cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Effect of a Statewide Mandatory Prescription Drug Monitoring Program on Opioid Prescribing by Emergency Medicine Providers Across 15 Hospitals in a Single Health System.

Abstract Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) enable registered prescribers to obtain real-time information on patients' prescription history of controlled medications. We sought to describe the effect of a state-mandated PDMP on opioid prescribing by emergency medicine providers. We retrospectively analyzed electronic medical records of 122,732 adult patients discharged with an opioid prescription from 15 emergency departments in a single health system in Pennsylvania from July 2015 to March, 2017. We used an interrupted time series design to evaluate the percentage of patients discharged each month with an opioid prescription before and after state law-mandated PDMP use on August 25, 2016. From August (pre-PDMP) to September, 2016 (post-PDMP), the opioid prescribing rate decreased from 12.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.8%-14.1%) to 10.2% (95% CI, 8.8%-11.8%). For each month between September 2016 to March 2017, there was a mean decline of .46% (95% CI, −.38% to −.53%) in the percentage of patients discharged with an opioid prescription. There was heterogeneity in opioid prescribing across hospitals as well as according to patient diagnosis. Perspective This study examined the effect of a state-mandated PDMP on opioid prescribing among emergency medicine providers from 15 different hospitals in a single health system. Findings support current PDMP mandates in reducing opioid prescriptions, which could curb the prescription opioid epidemic and may ultimately reduce abuse, misuse, and overdose death.
Immigrant Niches and Immigrant Networks in the U.S. Labor Market

Immigrants come to the United States to work and to improve their earnings and material living conditions, and in doing so, they often drive economic growth and local revitalization. Their labor market involvement may either supplement or displace employment opportunities for native-born populations
Bone adaptation in response to treadmill exercise in young and adult mice

Exercise is a key determinate of fracture risk and provides a clinical means to promote bone formation. However, the efficacy of exercise to increase bone mass declines with age. The purpose of this study was to identify age-related differences in the anabolic response to exercise at the cellular and tissue level. To this end, young (8-weeks of age) and adult (36-weeks of age) male mice were subjected to a moderate exercise regimen of running on a treadmill. As a result, exercise had a significant effect on PTHrP and SOST gene expression during the first week that was dependent upon age. In particular, young mice displayed an increase in PTHrP expression and decrease in SOST expression, both of which remained unaffected by exercise in the adult mice. After 5-weeks of exercise, a significant decrease in the percentage of osteocytes expressing sclerostin at the protein level was found in young mice, but not adult mice. Mechanical testing of the tibia found exercise to have a significant influence on tissue-level mechanical properties, specifically ultimate-stress and modulus that was dependent on age. Adult mice in particular experienced a significant decrease in modulus despite an increase in cortical area and cortical thickness compared to sedentary controls. Altogether, this study demonstrates a shift in the cellular response to exercise with age, and that gains in bone mass at the adult stage fail to improve bone strength.
Dorsal Premotor Contributions to Auditory Rhythm Perception: Causal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies of Interval, Tempo, and Phase

It has been suggested that movement planning networks are critical for time perception. The Action Simulation for Auditory Prediction (ASAP) hypothesis proposes that the dorsal auditory stream is involved in predictive beat-based timing through bidirectional interchange between auditory perception and dorsal premotor (dPMC) prediction via parietal regions, as has been supported by brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). However, causal impact of dPMC on time perception has not been tested directly. We used a TMS protocol that down-regulates cortical activity, continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS), to test for causal contributions of left dPMC to time perception. Three experiments measured (1) discrete interval timing perception, and relative beat-based musical timing for (2) tempo perception and (3) phase perception. Perceptual acuity was tested pre- and post-cTBS using a test of sub-second interval discrimination and the Adaptive Beat Alignment Test (A-BAT). We show (N = 30) that cTBS down-regulation of left dPMC interferes with interval timing perception and the ability to detect differences in musical tempo, but not phase. Our data support causal involvement of premotor networks in perceptual timing, supporting a causal role of the left dPMC in accurate interval and musical tempo perception, possibly via dorsal stream interactions with auditory cortex.
Superconvergent perturbation theory for an anharmonic oscillator

A computationally facile superconvergent perturbation theory for the energies and wavefunctions of the bound states of one-dimensional anharmonic oscillators is suggested. The proposed approach uses a Kolmogorov repartitioning of the Hamiltonian with perturbative order. The unperturbed and perturbed parts of the Hamiltonian are defined in terms of projections in Hilbert space, which allows for zero-order wavefunctions that are linear combinations of basis functions. The method is demonstrated on quartic anharmonic oscillators using a basis of generalized coherent states and, in contrast to usual perturbation theories, converges absolutely. Moreover, the method is shown to converge for excited states, and it is shown that the rate of convergence does not deteriorate appreciably with excitation.
Re-appearance of rotifers in hypersaline Mono Lake, California, during a period of rising lake levels and decreasing salinity

