cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Talking Drum: A Local Area Network Music Installation

Talking Drum is an interactive computer network music installation designed for the diffusion of cyclically repeating rhythms produced by four electronically synchronized instruments separated by distances up to 50 feet (16 m). The reverberant character of the performance space and the distance-related time-delays between stations combine with the speed and rhythms of the music to create a complex, multifocal mix that audiences explore by moving independently through the installation. The software uses Afro-Cuban musical concepts as a model for creating an interactive drum machine. It implements a simple genetic algorithm to mediate the interaction between pre-composed and improvised rhythms.
Pakistan in 2010: Flooding, Governmental Inefficiency, and Continued Insurgency

The 2010 floods exacerbated Pakistan9s lingering domestic weaknesses including fraught civil-military relations, perilous economic conditions, and the ineptitude of the civilian government. While a military coup is unlikely anytime soon, army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani continues to consolidate his personal power, despite his cultivated democratic credentials, and that of the army, at the expense of the civilian leadership. The differences in the strategic interests of Pakistan and the U.S. seem stark, especially as the latter seeks to develop an exit strategy that would permit a cessation of its military action in Afghanistan.
Structures of [Ag7(SR)4]− and [Ag7(DMSA)4]−

We have developed a new genetic algorithm approach to search for the global lowest-energy structures of ligand-protected metal clusters. In combination with density functional theory, our genetic algorithm simulations show that the ground state of [Ag7(DMSA)4]− has eight instead of four Ag−S bonds and has a much lower energy than the structure based on the [Ag7(SR)4]− cluster with a quasi-two-dimensional Ag7 core. The simulated X-ray diffraction pattern of the [Ag7(DMSA)4]− cluster is in good agreement with the experimental result. Our calculations for the [Ag7(SR)4]− and [Ag7(DMSA)4]− clusters reveal for the first time that −RS−Ag−RS− can be a stable motif in thiolate-protected Ag clusters. In addition, the lowest-energy structures of [Ag7S4]−, [Ag6S4]−, and [Ag5S4]− are predicted.
On the Suitability of Lanthanides as Actinide Analogs

With the current level of actinide materials used in civilian power generation and the need for safe and efficient methods for the chemical separation of these species from their daughter products and for long-term storage requirements, a detailed understanding of actinide chemistry is of great importance. Due to the unique bonding properties of the f-elements, the lanthanides are commonly used as structural and chemical models for the actinides, but differences in the bonding between these 4f and 5f elements has become a question of immediate applicability to separations technology. This brief overview of actinide coordination chemistry in the Raymond group at UC Berkeley/LBNL examines the validity of using lanthanide analogs as structural models for the actinides, with particular attention paid to single crystal X-ray diffraction structures. Although lanthanides are commonly accepted as reasonable analogs for the actinides, these comparisons suggest the careful study of actinide materials independent of their lanthanide analogs to be of utmost importance to present and future efforts in nuclear industries.
Prediction of fundamental properties of ionic liquid electrospray thrusters using molecular dynamics.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to model an electrospray thruster for the ionic liquid (IL) EMIM–BF4 using two coarse-grained (CG) potentials. Different equilibrium properties were obtained for the two potentials and then both were used to study the electrical extrusion of the IL for different electric field strengths and mass flow rates. The MD simulations provide the first insight into the atomistic modeling of a capillary-tip-extractor system, the basic elements of an electrospray thruster. One of the CG potentials was found to predict the formation of the Taylor cone, the cone-jet, and other extrusion modes for similar electric fields and mass flow rates observed in experiments of a IL fed capillary-tip-extractor system. Current distributions and anion and cation behavior were characterized and estimates of thrust and specific impulse are presented and compare reasonably well with measurements. Moreover, the role of inhomogeneities in the electric field as well as that of the IL spac...
Phosphorylation of Serine 106 in Asef2 Regulates Cell Migration and Adhesion Turnover

Asef2, a 652-amino acid protein, is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) that regulates cell migration and other processes via activation of Rho family GTPases, including Rac. Binding of the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) to Asef2 is known to induce its GEF activity; however, little is currently known about other modes of Asef2 regulation. Here, we investigated the role of phosphorylation in regulating Asef2 activity and function. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), we obtained complete coverage of all phosphorylatable residues and identified six phosphorylation sites. One of these, serine 106 (S106), was particularly intriguing as a potential regulator of Asef2 activity because of its location within the APC-binding domain. Interestingly, mutation of this serine to alanine (S106A), a non-phosphorylatable analogue, greatly diminished the ability of Asef2 to activate Rac, while a phosphomimetic mutation (serine to aspartic acid, S106D)...
Serial Entrepreneurs and Venture Survival: Evidence from U.S. Venture‐Capital‐Financed Semiconductor Firms

