cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A reinforced matrix for Class II direct gold restorations

1 he direct filling gold restoration can be compared to the gold inlay. Both require extreme care in preparation and placement. Both offer corrosion resistance because of their noble metal content. Direct filling gold, however, offers several advantages as an intracoronal restorative material. The direct gold restoration is a single-visit procedure. The difficulties associated with impressions or temporary restorations required for the fabrication of an inlay are eliminated. The condensation of direct gold allows close adaptation of the material to the cavity preparation. Additionally, the marginal adaptation of direct gold restorations is superior to that of cemented restorations, and the absence of the cement liner is another advantage of direct filling golds. Powdered gold and a reinforced anatomic matrix facilitate placing the Class II restorations. Powdered gold? has significantly changed direct gold manipulative techniques. Its mass is 10 times an equivalent volume of gold foil.’ As a result, filling time is significantly reduced. The recommended technique for condensing powdered gold is with hand pressure. The impact of mechanical condensing aids and their postoperative sequellae are eliminated with this procedure. The relative ease of handling the material is evident when compared to the other types of direct filling golds. With the Class II restoration using powdered gold, a reinforced anatomic matrix is essential for the condensation and finishing steps. A matrix provides the fourth wall for the proximal cavity form during part of the condensing procedure. It confines the bulk of the gold to the cavity form and the cavosur-
Adenoviral Appendicitis Presenting Clinically as Acute Appendicitis

The vermiform appendix may react as part of a generalized viral infection, but histological documentation of appendiceal viral infection is rare. Adenovirus has been described in association with mesenteric adenitis and ileocecal intussusception, but to our knowledge there are no well-documented cases of adenoviral appendiceal infection presenting clinically as acute appendicitis without intussusception. We reviewed the pathology records of all appendectomies performed at our institution from 2001 through 2005. All incidental appendectomies and appendices with acute appendicitis or other pathological findings were excluded. We selected all negative appendices with lymphoid hyperplasia and reviewed hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides. Representative sections of each of these cases were immunostained with adenovirus antibody. Eight hundred seventy-seven appendectomies were performed during the study period. Of these, there were 94 cases that had a clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis and that were pathologically negative. Sixty-three of the 94 cases had lymphoid hyperplasia and were stained for adenovirus. We identified 2 positive cases, which also showed epithelial proliferation and viral inclusions. One involved a 6-year-old male and the other involved a 5-year-old female, without intussusception. Adenovirus can infect the appendix and clinically mimic acute appendicitis without intussusception. We recommend that all negative appendices be evaluated for lymphoid hyperplasia and epithelial viral changes and possibly be stained with immunoperoxidase staining if indicated. We speculate that adenovirus may play a role in the pathogenesis of acute appendicitis.
Force Calculation in 3-D Magnetic Equivalent Circuit Networks With a Maxwell Stress Tensor

Magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) models are increasingly valuable for analysis and design of electromechanical devices, particularly electrical machines, because of their moderate computational effort and reasonable accuracy. Force and torque calculations in prior MEC implementations are almost exclusively based on the virtual work method (VWM) adapted to the specific device model. But VWM does not easily extend to a general MEC modeling approach. In this paper, the more direct Maxwell stress tensor (MST) method is applied to a general 3-D MEC modeling framework. MST theory and implementation are presented. Its application is discussed with the example of an electromagnet. Results are compared to both measurements and analytical and finite-element models.
Flute Players, Death, and Music in the Afterlife (Matthew 9:18—19, 23—26)

Insights from ethnomusicology and psychological anthropology suggest a new perspective on the flute players mentioned only by Matthew at the wake service of a twelve year old girl. This paper was read at the International Meeting of the Context Group at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, Spain, July 2006.
FLASH correlation: a new method for 3-D ultrasound tissue motion tracking and blood velocity estimation

We report a new method for tracking tissue motion and blood flow in three dimensions (3-D) using successive volumetric ultrasound scans. The method is based on combining the concepts of feature tracking and 3-D correlation search to achieve a compromise between accuracy and computational efficiency. This paper introduces the new method and the experimental setup used for its evaluation in a tissue-mimicking material. Results are presented demonstrating that the new method has both satisfactory tracking performance and the potential for practical real-time implementation.
Utilizing the C-terminal cleavage activity of a protein splicing element to purify recombinant proteins in a single chromatographic step

A conventional affinity protein purification system often requires a separate protease to separate the target protein from the affinity tag. This paper describes a unique protein purification system in which the target protein is fused to the C-terminus of a modified protein splicing element (intein). A small affinity tag is inserted in a loop region of the endonuclease domain of the intein to allow affinity purification. Specific mutations at the C-terminal splice junction of the intein allow controllable C-terminal peptide bond cleavage. The cleavage is triggered by addition of thiols such as dithiothreitol or free cysteine, resulting in elution of the target protein while the affinity-tagged intein remains immobilized on the affinity column. This system eliminates the need for a separate protease and allows purification of a target protein without the N-terminal methionine. We have constructed general cloning vectors and demonstrated single-column purification of several proteins. In addition, we discuss several factors that may affect the C-terminal peptide bond cleavage activity.
Cities and Lives in Post-Mao China

