cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Experimentally Testing Effects of Mycorrhizal Networks on Plant-Plant Interactions and Distinguishing Among Mechanisms

Plants of the same and different species are often linked by common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs), and there is substantial disagreement in the literature about whether these linkages have important effects on plant-plant interactions, beyond simply providing mycorrhizal inoculum. Here, I attempt to reconcile opposing viewpoints by reviewing available evidence for three distinct mechanisms by which CMNs can affect plant-plant interactions. I also analyze the details of manipulative field experiments that have been conducted to test CMN effects on plant-plant interactions, and make recommendations for the kinds of future studies that will be most useful in moving forward. I argue that few experiments have unequivocally tested whether CMNs have unique effects on plant-plant interactions, and that these experiments have largely been ignored in favor of debates about the magnitude of resource flows (especially carbon) from plant to plant through CMNs. I suggest that progress on the debate will only be made through more thorough testing of alternative mechanisms besides plant-to-plant carbon flow, especially coupled with experimental manipulations of CMNs to test for consequences on specific aspects of plant community ecological processes.
Broadband Ground Motions from Dynamic Models of Rupture on the Northern San Jacinto Fault, and Comparison with Precariously Balanced Rocks

The Southern California San Jacinto fault is geometrically complex, consisting of several major strands with smaller scale complexity within each strand. The two northernmost strands, the Claremont and the Casa Loma–Clark, are separated by a 25‐km‐long extensional stepover with an average of 4 km separation between the strands. We use a combined modeling method to assess probable rupture and ground‐motion behaviors for this stepover. First, dynamic rupture modeling on geometrically complex fault strands embedded in a state‐of‐the‐art 3D crustal velocity model is used to generate a series of scenario earthquakes. We then use the resulting near‐fault low‐frequency (<1 Hz) ground‐motion time histories to generate broadband synthetic seismograms with a hybrid approach. These synthetics are then compared with a distribution of precariously balanced rocks (PBRs) near the fault to constrain our results and assess shaking hazard for the region surrounding the fault. Our dynamic models produce sources between M w 5.4 and 6.9, with rupture limits imposed by sharp contrasts in fault stress or by geometrical barriers. The main stepover serves as a primary barrier to rupture in our model, producing event sizes that are consistent with the historical behavior of the San Jacinto fault. The largest broadband synthetics are a good match to leading ground‐motion prediction equations and are generally consistent with the distribution of PBRs, none of which experience accelerations that produce toppling probabilities significantly higher than zero. Thus, although the PBRs do not rule out any of our model scenarios, they confirm that our models produce realistic rupture extents and shaking. Online Material: Figures of total slip for additional rupture models, low‐frequency intensity plots, synthetic seismograms, and comparison with ground‐motion prediction equations.
Initial Deposit and Disappearance Rates of Various Insecticides as Affected by Forage Crop Species

Three years of field studies showed that the initial deposit and the rate of decomposition of residues of insecticides vary with the forage species. More insecticide was deposited upon application and disappearance of residues was slower on timothy and alfalfa than on birdsfoot trefoil and red clover. The differences found were frequently significant. Differences in residue levels on different species are important in making practical recommendations for insect control on forages.
North American Species of Sclerotinia—I

Some ten years ago the writer agreed to undertake the preparation of a monograph on the species of Sclerotinia for the North American Flora published by The New York Botanical Garden. A survey of the species reported from North America up to that time led the writer to assume that the undertaking would be a relatively simple one. His limited experience in taxonomic work was also doubtless an important factor in luring him into what promises to be a long and laborious though a most interesting and enjoyable investigation. It soon became apparent that to prepare a careful and reliable presentation of the North American species in this genus would require not only the collection and the examination in fresh condition of the morphology of as many of the forms as possible but also a comparative study of these forms in pure culture. Collecting soon uncovered undescribed species of Sclerotinia and species not heretofore reported from this country. The numbers of these have now increased to such an extent and the results of
Does Investor Sentiment Affect Sell-Side Analysts' Forecast Bias and Forecast Accuracy

We examine the association between investor expectations and its components and sell-side analysts’ short-run quarterly earnings forecast bias and forecast accuracy. To measure investor expectations, we use the Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE) survey and decompose it into the “fundamental” component related to underlying economic factors (FUND) and the “sentiment” component unrelated to underlying economic factors (SENT). We find that analysts are the most optimistic and the least accurate when SENT is higher. Management long-horizon earnings forecasts attenuate the effects of SENT on forecast optimism and forecast accuracy. Analysts are also the most accurate when FUND is higher. Last, the market places more weight on unexpected earnings when SENT is high. These findings suggest that analysts are affected by investor sentiment and the market reacts more strongly to unexpected earnings when analyst forecasts are the least accurate. The last result potentially explains why prior research (for example, Baker and Wurgler 2006) finds an association between investor sentiment and cross-sectional stock returns.
Grasses use an alternatively wired bHLH transcription factor network to establish stomatal identity

