cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Political Economy of Corporate Responsibility in Germany, 1995-2008

During the past decade, Corporate Responsibility – the voluntary engagement of business for social and environmental ends above legally mandated minimum standards – has risen to prominence, if not pre-eminence in global economic governance. However, Corporate Responsibility is not uniformly distributed: the timing, extent and quality of CR varies significantly across countries. Germany is said to be a ‘laggard’ in Corporate Responsibility. This paper both describes and tries to explain this state of affairs, by focusing on business-led Corporate Responsibility associations, coalitions and intermediaries. Examining these, I find that German firms’ stance towards CR has been characterized by ambivalence. For example, German firms joined the EBNSC (since 2000: CSR Europe) in large numbers in the mid-1990s, only to cancel their memberships a few years later. I argue that this ambivalence can be explained with reference to Germany’s institutional framework, corporate governance and regulatory standards, which until recently left less ‘space’ for German companies to engage in CR initiatives compared with their counterparts in the U.K. and U.S.A. The increasing liberalization of the German economy during the past fifteen years has been accompanied by a growing dynamism of CR in Germany, and I present causal mechanisms which link CR and liberalization. The German case suggests that Corporate Responsibility may be emerging as a substitute, rather than a complement, to institutionalized forms of solidarity.
Working to Awaken

To me, multicultural education and social justice education mean much the same thing, probably because I have always linked multicultural education with its roots in the Civil Rights movement. In its inception, multicultural education grew from the work of African American educators and parents who challenged the idea that their homes and communities are culturally deficient and their children lacking in learning ability.
Olfactory Neuroblastoma and Sellar Neuroblastoma

Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB), also referred to as esthesioneuroblastoma, is an uncommonly occurring malignant tumor that arises from the olfactory neuroepithelium of the upper nasal cavity and anterior skull base. Tumors that are large enough may extend posteriorly to the sellar region.
Disaggregated cost-benefit analysis incorporating ecosystem services and disservices: A case from SAI Sanctuary

Under private management and ownership, privately protected areas provide opportunities for in situ environmental conservation. These areas also provide ecosystem services and disservices for various stakeholders, but their impact on various stakeholders has not been comprehensively studied. To evaluate the economic impact of a privately protected area, a disaggregated cost-benefit analysis was conducted on SAI Sanctuary incorporating its ecosystem services and disservices on private, local, and global stakeholders over a 10-year period from 2010 to 2020. SAI Sanctuary is a privately protected area located in southern Kodagu, a district in the Western Ghats forests of Karnataka, India. To valuate costs and benefits, interviews were conducted with private and local stakeholders. A literature review integrating other valuation techniques was performed as well. Discount rates of 0% and 6% were selected, and sensitivity analysis yielded various tradeoffs born by each stakeholder group. Results indicate private stakeholders bear the greatest net costs, and local stakeholders gain the greatest net benefits largely due to pollination, a regulating service valued between $546,210 and $774,810 in the year 2020. Global stakeholders remained the least affected by SAI Sanctuary with net benefits ranging from $27,900 to $39,570 in 2020. Still, the results validate stakeholder predictions that SAI Sanctuary not only sequesters carbon dioxide, it provides a range of ecosystem services while harboring biodiversity and producing natural capital. The results also indicate that environmental conservation occasionally yields unintended tradeoffs with disproportionate costs and benefits. In sum, environmental conservation can have a multiplicity of outcomes, but it is vital to measure these outcomes and bring privately protected areas into strategies for global conservation.
Patent foramen ovale: does it play a role in the pathophysiology of migraine headache?

Migraine headaches have a high prevalence rate in the general population and account for significant morbidity, lost productivity, health care visits, and dollars spent. Increasingly, emerging data show a link between migraine headache, especially migraine headache with aura, and patent foramen ovale (PFO). Closure of PFO as a cure for migraine headache is a tantalizing idea; this article examines the data supporting that possibility, including studies showing improvement in migraine headache after PFO closure and case reports in which migraine headaches worsened after closure of an atrial septal defect.
Solubility of Human Gallstones in Primate Gallbladder.