The Return of the God of Wealth: The Transition to. Market Economy in Urban China. Charlotte Ikels. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996. 311 pp. Urban Spaces in Contemporary China. Deborah S. Davis. Richard Krauss, Barry Naughton, and Elizabeth J. Perry, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 449 pp.
Boodle over the Border: Embezzlement and the Crisis of International Mobility, 1880–1890

Roughly 2,000 American fugitives fled to Canada in the 1880s—mostly clerks, cashiers, and bank tellers charged with embezzlement. This article argues that these “boodlers,” as they were popularly called, were symptomatic of a late-nineteenth-century crisis of mobility. Embezzlement was a function of new kinds of mobility: migration to cities, the rise of an upwardly mobile middle class, the fungibility of greenbacks, and the growth of international transportation networks. The boodlers were some of the earliest white-collar criminals. By focusing on their unexplored story, this article contributes to the growing literature that presents the clerk as an important figure in nineteenth-century labor history. Still, the boodlers also had a more unexpected impact on the evolution of the United States' international borders, both in the popular imagination and in actual surveillance and law enforcement techniques. Through the figure of the boodler, this article examines the links between the growth of capitalism and the development of the United States–Canada border in the late nineteenth century.
Covalent hypercoordination: can carbon bind five methyl ligands?

C(CH3)5+ is the first reported example of a five-coordinate carbon atom bound only to separate (that is, monodentate) carbon ligands. This species illustrate the limits of carbon bonding, exhibiting Lewis-violating “electron-deficient bonds” between the hypercoordinate carbon and its methyl groups. Though not kinetically persistent under standard laboratory conditions, its dissociation activation barriers may permit C(CH3)5+ fleeting existence near 0 K.
A Computer Program to Accomplish Commonality Analysis1

A computer program written in FORTRAN IV is presented which will unambiguously partition the explained variance of a dependent variable into these parts due uniquely to each independent variable and to all possible combinations of independent variables through commonality analysis. Tests of the significance of the unique contribution due to each independent variable are also output. Documentation is provided.
From RTL to GDSII: An ASIC design course development using Synopsys® University Program

The development of an ASIC design course using the Synopsys® University Program lectures, labs and tools is presented in this paper. The ASIC design course lasts for 20 weeks and the students learn the design flow using tools including Design Compiler™, IC Compiler™ and PrimeTime™. The syllabus is developed based on the Synopsys® University Program Curriculum. Besides the curriculum, the students are assigned projects to synthesize some small circuits to gain more in-depth knowledge about the ASIC design flow. A keystone project is assigned to facilitate the application of the entire IC physical design flow on an industrial size processor design.
Movement of cyantraniliprole in plants after foliar applications and its impact on the control of sucking and chewing insects.

BACKGROUND Given the physical properties of insecticides, there is often some movement of these compounds within crop plants following foliar application. In this context, movement of two formulations of cyantraniliprole, an anthranilic diamide, was characterized for translocation to new growth, distribution within a leaf and penetration through the leaf cuticle. RESULTS Upward movement of cyantraniliprole to new plant growth via the xylem was confirmed using 14C-radiolabeled cyantraniliprole and from Helicoverpa zea mortality on tomato leaves that had not been directly treated. Within a leaf there was significant acropetal movement (base to apex) of cyantraniliprole, but no significant basipetal movement (apex to base). Translaminar movement, the ability of a compound to penetrate the leaf cuticle, was demonstrated in a variety of plants, both with and without the use of adjuvants, by treating only the adaxial surface of the leaf and measuring control of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) and sweetpotato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) exposed in clip cages to the untreated abaxial surface. CONCLUSION The plant mobility and plant protection of cyantraniliprole is discussed with implications for use in insect resistance management and integrated pest management programs. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
Epithelial-Stromal Tumor of the Seminal Vesicles in the Transgenic Adenocarcinoma Mouse Prostate Model

The transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate (TRAMP) model, designed for researching hu- man prostatic cancer, was genetically engineered to harbor a transgene composed of the simian virus 40 Large- T/small-t antigen promoted by the rat probasin gene. In addition to prostatic neoplasms, the TRAMP mouse develops tumors in the seminal vesicles. This study was conducted to evaluate the pathology and histogenesis of TRAMP seminal vesicle neoplasms. Tissues of accessory sex organs harvested from 72 TRAMP mice of various ages (11-40 weeks of age) were fixed in neutral buffered formalin and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, desmin, 5-bromo-2 -deoxyuridine (BrdU, treated animals only), and SV40 Large-T antigen (SV40-Tag). In the seminal vesicles, we found neoplastic stromal cells that emerged multicentrically just beneath the epi- thelium, densely packed between the epithelium and the smooth muscle layer. These stromal cells frequently exhibited mitotic figures and showed BrdU incorporation and SV40-Tag protein expression in the nuclei and immunopositivity for desmin. The proliferative mesenchymal cells were lined by cuboidal to columnar epithe- lium. Some of the larger papillary, polypoid lesions exhibited a phyllodes pattern resembling that seen in mixed epithelial-stromal tumors of the breast, prostate, and seminal vesicles of humans. Although the epithelium was negative for SV40-Tag and showed only occasional incorporation of BrdU, it clearly participated in the biphasic proliferation, forming papillary, cystic, and tubuloglandular structures. No conclusive evidence of malignancy (invasion or metastasis) was identified. Our recommended diagnosis of this lesion in the seminal vesicles is epithelial-stromal tumor.
Comparative Opsonic and Protective Activities of Staphylococcus aureus Conjugate Vaccines Containing Native or Deacetylated Staphylococcal Poly-N-Acetyl-β-(1-6)-Glucosamine

Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis both synthesize the surface polysaccharide poly-N-acetyl-β-(1-6)-glucosamine (PNAG), which is produced in vitro with a high level (>90%) of the amino groups substituted by acetate. Here, we examined the role of the acetate substituents of PNAG in generating opsonic and protective antibodies. PNAG and a deacetylated form of the antigen (dPNAG; 15% acetylation) were conjugated to the carrier protein diphtheria toxoid (DT) and used to immunize animals. Mice responded in a dose-dependent fashion to both conjugate vaccines, with maximum antibody titers observed at the highest dose and 4 weeks after the last of three weekly immunizations. PNAG-DT and dPNAG-DT vaccines were also very immunogenic in rabbits. Antibodies raised to the conjugate vaccines in rabbits mediated the opsonic killing of various staphylococcal strains, but the specificity of the opsonic killing was primarily to dPNAG, as this antigen inhibited the killing of S. aureus strains by both PNAG- and dPNAG-specific antibodies. Passive immunization of mice with anti-dPNAG-DT rabbit sera showed significant levels of clearance of S. aureus from the blood (54 to 91%) compared to control mice immunized with normal rabbit sera, whereas PNAG-specific antibodies were ineffective at clearing S. aureus. Passive immunization of mice with a goat antiserum raised to the dPNAG-DT vaccine protected against a lethal dose of three different S. aureus strains. Overall, these data show that immunization of animals with a conjugate vaccine of dPNAG elicit antibodies that mediated opsonic killing and protected against S. aureus infection, including capsular polysaccharide types 5 and 8 and an untypable strain.
Solving a bilevel linear program when the inner decision maker controls few variables

Abstract This paper presents an algorithm that always finds an optimum of a Bilevel Linear Program (BLP) problem if one exists. Moreover, if the inner decision maker does not control too many variables the algorithm is efficient. In particular, if the number of variables controlled by the inner decision maker can be considered to be constant, then the algorithm is a polynomial time algorithm. The algorithm is also well suited to parallel implementation.
A modular Simulink-based controlled three-phase switch mode inverter

The primary goal of this paper is to present the design and construction of a digital signal processor (DSP) controlled three-phase inverter based on Simulink and the Real Time Workshop Toolbox from MathWorks. Traditionally various switching schemes, such as pulse width modulation (PWM) and square wave switching, in addition to reduction of harmonics through power electronic switching, are studied in class. However, their tangible effects cannot be seen without simulation and/or laboratory experiments. The purpose of this inverter is to provide a modular educational platform with minimal setup time to study the operation of DC-AC converters. Access to the inverter is provided through a variety of measurement sensors for data acquisition purposes, which emphasizes hands-on laboratory experience. An actual detailed setup and experimental procedure is presented that outlines the platform's ease of use and accuracy.
Positive allosteric modulators as an approach to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-targeted therapeutics: Advantages and limitations

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), recognized targets for drug development in cognitive and neuro-degenerative disorders, are allosteric proteins with dynamic interconversions between multiple functional states. Activation of the nAChR ion channel is primarily controlled by the binding of ligands (agonists, partial agonists, competitive antagonists) at conventional agonist binding sites, but is also regulated in either negative or positive ways by the binding of ligands to other modulatory sites. In this review, we discuss models for the activation and desensitization of nAChR, and the discovery of multiple types of ligands that influence those processes in both heteromeric nAChR, such as the high-affinity nicotine receptors of the brain, and homomeric α7-type receptors. In recent years, α7 nAChRs have been identified as a potential target for therapeutic indications leading to the development of α7-selective agonists and partial agonists. However, unique properties of α7 nAChR, including low probability of channel opening and rapid desensitization, may limit the therapeutic usefulness of ligands binding exclusively to conventional agonist binding sites. New enthusiasm for the therapeutic targeting of α7 has come from the identification of α7-selective positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) that work effectively on the intrinsic factors that limit α7 ion channel activation. While these new drugs appear promising for therapeutic development, we also consider potential caveats and possible limitations for their use, including PAM-insensitive forms of desensitization and cytotoxicity issues.
Evolution and the New World Vision in the Music of Charles Ives

