cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Saha equation for a two-temperature plasma

A modified form of the Saha equation for a two-temperature plasma is presented, which accounts for the underpopulation of the excited states due to deviation from local thermodynamic equilibrium.
Theoretical values for measured ratios of multiphoton ionization rates for circular and linear polarization

Abstract We present theoretical values for measured ratios of multiphoton ionization rates for circularly and linearly polarized light.
Two pathways for chromium(VI)-induced DNA damage in 14 day chick embryos: Cr-DNA binding in liver and 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine in red blood cells.

Previous studies have shown that chromium(VI) induced cell-specific types of DNA damage, i.e. DNA cross-links in liver and DNA strand breaks in red blood cells, in 14 day chick embryos. Direct and indirect pathways for chromium(VI)-mediated DNA damage, in the form of Cr-DNA binding and 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) respectively, were examined in liver and red blood cells of 14 day chick embryos. Levels of hepatic Cr-DNA binding increased in a Cr(VI) dose-dependent manner. Cr-DNA binding in red blood cells was 10-fold lower than in liver, although the Cr-uptake in red blood cells was only 2-fold lower than in liver. The level of 8-oxo-dG formation in red blood cells increased at all Cr(VI) doses tested but peaked at 0.10 mmol Cr(VI)/kg, whereas no increase in 8-oxo-dG levels over background levels was observed in liver of Cr(VI)-treated embryos. The possible role of glutathione in modulating Cr(VI)-induced DNA damage was examined by using L-buthionine-R,S-sulfoximine (BSO) to deplete glutathione. No changes in glutathione levels were observed in either liver or red blood cells of embryos treated with Cr(VI) in the presence or absence of BSO pretreatment. Ascorbate levels in liver and red blood cells were not affected by treatment of embryos with chromium(VI), BSO or Cr(VI) and BSO. Depletion of glutathione by BSO resulted in a small increase of chromium uptake in liver of embryos treated with 0.050 and 0.10 mmol Cr(VI)/kg, but had no effect on hepatic chromium uptake at 0.20 mmol Cr(VI)/kg. BSO had no effect on chromium uptake in red blood cells. Depletion of glutathione had no effect on hepatic or red blood cells Cr-DNA binding in embryos treated with Cr(VI). However, depletion of glutathione significantly decreased the 8-oxo-dG levels in red blood cells at all Cr(VI) doses tested. Levels of 8-oxo-dG in liver of Cr(VI)-treated embryos remained at background in the presence or absence of BSO pretreatment. These results indicate that Cr(VI)-induced DNA damage in 14 day chick embryos is through a direct interaction of chromium with DNA in liver, but is through an indirect oxidative pathway in red blood cells. It appears that glutathione plays an important role in chromium(VI)-induced formation of 8-oxo-dG in red blood cells.
Improvements in quantitative EEG following consumption of a natural citicoline-enhanced beverage

The present study examined the impact of a taurine-free drink enhanced with citicoline and other natural ingredients on electrophysiological markers of mental alertness. Ten healthy adult participa...
Traffic Signature-Based Mobile Device Location Authentication

Spontaneous and robust mobile device location authentication can be realized by supplementing existing 802.11x access points (AP) with small cells. We show that by transferring network traffic to a mobile computing device associated with a femtocell while remotely monitoring its ingress traffic activity, any internet-connected sender can verify the cooperating receiver’s location. We describe a prototype non-cryptographic location authentication system we constructed, and explain how to design both voice and data transmissions with distinct, discernible traffic signatures. Using both analytical modeling and empirical results from our implementation, we demonstrate that these signatures can be reliably detected even in the presence of heavy cross-traffic introduced by other femtocell users.
What Is “Good” Education Research?

