cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The kinetics of alkylation of isobutane with propylene

A 17-reaction mechanism model was postulated to describe the alkylation of isobutane with propylene using sulfuric acid as the catalyst. The scheme was based on the Schmerling carbonium ion mechanism with modifications introduced to account to iC9 and iC10 formation. Solving the steady state rate equations for the rate constants a set of 17 equations of the form ki = f(rcj, rCk, …)/g (Ci, Ck, …) were obtained. Experimental measurements were made in an ideally mixed, continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor, and the necessary data were obtained to compute the rate constants from 65°F to 135°F. The reaction model was found to be valid in the range of 81°F to 135°F using a 95% sulfuric acid catalyst since the rate constants obeyed the Arrhenius theory. The results obtained at 65°F and 95% sulfuric acid showed significant departure from the model. This was possibly due to a change in reaction mechanism. There was an apparent change in selectivity of the catalyst when the concentration was lowered to 90% sulfuric acid. This resulted in increased rates of formation of iC9's and iC10's and decreased rates of formation of iC5's, iC6's and iC8's.
Preference Learning in Consecutive Experimental Auctions

This paper explores the origins of the strikingly high price premia paid for new food products in lab valuation exercises. Our experimental design distinguishes between two explanations of this phenomenon: novelty of the experimental experience versus the novelty of the good, i.e., preference learning-bids reflect a person's desire to learn how an unfamiliar good fits into their preference set. Subjects bid in four consecutive experimental auctions for three goods that vary in familiarity, candy bars, mangos, and irradiated meat. Our results suggest that preference learning is the main source of the high premia, and that novelty of the experimental experience does not in itself artificially inflate valuations.
Service with a smile: Does the type of smile matter?

Abstract Service providers have often used the mantra of “service with a smile” as a strategy to engender customer satisfaction. The findings of the current research indicate that a smile alone may not be sufficient in achieving service excellence. Specifically, this work extends prior research suggesting that customers have more positive reactions to Duchenne, or authentic, smiles compared to non-Duchenne, or non-genuine, smiles. Two experimental vignette studies examined the influence of the type of smile a service provider displays (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) and gender of the service provider on perceptions of service quality, as well as the Stereotype Content Model dimensions of competence and warmth. The results suggest that the type of smile (Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne) impacts evaluations of service providers in terms of their perceived level of competence, as well as their perceived service quality ratings. Implications for the hiring and training of service providers are also discussed.
Systematik der Teilsysteme von Schaltungen für Pkw-Handschaltgetriebe

Die Umsetzung des durch die Bewegung des Schalthebels geauserten Fahrerwunsches nach einem Gangwechsel erfolgt durch die Schaltung. Der folgende Beitrag der Ford-Werke AG beschreibt den Aufbau solcher Schaltungen. Hierzu werden die Aufgaben der einzelnen Teilsysteme vorgestellt und Hinweise auf die wichtigen Randbedingungen sowie zur konstruktiven Gestaltung gegeben.
Economic Impact of a Computer-based Centralized Organization in a Clinical Laboratory

The Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, has explored various management of organizational approaches over the past seven years. The Centralized Processing Area supported by a computerized information system has evolved from these efforts. Despite a decrease in U.W. hospital usage since 1968-69, laboratory volume has steadily increased. The cost of these services is shown in relation both to three successive management systems and to the impact of inflation on laboratory costs. Chemistry and hematology costs per procedure, including administration and computer costs, are compared with microbiology cost per procedure, where the management system was not used. There is growing acceptance of the intangible benefits of computerization in the laboratory. Economic benefits are often presumed but have not been proven. Favorable economic effects of the Centralized Processing Area together with the computerized information system are demonstrated.
Multiple Scrotal Ulcers in an Infant Due to a Traditional Child Care Practice: Salting

Application of salt to the newborn's skin is a common traditional child care custom in Turkey. We present an infant with multiple ulcerating scrotal lesions due to prolonged salt exposure in the diaper area. Scrotal ulcers associated with salting have not been described previously.
Accessibility, priming, and political judgment

Classic and contemporary approaches to understanding political judgment implicitly acknowledged the role of chronic accessibility. Contemporary models also emphasize that situationally primed knowledge structures influence citizens’ political attitudes and opinions. Priming effects are evident when specific concepts are primed (e.g., an issue, the American Flag, terrorism), and when media frames activate narratives that prime specific aspects of a political event. Metaphoric media frames (e.g., the presidential campaign is a horserace) can prime or highlight specific aspects of a political event (e.g., candidate electability) and thereby influence the public's attitudes and opinion (e.g., attitudes toward a political candidate). The immediate context in which political judgments are reported also produces priming effects on political judgment.
Query-by-Example using Speaker Content Graphs.