The surface elevation of Mono Lake, California, rose ~2 m and mixed-layer salinities declined about 5 g kg− 1 during the 3 years (1995–1997) following the decision to restrict water diversions out of the Mono Basin. Abundant (1 8 000 m− 2) Hexarthra jenkinae de Beauchamp were noted in pelagic samples in October 1997 after three decades of absence or very low abundance. Abundance subsequently increased to 100 000 m− 2 in December 1997 before declining to low numbers through 1998 and 1999. The re-appearance of Branchionus plicatilis Muller in pelagic samples occurred in September 1998. B. plicatilis areal abundance increased to ~15 000 m− 2 in October—December of both 1998 and 1999 but was low throughout the rest of the year. Both rotifers were noted in nearshore ponds, but were only abundant in those with salinities below 53 g kg− 1. During 1998–1999 when the salinities of the upper water column were 73–75 g kg− 1, less saline shoreline habitats may have been seeding the offshore rotifer populations.
Absence of time-dependent facility increase ("washout") in the perfused enucleated human eye.

During the course of constant-pressure anterior chamber perfusion experiments in eyes from a number of species, measured outflow facility increases progressively with perfusion time. One possible explanation for this phenomenon has been that the technique of perfusion induces a loss of extracellular material from the outflow pathway. Therefore, this general observation has been termed the "washout" effect. Data from the authors' laboratories demonstrate that although outflow facility increases in cynomolgus monkey eyes by 26% and 42% from baseline over 90 minutes in vivo and in vitro, respectively, this does not occur in the enucleated human eye. The absence of washout in the human eye probably cannot be explained by postmortem conditions since enucleated monkey eyes undergo a similar magnitude of washout as the monkey eye in vivo. Furthermore, since washout does not occur in the perfused human infant eye, the age of the donor cannot explain the difference in washout properties between human and other primate eyes. The monkey eye in vivo is a valuable model in the study of outflow physiology. However, the difference in washout behavior between human and other primate eyes may point to a potentially important fundamental difference in the biology of the outflow pathways in these two species. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 31:2384-2388,1990 Investigators report that constant-pressure anterior chamber perfusion of cynomolgus, 1 ' 2 vervet, 3 " 6 and rhesus 7 ' 8 monkey eyes in vivo and eyes from various primate 910 and subprimate 11 " 16 species in vitro is associated with a time-dependent increase in outflow facility. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as "washout," reflecting the hypothesis that the progressive decrease in resistance is due to a perfusioninduced washing away of extracellular material from the outflow pathway tissue. 14 In this report, we present a summary of perfusion data generated in our laboratories during the past 10 yr which show that, unlike enucleated monkey or calf eyes, human eyes do not undergo washout.
CNS Regulation of Salt and Water Intake

The brain has evolved a number of mechanisms to maintain body fluid balance. They include the sensation of thirst, which stimulates water intake, the secretion of vasopressin, which helps prevent water loss, and the secretion of aldosterone, which helps prevent sodium depletion. In the research described here, all three mechanisms are shown to be mediated by the actions of angiotensin on the brain.
Chilling Netflix: financialization, and the influence of the Chinese market on the American entertainment industry

This article argues that as China becomes more central to streaming platform revenues, the global influence of Chinese content regulators will rise, not just because of restrictions in the Chinese ...
Deep Reinforcement Learning for Dynamic Spectrum Access in Wireless Networks

This paper investigates the use of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to solve the dynamic spectrum access problem. Specifically, we examine the scenario where multiple discrete channels are shared by different types of nodes which lack the ability to communicate (with other node types) and do not have a priori knowledge of the other nodes' behaviors. Each node's objective is to maximize its own long-term expected number of successful transmissions. The problem is formulated as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) with unknown system dynamics. In order to overcome the challenge of an unknown environment combined with a prohibitively large transition matrix, we apply two specific DRL approaches: The Deep Q Network (DQN) and The Double Deep Q Network (DDQN). Additionally, we also introduce techniques to improve DQNs including an eligibility trace, prior experience and the “guess process”. We first study the proposed DQN approach in a simple environment. The simulations show that both DQN and DDQN can effectively learn different nodes' communication patterns and achieve near optimal performance without prior knowledge. Then, we examine these techniques in a more complex environment and conclude that although different implementation variations obtain different performance, our proposed DQ N nodes can still learn to avoid collisions and achieve near optimal performance even in the more complex scenario.
Serum tyrosine kinase activity and neoplastic disease.

