cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cellulose hydrolysis in evolving substrate morphologies I: A general modeling formalism

We develop a general framework for a realistic rate equation modeling of cellulose hydrolysis using non-complexed cellulase. Our proposed formalism, for the first time, takes into account explicitly the time evolution of the random substrate morphology resulting from the hydrolytic cellulose chain fragmentation and solubilization. This is achieved by integrating novel geometrical concepts to quantitatively capture the time-dependent random morphology, together with the enzymatic chain fragmentation, into a coupled morphology-plus-kinetics rate equation approach. In addition, an innovative site number representation, based on tracking available numbers of beta(1,4) glucosidic bonds, of different "site" types, exposed to attacks by different enzyme types, is presented. This site number representation results in an ordinary differential equation (ODE) system, with a substantially reduced ODE system size, compared to earlier chain fragmentation kinetics approaches. This formalism enables us to quantitatively simulate both the hydrolytically evolving random substrate morphology and the profound, and heretofore neglected, morphology effects on the hydrolysis kinetics. By incorporating the evolving morphology on an equal footing with the hydrolytic chain fragmentation, our formalism provides a framework for the realistic modeling of the entire solubilization process, beyond the short-time limit and through near-complete hydrolytic conversion. As part I of two companion papers, the present paper focuses on the development of the general modelling formalism. Results and testable experimental predictions from detailed numerical simulations are presented in part II.
Minority Representation, Resistance, and Public Policy: The Navajos and the Counties

This article examines Navajo Indian representation on the governing boards ofsix county governments in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. External pressures, especially decisions by the federal government, have encouraged increased Navajo representation and changes in county policies that benefit people on the reservation. Beyond this, the findings for individual counties are consistent with previous research in suggesting that the size of the Navajo population as a percentage of the county population is an important factor affecting Navajo success in winning seats and the allocation of benefits to reservation residents. Yet, opposition to Navajo representation, the ability of Navajos to secure office, and the policy significance of their representation are far more complex than usually suggested by the relevant literature based largely on black and Hispanic experiences.
Altered night-time CO2 concentration affects the growth, physiology and biochemistry of soybean

Soybean plants (Glycine max (L.) Merr. c.v. Williams) were grown in CO2 controlled, natural-light growth chambers under one of four atmospheric CO2 concentrations ([CO2]): (1) 250 μmol mol ‐1 24 h d ‐1 [250/250]; (2) 1000 μmol mol ‐1 24 hd ‐1 [1000/1000]; (3) 250 μmol mol ‐1 during daylight hours and 1000 μmol mol ‐1 during nighttime hours [250/1000] or (4) 1000 μmol mol ‐1 during daylight hours and 250 μmol mol ‐1 during night-time hours [1000/250]. During the vegetative growth phase few physiological differences were observed between plants exposed to a constant 24 h [CO2] (250/250 and 1000/1000) and those that were switched to a higher or lower [CO2] at night (250/1000 and 1000/250), suggesting that the primary physiological responses of plants to growth in elevated [CO2] is apparently a response to daytime [CO 2] only. However, by the end of the reproductive growth phase, major differences were observed. Plants grown in the 1000/250 regime, when compared with those in the 1000/1000 regime, had significantly more leaf area and leaf mass, 27% more total plant dry mass, but only 18% of the fruit mass. After 12 weeks of growth these plants also had 19% higher respiration rates and 32% lower photosynthetic rates than the 1000/1000 plants. As a result the ratio of carbon gain to carbon loss was reduced significantly in the plants exposed to the reduced night-time [CO2]. Plants grown in the opposite switching environment, 250/1000 versus 250/250, showed no major differences in biomass accumulation or allocation with the exception of a significant increase in the amount of leaf mass per unit area. Physiologically, those plants exposed to elevated night-time [CO2] had 21% lower respiration rates, 14% lower photosynthetic rates and a significant increase in the ratio of carbon gain to carbon loss, again when compared with the 250/250 plants. Biochemical differences also were found. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase concentrations decreased in the 250/1000 treatment compared with the 250/250 plants, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity decreased in the 1000/250 compared with the 1000/1000 plants. Glucose, fructose and to a lesser extent sucrose concentrations also were reduced in the 1000/250 treatment compared with the 1000/1000 plants. These results indicate that experimental protocols that do not maintain elevated CO2 levels 24 h d ‐1 can have significant effects on plant biomass, carbon allocation and physiology, at least for fast-growing annual crop plants. Furthermore, the results suggest some plant processes other than photosynthesis are sensitive to [CO2] and under ecologically relevant conditions, such as high night-time [CO2], whole plant carbon balance can be affected.
Charles E. Rosenberg and the Multifaceted Promise of Medical History

