describes the results of a simulation study into the effect of sampling-time variation on parameter estimation, model fit, and model comparison with an empirical validation of the model fit and comparison results.
The Effects of Adolescent Self-Regulated Learning on Engagement in a College Access Program: An Exploratory Study:

College access programs (CAPs) aim to promote college readiness for adolescents, particularly those who may be the first in their family to go to college. Self-regulated learning is a critical comp...
Persistent Underrepresentation of Women’s Science in High Profile Journals

Past research has demonstrated an under-representation of female editors and reviewers in top scientific journals, but less is known about the representation of women authors within original research articles. We collected research article publication records from 15 high-profile multidisciplinary and neuroscience journals for 2005-2017 and analyzed the representation of women over time, as well as its relationship with journal impact factor. We find that women authors have been persistently underrepresented in high-profile journals. This under-representation has persisted over more than a decade, with glacial improvement over time. Even within our limited group of high profile journals, the percent of female first and last authors is negatively associated with journal impact factor. Since publishing in high-profile journals is a gateway to academic success, this underrepresentation of women may contribute to the lack of women at the top of the academic ladder.
Sex Differences in Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Among Individuals With HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy.

Background In high-resource settings, the HIV-attributable risk of myocardial infarction (MI) is higher among women than among men. The extent to which unique mechanisms contribute to MI risk among women vs. men with HIV remains unclear. Methods Subclinical coronary atherosclerotic plaque characteristics-including high-risk morphology plaque features-were compared among 48 HIV-infected women [48 (41, 54) years] and 97 HIV-infected men [48 (42, 52) years] on stable antiretroviral therapy (ART) without known cardiovascular disease. These individuals had previously completed coronary computed tomography angiography and metabolic/immune phenotyping as part of a prospective study. Results Extending previous analyses, now focusing exclusively on ART-treated participants, we found that HIV-infected women had a lower prevalence of any subclinical coronary atherosclerotic plaque (35% vs. 62%, P = 0.003) and a lower number of segments with plaque (P = 0.01), compared with HIV-infected men. We also report for the first time that ART-treated HIV-infected women had a lower prevalence of high-risk positively remodeled plaque (25% vs. 51%, P = 0.003) and a lower number of positively remodeled plaque segments (P = 0.002). In models adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors, we further showed that male sex remained associated with any coronary plaque [odds ratio 3.8, 95% confidence interval: (1.4 to 11.4)] and with positively remodeled plaque [odds ratio 3.7, 95% confidence interval: (1.4, 10.9)]. Conclusions ART-treated HIV-infected women (vs. HIV-infected men) had a lower prevalence and burden of subclinical coronary plaque and high-risk morphology plaque. Thus, unique sex-specific mechanisms beyond subclinical plaque may drive the higher HIV-attributable risk of MI among women vs. men.
A GAMP based algorithm with hierarchical priors for recovering non-negative sparse signals

We explore algorithms for solving the sparse non-negative least squares (NNLS) problem using a rectified Gaussian scale mixture approach combined with the generalized approximate message passing algorithm (GAMP). The approach uses a hierarchical representation based on the scale mixture prior and a chosen mixing density. The expectation maximization algorithm is used to perform type II estimation of the hyper-parameters that are then used to obtain a point estimate of the unknown signal. In this work, the GAMP algorithm is used to implement the E-step. Compared to existing GAMP based sparse NNLS algorithms, this approach enhances convergence when the transformation matrix is non-i.i.d.-Gaussian. Other advantages include significant reduction in derivation complexity of the algorithm, and the ability to impose different sparsity promoting priors on the signal, simply by changing the less computationally demanding M-step. Moreover, extending the algorithm to the multiple measurement vector case is straightforward, and is achieved by a simple modification to the M-step as well.
Accelerated biodegradation of atrazine by a microbial consortium is possible in culture and soil

