cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantification of macrobenthic effects on diagenesis using a multicomponent inverse model in salt marsh sediments

Using a multicomponent inverse model, we quantified the rates of organic matter (OM) remineralization and the relative importance of major terminal electron acceptors [Fe(III)-(oxy)hydroxides and SO ] in salt marsh sediments 22 4 with varying degrees of bioturbation and vegetation at Skidaway Island, Georgia. The model determined the rates of OM diagenesis by seeking simultaneous agreement between measured and model-calculated depth-concentration profiles of multiple major redox species while using the biological transport parameters determined from direct field observations. The OM degradation rates are found to be greater and penetrate deeper in sediments with vegetation or bioturbation than in sediments with limited macrobenthic components, in which organic matter degradation is restricted to the immediate vicinity of water-sediment interface. The results also confirmed previous observations that Fe(III)-(oxy)hydroxides are much more important than sulfate as terminal electron acceptors in the heavily bioturbated station and provided the numerical values to the depth-dependent relative importance. Solid-phase Fe is recycled as a terminal electron acceptor $30 times in the bioturbated station, because biological mixing repeatedly moves reduced Fe(II) back into the aerobic environment, where it is reoxidized to form Fe(III)-(oxy)hydroxides and is reused as a terminal electron acceptor. Vegetation appears to have little influence on net solute transport, but it stimulates microbial activities and significantly enhances the remineralization of OM at depths.
Failure of Ferrous Sulphate to Inactivate Free Gossypol in Diets for Laying Chickens

ABSTRACT SCHAIBLE and co-workers (1934) reported that free or bound gossypol is a cause of the olive, brown, and chocolate discolorations in the yolks of eggs from hens fed cottonseed products. One or two percent ferrous sulphate protected against the discolorations when rations contained as much as 40 percent cottonseed meal, but the gossypol content of the meal is not stated. Fletcher and co-workers (1953) fed New Hampshire hens a diet containing a mixture of equal parts of hydraulic and solvent-extracted cottonseed meals to furnish .03 percent free gossypol to the diet, and then stored the eggs at about 34 degrees F. for periods varying from 60 to 150 days. Only about five percent (6 of 117) of the eggs had slightly dark or dark discolored yolks when .50 percent ferrous sulphate was included in the diet, but about 93 percent (88 of 95) of the eggs had the discolorations when . . .
Reducing buyer search costs: implications for electronic marketplaces

Information systems can serve as intermediaries between the buyers and the sellers in a market creating an "electronic marketplace" that lowers the buyers' cost to acquire information about seller prices and product offerings. As a result, electronic marketplaces reduce the inefficiencies caused by buyer search costs, in the process reducing the ability of sellers to extract monopolistic profits while increasing the ability of markets to optimally allocate productive resources. This article models the role of buyer search costs in markets with differentiated product offerings. The impact of reducing these search costs is analyzed in the context of an electronic marketplace, and the allocational efficiencies such a reduction can bring to a differentiated market are formalized. The resulting implications for the incentives of buyers, sellers, and independent intermediaries to invest in electronic marketplaces are explored. Finally, the possibility to separate price information from product attribute information is introduced, and the implications of designing markets promoting competition along each of these dimensions are discussed.
The Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes: Infusing Policy and System Change With Local Experience

This supplement provides a comprehensive and in-depth examination of proven clinical-community health strategies employed by the Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes, across five sites located in diverse geographic regions of the United States, including a tribal community. Alliance projects in these communities focused on African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and American Indians as priority populations. Each project was implemented with an understanding that there are cultural norms, community characteristics, and health care system challenges that require sustained multicomponent approaches to ameliorate factors that exacerbate poor disease management and health outcomes. The articles increase understanding of what is required to implement evidence-based approaches shaped by local experiences in order to meet the needs of diverse communities affected by diabetes. Lessons learned have generic elements that can be used in other priority populations and settings.
Worker Morale in Russia: An Exploratory Study

Despite unanimous agreement in the existing literature that morale influences employee performance, no well-defined measure of morale exists. Our study develops a robust measure of morale and focuses on the factors that influence morale among Russian workers. Survey data were collected from Russian employees at two different points in time, 1995 and 2002, in five Russian cities. Among the workers participating in our study, expectation of receiving a desired reward contributes to high morale, with expected monetary rewards having a larger influence than expected non-monetary rewards, but praise for a job well done and a feeling of accomplishment also contribute positively to employee morale. There is a significant correlation between positive attitudes toward work and morale, and a positive correlation between performance assessment and morale. Demographic characteristics (age and gender) have no discernable influence on morale when controls are included for work experience.
Creation of an Exergetic Based Leak Detection and Diagnosis Methodology for Automotive Carbon Dioxide Air Conditioning Systems

