cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
International support for environmental protection

This paper uses household-level survey data from a 1989 Harris poll conducted in 12 developing and three developed countries to examine the empirical relationship between the support for paying higher taxes for environmental protection and per capita national income. Results from ordered probit estimation suggest that as per capita real gross domestic product rises, controlling for other household characteristics, the strength of the support for somewhat higher taxes for environmental protection is falling for low-income countries and rising for high-income countries. The evidence also suggests that environmental protection may be important to people in developing countries during the process of economic growth. The high level of support for environmental protection found among the lower-income African countries included in this study is one result that warrants additional research. Higher economic growth rates are also found to be associated with greater support for environmental protection.
Feedback stabilization of uniform rigid body rotation

Abstract This abstract discusses the stabilization of uniform rigid body rotation about an arbitrary axis by feedback control. The class of feedback control laws considered is linear and is shown to robustly stabilize rotation with respect to inertia uncertainty. The methodology developed in this paper is based on the energy-momentum method of stability analysis and fully exploits the underlying geometry. The methodology is illustrated with several examples.
Host Plant Effects on Resistance to Bifenthrin in Silverleaf Whitefly (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

Effects of host plants on resistance to bifenthrin in the silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring, were determined by LC50 bioassay. In addition, inheritance of resistance to bifenthrin was investigated beginning with a single source of a bifenthrin-susceptible population. Overall, the resistance ratio between the bifenthrin-susceptible population and the selected bifenthrin-resistant population from the same source population was 915-fold after 1 yr in the greenhouse. Responses to bifenthrin among the susceptible and the resistant populations were changed when whiteflies were reared on three different host plants, i.e., cotton, cabbage, and squash. In the resistant populations, the LC50 value of whitefly fed on squash was increased as much as 7.5-fold, while the LC50 value of whitefly fed on cabbage was similar to cotton that served as the control plant. The host plant on which whiteflies feed appears to be an important factor in selection for resistance to bifenthrin, but these effects are crop specific. Based on an analysis using LC50 values of the reciprocal F1 cross on cotton, resistance of whitefly from a single-source whitefly population was inherited as an incompletely dominant factor. A model used to estimate loci numbers showed that resistance of whitefly to bifenthrin is probably controlled primarily by a few or a single locus. In addition, the difference in the ratio of LC50 values between males from unmated mother and males from mated mother was approximately fivefold, suggesting that insecticide resistance in whitefly males is in some way affected by mating.
Inhibition of activity of human NK and K cells by simple sugars: discrimination between binding and postbinding events.

Abstract A variety of sugars were tested for their ability to inhibit the lytic activity of highly purified populations of human natural killer (NK) cells (large granular lymphocytes [LGL]). Studies were also performed to determine whether inhibitory sugars were active at the level of recognition and binding to target cells (as determined by conjugate formation) or at a postbinding lytic stage. Mannose-6-PO4 and galactose-6-PO4 demonstrated strong and consistent inhibition of NK cytolysis at 50mM concentrations, while nonphosphorylated analogs were at most minimally effective. The inhibitory phosphorylated sugars did not block conjugate formation, indicating that the sugars affected some postbinding event rather than recognition of target cells by NK cells. The inhibition of NK activity by some sugars was not paralleled by inhibition of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity by LGL. This suggests some divergence in the lytic mechanisms for NK and ADCC.
Acceptance diagram analysis of the performance of vertically curved neutron monochromators

Abstract Vertically curved monochromator crystals are commonly used to increase the intensity on the sample in thermal neutron scattering applications. Such devices are found on spectrometers installed both at nonreflecting beam tubes and at totally reflecting guide tubes. We present an analysis of the performance of vertically curved monochromators located at instruments of both types. The acceptance diagram approach gives considerable insight into the behaviour of vertically curved monochromators. The analysis can be extended to more complicated systems, which closely represent what is actually found at a neutron scattering installation.
Identification of Catalytic Residues in Human Mevalonate Kinase