How does prior firm-founding experience affect subsequent venture performance? In this study, I examine the effect of founders’ prior firm-founding experience on the survival rate and the annualized rate of return on investment in subsequent ventures. Estimates of this relationship take into account selection effect of serial entrepreneurs and two roles of venture capitalists (VCs): i) evaluating venture quality by sorting deals and ii) adding value to the portfolio company through mentoring. Analysis of U.S. VC-financed semiconductor firms that entered the market during 1995-1999 does not show evidence of selection of highly-capable serial entrepreneurs and indicates that the hazard rate of firms founded by serial entrepreneurs is substantially lower than firms founded by novice entrepreneurs. I also find that prior firm-founding experience helps entrepreneurs acquire skills that are conducive to the survival of early-stage firms, but not necessarily conducive to the financial success of a venture. In addition, I find that the mentoring role of VCs helps the portfolio company survive through the early stages of a venture, but this does not necessarily translate into a higher rate of return on investment. These findings add to our growing understanding of how founders acquire entrepreneurial skills and in what ways these skills are useful in entrepreneurial activities. These findings also shed light on the potential deadweight loss that might have been imposed on the economy if serial entrepreneurs had not been funded. Given the low success rate of entrepreneurship, this has implications for countries where failed entrepreneurs rarely get a second chance.
Dental Provider Attitudes Are a Barrier to Expanded Oral Health Care for Children ≤3 Years of Age

Purpose. To describe the perspectives of general dentists regarding oral health care for children ≤3 years. Methods. Mailed survey of 444 general dentists in Michigan. Results. Although most dentists were aware of recommendations for early dental visits, only 36% recommended their own patients begin dental visits by 1 year of age. Only 37% dentists felt that screening for oral health problems can be done by medical providers, whereas 34% agreed administration of fluoride varnish by medical providers would be effective in preventing dental problems in young children. Conclusions. Dentists' failure to recommend 1-year dental visits is due neither to lack of awareness nor to capacity problems. The limited enthusiasm for involving children's medical providers in oral health promotion signals attitudinal barriers that must be overcome to improve children's oral health. Primary care providers should identify and refer to dentists in their community who are willing to see young children.
Species delimitations in plants: lessons learned from potato taxonomy by a practicing taxonomist

Solanum section Petota has been the subject of intensive taxonomic work since the description of the cultivated potato in 1753. In total, there are 494 epithets for wild taxa and 626 epithets for cultivated taxa. Different taxonomists applied various taxonomic philosophies and species concepts to the section. Hypotheses of the number of species and their interrelationships have differed greatly among authors. A taxonomic treatment of section Petota by Jack Hawkes in 1990 recognized 228 wild species and seven cultivated species, divided into 21 taxonomic series. In 2014 Spooner and collaborators more than halved this number to 107 wild species and four cultivated species, partitioned into four clades; not using series. The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective of the methods and philosophies that have resulted in this drastic decrease in the number of species and their infrasectional classification.
Gait-Assisted Person Re-identification in Wide Area Surveillance

Gait has been shown to be an effective feature for person recognition and could be well suited for the problem of multi-frame person re-identification (Re-ID). However, person Re-ID poses very unique set of challenges, with changes in view angles and environments across cameras. Thus, the feature needs to be highly discriminative as well as robust to drastic variations to be effective for Re-ID. In this paper, we study the applicability of gait to person Re-ID when combined with color features. The combined features based Re-ID is tested for short period Re-ID on dataset we collected using 9 cameras and 40 IDs. Additionally, we also investigate the potential of gait features alone for Re-ID under real world surveillance conditions. This allows us to understand the potential of gait for long period Re-ID as well as under scenarios where color features cannot be leveraged. Both combined and gait-only features based Re-ID is tested on the publicly available, SAIVT SoftBio dataset. We select two popular gait features, namely Gait Energy Images (GEI) and Frame Difference Energy Images (FDEI) for Re-ID and propose a sparsified representation based gait recognition method.
Is Histopathological Evaluation of Inguinal Hernial Sac Necessary

Among all age groups, inguinal hernia repair remains one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures. The histopathological examination of the hernial sac specimen is usually unexciting, though occasionally, the findings might reveal an unexpected diagnosis. Unfortunately, collective data on this topic is lacking in literature. To have a better understanding of the different pathological conditions that can …
Helicopter Basic Equations of Motion

The objective of this Chapter is to provide the basic equations of motion of the helicopter, when the helicopter is treated as a rigid body. The equations of motion are derived by implementing Newton’s second law that deals with vector summations of all forces and moments as applied to the helicopter relative to an inertial reference frame. However, for practical reasons, analysis may be significantly simplified if motion is described relative to a reference frame rigidly attached to the helicopter. When this is the case, the equations of motion are derived relative to this non-inertial, body-fixed frame. The end result of this Chapter is the complete state space representation of the helicopter equations of motion in the configuration space.
Simple Interactions: Piloting a Strengths-Based and Interaction-Based Professional Development Intervention for Out-of-School Time Programs.