Carbon dioxide automotive air conditioning (AC) systems have been under development for over a decade. Although the AC system construction is important, a reliable refrigerant leakage detection system is also vital. A detailed thermodynamic simulation model and fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) system, with proposed validation plans, has been developed at Rochester Institute of Technology. A discussion of simulation models that have been developed for various compressors and heat exchangers is presented; they are compared to actual AC systems to develop a realistic experimental setup. Assumptions from previous work are examined and improved. Portions of this paper were previously published in the ECOS'05 and ECOS'07 conference proceedings.
Pricing bundled information goods

This paper contributes to the bundling literature by presenting a model to study bundling strategies for firms when the firm produces both information goods and a comparable physical world good. Two models are considered 1) Where the firm produces only information goods and 2) Where the firm produces a comparable physical good, apart from the information goods. Results suggest that a profit-maximizing firm should offer only the largest bundle, containing all the information goods. Profits for bundles containing substitute goods (sub-additive valuations), were found to be lower than the profits for bundles containing information goods whose valuations added up, when bundled together. Total profits decrease with an increase in marginal cost of the physical good. Also profits were found to increase (decrease) with an increase in the existing demand for the physical good, when the marginal cost of the physical good was low (high).
Dilemmas in the British Peace Movement since World War II

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, founded in 1958, was by 1960 the largest mass movement in Britain in this century. By 1968, however, most of its mass support had evaporated. The present article sees two explanations for this: (1) the CND was an untenable coalition of four distinct political traditions; this made serious internal crises in evitable ; and (2) the CND was never able to gain the allegiance of the British working class. Through brief comparisons to the United States and Italy, the author indicates that these are common failings of most antiwar movements.
On-chip bondwire transformers for power SOC applications

In this paper, a novel concept of on-chip bondwire transformer with ferrite epoxy glob is proposed for power system on chip (SOC) applications. We have theoretically and experimentally proven the concept of the bondwire transformer and demonstrated that its performance can be improved using ferrite polymer epoxy glob. Transformer parameters including self- and mutual inductance, and coupling factors are extracted from both modeled and measured S-parameters. It is expected that the bondwire transformers can be easily integrated into power SOC manufacturing processes with minimal changes in processes, and open enormous possibilities for realizing cost- effective, high current, high efficiency power SOC's.
Dimensionality reduction with automatic dimension assignment for distributed estimation

We consider distributed estimation of a random vector parameter by a wireless sensor network (WSN). To meet stringent power and bandwidth budgets in WSN, local data compression is performed at each sensor to reduce the number of messages sent to a fusion center (FC). Under the constraint of a given total number of messages, our problem is to jointly determine the number of messages sent by each senor (a.k.a. dimension assignment) and design the corresponding compression matrix. The problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem that minimizes the estimation mean-square error (MSE) at the FC. We analyze the problem using a subspace projection technique, which yields an efficient iterative solution. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Effect of donor immunization with somatic polysaccharides on the graft-vs-host reactivity of transferred donor splenocytes.

SummaryThe effect of immunization of donor mice with bacterial antigens, on the capacity of their spleen cells to product graft-vs-host (GVH) disease has been investigated for irradiated adult recipients differing from donors at the H2 locus. Fatal GVH disease produced by spleen cells from untreated control donors was a function of the number of cells transferred. Antigen pretreatment of donors caused a reduction in the capacity of their spleen cells to produce GVH mortality. Compared with equal numbers of cells from untreated mice, the magnitude of this reduction was proportional to the total quantity of antigen used in pretreatment: 1.4 mg of Serratia marcescens polysaccharide (SMP) decreased donor spleen cell reactivity to 1/5 of control levels whereas 0.12 mg produced a decrease of 1/4 and 0.01 mg to somewhat less than 1/2 that of controls. Salmonella enteritidis polysaccharide (SEP) also provided reduction of donor cell GVH reactivity however when employed in similar dosages (SMP 120 μg, SEP 210 μg) ...
Introns and Splicing Elements of Five Diverse Fungi

Genomic sequences and expressed sequence tag data for a diverse group of fungi (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Aspergillus nidulans, Neurospora crassa, and Cryptococcus neoformans) provided the opportunity to accurately characterize conserved intronic elements. An examination of large intron data sets revealed that fungal introns in general are short, that 98% or more of them belong to the canonical splice site (ss) class (5GU ... AG3), and that they have polypyrimidine tracts predominantly in the region between the 5 ss and the branch point. Information content is high in the 5 ss, branch site, and 3 ss regions of the introns but low in the exon regions adjacent to the introns in the fungi examined. The two yeasts have broader intron length ranges and correspondingly higher intron information content than the other fungi. Generally, as intron length increases in the fungi, so does intron information content. Homologs of U2AF spliceosomal proteins were found in all species except for S. cerevisiae, suggesting a nonconventional role for U2AF in the absence of canonical polypyrimidine tracts in the majority of introns. Our observations imply that splicing in fungi may be different from that in vertebrates and may require additional proteins that interact with polypyrimidine tracts upstream of the branch point. Theoretical protein homologs for Nam8p and TIA-1, two proteins that require U-rich regions upstream of the branch point to function, were found. There appear to be sufficient differences between S. cerevisiae and S. pombe introns and the introns of two filamentous members of the Ascomycota and one member of the Basidiomycota to warrant the development of new model organisms for studying the splicing mechanisms of fungi.
Synthesis of ZSM-5 with high sodium content for CO2 adsorption