Abstract cDNA encoding human mevalonate kinase has been overexpressed and the recombinant enzyme isolated. This stable enzyme is a dimer of 42-kDa subunits and exhibits aV m = 37 units/mg,K m (ATP) = 74 μm, andK m (DL-MVA) = 24 μm. The sensitivity of enzyme to water-soluble carbodiimide modification of carboxyl groups prompted evaluation of four invariant acidic amino acids (Glu-19, Glu-193, Asp-204, and Glu-296) by site-directed mutagenesis. Elimination of Glu-19’s carboxyl group (E19A, E19Q) destabilizes the enzyme, whereas E19D is stable but exhibits only ∼2-fold changes in V mand K m values. E296Q is a stable enzyme, which exhibits kinetic parameters comparable to those measured for wild-type enzyme. E193A is a labile protein, whereas E193Q is stable, exhibiting >50-fold diminution in V m and elevatedK m values for ATP (∼20-fold) and mevalonate (∼40-fold). Such effects would be compatible with a role for Glu-193 in interacting with the cation of the MgATP substrate. D204A and D204N are stable enzymes lacking substantial mevalonate kinase activity. The active sites of these Asp-204 mutants are intact, based on their ability to bind a spin-labeled ATP analog with stoichiometries and equilibrium binding constants that are comparable to those determined for wild-type enzyme. Competitive displacement experiments demonstrate that the Asp-204 mutants can bind ATP with K dvalues that are comparable to estimates for wild-type enzyme. The >40,000-fold diminution in k cat for the Asp-204 mutants and the demonstration that they contain an otherwise intact active site support assignment of a crucial catalytic role to Asp-204. The assignment of Asp-204 as the catalytic base that facilitates deprotonation of the C-5 hydroxyl of mevalonic acid would be compatible with the experimental observations.
Models of F1-region ion composition variations.

Rocket observations of F1-region ion composition are analyzed in terms of solar zenith angle and seasonal variations to derive a model for use in incoherent scatter radar studies and to deduce corresponding variations in the neutral atmosphere. The p = [O+][e] profile is shown to be characterized adequately by a parameter z50 defining the altitude of p=0.5 and a parameter H∞ defining the thickness of the transition from p = 0 to p=1. Solar zenith angle variations are predominantly characterized by the sunrise-sunset transition. Large annual variations are found for both z50 and H∞; these variations appear to be caused by seasonal atmospheric variations associated with global circulation. A large semiannual variation is found for z50; this variation is in phase with that deduced from satellite drag data but its amplitude is much larger than would be indicated by either the drag observations or recent theoretical estimates of atmospheric seasonal variations. No semiannual variation of H∞ is found. The data show little variation with solar activity.
STUDY OF SUPERCONDUCTORS BY ELECTRON TUNNELING

If a small potential difference is applied between two metals separated by a thin insulating film, a current will flow due to the quantum mechanical tunnel effect. For both metals in the normal state the current-voltage characteristic is linear, for one of the metals in the superconducting state the current voltage characteristic becomes nonlinear, and for both metals in the superconductive state even a negative-resistance region is obtained. From these changes in the current voltage characteristics, the change in the electron density of states when a metal goes from its normal to its superconductive state can be inferred. By using this technique we have found the energy gap in metal films 1000-3000 A thick at 1\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K to be $2{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\mathrm{Pb}}=(2.68\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ev, $2{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\mathrm{Sn}}=(1.11\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ev, $2{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\mathrm{In}}=(1.05\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ev, and $2{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\mathrm{Al}}=(0.32\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ev.The variation of the gap width with temperature is found to agree closely with the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. Furthermore, the energy gap in these films has been found to depend upon the applied magnetic field, decreasing with increasing field.
Inhibition of Intraocular Proliferations with Intravitreal Corticosteriods

Autotransplantation of one fourth million tissue cultured fibroblasts from rabbit rump skin into the vitreous cavity resulted in intravitreal strand formation and traction retinal detachment (27 of 47 eyes, 57%). A single intravitreal injection of 1 mg of dexamethasone alcohol inhibited fibroblast growth as judged by the significantly reduced number of retinal detachments (11 of 46 eyes, 24%). Retinal neovascularization that was observed when fibrous strands came into contact with vascularized retina (nine of 47 eyes, 19%) was also inhibited after corticosteroid application (two of 46 eyes, 4%).
The Restriction Point of the Cell Cycle

As formulated in 1974, the concept of the restriction point of the cell cycle was based on cell biological experiments, yet allowing accurate molecular predictions and spurring a search for the restriction factor. Although cyclin D meets the criteria of the R-factor, the picture as outlined here is more interesting and far more complex. We discuss the relationship between the restriction knot and DNA damage-checkpoints. Finally, we discuss how loss of the restriction point in cancer leads to loss of checkpoint control and to insensitivity to antimitogens including some mechanism-based anticancer therapeutics.
Physics Based Protein Structure Refinement

Accurate protein structure predictions are important for a number of purposes ranging from computational drug design, understanding experimental data and designing new experiments, to the emerging technique of de novo phasing in crystallography. The process of protein structure refinement occurs at the end of the structure prediction pipeline. The goal is to take an approximately correct starting model and further refine the details to produce a more accurate prediction. We have developed a physics-based approach to refinement that combines Hamiltonian exchange molecular dynamics with bioinformatics-derived restraints. The use of restraints dramatically reduces the volume of phase space that must be sampled and makes the procedure practical on small to medium size proteins. We combine this approach with GPU-accelerated molecular dynamics, new implicit solvent models, and recent improvements in force fields. The initial results of this protocol are encouraging and we are able to successfully refine several difficult CASP9 refinement targets.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Germination-Arrest Factor (GAF): 3. Determination that the herbicidal activity of GAF is associated with a ninhydrin-reactive compound and counteracted by selected amino acids