We describe methods for constructing and using content graphs for query-by-example speaker recognition tasks within a large speech corpus. This goal is achieved as follows: First, we describe an algorithm for constructing speaker content graphs, where nodes represent speech signals and edges represent speaker similarity. Speech signal similarity can be based on any standard vector-based speaker comparison method, and the content graph can be constructed using an efficient incremental method for streaming data. Second, we apply random walk methods to the content graph to find matching examples to an unlabeled query set of speech signals. The content-graph based method is contrasted to a more traditional approach that uses supervised training and stack detectors. Performance is compared in terms of information retrieval measures and computational complexity. The new content-graph based method is shown to provide a promising low-complexity scalable alternative to standard speaker recognition methods.
49 The responsiveness of multifactorial outcome measures for those with chronic ankle instability

Background Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a multifactorial condition marked by mechanical insufficiencies, sensorimotor deficits, and functional limitations. Clinician- and patient-oriented measures have been developed to capture these factors, but their responsiveness has not been examined concurrently. Objective To establish the concurrent responsiveness of 4 clinician- and patient-oriented outcome measures in patients with CAI. Design Reliability study. Setting Research laboratory. Participants Seventy-nine patients with self-reported CAI had their self-reported better limb assessed across a 2-week interval. CAI was defined as at least two episodes of “giving way” within the past 3 months; scoring ≤90% on the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM), and scoring ≤80% on the FAAM-Sport. Interventions Each participant underwent two separate functional assessments of the weight bearing lunge test (WBLT), the single limb balance test (SLBT), and completed the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM), separated by two weeks. The FAAM included the activities of daily living (FAAM-ADL) and sport activities (FAAM-Sport) subscales. Main outcome measures The means of 3 trials of the WBLT (cm) and the SLBT (number of errors during 20 s) were used for the analysis of clinician-oriented outcomes. The FAAM-ADL and FAAM-Sport scores were calculated as a percentage of the total score for each scale as patient-oriented outcomes. Reliability estimates were calculated for clinician-oriented outcomes (ICC (2,3) ) and patient-oriented outcomes (Cronbach’s α). From the reliability estimates, the minimum detectable change (MDC) was calculated for each measure. Results The clinician-oriented measures demonstrated high reliability with relatively low measurement error (WBLT ICC (2,3) = 0.98, MDC = 0.75 cm; SLBT ICC (2,3) = 0.86, MDC = 1 error) as did the patient-oriented measures (FAAM-ADL α = 0.91, MDC = 4.8%; FAAM-Sport α = 0.90, MDC = 7.6%). Conclusion The concurrent responsiveness of these clinician- and patient-oriented outcomes can now be interpreted in the context of measurement error associated with changes over time related to improvements from rehabilitation or deteriorations due to recurrent injury.
The British Publishing Industry and Commercial Memories of the First World War

British veterans of the First World War were avid writers. From The First Hundred Thousand to The Last Tommy, Britain’s soldiers and aid workers left behind a vast literature of wartime memories. Veteran recollections have been a significant part of the formation of British popular memory of the conflict, as well as part of the ‘cultural turn’ in First World War studies since the 1980s. The war’s literary legacy, it has been argued, has helped to frame the public narrative of the conflict. What has attracted less attention has been the British publishing industry’s role in the dissemination of war memories to the public when those memories were most acute, the interwar period. This article considers the British publishing industry and commercial war memoirs. It assesses the literary marketplace for martial literature and the commercial memory of the First World War in the interwar period.
The Ephrata Community in the Atlantic World

Bach narrates a trans-Atlantic history of the Ephrata community, an eighteenth-century Protestant communal society with celibate orders and married families in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Bach argues that Conrad Beissel and his Ephrata community demonstrate diverse religious and cultural influences from Europe combining in an American context. Past interpretation of Ephrata has focused on its isolation in an American landscape of religious freedom. This chapter traces Beissel’s lasting links with radical Pietists in Switzerland and Germany, and clashes with Moravians and German Brethren in Pennsylvania. Ephrata’s outside communications, networks, and material culture all reveal how the community’s patterns of recruitment, its theological foundations, and its wider influence in Pietism relied on a web of trans-Atlantic connections.
'Improving the Fighting Position': a Practitioner's Guide to Operational Law Support to the Interrogation Process

This article discusses critical operational, legal, and policy considerations related to the tactical military interrogation process. It proposes that a comprehensive understanding of these considerations is essential for the effective military legal oversight of interrogation operations.
Regional science at sixty: Traditional topics and new directions

This paper addresses international research in regional science - a multidisciplinary field that is now 60 years old. The mainstream research is discussed using six broad categories of analysis: demographic, environmental, location, regional, transportation, and urban. The paper then proposes 14 topics or themes for future research, chosen especially to encourage new or younger scholars to the field. In alphabetical order these are: behavior and heterogeneity, environmental issues, global urbanization, happiness, housing and land use, metropolitan sorting, neighborhood change, networks, nonmetropolitan living, post-event growth and development, regional creativity, regional decline, regional specialisation, and resource inequality. Useful insights to all of these topics likely can be made at different geographic and temporal scales and scholarship might involve a wide variety of research perspectives and methodologies. However, some approaches (e.g., hedonic pricing) and some topics (e.g., strategic government behavior, decline of metropolitan areas) are presently of greater interest to U.S. scholars and it remains unclear whether these will prove to be equally popular elsewhere. The paper also calls for more international research on issues related to spatial welfare and resource inequality.
The benefits of individualized leisure and social activity interventions for people with dementia: a systematic review.