Abstract In this study, a fast synthesis of ZSM-5 zeolites with high-sodium content at three Si/Al ratios (25, 50 and 75) was carried out. Samples were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm, X-ray diffraction (XDR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The zeolites were tested on CO 2 adsorption in a pressure range from 0 to 600 kPa and at a temperature of 303 K. Single-Site Langmuir (SSL) and Dual-Site Langmuir (DSL) models were used for fitting and analyzing the experimental data. According to the characterization techniques, pure and crystalline ZSM-5 was obtained for all Si/Al ratios under study. The CO 2 adsorption/desorption isotherms showed that the sample with Si/Al equal to 25 has higher affinity for CO 2 molecules. This result was confirmed by fitting the experimental data to the DSL model, which obtained better representation of the data by comparison with the SSL model. Recycling tests showed that all three zeolites were easily regenerated after the adsorption process.
Duality in Geometrically Linear Systems

This chapter presents some important mathematical duality theories in geometrically linear, nonconvex and nonsmooth variational problems. By introduction of a so-called indicator functional of the feasible sets, many different problems subject to equality or inequality constraints can be put in a unified framework. The intrinsic relations among these well-known duality theories are revealed and the duality theory in geometrically linear systems is presented in a systematical way. The goal of this chapter is construction not proof. For readers who are seriously interested in the mathematical details of these topics, we refer to the some well-known books by Ekeland and Temam (1976), Zeidler (1988), Ekeland (1990), Aubin (1993) as well as the recent monograph by Motreanu and Panagiotopoulos (1999) for details. However, readers who is not interested in these mathematical details can certainly omit this chapter and continue to the next chapter without difficulty.
What Explains European Attitudes Towards Ethnic Discrimination

What explains variations in European public opinion about discrimination? The answer is important for national-level integration strategies, for understanding the challenge facing the European Union's Racial Equality Directive (which was passed in 2000 and transposed into national law over the next five years), and for understanding one the most challenging sociopolitical issues in Europe more generally. In February and March of 2008, Eurobarometer 69.1 asked a series of questions on ethnic discrimination. The specific research question that I am interested in addressing is: are 'background characteristics' (e.g. ideology, gender, minority status, religion, nationality, etc) or 'personal experiences' with ethnic discrimination more important for explaining (1) perceived levels of discrimination in the respondent's member state and (2) support for equal opportunity measures? By 'personal experience' I am referring to whether or not the respondent (a) has been personally discriminated against on ethnic grounds, (b) has witnessed ethnic discrimination, or (c) has friends of other ethnicities. I argue that there is strong evidence of the salience of the 'personal experience' hypothesis, though the effect is not uniform on (1) and (2). There is also evidence of the 'background characteristics' hypothesis, but, I show that, with the exception of nationality, the 'background' effects are not as strong as the 'personal experience' effects.
Who Gets a Lifeline? A Political Economy of Corporate Bailouts

Why do some governments opt to provide firms that face bankruptcy with a bailout while others allow the firms to fail? I consider three explanations of bailout provision: one that focuses on the systemic risk posed by the failure of large financial firms, another that examines the conditions under which policymakers are most likely to acquiesce to demands made by the special interests that are directly harmed by the failure of the firm, and a third that highlights the role of the partisan orientation of policymakers in impacting the likelihood of a bailout being given as well as the kinds of firms that receive bailouts. To test these three explanations, I construct a new dataset of 597 financially distressed firms located in 49 countries between the years of 1987 and 2010 that includes firms operating in a wide array of industries by means of media keyword searches. I find evidence in support of the systemic risk and partisanship explanations of bailout provision. Larger firms and firms operating in the financial sector are shown to be more likely to receive bailouts. Further, right-wing governments are 12% less likely to provide a bailout than other kinds of governments, and the positive impact of left-wing governance on bailouts is increasing in the number of employees in a firm.
Public Pre-K and Test Taking for the NYC Gifted-and-Talented Programs Forging a Path to Equity

The New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) gifted-and-talented programs aim to support all students of exceptional learning potential within the public school system. Using proprietary data made available to us by the NYC DOE, we show, however, that substantial disparities exist in the rates of gifted-and-talented admission test taking, the first step in the process of accessing these more challenging educational opportunities. While Black and Latino/a students take the test for gifted-and-talented admission at substantially lower rates than their White and Asian counterparts, we find the disparity to be significantly less for those enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. We likewise find similar results when comparing other subgroups defined by students’ family, borough, and neighborhood characteristics. These results suggest that public prekindergarten gifted-and-talented attendance could have played a role in ameliorating the gaps in test taking by providing greater access to information ...
Antibody screening with the autoanalyzer using donors' plasma in place of sera.