A novel, naturally-occurring herbicide (Germination-Arrest Factor, GAF), produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens WH6 and several related isolates of rhizosphere bacteria, irreversibly arrests germination of the seeds of a wide range of graminaceous species, including a number of important grassy weed species. GAF activity has been shown previously to be associated with a hydrophilic, low molecular weight compound that contains an acid group. In the present study, thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of extracts of WH6 culture filtrate demonstrated that GAF activity migrates on TLC plates with a particular ninhydrin-reactive compound. This compound was found to be present in GAF-producing P. fluorescens isolates and absent in P. fluorescens strains that lack the ability to produce GAF. Treatments, including mutagenesis, which resulted in the loss of GAF activity in culture filtrates from P. fluorescens WH6 were shown to result in the disappearance of this ninhydrin-reactive compound from extracts of WH6 culture filtrates or in alteration of its appearance on TLC chromatograms. The ninhydrin-reactivity of GAF indicates that it probably contains an amino group, as well as the acid group previously demonstrated, and suggests that GAF may be a small peptide or amino acid analog. Biological investigations motivated by this conclusion demonstrated that the effects of GAF in inhibiting the germination of seeds of annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) could be counteracted by treatment with alanine or glutamine and, to lesser extent, by several other amino acids, suggesting that this compound may act by interfering with some aspect of amino acid metabolism or function.
Volumetric tumor burden and its effect on brachial plexus dosimetry in head and neck intensity-modulated radiotherapy.

To determine the effect of gross tumor volume of the primary (GTV-P) and nodal (GTV-N) disease on planned radiation dose to the brachial plexus (BP) in head and neck intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Overall, 75 patients underwent definitive IMRT to a median total dose of 69.96 Gy in 33 fractions. The right BP and left BP were prospectively contoured as separate organs at risk. The GTV was related to BP dose using the unpaired t-test. Receiver operating characteristics curves were constructed to determine optimized volumetric thresholds of GTV-P and GTV-N corresponding to a maximum BP dose cutoff of > 66 Gy. Multivariate analyses were performed to account for factors associated with a higher maximal BP dose. A higher maximum BP dose (> 66 vs ≤ 66 Gy) correlated with a greater mean GTV-P (79.5 vs 30.8 cc; p = 0.001) and ipsilateral GTV-N (60.6 vs 19.8 cc; p = 0.014). When dichotomized by the optimized nodal volume, patients with an ipsilateral GTV-N ≥ 4.9 vs 66 Gy when adjusted individually for BP volume, GTV-P, the use of a low anterior neck field technique, total planned radiation dose, and tumor category. Although both the primary and the nodal tumor volumes affected the BP maximal dose, the ipsilateral nodal tumor volume (GTV-N ≥ 4.9 cc) was an independent predictor for high maximal BP dose constraints in head and neck IMRT.
Protein synthesis requirement for acute ACTH stimulation of adrenal corticosteroidogenesis.

The rapid, cAMP mediated increase produced by ACTH in adrenal corticosteroidogenesis depends also on the rapid synthesis of protein. This obligatory involvement of protein synthesis has been established in several laboratories mainly on the basis of studies demonstrating a parallelism, under a variety of experimental conditions, of the capacity of adrenal cells to synthesize protein with their ability to increase steroid production in response to ACTH or cAMP. More recent correlative studies have disclosed the existence of two proteins, denoted as p and i. Protein i appears only in ACTH or cAMP stimulated cells and with the same time course and ACTH dose response as the increase in corticosteroid synthesis. Protein p, which closely resembles i in molecular weight and primary structure but differs in pI, is synthesized only in unstimulated cells. Neither the function of these two proteins nor the exact nature of the interplay of their synthesis on regulation has been established, although it seems reasonab...
A “superfat” chaotic attractor

Abstract A 4-variable invertible map with a chaotic attractor is investigated. Henon's 2-variable map is used to force two weakly dissipative, linear variables. We determined the fractal dimension of the attractor of the 4-variable map to be larger than three, which is in accordance with the Kaplan-Yorke conjecture. The topological dimension of the attractor, however, is unity on a dense subset, and therefore, presumably on the whole attractor. The present attractor therefore appears to be an example of a “superfat” attractor, which is an attractor with a dimension gap of more than two.
Race and Gender Differences in College Major Choice