* The composer ', begins the chapter on music in Harold Stearns's 1922 com pendium, Civilization in the United States, ' here lives in an atmosphere that is, at the worst, good-natured contempt. Contempt, mind you, not for himself... but for his very art... At best, what he gets is unintelligent ad miration, not as an artist, but as a freak.' The best that the composer can expect, the article continues, is that by expressing himself he may, by some miraculous accident, express the great remote and inarticulate ' American soul V This same year, 1922, saw the publication, at the author's expense, of /14 Songs by the remote but very articulate composer and insurance agent, Charles E. Ives. This book of songs was a result of an effort, as the com poser put it, to clean house to hang out on the line for all to see the result of twenty-five years of ignored composition. When the songs and other com positions of this incredibly creative period were sorted, one would find, as the Steams article suggested, an expression of the American soul, no longer so remote and inarticulate.
An Appetite for Connection

Ms. Jones was a thin African American woman in her early 40s, although she appeared much older. Four years before I met her, she had been hospitalized for a month with complaints of severe, unrelenting abdominal pain, anorexia, nausea, and vomiting. She was treated with parental nutrition because
Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 is the essential nuclease during immunoglobulin class switch recombination

Immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch recombination (CSR) is initiated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) that catalyzes numerous DNA cytosine deaminations within switch regions. The resulting uracils are processed by uracil base excision and/or mismatch repair enzymes that ultimately generate switch region DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Uracil glycosylase 2 (UNG2) is required for CSR, most likely by removing uracils to generate abasic sites. Although it is presumed that the apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) generates DNA strand incisions (a prerequisite for CSR) at these abasic sites, a direct test of the requirement for APE1 in CSR has been difficult because of the embryonic lethality of APE1 ablation in mice. Here, we report the successful deletion of the APE1 gene in a mouse B cell line (CH12F3) capable of robust CSR in vitro. In contrast to the general assumption that APE1 is essential for cellular viability, deletion of APE1 in CH12F3 cells has no apparent effect on cell viability or growth. Moreover, CSR in APE1-null CH12F3 cells is drastically reduced, providing direct evidence for an essential role for APE1 in switch region cleavage and CSR. Finally, deletion of AP endonuclease 2 (APE2) has no effect on CSR in either APE1-proficient or -deficient cells.
Speciation in killifish and the role of salt tolerance.

Species pairs whose distributions are tied to environmental conditions provide intriguing candidates for the study of ecological speciation. Here, we examine the role that adaptation to salinity has played in the divergence between two closely related species, Lucania goodei and Lucania parva, whose distributions reflect salinity (L. goodei– fresh water, L. parva– euryhaline). We first tested whether these two species display local adaptation and, subsequently, tested for ecological, genic and behavioural isolation by performing crosses within and between L. goodei and L. parva and raising offspring under various salinities. We found strong evidence for differential adaptation to salinity and also for behavioural isolation where animals preferentially mated with conspecifics over heterospecifics. However, we found no evidence for F1 hybrid inviability. We discuss the general lack of evidence for genic isolation in teleost fish and whether this is a real phenomenon or simply a reflection of experimental design.
Croplands in West Africa: A Geographically Explicit Dataset for Use in Models

West Africa has experienced increases in cultivated lands over the last 50 yr, as well as increasing rates of deforestation. Croplands have expanded to meet the food demands of a rapidly increasing population. Nevertheless, this region remains one of the most food-deprived places on the planet. While the food demands of an increasing population have to be met through cropland expansion or intensification on existing lands, it is important to evaluate the long-term environmental consequences of the ensuing land-use change. Spatially explicit datasets of land use/land cover for the region would be valuable for assessing the environmental consequences of land-cover change, as well as the implications for food security. A review of the currently available moderate-resolution satellite-derived land-cover datasets for the region finds them to be of poor quality. A high-resolution satellite-derived cropland dataset for the Sahel is available; however, extending this to the entire West African region is an expensive proposition and will require a massive undertaking. Therefore, in this study, a new regional dataset of the spatial distribution of croplands for West Africa was created by synthesizing subnational cropland area statistics, a spatial map of population density, and
Pediatric bone and soft-tissue sarcomas