Stomata, epidermal valves facilitating plant–atmosphere gas exchange, represent a powerful model for understanding cell fate and pattern in plants. Core basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factors regulating stomatal development were identified in Arabidopsis, but this dicot’s developmental pattern and stomatal morphology represent only one of many possibilities in nature. Here, using unbiased forward genetic screens, followed by analysis of reporters and engineered mutants, we show that stomatal initiation in the grass Brachypodium distachyon uses orthologs of stomatal regulators known from Arabidopsis but that the function and behavior of individual genes, the relationships among genes, and the regulation of their protein products have diverged. Our results highlight ways in which a kernel of conserved genes may be alternatively wired to produce diversity in patterning and morphology and suggest that the stomatal transcription factor module is a prime target for breeding or genome modification to improve plant productivity.
Marquand Library and the Blue Mountain Project

Princeton University’s Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology is one of the oldest and most extensive art libraries in America. Founder and namesake Allan Marquand was both an art historian and the creator of a ‘logical machine’ that prefigured modern computers. This shared science and humanities heritage is echoed in the Blue Mountain Project, a new digital humanities initiative to which Marquand Library is a major contributor. This article begins with a brief description of the library’s origins and the development of its facilities and collections. It then reports on Blue Mountain, a digital library of the avant-garde that chronicles the emergence of modernity in the literary, visual and performing arts from 1848 to 1923.
Introduction: the Origins and Significance of Globalization

Why should we make a special effort to understand globalization? There are two important reasons: the process and the results of globalization are changing the way we live our lives on a personal basis and they are changing the institutions which we collectively use to give form and predictability to our economic, social and political relationships. The second reason is that the word has become so widely used that it has taken on all sorts of levels of meaning which confuse rather than enlighten and constrain logical thinking about the exceedingly difficult problems that globalization has brought. To give an example: views about globalization have moved within a few years from seeing it as an irresistible lava flow, to assessing it as only one among many features of the contemporary world, to dismissing it as ‘globaloney’, yet still being capable of fearing it as ‘globaphobia’. Plainly some straightening out is required, or we shall begin to feel like the speaker in Russell Mearns’s nonsense poem: As I was going up the stair I met a man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today; I wish, I wish, he’d stay away.
Phospholipase C Production of Listeria monocytogenes SLCC 5764 Cultured with Various Salt Concentrations, pHs, and Temperatures.

Listeria monocytogenes SLCC 5764 was propagated at 4, 25, or 37°C in tryptic soy broth (TSB) containing 428, 787, or 1,112 mM NaCl ; or adjusted with either acetic acid to pH 5.2, 5.7, or 7.0 or hydrochloric acid to pH 5.0, 5.7, or 7.0 ; or made alkaline with sodium hydroxide to pH 7.5, 8.5, or 9.5, to determine the effects on the production of phospholipase C (PLC). Altering the growth environment caused alterations in PLC production. The PLC activity was highest after cells were propagated in TSB containing 428 mM NaCl at each growth temperature. Little PLC activity was detected at 4 or 25°C in media with the lowest and highest salt concentrations. Similarly, little PLC activity was detected at 4 or 37°C at each pH from cells grown in media adjusted with either acid. The PLC activity was greater after the cells were grown in media adjusted with either acid at pH 7.0 at 25°C. For growth in alkaline media, the PLC activity was highest after the cells were propagated in media at pH 7.5 at each growth temperature.
Distance Function Learning for Supervised Similarity Assessment

Assessing the similarity between cases is a prerequisite for many case-based reasoning tasks. This chapter centers on distance function learning for supervised similarity assessment. First a framework for supervised similarity assessment is introduced. Second, three supervised distance function learning approaches from the areas of pattern classification, supervised clustering, and information retrieval are discussed, and their results for two supervised learning tasks will be explained and visualized. In each of these different areas, we show how the method can be applied to areas of case-based reasoning. Finally, a detailed literature survey will be given.
Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation

Planning for spinal procedures has been utilized throughout history. The first planned and documented fusion surgery was noted by Dr. Fred Albee in 1911, when he reported a tibial bone graft transplantation into the spine to treat Pott’s disease [1]. Decades later, Dr. Francis Denis proposed the three-column theory of spinal stability [2], which led to a better understanding for the anatomical implications of osteotomies. Today, studies continue to reveal the superiority of surgical treatment for spinal deformities [3–7], and the reliability of osteotomies in the setting of rigid coronal and sagittal deformities [8–10]. The widespread use of osteotomies is evident in the statistics from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which showed a significant increase in the number of patients discharged with osteotomies and fusions within the most recent 14 years of available data in the USA [11, 12].
Skill progression in MIT app inventor

