cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Social disparities in children's respiratory health in El Paso, Texas.

The objectives of this study were to assess prevalence of children’s respiratory health conditions and to measure and describe social disparities in children’s respiratory problems and access to health resources for asthma/wheezing management. Data were collected through a cross-sectional, observational mail survey of all primary caretakers of 4th and 5th grade children in El Paso Independent School District (El Paso, TX, USA). 6295 primary caretakers received surveys at their home address and 1904 surveys were completed and returned for a 30% response rate. El Paso children have high rates of asthma (17%) and allergies (51%). In terms of social disparities, children that are male, not poor, obese, Hispanic, born in El Paso, have a US-born caretaker, and have a caretaker who has lower levels Spanish proficiency have increased odds of respiratory problems. Among children with asthma and wheezing, disparities exist in access to care; those that are poor, with a Spanish-speaking caretaker, or with a foreign-born caretaker had increased odds of seeking care in urgent care center, emergency rooms and hospitals. Results have scholarly and practical implications for broader trends in terms of increasing prevalence of respiratory health problems across multiple scales (from El Paso to the US context to worldwide) and health disparities experienced within the rapidly growing US Hispanic population.
A Web-Based Teaching Program for Laboratory Diagnosis of Coagulation Disorders

Abstract Objective.—To implement an interactive program for teaching coagulation disorders on the World Wide Web. Design and Results.—The core materials in this program were derived from a personal computer software program previously designed by the authors. Three modules were developed in this program: (1) a coagulation profile to display typical results of coagulation screening tests for each disorder; (2) a differential diagnosis module to generate a list of diagnoses that fit the test results in a given case; and (3) a synopsis of coagulopathy and therapy to provide essential information on disorders and therapeutic options. A total of 41 coagulation disorders were included in the knowledge base. Conclusions.—Since the World Wide Web is increasingly more accessible to computer users, it has become an ideal medium for teaching purposes. Our experience with this program in teaching medical students and pathology residents at our institution has been very encouraging.
Configurational forces as dissipative mechanisms: a revisit

Abstract A variational argument is used to obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for interpreting the work done by configurational forces as the net dissipation. This condition is the Euler–Lagrange equation associated with the variational integral. We use this simple proposition to re-interpret classical results and also gain insight into recently obtained configurational forces in the stress space. To cite this article: A. Gupta, X. Markenscoff, C. R. Mecanique 336 (2008).
Deposition of Dielectric Optical Coatings: A Microstructural Study of the Deposited Layers and Interfaces

Thin dielectric films are deposited on substrates for optical applications using a variety of techniques including reactive sputtering, sol-gel reaction, and ion assisted plasma deposition. This transmission electron microscopy study characterizes the microstructures of optical coatings produced by the above deposition techniques and shows how changing deposition conditions changes microstructure and subsequently the optical properties. 5 refs., 7 figs.
Proliferation of human malignant hematopoietic cells in immunodeficient mice: suppression by antibody to pluripotent K-562 leukemia cells involves direct cytolysis and effector cells

Six human hematopoetic cell lines were successfully heterotransplanted into athymic (nude) and asplenic-athymic (lasat) neonatal mice. The tumors arising from leukemia and lymphoma cells could then be serially transplanted into adult nude mice. Seven days after the fourth serial mouse passage, each mouse was treated with goat immune gamma globulin against K-562 cells. One control group was treated similarly, but with nonimmune (normal) gamma globulin, while another control group was not treated. The goat gamma globulin was not toxic for nude and lasat mice, and the immune, but not the normal, gamma globulin suppressed local subcutaneous growth of myelosarcomas, lymphosarcomas, and Burkitt lymphoma cells. On the other hand, the growth of lung, breast, and prostatic carcinomas and a melanoma of human origin were not altered by the immune gamma globulin. Since suppression of cell growth occurred equally well in decomplemented mice, a complement-mediated cytotoxicity apparently cannot be considered as responsible for the abrogation. The Fab fragment of the immunoglobulin did not suppress the growth of the myelosarcomas. We conclude that antibody suppression of the in vivo proliferation was specific for malignant hematopoietic cells and that the Fc portion of IgG is necessary for in vivo cytolysis of leukemia cells. The most probable mechanisms are direct antibody cytolysis and antibody-dependent macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity.
A Comparative Study of Growth and Development in Florida Mosquitoes: Part 4. Effects of temporary crowding during larval stages on female flight activity patterns

Newly emerged females of 11 species of Florida mosquitoes were flown in sound-recording boxes at 27°C under LD 12:12 to investigate the effects of temporary crowding during larval stages on the spontaneous flight activity patterns. None of the species investigated exhibited the migratory type flight activity pattern which could be attributable to temporary crowding rearing conditions. Only 4 species, Psorophora confinnis, Culex nigripalpus, Culex Pipiens quinquifasciatus, and Anopheles quadrimaculatus distinctly showed increased flight activity during the first 3 days after emergence when reared under temporary crowding rearing conditions. Seven other species showed at most a very slight increase in flight activity which could be attributed to temporary crowding rearing conditions. The duration of teneral period appears to be species specific and affected by the larval rearing conditions. Most of the species investigated did not show entrainment to light and dark cycles before 48 hr after emergence.
The Progress of Research on 2-Cys Peroxiredoxins