Adult–child relational interactions constitute an essential component of out-of-school-time programs, and training staff to effectively interact with children is key to improving program quality. Efficient staff training, that meets the limited time availability of out-of-school time staff, is particularly needed. This pilot study introduces Simple Interactions (SI), an innovative, strengths-based, and interaction-based professional development approach. Rather than attempting to teach generic competencies or targeting weakness areas for improvement, SI is designed to help program staff build from their strengths. In two cohorts over the course of 10 months, ten afterschool programs (N = 70 staff) participated in a pilot of SI. Program staff watched short video clips of themselves working with children and used the intuitive, 1-page SI Tool to guide discussion of adult–child interactions; specifically, connection (affective intune-ness), reciprocity (balanced roles of engagement), participation (involving all children), and progression (incremental challenge). Results suggest that participants valued the professional development process, the strengths-based approach, and the use of self-video despite initial apprehension, and reported perceived improvements in their professional learning communities. Pre-post videos of Cohort 2 staff (n = 20), coded blind to time point (pre or post), indicate significant and substantive improvements in staff–child connection, reciprocity, and participation. These results support the use of this simple, practical, and potentially effective model of supporting quality improvement for and by local staff.
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY IMPACTS OF LARGE CORPORATIONS IN ARCTIC COMMUNITIES: SPECIFIC FOCUS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE SWEDISH SAMI

Staphylococcus aureus is a naturally occurring bacterium carried in human respiratory systems and on skin. Dangerous Staphylococcus infections in hospitals are of specific concern due to the high traffic and open wounds that exist in such facilities. One way these facilities can prevent on-site contraction of Staphylococcus infections is through rigorous disinfection of surfaces exposed to human contact. While disinfection with cleaning solutions can be effective, this method provides only a temporary solution. In contrast to temporary disinfection of surfaces, another approach may be to prevent the spread of Staphylococcus infections by engineering surfaces that are inherently antibacterial. Physicochemical properties of bacteria and the surfaces on which they live can influence bacterial adhesion to a surface. Recently, studies have been conducted which examine the effect of nanoscale features on biological specimens. Researchers have found that particular patterns naturally dissuade bacteria from attaching to and contaminating surfaces. To build on this research, further work to create a reliable, cost-efficient, and reproducible antibacterial surface is needed. In this project, potentially antibacterial surfaces will be developed using thermal imprinting. A non-pathogenic form of Staphylococcus aureus will be used as a model Staphylococcus organism to test and quantify bacterial health on such surfaces. Although medical facilities present an obvious market for such surfaces, these patterning techniques can be used on other surfaces such as door knobs and toilet seats. Because of the inexpensive fabrication methods and materials, this research could lead to antibacterial surfaces being made readily available to populations no matter their socioeconomic backgrounds.
When It Comes to the Physician-Patient-Computer Relationship, the “Eyes” Have It

Among the greatest human achievements in history are the development and spread of spoken and written languages. The first English dictionary was published in 1604 and did much to codify the spelling, meaning, and usage of the written word which was notoriously varied and unreliable. Prior to that time, especially among the nobility, it was the spoken word that was considered both honorable and unquestionably trustworthy. From the seventeenth century onward, writing has been equated with literacy and has been the predominant means of codifying canons of evidence in the professions: medicine, law, religion, and education. Although speaking and writing are generally treated as different forms of knowing and doing, they intersect in fundamental ways in the physician’s examination room in the form of conversational sequences of questions and answers which are often simultaneously documented (typed) into the electronic health record.
Elite Influence? Religion and the Electoral Success of the Nazis

In Weimar Germany, the Catholic Church vehemently warned ordinary parishioners about the dangers of extremist parties. We establish that constituencies' religious composition is a key empirical predictor of Nazi vote shares—dwarfing the explanatory power of any other demographic or socioeconomic variable. Even after carefully accounting for observational differences, Catholics were far less likely to vote for the NSDAP than their Protestant counterparts. The evidence suggests that this disparity was, in large part, due to the sway of the Catholic Church and its dignitaries. At the same time, we show that attempts to immunize Catholics against the radical left failed to achieve the desired result. To explain the puzzling asymmetry in the Church's influence at the ballot box, we develop a simple theoretical framework of elite influence in electoral politics.
Output Performance Study on a Production Petascale Filesystem