Summary1. Human gallstones placed in monkey gallbladders are less soluble than those placed in other experimental animals. 2. The major constituents in monkey bile are compared with those in human and dog bile.
Effects of artificial gravity on the cardiovascular system: Computational approach

Abstract Artificial gravity has been suggested as a multisystem countermeasure against the negative effects of weightlessness. However, many questions regarding the appropriate configuration are still unanswered, including optimal g-level, angular velocity, gravity gradient, and exercise protocol. Mathematical models can provide unique insight into these questions, particularly when experimental data is very expensive or difficult to obtain. In this research effort, a cardiovascular lumped-parameter model is developed to simulate the short-term transient hemodynamic response to artificial gravity exposure combined with ergometer exercise, using a bicycle mounted on a short-radius centrifuge. The model is thoroughly described and preliminary simulations are conducted to show the model capabilities and potential applications. The model consists of 21 compartments (including systemic circulation, pulmonary circulation, and a cardiac model), and it also includes the rapid cardiovascular control systems (arterial baroreflex and cardiopulmonary reflex). In addition, the pressure gradient resulting from short-radius centrifugation is captured in the model using hydrostatic pressure sources located at each compartment. The model also includes the cardiovascular effects resulting from exercise such as the muscle pump effect. An initial set of artificial gravity simulations were implemented using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Compact-Radius Centrifuge (CRC) configuration. Three centripetal acceleration (artificial gravity) levels were chosen: 1 g, 1.2 g, and 1.4 g, referenced to the subject's feet. Each simulation lasted 15.5 minutes and included a baseline period, the spin-up process, the ergometer exercise period (5 minutes of ergometer exercise at 30 W with a simulated pedal cadence of 60 RPM), and the spin-down process. Results showed that the cardiovascular model is able to predict the cardiovascular dynamics during gravity changes, as well as the expected steady-state cardiovascular behavior during sustained artificial gravity and exercise. Further validation of the model was performed using experimental data from the combined exercise and artificial gravity experiments conducted on the MIT CRC, and these results will be presented separately in future publications. This unique computational framework can be used to simulate a variety of centrifuge configuration and exercise intensities to improve understanding and inform decisions about future implementation of artificial gravity in space.
Application Study on Web GIS/ BeiDou Satellite Technology in Emergency Material Support System

In this paper, the integrated applications of Web GIS, satellite position Technology and network are deeply studied, the basic conceiving of establishing emergency material support system with the application of Web GIS and BeiDou Satellite Technology are put forward, and the technical approaches which can realize e-mergency material support system are discussed in the paper.
Synthesis of hemoglobin Abraham Lincoln (beta32leu leads to pro).

Globin chain synthesis was studied in vitro with reticulocytes from a patient heterozygous for Hb Abraham Lincoln, an unstable beta chain variant. Synthesis of α-chains by the reticulocytes exceeded total β-chain synthesis, and a substantial fraction (about 16%) of radioactivity incorporated into globin was recovered from the cells as uncombined α subunits. In a time-course study, the ratio of α : β-chain specific activity was found to increase progressively in a nearly linear manner, suggesting that a fraction of newly synthesized β-chains had undergone rapid destruction. The specific activity of the abnormal β-chain was nearly three times that of βA. The rate of synthesis of the β-chain of Hb Abraham Lincoln appeared to be approximately half that of the β-chain of Hb A.
The Perception of Speech

Publisher Summary None of the acoustic constituents of speech is unique to speech, although some features of speech are characteristic: a cyclical rise and fall of energy associated with a train of syllables, amplitude peaks, and valleys in the short-term spectrum, and variation over time in the frequency at which the peaks and valleys occur. Despite all, a perceiver often tracks the speech of a specific talker sampling by ear and eye, two kinds of perceptual organization that also combine multimodally and resolves the linguistic properties in the sensory effects. That is to say, perceptual analysis of the symbolic properties of speech succeeds. To gauge the means of resolving the sound produced by a single individual, the contrast between visual and auditory attention is instructive. In attending to a visible object or event, a perceiver typically turns to face it bringing the light reflected by the object of interest to the fovea of the retina. A listener's attention to the audible world achieves spatial and spectral focus psychologically, without the selective benefit of a heading at which auditory pattern acuity peaks. Despite all, perception often reciprocates the patterned variation of a speech stream with its discontinuities—that is, dissimilarities among components, and similarities among its components and those of unattended utterances and other events. This perceptual function is fast, unlearned, keyed to complex patterns of sensory variation, tolerant of anomalous sensory quality, nonsymbolic, and dependent on attention whether elicited or exerted.
The role of MHC class Ib-restricted T cells during infection

Even though major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class Ia and many Ib molecules have similarities in structure, MHC class Ib molecules tend to have more specialized functions, which include the presentation of non-peptidic antigens to non-classical T cells. Likewise, non-classical T cells also have unique characteristics, including an innate-like phenotype in naive animals and rapid effector functions. In this review, we discuss the role of MAIT and NKT cells during infection but also the contribution of less studied MHC class Ib-restricted T cells such as Qa-1-, Qa-2-, and M3-restricted T cells. We focus on describing the types of antigens presented to non-classical T cells, their response and cytokine profile following infection, as well as the overall impact of these T cells to the immune system.
Convergence: Informatization, World System, and Developing Countries