Peroxiredoxins is a new peroxidase family discovered recently,and the sub-class 2-Cys Peroxi-redoxins has the typical characteristics of peroxiredoxins.2-Cys Prxs are widely distributed and they hold 1% of the soluble protein in mammalian cells.They have a unique catalytical mechanism,and play a vital role in the normal life with the function of anti-oxidation,signal propagation and molecular chaperone.
The 1559 Books of Common Prayer and the Elizabethan Reformation

The 1559 Book of Common Prayer printed by Richard Grafton has been dismissed by bibliographers, who have suggested that Grafton printed it as ‘agent for Jugge and Cawood’ (the Queen’s Printers) and ‘improperly put his name in the imprint’. Relying on evidence from a 1559 Grafton prayer book in the collection of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which contains the signatures of members of Elizabeth i’s Privy Council that can be dated prior to the opening of Elizabeth’s Reformation Parliament, this article argues not only that Grafton’s Book of Common Prayer was legitimate (indeed ‘authorised’), but also that it may have been printed in a limited edition, perhaps to be circulated in association with the Bill for Uniformity.
Perinatal outcome in women with inflammatory bowel disease.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a lifelong, chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. IBD morbidity rate in Europe has been steadily growing for the last six decades. Women with IBD are often diagnosed during the childbearing years, which makes the influence of the disease on pregnancy and birth outcomes an important clinical issue. Objectives: The aim of the study was to estimate the influence of the IBD process among pregnant women on maternal, fetal and neonatal parameters. Material and methods: A retrospective analysis of data on patients suffering from IBD, diagnosed before pregnancy, who were admitted to the Department of Perinatology and Gynecology, Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital Research Institute for delivery between 2009-2013, was conducted. IBD was diagnosed in 10 cases. The control group consisted of 10 healthy, pregnant women near delivery. Results: IBD activity status at conception in women receiving continuous mesalazine treatment does not correlate with gestational age, birth weight, Apgar score or maternal platelet count at delivery in comparison to controls. IBD patients under mesalazine management had lower: i) maternal body mass index and platelet count, ii) neonatal birth weight and Apgar score as compared to controls. However, no impact of IBD on the frequency of congenital anomalies was noted. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this has been the first study conducted among pregnant women with IBD in Poland. The analysis demonstrates that pharmacological treatment has a deteriorating influence on maternal weight gain in pregnancy, as well as production and activity of platelets. Moreover, it diminishes fetal growth and worsens short-term neonatal condition. Further studies with larger sample size are necessary but the rarity of this complication limits the possibility of research.erapeutic perspectives.
Trends in der Entwicklung interaktiver LP-Systeme

Schon in den sechziger Jahren wurde die Lineare Programmierung (LP) auf fur heutige Begriffe wenig leistungsfahigen Rechnern betrieben. Mit der steigenden Leistungsfahigkeit der Rechner, ihrer Entwicklung zu Datenverarbeitungs-Systemen hat die Software-Entwicklung auf dem Gebiet LP nicht standgehalten.
Resource management in single-chip multiprocessors

Technology advances will soon enable billion transistor chips, permitting large quantities of both logic and memory to be placed on a single die. Increasing on-chip wire delays, however, are shrinking the chip area reachable in a single clock cycle. In response, computer architects are redesigning on-chip structures to reduce the distance signals must travel in one clock period. Single-chip multiprocessors are one proposed architecture for dealing with the multi-cycle communication latencies affecting future chips. These chips are organized into a grid of nodes, where each node contains a processor and a portion of the total on-chip memory. Although these nodes function independently, they interact via shared memory through a network with the property that latency increases linearly based on Manhattan distance. This dissertation examines how to efficiently map applications onto single-chip multiprocessors given these chips' constraints and opportunities. The small amount of per-node storage limits how much data can be placed on any given node, while the ample processing resources and high bandwidth, low-latency on-chip communication create a large number of quickly accessible locations where data and threads can reside. In order to achieve high performance on these chips, applications must balance the competing goals of improving locality and of distributing resource demands across the chips' many nodes. I present two symbiotic approaches for managing these chips' resources. The first technique, migration of data and threads, reacts to dynamic resource demands and communication patterns to avoid resource hot-spotting and improve locality. The second approach proactively eliminates communication by executing computation at the location of its most frequently accessed data, its anchor. Finally, I show how these techniques can be used in conjunction with well-established techniques, like caching, to further improve application performance.
Unicorn: A Mutant Flesh Fly That Fails to Retract Its Ptilinum

Description d'un mutant spontane de la morphologie de la tete chez la mouche Sarcophaga crassipalpis dans une population de laboratoire et determinisme genetique de ce caractere
Concluding Remarks and Looking Ahead

African women have become active participants in the new global and transnational migration to the major economic and cultural centers of the world. Explaining their own unique creations and recreations of their migratory experiences via their own lenses and prisms is significant in migration studies. Sometimes overlooked in migration studies due to their powerlessness and economic vulnerabilities, African women are blazing the trail in cross-border population mobility. In the African context, the sea of change that this migratory behavior has unraveled is not only sociologically poignant and interesting but also transformative.
Transgender Students: Are They a Protected Class?