Charles E. Rosenberg has had a major influence in defining the history of medicine as a field. However, critics who focus on his leadership or "school" in terms of defined scholarly perspectives, including those of social history and the framing of disease, offer inadequate descriptions of the messages, breadth, and scope of his scholarly work as a whole. Shoehorning the history of medicine into prescribed patterns in order to build a more unitary discipline would weaken rather than strengthen the field and is not in the Rosenberg tradition.
Role of DNA damage and alterations in cytosine DNA methylation in rat liver carcinogenesis induced by a methyl-deficient diet ☆

Currently, cancer is recognized as a disease provoked by both genetic and epigenetic events. However, the significance of early genetic and epigenetic alterations with respect to carcinogenic process in general and to liver carcinogenesis in particular remains unexplored. A lack of knowledge regarding how specific alterations during early preneoplasia may be mechanistically related to tumor formation creates a major gap in understanding the role of these genetic and epigenetic abnormalities in carcinogenesis. In the present study we investigated the contribution of DNA damage and epigenetic alterations to liver carcinogenesis induced by a methyl-deficient diet. Feeding Fisher 344 rats a methyl-deficient diet for 9 weeks resulted in DNA damage and aberrant DNA methylation. This was evidenced by an early up-regulation of the base excision DNA repair genes, accumulation of 8-oxodeoxyguanosine and 3'OH-end strand breaks in DNA, pronounced global loss of DNA methylation, and hypermethylation of CpG islands in the livers of methyl-deficient rats. These abnormalities were completely restored in the livers of rats exposed to methyl-deficiency for 9 weeks after removal of the methyl-deficient diet and re-feeding a methyl-sufficient diet. However, when rats were fed a methyl-deficient diet for 18 week and then given a methyl-sufficient diet, only DNA lesions were repaired. The methyl-sufficient diet failed to restore completely the altered DNA methylation status and prevent the progression of liver carcinogenesis. These results suggest that stable alterations in DNA methylation are a factor that promotes the progression of liver carcinogenesis. Additionally, the results indicate that epigenetic changes may be more reliable markers than DNA lesions of the carcinogenic process and carcinogen exposure.
The phytochrome red/far-red photoreceptor superfamily

Proteins of the phytochrome superfamily of red/far-red light receptors have a variety of biological roles in plants, algae, bacteria and fungi and demonstrate a diversity of spectral sensitivities and output signaling mechanisms. Over the past few years the first three-dimensional structures of phytochrome light-sensing domains from bacteria have been determined.
Transform domain LMS algorithm

The concept of transform domain adaptive filtering is introduced. In certain applications, filtering in the transform domain results in great improvements in convergence rate over the conventional time-domain adaptive filtering. The relationship between several existing frequency domain adaptive filtering algorithms is established. Applications of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain adaptive filtering algorithms in the areas of speech processing and adaptive line enhancers are discussed.
Fewer Equipment Changeovers for the Embroidery Process at Oxford Industries

Oxford Industries, Inc., a leading US apparel manufacturer, implemented a scheduling algorithm that significantly reduced equipment changeovers in its in-house embroidery facility. The company was experiencing difficulties meeting due dates in one of its more profitable, new markets—branded custom-embroidered golfwear. The time Oxford was spending on equipment changeovers was leaving insufficient processing time to meet a surge in demand in this new market. We identified an opportunity for increased production capacity through more efficient scheduling of sequence-dependent changeovers among garments. During the period that we studied, the use of the scheduling algorithm reduced the number of changeovers by an average of 88 percent per order.
Structured literature image finder: extracting information from text and images in biomedical literature

Slif uses a combination of text-mining and image processing to extract information from figures in the biomedical literature. It also uses innovative extensions to traditional latent topic modeling to provide new ways to traverse the literature. Slif provides a publicly available searchable database (http://slif.cbi.cmu.edu). Slif originally focused on fluorescence microscopy images. We have now extended it to classify panels into more image types. We also improved the classification into subcellular classes by building a more representative training set. To get the most out of the human labeling effort, we used active learning to select images to label. We developed models that take into account the structure of the document (with panels inside figures inside papers) and the multi-modality of the information (free and annotated text, images, information from external databases). This has allowed us to provide new ways to navigate a large collection of documents.
Gluino Coannihilation and Observability of Gluinos at LHC RUN II

The observability of a gluino at LHC run II is analyzed for the case where the gluino lies in the gluino-neutralino coannihilation region and the mass gap between the gluino and the neutralino is small. The analysis is carried out under the Higgs boson mass constraint and the constraint of dark matter relic density consistent with WMAP and Planck experiments. It is shown that in this case a gluino with mass much smaller than the current lower limit of $\ensuremath{\sim}1500\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ as given by LHC run II at $3.2\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ of integrated luminosity would have escaped detection. The analysis is done using the signal regions used by the ATLAS Collaboration where an optimization of signal regions was carried out to determine the best regions for gluino discovery in the gluino-neutralino coannihilation region. It is shown that under the Higgs boson mass constraint and the relic density constraint, a gluino mass of $\ensuremath{\sim}700\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ would require $14\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ of integrated luminosity for discovery and a gluino of mass $\ensuremath{\sim}1250\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ would require $3400\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ of integrated luminosity for discovery at LHC run II. An analysis of dark matter for this case is also given. It is found that for the range of gluino masses considered, the neutralino mass lies within less than 100 GeV of the gluino mass. Thus a measurement of the gluino mass in the gluino-neutralino coannihilation region will provide a determination of the neutralino mass. In this region the neutralino is dominantly a gaugino and the spin-independent proton-neutralino cross section is small but much larger than the neutrino floor lying in the range $\ensuremath{\sim}(1\char21{}10)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}47}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. Thus a significant part of the parameter space of the model will lie within the reach of the next generation LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment.
Rates of and Reasons for Hospital Readmissions in Patients With Cirrhosis: A Multistate Population-based Cohort Study.