Evidence is accumulating that links proto-oncogenes to the induction or maintenance of human malignancies. Much of the evidence is derived from studies of animal models (Bishop 1983) and analyses of proto-oncogenes and their expression in human tumor cell lines and human tumors (Brodeur et al. 1984; Xu et al. 1984).
The Introduction of Pharmaceutical Product Patents in India

The decision to require that countries grant product patents for pharmaceutical innovations as a condition of membership in the World Trade Organization was very contentious. Almost 50 developing countries were not granting patent monopolies for drugs during the period the Uruguay round of GATT was being debated and these countries fiercely resisted the inclusion of this requirement, claiming that vastly higher drug prices would be associated with such patents. On the other side, business interest in the West urged them to consider the benefits such protection might bring both in terms of focusing more research on tropical diseases and encouraging greater domestic and foreign investment in local research activities. This paper discusses the various theoretical implications for a developing country of introducing product patents for pharmaceuticals. Using India as an example, it then brings together information gathered from both published sources and personal interviews to examine the potential magnitude of these effects. While not arriving at a conclusive answer to the question posed in the title, there are some suggestions about the way events might unfold as the policy is implemented.
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy on Alcohol and Nicotine: A Systematic Review:

Purpose:Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is an intervention used to treat alcohol and nicotine dependence that delivers cue exposure therapy using a virtual reality environment; however, lit...
1-YEAR RESULTS OF TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT IN EXTREMELY LARGE ANNULI >683 MM2 WITH EDWARDS SAPIEN 3 VALVE: A MULTICENTER EXPERIENCE

Given previously reported favorable short-term outcomes, we report 1-year results of Sapien3(S3) TAVR in extremely large annuli beyond manufacturer recommended range(area >683mm2) From 12/2013-8/2018, 97 patients across 13 centers with mean area 722.6+/-37.2mm2 (range: 683.5 to 852.0) underwent S3
Clinical outcomes in HIV+/HCV+ coinfected kidney transplant recipients in the pre- and post-direct-acting antiviral therapy eras: 10-Year single center experience.

Background Previous studies have demonstrated inferior patient and graft survival following kidney transplant (KT) in HIV+/HCV+ coinfected patients compared to HIV+/HCV- recipients. However, these studies were conducted prior to the availability of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents and data in the modern era are lacking. Methods Single center retrospective study of HIV+/HCV+ coinfected KT recipients (2007-2017). Outcomes were assessed for the pre-DAA and post-DAA (ie, after December 2013) eras including 1-year patient survival, death-censored graft survival, and acute rejection; and serious infections (defined as infections requiring admission to the intensive care unit during initial transplant hospitalization or re-admission to the hospital after discharge) within the first 6 months post-transplant. Results A total of 13 consecutive HIV+/HCV+ recipients were identified. Median time of post-transplant follow-up was 722 days. Seven patients were transplanted in the DAA era; five of them had anti-HCV Ab+ donors, with two donors being HCV NAT positive; all received DAA therapy, six of them post-transplant (median time from KT to DAA: 83 days; IQR, 54-300). All the patients in the pre-DAA era were on a protease inhibitor-containing ART regimen. One-year patient and death-censored graft survivals were 83% and 67%, respectively, for the patients transplanted in the pre-DAA era, and 100% for both outcomes in the subgroup of patients transplanted in the post-DAA era (P > 0.05). Compared to patients in the post-DAA era, those in the pre-DAA era had higher incidence of serious infections (0 vs 67%; P = 0.02). Acute rejection exclusively occurred in the pre-DAA group (n = 1; 17%). Conclusions Outcomes of HIV+/HCV+ KT recipients, including HIV-/HCV+ to HIV+/HCV+ transplants, in the DAA era were excellent in this small cohort. Larger studies are needed.
Two centuries of spreading language loss

This paper presents a visual depiction of the global spread of language loss over the past two centuries. This is done via a series of world maps (from 1795 to the present by 25-year intervals) in which each country is colored to represent the percentage of its indigenous languages that had died by that year or were doomed to die since they were no longer being used by children. A major finding is that the current rate of language loss is 9 per year, or one every 40 days – a far cry from the widely cited, “One language dies every 14 days.” Nevertheless, the rate of language loss is increasing and is on a trajectory to reach that level by the middle of the next century. An investigation of trends by world regions shows that the rate of language loss has already peaked in the Americas and Australia, remains relatively low in sub-Saharan Africa, and is accelerating sharply in the rest of the world.
Addressing the Ethical Challenge of Market Inclusion in Base-of-the-Pyramid Markets: A Macromarketing Approach

Making transformative services such as healthcare accessible to low-income consumers is an ethical challenge of vital importance to marketers. However, most low-income consumers across the world are excluded from the market for such transformative services because of financial constraints arising from poverty. In this paper, instead of focusing on the micro-interplay between firms and consumers, we examine the macro-interplay among firms, consumers, and public policy in addressing the ethical challenge of market inclusion at the base of the pyramid. Specifically, we examine how the Vietnam government used a policy of free and universal health insurance for children under the age of six as a means of lowering affordability barriers and fostering market inclusion in the healthcare market. Overnight in 2005, all children under the age of six living anywhere in Vietnam became eligible for free health insurance. Using this policy intervention as a natural experiment, we compare market inclusion outcomes of children under the age of six with older children who were ineligible before and after the program was implemented. We show that lowering affordability barriers through public policy (1) increases access to target services, (2) increases consumers’ overall out-of-pocket spending, and (3) increases access to complementary services. By adopting a macromarketing lens, this study makes a strong case for collaboration among firms, governments, and communities in addressing the ethical challenge of system-wide market inclusion in base-of-the-pyramid markets.
Urban Area Unmanned Aerial Systems Sensor Capabilities for Ensuring Ground Hazards Safety