A mixed enrichment culture of microorganisms capable of accelerated mineralization of atrazine was isolated from soil treated with successive applications of the herbicide. Liquid cultures of this consortium, in the presence of simple carbon sources, mineralized 96% of the applied atrazine (0.56 mM) within 7 days. Atrazine mineralization in culture is initiated with the formation of the metabolite hydroxyatrazine. In soil treated with atrazine at a concentration of 0.14 mM (concentration is based on total soil mass), and then inoculated with the microbial consortium, the parent compound was completely transformed in 25 days. After 30 days of incubation, 60% of the applied atrazine was accounted for as14CO2. As was found with the liquid cultures, hydroxyatrazine was the major metabolite. After 145 days, soil extractable hydroxyatrazine declined to zero and 86% of the applied atrazine was accounted for as14CO2. No metabolites, other than hydroxyatrazine, were recovered from either the liquid culture or soil inoculated with the consortium. The use of the mixed microbial culture enhanced mineralization more than 20 fold as compared to uninoculated soil.
Surface electronic structure of gamma -uranium.

It is interesting to study the surface electronic structure of uranium in the context of [ital f]-electron localization as the 5[ital f] shell is filled. Accordingly, we have used the film-linearized-muffin-tin-orbital method to calculate the surface electronic structure of [gamma]-uranium with body-centered-cubic structure. This all-electron self-consistent fully relativistic calculation has been done for a five-layer slab with (100) surface using two lattice constants (differing by about 1%) corresponding to different experimental information. Our calculated work functions of 3.60 and 3.82 eV for the two lattice constants both provide excellent agreement with the experimental results, which range from 3.63 to 3.90 eV. The calculated density of states and the charge distribution show stronger hybridization of 5[ital f] with 6[ital d] electrons than that of [delta]-plutonium. Our calculations indicate that the surface enhancement of 5[ital f] localization (i.e., relative to the bulk behavior) is much stronger for uranium than for plutonium. This increase of localization at the surface may have important consequences for surface reconstruction, chemisorption, and other surface behavior.
METABOLIC ENGINEERING FOR STRESS TOLERANCE

Abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, freezing and high temperature are important limiting factors for crop yield (Boyer, 1982). Stress can be defined as an influence that is outside the normal range of homeostatic control (Lerner, 1999). It has been estimated that annually about 42% of the crop productivity is lost owing to various biotic and abiotic stress factors (Oerke et.al., 1994). Additionally, some of the stress factors are increasingly troubling to our environment. More irrigated lands are becoming salinized. Only 35 % of the world’s potential arable land is currently used, and furthermore, almost 25% of the total irrigated acreage in the world suffers from high salinity (Flowers and Yeo, 1995). It is therefore imperative to breed cultivars of major crops exhibiting tolerance to various stress factors, which ultimately could lead to increased agricultural production to guarantee long-term food security and stable crop production (Bray et. al. 2000; Zhang et. al. 2000). With an expected world population of 12 billion by 2050, there is an urgent need to triple food productivity within a few decades (Vasil, 2003). As immobile organisms, many plants have evolved remarkable adaptations for various environmental stress factors. Stress triggers a response in plants, which brings change in its metabolite profile, like formation of compatible solutes, antioxidants, phytoalexins, protein protectants and cryoprotectants often due to up-regulation of metabolic pathways (Bohnert and Shen, 1999). Stress may also be responsible for recession :
Linezolid-associated serotonin toxicity after escitalopram discontinuation: concomitant drug considerations

We report a case of a hospitalised patient who developed probable serotonin toxicity shortly after the initiation of linezolid in whom the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram had been recently discontinued. On day 2 of linezolid administration, the patient reported severe anxiety and was observed to have full body jerking and twitching motions without mental status change. Notably, the patient was concomitantly receiving the antidepressant, trazodone and the benzodiazepine, clonazepam possibly affecting the severity and manifestations of serotonin toxicity. Linezolid was discontinued after 5 days and the patient's symptoms resolved. Serotonin toxicity can present with an array of symptoms and be life threatening if left unrecognised. This report highlights the clinical lessons that discontinuation of an SSRI upon initiation of linezolid does not eliminate the risk of serotonin toxicity and that other concomitant medications may worsen or improve some of the symptoms lending delay and uncertainty to the diagnosis.
Genetic improvement in cotton fiber elongation can impact yarn quality