The question of what counts as good education research has received a great deal of attention, but too often it is conceived principally as a methodological question rather than an ethical one. Good education research is a matter not only of sound procedures but also of beneficial aims and results; our ultimate aim as researchers and educators is to serve people’s well-being. For their research to be deemed good in a strong sense, education researchers must be able to articulate some sound connection between their work and a robust and justifiable conception of human well-being. There is a good deal of history and convention against such a conception of researchers’ work. We need to consider the conditions needed if that conception is to be realized. Among the conditions is a concerted and cooperative endeavor for moral education among researchers and the people with whom they work—a context where questions of well-being are foregrounded, welcomed, and vigorously debated.
Processivity of peptidoglycan synthesis provides a built-in mechanism for the robustness of straight-rod cell morphology

The propagation of cell shape across generations is remarkably robust in most bacteria. Even when deformations are acquired, growing cells progressively recover their original shape once the deforming factors are eliminated. For instance, straight-rod-shaped bacteria grow curved when confined to circular microchambers, but straighten in a growth-dependent fashion when released. Bacterial cell shape is maintained by the peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall, a giant macromolecule of glycan strands that are synthesized by processive enzymes and cross-linked by peptide chains. Changes in cell geometry require modifying the PG and therefore depend directly on the molecular-scale properties of PG structure and synthesis. Using a mathematical model we quantify the straightening of curved Caulobacter crescentus cells after disruption of the cell-curving crescentin structure. We observe that cells straighten at a rate that is about half (57%) the cell growth rate. Next we show that in the absence of other effects there exists a mathematical relationship between the rate of cell straightening and the processivity of PG synthesis—the number of subunits incorporated before termination of synthesis. From the measured rate of cell straightening this relationship predicts processivity values that are in good agreement with our estimates from published data. Finally, we consider the possible role of three other mechanisms in cell straightening. We conclude that regardless of the involvement of other factors, intrinsic properties of PG processivity provide a robust mechanism for cell straightening that is hardwired to the cell wall synthesis machinery.
Skin-Aware Local Contrast Enhancement

Local contrast enhancement (LCE) gives a more lively look to an image or video. With a larger difference of a pixel's luma value from its local mean, the eye needs less time to adjust to that local region for a better contrast sensitivity. Since the human eye is trained and conditioned to recognize a natural looking face, the faces in a locally enhanced image may look unnatural even though other parts of the enhanced image is visually more attractive than the original image. To solve this problem, a low-complexity skin-aware local contrast enhancement algorithm is proposed. The proposed skin-aware local contrast enhancement (SALSA) algorithm avoids creating false edges. Experiment results show that SALSA produces natural looking face and non-facial skin regions in the locally enhanced image.
The Contribution of Childhood and Medical School Location to the Career Paths of Graduating Pediatrics Residents.

Abstract Objective To compare job search experience and postresidency position of pediatric residents on the basis of childhood location (United States or international) and medical school location (American medical graduates [AMG] or international medical graduate [IMG]). Methods Annual national random samples of 1000 graduating pediatric residents from 2009 to 2013 were surveyed. Multivariable analyses, controlling for resident and program characteristics, compared job search experiences and postresidency positions among 4 groups categorized by childhood and medical school location: US-AMG, US-IMG, international-AMG, and international-IMG. Results A total of 3027 graduating residents (61.1%) responded: 75.2% US-AMG, 15.8% international-IMG, 6.3% US-IMG, and 2.7% international-AMG. The 4 groups varied by demographics (age, race, gender, marital status, children, bi- or multilingual family), educational debt, residency program region and size, and Spanish proficiency (P Conclusions Multiple factors are involved in pediatrician's career choices. When childhood location is considered with medical school location, there were differences between groups in demographics, job search difficulty, and career intentions.
Plant-derived natural product research aimed at new drug discovery.