This essay reviews the arguments of the utopians and the dystopians on the ongoing Third Communication Revolution—the convergence of telecommunication, computers, and digitization—and makes the point that the state of capitalism stimulated by this revolution has left nations—small or big—with little option but to informatize so they could effectively compete in the world material economy. Because dependency theory offers no solution for these nations to escape from the quagmire of underdevelopment, a persuasive argument has surfaced to view the longitudinal “capitalist” dynamics of the world economy in nonideological terms. Global competition and interdependence reflect to some extent the end of the nation in the orthodox sense. One can reconfigure structural theory—the dependency-world system theory formulation—to reflect the emerging state of globalization. This essay uses an informatization model founded on the basic variables of the old paradigm of modernization— urbanization, literacy, education, and...
Learning Disabilities in Epilepsy

Neurophysiological mechanisms by which epilepsy may interfere with learning ability are reviewed from the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Mauds ley Hospital, and Department of Psychology, Middlesex Hospital, London, England.
PN-TRACE: plain network-wide broadcasting through time reservation using adaptive control for energy efficiency

In this paper, we present plain network-wide broadcasting through time reservation using adaptive control for energy efficiency (PN-TRACE), which is an energy-efficient network-wide voice broadcasting architecture for mobile ad hoc networks. PN-TRACE is created by integrating flooding, which is a simple, stateless broadcast routing protocol, and multi-hop time reservation using adaptive control for energy efficiency (MH-TRACE), which is an energy conserving MAC protocol designed to provide QoS for voice traffic. To evaluate the performance of PN-TRACE in terms of energy dissipation and QoS, we conducted simulations with a 41 node, 6-hop network using a 32 kbps voice source. We compared PN-TRACE with flooding using the IEEE 802.11 and SMAC medium access control protocols. Simulation results show that all schemes give similar QoS performances under the same settings. However, the energy dissipation of PN-TRACE is less than 18% of the energy dissipation of IEEE 802.11-based flooding due to PN-TRACE's energy conserving design. The energy saving of SMAC-based flooding is not significant due to the limited sleep period.
A survey of high-performance computing approaches in power systems

As the size of power systems increases, conventional serial-execution based computing platforms are proving to be insufficient to fulfil the computational demands of modern power systems. To address this, researchers have proposed several high-performance computing (HPC) approaches for benefiting power systems. In this paper, we survey several HPC approaches proposed for power systems. We classify these approaches based on their key characteristics and briefly summarize the challenges in using HPC for benefiting power systems. We believe that this survey will help the readers gain insights into state-of-the-art of HPC in power systems.
Land Surface Precipitation in MERRA-2

AbstractThe Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), features several major advances from the original MERRA reanalysis, including the use, outside of high latitudes, of observations-based precipitation data products to correct the precipitation falling on the land surface in the MERRA-2 system. The method for merging the observed precipitation into MERRA-2 has been refined from that of the (land-only) MERRA-Land reanalysis. This paper describes the method and evaluates the MERRA-2 land surface precipitation. Compared to monthly GPCPv2.2 observations, the corrected MERRA-2 precipitation (M2CORR) is better than the precipitation generated by the atmospheric models within the cycling MERRA-2 and MERRA systems. M2CORR is also better than MERRA-Land precipitation over Africa because in MERRA-2 a merged satellite–gauge precipitation product is used instead of the gauge-only data used for MERRA-Land. Compared to 3-hourly TRMM observations, the M2CORR diurnal cycle ha...
Health literacy and medication awareness in outpatient neurologyAuthors Respond

The article by Fleisher et al.1 about patient health literacy and medication awareness is the scientific premise that for me confirms three score years of academic center pedagogy. Operational free associations: (1) Beyond electronic records, ours is a personally rewarding chronic disease specialty. (2) Scheduled visits are the most effective, least expensive antifrustration tactic, especially for the same resident who writes brief progress notes and even takes essential phone calls. (3) Medicalese vocabulary is never to be relied upon. (4) The most important compliance gimmick is …
Security Challenges of Networked Control Systems

Networked control systems (NCSs) are created by the integration of advanced communication networks, control systems, and computation techniques. This integration enhances efficiency and reliability at the expense of increased complexity and reduced security . For example, the reliance of NCSs on communication networks exposes these systems to attack vectors targeting generic networks. This chapter is an overview of pervasive NCSs’ applications, recent attacks on NCSs, and attack detection techniques. A mathematical framework for an NCS under common types of attack is presented, i.e., denial of service (DoS), false data injection (FDI), and time delay switch (TDS) attacks. Thereafter, the framework is used to developed an algorithm based on adaptive channel allocation and state estimation techniques to compensate for the destabilizing effects of TDS and FDI attacks simultaneously. Finally, the proposed algorithm is used in a case study to show the effect of injected attacks on different parts of an NCS and the capabilities of the detection algorithms. Simulation results show the algorithm can accurately detect attacks and can overcome the attack effects by adapting the communication channels.
Teaching NeuroImages: Rupture and spontaneous resolution of a P1 perforator pseudoaneurysm.