The plaintiff brought action against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and its employees for unlawful discrimination based on his sex and transgender status after being prohibited from using sex-segregated restrooms and locker rooms on the university campus.
Closed-loop tracking using multimodal RF/EO sensors

This paper addresses the problem of using multiple, spatially distributed RF/EO sensors for target tracking. Data from the multi-modal sensors is collected at a fusion center, and used to track multiple objects in the sensors' field of view. Continuous approximations are made of the sensors' resolution in range, range rate and azimuth in terms of system parameters such as bandwidth, PRF, EO zoom and pointing angle. These approximations are used to create a continuous objective function in terms of the tracking filter's information matrix, and a search is undertaken to find the system parameters that optimize tracking performance based on the current target environment. Simulations demonstrate the benefit of this technique compared with open-loop tracking methods.
Interference and Standing Waves

This chapter introduces a feature that is exclusively displayed by waves, called superposition. The ability to go through one another enables waves to create phenomena such as interference, that helps explain many properties of nature.
A Pyrrhic Victory: Why California's Grand Jury Law (Still) Won't Hold Officers Liable for Murder

Following a string of controversial police killings, California's S.B. 227 sought to remove what many perceived was a ploy for prosecutors to deflect public scrutiny while deciding not to charge officers with the deaths: the grand jury. The new law forbids prosecutor offices from investigating these crimes before a grand jury, and, instead, requires putting these cases to a preliminary hearing if they are filed. While S.B. 227 eliminates one of several avenues a prosecutor may use to establish probable cause in a criminal case (the grand jury’s screening process), it cannot and will not force prosecutors to charge officers with murder. By pursuing a procedural remedy to the problems presented in Ferguson, lawmakers may have “[thrown] the baby out with the bathwater,” to quote an elected district attorney in California, by removing an important investigatory tool from the prosecutor’s arsenal and eliminating the only a meaningful check on prosecutorial discretion. Furthermore, the legislation fails to reach the goals of accountability and transparency heralded by the author and proponents, but may serve to restore trust between officers and the communities they serve. This Article explains the role of the grand jury in general, and specifically its use in highly-politicized cases. Next, the Article evaluates S.B. 227, discussing the background of its passage, the policy goals of its author, and detailing how the legislation works in practice. The Article concludes that by taking a procedural approach to the issues presented in Ferguson and Staten Island, the legislation hampers some of the key goals of the law's underlying purpose and perhaps causes lawmakers to ignore alternative approaches that might produce a better outcome.
Abstract 17626: Sildenafil Prevents Progressive Hypertrophy and Normalizes the Enhanced Slow Force Response in Dystrophic Myocardium

Background Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a frequent and devastating disease that affects both skeletal muscle and the heart, resulting in cardiomyopathy in virtually all patients. Key features include nNOS-dysregulation and excessive Ca2+ entry upon mechanical stress. A possible source of increased Ca2+ entry are mechano-sensitive TRPC channels. As TRPC3/6 channels can be suppressed by PKG phosphorylation, we hypothesized that augmentation of PKG stimulation ameliorates invivo function coupled to blunting of stretch-activated Ca2+ entry and the slow force response (SFR). Methods Mdx, utrophin+/- mice were treated with sildenafil 200mg/kg/d for 2 months and followed-up by echocardiography; gene expression was assessed by qRT-PCR and PDE5 activity by fluorescence polarization. The SFR and Ca2+ transients were assessed in single cardiomyocytes attached to carbon fibers and papillary muscle preparations when exposed to stretch. Results Mdx, utrophin+/- mice demonstrated marked hypertrophy when compared to WT or mdx-only mice, with up-regulation of fetal gene expression markers (ANP 4.5±0.8-fold, BNP 2.5±0.4-fold, bMHC 2.8±0.4-fold, p Conclusion PDE5 inhibition is effective in preventing progressive hypertrophy and normalizing molecular markers of heart failure in dystrophic hearts. The SFR is enhanced in dystrophic cardiomyocytes and can be normalized by PDE5 inhibition or acute TRPC antagonism. These data support the involvement of TRPC channels in excessive Ca2+ entry and the enhanced SFR, offering a rationale for modifying TRPC Ca2+ entry, either by direct antagonism or by PKG phosphorylation of TRPC channels.
CHAPTER 11 – Genetic Influences on Blood Lipids and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