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in urban areas can pose significant safety risks to dynamic ground objects (DGOs) such as people, pets, and bikes; especially for off-nominal emergency traverses and landings. This paper will examine a framework for evaluating the UAS safety benefits which can be achieved by classifying DGO hazards, modeling their behavior, and assigning collision costs. DGOs are assumed to be any ground objects which are either moving or capable of moving. Safety benefits will be assessed by analyzing metrics computed from UAS and DGO trajectories which take into account intent and uncertainties. This paper will establish the theoretical relationships mapping these trajectories and DGO classifications to safety levels. Sensor capabilities will be mapped to DGO trajectory uncertainties, so that safety can be directly estimated from the sensor specifications for a given UAS trajectory.
Rigor and reproducibility for data analysis and design in the behavioral sciences.

Abstract The rigor and reproducibility of science methods depends heavily on the appropriate use of statistical methods to answer research questions and make meaningful and accurate inferences based on data. The increasing analytic complexity and valuation of novel statistical and methodological approaches to data place greater emphasis on statistical review. We will outline the controversies within statistical sciences that threaten rigor and reproducibility of research published in the behavioral sciences and discuss ongoing approaches to generate reliable and valid inferences from data. We outline nine major areas to consider for generally evaluating the rigor and reproducibility of published articles and apply this framework to the 116 Behaviour Research and Therapy (BRAT) articles published in 2018. The results of our analysis highlight a pattern of missing rigor and reproducibility elements, especially pre-registration of study hypotheses, links to statistical code/output, and explicit archiving or sharing data used in analyses. We recommend reviewers consider these elements in their peer review and that journals consider publishing results of these rigor and reproducibility ratings with manuscripts to incentivize authors to publish these elements with their manuscript.
Anxiety and resilience in the face of natural disasters associated with climate change: A review and methodological critique

In the past two decades, climate change-related natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts have become increasingly frequent and severe, impacting the emotional and psychological well-being of those who are directly or indirectly exposed to them. Despite great interest in understanding differences in anxiety and resilience in response to natural disasters, enthusiasm appears to outstrip empirical clarity, as there remains considerable ambiguity as to determinants of resilient or pathological outcomes following exposure to natural disasters. In addition, there are several major methodological limitations in climate change and related natural disaster research, including the use of univariate analyses, cross-sectional design, and retrospective measures. Keeping these limitations in mind, we first review literature examining the mental health outcomes of natural disasters. Findings suggest that, overall, resilience is more common than pathological outcomes. Second, we use a multi-dimensional framework of resilience to selectively review factors at the event, individual, as well as family and community levels that could help inform resilient or pathological outcomes. Finally, we consider key limitations and future directions for research and practice in the field of anxiety and resilience in response to climate disasters.
The Impact of Coronal Plane Deformity on Ankle Arthrodesis and Arthroplasty.

Background:Ankle coronal plane deformity represents a complex 3-dimensional problem, and comparative data are lacking to guide treatment recommendations for optimal treatment of end-stage ankle art...
Image-Derived Geometric Characteristics Predict Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Growth in a Machine Learning Model

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) growth is correlated with rupture risk, but predicting either AAA growth or rupture remains challenging. Global aneurysm geometric properties have been linked with elevated peak AAA wall stress when using finite element analysis (FEA) and may predict AAA growth. We used a machine learning model to evaluate whether image-derived geometric parameters, calculated both globally and locally over the surface of the aneurysm can predict local AAA wall growth, avoiding material property assumptions used in FEA. Sequential CTAs one year apart were collected from 10 patients with AAAs. The luminal and aortic wall were segmented in patient’s baseline CTA. In order to calculate local geometric properties, each baseline AAA was divided into 64 regions to define regional geometric aneurysm characteristics from vertices in that region, and into 1,500 sub-regions in order to define sub-regional geometric characteristics. The global and local (regional and sub-regional) aortic geometric properties were all derived from the images and determined from the aortic segmentation and surface mesh. Local AAA growth between CTAs was determined at the sub-regional level using deformable image registration and was the outcome variable for the model. Patient demographics, as well as the global and local geometric aneurysm properties were used to predict local AAA growth using an eXtreme gradient boosted regression tree using a performance metric of root-mean-square error (RMSE) with 80/20 training to testing split. Mean relative error in predicting maximum AAA growth was 10.5% in the testing set. The most impactful predictors were AAA volume, regional maximum diameter, regional maximum Gaussian surface curvature, regional median aneurysm thickness, and patient age. Removal of local geometric properties from the model increased RMSE from 0.5 to 1.1 and decreased model performance by likelihood test (P = 0.01). Utilizing both global and local aneurysm geometric characteristics better predicts local aortic wall growth in AAAs, avoiding assumptions required using FEA.
Learning to Fly : A Distributed Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Software-Defined UAV Network Control