College major choice varies substantially by gender, race, and ethnicity among college graduates. This study investigates whether these differences are present at the start of the college career and whether they can be explained by variation in academic preparation. It estimates a multinomial logit to evaluate whether students of similar academic backgrounds make similar college major choices at the start of their college career. The results demonstrate that significant differences by gender, race, and ethnicity persist in initial college major choice even after controlling for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score of the student and the high school class rank of the student. Gender differences in major choice are much larger than racial and ethnic disparities. Furthermore, women are significantly more likely to switch away from an initial major in engineering than are white men.
Collaborative addiction research in the United States and Asia

Comparisons between Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and, when possible, similar populations from their ancestral land of origin may allow for unique insights into the development of substance use disorders. Drawn from research conducted within the Hmong residing in the United States and from ongoing collaborative work between the United States and Vietnam, this paper presents a few examples of the types of addiction research that may be possible in Asian populations, both in the United States and in Asia, with a focus on developing South East Asian countries and their AAPI counterparts in the United States. Approaches to research may include epidemiological surveys, evaluation of treatment need and outcome, and genetic contributors to the risk for substance use disorders (SUDs) as well as response to SUD treatment.
Applying Buddhist Principles to Mode Deactivation Theory and Practice

The use of “secular” or ‘”Westernized’” Buddhism concepts and principles is becoming increasingly prevalent in Western psychological theories and therapy approaches. Systems such as Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) incorporate mindfulness practices into the methodology to affect cognitive and emotional processes. However, there remains a need for understanding the mechanisms how emotions are dealt with in Buddhism and whether that knowledge and insight can be fruitfully applied in modern psychology. Already, beyond mindfulness, there are similarities in the Buddhist understanding of the human condition of suffering and psychological efforts to alleviate emotional distress. As such, there is a strong resemblance between the Buddhist idea of uh-attach ment and the principle of emotional and cognitive defusion in psychology. Both systems concede that unsatisfactoriness is caused by clinging to a perception of the self, others, and the world that is probably outdated and inaccurate. Often, based on uncontrolled emotions, these perceptions ultimately activate behavior that is unhelpful and inappropriate in the real situation—compared to how it is automatically perceived based on past experiences. In order to examine the compatibility of Buddhist concepts and practices with psychotherapy and specifically Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT), this article engages the literature and tests that assumption.
A positive feedback loop contributes to the deleterious effects of angiotensin

When a basic scientist looks at heart failure, he sees a disease that appears to originate from any damage that causes low cardiac output, is progressive, and elicits a variety of physiological responses that attempt to correct the depressed cardiac function. Furthermore, these reflex physiological responses to low cardiac output—increased sympatho-adrenal tone, increased activity of the renin–angiotensin system and other systems that maintain blood pressure, left ventricular remodeling, and cardiac hypertrophy—seem deleterious, because the pump is overworked and failing and cannot be expected, in the long run, to respond well to increased load or increased inotropic stimulation. The disease looks like a downward spiral, a spiral that therapy must interrupt. Models of heart failure have provided rationales for therapy and experimentation. A cardio-renal model viewed heart failure as a problem of salt and water retention originating with alterations in renal blood flow; a cardio-circulatory, or hemodynamic, model ascribed heart failure to vasoconstriction and reduced pumping capacity of the heart. These models provided rationales for the use of diuretics, vasodilators, and inotropic agents as therapies but mechanistically did not account for the progressive worsening of the disease or the fact that inotropic interventions produce improvements in cardiac contractility but do not slow the progression of the disease or reduce mortality. More recently, attention has focused on some of the neural/paracrine/autocrine mechanisms that constitute the reflex responses to low output and on the importance of signaling pathways regulating cell growth, apoptosis, and cell survival (1–3). Mann and Bristow (4) have suggested a synthesis, the biomechanical model, that emphasizes that the components of altered cardiac function and cardiac remodeling interact, such that one will invariably cause the other, and both will be sustained by neurohumoral responses. Among the humoral factors involved, much attention has been focused on the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone axis and …
The Catholicisms of Coutances: Varieties of Religion in Early Modern France, 1350–1789. By J. Michael Hayden. Ithaca, N.Y.: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2013. xvi + 368 pp. $100.00 cloth.