Background & Aims There have been few population-based studies of the rates of and reasons for readmission to the hospital within 30 days among patients with cirrhosis. Methods We identified all adult patients with cirrhosis who were admitted in 2011 to hospitals in California, Florida Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, and Washington (119,722 unique index admissions with cirrhosis). We analyzed data from the State Inpatient Databases, which are longitudinal all-payer databases. Data were linked to the American Hospital Association's national survey for hospital characteristics. Outcomes included readmission to any hospital within 30 and 90 days, and the reasons for readmission. Results The 30- and 90-day rates of readmission were 12.9% and 21.2% overall, with limited variation among states. Among patients with more than 3 complications of cirrhosis, 24.2% were readmitted within 30 days and 35.9% were readmitted within 90 days. The presence of hepatic encephalopathy was most strongly associated with readmission within 30 and 90 days (odds ratio, 1.77 for each). Almost 1 in every 4 readmissions was to a different hospital than the one from which the patient was discharged. Among patients with alcoholic liver disease and a history of a complications of cirrhosis, the 2 most common reasons for readmission were acute complications of cirrhosis (in 41.7%) and substance abuse (in 25.0%). Conversely, the most common reasons for readmission of patients with a history of complications of cirrhosis without alcoholic liver disease were acute complications (in 41.0%) and cancer complications (in 16.2%). Conclusions A high proportion of patients with cirrhosis are readmitted to the hospital (often to a different hospital) within 30 or 90 days; encephalopathy is most strongly associated with readmission. Reasons for readmission differ based on the cause of liver disease, and there are opportunities for quality improvement.
Identification of Gaeumannomyces graminis Varieties Causing Wheat Take-all in Henan Province

In order to fully understand the variant types of Gaeumannomyces graminis in Henan province,seventy-four strains were isolated from wheat plants infected by wheat take-all,which were collected from Zhengzhou,Xuchang,Kaifeng,Zhoukou,Luohe,Shangqiu and Zhumadian in 2011.Identification of the variants was conducted using both morphological and molecular biology methods.The 74 strains isolated from wheat samples were preliminarily identified as Gaeumannomyces graminis var.tritici based on their morphological and physiological properties.Using the specific primers corresponding to 4 varieties of G.graminis,only a fragment in length of 870 bp was amplified from all strains,further confirming that all of the strains were G.graminis var.tritici.Pathogenicity of the 74 strains to wheat was determined in greenhouse,and the result showed that strong and medium pathogenic strains were dominant in Henan province,and the pathogenicity of isolates from different regions displayed a significant difference.
Cutoff Scores for MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF Cognitive-Somatic Validity Scales for Psychometrically Defined Malingering Groups in a Military Sample

Objective This research examined cutoff scores for MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF validity scales specifically developed to assess non-credible reporting of cognitive and/or somatic symptoms. The validity scales examined included the Response Bias Scale (RBS), the Symptom Validity Scales (FBS, FBS-r), Infrequent Somatic Responses scale (Fs), and the Henry-Heilbronner Indexes (HHI, HHI-r). Method Cutoffs were developed by comparing a psychometrically defined non-malingering group with three psychometrically defined malingering groups (probable, probable to definite, and definite malingering) and a group that combined all malingering groups. The participants in this research were drawn from a military sample consisting largely of patients with traumatic brain injury (mostly mild traumatic brain injury). Results Specificities for cutoffs of at least 0.90 are provided. Sensitivities, predictive values, and likelihood ratios are also provided. Conclusions RBS had the largest mean effect size (d) when the malingering groups were compared to the non-malingering group (d range = 1.23-1.58).
Nutrition and Hormones: Role in Male Infertility

Male infertility is mostly caused by poor sperm production, sperm motility, and sperm viability. Spermatogenesis is a reproductive process that produces spermatozoa from male primordial germ cells. Approximately 7% of the general male population is afflicted with male infertility. Environmental and genetic factors play a significant role in the causation of male infertility. Male infertility is often referred to as “idiopathic fertility” due to the lack of knowledge about most of the underlying mechanisms that cause it. Diet and lifestyle choices also influence infertility in most males and prevent their means to procreate. This review is a synopsis of past and current knowledge on male infertility in association with nutrition and hormonal imbalance.
X-Ray Controlled Drug Release from Liposomes