The major public health concerns in the developed world (cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes) have both genetic and environmental causes. The interface between public health and genetics consists of working toward an understanding of how genes and the environment act together to cause these diseases and how the environment, rather than genes, might be manipulated to help prevent or delay the onset of disease. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of mortality in most industrialized countries, is a multifactorial disease that is associated with non modifiable risk factors, such as age, gender, and genetic background, and with modifiable risk factors, including elevated total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, as well as reduced high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. Furthermore, several types of drug therapies are developed and shown to be highly effective in lowering serum LDL cholesterol values and CVD, the NCEP has emphasized that lifestyle modification should be the primary treatment for lowering cholesterol values, with drug therapies reserved for cases in which lifestyle modiﬁcation is ineffective. The modifications advocated include dietary changes, regular aerobic exercise, and normalization of body weight
Towards Personalized Visualization: Information Granularity, Situation, and Personality

Technology users are collecting data about themselves at an astounding rate. This explosion of data collection has not been matched by users' abilities to assimilate and apply this information. Visualization is a key means of bridging this gap, however, most approaches to visualization neglect individual differences, and focus instead on one-size-fits-all approaches. One proposed solution to this problem is adaptive visualization. To produce appropriate adaptive visualization tools, however, we must understand the relationship between a user's context and the visualization they require. In this paper, we present a study designed to understand the effects of visualizations that are mismatched, in terms of granularity, to user contexts. We show that users are able to interpret data visualizations most accurately and quickly when the information granularity of the visualization they are shown matches their need for detail and we discuss the consequences of mismatching the information granularity of a visualization to a user's information needs.
Isentropic magnetoelectric coupling in planar heterostructures

Thermodynamical expressions are derived to calculate isentropic magnetoelectric and electromagnetic couplings in ferroelectric/ferromagnetic heterostructures. The expressions predict that the isentropic magnetoelectric and electromagnetic effects are reversible and comparable in magnitude and can be tuned in different ways. The expressions are applied to estimate isentropic couplings in commonly grown planar heterostructures of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/Ba1-xSrxTiO3 and La0.7Ca0.3MnO3/Ba1-xSrxTiO3 with x= 0.0, 0.1, and 0.5 using a combination of first-principles computational data and experimental data from the literature. The isentropic coupling coefficients of up to 10−9 s/m are predicted close to room temperature for La0.7Ca0.3MnO3/BaTiO3 heterostructures. Our findings show a way to tune the isentropic coupling coefficients in a particular temperature range by engineering heterostructures with favorable transition temperatures.
The Influence of Ethnic Heterogeneity on Prostate Cancer Mortality After Radical Prostatectomy in Hispanic or Latino Men: A Population-based Analysis.

Objective To determine if recently found disparities in prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) among Mexican and Puerto Rican men remained true in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP), where the true grade and extent of cancer are known and can be accounted for. Materials and Methods Men diagnosed with localized-regional prostate cancer who had undergone RP as primary treatment were identified (N = 180,794). Patients were divided into the following racial and ethnic groups: non-Hispanic white (NHW) (n = 135,358), non-Hispanic black (NHB) (n = 21,882), Hispanic or Latino (n = 15,559), and Asian American or Pacific Islander (n = 7995). Hispanic or Latino men were further categorized into the following subgroups: Mexican (n = 3323) and South or Central American, excluding Brazilian (n = 1296), Puerto Rican (n = 409), and Cuban (n = 218). A multivariable analysis was conducted using competing risk regression in the prediction of PCSM. Results This analysis revealed hidden disparities in surgical outcomes for prostate cancer. In the multivariable analysis, Hispanic or Latino men (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.88, P = .207) did not show a significant difference in PCSM compared with NHW men. When breaking Hispanic or Latino men into their country of origin or ancestry, Puerto Rican men were found to have significantly worse PCSM than NHW men (HR = 2.55, P = .004) and NHB men (HR = 2.33, P = .016). Conclusion Our findings reveal higher rates of PCSM for Puerto Rican men after RP than for both NHW and NHB men. At a minimum, these findings need further validation and should be considered in the screening and management of these men.
Topiramate-induced neuromodulation of cortico-mesolimbic dopamine: Implications for the treatment of nicotine and alcohol dependence

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of topiramate-induced neuromodulation of cortico-mesolimbic dopamine in the treatment of nicotine and alcohol dependence. Nicotine and alcohol have important neurochemical interactions that enhance their reinforcing effects and, consequently, the abuse liability of their combination. The reinforcing effects of both substances are mediated through cortico-mesolimbic dopamine (CMDA) pathways. Topiramate antagonizes the ability of nicotine and alcohol to increase CMDA activity by facilitating gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) suppression of VTA and nucleus accumbens neurons and blocking the excitatory effects of (2-amino-3-(5-methyl-3-oxo-1,2- oxazol-4-yl)propanoic acid) AMPA and kainate glutamate receptors at these same receptor sites. These effects could be even more pronounced in the chronic condition than in the acute condition because of the ability of topiramate to reduce glutaminergic sensitization; thereby normalizing midbrain dopamine function. Topiramate was significantly more efficacious than placebo at improving all the self-reported drinking outcomes, alcohol craving, and the biochemical measure of drinking, the level of serum γ-glutamyl transferase. It is found that that topiramate recipients are significantly less likely than placebo recipients to have a positive serum cotinine level, and that decreases in alcohol consumption are accompanied by smoking reductions in the topiramate group but not the placebo group.
Active Cochlear Feedback: Required Structure And Response Phase