This paper contributes to the growing body of research that attempts to measure online, informal learning. We analyze skill progression in MIT App Inventor, an informal online learning environment with over 5 million users and 15.9 million projects/apps created. Our objective is to understand how people learn computational thinking concepts while creating mobile applications with App Inventor. In particular, we are interested in the relationship between the progression of skill in using App Inventor functionality and in using computational thinking concepts as learners create more apps. We model skill progression along two dimensions: breadth and depth of capability. Given a sample of 10,571 random users who have each created at least 20 apps, we analyze the relationship between demonstrating domain-specific skills by using App Inventor functionality and generalizable skills by using computational thinking concepts. Our findings indicate that domain-specific and generalizable skills progress similarly; there is a common pattern of expanding breadth of capability by using new skills over the first 10 projects, then developing depth of capability by using previously introduced skills to build more sophisticated apps.
Potential importance of B cells in aging and aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases

Our understanding of B cells as merely antibody producers is slowly changing. Alone or in concert with antibody, they control outcomes of seemingly different diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. While their role in activation of effector immune cells is beneficial in cancer but bad in autoimmune diseases, their immunosuppressive and regulatory subsets (Bregs) inhibit autoimmune and anticancer responses. These pathogenic and suppressive functions are not static and appear to be regulated by the nature and strength of inflammation. Although aging increases inflammation and changes the composition and function of B cells, surprisingly, little is known whether the change affects aging-associated neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, by analyzing B cells in cancer and autoimmune and neuroinflammatory diseases, we elucidate their potential importance in AD and other aging-associated neuroinflammatory diseases.
Abstract 157: Bone Marrow Deficiency of the NR4A Orphan Nuclear Receptor NOR1 Accelerates Atherosclerosis by Increasing Myeloid Progenitor Cell Proliferation

The NR4A orphan nuclear receptor NOR1 functions as a constitutively active transcription factor regulating cellular inflammation and proliferation during atherosclerosis formation. In the present study, we characterize NOR1 as a suppressor of hematopoietic stem cell proliferation. NOR1 deficiency in mice induces the expansion of myeloid progenitor cells in the bone marrow resulting in monocytosis and splenomegaly in mice. In addition to increasing the proliferation of macrophage dendritic cell progenitors (MDP), NOR1 depletion induces a proinflammatory phenotype with increased numbers of Ly6+ monocytes. Bone marrow transplantation experiments confirmed monocytosis and increased Ly6+ monocytes in mice reconstituted with NOR1-deficient bone marrow, indicative of a defect intrinsic to the transplanted hematopoietic cells. Using a thioglycollate-induced peritonitis model, deletion of the NOR1 locus was associated with increased recruitment of macrophages into the exudate following peritoneal lavage. Finally, we demonstrate that bone marrow transplantation of lethally irradiated apoE-deficient mice with NOR1-deficient hematopoietic stem cells increases atherosclerosis formation following Western diet feeding. Collectively, these experiments point to a previously unrecognized role of NOR1 in the suppression of myeloid progenitor cell proliferation, inflammatory responses, and atherosclerosis.
Custom thin film Si photodiode arrays for endoscopic spatially resolved diffuse reflectance measurements

The design, fabrication, and initial experimental characterization of the first thin film Si photodiode spatially resolved DRS probe targeting endoscopic applications is reported.
Soil organic carbon in savannas decreases with anthropogenic climate change

Abstract Climate models indicate that climate change is likely to affect carbon (C) cycling in drylands, particularly savannas, but the magnitude and direction of change are not fully understood. In this study, we used the Century model to analyze how net primary productivity (NPP), soil respiration and soil C sequestration would respond to an increase in atmospheric CO2 and soil temperature. We also assessed the coupled effects of precipitation and temperature change on C dynamics under future climatic conditions, as well as the decoupled effects of each of the climate variables under three IPCC climate scenarios; historical, Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP2.6) and RCP8.5. An increase in soil temperature results in loss of soil organic C (SOC), whereas doubling atmospheric CO2 concentration causes an increase in SOC. The increase in air temperature causes soil respiration to increase, while it causes NPP to decrease. We calculated the total SOC in the Kalahari savannas to be 0.9 Pg C (1 Pg = 1015 g) in the top meter, and the rate of SOC loss due to anthropogenic climate change to be ~ 1.1 Tg C yr− 1 (1 Tg = 1012 g) and ~ 2.0 Tg C yr− 1 under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, respectively until the end of this century. If extrapolated to the global extent of savannas, our results imply net SOC loss of at least ~ 28.4 Tg C y− 1 and 64.1 Tg C yr− 1 under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, respectively. The rapid loss of C from dryland soils predicted by Century could accelerate global warming and strengthen positive feedback mechanisms between climate change and processes controlling SOC. Our results vividly support the positive feedback between the SOC and atmospheric C cycles and further indicate that these feedbacks are not adequately accounted for in existing Earth System Models (ESM) that are part of CMIP5. Revisions to these ESM would appear necessary to adequately account for this positive feedback.
The Law of the Iterated Logarithm for Functionals of Harris Recurrent Markov Chains: Self Normalization