In this session I will review the clinical and imaging features of the most common pediatric bone and soft tissue sarcomas and several benign lesions that may mimic them. These malignancies often have unique features that can help narrow the differential diagnosis. The material will be presented in an informal manner and audience participation is encouraged. A review of the appropriate diagnostic work-up will also be presented, including the role of various imaging modalities to detect local-regional and distant metastatic disease. At the end of this session participants should be able to identify clinical features (age, race, etc.) and imaging features that are suggestive of the correct diagnosis.
Persistent surveillance for unmanned aerial vehicles subject to charging and temporal logic constraints

In this work, we present a novel method for automating persistent surveillance missions involving multiple vehicles. Automata-based techniques are used to generate collision-free motion plans for a team of vehicles to satisfy a temporal logic specification. Vector fields are created for use with a differential flatness-based controller, allowing vehicle flight and deployment to be fully automated according to the motion plans. The use of charging platforms with the vehicles allows for truly persistent missions. Experiments were performed with two quadrotors for two different missions over 50 runs each to validate the theoretical results.
Designing Corporate Governance Regimes

This paper approaches the problem of corporate governance from an engineering perspective. It argues that one should design and test corporate governance regimes using formal techniques similar to those developed by engineers to design, test, and update complex concurrent systems. These are systems that are composed of multiple agents or components that interact over time and must synchronize their individual and joint activities to properly share resources, avoid conflicts, and produce the desired system behavior. Concurrent systems are highly complex because the interconnections between the various components change over time in an indeterminate fashion. Nonetheless by using a set of “governance rules” to govern the design and testing of concurrent systems, engineers have been able to build large, extremely complex, safety critical systems that are robust and reliable. As a general matter, a system is robust if it behaves reasonably well even when it encounters unforeseen contingencies. The paper develops a theory of concurrent corporate governance and argues that some of the governance mechanisms created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act can be seen as examples concurrent governance.
Assembly, molecular organization, and membrane-binding properties of development-specific septins

Septin complexes display remarkable plasticity in subunit composition, yet how a new subunit assembled into higher-order structures confers different functions is not fully understood. Here, this question is addressed in budding yeast, where during meiosis Spr3 and Spr28 replace the mitotic septin subunits Cdc12 and Cdc11 (and Shs1), respectively. In vitro, the sole stable complex that contains both meiosis-specific septins is a linear Spr28-Spr3-Cdc3-Cdc10-Cdc10-Cdc3-Spr3-Spr28 hetero-octamer. Only coexpressed Spr3 and Spr28 colocalize with Cdc3 and Cdc10 in mitotic cells, indicating that incorporation requires a Spr28-Spr3 protomer. Unlike their mitotic counterparts, Spr28-Spr3-capped rods are unable to form higher-order structures in solution but assemble to form long paired filaments on lipid monolayers containing phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate, mimicking presence of this phosphoinositide in the prospore membrane. Spr28 and Spr3 fail to rescue the lethality of a cdc11Δ cdc12Δ mutant, and Cdc11 and Cdc12 fail to restore sporulation proficiency to spr3Δ/spr3Δ spr28Δ/spr28Δ diploids. Thus, specific meiotic and mitotic subunits endow septin complexes with functionally distinct properties.
Common Functional Problems

In this chapter, we will discuss three common functional problems in the homebound elderly: falls, incontinence, and unintentional weight loss. All three are associated with increased morbidity and mortality and decreased function and independence. The risk factors and etiologies for these problems are often more diverse and complex in the homebound elderly than in younger patients, with psychiatric and socioeconomic factors playing an important part.
Protective antibody to endotoxin core: the emperor's new clothes?

Once upon a time, in one of Hans Christian Andersen's best-loved tales, there lived an emperor as gullible as he was vain. Out of fear for his reputation he engaged in temporary self-deception and dragged most of his subjects along with him. On parade one day in some new clothes, he began to shiver, and he finally was forced to accept the possibility, suggested by a child, that his much-admired costume was not real. Similar worries have plagued investigators who report that passive transfer of antisera to oligosaccharide-deficient (rough) endotoxin mutants results in protection against challenge with smooth gramnegative bacteria and their endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides [LPS]). The rationale for research on antibodies to endotoxin core is straightforward and can be summarized simply in the following set of hypotheses. Endotoxin is capable of initiating many of the biochemical abnormalities associated with death from gram-negative bacteremia. Although antibiotics are required to clear bacteremia, they do not reverse evolving shock, because endotoxin free in the bloodstream or exposed on the surface of circulating bacteria continues to activate mediators of cell damage until natural clearance and detoxification mechanisms in the host are able to handle the load. Therefore, strategies for immunologic intervention in gram-negative shock have been focused on the LPS molecule and on its core determinants in particular. Unlike the type-specific oligosaccharide side chains (O antigens), endotoxin core structures (core sugars and lipid A) seem highly conserved over the wide range of gram-negative genera pathogenic for humans. It was thought that these common determinants might stimulate widely cross-reactive antibodies to LPS that could function to augment natural host defenses and/or decrease biologically
Vietnamese-Chinese Relationships at the Borderlands: Trade, Tourism and Cultural Politics