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)The Catholicisms of Coutances: Varieties of Religion in Early Modern France, 1350-1789 . By J. Michael Hayden . Ithaca, N.Y. : McGill-Queen's University Press , 2013. xvi + 368 pp. $100.00 cloth.Book Reviews and NotesIn 2005 J. Michael Hayden and Malcolm Greenshields published 600 Years of Reform: Bishops and the French Church, 1190-1789 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005), and as Hayden points out, his book is a companion to the more broadly conceived co-authored volume. In Catholicisms of Coutances , Hayden examines in great depth the Norman Diocese of Coutances and the way religion was expressed within it during the early modern period.In May 1987 Hayden and Greenshelds were on a research trip to Normandy. On Ascension Thursday the archives were closed, and they drove to see the towns whose records they were analyzing. They noticed that in some villages many people attended Mass, and in others few did. Hayden was interested in the patterns of religious practice over time. He found it interesting that research shows that current practice reflects that of 1791, as noted by Timothy Tackett, and Hayden believes the patterns probably go back to seventeenth century (16). He is interested to know when the variations in practice first expressed themselves, and determining this is one of the goals of his book.Hayden begins his book by asserting that he is not writing a history of the diocese, but rather "a history of the changes in religious beliefs and practices of the people living in that diocese," and he uses the term catholicisms to encompass the array of religious beliefs expressed by elites and commoners (3). He is interested in religious belief as it was practiced, not prescribed, and he relies upon a number of different primary sources to illuminate religious behavior including records of pastoral visits, ordination lists, diocesan documents, and the cahiers drafted for the 1788 Estates General.The book is profound in its depth of research and rich quantitative analysis, and is a very impressive scholarly work. Hayden and Greenshields's earlier book relied on pastoral visits and synodal records that were quantified and analyzed. This book has broader array of documentation. In both books Hayden used the sources to produce "an in-depth and thick description of varieties of religious belief in an early modern French diocese" (8). The book is thick in its descriptions of different groups within the community. There are chapters on bishops, clerical elites, members of religious orders, parish clergy, and the Catholic laity. There are more extant materials about elites so they are covered in much more depth, and Hayden discusses the laity from elite to peasant as if they share one religious outlook. Other historians of early modern religious practice and belief have teased out different strands of elite and popular religion, and Hayden's book is limited in this regard. …
Measuring complexity by measuring structure and organization

Necessary for furthering the development of more powerful evolutionary design systems, capable of scaling to evolving more sophisticated and complex artifacts, is the ability to meaningfully and objectively compare these systems by applying complexity measures to the artifacts they evolve. Previously we have proposed measures of modularity, reuse and hierarchy (MR&H), here we compare these measures to ones from the fields of complexity, systems engineering and computer programming. In addition, we propose several ways of combining the MR&H measures into a single measure of structure and organization. We compare all of these measures empirically as well as on three sample objects and find that the best measures of complexity are two of the proposed measures of structure and organization.
Effective exercises for targeting the gluteus medius.

The gluteus medius (GM) is thought to play an important role in stabilizing the pelvis and controlling femoral adduction and internal rotation during functional activity. GM weakness, resulting in decreased stabilization and control, has been suggested to be related to lower extremity dysfunction and injury. Many clinicians focus on strengthening the GM to improve lower extremity kinematics for the prevention and rehabilitation of injury. An indirect way to measure GM strength is through electromyography. It is generally assumed that exercises producing higher levels of activation will result in greater strengthening effects.3 Understanding what exercises result in the greatest level of GM activation will assist clinicians in their injury prevention and rehabilitation efforts. Focused Clinical Question: In a healthy adult population, what lower extremity exercises produce the greatest mean GM activation, expressed as a percentage of maximum voluntary isometric contraction?
Premature Induction of an Immunosuppressive Regulatory T Cell Response during Acute Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Here we report the results of an investigation into the possibility that one mechanism responsible for the establishment of persistent human immunodeficiency virus infection is an early regulatory T (Treg) cell response that blunts virus-specific responses. Using the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaque model, we show that, indeed, viral replication and immune activation in lymphatic tissue drive a premature immunosuppressive response, with dramatic increases in the frequencies of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Treg cells, transforming growth factor- beta 1+ cells, interleukin-10+ cells, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase+CD3+ cells. When we compared SIV infection with rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) infection, we found that the frequency of Treg cells paralleled the magnitude of immune activation during both infections but that the magnitude of immune activation and of the Treg cell response were lower and peaked much later during RhCMV infection. Importantly, the frequency of Treg cells inversely correlated with the magnitude of the SIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response. We conclude that an early Treg cell response during acute SIV infection may contribute to viral persistence by prematurely limiting the antiviral immune response before infection is cleared.
Multiple sources of isotopic variation in a terrestrial arthropod community : Challenges for disentangling food webs