This systematic review describes the benefits of individualized leisure and social activity interventions for people with dementia (aim 1), how these interventions were individually tailored (aim 2), and what recommendations or suggestions can be made for these interventions and further studies (aim 3). Thirty-two included studies were organized into four categories based on how the intervention was individually tailored. These categories include: (1) performance factors; (2) self-identity; (3) music preference; and (4) life experiences and past memories. The authors discuss suggestions and benefits by synthesizing the finding of the included studies in each category.
Glutamine for the treatment of vincristine-induced neuropathy in children and adolescents with cancer

Vincristine is an integral treatment component of many childhood tumors with potentially dose-limiting sensory and/or motor neuropathy. Results from a pilot study on the incidence of vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy (VIPN) as well as the efficacy and safety of glutamine in reducing signs and symptoms of VIPN in children with cancer are presented. Fifty-six patients between the ages of 5–21 with newly diagnosed leukemia, lymphoma, extracranial solid tumor or medulloblastoma and expected to receive a minimum cumulative dose of 6 mg/m2 of vincristine over a 30-week period were eligible. Patients’ neurological functioning was monitored every 3 weeks using clinical history, exam, and assessment of motor functioning. Upon identification of neuropathy, patients were randomized to either glutamine (6 g/m2 per dose twice daily, maximum 10 g/dose) or placebo for a 3-week period followed by 3-week wash out period (Time 3). Forty-nine patients were fully evaluable and 100 % developed neuropathy per study definitions. No significant differences in demographics or side effects were noted between the randomized groups. The distribution of sensory neuropathy scores between the two groups was statistically significant after the intervention (p = 0.022). Children receiving glutamine also rated their quality of life (QoL) as 8.42 points higher on the PedsQL total score than those receiving placebo (p = 0.031). Glutamine supplementation is well tolerated and associated with improvements in sensory function and self-reported overall quality of life. Future studies are warranted to confirm the efficacy of glutamine for the treatment of vincristine-related sensory neuropathy in pediatric cancer patients.
Cardiovascular regulation in humans in response to oscillatory lower body negative pressure

The frequency response characteristics of human cardiovascular regulation during hypotensive stress have not been determined. We therefore exposed 10 male volunteers to seven frequencies (0.004-0.1 Hz) of oscillatory lower body negative pressure (OLBNP; 0-50 mmHg). Fourier spectra of arterial pressure (AP), central venous pressure (CVP), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), heart rate (HR), and total peripheral resistance (TPR) were determined and first harmonic mean, amplitude, and phase angles with respect to OLBNP are presented. AP was relatively well regulated as demonstrated by small oscillations in half amplitude (3.5 mmHg) that were independent of OLBNP frequency and similar to unstressed control spectra. Due to the biomechanics of the system, the magnitudes of oscillations in calf circumference (CC) and CVP decreased with increasing frequency; therefore, we normalized responses by these indexes of the fluid volume shifted. The ratios of oscillations in AP to oscillations in CC increased by an order of magnitude, whereas oscillations in CVP to oscillations in CC and oscillations in AP to oscillations in CVP both tripled between 0.004 and 0.1 Hz. Therefore, even though the amount of fluid shifted by OLBNP decreased with increasing frequency, the magnitude of both CVP and AP oscillations per volume of fluid shifted increased (peaking at 0.08 Hz). The phase relationships between variables, particularly the increasing lags in SV and TPR, but not CVP, indicated that efferent responses with lags of 5-6 s could account for the observed responses. We conclude that, at frequencies below 0.02 Hz, the neural system of humans functioned optimally in regulating AP; OLBNP-induced decreases in SV (by as much as 50%) were counteracted by appropriate oscillations in HR and TPR responses. As OLBNP frequency increased, SV, TPR, and HR oscillations increasingly lagged the input and became less optimally timed for AP regulation.
Error analysis for encoding a qubit in an oscillator

In Phys. Rev. A 64, 012310 (2001), Gottesman, Kitaev, and Preskill described a method to encode a qubit in the continuous Hilbert space of an oscillator's position and momentum variables. This encoding provides a natural error-correction scheme that can correct errors due to small shifts of the position or momentum wave functions (i.e., use of the displacement operator). We present bounds on the size of correctable shift errors when both qubit and ancilla states may contain errors. We then use these bounds to constrain the quality of input qubit and ancilla states.
The psychodynamics of hope in suicidal despair

ABSTRACTFor suicidal individuals, crushing hopelessness correlates more strongly than depression with suicidal intent. Ambivalence is recognized as a principal aspect of suicidality – wanting to die and wanting to be rescued at the same time. Hope is the mental state in which the desire of a positive outcome in one’s life is directed toward the future, and supports a positive resolution to psychic pain, thereby playing an important role in suicide prevention by delaying self-destructive action. This paper explores the psychodynamics of hope in suicidal distress, as it functions to support the suicidal patient’s sense of connection over abandonment and rescue over the wish to die. Three pathways that instill and support hope in suicidal patients are examined through the use of clinical examples.
Giant Enhancement of Defect-Bound Exciton Luminescence and Suppression of Band-Edge Luminescence in Monolayer WSe2-Ag Plasmonic Hybrid Structures.