This paper reports our observations from a top-tier supercomputer Titan and its Lustre parallel file stores under production load. In summary, we find that supercomputer file systems are highly variable across the machine at fine time scales. This variability has two major implications. First, stragglers lessen the benefit of coupled I/O parallelism (striping). Peak median output bandwidths are obtained with parallel writes to many independent files, with no striping or write-sharing of files across clients (compute nodes). I/O parallelism is most effective when the application—or its I/O middleware system—distributes the I/O load so that each client writes separate files on multiple targets, and each target stores files for multiple clients, in a balanced way. Second, our results suggest that the potential benefit of dynamic adaptation is limited. In particular, it is not fruitful to attempt to identify “good spots” in the machine or in the file system: component performance is driven by transient load conditions, and past performance is not a useful predictor of future performance. For example, we do not observe regular diurnal load patterns.
Ramanomics: New Omics Disciplines Using Micro Raman Spectrometry with Biomolecular Component Analysis for Molecular Profiling of Biological Structures

Modern instrumentation for Raman microspectroscopy and current techniques in analysis of spectral data provide new opportunities to study molecular interactions and dynamics at subcellular levels in biological systems. Implementation of biomolecular component analysis (BCA) to microRaman spectrometry provides basis for the emergence of Ramanomics, a new biosensing discipline with unprecedented capabilities to measure concentrations of distinct biomolecular groups in live cells and organelles. Here we review the combined use of microRaman-BCA techniques to probe absolute concentrations of proteins, DNA, RNA and lipids in single organelles of live cells. Assessing biomolecular concentration profiles of organelles at the single cell level provides a physiologically relevant set of biomarkers for cellular heterogeneity. In addition, changes to an organelle’s biomolecular concentration profile during a cellular transformation, whether natural, drug induced or disease manifested, can provide molecular insight into the nature of the cellular process.
LAPPS/Galaxy: Current State and Next Steps

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) SI2-funded LAPPS/Galaxy project has developed an open-source platform for enabling complex analyses while hiding complexities associated with underlying infrastructure, that can be accessed through a web interface, deployed on any Unix system, or run from the cloud. It provides sophisticated tool integration and history capabilities, a workflow system for building automated multi-step analyses, state-of-the-art evaluation capabilities, and facilities for sharing and publishing analyses. This paper describes the current facilities available in LAPPS/Galaxy and outlines the project’s ongoing activities to enhance the framework.
Emulsification of Athabasca bitumen by organic alkali: Emulsion phase behavior and viscosity for bitumen/brine/triethylenetetramine

Abstract Recovery of bitumen commonly uses steam assisted-gravity drainage, in which water throughput is intrinsically high. A large amount of condensed water near thermal fronts tends to substantially decrease the effective permeability to bitumen in the conventional gravity drainage process. This research investigates a potential way to use the condensed-water phase as an effective carrier for bitumen by making oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion. The expected mechanism depends on emulsification of bitumen into the water phase by natural surfactants that are generated through reactions of acidic oil components with organic alkali. The main objective of this paper is to study the ability of an organic alkali to create o/w emulsions that are much more mobile than the original bitumen. Triethylenetetramine (TETA) was selected as organic alkali for this paper with no other additives. The main contribution of this paper is a new set of experimental data (phase behavior and viscosities) for emulsions for mixtures of Athabasca bitumen, TETA, and NaCl brine at a wide range of alkali concentrations, salinities, and water-to-oil ratios (WORs) at temperatures up to 373 K. Results show that the o/w emulsions created by TETA can be an effective bitumen carrier with a low viscosity and high bitumen content in the emulsion. It is possible to create o/w emulsions by adding a small amount of TETA to Athabasca bitumen and NaCl brine. Single-phase o/w emulsions, which are desirable as a bitumen carrier, were observed for TETA concentrations below 5.0 wt% at salinities 0 ppm and 1000 ppm at 373 K. The bitumen content in o/w emulsion was the highest for 2.0 wt% TETA samples, and it increased with increasing temperature. In comparison to the original bitumen, o/w emulsions were 4–5 orders of magnitude less viscous at 298 K, 2 to 3 orders of magnitude less viscous at 323 K, and 1 to 2 orders of magnitude less viscous at 353 K.
Modeling Trajectory-level Behaviors using Time Varying Pedestrian Movement Dynamics

We present a novel interactive multi-agent simulation algorithm to model pedestrian movement dynamics. We use statistical techniques to compute the movement patterns and motion dynamics from 2D trajectories extracted from crowd videos. Our formulation extracts the dynamic behavior features of real-world agents and uses them to learn movement characteristics on the fly. The learned behaviors are used to generate plausible trajectories of virtual agents as well as for long-term pedestrian trajectory prediction. Our approach can be integrated with any trajectory extraction method, including manual tracking, sensors, and online tracking methods. We highlight the benefits of our approach on many indoor and outdoor scenarios with noisy, sparsely sampled trajectory in terms of trajectory prediction and data-driven pedestrian simulation.
Kubert v. Best et al.: Massachusetts Ramifications of the Recent Remote Texting Liability Case in New Jersey