Abstract Fiber quality is important to the textile industry because it directly relates to processing performance, productivity and yarn quality. For marketing purposes, the fiber quality of U.S. cotton is determined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) classing offices using High Volume Instrument (HVI). HVI measures fiber length, length uniformity, strength, micronaire, color, leaf and extraneous matter. Recent research shows other fiber properties not included in the USDA classification should be considered when developing new cultivars to improve spinning performance, yarn quality, and market value. Fiber properties of interest include but are not limited to fiber maturity, short fiber content, fiber elongation, and work-to-break characteristics. Breeding for higher fiber elongation is expected to result in new cultivars that can withstand processing with less fiber breakage, perform better in spinning, and produce better yarn quality. The purpose of this research was to evaluate spinning performance and yarn quality of cotton lines developed to place emphasis on fiber elongation during the breeding process. Fifteen F2 populations were followed through a series of selections to the stage of “end product” by conducting spinning tests on F5 progeny lines. Divergent selection for fiber elongation was conducted in the F2 and F3 generations with nine lines being selecting in the F4 generation for spinning. Yarn properties and fiber properties of each line were evaluated together for correlations and potential trends. Yarn quality of experimental lines was also compared to yarn quality of a commercial check cultivar. Fiber and yarn data were evaluated to determine if and clarify how fiber elongation influenced spinning performance and yarn quality. It was determined that it is possible to improve fiber elongation through breeding and that by placing an emphasis on fiber elongation improvements can be made to overall fiber and yarn quality. Results also demonstrate the potential impact of disregarding fiber elongation or selecting genotypes with low fiber elongation; there were negative effects on both fiber and yarn. There is opportunity to indirectly address multiple fiber quality objectives and improve the end-product by placing selection pressure on this specific fiber characteristic during the breeding process.
Role of the mesopore generation method in structure, activity and stability of MFI catalysts in glycerol acetylation

Abstract The relative stability of microporous and hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites in the acetylation of glycerol with acetic acid in liquid phase batch reactions is investigated. Microporous ZSM-5 is synthesized via a hydrothermal synthesis route. A hierarchical pore structure in the ZSM-5 is created by two techniques, (i) alkaline desilication of the microporous ZSM-5 (top-down synthesis), and (ii) hydrothermal synthesis using a mesoporogen organosilane surfactant as the structure-directing agent (bottom-up synthesis). The chemical and structural properties of the fresh and spent catalyst are studied and compared by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, pyridine adsorption followed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (Py-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and 27Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) spectroscopy and 29Si MAS NMR spectroscopy. The highest conversion of glycerol (99%) was obtained with the hierarchical zeolite obtained via bottom-up synthesis; however this catalyst failed to provide high reactivity in recycle runs. In contrast, consistent reactivity is obtained over the desilicated zeolites in recycle runs. Characterization of the spent catalysts demonstrates that the desilicated zeolite samples maintain key physical properties and therefore, performed well in the acetylation of glycerol with acetic acid.
Teaching through Community-Based Research: Undergraduate and Graduate Collaboration on the 2016 Little Rock Congregations Study.

Students studying political science, public administration, public service, and related fields are increasingly expected to engage with local communities in their eventual careers. Providing curric...
Panpsychism and Quantum Mechanics: Explanatory Challenges

This paper argues against a version of panpsychism that provides an interpretation of quantum mechanics, by appealing to phenomenal consciousness in order to address difficulties concerning measurements and observations. The challenge presented here is that phenomenal consciousness is neither necessary nor explanatory regarding issues in quantum mechanics. Rather, it is attention and access to information through epistemic constraints, such as rationality, that is necessary and explanatory. This suggests that if one takes mentality to be an essential ingredient in the interpretation of quantum mechanics, then mentality must be defined in terms of access, rather than phenomenal, consciousness.
Sensor System for Open/Closed Eye Detection in Infants During Feeding

Rapid weight gain during infancy expands the threat of obesity. Currently, there is a lack of tools to monitor the feeding behavior of infants. This paper presents a sensor system and a method for inspecting satiety cues exhibited by infants during feeding in the form of opening/closing of the eyes. Open eyes and vigorous sucking indicate an alert, actively feeding infant, while eye closing in combination with a slower frequency or lower strength of sucking indicate that an infant is getting full and falling asleep. The monitoring is performed by a sensor system consisting of a feeding bottle instrumented with a camera to monitor facial expression and a pressure sensor to monitor sucking. A method for open eye detection is proposed based on the histograms of oriented gradients features and multi-stage cascade classifier. In a pilot study of 4 infants, a recall value of 82.40% and F1-score of 80.79% was achieved while testing on 914 infant images.
Word and sentence level tests of morphological awareness in reading