A 47-year-old man with a history of smoking and hypertension had a severe, sudden headache. Head CT showed subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (figure, A). Progressive ophthalmoplegia developed without alteration of consciousness. Catheter angiography was normal (figure, B). Brain MRI documented bilateral thalamic infarcts (figure, C). Repeat catheter angiography after 4 days showed a 2-mm dissecting pseudoaneurysm of a thalamoperforator (figure, D and E). Serial noninvasive vascular studies documented no growth. Six weeks later, a catheter angiogram demonstrated complete resolution of the pseudoaneurysm (figure, F).Bilateral third nerve palsy persisted at 1 year follow-up. Dissecting pseudoaneurysms of perforating posterior circulation vessels can present with a pattern suggestive of perimesencephalic SAH. Presence of associated neurologic deficits should increase the level of suspicion. Spontaneous resolution can occur without invasive treatment.1
Lung Isolation in Patients with Difficult Airways

Recognition of a difficult airway prior to the use of lung isolation devices is essential. Radiological studies must be reviewed, including a posterior–anterior chest radiograph and computer tomography scan of the chest. Securing the airway first is a must in patients with difficult airways requiring lung isolation. The use of an independent bronchial blocker is the first-line choice in patients with difficult airways who require lung isolation. The use of the airway exchange catheter is recommended during placement of double-lumen endotracheal tubes in patients with difficult airways.
Abstract 407: Defective Branched Chain Amino Acid Catabolism Impairs Exercise Endurance

The branched chain amino acids (BCAA), leucine, isoleucine and valine, are essential for mammals, and they play a positive role in exercise capacity, muscle development, and a lean body phenotype. ...
Vascular pressure bands on high-resolution esophageal manometry with impedance studies.

Horizontal pressure bands on high-resolution esophageal manometry with impedance (HREMI) tracings are often seen and thought to be due to cardiovascular structures compressing the esophagus. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and location of vascular pressure bands on HREMI studies and correlate these pressure bands to bolus clearance. HREMI studies in supine and upright positions from patients and normal volunteers were reviewed. Pressure bands were defined as bands of horizontal pressure greater than the 20 mmHg isobaric contour. Each swallow was reviewed with impedance to determine if bolus transit was impaired by the band. 38.6% of 251 patients and 36.4% of 11 normal controls had a pressure band present. There were a greater number of bands in supine versus upright position (patients: 130 vs. 25, P < 0.001 and controls: 6 vs. 1). Patients with pressure bands had similar demographics (age, gender, BMI) compared to those without. Average distal contractile integral of bands was greater in supine compared to upright (133 ± 201 vs. 60 ± 148 mmHg cm s, P < 0.05). Bands were commonly located clustered at 46 and 72% of esophageal length. Bolus transit was impaired by bands in 20.4% of supine and 14.0% of upright swallows. Vascular pressure bands can have a prominent appearance on HREMI studies, present in, being more prevalent and having greater pressure in the supine than the upright position. These vascular bands, when present, may impair esophageal transit.
Two-Stage Prosthetic Breast Reconstruction With Integrated Versus Remote Port Expanders: A Comparison of Complication Rates

Background: Ever since their introduction, tissue expanders for breast reconstruction have undergone a gradual evolution from remote port expanders to the integrated port expanders commonly in use today. Integrated port expanders have been widely adopted because of their ease of use and reliability, and though the convenience of integrated port expanders over remote port expanders is clear, a side-by-side comparison of complications has not been performed. A same-surgeon, same-institution study was conducted comparing the complication rates of remote versus integrated tissue expanders. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of 107 patients who underwent breast reconstruction with tissue expanders. Remote tissue expanders were used in 21 consecutive patients (n = 42) and integrated port tissue expanders in 86 consecutive patients (n = 128). Patients who had received prior or concurrent breast irradiation were excluded from the study. Overall complications were compared, followed by complications that were broken down according to mechanical and infectious complications. Results: Fisher's exact test demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the rate of overall complications in remote port expanders compared with integrated port expanders (19% vs 7%; P = .024). Similarly, a statistically significant difference in the rate of mechanical complications between the 2 groups was found (7% in remote vs 0.8% in integrated, P = .047). When the rates of infectious complications were compared between the 2 groups, however (12% in remote vs 6% in integrated), no significant difference could be found (P = .312). Conclusion: In this retrospective review of prosthetic breast reconstructions, increased overall complications were observed with remote tissue expanders that were mainly mechanical in nature. The higher rate of infection observed in the remote port group was not statistically significant. Our study shows that remote port expanders do in fact have a higher complication rate than integrated port expanders. This should be taken into account when considering the use of remote port expanders in certain clinical scenarios.
A Flexible and Efficient Authentication and Secure Data Transmission Scheme for IoT Applications

Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications have been rapidly deployed into pervasive environment, where both challenges and opportunities abound. On the one hand, a large number of IoT devices and their rich functions contribute significant volumes of data, which has brought tremendous convenience to the daily lives of end users. On the other hand, the heterogeneous IoT devices and a large amount of private information transmitted through networks also bring serious security and privacy issues. It is a big challenge to model IoT systems and trust relationships between different entities with a large number of heterogeneous IoT devices. In this article, we study a general IoT system architecture with consideration of heterogeneous IoT devices. Different trust models are proposed and analyzed based on the trust relationships between different entities in the IoT system. We propose a flexible and efficient authentication scheme with a consideration of heterogeneous IoT devices based on the least trust-required model. The proposed scheme provides security and privacy to resource-limited IoT devices flexibly and efficiently by utilizing IoT devices with better storage and computational ability. Moreover, secure data transmission is presented with contextual privacy and data integrity services. The proposed scheme achieves not only the mutual authentication, initial session key agreement, and data integrity but also anonymity, contextual privacy, forward security, end-to-end security, and key escrow resilience. Security analysis is presented to provide verification of the proposed protocol and security objectives. Moreover, performance evaluation is presented with comparison to the other schemes in terms of security features, computational overhead, and communication overhead. The performance comparisons show that our proposed scheme provides flexible and efficient security by consideration of heterogeneous IoT devices. With the higher proportion of resource-limited IoT devices, our proposed scheme outperforms other similar schemes.
De novo biosynthesis of complex natural product sakuranetin using modular co-culture engineering.

Flavonoids are a large family of plant and fungal natural products, among which many have been found to possess outstanding biological activities. Utilization of engineered microbes as surrogate hosts for heterologous biosynthesis of flavonoids has been investigated extensively. However, current microbial biosynthesis strategies mostly rely on using one microbial strain to accommodate the long and complicated flavonoid pathways, which presents a major challenge for production optimization. Here, we adapt the emerging modular co-culture engineering approach to rationally design, establish and optimize an Escherichia coli co-culture for de novo biosynthesis of flavonoid sakuranetin from simple carbon substrate glucose. Specifically, two E. coli strains were employed to accommodate the sakuranetin biosynthesis pathway. The upstream strain was engineered for pathway intermediate p-coumaric acid production, whereas the downstream strain converted p-coumaric acid to sakuranetin. Through step-wise optimization of the co-culture system, we were able to produce 29.7 mg/L sakuranetin from 5 g/L glucose within 48 h, which is significantly higher than the production by the conventional monoculture-based approach. The co-culture biosynthesis was successfully scaled up in a fed-batch bioreactor, resulting in the production of 79.0 mg/L sakuranetin. To our knowledge, this is the highest bioproduction concentration reported so far for de novo sakuranetin biosynthesis using the heterologous host E. coli. The findings of this work expand the applicability of modular co-culture engineering for addressing the challenges associated with heterologous biosynthesis of complex natural products. • De novo biosynthesis of sakuranetin was achieved using E. coli-E. coli co-cultures. • Sakuranetin production by co-cultures was significantly higher than the mono-culture controls. • The co-culture system was optimized by multiple metabolic engineering strategies. • The co-culture biosynthesis was scaled up in fed-batch bioreactor.
Angel investor network pitch meetings: The pull and push of peer opinion

Abstract The angel investing space has transformed as investors have moved from individual deal seeking to more collaborative models of investing. Angel networks are formal investor organizations that pursue investment deals with entrepreneurs, assist with deal screening, and coordinate due diligence. These coordination activities have clear benefits for angel network members, but they also give rise to a dynamic of reliant judgment in which the espoused opinions of network peers are taken as evidence that weighs heavily on the investment decision. In this article, we provide evidence from an experiment set in an angel investment pitch meeting that reveals the positive bias an angel investor shows toward peer opinions. By revealing these potentially hidden forces in angel network deliberations, we raise awareness and, by extension, offer response strategies for angels and angel network directors to properly manage the influence of peer opinion in angel network discussions.
“They Forgot Their Role”: Women Perpetrators of the Holocaust and the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda

They Forgot Their Role is a comparative study of women’s actions and agency during genocide, examining women perpetrators of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. It foregrounds the stories of individuals’ experiences of genocide and examines the impact of deeply entrenched patriarchal systems on women who became perpetrators in Nazi Germany and 1994 Rwanda. It explores how, in both instances, many of the socially prescribed and perpetuated norms of gendered behavior were suspended, modified, or dissolved. It asks how this “relaxing” of the patriarchal order facilitated women’s participation in both genocides and considers the impact of a prevailing silence that has influenced women’s post-genocide trajectories and narratives. Men perpetrators are “ordinary,” women perpetrators are “aberrant, flawed, or inhuman.” And it argues for further discussion and analysis of women perpetrators in contemporary society and in scholarship.
Education and health: The joint role of gender and sexual identity.