We have investigated how the photoluminescence (PL) of WSe2 is modified when coupled to Ag plasmonic structures at low temperature. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown monolayer WSe2 flakes were transferred onto a Ag film and a Ag nanotriangle array that had a 1.5 nm Al2O3 capping layer. Using low-temperature (7.5 K) micro-PL mapping, we simultaneously observed enhancement of the defect-bound exciton emission and quenching of the band edge exciton emission when the WSe2 was on a plasmonic structure. The enhancement of the defect-bound exciton emission was significant with enhancement factors of up to ∼200 for WSe2 on the nanotriangle array when compared to WSe2 on a 1.5 nm Al2O3 capped Si substrate with a 300 nm SiO2 layer. The giant enhancement of the luminescence from the defect-bound excitons is understood in terms of the Purcell effect and increased light absorption. In contrast, the surprising result of luminescence quenching of the bright exciton state on the same plasmonic nanostructure is due to...
Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Activation Syndromes Presenting as Anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis results from mast cell degranulation induced by allergen-specific IgE as well as various non-IgE-mediated mechanisms. It has been recently demonstrated that intrinsic abnormalities in mast cells, such as presence of activating D816V c-kit mutation, may influence susceptibility to anaphylaxis, especially in patients with “idiopathic” or hymenoptera-induced anaphylaxis. However, despite an improved understanding of the role of clonal mast cell disease in susceptibility to anaphylaxis, the basis of an apparent increase in susceptibility in the majority of patients remains poorly understood. In this chapter, we will review the potential mechanisms of mast cell activation as well as the range of symptoms and the differential diagnosis of patients suspected of having a disease caused by mast cell activation. In addition, we offer a global classification for disorders involving mast cells.
High density marker panels, SNPs prioritizing and accuracy of genomic selection

The availability of high-density (HD) marker panels, genome wide variants and sequence data creates an unprecedented opportunity to dissect the genetic basis of complex traits, enhance genomic selection (GS) and identify causal variants of disease. The disproportional increase in the number of parameters in the genetic association model compared to the number of phenotypes has led to further deterioration in statistical power and an increase in co-linearity and false positive rates. At best, HD panels do not significantly improve GS accuracy and, at worst, reduce accuracy. This is true for both regression and variance component approaches. To remedy this situation, some form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) filtering or external information is needed. Current methods for prioritizing SNP markers (i.e. BayesB, BayesCπ) are sensitive to the increased co-linearity in HD panels which could limit their performance. In this study, the usefulness of FST, a measure of allele frequency variation among populations, as an external source of information in GS was evaluated. A simulation was carried out for a trait with heritability of 0.4. Data was divided into three subpopulations based on phenotype distribution (bottom 5%, middle 90%, top 5%). Marker data were simulated to mimic a 770 K and 1.5 million SNP marker panel. A ten-chromosome genome with 200 K and 400 K SNPs was simulated. Several scenarios with varying distributions for the quantitative trait loci (QTL) effects were simulated. Using all 200 K markers and no filtering, the accuracy of genomic prediction was 0.77. When marker effects were simulated from a gamma distribution, SNPs pre-selected based on the 99.5, 99.0 and 97.5% quantile of the FST score distribution resulted in an accuracy of 0.725, 0.797, and 0.853, respectively. Similar results were observed under other simulation scenarios. Clearly, the accuracy obtained using all SNPs can be easily achieved using only 0.5 to 1% of all markers. These results indicate that SNP filtering using already available external information could increase the accuracy of GS. This is especially important as next-generation sequencing technology becomes more affordable and accessible to human, animal and plant applications.
Liminal Spaces: Ethnic Chinese in the Borderlands of Southern Africa

This chapter, which builds on original research on Chinese people in Southern Africa and other ethnographic studies, makes two simple arguments. First, context matters. Different African countries, at different points in time, can be more or less welcoming to Chinese migrants. China’s global rise, the relative numbers of Chinese newcomers vis-a-vis local populations, the circumstances of their arrival, and the capacity of local economies to absorb new migrants matter. Secondly, the South African case shows us that despite a long history in the country, Chinese people—whether third-generation South Africans or newly arrived—continue to occupy an in-between status. Caught between racial categories and nation-states, they make their homes in liminal spaces. Perhaps, in a hyper-globalized world, in these metaphorical borderlands, this is the new normal.
2 – From Classical Mathematics to Fuzzy Mathematics: Emergence of a New Paradigm for Theoretical Science