Let {Xn} n≥0 be a Harris recurrent Markov chain with state space E, transition probability P(x, A) and invariant measure π, and let f be a real measurable function on E. We prove that with probability one, $$\mathop {\lim \sup }\limits_{n \to \infty } \sum\limits_{k = 1}^n {f(X_k )/\sqrt {2\left( {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^n {f^2 (X_k )} } \right)\log \log \left( {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^n {f^2 (X_k )} } \right)} } $$ $$ = \left( {1 + \left( {\int {f^2 (x)\pi (dx)} } \right)^{ - 1} \int {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^\infty {f(x)P^k f(x)\pi (dx)} } } \right)^{{1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 2}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} 2}} $$ under some best possible conditions.
Lepus americanus (Snowshoe hare)

Skin cultures of a male (Ravalli County, Montana) and a female (Missoula County, Montana) were kindly made available by Dr. B. W. 0’Gara, Missoula, Montana, USA.
Low-income African American Male Youth with ADHD Symptoms in the United States: Recommendations for Clinical Mental Health Counselors

African-American males living in poverty are among the least likely children and adolescents to receive mental health services in the United States, even though they are the most likely to be referred to mental health agencies for services. In this article the authors explore current problems facing impoverished African American male youth who exhibit symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), their need for mental health services, and the barriers to services that they face, and offer recommendations for mental health counselors.
Of Frege’s Logic I: The Ideography

The assumptions of symbolic logic must have their beginnings somewhere. But why should we look in Frege’s logic, why not in some other? This question must be answered before it will be possible to examine the Ideography as part of an inquiry into fundamentals.
Enzyme Reaction Mechanisms: Stereochemistry

Stereochemistry is the facet of chemistry concerned with the three-dimensional properties of molecules. The history of stereochemistry began in 1815 when Jean-Baptiste Biot discovered that some molecules are capable of rotating the plane of polarized light. Louis Pasteur suggested in 1850 that this phenomenon could be attributed to the stereochemical properties of molecules. In the subsequent 150 years, it has come to be understood that stereochemistry is all-important in biology, where a molecule's structure and function are inextricably related. Though synthetic chemists are increasingly adept at controlling the stereochemistry of chemical reactions, enzymes – nature's catalysts – remain the paradigm for stereochemical control. Stereochemical analysis of enzymatic reactions can therefore yield information about the mechanism of enzyme action. That is the focus of this article.
Progesterone and the Luteal Phase: A Requisite to Reproduction

Progesterone production from the corpus luteum is critical for natural reproduction. Progesterone supplementation seems to be an important aspect of any assisted reproductive technology treatment. Luteal phase deficiency in natural cycles is a plausible cause of infertility and pregnancy loss, though there is no adequate diagnostic test. This article describes the normal luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, investigates the controversy surrounding luteal phase deficiency, and presents the current literature for progesterone supplementation during assisted reproductive technologies.
Trusted path execution for the linux 2.6 kernel as a linux security module

The prevention of damage caused to a system via malicious executables is a significant issue in the current state of security on Linux operating systems. Several approaches are available to solve such a problem at the application level of a system but very few are actually implemented into the kernel. The Linux Security Module project was aimed at applying security to the Linux kernel without imposing on the system. It performs this task by creating modules that could be loaded and unloaded onto the system on the fly and according to how the administrator would like to lock down their system. The Trusted Path Execution (TPE) project was ported to the Linux kernel as a Linux Security Module (LSM) to create a barrier against such security issues from occurring. This paper will attempt to explain how Trusted Path Execution is implemented in the Linux kernel as an LSM. It will also describe how TPE can prevent the running of malicious code on a Linux system via a strategically placed hook in the kernel. The usage of a pseudo-filesystem approach to creating an access control list for users on the system will also be discussed. The paper will further explain how TPE is designed and implemented in the kernel. This paper will show how the access control list is utilized by the module to place checks on the execution of code on the system along with a check of the path the code is being run in. Further, the origins of the "Trusted Path" concept and its origination in the OpenBSD operating system will be discussed along with how TPE was introduced to the Linux security community. The paper will conclude with a synopsis of the contents and future paths and goals of the project.
Does Race/Ethnicity Moderate the Associations between Neighborhood and Parenting Processes on Early Behavior Problems?