Abstract Background Prior research has found that education's association with health can differ by social positions such as gender. Yet, none of the existing work has tested whether the relationship between education and self-rated health is equivalent across sexual orientation groups, and additionally, if these associations differ for men and women. Deploying the intersectionality perspective, we expand current debates of education as a resource substitution or multiplication to include sexual orientation. Methods We answer these questions using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a probability-based sample of adults living in 44 US states and territories for selected years between 2011 and 2017 (n = 1,219,382). Results Supporting resource multiplication, we find that compared to their same-gender heterosexual counterparts, education is less health-protective for bisexual adults, especially bisexual women. Gay men and lesbian women, on the other hand, seem to have similar associations of education with health as their same-gender heterosexual counterparts. Turning to gender comparisons across sexual identity groups, we find that resource substitution may operate only among heterosexual women when compared with heterosexual men. Conclusions In sum, this study suggests that the relationship between education and health may depend on the intersection of gender and sexual orientation among U.S. adults.
Addition of anaerobic electron acceptors to solid media did not enhance growth of 125 spacecraft bacteria under simulated low-pressure Martian conditions.

To protect Mars from microbial contamination, research on growth of microorganisms found in spacecraft assembly clean rooms under simulated Martian conditions is required. This study investigated the effects of low atmospheric pressure on the growth of chemoorganotrophic spacecraft bacteria and whether the addition of Mars relevant anaerobic electron acceptors might enhance growth. The 125 bacteria screened here were recovered from actual Mars spacecraft. Growth at 7 hPa, 0 °C, and a CO2-enriched anoxic atmosphere (called low-PTA conditions) was tested on five TSA-based media supplemented with anaerobic electron acceptors. None of the 125 spacecraft bacteria showed active growth under the tested low-PTA conditions and amended media. In contrast, a decrease in viability was observed in most cases. Growth curves of two hypopiezotolerant strains, Serratia liquefaciens and Trichococcus pasteurii, were performed to quantify the effects of the added anaerobic electron acceptors. Slight variations in growth rates were determined for both bacteria. However, the final cell densities were similar for all media tested, indicating no general preference for any specific anaerobic electron acceptor. By demonstrating that a broad diversity of chemoorganotrophic and culturable spacecraft bacteria do not grow under the tested conditions, we conclude that there may be low risk of growth of chemoorganotrophic bacteria typically recovered from Mars spacecraft during planetary protection bioburden screenings.
Arboreal Prey-Handling of Endothermic Prey by Captive Boa Constrictors

Prey-handling behavior serves as an important link between the processes of prey capture, transport, and swallowing. Snakes, lacking limbs, have developed a series of complex behaviors for the purposes of subjugating and handling their food. Using captive individuals of the semiarboreal Boa constrictor, we describe for the first time a set of behaviors unique to handling dead, endothermic prey in an arboreal context. Faced with the challenges of having to support the body weight of both themselves and their prey, Boa Constrictors create a series of loops that allow the body of the snake to support the prey item while also allowing for intraoral transport and swallowing. These loops can be adjusted and repositioned during transport, positioning the prey so that the pull of gravity is in line with swallowing.
Snow Grain Size Estimates from Airborne Ka-Band Radar Measurements

We designed a Ka-band prototype radar altimeter operated at a center frequency of 35 GHz with a 6 GHz bandwidth. The instrument was intended for fine-resolution verification and validation of space borne altimetry datasets. We installed it onboard the NASA C-130 aircraft in conjunction with two other wideband microwave instruments and collected airborne altimetry data over Greenland land ice and arctic sea ice during the 2015 NASA Operation IceBridge arctic campaign. Apart from the major application of verification and calibration of satellite-based measurements, data from this instrument can be used to derive snow grain size because of the dominant effect of volume scattering in radar signatures. In this paper, we briefly describe the system design and the installation on the NASA C-130, discuss the observed penetration depths of Ka-band signals into the snowpack, present sample results of optical-equivalent snow grain size estimates from radar measurements over the dry snow zone using a simplified snowpack model. We show that the observed penetration depths and the snow grain size estimates from the airborne Ka-band radar retrievals agree well with the model and in-situ snow-pit measurements.
Black Philanthropy and National Parks: Giving Green to Give Black