According to indirect experimental evidence, derived mainly from acoustic cochlear emissions (Kemp,1978), wave propagation in the cochlea is supported by metabolic energy. The motility of ORCs associated with an alternating electrical field (Brownell et al. 1985) is likely to be the mechanism for the energy delivery (e.g. Ashmore,1986). If the cells respond mechanically to the alternating electrical fields they themselves generate, conditions for an electromechanical feedback are provided. Several models of the feedback were proposed in the past (e.g. Kim et al., 1980; Mountainet ale 1983; Neely and Kim, 1986) but were not sufficiently explicit to establish the required structural and phase conditions. Analysis of these conditions and an experimental confirmation of its crucial results are the subject of this article.
Interpretation der Gender- & Diversity-Daten-Analyse

Ziel des folgenden Kapitels ist es auf der Basis des vorangegangenen Ausschnittes aus der Gender- & Diversity-Daten-Analyse zum einen, Strukturmerkmale der am Projekt teilnehmenden KMU zu identifizieren, die im Rahmen der quantitativen und qualitativen Datenauswertung ermittelt werden konnten.
Distribution and population structure of endobacteria in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi at North Atlantic dunes

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, Glomeromycotina), in addition to forming symbioses with the majority of land plants, harbor vertically transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria 'Candidatus Glomeribacter gigasporarum' (CaGg) and 'Candidatus Moeniiplasma glomeromycotorum' (CaMg). CaGg is a nonessential mutualist of AMF, whereas the lifestyle of CaMg is unknown. To start unraveling the interactions between AMF and their endosymbionts in nature, we examined diversity and distribution of AMF-associated endobacteria in North Atlantic dunes at Cape Cod. Of nearly 500 foredune AMF isolates successfully genotyped during a systematic study, 94% were classified as Gigasporaceae. Two percent of all AMF spores harbored CaGg, and 88% contained CaMg. CaGg was found only in the Gigasporaceae, whereas CaMg was present in Gigasporaceae, Acaulosporaceae, and Diversisporaceae. Incidence of CaGg across AMF was not affected by any of the environmental parameters measured, whereas distribution of CaMg in one of the fungal hosts was impacted by plant density. CaMg populations associated with AMF individuals displayed high levels of genetic diversity but no evidence of gene flow, suggesting that host physical proximity is not sufficient to facilitate horizontal transmission of CaMg. Finally, in addition to a novel lineage of CaGg, we discovered that AMF likely harbor Burkholderia-related bacteria with close phylogenetic affinity to free-living Burkholderia and endobacteria of other Mucoromycota fungi.
Counter Advance for Reliable Encryption in Phase Change Memory

The use of hardware encryption and new memory technologies such as phase change memory (PCM) are gaining popularity in a variety of server applications such as cloud systems. While PCM provides energy and density advantages over conventional DRAM memory, it faces endurance challenges. Such challenges are exacerbated when employing memory encryption as the stored data is essentially randomized, losing data locality and reducing or eliminating the effectiveness of energy and endurance aware encoding techniques. This results in increasing dynamic energy consumption and accelerated wear out. In this paper we propose counter advance , a technique to leverage the process of encryption to improve reliability and lifetime while maintaining low-energy and low-latency operation. Counter advance is compatible with standard error-correction codes (ECC) and error correction pointers (ECP), the standard for mitigating endurance faults in PCM. Counter advance achieves the same fault tolerance using three ECP pointers for a $10^{-4}$ cell failure rate compared to the leading approach to consider energy savings and reliability for encrypted PCM (SECRET) using five ECP pointers. At a failure rate of $10^{-2}$ , counter advance can achieve an uncorrectable bit error rate (UBER) of 10 $^{-10}$ , compared to ${ for SECRET, using six ECP pointers. This leads to a lifetime improvement of 3.8× while maintaining comparable energy consumption and access latency.
Five Position Synthesis of a Planar Four-Bar Linkage

This paper presents a tutorial on the formulation and solution of the five position synthesis equations for a four-bar linkage in a way that is convenient for implementation using polynomial homotopy software. Complex numbers are used to formulate the loop equations for the four-bar linkage with a coupler reference frame in each of five task positions. We use the loop equations for both cranks of the linkage and their conjugates, and the normalization conditions for each of the joint angles in four displaced positions relative to the initial configuration of the linkage, in order to obtain 8 quadratic equations in 8 unknowns. While there are other formulations for these synthesis equations, we show that this formulation is convenient for solution by polynomial homotopy continuation. An example code is provided as well as a sample calculation.
Decentralized governments: local empowerment and sustainable development challenges in Africa