Control and performance optimization of wireless networks of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) require scalable approaches that go beyond architectures based on centralized network controllers. At the same time, the performance of model-based optimization approaches is often limited by the accuracy of the approximations and relaxations necessary to solve the UAV network control problem through convex optimization or similar techniques, and by the accuracy of the channel network models used. To address these challenges, this article introduces a new architectural framework to control and optimize UAV networks based on Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL). Furthermore, it proposes a virtualized, ‘ready-to-fly’ emulation environment to generate the extensive wireless data traces necessary to train DRL algorithms, which are notoriously hard to generate and collect on battery-powered UAV networks. The training environment integrates previously developed wireless protocol stacks for UAVs into the CORE/EMANE emulation tool. Our ‘ready-to-fly’ virtual environment guarantees scalable collection of high-fidelity wireless traces that can be used to train DRL agents. The proposed DRL architecture enables distributed data-driven optimization (with up to 3.7 $\times$ throughput improvement and 0.2 $\times$ latency reduction in reported experiments), facilitates network reconfiguration, and provides a scalable solution for large UAV networks.
The Urban–Rural Divide: The Effects of the Small Business Innovation Research Program in Small and Nonmetro Counties:

This study assesses the efficacy of the Small Business Innovation Research Program on innovation, employment, and business formation in small and nonmetropolitan counties. The primary goal is to fu...
Behavioral circadian phenotypes are associated with the risk of elevated body mass index

Metabolic dysfunction and obesity rates are on the rise. Although the central modes of circadian disruption has been studied in relation to the risk of obesity, the role of eating time has remained unclear. Here, we aimed to assess circadian behavioral phenotypes and their association with the risk of elevated body mass index (BMI). This was a prospective cross-sectional study of individuals presenting for colorectal cancer screening colonoscopy. Participants completed demographic questionnaires, The Munich ChronoType Questionnaire (MCTQ), and Food Timing Screener (FTS). The primary outcome of the study was the association between circadian phenotypes and elevated BMI. A total of 488 individuals completed the survey, with a mean (SD) age of 57.5 (10.8) years. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 28.8 (6.1) kg/m2, with 72.3% of individuals met criteria for elevated BMI. Four circadian behavioral phenotypes were generated: early chronotype with regular food timing (ER) (34.7%), early chronotype with irregular food timing (EI) (11.7%), intermediate/late chronotype with regular food timing (LR) (33.9%), and intermediate/late chronotype with irregular food timing (LI) (19.7%). In a multivariable regression analysis, LI phenotype had 2.9 times higher odds of elevated BMI as compared to ER phenotype (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.3–6.7, P = 0.01). The combination of late chronotype and irregular food timing, representative of a behavioral circadian rhythm disruption, is associated with higher rates of elevated BMI. The majority of individuals with this abnormal circadian phenotype were younger than 60 years old. This observation is especially relevant because of the ongoing rise in the obesity rates among young adults. Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies.
Temperature-Sensitive Intracellular Traffic of α2C-Adrenergic Receptor

α(2C)-Adrenergic receptor (α(2C)-AR) is the least characterized adrenergic receptor subtype and still very little is known about the intracellular traffic properties and pathophysiological roles of this receptor. α(2C)-AR has an atypical subcellular localization. At 37 °C, in the vascular smooth muscle cells and in fibroblasts, the receptor is poorly localized at the plasma membrane and accumulates inside the cell. Exposure to lower temperatures stimulates α(2C)-AR transport to the cell surface. This particular intracellular trafficking of α(2C)-AR is significant in the pathology of Raynaud phenomenon. In this brief review, I will present general information on the tissue distribution and cellular localization of α(2C)-AR. Also, I will discuss the mechanisms involved in the receptor transport by focusing on the trafficking motifs and on the molecular chaperones.
Chemically-Induced DNA-Protein Cross-Links

Naturally occurring nucleic acids are found in intimate association with proteins. Viral DNA or RNA is folded within a protein capsid; the bacterial chromosome is associated with polyamines, proteins, and membrane components (Worcel and Burgi, 1975); and the DNA of eukaryotes is associated with histones and non-histone proteins. Cross-links between nucleic acids and the surrounding proteins have been generated by UV radiation both in vitro and in vivo (Smith, This Volume). They have been employed in studies of nucleic acid-protein interactions (Schimmel et al, This Volume), and may lead to viral inactivation (Gordon, This Volume), cell death (Smith, This Volume; Todd and Han, This Volume), and perhaps carcinogenesis.
Jet-Stream Airsail: Study of the Shape and the Behavior of the Connecting Cable