Documenting trophic links in a food web has traditionally required complex exclusion experiments coupled with extraordinarily labor-intensive direct observations of predator foraging. Newer techniques such as stable isotope analysis (SIA) may facilitate relatively quick and accurate assessments of consumer feeding behavior. Ratios of N and C isotopes are thought to be useful for determining species' trophic position (e.g., 1 degrees consumer, 2 degrees consumer, or omnivore) and their original carbon source (e.g., C3 or C4 plants; terrestrial or marine nutrients). Thus far, however, applications of stable isotopes to terrestrial arthropod food webs have suggested that high taxon-specific variation may undermine the effectiveness of this method. We applied stable isotope analysis to a pear orchard food web, in which biological control of a dominant pest, pear psylla (Cacopsylla pyricola), involves primarily generalist arthropod predators with a high frequency of omnivory. We found multiple sources of isotopic variation in this food web, including differences among plant tissues; time, stage, and taxon-specific differences among herbivores (despite similar feeding modes); and high taxon-specific variation among predators (with no clear evidence of omnivory). Collectively, these multiple sources of isotopic variation blur our view of the structure of this food web. Idiosyncrasies in consumer trophic shifts make ad hoc application of SIA to even moderately complex food webs intractable. SIA may not be a generally applicable "quick and dirty" method for delineating terrestrial food web structure-not without calibration of specific consumer food trophic shifts.
Time to End the Mixed—and Often Incorrect—Messages About Prevention and Treatment of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease⁎

Medical research has revealed enough about the causes and prevention of heart attacks that they could be nearly eliminated. Yet nearly 16 million Americans are living with coronary heart disease, and nearly half a million die from it each year. It’s not that prevention doesn’t work, and it’s
Extracting Resource Terms for Sentiment Analysis

Existing research on sentiment analysis mainly uses sentiment words and phrases to determine sentiments expressed in documents and sentences. Techniques have also been developed to find such words and phrases using dictionaries and domain corpora. However, there are still other types of words and phrases that do not bear sentiments on their own, but when they appear in some particular contexts, they imply positive or negative opinions. One class of such words or phrases is those that express resources such as water, electricity, gas, etc. For example, “this washer uses a lot of electricity” is negative but “this washer uses little water” is positive. Extracting such resource words and phrases are important for sentiment analysis. This paper formulates the problem based on a bipartite graph and proposes a novel iterative algorithm to solve the problem. Experimental results using diverse real-life sentiment corpora show good results.
Economic Substance, Corporate Tax Shelters, and the Compaq Case

This paper analyzes the broad tax policy issues raised by the use of an economic substance approach (whether through rules or standards) to deter corporate tax shelters, with particular reference to the recent Tax Court decision in Compaq Computer Corp. v. Commissioner. It argues that the basic rationale for an economic substance requirement is that it may reduce the social harm caused by taxpayer responses to undesirable incentives created by our tax rules, whether these incentives reflect deliberate enactments such as accelerated depreciation, or the unanticipated exploitation of tax arbitrage opportunities. The approach operates by burdening optimal tax planning through the creation of business frictions would otherwise be as senseless as, say, requiring taxpayers' CFOs to execute back-somersaults in the IRS National Office as a precondition of tax benefit. With respect to corporate tax shelters generally, it argues that at least some use of an economic substance approach is likely to be desirable in many cases, given (1) taxpayers' apparently high aversion to initial increments of economic risk in tax deals, and (2) the fact that corporate tax sheltering may tend to create preferential tax rates for whatever economic activities can be stuffed into C corporations (rather than, say, accomplishing homemade corporate integration). With respect to Compaq, the report argues that the Tax Court's decision both was legally sound and is likely to have good policy effects, since (along with section 901(k) and IRS Notice 98-5) it deters the creation of what would effectively be an exemption system for the foreign passive income of American multinationals with sufficient capital gains.
Inconvenient Truth: Originalism, Democratic Theory and the Reapportionment Cases

Critics of originalist theory often argue that in practice, a constitutional jurisprudence based on original meaning would generate unacceptable results. Most often, those who make such claims focus on the decision in Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Court held that state governments could not constitutionally maintain public schools that were segregated by race. In addition, nonoriginalists often cite cases dealing with issues such as gay rights and sex discrimination as examples of socially desirable decisions that could not be justified in originalist terms.By contrast, Reynolds v. Sims -- the case in which the Court held that representation in state legislatures must be apportioned according to the principle of one person, one vote -- is rarely even mentioned in the debate over the viability of originalism. The idea that representation should be based on population is fundamental to any plausible conception of democratic government. However, although originalists often characterize themselves as champions of democracy, the decision in Reynolds cannot be squared with originalist theory. This article will demonstrate that the reapportionment decisions are inconsistent with the original meaning of the Constitution and discuss the significance of this conclusion for the ongoing debate over constitutional theory more generally.
Educational Perspectives: Mentors, Protégés, and the Mentoring Relationship

Engaging in an effective mentoring relationship increases self-confidence, self-efficacy, productivity, and overall career satisfaction for both the mentor and protege. As a result, mentorship can better prepare proteges and improve their resilience to navigate through ongoing changes in the health care environment. In this article, considerations for both the protege and mentor are discussed as a continuum, beginning with the medical or nursing professional who seeks mentorship early in professional training to an individual who transitions into a more established career and becomes a mentor to others. In addition, special considerations for mentoring women, minorities, and people of other generations are discussed.
Perception of Prototypical Environments in Model-Mediated Teleoperation