Blood group antibodies other than those of the ABO system were detected in the AutoAnalyzer using serum samples. Plasma samples were then removed from the antibody-containing units of blood, and both the serum and plasma samples were stored at 4 C. for S weeks. The titers of these antibodies were determined weekly. One hundred seven antibodies were studied, and in only two cases (an anti-H and an anti-P1) did the titer decrease. None of the antibodies became undetectable with the AutoAnalyzer. In only one case (an auto anti-I), the antibody in plasma would not react with the automated technic, but it would in serum. Therefore, plasma samples can be used for antibody detection with the AutoAnalyzer with as much accuracy as fresh serum samples, and can be used for this detection during the currently accepted 3-week storage life of blood.
Experimental Study of the Dynamics of Synthetic Jet Actuators With Different Orifice Sizes

Synthetic jet actuators (SJA) are one of the newly developed actuators that have demonstrated its great potentials in active flow applications, particularly in closed-loop flow controls. The SJA contains a piezoelectric membrane in a cavity, which vibrates and generates a periodic jet at the exit of the cavity through an orifice that is mounted flush with the solid wall of the flow field. In order to design the feedback control laws, it is crucial to be able to quantitatively capture the dynamics of SJA. In this paper, the dynamics of SJAs with six different orifice sizes are experimentally investigated. A synthesis using system identification for the purpose of constructing mathematical models of these zero mass-flux actuators is offered. The experimental study includes two output parameters, the acoustic sound pressure generated by the SJA and the mechanical membrane vibration of the SJA. State-space models for these outputs (sound pressure and mechanical vibration) are developed as a function of orifice size. These results form a foundation for future intelligent design of SJA.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
NEUROCARDIAC INJURY IN PATIENTS WITH SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE IS ASSOCIATED WITH REGIONAL LEFT VENTRICULAR DISCOORDINATION

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may be associated with acute cardiac dysfunction which is variable. The aim was to test the hypothesis that neurocardiac injury in SAH is associated with left ventricular (LV) regional discoordination. We prospectively studied 151 patients with SAH (
Synthesis and Characterization of Recombinant Abductin-Based Proteins

Recombinant proteins are promising tools for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications. Protein-based biomaterials have several advantages over natural and synthetic polymers, including precise control over amino acid composition and molecular weight, modular swapping of functional domains, and tunable mechanical and physical properties. In this work, we describe recombinant proteins based on abductin, an elastomeric protein that is found in the inner hinge of bivalves and functions as a coil spring to keep shells open. We illustrate, for the first time, the design, cloning, expression, and purification of a recombinant protein based on consensus abductin sequences derived from Argopecten irradians. The molecular weight of the protein was confirmed by mass spectrometry, and the protein was 94% pure. Circular dichroism studies showed that the dominant structures of abductin-based proteins were polyproline II helix structures in aqueous solution and type II β-turns in trifluoroethanol. Dynamic light...
396 THE EFFECTS OF 9/11/01 ON ATTITUDES TOWARD SECURITY MEASURES IN PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

Objectives The purpose of this study is to reassess attitudes toward metal detectors and other security measures in a pediatric emergency department since the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The study also readdresses the national prevalence of universal screening by walk-through metal detectors in pediatric emergency departments and compares it to information obtained 5 years prior (pre 9/11/01). Methods Attitudes were measured by surveys given to parents or guardians of pediatric patients seen in a pediatric emergency department. This survey was scripted to reflect identical questions asked in prior studies. In order to compare the national prevalence of metal detectors to previous studies, we interviewed members of the National Association of Children9s Hospitals and Related Institutions. Results Ninety-seven percent of respondents (289/299; 95% CI 94, 98) indicated that they feel safe in this emergency department and only twenty-three percent (68/298; 95% CI 18, 28) of responses indicated that the events of 9/11/01 made them feel less safe. Seventy-seven percent (229/297; 95% CI 72, 78) and seventy-five percent (224/298; 95% CI 70, 80) of respondents indicate that metal detectors and handbag searches, respectively, are more acceptable since the bombing of the World Trade Center. However, seven percent (22/297; 95% CI 5, 11) and fourteen percent (42/298; 95% CI 10, 19) of respondents felt that metal detectors and handbag searches are an invasion of privacy. While previous studies have indicated that the public would feel safer having metal detectors in use, the national prevalence of metal detectors (8%) remains essentially unchanged over the past 5 years. Conclusion The events of 9/11/01 appear to have had a minimal effect on the public9s feelings of security in pediatric emergency rooms. Most respondents stated that they are more tolerant of metal detectors and handbag searches because of 9/11/01, but overall, people feel safe in pediatric emergency departments. Nationwide use of metal detectors has only increased very slightly and is still uncommon despite the events of 9/11/01.
Simultaneous determination of preservatives and sweetenings in fruit jelly by HPLC