Many important bioactive compounds have been discovered from natural sources using bioactivity-directed fractionation and isolation (BDFl) [Balunas MJ, Kinghorn AD (2005) Drug discovery from medicinal plants. Life Sci 78:431–441]. Continuing discovery has also been facilitated by the recent development of new bioassay methods. These bioactive compounds are mostly plant secondary metabolites, and many naturally occurring pure compounds have become medicines, dietary supplements, and other useful commercial products. Active lead compounds can also be further modified to enhance the biological profiles and developed as clinical trial candidates. In this review, the authors will summarize research on many different useful compounds isolated or developed from plants with emphasis placed on those recently discovered by the authors’ laboratories as antitumor and anti-HIV clinical trial candidates.
Attachment of nanoparticles to the AFM tips for direct measurements of interaction between a single nanoparticle and surfaces

Abstract Here we report a universal method of attachment/functionalization of tips for atomic force microscope (AFM) with nanoparticles. The particles of interest are glued to the AFM tip with epoxy. While the gluing of micron size particles with epoxy has been known, attachment of nanoparticles was a problem. The suggested method can be used for attachment of virtually any solid nanoparticles. Approximately every other tip prepared with this method has a single nanoparticle terminated apex. We demonstrate the force measurements between a single ∼ 50 nm ceria nanoparticle and flat silica surface in aqueous media of different acidity (pH 4–9). Comparing forces measured with larger ceria particles ( ∼ 500 nm ), we show that the interaction with nanoparticles is qualitatively different from the interaction with larger particles.
Postcolonial Grotesque: Jane Alexander's Poetic Monsters

The hybrid combination of human and animal lies at the heart of the figurative vocabulary through which Jane Alexander’s sculptural tableaux summon us into the imaginative domain of the “humanimal”—a domain where the boundaries by which religion, philosophy and science have separated men, gods and beasts are torn apart, and where the rules and conventions that ordinarily seek to impose order over our world take a tumble. Alexander’s poetic monsters eat away at the rigid polarity of “self” and “other” in colonial discourse by revisiting the ontological boundary between human and animal that during Enlightenment thought was metaphorically converted into an intrahuman distinction of insurmountable differences among diverse “races.” If her achievement is remarkable for the quiet way its terrible and horrifying content is put forward without judgment or finger-pointing, it is all the more unique in the optimism it invests in the monstrous and grotesque as “imaginative universals” of the fragile human soul.
Effect of powder reactivity on microwave sintering of alumina

Effect of the reactivity of starting alumina powder of varying crystallinity on the sintering behavior in microwave process was studied. From X-ray amorphous to highly crystalline alumina, powders were obtained by conventional heating of compacts made of the precursor amorphous powder by heating it at different temperatures from 800 to 1500 °C. These samples were then sintered in a multimode microwave field of 2.45 GHz for 10 min at 1500 °C. The microwave effect on densification of the various alumina powders was evaluated by comparing the microwave and conventional sintering data. The results show significant microwave enhancement in the densification of the samples without any pretreatment. This enhancement became less significant as the temperature of the pretreatment increased and finally diminished. Since the pretreatment at elevated temperatures made the powder more stable thermodynamically, this study indicates that the sintering enhancement of a ceramic material in microwave is a metastability-related phenomenon.
Similar laminar boundary layers with zero wall shear and mass addition

The compressible similar laminar boundary-layer equations for unit Prandtl number are considered for the case of zero wall shear and values of mass addition, such that blowoff phenomena are observed. An analytical technique based on asymptotic methods is used to describe the solutions in a regime where numerical computation fails. It is shown for the limit of small adverse pressure gradients that solutions in the wall region which grow exponentially with distance from the wall can be matched to a mixing-layer (shear-layer) solution by means of a purely translational asymptotic transformation relating the wall and shearlayer variables. The results indicate a thickening of the boundary layer proportional to the logarithm of the small pressure gradient for finite wall enthalpy; whereas for zero wall enthalpy the rate is inversely proportional to the pressure gradient. Results are given for the mass addition rate and the wall heat transfer as a function of the prescribed small adverse pressure gradient for a range of wall temperatures. Pathelogical results for heat transfer rates found for the cold wall boundary condition in earlier numerical calculations are rationalized on the basis of the analytical results.
Concurrent Validity and Intertester Reliability of Universal and Fluid-based Goniometers for Active Elbow Range of Motion