In teleoperation, master and slave robots directly exchange position and force data to establish a connection between local and remote sites. Model-mediation interjects an environment model rendered to the user to create a sense of remote presence. The slave continually updates this model from actual interactions. Here we evaluate a dual-mode implementation, which classifies the environment into one of two models describing rigid contact or free motion. Performance is measured against various prototypical environments, observing master force outputs to motion inputs to evaluate user’s perception of the environment. We find performance to depend on system lag as well as model error, such that multiple-model systems fundamentally outperform traditional architectures.© 2008 ASME
Optimization of the seismic modeling with the time-domain finite-difference method

We present several strategies to optimize the modeling of the acoustic wavefield with the time-domain finite-difference method. An efficient vectorization of the computations is achieved on the Intel xeon computing core via the modification of the implementation concerning the absorbing layers. We propose also to increase the computational speed by using high orders in space and by solving the second-order wave equation instead of the first-order formulation. These strategies combined together allow for a reduction of the computation time by a factor of 27 for the modeling in the SEG SEAM II model. We show that the optimized algorithm has a quasi-perfect scalability on one dual-socket node.
Schoolmen and Humanists

ABSTRACT This article, the first of two on electronic text and electronic text centers, looks at the period from the end of World War II to the late Eighties. It is a survey of the early history of working with electronic texts and a number of major initiatives, projects and standards are discussed. The author argues that electronic texts can only be understood in the wider context of humanities computing which during this period mistakenly modeled itself after work done in the pure and social sciences. Such an emphasis was based on a limited view of the computer and has now been largely superseded by developments in technology more propitious to humanistic endeavor.
Type and screen. Use and effectiveness in elective surgery.

During a 20- month evaluation period from July 1977 through February 1979, blood specimens from 6,656 patients were given a type and screen. One hundred and fifty-four (2.3%) of these patients required blood transfusions, and so type and screen requests were converted to crossmatch. Although irregular antibodies were detected on type and screen for five of the 154 patients, all blood transfusion outcomes were uneventful. In previous reports, a procedure to develop guidelines for ordering blood,and the efficacy and safety of the type and screen were described. For five years at the State University of New York, the type and screen has been successfully and safely used for elective-surgery patients who are unlikely to require transfusions, but for whom blood should be available on demand if needed for an unexpected hemorrhage. The type and screen is a safe, resource-conserving, practical alternative to the more expensive traditional two-unit crossmatch for surgical procedures usually not requiring a blood transfusion.
Myosin Vc Is Specialized for Transport on a Secretory Superhighway

A hallmark of the well-studied vertebrate class Va myosin is its ability to take multiple steps on actin as a single molecule without dissociating, a feature called "processivity." Therefore, it was surprising when kinetic and single-molecule assays showed that human myosin Vc (MyoVc) was not processive on single-actin filaments [1-3]. We explored the possibility that MyoVc is processive only under conditions that resemble its biological context. Recently, it was shown that zymogen vesicles are transported on actin "superhighways" composed of parallel actin cables nucleated by formins from the plasma membrane [4]. Loss of these cables compromises orderly apical targeting of vesicles. MyoVc has been implicated in transporting secretory vesicles to the apical membrane [5]. We hypothesized that actin cables regulate the processive properties of MyoVc. We show that MyoVc is unique in taking variable size steps, which are frequently in the backward direction. Results obtained with chimeric constructs implicate the lever arm/rod of MyoVc as being responsible for these properties. Actin bundles allow single MyoVc motors to move processively. Remarkably, even teams of MyoVc motors require actin bundles to move continuously at physiological ionic strength. The irregular stepping pattern of MyoVc, which may result from flexibility in the lever arm/rod of MyoVc, appears to be a unique structural adaptation that allows the actin track to spatially restrict the activity of MyoVc to specialized actin cables in order to co-ordinate and target the final stages of vesicle secretion.
Useless and Disinterested: How Literature Makes Us Better

Can reading literary fiction render you a more emotionally intelligent neuroscientist? Will assigning good stories in medical and bioethics classrooms cultivate a generation of more empathetic clin...
Place-based correlates of Motor Vehicle Theft and Recovery: Measuring spatial influence across neighbourhood context