Case comment arguing that not only was the case decided correctly but that it will implicate future decisions in nearby jurisdictions.
STAGE 3 Clinical Trial of Ceftriaxone in Subjects with ALS (S36.001)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of ceftriaxone in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). BACKGROUND: ALS is a uniformly progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no known cure. The pathogenesis is largely unknown. Several studies implicate glutamate toxicity, free radical toxicity, toxicity from heavy metals and mitochondrial dysfunction as possible causes of both sporadic and familial ALS. Ceftriaxone showed hits in ALS-relevant assays during a NINDS-led screening program of 1040 FDA approved drugs. Ceftriaxone increased expression of the astrocytic glutamate transporter, EAAT2, and in models of superoxide dismutase mediated toxicity. Ceftriaxone also protects motor neurons in culture from excitotoxic cell death, and has antioxidant and anti-apoptotic activity. DESIGN/METHODS: A double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial of ceftriaxone was conducted in 513 subjects with ALS. The study uses a sequential, non-stop drug development design. This design was chosen as a method to expedite drug development, while safely testing a new therapeutic agent in ALS. STAGE 1 investigated steady state levels and population kinetics of ceftriaxone in CSF, while STAGE 2 defined the safety and tolerability of ceftriaxone after 20 weeks of daily treatment. STAGE 3 investigated whether chronic treatment with 4 grams of ceftriaxone prolongs survival and slows the rate of decline in function (using ALSFRS-R). Study drug was given intravenously via an implanted central venous catheter. Ursodiol was also used in conjunction with Ceftriaxone to reduce the incidence of biliary adverse events. RESULTS: Both 2 and 4 grams of Ceftriaxone achieved trough CSF levels of 1 uM, and were shown to be tolerable for long-term use. Survival (p= 0.3680) and rate of decline (p=0.1715) were not significantly different between 4 grams ceftriaxone and placebo. CONCLUSIONS: The three-stage study determined that Ceftriaxone does not significantly increase the survival time or significantly decrease the rate of decline in function for subjects with ALS. Supported by: NINDS, NEALS Consortium, CALS. Disclosure: Dr. Cudkowicz has received personal compensation for activities with GlaxoSmithKline, Inc. and Teva Neuroscience. Dr. Cudkowicz has received research support from Biogen Idec and Neuraltis. Dr. Shefner has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen-Idec and Glaxo SmithKline as a member of the advisory boards, and from Cytokinetics, Inc as a consultant. Dr. Shefner has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for the Neuromuscular Section Editor of UpToDate. Dr. Shefner has received research funding from NIH, the ALS Association, the ALS Therapy Alliance, MDA, Glaxo Smith Kline, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Biogen-Idec, Cytokinetics, Inc., and Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. Dr. NEALS Consortium has nothing to disclose.
Preparing High Quality Mathematics Primary Teachers: Exploring Program Strategies and Standards in the United States, Russia, Poland, and Chinese Taipei

Preparing high-quality mathematics primary teachers is a priority of teacher education programs as they seek to fulfill professional standards. Programs have used a number of strategies to achieve these goals including developing criteria for program admission and graduation, and regulating future teachers’ opportunities to learn during their program and field experiences as they prepare to enter the classroom. Using data from the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M), this chapter presents an investigation of the relationship between program outcomes as indicated by an assessment of mathematics content knowledge and mathematics pedagogy knowledge, and program standards as reported by program administrators. Factor analyses were used to create indices of program standards in key areas of emphasis. Linear regression models were estimated for four countries, including the United States, Russia, Poland, and Chinese Taipei. Our findings show that program selectivity is the most important strategy related to program outcomes in the Russian and U.S. programs. In addition to entry and exit criteria regulations, standards regulating opportunities to learn while in the program and during field experiences were related to program outcomes in Chinese Taipei and Poland.
Glomerulonephritis in Animal Models and Human Medicine: Discovery, Pathogenesis, and Diagnostics:

Glomerulonephritis (GN) is inflammation of glomeruli. The four major categories that cause human GN are mediated by immunoglobulin or complement or both, and they include (1) immune complex-mediated GN, (2) anti-glomerular basement membrane-mediated GN, (3) antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-mediated GN, and (4) complement factor 3 glomerulopathy mediated by complement dysregulation. Initiating processes include infection, autoimmunity, exogenous antigens, and neoplasia. Often there are predisposing and modulating genetic, epigenetic, and/or environmental factors. Animal models facilitated the recognition and elucidation of the pathogeneses of all four categories of GN, and they continue to be used in preclinical studies to identify and validate therapies for all four types of GN. Advanced diagnostic modalities (e.g., transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence) are helpful and sometimes required for the correct categorization of GN in humans and animals. This review provides historical background on the discovery of the different GN pathogeneses, describes some of the animal models used to discover and understand each GN pathogenic category, reviews the diagnostic classification of each category of GN, and compares human GN to spontaneous forms of nonhuman GN.
A Conversation with Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa

The author of six books, Khosa’s career took off with the 1987 publication of Ualalapi . The text won the Grand Prize of Mozambican Fiction in 1990, and in 2002, a panel of judges in Accra, Ghana ranked Ualalapi one of the 100 best works of African fiction of the 20th century. Next, Khosa published two collections of short stories, Orgia dos Loucos (1990) and Historias de Amor e Espanto (1993), followed by the novel No Reino dos Abutres (2002). His novel Os Sobreviventes da Noite (2005), a portrayal of the use of child soldiers and child concubines in the Mozambican war of destabilization, won the Jose Craveirinha Award in 2007. This interview primarily focuses on Khosa’s most recent novel, Choriro , published in 2009 by the Mozambican publishing house Alcance.
A review on biogenic amines in food and feed: toxicological aspects, impact on health and control measures

Biogenic amines (BAs) represent a considerable toxicological risk in some food and feed products. They are formed under unhygienic conditions during storage and processing; therefore, an increase in the concentrations of those metabolites is related to putrefaction. Because BAs are thermostable, they remain in food and feed that have undergone heat treatment. There are several toxicological effects, especially caused by histamine, when high concentrations of BAs are ingested by humans, depending on the food itself and also on individual susceptibility and individual health status. The present paper reviews the main BAs in meat products, their use as spoilage indicators, the risk on human health and also the contamination of by-product meals. Furthermore, we highlight the state of art regarding impact of BAs on poultry, meat and eggs.
Acoustical oceanography with a single hydrophone: Propagation, physics-based processing and applications

Lobsters, whales and submarines have little in common. Except that they produce low-frequency sound, like many other marine occupants that use sound for communication, foraging, navigation and other purposes. However, unraveling and using the underwater cacophony is not at all simple. This is particularly true for low-frequency (f < 500 Hz) propagation in coastal water (water depth D < 200 m), because the environment acts as a dispersive waveguide: the acoustic field is described by a set of modes that propagate with frequency-dependent speeds. In this context, to extract relevant information from acoustic recording, one needs to understand the propagation and to use physics-based processing. In this tutorial-like presentation, we will show how to analyze low-frequency data recorded on a single hydrophone. We will notably review modal propagation and time-frequency analysis. We will then show how those can be combined into a non-linear signal processing method dedicated to extract modal information from single receiver, and how such information can be used to localize sound sources and/or characterize the oceanic environment. The whole method will be illustrated on several experimental examples, including geoacoustic inversion on the New England Mud Patch and baleen whale localization in the Arctic.
Seasonal Impacts on the Incidence of Esophageal Variceal Hemorrhage: A Nationwide Analysis across a Decade.

Background/Aims: Seasonal variation has previously been reported in relation to the incidence of non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding; however, the impact of seasonal variation on variceal bleeding is not known. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2005 to 2014. International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification- 9th Revision codes were used to identify patients hospitalized with a primary or secondary diagnosis of esophageal variceal hemorrhage. The data were analyzed based on the month of hospitalization. Our primary aim was to assess seasonal variations in variceal bleeding-related hospitalizations. The secondary aims were to assess the impact of seasonal variation on outcomes in variceal bleeding including in-hospital mortality and healthcare resource utilization. Results: A total of 348,958 patients hospitalized with esophageal variceal bleeding were included. The highest number of hospitalizations was reported in December (99.3/day) and the lowest was reported in June (90.8/day). In-hospital mortality was highest in January (11.5%) and lowest in June (9.8%). There was no significant difference in hospital length of stay or total hospitalization costs across all months in all years combined. Conclusions: There appears to be a seasonal variation in the incidence and mortality of variceal hemorrhage in the United States. December was the month with the highest number of daily hospitalizations while the nadir occurred in June. Clin Endosc 2020;53:189-195
Z hu Xi and the Liberalism/Communitarianism Debate: An Imperfect Fit

This chapter explores how Zhu Xi might engage in the recent debate between liberal and communitarian philosophers concerning the nature of the human self. After giving a brief introduction to arguments on both sides, I consider places of agreement between Zhu and liberal philosophers before identifying points of consensus between him and communitarian thinkers. Having explored this common ground, I present his elitism as a factor that prevents him from fitting neatly into either side of the debate, and claim further that his cosmological theory makes it impossible for him to fit into the debate as a whole. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the broader implications of Zhu’s incompatibility with the other participants in the debate under discussion.
9 – Iron bioavailability