Liposomes are unilamellar spherical membranes made of lipids. Their ability to evade the immune system and to transport water soluble substances encased in their inner cavity make them excellent carriers for drug delivery, especially for cancer treatment. To increase their efficacy, liposomes must be endowed with mechanisms for fast and controlled release of incorporated material after reaching their target. Here we show that controlled drug release from liposomes may be achieved through the use of X-ray as a triggering stimulus.
Monophyletic or Diphyletic Origins of Anthropoidea and Hystricognathi

In recent years, much of the discussion on phylogenetic relationships between South American platyrrhine primates and Afro-Asian catarrhines has focused on the possible effects of continental drift and transoceanic rafting on the Oligocene-Recent distributional patterns of these mammals in the southern continents (Hoffstetter, 1972, 1974; Keast, 1972; Lavocat, 1974a; Cracraft, 1974). The Oligocene-Recent distribution of hystricognathous rodents in the southern continents is strikingly similar to the primate pattern, and most students of mammalian evolution and paleozoogeography are in agreement that the mode of dispersal was probably the same for both taxa. There is considerable disagreement, however, concerning the monophyletic or diphyletic relationships of the South American and African primates and hystricognathous rodents, as well as contrasting hypotheses on the area of origin of these taxa (cf. Hoffstetter, 1972, 1974; Patterson and Pascual, 1972; Lavocat, 1969; 1974a,b,; Wood, 1972, 1974; Wood and Patterson, 1970; Hershkovitz, 1972). Unfortunately, speculations on zoogeographic aspects of primate evolution have not been accompanied by careful phylogenetic analyses of characters which might corroborate or refute the hypothesis of anthropoidean monophyly. Most students of primate comparative anatomy and paleontology tend to specialize on catarrhines, platyrrhines, or strepsirhines, and, as a result, few have evaluated the phylogenetic significance of morphological features across a broad spectrum of primates. Similar limitations are encountered in studies on rodent phylogeny.
Developing a measure of quality for engineering design artifacts

Design is recognized as a key engineering activity, and engineering is a fundamental part of science education at the K-12 level. However, it is difficult to assess student designs when the range of “correct” answers is wide. Feedback in the form of assessment helps students learn from a design activity and can direct students along the pathway of improvement. The purpose of this paper is to develop an assessment protocol to measure solution quality taking into account both objective and subjective design criteria (e.g. measurements of cost/energy used along with aesthetics). Three protocols are developed by analyzing and comparing 109 high school students' design solutions to a zero-energy home design task. Lessons learned from the first two approaches informed the third approach that highlights the importance of balancing trade-offs. Results suggest the Trade-off Value approach provides an intuitive and accurate way to understand how well a designer has balanced both complementary and competing design criteria. These results can be used as feedback to support a systems design process and to evaluate the relationship between design quality and design behavior.
A New Chapter in Patient-Centered Care: Sharing the Medical Note?

Mafi and colleagues report the findings of a qualitative study on having patients contribute to writing the note that documents what occurred in a health care encounter. The editorialist discusses ...
Identifying the perfect absorption of metamaterial absorbers

We present a detailed analysis of the conditions that result in unity absorption in metamaterial absorbers to guide the design and optimization of this important class of functional electromagnetic composites. Multilayer absorbers consisting of a metamaterial layer, dielectric spacer, and ground plane are specifically considered. Using interference theory, the dielectric spacer thickness and resonant frequency for unity absorption can be numerically determined from the functional dependence of the relative phase shift of the total reflection. Further, using transmission line theory in combination with interference theory we obtain analytical expressions for the unity absorption resonance frequency and corresponding spacer layer thickness in terms of the bare resonant frequency of the metamaterial layer and metallic and dielectric losses within the absorber structure. These simple expressions reveal a redshift of the unity absorption frequency with increasing loss that, in turn, necessitates an increase in the thickness of the dielectric spacer. The results of our analysis are experimentally confirmed by performing reflection-based terahertz time-domain spectroscopy on fabricated absorber structures covering a range of dielectric spacer thicknesses with careful control of the loss accomplished through water absorption in a semiporous polyimide dielectric spacer. Our findings can be widely applied to guide the design and optimization of the metamaterial absorbers and sensors.
Bacterial Cytological Profiling Reveals the Mechanism of Action of Anticancer Metal Complexes

Target identification and mechanistic studies of cytotoxic agents are challenging processes that are both time-consuming and costly. Here we describe an approach to mechanism of action studies for potential anticancer compounds by utilizing the simple prokaryotic system, E. coli, and we demonstrate its utility with the characterization of a ruthenium polypyridyl complex [Ru(bpy)2dmbpy2+]. Expression of the photoconvertible fluorescent protein Dendra2 facilitated both high throughput studies and single-cell imaging. This allowed for simultaneous ratiometric analysis of inhibition of protein production and phenotypic investigations. The profile of protein production, filament size and population, and nucleoid morphology revealed important differences between inorganic agents that damage DNA vs more selective inhibitors of transcription and translation. Trace metal analysis demonstrated that DNA is the preferred nucleic acid target of the ruthenium complex, but further studies in human cancer cells revealed ...
Masculinidade em questão: lei, corpo e desejo em "Dão-lalão"