Philanthropic partners have always played a critical role in the management and maintenance of national parks in the U.S. Cultivating strong relationships with the communities of color, particularly African Americans, has been a major challenge for the National Park Service (NPS). As ethnic populations increase in share of the U.S. total population, the lack of diversity in NPS partnerships will be increasingly problematic for national parks funding and stewardship. Building philanthropic partnerships with African American audiences will be critical to the long-term sustainability of the NPS. While philanthropy is present and strong in the Black community, further research is needed to ascertain how the NPS can inspire and sustain philanthropic actions among Black donors in support of national parks. This paper presents an overview of the literature on Black philanthropy and the findings from focus group interviews to understand how African Americans perceive their philanthropy and the ways they connect their giving to national parks. The focus group interviews occurred between February and June 2018 in Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; and Washington, DC. Participants included mostly African American donors who were actively involved in community foundations, philanthropic associations, and giving circles. The study found that Black philanthropy is embedded in the community life; measured not only in money, but also in time and talent; and, driven by race and humanity. Participants also noted that a general lack of awareness as an important reason why they had not considered giving in support of national parks in the past. They suggested that making more visible the Black history of national parks would likely increase African American donors’ interests and stewardship. We suggest the NPS broaden its lens in forming strategies for connecting to Black donors (and audiences in general). Findings in this report present unique opportunities for the NPS to cultivate enduring and meaningful relationships with African American communities in support of national parks. Specifically, the NPS should leverage Black philanthropy to build partnerships, recognize the importance of social empowerment, expand cultural memory as part of the NPS visitor experience, and build on the concept of giving circles.Subscribe to JPRA
Patterns of vertebrate richness across global anthromes: prioritizing conservation beyond biomes and ecoregions

Abstract There is a clear need to refocus the way we prioritize conservation actions at a global scale to incorporate human systems. Anthromes have been suggested as one tool for integrating anthropogenic effects on ecosystems, but spatially explicit comparisons of biodiversity patterns are limited at a global extent. To address this gap, we used global data sets of anthromes and terrestrial vertebrate richness. We ranked anthromes by richness to all and threatened species at a global scale, temperate and tropical extents, and within major geographic regions. We tested for correlations between overall richness and count of threatened species, between taxonomic groups (birds, mammals, amphibians), and between taxa and conservation actions. At the global scale, there is high variation in vertebrate species richness by anthrome with low species richness in wildlands and higher richness in villages, rangelands, and woodlands. Threatened species distribution follows a similar pattern with high numbers of threatened species in village and remote seminatural woodland anthromes. Analyzes at temperate and tropical extents suggests unique opportunities in different regions, for example when considering the value of land sparing or sharing. There is clear heterogeneity across geographic regions. Richness in anthromes and hotspots are spatially aligned across all taxa but not for threatened taxa. Protection was negatively correlated with threatened bird richness. Human modified ecosystems provide opportunities for conservation and global and regional ranking of anthromes helps identify priorities that can complement biome and ecoregion-based prioritization. Currently, much of conservation research and prioritization is in wildlands or perceived natural landscapes, however this data shows a clear need to focus conservation efforts on seminatural, managed, and residential lands. These data would be helpful for global conservation organizations as an updated framework that can be used to prioritize global resource allocation while considering both ecological and social systems.
Infographic. A guide to understanding athlete abuse.

With increasing frequency, reports of interpersonal violence (eg, abuse) are emerging from sport settings, across a range of sports.1–3 Individual sports with female-dominated membership statistics, feminine gender culture and low clothing levels (gymnastics, swimming) seem especially vulnerable to systemic abuse, and team sports with male-dominated gender structure, masculine gender culture and high clothing levels (ice hockey, American football) are also affected. Thus, it is clear that interpersonal violence is prevalent across a range of sport settings. But it can be difficult to understand. This is because there are a range of athlete harms, various antecedent risk factors (structural, cultural, interpersonal), and a host …
Determination of Brain Death in Patients Undergoing Short-Term Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices.