Objective:To establish a method for the simultaneous determination of preservatives and sweetenings in fruit jelly by using HPLC.Methods:Preservatives and sweetenings in fruit jelly was separated by a YWG-C18 column(250 mm×4.6 mm,10 μm) and detected at the wavelength of 220 nm.The preparation methods of fruit jelly and analytical conditions of HPLC were optimized.Results:The linear range of determination for SOR,BA,SA,SS,AK,APM was all 0～0.35 mg/ml(r=0.9990),and the correlation coefficientwas0.999.The recoveries were from 99.6% to 99.8%.The relative standard deviations were 5.2%～6.2%,3.8%～7.2%,4.7%～8.4%,5.9%～8.9%,5.1%～8.6%,6.8%～8.9%(n=5).The detection was completed within 30 minutes.Conclusion:The method is simple,fast,accurate and specific.It can be used for simultaneous analysis of SOR,BA,SA,SS,AK,APM in fruit jelly.
Cancers of the uterine cervix and endometrium: major issues and future research directions.

In the nonprotocol, clinical arena, carboplatin is supplanting cisplatin due to its more favorable toxicity profile and lower overall cost. A review of the presentations from "The Role of Platinum Compounds in Cancer Treatment" (February 24 to 28, 1993, Kona, Hawaii) suggests that carboplatin can replace cisplatin for dose-intensification studies and treatment of ovarian cancer. Carboplatin (rather than cisplatin) is recommended for chemotherapy of palliative or noncurative intent (ie, for most solid tumors where cisplatin has activity), for the reasons mentioned above. In potentially curative settings (eg, testicular cancer) and in combination with radiation, results obtained with carboplatin are less clear and further study will be required.
Do-it-yourself lighting design for product videography

The growth of online marketplaces for selling goods has increased the need for product photography by novice users and consumers. Additionally, the increased use of online media and large-screen billboards promotes the adoption of videos for advertising, going beyond just using still imagery. Lighting is a key distinction between professional and casual product videography. Professionals use specialized hardware setups, and bring expert skills to create good lighting that shows off the product's shape and material, while also producing aesthetically pleasing results. In this paper, we introduce a new do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to lighting design that lets novice users create studio quality product videography. We identify design principles to light products through emphasizing highlights, rim lighting, and contours. We devise a set of computational metrics to achieve these design goals. Our workflow is: the user acquires a video of the product by mounting a video camera on a tripod and using a tablet to light objects by waving the tablet around the object. We automatically analyze and split this acquired video into snippets that match our design principles. Finally, we present an interface that lets users easily select snippets with specific characteristics and then assembles them to produce a final pleasing video of the product. Alternatively, they can rely on our template mechanism to automatically assemble a video.
IWCTS 2015 workshop report: the Eighth ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on International Workshop on Computational Transportation Science Seattle, Washington, USA - November 3, 2015

In the near future, vehicles, travelers, and the infrastructure will collectively have billions of sensors that can communicate with each other. Transportation systems, due to their distributed/mobile nature, can become the ultimate test-bed for a ubiquitous (i.e., embedded, highly-distributed, and sensor-laden) computing environment of unprecedented scale. This environment will enable numerous novel applications and order of magnitude improvement of the performance of existing applications. Information technology is the foundation for implementing new strategies, particularly if they are to be made available in real-time to wireless devices in vehicles or in the hands of people. Contributing are increasingly more sophisticated geospatial and spatio-temporal information management capabilities. Human factors, technology adoption and use, user feedback and incentives for collaborative behaviour are areas of technology policy central to the success of this ubiquitous computing environment.
LOW-SPIN FERRIC FORMS OF HEMOGLOBIN AND OTHER HEME PROTEINS