Research suggests that corporal punishment and growing up in socially disorganized neighborhoods may have differential effects on children of color compared to White children. We test this idea by employing multilevel models with interaction terms to examine whether the associations of perceived neighborhood collective efficacy and maternal corporal punishment with behavior problems at age 5 differed by race/ethnicity. The analytic sample consisted of 2388 White, Black, or Hispanic families in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Covariates at the individual child, parent, and neighborhood levels were included to account for the racial/ethnic differences in structural and socioeconomic factors. Results demonstrate that race/ethnicity does not moderate the associations of maternal corporal punishment with internalizing or externalizing behavior problems in early childhood, nor does race/ethnicity moderate the association between neighborhood collective efficacy and externalizing behavior. However, the significant interaction between neighborhood collective efficacy and Hispanic ethnicity suggests that the protective role of collective efficacy on internalizing behavior is more pronounced in Hispanic children than White children. Overall, these findings underline the importance of multilevel interventions that strengthen neighborhood collective efficacy, particularly for Hispanic children, and of interventions that discourage physical discipline practices for young children.
Lessons from Wynne: Why New York City’s Internally Consistent Income Tax Nonetheless Violates the Dormant Commerce Clause

In Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland v. Wynne, the United States Supreme Court held unconstitutional Maryland’s refusal to allow a taxpayer to credit income taxes paid to other states against a purportedly local income tax. This holding could have important consequences for similar income tax schemes, namely New York’s. This Note analyzes the New York City income tax in light of Wynne. Specifically, this Note evaluates the constitutionality of the New York City income tax when viewed in tandem with the State income tax (of which it is a part) in response to an “as applied” challenge to the law. It concludes that the State’s refusal to allow taxpayers a credit for income taxes paid to other states against the New York City income tax is unconstitutional. Part I of this Note examines the history and roots of the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine. Part II narrows the discussion to the Court’s application of the dormant Commerce Clause to state taxation of interstate commerce. Part III explains the intense opposition to the dormant Commerce Clause by a minority of justices on the Court. Part IV analyzes Wynne with an emphasis on its application to the New York income tax statute. Part V explains that while the New York City income tax is internally consistent and non-discriminatory when viewed in isolation, that description is irrelevant to the constitutional analysis. This Part demonstrates that the New York City income tax is an integral part of the New York State income tax despite its label, which misleads the non-discrimination inquiry. Through examining the Court’s discrimination case law and the relevant scholarly literature, this Note concludes that the internally consistent New York City income tax, when viewed in tandem with the New York State income tax (of which it is an organic part), nonetheless discriminates against interstate commerce and therefore violates the dormant Commerce Clause. This Note also analyzes general principles of international taxation and the Court’s teaching in the sales and use tax context to determine that a residence state must grant a credit for income taxes paid to a source state to alleviate any resulting double taxation.
Promoting Critical Thinking in an Online Certificate Program for Faculty in the Health Professions.

Organizations governing education in the health professions have recently called for changes in teaching to promote students’ use of critical thinking (CT). Expectations for CT in courses to train educators should be aligned with the expectations of student use of CT. A growing number of certificate and master’s-level programs are being developed to address the needs of educators in the health professions who are unlikely to have experienced training in adult education, curriculum development, and assessment. This study explored the extent to which online course discussion forums in continuing profession education courses on teaching and curriculum design can play a role in the development of participants’ CT skills. It investigated an online pilot program of courses that relied heavily on discussions, with prompts designed to elicit higher-level thinking. The 190 discussion posts made over the four program courses were analyzed for CT. Posts were cross-coded by both authors. Frequency of CT incre...
One-Shot Game: A Free-Market Approach to the Principles of Microeconomics Class

This paper addresses what topics should be ignored in a principles of microeconomics class, what the goal of the principles class should be, a preferred philosophical paradigm for the introductory class, the effectiveness of online classes compared to traditional classes, and the topics that should be covered in a principles class. Professors who teach a principles class should approach the class with the philosophy that students will only take one economics class in their academic career and that fundamental economic principles and economic thinking should be emphasized, not mathematical calculations and advanced graphs better left to an intermediate-level class. Professors should use examples relevant and familiar to the typical college student in order to help students learn and appreciate the economic way of thinking. Most students have encountered pro-government intervention teachers in high school and most of their professors will come from the same perspective with respect to various economic policy issues. The role of the economics professor should be to balance out the education of the students by assigning normative, pro-free market articles to read and by showing video clips demonstrating the unintended consequences of government intervention. The principles professor should want to primarily teach and should be able to communicate in a clear, engaging manner.
GFSK Demodulation Using Learned Sequence Correlation