This chapter reviews a major paradigmatic change that concerns the role of uncertainty in science. This change is manifested by a transition from the traditional attitude toward uncertainty in science, according to which uncertainty is undesirable and the ideal is to eliminate it, to an alternative attitude, according to which uncertainty is fundamental and its avoidance is counterproductive. The chapter focuses on the mathematics pertaining to fuzzy set theory and its role in science. The classical mathematical theories by which certain types of uncertainty can be expressed are the classical set theory and the probability theory. In terms of the set theory, uncertainty is expressed by any given set of possible alternatives in situations where only one of the alternatives may actually happen. The probability theory expresses uncertainty in terms of a classical measure on the subsets of a given universal set of alternatives. The measure is a function that, according to the situation, assigns a number in the unit interval [0,1] to each subset of the universal set. Due to the additivity of classical measures, the probability of each subset is uniquely determined from the probabilities assigned to the smallest non-empty subsets of the universal set, each consisting of exactly one alternative. The fuzzy set theory is a generalization of the classical set theory, and the fuzzy measure theory is a generalization of the classical measure theory, and hence it is also a generalization of the probability theory.
Neuroanatomical Bases of the Reinforcing Stimulus Effects of Cocaine

Publisher Summary In 1970s, Breese and Traylor described a method for selectively depleting brain catecholamines (dopamine and norepinephrine) using the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine. Evidence for distinct behavioral functions of the nigrostriatal and mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways followed, as investigators targeted terminal regions of these pathways and isolated a role for dopamine rather than noradrenaline in behavioral effects of psychostimulants. In a study, five rats that had acquired stable cocaine self-administration behavior under a fixed ratio (FR) 1 schedule subsequently received neurotoxin 6-OHDA infusions that depleted accumbens dopamine by an average of 90% relative to control animals. Hoebel demonstrated that intra-accumbens amphetamine infusions reliably maintained responding in rats. The study highlighted several experiments providing evidence for reinforcing stimulus effects of intra-accumbens amphetamine infusions. Studies of 6-OHDA lesions aimed at determining the role of the mesocortical dopaminergic projection in the behavioral effects of cocaine have produced results similar to those described involving aspiration or excitotoxic lesions of medial prefrontal cortex. Investigations into the functional output of the nucleus accumbens established the ventral pallidal region as a critical mediator of the behavioral effects of psychomotor stimulants as well as opioids.
How chromosomal rearrangements shape adaptation and speciation: Case studies in Drosophila pseudoobscura and its sibling species Drosophila persimilis

The gene arrangements of Drosophila have played a prominent role in the history of evolutionary biology from the original quantification of genetic diversity to current studies of the mechanisms for the origin and establishment of new inversion mutations within populations and their subsequent fixation between species supporting reproductive barriers. This review examines the genetic causes and consequences of inversions as recombination suppressors and the role that recombination suppression plays in establishing inversions in populations as they are involved in adaptation within heterogeneous environments. This often results in the formation of clines of gene arrangement frequencies among populations. Recombination suppression leads to the differentiation of the gene arrangements which may accelerate the accumulation of fixed genetic differences among populations. If these fixed mutations cause incompatibilities, then inversions pose important reproductive barriers between species. This review uses the evolution of inversions in Drosophila pseudoobscura and D. persimilis as a case study for how inversions originate, establish and contribute to the evolution of reproductive isolation.
Cultural Work Values for Supervisors and Managers: A Cross-Cultural Look at Child and Youth Care Agencies

Supervision and leadership in child and youth care are related to cultural dimensions from 6 different countries/cultures: US, Scotland, Germany West, Germany East, Poland, and the Slovak Republic. A theoretical review of Hofstede's (1980) cultural work values relates them to topics of leadership and work motivation. Research results show similarities and contrasts between the countries/cultures on demographics as well as various aspects of treatment provision. A discriminant analysis shows a strong East-West split with a significant factor weighted high on Individualism and Career Success and low on Power Distance. Specific aspects of the work environment show how work values relate to perceptions of the environment. Finally, a two country comparison (US and Poland) gives a specific analysis of the impact of culture. Implications concerning the impact of culture on child and youth care supervision and management are described.
Thermostability Trends of TNA:DNA Duplexes Reveal Strong Purine Dependence.