This study examines the extent to which decentralization is being utilized as a vehicle for sustainable economic development outcomes at all levels of governance in Africa. Research shows that decentralization is missing the triple-bottom line of sustainability: economic, social and environmental prosperity that meets current needs and does not take away from future generations in regions settled by indigenous communities. In this study, selected peer-reviewed literature and reports from conservation organizations on decentralization are analyzed. This research explores ways decentralization can be integrated with sustainability to minimize the short-term and long-run consequences of human actions on the environment at local levels. Factors enabling local sustainability—the legal structures, mediating factors and the decision-making sphere—are used to identify sustainability processes and activities in the governance and decentralization outcomes. This study is guided by the argument made by the United Nations in Agenda 21 and the 2030 Agenda that local governments are best placed to implement sustainability through the development of programs that educate and engage with local communities. Under these circumstances, the best avenue to advance sustainable development initiatives is through the framework of decentralization in order to produce durable economic outcomes, minimize civil disputes and improve the living standards of local communities. The results demonstrate that there are no concrete national initiatives that have been developed to date to promote sustainability within the decentralization framework.
A DNA-origami nuclear pore mimic reveals nuclear entry mechanisms of HIV-1 capsid

Summary The capsid of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) plays a pivotal role in viral nuclear import, but the mechanism by which the viral core passages the nuclear pore complex (NPC) is poorly understood. Here, we use DNA-origami mimics of the NPC, termed NuPODs (NucleoPorins Organized by DNA), to reveal the mechanistic underpinnings of HIV-1 capsid nuclear entry. We found that trimeric interface formed via three capsid protein hexamers is targeted by a triple-arginine (RRR) motif but not the canonical phenylalanine-glycine (FG) motif of NUP153. As NUP153 is located on the nuclear face of the NPC, this result implies that the assembled capsid must cross the NPC in vivo. This hypothesis is corroborated by our observations of tubular capsid assemblies penetrating through NUP153 NuPODs. NUP153 prefers to bind highly curved capsid assemblies including those found at the tips of viral cores, thereby facilitating capsid insertion into the NPC. Furthermore, a balance of capsid stabilization by NUP153 and deformation by CPSF6, along with other cellular factors, may allow for the intact capsid to pass NPCs of various sizes. The NuPOD system serves as a unique tool for unraveling the previously elusive mechanisms of nuclear import of HIV-1 and other viruses.
Electrostatic interactions in the SH1-SH2 helix of human cardiac myosin modulate the time of strong actomyosin binding.

Two single mutations, R694N and E45Q, were introduced in the beta isoform of human cardiac myosin to remove permanent salt bridges E45:R694 and E98:R694 in the SH1-SH2 helix of the myosin head. Beta isoform-specific bridges E45:R694 and E98:R694 were discovered in the molecular dynamics simulations of the alpha and beta myosin isoforms. Alpha and beta isoforms exhibit different kinetics, ADP dissociates slower from actomyosin containing beta myosin isoform, therefore, beta myosin stays strongly bound to actin longer. We hypothesize that the electrostatic interactions in the SH1-SH2 helix modulate the affinity of ADP to actomyosin, and therefore, the time of the strong actomyosin binding. Wild type and the mutants of the myosin head construct (1–843 amino acid residues) were expressed in differentiated C2C12 cells, and the duration of the strongly bound state of actomyosin was characterized using transient kinetics spectrophotometry. All myosin constructs exhibited a fast rate of ATP binding to actomyosin and a slow rate of ADP dissociation, showing that ADP release limits the time of the strongly bound state of actomyosin. The mutant R694N showed a faster rate of ADP release from actomyosin, compared to the wild type and the E45Q mutant, thus indicating that electrostatic interactions within the SH1-SH2 helix region of human cardiac myosin modulate ADP release and thus, the duration of the strongly bound state of actomyosin.
The Impact of Socioeconomic Risk Factors on the Survival Outcomes of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma: A Cross-analysis of a Population-based Registry and a Tertiary Care Center

ABSTRACT Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous clonal plasma cell disorder leading to differences in clinical outcomes such as overall survival (OS) among patients. We hypothesized that expensive, novel therapeutic agents, paradigm shifts to maintain continuous therapy and improvement in OS, MM patients are subject to the pressures of financial toxicity and the need for social support which may be of prognostic importance. In this study, we examined the records of 122,458 patients from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to determine the significance of socioeconomic factors such as estimated annual household income and education level that was based on the patient's zip code and the US Census Bureau's 5-year report from 2008-2012. These socioeconomic factors, in addition to marital status, were then assessed individually and as a cumulative socioeconomic score for prognostic significance in a cohort of 2,543 patients treated at a tertiary care center utilizing known biologic risk factors, such as cytogenetic risk, ISS classification, and serum LDH levels. Only marital status and estimated annual household income at diagnosis negatively impacted OS in a univariate analysis, but not in the context of a multivariable analysis incorporating known biologic risk factors. Future analyses in other academic and non-academic centers located in urban and rural regions are required to understand the socioeconomic drivers of OS disparity among MM patients observed nationally.
Title Insurance: Protecting Property at What Price