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are increasingly being considered for physical layer communications, an area where traditional statistical signal processing and decision theory have been successful. In addition to being able to learn these traditional solutions as a special case, ANNs can also learn more general solutions based on measured or simulated radio data. Furthermore, ANNs enable flexible, reconfigurable implementations that can support multiple standards, can be updated in the field, and can adapt to new or changing field conditions using online learning techniques. This paper examines several ANN topologies inspired by generative probabilistic modeling. All are suitable for noncoherent demodulation of power-efficient modulations such as FSK and OOK, and simulation results are presented for the specific case of GFSK demodulation in Bluetooth LE. When trained in AWGN conditions, the proposed ANN topologies are capable of learning the traditional MAP and ML solutions as well as new solutions with softer trade-off between performance and complexity. When trained with other radio impairments, the demodulators learn additional capabilities for improved robustness. The paper also provides analytical results necessary for training the proposed network topologies with noncoherent input data.
Transcultural Diversity and Health Care: Individual and Organizational

Cultural competence is one of the most important initiatives in health care throughout most of the world. Diversity has increased in many countries due to wars, discrimination, political strife, worldwide socioeconomic conditions, and the creation of the European Union. Due to an increase in the number of migrants across the world over the last two decades populations of many countries are becoming more culturally and ethnically diverse. Working with patients of different cultural backgrounds can be challenging due to differences in opinions, beliefs, thoughts, norms, customs, and traditions. If poorly managed, cultural diversity can result in miscommunication, maladaptive behaviors, and interpersonal conflicts. Thus, it has been widely suggested that native and foreign-born health care professionals need to be equipped with cross-cultural competence.
Cloud based VANET Simulator (CVANETSIM).

Vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is an integral part of vehicular communication. VANET suffers many problems such as scalability. To solve scalability and other problems of VANET, clustering is proposed. VANET clustering is different than any other kind of clustering due to the high mobility of the vehicles. Likewise, VANET and VANET clustering, VANET simulator requires some unique features such as internet based real-time data processing, huge data analysis, the complex calculation to maintain hierarchy among the vehicles, etc.; however, neither web based VANET simulator nor clustering module available in the existing simulators. Therefore, a simulator that will be able to simulate any feature of VANET equipped with a clustering module and accessible via the internet is a growing need in vehicular communication research. At the Telecom and Network Research Lab (TNRL), University of Oklahoma, we have developed a fully functional discrete-event VANET simulator that includes all the features of VANET clustering. Moreover, the cloud based VANET simulator (CVANETSIM) is coming with an easy and interactive web interface. To our best of our knowledge, CVANETSIM is the first of its kind which integrates features of the VANET simulator, built-in VANET clustering module, and accessible through the internet.
Clues from cocrystals: a ternary solid, polymorphism, and rare supramolecular isomerism involving resveratrol and 5-fluorouracil

We describe a supramolecular synthesis of a ternary cocrystal involving resveratrol and 5-fluorouracil (5-fu) with trans-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe). We also have discovered a polymorph of a binary cocrystal involving 5-fu and bpe that originates from rare supramolecular isomerism.
The soil habitat

Abstract The chemical and physical properties of soil, along with the influences of biological processes and the environment, shape and define the habitat for soil microorganisms. The complexity and dynamic nature of soil is often underestimated. Factors that affect soil formation (e.g., climate, biota, parent material, topography, and time) also influence microbial communities and activities. The heterogeneous nature of soil provides a near infinite number of diverse micro-habitats potentially occurring within close proximity to one another. The key to understanding the role of soil in soil microbiology is to constantly consider soil properties and their potential influence on microbial habitats.
Community as a Shared Resource: How One Consortium Congregated, Collaborated, and Innovated Its Way through the COVID-19 Crisis

In the spring of 2020, interlibrary loan department librarians and staff members suddenly found themselves working from home as library spaces closed to the public in the wake of the COVID-19 crisi...
Defa’-e Moghaddas (The Sacred Defense), Hamdeli va Mehrvarzi (Camaraderie and Love from Knowing the Other), and the Making of Social Cinema in Post-Revolutionary Islamic Iran

A publicity tool during the Iran–Iraq war (1980–1988), the cinema of the post-war period in Iran was expected to uphold Islamic, ethical, and symbolic values idealized by the government as defa’-e ...
Laser Fluorescence Fingerprints of Environmental Materials

A continuous wave (cw) and a pulsed-gated laser fluorescence systems were used to measure fluorescence spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) thermally vaporized using an electrothermal atomizer. The cw laser was a Helium-Cadmium (He-Cd) laser and the pulsed laser was a flashlamp dye laser. The detector was an intensified photodiode array. Individual PAHs as well as PAHs produced by vaporizing crude oils, particulate matter and other samples were studied by this approach. Fingerprinting was performed by measuring three-dimensional plots of fluorescence intensity versus emission wavelength versus evolution temperature.
Cladding Ovalities in Advanced Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Fuel Elements