The purposes of this study were 1) to establish the concurrent validity of the universal goniometer and the fluid-based goniometer and 2) to determine the intertester reliability of these two instruments. A correlational study was performed in which two testers used the universal goniometer and the fluid-based goniometer in measuring elbow range of motion in 30 healthy subjects. The fluid-based goniometer had high intertester reliability (R = .92), and the standard goniometer had poor reliability (R = .53). The Pearson product-moment correlation between the two instruments was .83. A significant difference was shown between the standard goniometer and the fluid-based goniometer by the t test ( t = 4.4, df = 28, p < .05). The results support the use of the fluid-based goniometer between testers on elbow range of motion; however, the two instruments cannot be used interchangeably.
Microarray Transfection Analysis of Transcriptional Regulation by cAMP-dependent Protein Kinase

A wide variety of bioinformatic tools have been described to characterize potential transcriptional regulatory mechanisms based on genomic sequence analysis and microarray hybridization studies. However, these regulatory mechanisms are still experimentally verified using transient transfection methods. Current transfection methods are limited both by their large scale and by the low level of efficiency for certain cell types. Our goals were to develop a microarray-based transfection method that could be optimized for different cell types and that would be useful in reporter assays of transcriptional regulation. Here we describe a novel transfection method, termed STEP (surface transfection and expression protocol), which employs microarray-based DNA transfection of adherent cells in the functional analysis of transcriptional regulation. In STEP, recombinant proteins with biological activities designed to enhance transfection are complexed with expression vector DNAs prior to spotting on microscope slides. The recombinant proteins used in STEP complexes can be varied to increase the efficiency for different cell types. We demonstrate that STEP efficiently transfects both supercoiled plasmids and PCR-generated linear expression cassettes. A co-transfection assay using effector expression vectors encoding the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), as well as reporter vectors containing PKA-regulated promoters, showed that STEP transfection allows detection and quantitation of transcriptional regulation by this protein kinase. Because bioinformatic studies often result in the identification of many putative regulatory elements and signaling pathways, this approach should be of utility in high-throughput functional genomic studies of transcriptional regulation.
The Arabidopsis HOS1 gene negatively regulates cold signal transduction and encodes a RING finger protein that displays cold-regulated nucleo--cytoplasmic partitioning.

Low temperature is one of the most important environmental stimuli that control gene transcription programs and development in plants. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the HOS1 locus is a key negative regulator of low temperature-responsive gene transcription. The recessive hos1 mutation causes enhanced induction of the CBF transcription factors by low temperature as well as of their downstream cold-responsive genes. The hos1 mutant plants flower early, and this correlates with a low level of Flowering Locus C gene expression. The HOS1 gene was isolated through positional cloning. HOS1 encodes a novel protein with a RING finger motif near the amino terminus. HOS1 is ubiquitously expressed in all plant tissues. HOS1–GFP translational fusion studies reveal that HOS1 protein resides in the cytoplasm at normal growth temperatures. However, in response to low temperature treatments, HOS1 accumulates in the nucleus. Ectopic expression of HOS1 in wild-type plants causes cosuppression of HOS1 expression and mimics the hos1 mutant phenotypes.
Complications of indwelling venous access devices in cancer patients

PURPOSEWe undertook this study to review our experience with indwelling vascular access devices in cancer patients to identify factors associated with complications.PATIENTS AND METHODSA total of 322 indwelling devices were placed in 274 cancer patients by a single surgeon. Devices were placed via percutaneous insertion in 72% (231 of 322) and via venous cutdown in 28% (91 of 322). We placed external catheters in 209 of 322 patients (65%) and subcutaneous infusion ports in 113 of 322 (35%).RESULTSPneumothorax occurred in four of 231 (1.7%) of the percutaneously placed devices. Postoperative complications included sepsis and thrombosis, which necessitated premature removal of the devices. Device related sepsis occurred in 28 of 209 patients (13%) with catheters and six of 113 patients (5%) with subcutaneous ports. Thrombosis occurred in 21 of 209 patients (10%) with catheters and seven of 113 (6%) with subcutaneous ports. In 15 of 19 devices removed for thrombosis, the tip was above the T3 level. Seventeen...
Scientific Method and the Appraisal of Religion