In the present essay, I examine eroticism in "Dao-lalao," by Brazilian fictionist Joao Guimaraes Rosa (1908-1967). Calling into question Benedito Nunes’s argument that the dialectics of love in Guimaraes Rosa's oeuvre points to a sense of harmony and totality, I view the erotic element in Guimaraes Rosa’s work as a form of transgression. Focusing on the body in “Dao-lalao,” I revisit Guimaraes Rosa’s skepticism regarding reason as the primary vehicle for understanding reality. Whereas Nunes relies on Plato, the Neoplatonists, and the mystic traditions of hermeticism and alchemy, I turn to the philosophy of Georges Bataille (1897-1962). Finally, I propose that in addition to asking probing questions about eroticism as an expression of what Bataille called non-savoir , "Dao-lalao" invites its readers to reconsider race and gender relations within a Brazilian cultural and historical context.
Social Locality in Data Storage

The locality property in data storage can be interpreted in different ways. In Cassandra a column family is a group of columns that are frequently accessed together, e.g., name, address, phone number, and email address information. These columns therefore have the same row key resulting in their being stored on the same machine. Data locality of this kind is content-based. By social locality, we are refering to the data that are accessed by users that share some social relationship. Therefore, although these data may be content-wise unrelated, they are frequently queried together in an online social network and therefore should be stored in close proximity on disk. Another way to look at locality is in terms of geography. It may be desirable to store in the same server the data for those users that reside in the same geographic region (e.g., think Akamai).
From Communications Engineering to Generalized Harmonic Analysis and Tauberian Theory

Harmonic analysis, for all its modern ramifications, has a history going back to Pythagoras and his interest in music and the vibrations of strings in the lyre. [56g, p. 105]
On the Nonextendability of Kolmogoroff’s Rearrangement Theorem

Let \( \hat f = (\hat f(n))_{n = 0}^\infty \in {\ell ^2}(\mathbb{N}) \) satisfy \( \hat f(n) = 0 \) unless n is a power of 2. Kolmogoroff’s rearrangement theorem says that if \( f = \mathop \sum \limits_{n = 0} \hat f(n){e^{in\theta }} \) then \( \sum {\hat f} ({n_k}){e^{i{n_{{K^{\theta \,}}}}}} \to f(\theta ) \) a.e. for eyery rearrangement nk. We show there is no generalization of this theorem applicable to a11 of l2(ℕ).
Contours of Asian American political theory: introductions and polemics

This essay claims that Asian American political theory (AAPT) exists but needs to be more explicitly articulated. I contour AAPT as the practice and tradition of critical theoretical reflection upo...
Missions Impossible: Prospects and Planning in American Higher Education

Most colleges and universities in the United States face serious questions about missions, money, and morale in the 21st century. Some recent excellent books are useful for showing divergent perspectives on these problems. To one extreme, an historian tends to see that lack of planning has been an unexpected, enduring positive force. To another extreme, a high profile state university president draws on innovations in structure to deal with changes in demographics and academic fields. This review essay provides a balanced exploration of the disparate approaches, leading to the conclusion that American higher education is in need of a substantive "New Deal" in purposes and policies.
Heterogeneity in the Development of Drug Use Versatility: Risk Factors for Polydrug Use throughout the Life-Course.

Background: Polydrug use is a major public health issue associated with numerous undesirable physical and mental health outcomes. While past research has identified risk factors for polydrug use an...
Evidence Matters: Summer 2017

Safe, affordable, comfortable, and aging-friendly housing for seniors, the focus of this edition of Evidence Matters remains a critical area of need as the population of older Americans grows. Seniors face a number of housing challenges, including those related to affordability, accessibility, social isolation, and access to services and amenities. In many instances, the current states of household savings, the housing stock, and the built environment are inadequate to meet the needs of a growing senior population. This issue looks at some of the policies and practices currently being implemented to address these challenges as well as the research and demonstration initiatives aimed at evaluating and improving the effectiveness of such efforts.
Field Deployment of a Portable Optical Spectrometer for Methane Fugitive Emissions Monitoring on Oil and Gas Well Pads