Oxidation of diamagnetic oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) yields the paramagnetic derivative high-spin ferrihemoglobin and five low-spin derivatives, collectively called hemichromes. All these derivatives can be studied with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The EPR spectrum is determined by the nature of the ligand atoms, proximal and distal to the heme iron, and thus is a signature for the molecular structure of each derivative. Although the low-spin compounds formed from ligands endogenous to the protein are poorly resolvable by optical spectroscopy, EPR analysis can be used to distinguish among them. An analysis of EPR data for other low-spin heme proteins indicates that, for most of them, only five low-spin Z ligand combinations, each with its own range of g values, can occur naturally or through chemical modifications, utilizing ligands endogenous to the heme. Four of these ligand combinations have as a necessary requirement an N atom of histidine. The other Z ligands possible are “OH, histidyl N, methionyl S and a nitrogenous ligand of as yet undetermined chemical composition. The fifth z ligand combination has a cysteine S as one z ligand and one of various nitrogenous bases as the other. As a low-spin species can be quantitated from the EPR line shape near any of the three g values, one can separately quantitate each low spin species in a mixture of many or in a mixture of other paramagnetic ions such as cupric or high-spin ferric ions or free radicals. It then becomes possible to assay for all paramagnetic cytochromes in microsomes or mitochondria or for paramagnetic forms of hemoglobin in intact red cells. All heme proteins either occur naturally as or can be converted to ferric low-spin forms, and these can be studied by EPR spectroscopy. Ferric low-spin forms of heme proteins are compounds in which the heme iron has six covalently bonded ligand atoms, four from the
Studio project: e-cannons and other robot weapons

In this workshop participants will learn the basics of microcontrollers, sensors and servo-motors to build their own canon. The canon operates similar to a tennis ball machine that shoots 3/4 inch nylon balls for the SIGGRAPH Feuding Cities game. Learn how to build, program and control the canon to shoot and hit targets. Using these techniques participants can experiment with their own design of the ball hopper to feed the canon more ammunition or develop different weapons. The level of this course is introductory and would be of interest to novice and expert programmers, people interested in robotics, game players to developers and anyone who may be curious about electronics. Some programming knowledge is useful as well as a basic understanding of electronics.All electronics and accompanying material will be provided and may be used by the participants of the course. If a participant would like to keep their project they may purchase a kit at a special conference price. These materials must however, be returned if they not purchased.
Policies and Interventions

This chapter seeks to elucidate recent and historical policies, discourses, and interventions that have shaped the lives of rural women in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, and to identify the unequal impacts of all three nations’ interventions on women of different faiths and geographies. I examine relevant processes and programs, including governmental quotas and NGO activities, by focusing on policies affecting, and interventions in, rural communities. In particular, I focus on the local government level, where panchayats, or union parishads, and sanghas serve as the basis for local governance in which women are elected to serve their local communities.
Pre-Existence of Prothrombotic State in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Despite Therapy with New and Traditional Anti-Coagulant Drugs

Background : Oral anticoagulants such as warfarin (W) have been conventionally used for the management of atrial fibrillation (AF). Despite the effectiveness of W, its use in AF patients requiring anticoagulation is suboptimal with an even greater underuse seen in elderly patients who are at higher risk of stroke. New oral anticoagulants such as rivaroxaban (R) and apixaban (A) have been approved to manage thrombotic and cardiovascular disorders including AF. The newer anticoagulants do not require continuous monitoring like W does and are much more convenient for patients with AF. Objective: To profile the baseline level of circulating thrombogenic biomarkers von Willebrand Factor (vWF), prothrombin fragment 1.2 (F1+2), microparticle bound tissue factor (MP-TF) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) in patients with AF. Additionally, the effect of both newer (R and A) and traditional (W) anticoagulants on the levels of thrombogenic biomarkers in patients with AF will be assessed. Materials: Citrated blood was drawn from thirty AF patients prior to ablation surgery and spun at 3000 rpm to obtain platelet poor plasma. Normal plasma samples from healthy controls were purchased from a commercial source (George King Biomedical, Overland Park, KS). The plasma samples were analyzed using a biochip array (Randox, London, UK) for metabolic syndrome biomarkers including PAI-1 and ELISA kits for vWF, MP-TF (Hyphen BioMed, Nueville-Sur-Oise, France) and prothrombin F1+2 (Siemens, Newark, DE). Results: Circulating levels of vWF, MP-TF and PAI-1 were statistically increased in patients with AF compared to normal (P Discussion: Elevated levels of vWF, MP-TF and PAI-1 seen in AF patients compared to normal provide insight into an additional risk of thrombogenesis associated with AF which is not targeted by current anticoagulant medications. Most patients are assessed using a stroke risk stratification scale (CHA2DS2VASc, CHADS2, CHADS-VASC, or CHADS) to determine if anti-coagulants should be used to prevent stroke associated with AF. Of the 30 patients examined in this study, 8/9 (89%) patients who were not on anticoagulants had a stroke risk stratification score of 0 while 20/21(95%) patients who were on anticoagulants had a score of >1. This data supports studies which suggest that adding levels of prothrombotic biomarkers to current risk stratification scales could be more effective in assessing the risk of stroke of patients with AF. This data also suggests that although very effective in lowering prothrombin F1+2 levels in AF, the newer anticoagulants, R and A, and the traditional anticoagulant, W, still leave additional prothrombotic biomarkers unaffected. These unaffected biomarkers could be the potential target of future drug therapies which could lower the risk of stroke in patients with AF even more than the use of newer/traditional anticoagulants alone. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Cancer Communication and Family Caregiver Quality of Life