Cladding ovalities or localized oval regions in the cladding have been observed in many advanced liquid-metal fast breeder reactor fuel elements. The occurrence of ovalities can be related to an internal fuel element mechanism, and in particular to a localized nonaxisymmetric fuel-cladding mechanical interaction resulting from fuel cracking and rearrangement. Elastic calculations of the cladding shape in the vicinity of an ovality have been performed using a simplified model of the fuel-cladding mechanical interaction. A comparison between the calculated and measured ovality shapes shows good agreement. The size of ovalities as measured at room temperature has also been related to the size at operating conditions. Both membrane and bending stresses that are associated with ovalities have been calculated. Ovalities observed in advanced fuel elements increase in size with increasing burnup, but are independent of cladding thickness, gap size, and peak linear power. Data from a pair of similar elements with annealed and cold-worked cladding may indicate a significant inelastic deformation associated with ovalities.
The Impact of Casino Gambling on Housing Markets: A Hedonic Approach

The social and economic impact of casino gambling has been a contentious issue in both the popular and academic press. Prior academic research has focused largely on constructing piece-by-piece cost benefit accounting, but theoretical and measurement issues have prevented researchers from reaching a consensus as to the bottom line impact of casino gambling. This paper uses a hedonic approach to estimate directly the implicit price and the welfare impacts of a casino on its local area. The hedonic approach provides consistent estimates of the net change in social welfare without relying on a piecemeal approach to measuring costs and benefits. Using data from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, the estimated net benefit of casino gambling at year 2000 levels was approximately 2% of household value, or about $2,000-$3,000 per household for households living near a casino. Additionally, there are positive spillover effects to neighboring in-state regions and no significant costs to out-of-state border regions. A particularly important finding for policymakers is that the benefits associated with a casino depend inversely on population density. Casinos are more likely to create net benefits in areas where population density is low.
A MOS capacitor-based discrete-time parametric amplifier with 1.2 V output swing and 3/spl mu/W power dissipation

Experimental results are reported for an amplifier based on a little-known effect in MOS capacitors: a voltage sampled on the gate rises when the channel charge is pulled out. It is demonstrated that this phenomenon can be used to provide micro-power, low-gain, and low-noise signal amplification.
Impact of Fertilization History and Semen Parameters on ICSI Outcome

Purpose: The objectives of this study were (1) to investigate intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome according to its indications, i.e., a history of failed or poor fertilization and unsuitable sperm parameters for conventional IVF, and (2) to examine the impact of a female's age, sperm concentration, motility, morphology, presence of antisperm antibodies, and hemizona assay (HZA) results on overall outcome. Methods: Two hundred seventy-nine ICSI cycles performed in 207 couples were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Clinical pregnancy and delivery rates were 36.8 and 29.8% for patients with prior failed fertilization, 23.2 and 17.8% for patients who had prior poor fertilization, and 28.6 and 21.3% for patients with unsuitable sperm parameters. The differences among all groups were found to be insignificant. There was a significant, negative correlation between a female's age and pregnancy results. No difference was found in the three basic sperm parameters between those patients who produced and those who did not produce a pregnancy, but the fertilization rate was significantly higher in patients with more adequate sperm parameters. Although there was a trend toward a better fertilization rate in patients with a hemizona index (HZI) greater than 30 (indicative of a superior sperm-zona pellucida binding capacity) than in those with a HZI less than 30, the difference was not significant. There were no differences in fertilization rate according to the presence or absence of antisperm antibodies. Conclusions: Fertilization history in a conventional IVF cycle has no effect on success rates following ICSI, and there is no correlation among the basic sperm parameters, the presence of antisperm antibodies, and pregnancy rates.
US communications policy making: The results of executive branch reorganization

Abstract Taking into consideration President Carter's campaign commitment to streamline the federal bureaucracy the authors analyze the reorganization of US government authority in the area of telecommunications policy. They discuss potential problems to result from the new organization, and how it is designed to eliminate controversies which arose over the previously existing agencies.
Offshore transport of the Alaska Coastal Current water induced by a cyclonic wind field

[1] The Alaska Coastal Current (ACC) is driven by multiple sources of coastal freshwater discharge and propagates alongshore over hundreds of kilometers. The ACC is also subject to downwelling-favorable winds associated with cyclonic wind systems. Spatially-uniform, downwelling winds trap the buoyant ACC waters nearshore. However, we demonstrate with numerical experiments that spatial wind variations, due either to a stationary or translating cyclone, can enhance the offshore transport of buoyant coastal waters in comparison to no-wind conditions. A stationary atmospheric cyclone induces a strong convergence in the coastal current at the upstream periphery of the cyclone. This convergence generates an offshore filament of buoyant water, which evolves into detached anticyclone. A transient atmospheric cyclone enhances the offshore spreading of freshwater by intensifying mesoscale variability of the coastal current. Thus, the spatial structure of the wind field represents a potentially important mechanism for cross-shelf freshwater transport.
Methane emissions from tropical freshwater wetlands located in different climatic zones of Costa Rica