In looking for criteria by which to assess religious conceptual systems, many philosophers have turned for help to scientific methodology. Perhaps this is because they felt philosophers of science were themselves looking in the right epistemological direction, and had a viable way of describing what they saw. Richard Swinburne has provided a strong, sustained treatment of the application of scientific method to religious truth claims, in The Existence of God . He there makes use of what he sees as ‘the close similarities which exist between religious theories and large-scale scientific theories’ in assessing the epistemic status of belief in God. The goal of this paper will be to give enough of Swinburne's position to see what criteria might be plucked therefrom, to subject both the criteria and the underlying methodology to scrutiny, and to assess where one must go from here in appraising the truth-claims of religion.
Counselors Helping Service Veterans Re-Enter Their Couple Relationship After Combat and Military Services: A Comprehensive Overview

This article provides an overview of the unique challenges combat service veterans deployed in Afghanistan and/or Iraq are dealing with today, and how these challenges can impact veterans' reintegration into civilian life. Focus is also given to attachment; more specifically how the attachment bond between the combat service veteran and his or her spouse/partner often is impacted by the trauma of combat re-deployment/deployment/separation. The importance of couple counseling using Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is addressed, as is a careful assessment at the onset of counseling.
Cyanobacterial photosynthesis in the oceans: the origins and significance of divergent light-harvesting strategies

Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are abundant unicellular cyanobacteria and major participants in global carbon cycles. Although they are closely related and often coexist in the same ocean habitat, they possess very different photosynthetic light-harvesting antennas. Whereas Synechococcus and the majority of cyanobacteria use phycobilisomes, Prochlorococcus has evolved to use a chlorophyll a(2)/b(2) light-harvesting complex. Here, we present a scenario to explain how the Prochlorococcus antenna might have evolved in an ancestral cyanobacterium in iron-limited oceans, resulting in the diversification of the Prochlorococcus and marine Synechococcus lineages from a common phycobilisome-containing ancestor. Differences in the absorption properties and cellular costs between chlorophyll a(2)/b(2) and phycobilisome antennas in extant Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus appear to play a role in differentiating their ecological niches in the ocean environment.
Enterprise in Society: The Forty-Sixth Annual Business History Conference

It wasn't quite the WTO in Seattle, but controversy did enliven the forty-sixth annual meeting of the Business History Conference at Palo Alto, California, March 10–12, 2000. Organized around the theme of “Enterprise in Society,” it boasted panels on work, science and technology, banking, social stakeholders and corporations, gender, the environment, and consumption. Participants came from many fields, and the event's interdisciplinarity sparked lively discussions as to whether particular papers even belonged at the conference. One commentator, Youssef Cassis (University of Grenoble, II), for example, asked if studies of working-class bank customers should be included in panels on banking, or whether such papers, however well done, are social or working-class history, and consequently outside the domain of business history? His question sparked a direct response from audience member Pamela Laird (University of Colorado-Denver) who suggested that this was precisely the direction that business history should be heading.
Technology mapping for field-programmable gate arrays using integer programming

We show that the FPGA technology mapping problem can be efficiently implemented as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem which generates truly optimal mappings. The MILP approach can handle a wide variety of FPGA logic block architectures. We present a compact MILP formulation for logic blocks based on lookup tables (LUTs) multiplexers. We also show that the MILP formulation can be easily modified to modified to optimize area, delay, or a combination of both. We demonstrate that moderately large benchmark circuits can be mapped in a reasonable time using the MILP approach directly. For larger circuits, we propose a technique of partitioning a circuit prior to mapping, which drastically reduces the computation time with little or no loss in optimality.
Some Implications of Behaviour in Agricultural Markets