We present field deployment results of a portable optical absorption spectrometer for localization and quantification of fugitive methane (CH4) emissions. Our near-infrared sensor targets the 2ν3 R(4) CH4 transition at 6057.1 cm−1 (1651 nm) via line-scanned tunable diode-laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), with Allan deviation analysis yielding a normalized 2.0 ppmv∙Hz−1/2 sensitivity (4.5 × 10−6 Hz−1/2 noise-equivalent absorption) over 5 cm open-path length. Controlled CH4 leak experiments are performed at the METEC CSU engineering facility, where concurrent deployment of our TDLAS and a customized volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor demonstrates good linear correlation (R2 = 0.74) over high-flow (>60 SCFH) CH4 releases spanning 4.4 h. In conjunction with simultaneous wind velocity measurements, the leak angle-of-arrival (AOA) is ascertained via correlation of CH4 concentration and wind angle, demonstrating the efficacy of single-sensor line-of-sight (LOS) determination of leak sources. Source magnitude estimation based on a Gaussian plume model is demonstrated, with good correspondence (R2 = 0.74) between calculated and measured release rates.
On Kennedy's Literary Proof of the Impossibility that Smith Had a 'Theory of the Invisible Hand of Markets' in the Wealth of Nations

G. Kennedy carefully examined the conflict that Smith covered in The Wealth of Nations brought about by Upper Income citizens that Smith classified as “Projectors, Imprudent risk takers, and Prodigals”. Their behavior led to very detrimental, negative outcomes in the macro economy as a whole. There was no Invisible Hand that turned the self interested, self serving interests of the Projectors, Imprudent risk takers, and Prodigals into benefits for society as a whole. Instead, there was massive bankruptcy, economic decline, and depression. Kennedy’s literary proof has been ignored, as has Smith’s extensive discussion of this problem in The Wealth of Nations. The reason for this may be that most modern economists have forgotten how the use of the English language can be applied to provide an effective economic analysis of an economic problem as demonstrated by Smith. A separate paper provides a purely mathematical treatment on this problem. It is available at SSRN. That article translates Smith’s analysis of the impact of Projectors, Imprudent risk takers, and Prodigals on the macro economy into mathematics.
Academic electronic health records as a vehicle to augment the assessment of patient care skills in the didactic pharmacy curriculum

Abstract Introduction Standards 2016 state students must be “practice-ready” upon graduation and utilizing health information technology is one skill needed to ensure students are practice-ready. Incorporating academic electronic health records (EHRs) into the didactic pharmacy curriculum is one tool for preparing students to be practice-ready, but it is unclear if this technology is used to facilitate assessment of students' patient care skills. Methods A 35-question electronic survey was distributed to each school/college of pharmacy (S/COP) with questions focused on general use of EHRs and characterizing EHRs as a tool to assess students' patient care skills in the didactic curriculum. Aggregate, anonymous data was reported and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Fifty-nine survey responses were suitable for inclusion in the analysis (43.8% response rate). Of those, 37 S/COP (62.7%) used an EHR in the didactic curriculum. Frequently performed and assessed EHR functions were collecting information and documentation, and EHRs were most commonly utilized to assess students' abilities to perform the collect (96.9%) and assess (93.8%) steps of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process. EHRs were perceived to be most effective in assessing the following Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education Educational Outcomes: patient-centered care (93.9%), problem solving (83.9%), and learner (80.6%). Conclusions Optimizing the use of EHRs in S/COP is critical. Determining which outcomes are best suited to be assessed utilizing this technology and the optimal method to do so is an appropriate next step.
C. elegans BRC-1-BRD-1 functions at an early step of DSB processing and inhibits supernumerary crossovers during male meiosis

Abstract Meiosis is regulated in a sex-specific manner to produce two distinct gametes, sperm and oocytes, for sexual reproduction. To determine how meiotic recombination is regulated in spermatogenesis, we analyzed the meiotic phenotypes of mutants in the tumor suppressor E3 ubiquitin ligase BRC-1-BRD-1 complex in Caenorhabditis elegans male meiosis. Unlike in mammals, this complex is not required for meiotic sex chromosome inactivation, the process whereby hemizygous sex chromosomes are transcriptionally silenced. Interestingly, brc-1 and brd-1 mutants showed meiotic recombination phenotypes that are largely opposing to those previously reported for female meiosis. Fewer meiotic recombination foci marked by the recombinase RAD-51 were observed in brc-1 and brd-1 mutants, and the reduction in RAD-51 foci can be suppressed by mutation of nonhomologous end joining proteins. We show that concentration of BRC-1-BRD-1 to sites of meiotic recombination is dependent on DNA end resection, suggesting that BRC-1-BRD-1 regulates the processing of meiotic double strand breaks to promote repair by homologous recombination, similar to a role for the complex in somatic cells. We also show that BRC-1-BRD-1 is important to promote progeny viability when male meiosis is perturbed by mutations that block the pairing and synapsis of different chromosome pairs, although the complex is not required to stabilize the RAD-51 filament as in female meiosis under the same conditions. Analyses of crossover designation and formation reveal that BRC-1-BRD-1 inhibits supernumerary crossovers when meiosis is perturbed. Together, our findings suggest that BRC-1-BRD-1 regulates different aspects of meiotic recombination in male and female meiosis.
Cholinergic nucleus 4 atrophy and gait impairment in Parkinson’s disease