China and Southeast Asia contain the planet's largest population center, some of the world's most dynamic economies, along with significant cultural and biophysical characteristics. Tasked with not...
Interplay of structural and compositional effects on carrier recombination in mixed-halide perovskites

In this work, we investigate the effects of grain structure and bromide content on charge transport in methylammonium lead iodide/bromide (MAPb(I1−xBrx)3) perovskites by examining the steady-state (ss-PL) and time-resolved (tr-PL) photoluminescence of planar films with varying grain size and bromide content. We controlled the perovskite grain structure via solvent engineering with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) or dimethyl sulfoxide : γ-butyrolactone (DMSO : GBL), and the resultant grain morphology was independent of Br doping between 0–33%. Carrier lifetimes ranged from 29–52 ns with increasing Br content for DMF-produced perovskite films, and from 2–9 ns for films obtained with DMSO : GBL. Analysis of XRD and photoluminescence data suggests this order-of-magnitude difference in lifetimes is attributable to the nature of iodide-rich recombination nuclei within the bulk perovskite. By modulating the precursor solvent and Br composition, the influence of low-bandgap recombination nuclei can be minimized to enhance charge transport and lengthen the carrier lifetime in mixed-halide perovskite films.
Biospark: scalable analysis of large numerical datasets from biological simulations and experiments using Hadoop and Spark.

Summary: Data-parallel programming techniques can dramatically decrease the time needed to analyze large datasets. While these methods have provided significant improvements for sequencing-based analyses, other areas of biological informatics have not yet adopted them. Here, we introduce Biospark, a new framework for performing data-parallel analysis on large numerical datasets. Biospark builds upon the open source Hadoop and Spark projects, bringing domain-specific features for biology. Availability and Implementation: Source code is licensed under the Apache 2.0 open source license and is available at the project website: https://www.assembla.com/spaces/roberts-lab-public/wiki/Biospark Contact: eroberts@jhu.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Sustainable World Expo? The Governing Function of Spectacle in Shanghai and Beyond

This paper explores the Shanghai 2010 World Expo to show how spectacle serves a governing function of the Chinese developmental state. I introduce soil exegesis as a method to excavate sedimented p...
Manuscript 101: A Data-Driven Writing Exercise For Beginning Scientists

Learning to write a scientific manuscript is one of the most important and rewarding scientific training experiences, yet most young scientists only embark on this experience relatively late in graduate school, after gathering sufficient data in the lab. Yet, familiarity with the process of writing a scientific manuscript and receiving peer reviews, often leads to a more focused and driven experimental approach. To jump-start this training, we developed a protocol for teaching manuscript writing and reviewing in the classroom, appropriate for new graduate or upper-level undergraduate students of developmental biology. First, students are provided one of four cartoon data sets, which are focused on genetic models of animal development. Students are instructed to use their creativity to convert evidence into argument, and then to integrate their interpretations into a manuscript, including an illustrated, mechanistic model figure. After student manuscripts are submitted, manuscripts are redacted and distributed to classmates for peer review. Here, we present our cartoon datasets, homework instructions, and grading rubrics as a new resource for the scientific community. We also describe methods for developing new datasets so that instructors can adapt this activity to other disciplines. Our data-driven manuscript writing exercise, as well as the formative and summative assessments resulting from the peer review, enables students to learn fundamental concepts in developmental genetics. In addition, students practice essential skills of scientific communication, including arguing from evidence, developing and testing models, the unique conventions of scientific writing, and the joys of scientific story telling.
The First Visit: Consult and Workup Before Sperm Banking

Prior to any intervention to preserve male fertility, there must first be a thorough consultation and evaluation. This evaluation starts with history taking and physical examination to evaluate for medical causes of infertility. This chapter reviews pertinent history questions and physical exam points for the infertile male. This examination can be expanded with semen analysis, evaluation for sexually transmitted infections, hormone analysis, and genetic evaluation. This chapter reviews the proper collection and interpretation of the semen analysis by WHO 2010 criteria. Finally, imaging can augment the evaluation of the potentially infertile male requiring preservation of fertility.
Prognostic Value of c-MET Expression in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer Receiving Adjuvant and Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation Therapy.