Objective To describe apnoea test (AT) and ancillary study performance for brain death (BD) determination among patients undergoing short-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP). Methods We retrospectively analysed data regarding use of AT and ancillary study in consecutive adult patients who were diagnosed with BD while on MCS devices (including ECMO and IABP) over a 10-year period. Results Out of 140 patients, eight were on MCS devices at the time of BD (four ECMO, two ECMO and IABP, two IABP). The most common aetiology of BD was hypoxic ischaemic brain injury (6/8, 75%). In four patients (50%), the AT was not attempted because of haemodynamic instability and ECMO; in the remaining four (50%), both AT and ancillary studies were used. In three patients on ECMO, AT was performed by reducing the ECMO sweep flow rate to a range 0.5–2.7 L/min in order to achieve hypercarbia. One patient underwent AT while on IABP which was complicated by hypotension. All patients underwent ancillary tests, most commonly transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) (7/8, 88%); among those, cerebral circulatory arrest was confirmed in six of seven patients (86%), all of whom had left ventricular ejection fracture (LVEF) ≥20% and/or were supported with IABP. Conclusions There are multiple uncertainties regarding BD diagnosis while on MCS, prompting the need for ancillary studies in most patients. Our study shows that TCD can be used to support BD diagnosis in patients on ECMO who have sufficient cardiac contractility and/or IABP to produce pulsatile flow. TCD use in ECMO patients low LVEF needs further study.
Silence is deafening: Acute bilateral hearing loss as a rare presentation of acute stroke.

Abstract Acute bilateral hearing loss is an uncommon presentation in the Emergency Department (ED), with a variety of potential causes. It is important to consider neurologic vascular etiologies as a cause for acute sensorineural hearing loss. We report a case of acute hemorrhagic stroke presenting as acute bilateral hearing loss. A 60-year-old male with a history of atrial fibrillation presented to the ED with the acute onset of bilateral hearing loss with otherwise intact neurologic testing. He was found to have an acute left temporal hemorrhagic stroke, and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated multifocal ischemia including an acute right temporal ischemic stroke. In the ED setting, cerebrovascular pathology is an important consideration in the patient presenting with acute hearing loss in the absence of an alternative diagnosis. Missing such a diagnosis can lead to significant morbidity and mortality.
Experimental Analysis of Fourier Transform based Blind Frequency Offset Estimation for PS-QAM in W-band Fiber-Millimeter Wave Integrated System

Blind FOE for PS-QAM is experimentally analyzed in fiber-mmWave integrated system. QS-FOE can relax the requirements on FFT size, shaping factor and laser linewidth of the FFT-FOE by improving PMNR by more than 10 dB.
Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Diabetes: a Comparison of Professional Society Guidelines

In this review, we compare major points in the 2021 American Diabetes Association and the 2020 American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists/American College of Endocrinology guidelines, in particular, the assessment and management of cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes with a focus on dyslipidemia, blood pressure, and pharmacotherapy in diabetes.
A Standardized Test Protocol for Evaluation of Scale Reduction Technologies

Precipitation of calcium carbonate (i.e., scaling) can occur in both traditional tank (electric and gas) and “green” tankless hot water systems that have implications for public health, water and e...
Cognitive load research and semantic apprehension of graphical linguistics

In knowledge-work, there are increasing amounts of complex information rendered by information technology, which has led to the common term, information overload. Information visualization is one area where empirically tested semantic theory has not yet caught up with that of the underlying information storage and retrieval theory, contributing to information overload. In spite of a vast body of cognitive theory, much of the human factors research on information visualization has overlooked it. Specifically, information displays have facilitated the data gathering (ontological) aspects of human problem-solving and decision-making, but have exacerbated the meaning-making (epistemological) aspects of those activities by presenting information in linear rather than in graphical (holistic) forms. Drawing from extant empirical research, we present a thesis suggesting that cognitive load may be reduced when holistic information is imbued with transformational grammar to help alleviate the information overload problem, along with a methodological approach for investigation.
Foreword: Root Causes of the Pro Se Prisoner Litigation Crisis

In the 1968 film Bananas, Woody Allen portrays the pro se protagonist Fielding Mellish, who is on trial for treason, as a zany, bumbling, selfrepresented litigant who somehow manages to cross-examine himself and later devastate the government’s key witness against him while bound and gagged pursuant to a court order.1 Pro se litigation rarely evokes such humor and unmitigated success. Shon Hopwood, author of the following Essay, is no Fielding Mellish. Despite having no legal formal training until this fall,2 Shon has become adroit at doing what every big firm appellate practice only hopes to do: sculpting certiorari-worthy appeals to the Supreme Court involving pro se prisoners. Shon gained his expertise the hard way—through ten years in prison for a string of bank robberies and a life he has long since left behind. This hard-earned experience, as well as his subsequent success in shepherding cert-worthy petitions to the Supreme Court, gives Shon a unique and credible voice to speak on legal issues that affect inmates. His Essay argues for three changes to prisoner civil rights law and practice: (1) removing the one-year statute of limitations for non-capital federal cases found in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 19963 (AEDPA); (2) permitting pro se prisoners with inadequate medical care claims to conduct depositions without cost via the in forma pauperis