There is evidence that cortical cholinergic denervation contributes to gait and balance impairment in Parkinson’s Disease (PD), especially reduced gait speed. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between cholinergic basal forebrain gray matter density (GMD) and gait in PD patients. We investigated 66 PD patients who underwent a pre-surgical evaluation for a neurosurgical procedure to treat motor symptoms of PD. As part of this evaluation patients had a brain MRI and formal gait assessments. By applying probabilistic maps of the cholinergic basal forebrain to voxel-based morphometry of brain MRI, we calculated gray matter density (GMD) for cholinergic nucleus 4 (Ch4), cholinergic nucleus 1, 2, and 3 (Ch123), and the entire cortex. Reduced Ch4 GMD was associated with reduced Fast Walking Speed in the “on” medication state (FWSON, p = 0.004). Bilateral cortical GMD was also associated with FWSON (p = 0.009), but Ch123 GMD was not (p = 0.1). Bilateral cortical GMD was not associated with FWSON after adjusting for Ch4 GMD (p = 0.44). While Ch4 GMD was not associated with improvement in Timed Up and Go (TUG) or Cognitive TUG in the “on” medication state, reduced Ch4 GMD was associated with greater percent worsening based on dual tasks (p = 0.021). Reduced Ch4 GMD is associated with slower gait speed in PD and greater percent worsening in TUG during dual tasks in patients with PD. These findings have implications for planning of future clinical trials investigating cholinergic therapies to improve gait impairment in PD.
Broadening our understanding of the genetics of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA): Interrogation of three dimensional chromatin structures and genetic regulatory elements within JIA-associated risk loci.

Objective The risk loci for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) consist of extended haplotypes that include functional elements in addition to canonical coding genes. As with most autoimmune diseases, the risk haplotypes for JIA are highly enriched for H3K4me1/H3K27ac histone marks, epigenetic signatures that typically identify poised or active enhancers. In this study, we test the hypothesis that genetic risk for JIA is exerted through altered enhancer-mediated gene regulation. Methods We mined publically available HiC and other chromatin conformation data to determine whether H3K27ac-marked regions in 25 JIA risk loci showed physical evidence of contact with gene promoters. We also used in vitro reporter assays to establish as proof-of-concept the idea that genetic variants in linkage disequilibrium with GWAS-identified tag SNPs alter enhancer function. Results All 25 loci examined showed multiple contact sites in the 4 different cell lines that we queried. These regions were characterized by HiC-defined loop structures that included 237 immune-related genes. Using in vitro assays, we found that a 657 bp, H3K4me1/H3K27-marked region within the first intron of IL2RA shows enhancer activity in reporter assays, and this activity is attenuated by SNPs on the IL2RA haplotype that we identified using whole genome sequencing of children with JIA. Similarly, we identified a 1,669 bp sequence in an intergenic region of the IL6R locus where SNPs identified in children with JIA increase enhancer function in reporter assays. Conclusions These studies provide evidence that altered enhancer function contributes to genetic risk in JIA. Further studies to identify the specific target genes of genetically altered enhancers are warranted.
Price Determinants of Stock-Type Horses Sold at Public Online Auctions

There is a shift in livestock auction sales in consolidation of live markets and movement toward virtual marketplaces. We examine buyer preferences for nonracing stock-type horses sold through virtual auctions to better understand how animals are sold and their valuation. A shift towards online sales of equine has impacted the number of potential buyers through increased exposure to sale horses. Using data collected from online auctions, we estimate factors influencing propensity to sell as well as price determinants in this market platform. We find many factors contribute to the likelihood of a horse selling and to the final sale price.
Review of CT-guided trans-osseous biopsies

Percutaneous image-guided biopsy is an invaluable technique in the management of a myriad of different conditions; however, percutaneous access to some targets remains challenging. Trans-osseous biopsy provides safe, high-yield access to many challenging lesions in the chest, abdomen, and pelvis which might otherwise require more invasive procedures, such as mediastinoscopy or surgery to establish a histological diagnosis. Additionally, trans-osseous biopsy is well tolerated and may reduce the risk of injury to intervening vital structures as compared to other percutaneous techniques. In this article we review the indications, technical challenges, alternative techniques, and potential complications of trans-sternal, trans-costal, trans-scapular, trans-vertebral, trans-iliac, and trans-sacral biopsies.
Performance improvement of the linear BLDG generator in a deep space explorer

This paper presents methods to improve performance of the power supply system in a NASA deep space explorer. In the Stirling engine driven reciprocating Brushless DC (BLDC) generator, the accurate position information of the prime mover is important to diagnose the performance of the engine and prevent the distortion of the output power. Because sensors to detect the position arc fragile and unreliable, and conventional sensorless technique has a drawback in the low speed region, a novel sensorless position detection technique for the prime mover has been proposed and verified. Another major issue of the generator for the spacecraft is power density maximization. The mass of the power system is important to the mass of the satellite. Therefore, the components of the spacecraft should be lightweight. Conventional rectification methods cannot achieve the maximum power possible because of non-optimal current waveforms. The optimal current waveform for maximizing power density and minimizing machine size and weight in a nonsinusoidal power supply system has been derived, incorporated in a control system, and verified by simulation work.
Agent space architecture for search engines