Publisher Summary The essentiality of iron has been known since ancient times and its beneficial effect on blood formation was recognized in the 17th century. There are two kinds of organic iron: hemal and nonhemal. Iron content of the body varies with species, age, sex, nutrition, and state of health and is controlled by adjustment in absorption rate. Attempts were made to determine bioavailability of iron sources by measuring hemoglobin regeneration dates back to the early 20th century. Amine and colleagues used a similar approach but compared slope ratios from the response of hemoglobin to graded concentrations of standard and test sources. It has already been reported that rats were more sensitive in detecting differences among iron sources than the chicks. In the first half of the 20th century, iron sources were often chosen for food enrichment based on their light color and chemical inertness rather than for the bioavailability of their iron. Extrinsic and intrinsic radiolabels with 59Fe have been used to study inorganic and nonheme iron bioavailability. Ferrous sulfate, ferric chloride, ferrous carbonate, and ferric oxide labeled with 59Fe were given to calves and lambs. Iron forms including iron dextran, iron dextrin, and gleptoferron have been effective sources of iron when administered as single intramuscular injections to baby pigs in the first 3 days of life. The importance of iron in human nutrition and the prevalence of iron deficiency among human populations have stimulated research on the bioavailability of iron in potential supplements of the element.
Mosquitocidal activity of p,p'-difluoro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DFDT).

Abstract New insecticides are urgently needed for the control of arthropod vectors of public health diseases. As resistance to many insecticides used for the control of public health pests is ubiquitous, all available chemistries should be evaluated for their potential to effectively control both insecticide-susceptible and insecticide-resistant strains of mosquitoes. This study aimed to evaluate p-p’-difluoro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DFDT) as a mosquito control technology and relate its activity to that of DDT. We found that topical DFDT was significantly less toxic than DDT to both pyrethroid-susceptible and pyrethroid-resistant strains of Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti. Direct nervous system recording from Drosophila melanogaster CNS demonstrated that DFDT is approximately 10-times less potent than DDT at blocking nerve firing, which may explain its relatively lower toxicity. DFDT was shown to be at least 4500 times more vapor-active than DDT, with an LC50 in a vapor toxicity screening assay of 2.2 μg/cm2. Resistance to DFDT was assessed in two mosquito strains that possess target-site mutations in the voltage-gated sodium channel and upregulated metabolic activity. Resistance ratios for Akdr (An. gambiae) and Puerto Rico (Ae. aegypti) strains were 9.2 and 12.2, respectively. Overall, this study demonstrates that DFDT is unlikely to be a viable public health vector control insecticide.
A child presents with perianal symptoms - how often is this Crohn's disease?

Abstract Background The cumulative incidence and predictors of future diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) following presentation with perianal symptoms, such as anorectal abscess, fistula or fissure, is unknown. Methods A 5-year retrospective review of children presenting with perianal symptoms without prior CD diagnosis was performed. Institutional cumulative incidence of CD was calculated to determine the risk of CD presenting with perianal symptoms. Results 1140 children presented for evaluation of an anorectal abscess (n = 232), fistula (n = 49), or fissure (n = 859). Thirty-five were later diagnosed with CD, resulting in an incidence of 3%. Prognostic indicators of future CD diagnosis included increased age per every additional year (RR 1.19, 95% CI: 1.14–1.25, p Conclusion Of children presenting with a perianal symptom, three percent will eventually be diagnosed with CD. At highest risk (35%) were males aged 10 years or older with a perianal fistula; which should prompt expeditious workup.
Are Thoughts About the Future Associated With Perceptions in the Present?: Optimism, Possible Selves, and Self-Perceptions of Aging.

Despite much literature pointing to the saliency of self-perceptions of aging (SPA) to aging processes, limited research offers empirical analysis on what shapes SPA. In order to identify possible ...
Student-led development of a lightboard to enhance future student learning

Lightboards are emerging technologies, helping to optimize online and flipped classroom environments by enabling the instructor to face the audience while writing on a transparent board. Although b...
Low current GaAs integrated down converter for portable communication applications

A low current GaAs MMIC amplifier/mixer was designed and characterized for portable communication applications in the 900 MHz band. This single chip integrated front-end IC (90 mil /spl times/ 110 mil) achieved - 118 dBM sensitivity at the cellular band. The extremely low power dissipation, high level of integration, and very good RF performance of this monolithic IC make it an ideal candidate for portable communication applications. >
The Role of Antifreeze Glycopeptides and Peptides in the Survival of Cold-water Fishes

The necessity of maintaining a liquid state at the cellular level for life is obvious. For poikilotherms„ the limits of cellular function and hence life are set by the temperatures at which phase changes of water occur. At the lower end it is 0 °C, the freezing point of water, or the freezing point of the body fluids of the organism, which is slightly lower than 0 °C, as determined by the salt content. Some organisms have evolved mechanisms which allow them to exist in a dormant state, or in an active state at temperatures well below their freezing points. This chapter is a brief account of how certain marine fishes maintain their hypo-osmotic body fluids in a liquid state while living actively in hyper-osmotic, freezing seawater laden with ice crystals, and avoid death from freezing.
Identification of an epithelial cell receptor responsible for Clostridium difficile TcdB-induced cytotoxicity