Family caregivers have enormous communication responsibilities tied to caregiving, such as sharing the patient’s medical history with providers, relaying diagnosis and prognosis to other family members, and making decisions about care with the patient. While caregiver stress and burden has been widely documented in the caregiving literature, little is known about how communication burden, real or perceived communication challenges, impacts caregiver quality of life. In family caregiving, the City of Hope (COH) Quality of Life model proposes that the caregiving experience is reciprocal to the patient experience, impacting physical, social, psychological, and spiritual quality of life. We used data from a pilot study testing a communication coaching call intervention with family caregivers of lung cancer patients to analyze caregiver reported communication burden and quality of life. We found variances in each quality of life domain, suggesting that caregiver interventions should range from self-care skill building for physical care to psycho-educational interventions that support caregiver coping and communication skill building. These findings demonstrate the importance of caregiver assessment and attention to communication burden in quality cancer care.
Psychiatric Aspects in Chronic Pain and Utility of Yoga and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Pain (Y-MBCT Pain) as a Translational Model

One may agree that under-treated pain is an epidemic and over-treated pain is a nightmare for clinicians. It is a major public health problem. Chronic pain in the United States has a national economic cost of approximately $600 billion per year [57]; pain costs society $2000 per year for every individual living in the United States [113]. Chronic pain involves many complex aspects including persistent pain, anxiety, depression, difficulty moving, muscle weakness due to lack of use, and, of course, reduced quality of life—requiring further healthcare resources [3]. Pain is necessary to handle the danger signal that invoked it; however, due to the unpleasantness of pain, it is something that is consciously avoided: this adds to its complexity. In addition, the fear of pain in these patients more often than not leads to the avoidance of important activities such as exercises and thus creates a vicious cycle of avoidance, disability, depression, and more enduring pain. Prolonged pain, through the various feedback mechanisms, may lead to changes in the structure of the body and functions of the nerves that perpetuate these symptoms even after the tissue has had adequate time to heal [21]. It is not only the cost of health care or disability that is impacted by chronic pain; actually, the type of care that a patient receives and responds to is greatly impacted by chronic pain as well. No wonder that chronic pain is a leading cause for absence from work, reducing labor productivity, patient’s income and insurance coverage, and increasing the need for workers’ disability [71]. Also important to note that although many therapies are available for chronic pain, up to two-thirds of patients are inadequately treated [92].
EXPANDING INFANT MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT SERVICES TO AT‐RISK PRESCHOOLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF RELATIONAL PLAY THERAPY

The expansion of infant mental health (IMH) to at-risk preschoolers and their families has contributed to the integration of relational play therapy (RPT) into IMH treatment services for this population. Integrating RPT allows access to specialized play and expressive techniques specific to preschool and family development, which improves the clinical ability to meet the multiple and complex needs of at-risk parent-child dyads and their families. This article will examine the RPT literature and explore the similarities and differences between IMH and RPT. In addition, two case studies will highlight a five-phase, integrative clinical-treatment process and provide insight into how IMH clinicians are integrating RPT models and maintaining adherence to the IMH treatment approach.
The role of survey research in the benchmarking process

As more state and local governments and agencies embrace strategic planning as a means of cost control, accountability, and goal achievement, the process of benchmarking has become increasingly important. This article examines the role survey research can play in the benchmarking process. The authors focus on some of the considerations and controversies involved in this process, including questionnaire design (What types of questions should be included?), population definition (Who should be included and how can these individuals be identified?), sampling procedures (What methods of sampling should be employed to ensure that the data are representative of the population of interest?), data collection methods (Should surveys be conducted via mail, face-to-face, or telephone?), and data analysis (How can the survey data help state and local officials evaluate their service delivery?)
Are sales as we know it dying … or merely transforming?