Social scientists have long shown great interest in the spatial correlates of crime patterns. A subset of the literature has focused on how micro-level spatial factors influence the formation of crime hot spots. At the same time, tangential research has highlighted how neighbourhood disadvantage influences crime occurrence. The current study focuses on the intersection of these perspectives through a spatial analysis of Motor Vehicle Theft (MVT) and Motor Vehicle Recovery (MVR) in Colorado Springs, CO. We begin by conducting a Risk Terrain Modelling analysis to identify spatial risk factors significantly related to MVT and MVR occurrence. We then test whether the spatial influences of the criminogenic risk factors differ across traditional measures of neighbourhood disadvantage. Findings suggest that while a citywide effect is evident for multiple risk factors, their spatial influence on crime significantly varies across neighbourhood contexts.
Relationships with parents and adult children's substance use

Previous research has indicated that parents impact minor children's health behaviors and adult children's self-rated health and psychological well-being. However, little is known about the long-term consequences of the parent-child relationship for adult children's substance (i.e., smoking levels, low to moderate alcohol use) as adult children age. The present study uses growth curve analysis on longitudinal survey data (Americans' Changing Lives, N=907) to examine how multiple dimensions of the parent-child tie influence adult children's substance use. Findings show that contact with mothers in adulthood has a health-enhancing effect on sons' smoking. Fathers' support is related to a decline in alcohol use for sons and daughters, but also an increase in smoking for sons only. Our findings for strain from parents are complex, suggesting that the ways in which adult children cope and manage strain with parents may result in multiple pathways of substance use. Our study raises new questions about whether and when family ties are "good" or "bad" for health and calls for a more multifaceted view of the long-lasting parent-child tie. We spotlight the need to look at the parent-child relationship as a dynamic social tie that changes over the life course and has consequences for health in adulthood.
High-resolution photoacoustic tomography

Photoacoustic tomography combines the contrast advantage inherent in optical properties and the resolution advantage of ultrasound. Consequently, it overcomes both the resolution disadvantage of diffuse optical tomography and the contrast and speckle disadvantages of ultrasonography.
Quantifying Fish Habitat Associated with Stream Simulation Design Culverts in Northern Wisconsin

This study investigated the effects of culvert replacement design on fish habitat and fish weight by comparing substrate diversity and weight at three stream simulation (SS)-design and three bankfull and backwater (BB)-design sites on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin. Stream channel cross-sections, Wolman substrate particle counts, and single-pass backpack electro-fishing survey data were used to quantify fish habitat and fish weight in 50-m upstream and downstream sample reaches at each site. We applied generalized linear mixed models to test the hypothesis that substrate size and fish weight did not differ according to stream-crossing design type (SS or BB) and location (upstream or downstream). Substrate particle sizes were significantly greater upstream of the stream crossing when compared to downstream of the stream crossing at both SS and BB sites for riffles and pools. Substrate particle sizes were also significantly greater upstream of BB sites when compared to upstream of SS sites. Results of this study indicated statistically greater individual fish weights upstream of SS-design sites in comparison to upstream of BB-design sites in first- to third-order low gradient streams. These results suggested that the SS-design approach appears to be more effective at transporting sediment downstream, and illustrated the value of using fish weight as an indicator of biological success for stream-crossing designs. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Cefazolin as a cause of leukocytoclastic vasculitis

Key Clinical Message Leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LCV) is a cutaneous small vessel vasculitis characterized by cutaneous manifestations in the form of palpable purpura, and rarely bullae, vesicles, and ulcerations. Although rare, cephalosporins such as cefazolin, should be recognized to have a potential to trigger LCV.
Protective infrared transparent coatings

The development of novel, highly durable coatings useful in protecting infrared materials against abrasion and high speed raindrop impact damage is reviewed. Key materials properties including fracture toughness, elastic modulus, hardness as well as internal stress in the film and substrate are discussed. Significant levels of protection have been demonstrated by several investigators.
FEKO™ modeling study of passive UHF RFID tags embedded in pavement

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is investigated as a technology that may be useful for smart cars and autonomous vehicles to read information about local road conditions and geographic location. Passive UHF RFID tags can transmit this data wirelessly to an RFID reader mounted on the vehicle. Coupling between a tag that is on or embedded in pavement, and the reader antenna mounted on the vehicles, is investigated by simulating the tag antenna, reader antenna and local environment in FEKO™. Preliminary simulation results show that it is feasible to implement such a system such that a vehicle traveling up to 200 km/hr. can read the tags as it passes over them.
Art and the Reenchantment of Sensuous Human Activity

Contemporary aestheticians face a question that has troubled writers since the Enlightenment: What is the role of the arts, when scientific rationalism and empirical understanding undermine our belief in the autonomy of each person? One reply consists of two familiar moves: the reiteration of dangerous effects caused by the hegemony of empirical thinking, and the affirmation that artworks serve as instruments for an emancipatory contact with some pre-objective domain. It is our challenging task to find an interpretation that upholds both of these moves, without linking aesthetic practices to the outmoded notion of a human subjectivity that is wholly disembodied, abstract and detached from actual life.