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in the United States. The two main virulence factors of C. difficile are the large toxins, TcdA and TcdB, which enter colonic epithelial cells and cause fluid secretion, inflammation, and cell death. Using a gene-trap insertional mutagenesis screen, we identified poliovirus receptor-like 3 (PVRL3) as a cellular factor necessary for TcdB-mediated cytotoxicity. Disruption of PVRL3 expression by gene-trap mutagenesis, shRNA, or CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis resulted in resistance of cells to TcdB. Complementation of the gene-trap or CRISPR mutants with PVRL3 resulted in restoration of TcdB-mediated cell death. Purified PVRL3 ectodomain bound to TcdB by pull-down. Pretreatment of cells with a monoclonal antibody against PVRL3 or prebinding TcdB to PVRL3 ectodomain also inhibited cytotoxicity in cell culture. The receptor is highly expressed on the surface epithelium of the human colon and was observed to colocalize with TcdB in both an explant model and in tissue from a patient with pseudomembranous colitis. These data suggest PVRL3 is a physiologically relevant binding partner that can serve as a target for the prevention of TcdB-induced cytotoxicity in C. difficile infection.
How Do Small Businesses Pay for a Minimum Wage Increase

The impact of changes in the minimum wage on employment is a politically charged topic that has been researched extensively. This paper analyzes what small business owners intend to do in the short term to pay for such an increase in labor costs. Since there are multiple ways a business can compensate for an increase in labor costs in lieu of adjusting labor levels, our survey asks the business owners to rank a list of possible funding sources by likelihood. Using a sample of 1294 privately-held US firms over the period of May 10, 2014 to May 15, 2014, we find that small businesses respond differently to minimum wage hikes than larger businesses and that small businesses plan to pay for minimum wage hikes using the following methods, in the following order: 1) increase prices to customers, 2) reduce hours, 3) layoffs, 4) reduce other costs, 5) reduce profits to owners/investors.
A commentary on community living Finding and creating a sense of community

A sense of community is very important to an individual, as it helps him/her maintain a sense of belongingness and benefit from the availability of social support. While there is a great deal of research regarding how communities are created and maintained, there is still much more to be done. This article describes an informal investigation into peoples’ understanding of community, how they found their social niches, and discussions of the similarities found between different interviewees. The initial approach was to compare and contrast two very different cities: Boston and New York, highlighting the impact the environment has on the ability of one to create his/her social group. However, what was found through conversation was that community is less about the location one is embedded in, and more about lifestyle choices.
Finite element simulation of wind turbine aerodynamics: validation study using NREL Phase VI experiment

A validation study using the NREL Phase VI wind turbine is presented. The aerodynamics simulations are performed using the finite element ALE‐VMS formulation augmented with weakly enforced essential boundary conditions. In all cases the rotor is assumed to be rigid and its rotation is prescribed. The rotor-only simulations are performed for a wide range of wind conditions and the computational results compare favorably with the experimental findings in all cases. The sliding-interface method is adopted for the simulation of the full wind turbine configuration. The full-wind-turbine simulations capture the blade‐tower interaction eect, and the results of these simulations are also in good agreement with the experimental data. Copyright c 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Preserving digital local news

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore issues and approaches for collection and management of born digital local news. Much local news – important documentation of local history – is being lost. The fact that a lot of news media is now available digitally presents new opportunities but also new challenges for such preservation.Design/methodology/approach – Several specific bottle‐necks for implementing this project are examined. For instance, the size of the problem is estimated by approximating how much local news is generated in one US state. Then the difficulties in capture, storage requirements, selection, access, and sustainability are considered, focusing on difficulties in selection. Finally, a number of business models for handling these challenges are explored.Findings – Currently, there is no large‐scale effort under way to preserve local television and newspaper news stories, and as a result this part of history is being lost. Many practical difficulties to a comprehensive system hav...
Eight definitions of the slow manifold: seiches, pseudoseiches and exponential smallness

Abstract The slow manifold is the Holy Grail of initialization schemes for weather forecasting, a hypothetical subspace of the model's phase space which is free of high-frequency (and forecast-wrecking) gravity waves. Using new machinery, we analyze seven previous definitions of the slow manifold and one definition original to this work. One new tool is the mathematics of nonlocal solitary wave theory. The traditional definition of a slow manifold is too restrictive, but a generalization in the spirit of nonlocal soliton theory is computable. Another novelty is the conceptual distinction between ‘seiche’ and ‘pseudoseiche’. The former are free, unforced gravity waves, whereas pseudoseiches are forced gravity mode oscillations which mimic seiches over a finite time interval. We show through a linear model that it is possible to remove seiches by initialization, even though the usual algorithms are divergent. However, intermittent gravity waves, i.e. pseudoseiches, appears as inexorable as death and the tides.