The world of sales research continues to transform as we move more into the world of social media. This article briefly examines a historical examination of sales research by decade and then presents a model of sales research needs going forward based on how social media is being implemented by selling and buying organizations. The model assumes that the selling process is incorporated within a social media world and elements within the model include the salesperson and sales center, the buyer and buying center, the use of artificial intelligence, the teleselling unit, the interaction between marketing and sales departments, and the methods of selling. Discussion follows the model, focusing on how social media is being used among and between units in the selling process. The discussion unfolds on three key parts of the sales equation: (1) the sales organization, (2) the buying organization, and (3) the interaction between marketing and selling departments. Research questions follow each of the three discu...
Geographic Distribution of Strumigenys lanuginosa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

ABSTRACT Strumigenys lanuginosa Wheeler is a small, inconspicuous New World ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). After being described in 1905 from two sites in the Bahamas, there were no additional published records of this species for more than 50 years. Reports of S. lanuginosa in 1957 and 1961 from Costa Rica, Mexico, and Panama, however, suggested that this species may be native to Central America. Here, I compiled and mapped published and unpublished S. lanuginosa records from >160 sites. I documented the earliest known records for 16 geographic areas (countries and US states), including five for which I found no previously published records : Belize, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, and Nicaragua. Strumigenys lanuginosa appears to be native to Central America (where it is known from every country) and possibly northern South America (where it is known from Colombia, Venezuela, and French Guiana). Past researchers proposed that S. lanuginosa populations in the Bahamas and Florida were p...
Adrenergic receptor stimulation suppresses oxidative metabolism in isolated rat islets and Min6 cells

Insulin secretion is stimulated by glucose metabolism and inhibited by catecholamines through adrenergic receptor stimulation. We determined whether catecholamines suppress oxidative metabolism in β-cells through adrenergic receptors. In Min6 cells and isolated rat islets, epinephrine decreased oxygen consumption rates compared to vehicle control or co-administration of epinephrine with α2-adrenergic receptor antagonist yohimbine. Epinephrine also decreased forskolin-stimulated oxygen consumption rates, indicating cAMP dependent and independent actions. Furthermore, glucose oxidation rates were decreased with epinephrine, independent of the exocytosis of insulin, which was blocked with yohimbine. We evaluated metabolic targets through proteomic analysis after 4 h epinephrine exposure that revealed 466 differentially expressed proteins that were significantly enriched for processes including oxidative metabolism, protein turnover, exocytosis, and cell proliferation. These results demonstrate that acute α2-adrenergic stimulation suppresses glucose oxidation in β-cells independent of nutrient availability and insulin exocytosis, while cAMP concentrations are elevated. Proteomics and immunoblots revealed changes in electron transport chain proteins that were correlated with lower metabolic reducing equivalents, intracellular ATP concentrations, and altered mitochondrial membrane potential implicating a new role for adrenergic control of mitochondrial function and ultimately insulin secretion.
Antiepileptic drug therapy in autoimmune epilepsy associated with antibodies targeting the leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1.

Objective To characterize seizure semiology and the utility of antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy in leucine-rich glioma inactivated-1 ( LGI1-Ab) autoimmune epilepsy (AE). Methods Patients with voltage-gated potassium channel complex (VGKCc) titers higher than 0.02 nmol/L who were evaluated between May 2008 and June 2016 at the 3 Mayo Clinic sites (Arizona, Florida, or Minnesota) were identified. We then performed a retrospective review of those who were LGI1-Ab positive and were treated for seizures. Results A total of 1,095 patients with VGKCc titers higher than 0.02 nmol/L were identified, in which 77 were LGI1 positive. Of these, 56 patients with seizures were included in the analysis. Mean age at symptom onset was 62.9 years; 66% (n = 37) were male. The most common seizure semiology was focal faciobrachial dystonic seizures with preserved awareness (FBDS) (n = 35, 63%), followed by focal with impaired awareness (FIA) (n = 29, 52%), generalized tonic-clonic (GTCs) (n = 28, 50%), and focal non-motor seizures with preserved awareness (n = 28, 50%). The majority had more than one seizure type (n = 49, 88%; median = 2.5). Thirty-eight patients (68%) became seizure free: 29 (76%) with immunotherapy, 3 (5%) with AEDs alone, 2 (3%) with AEDs before any immunotherapy, and 4 (7%) with AEDs after immunotherapy. Levetiracetam (n = 47, 84%) and valproic acid (n = 21, 38%) were the most commonly used AEDs, but neither were associated with seizure freedom. Sodium channel blocking (NCB) AEDs were associated with seizure freedom in 4 patients compared to none treated with non-NCB AEDs. Regardless of class, AEDs prior to or apart from immunotherapy were associated with seizure freedom in only five patients (9%). In patients with FBDS, seizure freedom was more often associated with immunotherapy than AEDs (20/30 vs. 3/34, p = 0.001). Significance Although FBDS are the most characteristic seizure type seen in LGI1-Ab AE, other seizure types including FIA and GTCs also occur. Immunotherapy was the treatment most frequently associated with seizure freedom in LGI1-Ab AE. In general, AEDs seemed to confer a very low chance for seizure freedom, although AEDs with NCB-blocking properties were associated with seizure freedom in a limited number. Levetiracetam in particular appears to be ineffective in this patient population.