The development of high fidelity polymerases and streamlined synthesis of threose nucleic acid (TNA) triphosphates and phosphoramidites has made TNA accessible as a motif for generating nuclease-re...
Determination of Gas-Phase Ion Structures of Locally Polar Homopolymers Through High-Resolution Ion Mobility Spectrometry–Mass Spectrometry

The strong synergy arising from coupling two orthogonal analytical techniques such as ion mobility and mass spectrometry can be used to separate complex mixtures and determine structural information of analytes in the gas phase. A tandem study is performed using two systems with different gases and pressures to ascertain gas-phase conformations of homopolymer ions. Aside from spherical and stretched configurations, intermediate configurations formed by a multiply charged globule and a “bead-on-a-string” appendix are confirmed for polyethylene-glycol (PEG), polycaprolactone (PCL), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). These intermediate configurations are shown to be ubiquitous for all charge states and masses present. For each charge state, configurations evolve in two distinctive patterns: an inverse evolution which occurs as an elementary charge attached to the polymer leaves the larger globule and incorporates itself into the appendage, and a forward evolution which reduces the globule without relinquishing a charge while leaving the appendix relatively constant. Forward evolutions are confirmed to form self-similar family shapes that transcend charge states for all polymers. Identical structural changes occur at the same mass over charge regardless of the system, gas or pressure strongly suggesting that conformations are only contingent on number of charges and chain length, and start arranging once the ion is at least partially ejected from the droplet, supporting a charge extrusion mechanism. Configurational changes are smoother for PDMS which is attributed to the larger steric hindrance caused by protruding pendant groups. This study has implications in the study of the configurational space of more complex homopolymers and heteropolymers.
Prior Emotional Context Modulates Early Event-Related Potentials to Neutral Retrieval Cues

Memory retrieval is thought to involve the reactivation of encoding processes. Previous fMRI work has indicated that reactivation processes are modulated by the residual effects of the prior emotio...
Research progress in epigenetics of the development of urinary system

With the reciprocal inductive interactions between metanephric mesenchyme and ureteric bud, embryonic kidney cells gradually grow, proliferate, and differentiate, contribute to the formation of nephron and urinary collecting duct systems, and eventually develop into a mature urinary system.In this process, epigenetic modifier genes regulate the development of the urinary system; aberrant epigenetic modifications, however, will lead to congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract.Epigenetic factors, including histone modification, DNA methylation, and non-coding RNA, affect the development of the urinary system through the regulation of Wnt, GDNF/Ret, and p53 signaling pathways.This article combines with the latest research progress, reviews the role of epigenetic modifications in the development of the urinary system and during the formation of congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract; besides, the specific regulation mechanisms are explained. Key words: Epigenetics; Development of urinary system; Histone; Methylation; MicroRNA
A Neutral Porous Organic Polymer Host for the Recognition of Anionic Dyes in Water

Neutral hosts for the recognition of anionic guests in water remain underdeveloped due to the inherent thermodynamic barrier for desolvation. To address this challenge, we have repurposed crosslinked porous organic polymers (POPs) as hosts. This polymer architecture affords a hydrophobic environment with a densely packed array of urea hydrogen bond donors to cooperatively promote anion desolvation and recognition in water. Using the principles of supramolecular design, we demonstrate through adsorption assays that the resulting Urea-POP-1 can recognize structurally different dyes containing phosphonate, sulfonate, and carboxylate anions in water. Moreover, when compared to Methyl-POP-1, a control POP lacking hydrogen bond donors, we find that the driving force for desolvation and adsorption of each dye is achieved through hydrophobic interactions with the POP backbone and, more importantly, cooperative hydrogen bonding interactions with the urea sidechains. This starting point sets the stage to exploit the modularity of our design to build a family of neutral polymer hosts with tunable pore sizes and anion preferences for fundamental investigations and targeted applications.
Structural basis of KdpD histidine kinase binding to the second messenger c-di-AMP.

The KdpDE two-component system regulates potassium homeostasis and virulence in various bacterial species. The KdpD histidine kinases (HK) of this system contain a universal stress protein (USP) domain which binds to the second messenger cyclic-di-adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) for regulating transcriptional output from this two-component system in Firmicutes such as Staphylococcus aureus. However, the structural basis of c-di-AMP specificity within the KdpD-USP domain is not well understood. Here, we resolved a 2.3 A crystal structure of the S. aureus KdpD-USP domain (USPSa) complexed with c-di-AMP. Binding affinity analyses of USPSa mutants targeting the observed USPSa:c-di-AMP structural interface enabled the identification of the sequence residues that are required for c-di-AMP specificity. Based on the conservation of these residues in other Firmicutes, we identified the binding motif, (A/G/C)XSXSX2N(Y/F), which allowed us to predict c-di-AMP binding in other KdpD HKs. Furthermore, we found that the USPSa domain contains structural features distinct from the canonical standalone USPs that bind ATP as a preferred ligand. These features include inward-facing conformations of its β1-α1 and β4-α4 loops, a short α2 helix, the absence of a triphosphate-binding Walker A motif, and a unique dual phospho-ligand binding mode. It is therefore likely that USPSa-like domains in KdpD HKs represent a novel subfamily of the USPs.
Feline cutaneous lymphoma: an evaluation of disease presentation and factors affecting response to treatment.