Common tests of morphological awareness measure both morphology and syntax by requiring participants to fit words and pseudowords into sentences by adding or removing affixes. We report the results of a study testing a new word level task. College students viewed transparent words (without phonological or orthographic shifts) and used a keyboard to indicate whether the items contained 1, 2, 3, or 4 morphemes. Morpheme counting accuracy was strongly and significantly correlated with sentence level tests of morphological awareness, also grouping with them in a factor analysis, suggesting that the tasks measure a similar construct. Morpheme counting accuracy was also strongly and significantly correlated with the word identification and passage comprehension measures from the WJ-IV. Crossed random-effects modeling showed that all tasks were sensitive to word frequency and vocabulary. However, different MA tasks varied in their sensitivity to the sublexical properties of words. Responses in the sentence level tasks were sensitive to word and bigram frequency while responses in the word level task was sensitive to base frequency and the number of morphemes. Our findings suggest that conscious knowledge of root words and affixes can be directly measured at the word level without a syntactic component to the task and that responses do capture variation in the ability to decompose complex words into their component morphemes.
Condition of Sparingly Soluble Substances in Gelatine

BY the courtesy of the Editor of NATURE, I am able to give the following reply to the comments of Drs. Bolam and Bradford on our letter on “Condition of Silver Chromate in Gelatine Hydrolysed and Electro-Dialysed to Different Extents”, published in NATURE of April 25, 1931, p. 628.
Budget Template for Home Canning

One in five US households cans fruits or vegetables in a home kitchen. If your household is one of them, you may want to know the full cost of the activity or how much money you are saving by doing it yourself. This 10-page fact sheet written by Kevin R. Athearn, Amarat Simonne, and Soohyoun Ahn and published by the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Department presents a template designed to assist you in estimating the cost and potential returns from canning food at home. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1034
Predicting changes in performance due to cognitive fatigue: A multimodal approach based on speech motor coordination and electrodermal activity

Military job and training activities place significant demands on service members’ (SMs’) cognitive resources, increasing risk of injury and degrading performance. Early detection of cognitive fati...
Sample Errors Call into Question Conclusions Regarding Same-Sex Married Parents: A Comment on 'Family Structure and Child Health: Does the Sex Composition of Parents Matter?'

Because of classification errors reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, an estimated 42 % of the same-sex married partners in the sample for this study are misclassified different-sex married partners, thus calling into question findings regarding same-sex married parents. Including biological parentage as a control variable suppresses same-sex/different-sex differences, thus obscuring the data error. Parentage is not appropriate as a control because it correlates nearly perfectly (.97, gamma) with the same-sex/different-sex distinction and is invariant for the category of joint biological parents.
Pediatric Enteric Diagnostic Stewardship: The Right Test in the Right Context.

In this issue of Pediatrics , Cotter et al1 offer valuable analysis of the utility of molecular (nucleic acid amplification) enteric pathogen diagnostic technology in hospitalized children. These tests return highly worthwhile information for some infections, but many of their results are prone to misinterpretation. However, diagnostic guidelines based on classic microbiologic techniques do not perform well either.2 Molecular enteric microbiology is, therefore, a model opportunity for diagnostic stewardship to maximize worth and minimize wasteful expense. Cotter et al1 find that only 3.7% of tested hospitalized children benefitted from molecular diagnosis in terms of decreased length of stay and/or initiation of appropriate treatment. These data reinforce previous findings: enteric diagnostic use increases briskly after molecular testing becomes available and the tests find many unexpected signals reflecting difficult-to-interpret and/or nonactionable microbes. The authors candidly acknowledge the study’s limitations: nongeneralizability (their findings do not apply to outpatients) and reliance on historic comparison data. The benefit they cite applies to hospitalized children, and such populations are probably enriched for severe bacterial infections for which rapid and accurate molecular diagnosis has the greatest value; one would expect different yields in emergency facilities and ambulatory settings. … Address correspondence to Gillian A. M. Tarr, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, MMC 807, 420 Delaware St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. E-mail: gtarr{at}umn.edu
On-demand-fork: a microsecond fork for memory-intensive and latency-sensitive applications