A Jet-stream airsail concept takes advantage of aerology in order to fly without propulsion. Weather phenomena, especially jet streams, are relatively permanent high winds blowing from west to east, located at average altitudes and latitudes in both hemispheres. To continuously extract energy from the jet-stream, the system is composed of a propelled plane and a wind turbine interconnected by a cable. This work presents the aerodynamic characteristics and the behavior of the cable that links the two subsystems and transmits energy from the turbine to the aircraft. Two ways of solving this problem are explored: numerically and analytically. After obtaining the optimal shape of the cross-section of the cable, its behavior is analyzed as a 2D problem solved numerically and analytically. Finally, a 3D extension could be considered by adding lateral forces. The results of this work can be further used in the design process of the overall system: aircraft-turbine. Keywords—Jet-stream, cable, tether, aerodynamics, aircraft,
Current profiles of molecular nanowires: Density-functional theory Green's function representation

The Liouville-space Green function formalism is used to compute the current-density profile across a single molecule attached to electrodes. Time ordering is maintained in real, physical, time, avoiding the use of artificial time loops and backward propagations. Closed expressions for molecular currents, which only require density-functional theory calculations for the isolated molecule, are derived to fourth order in the molecule/ electrode coupling.
Defining Generalized Workplace Discrimination

Typically, workplace discrimination is approached from the perspective of a particular dimension (e.g., race or gender). This offers insight but also obscures important communality among different types of discrimination. We propose a construct of generalized workplace discrimination that clarifies the overlap among different types of discriminatory experiences and allows for a conceptualization and validation of discrimination as a psychological construct. Moreover, examination of this construct, and its antecedents and consequences, begins to answer calls for general models of discrimination while offering suggestions for situations under which the uniquenesses of discrimination against various target groups are more versus less prominent.
Applications and Results of Analytical Methods Used in Monitoring Environmental Contaminants

Techniques being developed to purify, fractionate, and classify complex organic chemical residues will simplify the detection of these residues and provide more comprehensive data about them. These techniques include an integrated series of chromatographic processes, new technology in mass spectrometry, advances in glass capillary-gas chromatography, and chemical derivatization. Gel permeation chromatography increases the efficiency of sample cleanup. Additional cleanup and selective separation of residues are achieved by adsorption chromatography (Florisil, silica gel, and carbon foam). An important finding which results from the use of this methodology is the identification of potentially toxic chlorinated dibenzofurans in fish tissue. An analytical scheme for isolating and detecting acidic pollutants was developed: derivatization of phenols and other acidics to pentafluoro benzyl ethers enhances their chromatography and detection. Partial automation of the sample cleanup and enrichment of residues reduces the time required for analyses, and the new separation techniques increase the number of components that are identifiable from a tissue matrix.
Aminoimidazole Carboxamide Ribotide Exerts Opposing Effects on Thiamine Synthesis in Salmonella enterica

ABSTRACT In Salmonella enterica, the thiamine biosynthetic intermediate 5-aminoimidazole ribotide (AIR) can be synthesized de novo independently of the early purine biosynthetic reactions. This secondary route to AIR synthesis is dependent on (i) 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide ribotide (AICAR) accumulation, (ii) a functional phosphoribosylaminoimidazole-succinocarboxamide (SAICAR) synthetase (PurC; EC 6.3.2.6), and (iii) methionine and lysine in the growth medium. Studies presented here show that AICAR is a direct precursor to AIR in vivo . PurC-dependent conversion of AICAR to AIR was recreated in vitro . Physiological studies showed that exogenous nutrients (e.g., methionine and lysine) antagonize the inhibitory effects of AICAR on the ThiC reaction and decreased the cellular thiamine requirement. Finally, genetic results identified multiple loci that impacted the effect of AICAR on thiamine synthesis and implicated cellular aspartate levels in AICAR-dependent AIR synthesis. Together, the data here clarify the mechanism that allows conditional growth of a strain lacking the first five biosynthetic enzymes, and they provide additional insights into the complexity of the metabolic network and its plasticity. IMPORTANCE In bacteria, the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine is derived from aminoimidazole ribotide (AIR), an intermediate in purine biosynthesis. A previous study described conditions under which AIR synthesis is independent of purine biosynthesis. This work is an extension of that previous study and describes a new synthetic pathway to thiamine that depends on a novel thiamine precursor and a secondary activity of the biosynthetic enzyme PurC. These findings provide mechanistic details of redundancy in the synthesis of a metabolite that is essential for nucleotide and coenzyme biosynthesis. Metabolic modifications that allow the new pathway to function or enhance it are also described.
Sphingosine 1-phosphate stimulates fibronectin matrix assembly through a Rho-dependent signal pathway.