ObjectivesThe primary goal of this study was to characterize the clinical presentation of feline cutaneous lymphoma. The secondary aims included determining if treatment or initial response to trea...
No association between rheumatoid arthritis and cognitive impairment in a cross-sectional national sample of older U.S. adults.

BACKGROUND Studies suggest an increased prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) among people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, most prior studies have used convenience samples which are subject to selection biases or have failed to adjust for key confounding variables. We thus examined the association between CI and RA in a large national probability sample of older US adults. METHODS Data were from interviews with 4462 participants in the 2016 wave of the nationally representative U.S. Health and Retirement Study with linked Medicare claims. RA diagnoses were identified via a minimum of two ICD-9CM or ICD-10 codes in Medicare billing records during the prior 2 years. The Langa-Weir Classification was used to classify cognitive status as normal, cognitively impaired non-dementia (CIND), or dementia based on a brief neuropsychological battery for self-respondents and informant reports for proxy respondents. We compared the odds of CI between older adults with and without RA using logistic regression, adjusted for age, education, gender, and race. RESULTS Medicare records identified a 3.36% prevalence of RA (150/4462). While age, gender, education, and race independently predicted CI status, controlling for these covariates we found no difference in CI prevalence according to RA status (prevalent CI in 36.7% of older adults with RA vs. 34.0% without RA; adjusted OR = 1.08, 95% CI 0.74-1.59, p = .69). CONCLUSION There was no association between RA and CI in this national sample of older U.S. adults.
Confocal microscopy observations of electrical pre-breakdown of bi-layer elastomer dielectrics

Abstract At high electric fields, the electrical energy stored in a soft elastomer dielectric can be comparable to the mechanical deformation energy it produces. This has led to the development of a class of electrically controlled, large strain dielectric elastomer actuators for soft robotics and energy harvesting devices. At large electric fields, the electro-mechanically induced deformation can lead to pseudo-periodic surface morphological instabilities which then grow with increasing field into stable pre-breakdown defects prior to final, irreversible electrical breakdown. Under these extremes of combined large electrical and mechanical deformations, the morphological evolution of the pre-breakdown defects has not hitherto been reported. In contrast to the filamentary breakdown of much stiffer dielectrics, fluorescence confocal microscopy reveals an array of defects that evolve through a complex, reversible series of morphologies, transitioning from axi-symmetric “pits” to “crack-like” shapes that can “twist” and deflect, and finally open to form an array of holes. The observations suggest that the transitions, from axi-symmetric pits to flat, slit-like defects and then to an array of holes, are geometric instabilities. The implications for using a soft elastomer layer to increase the dielectric breakdown of a stiffer dielectric are discussed.
To Assess the Association between Exchange Rate, Commodity Prices and Cryptocurrency in Indonesia

The paper aimed to assess the association among exchange rate, commodity prices and crypto currency in Indonesia. This study is quantitative in which the data has been gathered from the Investing.com from 2016 to 2020. The variables which were considered in the study include exchange rate, gold prices, cotton prices, oil prices, Bitcoin and Ethereum. In terms of the analysis, the vector autoregression and granger causality test has been adopted.The results of this study identified that there is no effect of exchange rate, oil price, cotton price and gold price on Bitcoin. On the other hand, there is only significant effect of gold prices on Ethereum. The results of this study are restricted to Indonesian context and the data has been considered from 2016 to 2019 due to the lack of data on crypto currency.
Why the New Evidence on Minimum Resale Price Maintenance Does Not Justify a Per Se or 'Quick Look' Approach

The battle over the proper legal treatment of minimum resale price maintenance (RPM) continues to rage in the United States. While the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2007 Leegin decision abrogated the per se rule of the 1911 Dr. Miles decision and required that RPM be evaluated under antitrust’s Rule of Reason, policy makers and commentators have divided over what a Rule of Reason inquiry should look like. Many have pushed for a “quick look” approach that would effectively deem instances of minimum RPM to be presumptively unreasonable in numerous situations. Others, including one of the authors here, have advocated a full-blown Rule of Reason that places a heavy burden on RPM challengers. At the state level, a number of states have declined to follow Leegin and will continue to deem minimum RPM to be per se illegal under state antitrust law. A recent study by University of Chicago economists Alexander MacKay and David Aron Smith purports to show that states following Leegin, rather than maintaining their old rules of per se illegality, have experienced anticompetitive effects in the form of higher prices for, and reduced output of, household consumer goods. The study thus provides ammunition to those advocating state rules of per se illegality and a federal “quick look” approach. Examined closely, the MacKay & Smith study fails to establish that adherence to stricter RPM rules results in procompetitive benefit. It therefore cannot overcome the persuasive theory- and evidence-based arguments for assessing minimum RPM under a full-blown Rule of Reason. This essay summarizes those arguments and explains why the MacKay & Smith study cannot refute them.
Probing the role of proline in peptide hormones. NMR studies of bradykinin and related peptides.