Fork has long been the process creation system call for Unix. At its inception, fork was hailed as an efficient system call due to its use of copy-on-write on memory shared between parent and child processes. However, application memory demand has increased drastically since the early days and the cost incurred by fork to simply set up virtual memory (e.g., copy page tables) is now a concern, even for applications that only require hundreds of MBs of memory. In practice, fork performance already holds back system efficiency and latency across a range of uses cases that fork large processes, such as fault-tolerant systems, serverless frameworks, and testing frameworks. This paper proposes On-demand-fork, a fast implementation of the fork system call specifically designed for applications with large memory footprints. On-demand-fork relies on the observation that copy-on-write can be generalized to page tables, even on commodity hardware. On-demand-fork executes faster than the traditional fork implementation by additionally sharing page tables between parent and child at fork time and selectively copying page tables in small chunks, on-demand, when handling page faults. On-demand-fork is a drop-in replacement for fork that requires no changes to applications or hardware. We evaluated On-demand-fork on a range of micro-benchmarks and real-world workloads. On-demand-fork significantly reduces the fork invocation time and has improved scalability. For processes with 1 GB of allocated memory, On-demand-fork has a 65× performance advantage over Fork. We also evaluated On-demand-fork on testing, fuzzing, and snapshotting workloads of well-known applications, obtaining execution throughput improvements between 59% and 226% and up to 99% invocation latency reduction.
Modeling proton interactions with magnetodynamic targets for electromagnetic field mapping

Proton radiography’s utilization of positively charged probing particles makes it susceptible to potential influences from electromagnetic forces generated at the target object. In this work, we investigate how the 800 MeV proton radiography system of Los Alamos National Laboratory would respond to such influences with intentions to develop proton radiography/deflectometry diagnostics capable of probing electromagnetic fields inside dynamically changing objects. To understand how the proton radiography system responds to object-generated electromagnetic fields, a series of simulations were performed, which map proton trajectories through the system. This leads to an understanding of how the radiographic images, normally dominated by multiple Coulomb scattering, would be modified. The simulations also highlight novel ways in which additional data could be collected to glean more information about electromagnetic influences within and around the target object.
Fenestrated pedicle screws for thoracolumbar instrumentation in patients with poor bone quality: Case series and systematic review of the literature.

Abstract Objective To describe the results of a single-surgeon series and systematically review the literature on cement-augmented instrumented fusion with fenestrated pedicle screws. Methods All patients treated by the senior surgeon using fenestrated screws between 2017 and 2019 with a minimum of 6-months of clinical and radiographic follow-up were included. For the systematic review, we used PRISMA guidelines to identify all prior descriptions of cement-augmented instrumented fusion with fenestrated pedicle screws in the English literature. Endpoints of interest included hardware loosening, cement leakage, and pulmonary cement embolism (PCE). Results Our series included 38 patients (mean follow-up 14.8 months) who underwent cement-augmented instrumentation for tumor (47.3%), deformity/degenerative disease (39.5%), or osteoporotic fracture (13.2%). Asymptomatic screw lucency was seen in 2.6%, cement leakage in 445, and pulmonary cement embolism (PCE) in 5.2%. Our literature review identified 23 studies (n = 1526 patients), with low reported rates of hardware loosening (0.2%) and symptomatic PCE (1.0%). Cement leakage, while common (55.6%), produced symptoms in fewer than 1% of patients. Indications for cement-augmentation in this cohort included: spine metastasis with or without pathologic fracture (n = 18; 47.3%), degenerative spine disease or fixed deformity with poor underlying bone quality (n = 15; 39.5%), and osteoporotic fracture (n = 5; 13.2%). Conclusion Cement-augmented fusion with fenestrated screws appears to be a safe, effective means of treating patients with poor underlying bone quality secondary to tumor or osteoporosis. High-quality evidence with direct comparisons to non-augmented patients is needed.