Fibronectin matrix assembly is a cell-dependent process mediated by cell surface binding sites for the 70-kD N-terminal portion of fibronectin. We have shown that Rho-dependent cytoskeleton reorganization induced by lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) or the microtubule-disrupting agent nocodazole increases fibronectin binding (Zhang et al, Mol Biol Cell 8:1415, 1997). Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid implicated in mitogenesis and cytoskeletal remodelling. Both LPA and S1P are present in increased amounts in serum as compared with plasma as a result of platelet activation. Addition of S1P to human osteosarcoma MG63 cells or human foreskin fibroblasts increased cell-mediated binding and assembly of fibronectin. MG63 cells expressed the Edg-2 and Edg-4 G-protein–coupled receptors for bioactive lipids, whereas foreskin fibroblasts expressed Edg-2, Edg-3, and Edg-4. The stimulatory effect of S1P on the binding of fibronectin or the N-terminal 70-kD fragment of fibronectin was dynamic and due to increases in both the number and affinity of binding sites. The stimulation of 70-kD fragment binding by nanomolar S1P, like stimulation of binding by LPA or nocodazole, was blocked by inactivation of Rho with C3 exotoxin but not by pertussis toxin-mediated inactivation of Gi. These results indicate a common signal pathway leading to control of cellular fibronectin matrix assembly by bioactive lipids generated during blood coagulation.
Applications of Software for Automatic Differentiation in Numerical Computation

This paper describes construction and applications of Software for automatic differentiation. Examples from actual experience are cited to illustrate the theory.
John Steinbeck and the Child Reader

Chdildren are violent and cruel and good—and I was all of these—anhd all of these were in the secret book —John Steinbeck, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
Peculiarities of K2PdCl4 and K2PtCl4 Complexation with Polymer-Supported Dibenzo-18-crown-6

Dibenzo-18-crown-6 supported on a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer matrix (PDB18C6) was found to be an efficient sorbent of Pd(II) and Pt(II) from aqueous K 2 PdCl 4 and K 2 PtCl 4 solutions, respectively, because of formation of complex ion pairs where K + was coordinated with the crown ether moiety while the platinides(II) were present in the paired anionic species. Sorption stoichiometry and binding constants determined for the interaction of PDB18C6 with K 2 PdCl 4 and K 2 PtCl 4 were distinctive. On the basis of spectral characteristics (electronic absorption and IR) obtained for the immobilized complexes, Pt(II) was assumed to be sorbed as anion [PtCl 4 ] 2- while Pd(II) formed multinuclear species [Pd n Cl 2n+2 ] 2- . Within the complex ion pairs, Pd(II), in contrast with Pt(II), may interact with the aromatic substituents of the immobilized DB18C6.
University students and career decidedness: effects of two computer-based career guidance interventions

Abstract The DISCOVER Program (American College Testing Program, 1995) is a widely used computer-assisted guidance program that reportedly increases career decidedness by providing users with a computer generated list of occupations representing a congruent fit between the individual's personality and possible work environments. A review of the literature, however, suggested a need for additional research exploring the effectiveness of DISCOVER with and without counselor intervention with various populations grouped by combinations of age, sex, and race. This article describes the effects of a counselor-plus-computer and computer-only intervention on increasing the level of career decidedness in a sample population of university students. Results of the study indicate that both the computer-only and counselor-plus-computer experimental conditions were significantly different from the delayed treatment control group. The results further indicate that the counselor-plus-computer experimental condition was significantly different from both the delayed treatment control group and the computer-only experimental condition group. No significance was found when controlling for age, gender, and race. Implication of the study's findings are discussed.
Custom Distinctions in the Interaction of G-protein β Subunits with N-type (CaV2.2) Versus P/Q-type (CaV2.1) Calcium Channels

Inhibition of N- (Cav2.2) and P/Q-type (Cav2.1) calcium channels by G-proteins contribute importantly to presynaptic inhibition as well as to the effects of opiates and cannabinoids. Accordingly, elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying G-protein inhibition of voltage-gated calcium channels has been a major research focus. So far, inhibition is thought to result from the interaction of multiple proposed sites with the Gβγ complex (Gβγ). Far less is known about the important interaction sites on Gβγ itself. Here, we developed a novel electrophysiological paradigm, “compound-state willing-reluctant analysis,” to describe Gβγ interaction with N- and P/Q-type channels, and to provide a sensitive and efficient screen for changes in modulatory behavior over a broad range of potentials. The analysis confirmed that the apparent (un)binding kinetics of Gβγ with N-type are twofold slower than with P/Q-type at the voltage extremes, and emphasized that the kinetic discrepancy increases up to ten-fold in the mid-voltage range. To further investigate apparent differences in modulatory behavior, we screened both channels for the effects of single point alanine mutations within four regions of Gβ1, at residues known to interact with Gα. These residues might thereby be expected to interact with channel effectors. Of eight mutations studied, six affected G-protein modulation of both N- and P/Q-type channels to varying degrees, and one had no appreciable effect on either channel. The remaining mutation was remarkable for selective attenuation of effects on P/Q-, but not N-type channels. Surprisingly, this mutation decreased the (un)binding rates without affecting its overall affinity. The latter mutation suggests that the binding surface on Gβγ for N- and P/Q-type channels are different. Also, the manner in which this last mutation affected P/Q-type channels suggests that some residues may be important for “steering” or guiding the protein into the binding pocket, whereas others are important for simply binding to the channel.
LINEAR FLOWS ON κ-SOLENOIDS