Abstract The use of NMR methods to study conformational and dynamic aspects of the proline residues in the nonapeptide bradykinin is reviewed. NMR analyses involve considerations of bistable equilibria which include the cis/trans conformational heterogeneity of the imide bond, the cis'/trans' regions of conformational stability which characterize rotation about the C α —CO bond (dihedral angle Ψ), and the interconversion of the pyrrolidine ring of proline between puckered C γ -endo and C γ -exo conformations. These conformational features are all characterized by different kinetic behavior, are interdependent with peptide bond conformation, and exhibit sensitivity to amino acid substitutions. Thus, the substitution of Gly 6 for Ser 6 increases the fractional cis probability of the sixth peptide bond from 0.1 to 0.35. Substitutions of α-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) residues for proline introduce conformational constraints analogous to those in cis' proline. Correlations of pyrrolidine ring conformation and dynamics with the cis/trans ratio of the imide bond have also been observed in model systems. Conformational and activity analyses of [AIB 7 ]-bradykinin provided a stimulus for the development of the first bradykinin antagonist by Stewart and Vavrek (Vavrek RJ and Stewart JM, Competitive antagonists of bradykinin. Peptides 6 : 161–164, 1985).
Board-based collaboration in cross-cultural pairs

This paper reports on an ongoing study of cross-cultural collaboration mediated by board-based collaborative systems. Twenty-one pairs (American-Chinese and American-American pairs) performed collaborative design tasks either face-to-face or remotely. Survey data, video recording, and design products were collected to examine the impact of Culture (American-American vs. American-Chinese), Medium (Face-to-Face vs. Computer-Supported), and Board-based System (Mimio™ vs. SMART Board™) on the process and outcomes of collaboration. Results from the survey showed significant effects of these variables on measures of common ground, cognitive consensus building, perceived performance, and satisfaction. The effects on perceived performance were robust. American-Chinese pairs reported a significantly lower level of consensus when using a system that supports unidirectional (Mimio™) rather than bi-directional (SMART Board™) interaction on the board.
Subvalvular Repair The Key to Repairing Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation

BACKGROUND Residual or recurrent mitral regurgitation frequently occurs after mitral ring annuloplasty repair for ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR), because annuloplasty primarily addresses annular dilatation. We describe a subvalvular repair technique addressing posterior papillary muscle (PPM) displacement. METHODS AND RESULTS Ten sheep had radiopaque markers placed on the left ventricle (LV) and mitral apparatus. A suture was anchored at the right fibrous trigone, passed through the PPM tip and LV wall, and exteriorized through a tourniquet (STRING-1). A second suture was anchored transmurally in the high septum (anterobasal LV wall) and passed through the PPM and LV wall (STRING-2). Reversible posterolateral ischemia was induced by temporarily occluding the proximal circumflex artery. Under open chest conditions, 3D marker coordinates were obtained with biplane videofluoroscopy at baseline and during acute ischemia before and after tightening of each STRING using transesophageal echocardiography to grade IMR. IMR decreased (mean+/-SEM, 2.0+/-0.1 to 1.2+/-0.1; P<0.05) when STRING-1 was tightened, did not change after tightening STRING-2 (2.3+/-0.1 to 2.3+/-0.1), and decreased after tightening both sutures (STRING-1+2, 2.3+/-0.2 to 1.3+/-0.2; P<0.05). STRING-1 and STRING-1+2 (STRING-1, 1.7+/-0.4 mm; STRING-2, 0.7+/-0.5 mm; STRING-1+2, 1.5+/-0.3 mm; P<0.05) resulted in significant PPM basal repositioning. Tightening of any STRING sutures did not affect anterior mitral leaflet excursion. CONCLUSIONS Basal repositioning of the PPM with STRING-1 reduced acute IMR without concomitant annular reduction. This technique may be a useful adjunct if residual IMR is likely after undersized ring annuloplasty.
Prospect Theory, Risk Preference & The Law

To understand how people behave in an uncertain world - and to make viable recommendations about how the law should try to shape that behavior - legal scholars must employ a model or theory of decision making. Only with an understanding of how people are likely to respond to legal rules can legal scholars, judges, legislators, and regulators craft rules that are likely to encourage desirable behavior and discourage undesirable behavior. Rather than rely on rational choice theory, behavioral law and economics scholars (or legal decision theorists) have turned to Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky's "prospect theory" to inform their analyses of law and legal behavior. Prospect theory contains several empirical propositions relevant to legal analysis, but this paper focuses primarily on prospect theory's insight that people often make risk-averse choices when selecting between "gains" and risk-seeking choices when selecting between "losses." The paper surveys efforts in the legal literature to use this insight to inform the way legal scholars think about law and behavior in several doctrinal areas. The paper acknowledges some limitations associated with this work (e.g., external validity, differences in individual decision making, differences in group vs. individual decision making), but it concludes that prospect theory is nonetheless a valuable tool for legal scholars and policy makers.