Purpose To determine the prognostic significance of c-MET expression and develop a predictor of distant failure in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer treated with chemoradiation. Methods and Materials We used a tissue microarray to study protein expression by immunohistochemistry in 102 patients treated surgically for pancreatic cancer. Two cores per patient were blindly scored from 0 (no staining) to 3 (strong staining) by a single pathologist. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine time to local and distant failure, overall survival, and progression-free survival. P values were calculated with the log–rank test. Results High tumor expression of c-MET was associated with a shorter time to distant failure in patients receiving neoadjuvant (n=23) or neoadjuvant therapy (n=73) (median 8.9 months vs 22.0 months, P=.0010). We then examined the ability of incorporating 2 known biomarkers, thymidylate synthase and DPC4 (SMAD4), with c-MET to risk-stratify patients. This multi-protein predictor divided our cohort into groups of similar numbers and was predictive of distant failure (median 13.4 months vs 24.2 months, P=.0094) but not of local control. Conclusion c-MET is potentially predictive of distant failure. Using c-MET, DPC4, and thymidylate synthase, we developed a multi-protein predictor that could be used to risk-stratify patients and guide decisions regarding the sequencing of locoregional and systemic therapies in pancreatic cancer.
Simultaneous Multimodal PC Access for People With Disabilities by Integrating Head Tracking, Speech Recognition, and Tongue Motion

Multimodal Tongue Drive System (mTDS) is a highly integrated wireless assistive technology (AT) in the form of a lightweight wearable headset that utilizes three remaining key control and communication abilities in people with severe physical disabilities, such as tetraplegia, to provide them with effective access to computers: 1) tongue motion for discrete/switch-based control (e.g., clicking), 2) head tracking for proportional control (e.g., mouse pointer movements), and 3) speech recognition for typing, all available simultaneously. The mTDS architecture is presented here with new sensor signal processing algorithm for head tracking. To evaluate the device performance, it was compared against keyboard-and-mouse (KnM) combination, the gold standard in computer input methods, by 15 able-bodied participants, who used both mTDS and KnM to generate and sent an email with randomly selected content, under a 5-minute time constraint. In four repetitions, in the last trial, it took participants only 1.8 times longer to complete the email task, on average, using the mTDS versus KnM at 82.4% typing accuracy. Mean task completion time and typing accuracy improved 24.6% and 18.8% from first to fourth trial using mTDS. Multimodal simultaneous discrete and proportional control input options of mTDS, plus rapid typing, is expected to provide more effective computer access to people with severe physical disabilities.
Life Starts at Home: Bathing, Exertion and Participation for People With Mobility Impairment.

Abstract Objective To investigate the relationship between perceived exertion while bathing/dressing/grooming and associations with social-recreational activities outside the home for individuals with mobility impairment (MI). Design A 2-study approach was used to examine data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and primary data from the Health and Home Survey (HHS). The relationship between bathing/dressing/grooming and engagement in social-recreational activities was explored, as well as the role that exertion in the bathroom may play in participation in these activities. Setting General community setting. Participants For the ATUS survey, participants (n=6002) included individuals who reported an MI. For the HHS, 2 mail-based recruitment methods were used to recruit a sample of individuals with MI (n=170) across 3 geographically diverse U.S. communities. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Participation in social and recreational activities. Results People with MI (relative to those without MI) were less likely to report spending any time bathing/dressing/grooming on a given day, but spent more time when they did. People with MI reported higher exertion while bathing/dressing/grooming than people without. People with MI were less likely to leave the house or engage in social-recreational activities on days where they did not engage in bathing activities. People who reported greater exertion in the bathroom engaged in fewer social-recreational activities. Conclusions Exertion in the bathroom may present a barrier to participation, indicating a relationship between exertion in the bathroom and social-recreational participation. Research that examines the impact of home modifications on exertion and participation is needed.
Hypoxia But Not Inflammation Augments Glucose Uptake in Human Macrophages: Implications for Imaging Atherosclerosis With 18Fluorine-Labeled 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose Positron Emission Tomography

Objectives: This study investigated the regulation of glucose uptake in cells that participate in atherogenesis by stimuli relevant to this process, to gain mechanistic insight into the origin of t...
Robot diaries: encouraging and enabling technological creativity

The ubiquity of new technologies has led many educators and researchers to wonder about the best way to prepare students for participation in a digital world. The Robot Diaries workshop provides an opportunity for adolescent girls to engage with technology in creative ways. Preliminary analysis suggests the workshop enables three patterns of creative technology engagement: technical, integrative, and expressive. These findings have implications for understanding the range of fluency pathways available in such settings.
A Study of the Effects and Policy Implications of Flat Rate Tuition

In the current era of decreasingpublic funding and increasing pressure to improve student performance, many schools are considering or have implementedflat rate tuitionplans that allow students to take a higher course load for a fixed “flat” tuition. This study investigates the effects of flat rate tuition over the past eight years on course loads attempted by students, rate of withdrawal from classes,and four-year graduation rates ata four-year public college. This study shows that students are responsive to flat rate tuition,and flat rate tuition has had an overallpositive effect on students’ academic progress.
Which Comes First: Consciousness or Aspartate Receptors?