Wetlands are the largest natural source of the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere. Despite the fact that a large percentage of wetlands occur in tropical latitudes, methane emissions from natural tropical wetlands have not been extensively studied. The objective this research was to compare methane emissions from three natural tropical wetlands located in different climatic and ecological areas of Costa Rica. Each wetland was within a distinct ecosystem: (1) a humid flow-through wetland slough with high mean annual temperatures (25.9 °C) and precipitation (3700 mm yr⁻¹); (2) a stagnant rainforest wetland with high mean annual temperatures (24.9 °C) and precipitation (4400 mm yr⁻¹); or (3) a seasonally wet riverine wetland with very high mean annual temperatures (28.2 °C) and lower mean annual precipitation (1800 mm yr⁻¹). Methane emission rates were measured from sequential gas samples using nonsteady state plastic chambers during six sampling periods over a 29-month period from 2006 to 2009. Methane emissions were higher than most rates previously reported for tropical wetlands with means (medians) of 91 (52), 601 (79), and 719 (257) mg CH₄-C m⁻² day⁻¹ for the three sites, with highest rates seen at the seasonally flooded wetland site. Methane emissions were statistically higher at the seasonally wet site than at the humid sites (P<0.001). Highest methane emissions occurred when surface water levels were between 30 and 50 cm. The interaction of soil temperature, water depth, and seasonal flooding most likely affected methanogenesis in these tropical sites. We estimate that Costa Rican wetlands produce about 0.80 Tg yr⁻¹ of methane, or approximately 0.6% of global tropical wetland emissions. Elevated methane emissions at the seasonally wet/warmer wetland site suggest that some current humid tropical freshwater wetlands of Central America could emit more methane if temperatures increase and precipitation becomes more seasonal with climate change.
A2A: An Architecture for Autonomic Management Coordination

A central challenge of autonomic systems is how to discover, monitor, analyze and control configuration data to assure operational integrity. Current architectures for configuration data management focus on federating repositories that are loosely synchronized, and do not offer autonomic coordination services. We present A2A, a novel autonomic peering architecture which delivers a unified and consistent view of actual element configuration for autonomic systems and managers, and provides synchronization primitives enabling policy coordination and mediation. We discuss the different synchronization semantics and protocols used by systems and managers to access and manipulate configuration data stored in a distributed Modeler. We show how dependent or conflicting policy actions can be automatically detected, correlated and brought to mediation. The A2A architecture has been partially implemented in a large prototype system that has been successfully demonstrated in security, network configuration, and active network applications.
Cardiobacterium valvarum, an Emerging New HACEK Organism, as the Causative Agent of Infective Endocarditis: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract Cardiobacterium valvarum is a newly described HACEK ( Haemophilus spp., Aggregatibacter spp ., Cardiobacterium spp., Eikenella corrodens , and Kingella spp.) organism causing endocarditis. We report the second case of bioprosthetic aortic valve infective endocarditis, review the current literature, and investigate the phylogenetic relationships among clinical isolates of C. valvarum.
Climate history shapes contemporary leaf litter decomposition

Litter decomposition is mediated by multiple variables, of which climate is expected to be a dominant factor at global scales. However, like other organisms, traits of decomposers and their communities are shaped not just by the contemporary climate but also their climate history. Whether or not this affects decomposition rates is underexplored. Here we source decomposer communities from three forest sites contrasting in climate (tropical, temperate, boreal), and, using experimental microcosms, quantify decomposition of a common litter under a factorial combination of four temperature (15, 20, 25, and 30 °C) and five moisture regimes (35, 55, 70, 85, and 100 % water holding capacity). We find that the climate history of the decomposer community is an important determinant of litter decomposition, explaining the same amount of variance in decomposition as both temperature and moisture. Further, climate history also shapes the effect of contemporary climate (i.e. experimental) on decomposition, both in terms of the magnitude of decomposition under optimal conditions and the range of abiotic conditions at which high decomposition rates are maintained. For example, at optimal conditions (i.e. 25 °C/70 % WHC) the tropical site has a greater decomposition rate than the other two sites. However, the temperate and boreal sites have greater ‘niche breadth’, where decomposition rates are more sustained (i.e. decrease less) as temperature and moisture deviate further from the optimum. Our data suggest that climate history shapes the functional response of the soil decomposer community, as it does for animals and plants. Yet how this shaping affects decomposition rates across regional and global climate gradients, and how such relationships are applied to temporal predictions, remain unanswered questions.
Generalized aerodynamic forces on a flexible plate undergoing transient motion in a shear flow with an application to panel flutter

Aerodynamic forces for boundary layer profiles of flexible plate under transient motion in shear flow using computer programs