Linear flows on inverse limits of tori are defined and it is shown that two linear flows on an inverse limit of tori are equivalent if and only if there is an automorphism of the inverse limit generating the equivalence.
Comparing Attribute Importance and Reason Methods for Understanding Behavior: An Application to Internet Job Searching

Pour tenter de comprendre le comportement de recherche d’emploi sur Internet, cette recherche compare les methodes de l’importance attribuee et des causes motivationnelles. La methode de l’importance attribuee evalue l’importance percue de divers facteurs en jeu dans la decision d’utiliser Internet pour trouver un emploi. La methode des causes motivationnelles evalue les facteurs specifiques auxquels les gens font appel pour expliquer leur comportement a venir de recherche d’emploi sur Internet, ce qui implique une differenciation des raisons favorables ou non a l’adoption du comportement. A partir des donnees obtenues sur 224 demandeurs d’emploi ayant en moyenne 27.9 ans, une regression logislique montra que les variables d’importance attribuee expliquaient 5% de la variance du comportement objectivement mesure de recherche d’emploi. Les variables de causes motivationnelles expliquaient 15% de la variance des comportements, ce qui represente un gain significatif en sus de ce que predit la methode de l’importance attribuee. De plus, la methode des causes motivationnelles etait en mesure d’identifier plusieurs antecedents du comportement de recherche d’emploi qui ěchappaient a la methode de l’importance attribuee. Les resultats sont en faveur de l’exploitation des variables de causes motivationnelles par la recherche on psychologic appliquee. This study compared attribute importance and reason methods for understanding internet job search behavior. The attribute importance method assessed the perceived importance of various factors involved in decisions to use the internet for job search. The reason method assessed the specific factors people use to explain their anticipated internet job search behavior, which included a differentiation of reasons for and reasons against performing the behavior. Logistic regression results from 224 job searchers (mean age 27.9 years) indicated that attribute importance variables explained 5 per cent of the variance in objectively measured job search behavior. Reason variables explained 15 per cent of the variance in behavior, which represents a significant increment in prediction over and above that explained by the attribute importance method. Moreover, the reason method was able to identify several determinants of job search behavior that were unidentified by the attribute importance method. Results provide strong support for using reason variables in applied psychological research.
Substitution of silver electrode with an abundant metal — A fundamental study

One of the fundamental bottlenecks for crystalline-Si solar cells to reach a terawatt scale is the scarcity of silver, which is used as the front finger electrode in most commercial Si solar cells today. In this paper, we examine some of the challenges related to low work-function abundant metals, such as aluminum and titanium, as a potential substitution for silver. These challenges include material resistivity, resistance to oxidation, contact resistance and alloying with Si. Valence-mending passivation is proposed as a potential solution to some of the most fundamental challenges including low Schottky barrier to n-type Si for low contact resistance and suppression of aluminum alloying with Si to prevent unintentional p-type doping into n-type Si. Preliminary results are presented on Al and Ti contacts to valence-mended Si(100) surface. Valence-mending passivation allows record-low Schottky barriers of less than 0.1 eV on n-type Si with aluminum and titanium, leading to a 29× reduction in specific contact resistance between titanium and lightly-doped n-type Si. It also suppresses silicidation on Si(100) surface up to ∼400°C with titanium as well as nickel.
Formin differentially utilizes profilin isoforms to rapidly assemble actin filaments.

Abstract Cells contain multiple formin isoforms that drive the assembly of profilin-actin for diverse processes. Given that many organisms also contain several profilin isoforms, specific formin/profilin pairs might be matched to optimally stimulate actin polymerization. We utilized a combination of bulk actin polymerization and single filament total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy assays to measure the effect of different profilin isoforms on the actin assembly properties of the cytokinesis formins from fission yeast (Cdc12p) and the nematode worm (CYK-1). We discovered that Cdc12p only effectively utilizes the single fission yeast profilin isoform SpPRF. Conversely, CYK-1 prefers the essential worm cytokinesis profilin CePFN-1 to the two non-essential worm profilin isoforms (SpPRF = CePFN-1 > CePFN-2 > CePFN-3). Chimeras containing the profilin-binding formin homology 1 (FH1) domain from one formin and the barbed-end associated FH2 domain from the other formin, revealed that both the FH1 and FH2 domains help confer profilin isoform specialization. Although the Cdc12p and CYK-1 FH1 domains cannot differentiate between profilin isoforms in the absence of actin, formin FH1 domains appear to preferentially select specific isoforms of profilin-actin. Surprisingly, analysis of profilin point mutants revealed that differences in highly conserved residues in both the poly-l-proline and actin binding regions of profilin do not explain their differential utilization by formin. Therefore, rapid formin-mediated elongation of profilin-actin depends upon favorable interactions of profilin-actin with the FH1 domain as well as the barbed-end associated FH2 domain. Specific formin FH1FH2 domains are tailored to optimally utilize actin bound to particular profilin isoforms.