This paper is a critique of Karl Jansen's hypothesis that near-death and ketamine experiences are caused by blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. An assumption that consciousness and its alterations are merely the product of neuronal activity is only one of many possible beliefs about reality. An alternative, which can be verified through one's own direct experience, is that consciousness is always a subject and body is only its object. The objects come and go; consciousness remains.
The Evolving U.S. Legislative Agenda in Banking and Finance

For most of the items on the 1995–1996 congressional agenda for financial modernization, legislation has stalemated. This chapter seeks to explain why. The explanation offered is that, in deciding whether to relax statutory restrictions on the services that different types of financial institutions may perform, regulatory turf and money politics are far more important than projected societal benefits. Money politics and regulatory competition make it hard to revoke any longstanding statutory prohibition until sympathetic regulatory enforcement legitimated by court-approved reinter-pretations of venerable exclusionary statutes has virtually eliminated the de facto value of the targeted provisions to their sponsoring coalition. Even then, as a bill relaxing an exclusionary restriction moves through Congress, it tends to attract riders that render it increasingly more costly to its nominal beneficiaries. Such a bill becomes loaded with side deals intended to quell opportunistic opposition from parties whose interest in the permissions at stake is relatively tangential. Typically, an overloaded bill’s adherents accept the wisdom of Ring Lardner’s view of the increasingly unsuccessful attempt to outlaw alcohol consumption in the United States: “Prohibition is better than no liquor at all.”
High-Level Models

In this chapter, some of the different high-level models of parallel computers that have been proposed will be examined. A high-level model of a computer has two main purposes. First, it should simplify programming and algorithm design by providing a set of powerful, easy-to-compose, basic operations. Second, it should aid portability, so that a program or algorithm designed for one machine may be used on other machines. However, to be useful, it should accurately reflect the costs of the basic operations. This is essential because the wrong algorithm could be chosen if the costs of different algorithms cannot be accurately judged. The subject of high-level parallel models has been examined by other authors.117, 155, 230
Comparing logging and subsistence values of plants across an indigenous peoples’ influenced landscape

Abstract The ecosystem services derived from tropical plants sustain local societies and make significant contributions to the global economy. Often many types of ecosystem services are derived from a single plant species, introducing the potential for tensions between forest users. Despite the potential for forest users having different approaches to how a plant is used, little has been done to understand how a plant species’ sustainability may be impacted by opposing views on their utility. In this paper, the inherent properties of plants were used to propose a conceptual approach for comparing the values of plant species from the perspectives of commercial loggers and indigenous peoples. Using the provisioning ecosystem services associated with a sample of plants from the Rupununi, Southern Guyana, commercial logging and subsistence use indices were developed to compare how plant species may be perceived by the two opposing views of tropical forest management. The analysis suggested that for more than 84% of plants the subsistence value indices were greater than the logging indices. This study suggested that by examining opposing approaches to forest management, and adopting indices to document how different users approach plants, forest managers can begin to answer questions on where in space, and for which species, conservation and management efforts should be pursued. The methods proposed in this paper can be used by indigenous peoples and their allies to make spatial optimization decisions on their use of forest resources for conservation and payment for ecosystem services initiatives such as REDD+.
Glycation of type I collagen selectively targets the same helical domain lysine sites as lysyl oxidase-mediated cross-linking.

Nonenzymatic glycation of collagen has long been associated with the progressive secondary complications of diabetes. How exactly such random glycations result in impaired tissues is still poorly understood. Because of the slow turnover rate of most fibrillar collagens, they are more susceptible to accumulate time-dependent glycations and subsequent advanced glycation end-products. The latter are believed to include cross-links that stiffen host tissues. However, diabetic animal models have also displayed weakened tendons with reduced stiffness. Strikingly, not a single experimentally identified specific molecular site of glycation in a collagen has been reported. Here, using targeted MS, we have identified partial fructosyl-hydroxylysine glycations at each of the helical domain cross-linking sites of type I collagen that are elevated in tissues from a diabetic mouse model. Glycation was not found at any other collagen lysine residues. Type I collagen in mouse tendons is cross-linked intermolecularly by acid-labile aldimine bonds formed by the addition of telopeptide lysine aldehydes to hydroxylysine residues at positions α1(I)Lys87, α1(I)Lys930, α2(I)Lys87, and α2(I)Lys933 of the triple helix. Our data reveal that site-specific glycations of these specific lysines may significantly impair normal lysyl oxidase–controlled cross-linking in diabetic tendons. We propose that such N-linked glycations can hinder the normal cross-linking process, thus altering the content and/or placement of mature cross-links with the potential to modify tissue material properties.