The real property recording system is designed to protect purchasers and mortgagees against defects in title. Navigating that system is beyond the capacity of most laymen; historically, purchasers hired lawyers and other professionals to identify and eliminate title risks. Institutional lenders, however, sought more protection than a lawyer’s opinion could provide, leading to the development of title insurance. Title insurance, unlike most other insurance, is focused not on risk spreading but on risk elimination. By examining title before issuing a policy, a title insurer minimizes the likelihood of a successful claim. Evidence establishes, however, that the price of title insurance exceeds the total cost of producing it, even accounting for the insurer’s ex ante search costs. Concentration in the industry is a contributing factor. But the principal problem is that the industry’s customers are largely insensitive to price. Lenders require home purchaser to buy title insurance, but those purchasers are one-shot customers for who have little incentive to spend time and money comparison shopping. Moreover, in many jurisdictions, purchasers who did engage in comparison shopping would soon learn that the prices charged by “competing” title insurers are nearly identical – due in part to well-meaning but ineffective state regulation of the industry. That regulation often erects barriers to entry that make it difficult for startups to introduce more cost-effective title insurance models based on modern technology. Federal regulation has been no more effective in protecting consumers against excessive title insurance cost. Regulation would be more effective if it focused less on title insurers and instead required lenders to bear more of the cost of title insurance. As repeat players with significant resources, institutional lenders have leverage with title insurers that home purchasers do not, and also have the capacity to influence legislators to remove barriers facing startups seeking to disrupt the industry.
Fire Ecology of the North American Mediterranean-Climate Zone

North America’s Mediterranean climate zone (NAMCZ) includes most of California, southwestern Oregon, a slice of western Nevada, and northwestern Baja California, Mexico. Climatically, the world’s Mediterranean climate regions are unique because the wet season is concurrent with the cold season, and the warm, dry season is akin to an annual drought of 3–7 months. Most of the NAMCZ receives sufficient precipitation in the winter and early spring to produce a crop of fuel just in time for the hot, dry summer. Vegetation in the NAMCZ is among the most fire-prone and fire-shaped on the continent. The NAMCZ supports all of the major fire regime types represented in North America, but most of the modern landscape supports either the chaparral type (moderate frequency, high-severity), or the moderate frequency/“mixed” severity type including the extensive yellow pine and mixed conifer forest type, which before logging, reduced human ignitions and fire suppression supported a high frequency, low-severity fire regime. We compare historical (pre-Euro-American settlement) and modern fire regimes in the NAMCZ and discuss current pyrological and ecological trends, ecosystem management, conservation and restoration, and the future of fire and fuels management in a time of rapid global change.
Women Transforming Conflict: A Quantitative Analysis of Female Peacemaking

The passing of Security Council Resolution 1325 entitled “Women, Peace and Security” solidified the understanding that women bring a much- needed presence to the resolution of violent conflict by declaring, “[women’s] full participation in the peace process can significantly contribute to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security.” In order to understand why women are considered necessary for the peace process and how they can be included in these processes, one must first ask: how does female peacemaking impact the durability of peace? This study employs a quantitative analysis to test this question on 156 peace agreements using binary logistic regression on thirteen models measuring peace at three different points in time. The findings reveal that in the short term, advancing the role of local female representation in the peace process can aid in establishing a more durable peace. Furthermore, the results from this study point to the successful establishment of quotas aiding the durability of peace in post-conflict states.
Recent developments in quantum-well infrared photodetectors

Intrinsic infrared (IR) detectors in the long wavelength range (8-20 Am) are based on an optically excited interband transition, which promotes an electron across the band gap (E(sub g)) from the valence band to the conduction band as shown. These photoelectrons can be collected efficiently, thereby producing a photocurrent in the external circuit. Since the incoming photon has to promote an electron from the valence band to the conduction band, the energy of the photon (h(sub upsilon)) must be higher than the E(sub g) of the photosensitive material. Therefore, the spectral response of the detectors can be controlled by controlling the E(sub g) of the photosensitive material. Examples for such materials are Hg(1-x), Cd(x), Te, and Pb(1-x), Sn(x), Te, in which the energy gap can be controlled by varying x. This means detection of very-long-wavelength IR radiation up to 20 microns requires small band gaps down to 62 meV. It is well known that these low band gap materials, characterized by weak bonding and low melting points, are more difficult to grow and process than large-band gap semiconductors such as GaAs. These difficulties motivate the exploration of utilizing the intersub-band transitions in multiquantum well (MQW) structures made of more refractory large-band gap semiconductors. The idea of using MQW structures to detect IR radiation can be explained by using the basic principles of quantum mechanics. The quantum well is equivalent to the well-known particle in a box problem in quantum mechanics, which can be solved by the time independent Schroudiner equation.
Pollution Limits and Polluters’ Efforts to Comply: The Role of Government Monitoring and Enforcement