The future of computing is moving from individual processing units to communities of self organizing agents. In This work we propose an agent and network based architecture for parallel and distributed computing called agent space architecture. Our architecture builds upon the notions of agent and object space and utilizes multicast networks. The building blocks for our proposed architecture consist of an active processing unit called agent, a shared place for communication called space, and a communication medium called multicast network. One unique feature of our architecture is that we extend the concept of object space to become an active space. Our active space functions as a rendezvous, a repository, a cache, a responder, a notifier, and a manager of its own resources. The organization of our architecture is as general as network topology. Any number of agents, spaces, or networks can be added to achieve high performance. It is as scalable as Ethernet and adding agents or spaces is as easy as plug and play. High availability and fault tolerance is achieved through multiple agents, spaces, and networks. All these features are particularly beneficial for challenging applications such as search engine, which is used as a test case to implement and to test our proposed architecture.
Determination of spectroscopic amplitudes from electron scattering data

It is shown how the spectroscopic amplitudes for the removal of a particle from anA-body system can be determined from electron-nucleus scattering data. The formalism used is translationally invariant and therefore the spectroscopic amplitudes thus determined require no further «center-of-mass corrections». The method is applied to the16O nucleus. The spectroscopic amplitudes determined in this manner are particularly useful for the study of hadron-nucleus scattering and various one-nucleon transfer reactions.
Plasmalemmal insertion and modification of sodium channels at the nerve growth cone

We have characterized voltage-dependent sodium channels in growth cones (GCPs) isolated from fetal rat brain using saxitoxin and TTX binding as well as recordings from channels reconstituted into lipid bilayer membranes. Both high- and low-affinity binding sites are present in GCP membranes. However, the two binding sites are segregated largely or completely, with the high-affinity binding sites in the plasmalemma, and the low-affinity sites in an internal membrane compartment. Plasmalemmal insertion of these internal sites can be triggered by high- potassium depolarization and depends on a metalloendoprotease-requiring mechanism. These observations indicate that a precursor-product relationship exists between the internal and external sodium channels of the growth cone, and therefore suggest that channel externalization causes conversion of low-affinity to high-affinity saxitoxin receptors. This conversion may represent a step of channel capacitation.
Smart Data Node in the Sky (SDNITS): communications system

The design of the telecommunications network to serve the high data producing, spatially diverse satellites must be defined, so that the high volume data is conveniently and efficiently transferred to the desired location on ground from a system of satellites. The system consists of multiple satellites in different orbits; these orbits may be circular, elliptical or geosynchronous in nature. Each of the satellites in the network generates high data volume that needs to be transmitted to the ground station in near real time to be distributed to the users. Each satellite's orbit must be selected so that it supports the maximum science data generation and at the same time helps communications between the satellite and ground. These satellites embody the high data volume science satellites of the future. In this paper we will discuss: the steps for adequately designing such a complex telecommunications system "Smart Data Node in the Sky (SDNITS)"; algorithm development for this process; specifications to be levied on the interfacing subsystems; type of the system e.g., the usual Radio Frequency system or a laser communication system. Within the Radio Frequency system, usual residual or suppressed carrier system or a spread spectrum system would be needed etc. Preliminary design parameter values such as the power amplifier rating, antenna size and slewing, Doppler frequency and rate, ground station antenna slewing and acceleration, visibility times at the ground station and for satellite-satellite communications and overall system performance are also presented in this paper.
Gain in a compact, tunable terahertz laser

Summary form only given. The Smith-Purcell free electron laser (SP-FEL) is a potentially compact cw source of tunable mW THz radiation. To achieve this potential, the gain mechanism of the electron beam-electromagnetic wave interaction must be well understood. We report that the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) behavior in the vicinity of the lasing threshold provides an important clue in this pursuit.
Phase II Study of Irinotecan Plus Cisplatin in Patients With Advanced Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

PURPOSE: To evaluate the antitumor efficacy and safety of a combination of irinotecan (CPT-11) and cisplatin in patients with inoperable non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A secondary objective was to characterize the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of CPT-11 and its active metabolite, SN-38. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC were treated with repeated 4-week courses comprising CPT-11 (60 mg/m2) administered on days 1, 8, and 15, and a single dose of cisplatin (80 mg/m2) after CPT-11 administration on day 1. RESULTS: Fifty-two patients were enrolled, including 33 men and 19 women. The median age was 61 years (range, 29 to 79 years). Southwest Oncology Group performance status was 0 in 12 patients, 1 in 32 patients, and 2 in eight patients. Eleven and 41 patients had stage IIIB and IV disease, respectively. Objective responses occurred in 28.8% of patients (15 of 52; 95% confidence interval, 16.5% to 41.2%). The median survival duration was 9.9 months (range, 1.6 to 30.8 mon...