This book integrates the fields of economics and law to empirically examine compliance with regulatory obligations under the Clean Water Act (CWA). It examines four dimensions of federal water pollution control policy in the United States: limits imposed on industrial facilities' pollution discharges; facilities' efforts to comply with pollution limits, identified as "environmental behavior"; facilities' success at controlling their discharges to comply with pollution limits, identified as "environmental performance"; and regulators' efforts to induce compliance via inspections and enforcement actions, identified as "government interventions." The authors gather and analyze data on environmental performance and government interventions from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) databases, and data on environmental behavior gathered from their own survey of all 1,612 chemical manufacturing facilities permitted to discharge wastewater in 2002. By analyzing links between critical elements in the puzzle of enforcement of and compliance with environmental protection laws, the text speaks to several important, policy-relevant research questions: Do government interventions help induce better environmental behavior and/or better environmental performance? Do tighter pollution limits improve environmental behavior and/or performance? And, does better environmental behavior lead to better environmental performance?
Work in progress: Ductus arteriosus closure may result from suppression of prostacyclin synthetase by an intrinsic hydroperoxy fatty acid

Abstract Fetal sheep ductus arteriosus readily synthesized prostacyclin from exogenous prostaglandin endoperoxides, and in the presence of the high oxygen tension, this synthesis is markedly suppressed. Fetal aorta and pulmonary artery also synthesize prostacyclin; however, this synthesis is much less suppressed by high oxygen tension. We propose that ductal closure may be regulated by the oxygen dependent synthesis of hydroperoxy fatty acid which would block the production of the vasodilatory prostacyclin and expose the direct contractile properties of the intrinsic prostaglandin endoperoxide. This mechanism would result in ductal closure at birth.
Studies on Ligand Binding to Hemoglobins from Teleosts and Elasmobranchs

Abstract Hemoglobins from three sharks, the porbeagle (Lamna nasus), the dusky (Carcharhinus obscurus), and the mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), and four bony fishes, the big-eye tuna (Thunnus obesus), the swordfish (Xiphias gladius), the carp (Cyprius carpio), and the smallmouth bass (Micropetrus dolomieu), have been examined by a variety of techniques to determine both their molecular structure and their kinetic and equilibrium ligand-binding properties. For all species multiple hemoglobins were found in the hemolysates. These hemoglobins are tetrameric and exhibit cooperative ligand binding. The main components of the hemolysates from the oceanic species consist of either three or four electrophoretically separable globin chains. However, the hemolysates behave as if they contain only two distinct functional components which appear to be present within the same tetrameric molecule. These two types of ligand-binding sites exhibit different kinetic and spectral properties for the carbon monoxide-binding reaction and for the displacement of oxygen by carbon monoxide. At 20° the differences between the rates of oxygen dissociation from these two components are largest for the hemoglobins of the mako shark (22.7 s-1 and 1.86 s-1) and those of the swordfish (28.2 s-1 and 4.8 s-1). Similar albeit smaller differences were observed for porbeagle, dusky, big-eye tuna, and carp hemolysates. The carbon monoxide-binding reactions of these hemolysates were also separable into a fast and slow component with all species showing a rapid reaction on the short wave length side of the 425 nm isosbestic point and a slower reaction on the long wave length side. With the possible exception of big-eye tuna hemoglobin, all of the fish and shark hemoglobins appear to interact with organic phosphates with a stoichiometry of 1 mole bound per mole of hemoglobin tetramer. At neutral pH inositol hexaphosphate lowers the rate of CO binding to swordfish and bass hemoglobins by a factor of 10 to 20 but appears to affect only half of the heme sites. Although less dramatically, this organic phosphate also lowers the rate of CO binding to the shark hemoglobins. The oxygen equilibrium curves of porbeagle and big-eye tuna hemoglobins change shape with temperature, but the concentration of oxygen at 50% saturation for the former is independent of temperature and that of the latter varies only slightly in going from 35 to 5°. The basis of this unusually small temperature dependence lies in a differential temperature response of the two types of functional components which appear to be present within the same tetramer. For big-eye tuna hemoglobin, the rate of oxygen dissociation for one of the components is the same at 3° as it is at 20°, approximately 50 s-1. For porbeagle hemoglobin, the rate of ligand association to one of the components present in the deoxygenated hemolysate is 36 times smaller at 3° than at 20°. Both of these responses produce unusually low affinity species at 3°.
Abstract state machines and the inquiry process

Abstract State Machines have long played a valuable role as a catalyst for inquiry into software problems. In the ASM literature, however, there is a tendency to omit reflection on the process of ASM-based design and analysis, focusing instead on final, complete ASM products. As educators, we believe it is important to expose our students to a full, explicit process of inquiry, using ASMs as a vehicle to motivate active questioning. We report on our experiences in bringing ASM-based inquiry to the classroom. A course plan that combines ASMs and Problem Frames has proved effective in eliciting critical inquiry among students.