Modem agricultural location theory stems from the seminal contributions of David Ricardo (1772–1834) and Johann Heinrich von Thunen (1783–1850) nearly two hundred years ago. Today, in the capitalist economies, much of the spatial variation in agricultural land use depends on but two factors: first, differences in physical features, where soil fertility, climate, and topography affect productivity; and second, differences in relative location, where farms face different transportation costs in delivering their produce to either markets or points of export. Unfortunately, even after the suggestion of McCarty and Lindberg (1966) some thirty years ago, few serious attempts have been made to synthesize these two complementary approaches to agricultural location theory.
Why Existence of Hyperbolic Discounting is Not Evidence of Investor Irrationality

A number of researchers (Rubenstein, 2000; Thaler, 1981) have shown that investors have a preference for higher short-run returns, and a declining rate of time preference. Such preferences have been cited as evidence for both investor irrationality and short-comings of the discounted utility model proposed by Samuelson (1937). The purpose of this paper is not to dispute the existence of hyperbolic discounting, but rather to argue that such a discounting process is perfectly rational, especially for a budget constrained investor making a choice between two not-very-uncertain outcomes.
Recursive Partitioning to Identify Potential Causes of Differential Item Functioning in Cross-National Data.

Differential item functioning (DIF) assessment is key in score validation. When DIF is present scores may not accurately reflect the construct of interest for some groups of examinees, leading to incorrect conclusions from the scores. Given rising immigration, and the increased reliance of educational policymakers on cross-national assessments such as Programme for International Student Assessment, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), DIF with regard to native language is of particular interest in this context. However, given differences in language and cultures, assuming similar cross-national DIF may lead to mistaken assumptions about the impact of immigration status, and native language on test performance. The purpose of this study was to use model-based recursive partitioning (MBRP) to investigate uniform DIF in PIRLS items across European nations. Results demonstrated that DIF based on mother's language was present for s...
Philip Altbach: Through the Eyes of His Students

Through anecdotes collected from a selection of Phil’s 88 current and former doctoral advisees, the following essay offers perspectives on what it is like to work alongside the preeminent scholar in international and comparative higher education. Those who have worked with Phil over the course of his or her career will likely find themselves recalling similar experiences. Others who did not have the pleasure of studying with Phil will find insights about what it is “really” like to be an Altbach disciple.
Alarm Bradycardia in White-Tailed Deer Fawns (Odocoileus virginianus)

Heart rates of five unrestrained white-tailed deer fawns ( Odocoileus virginianus ) were telemetered during prone behavioral responses (“freezing”) to a variety of alarm stimuli. Decreases in heart rates, termed alarm bradycardia episodes, were significant and averaged 38% (range 11–68) below, pre-bradycardia heart rates measured during lying-resting behavior in the unalarmed fawn. Episodes of alarm bradycardia (lasting from 5 to 111 s) were most frequent during the first week of life, when the concealment discipline was strongest, but decreased rapidly with growth. Heavier fawns may be further along a continuum of neuromuscular development and associated capacities for “fight and flight” responses, and are less likely to react to disturbances with prone responses and associated bradycardia than lighter fawns of similar age.
Gene Flow Among Three Races of European Corn Borers (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in New York State

In New York state, there are three races of European corn borer moths, which are characterized principally by differences in voltinism and the sex pheromone communication system. One race is bivoltine, with females producing and males responding to a 99:1 E / Z isomeric ratio of ∆11-14:0Ac's as the sex pheromone. Two races, one univoltine and one bivoltine, produce and respond to a 3:97 E / Z blend of ∆11-14:OAc's. The races are referred to as BE, UZ, and BZ to denote these differences. Analyses by gas chromatography of field-collected females indicate that there is significant hybridization between the Z and E races when in sympatry, with hybrid females producing a 68:32 ratio of E / Z 11-14:OAc. Gene flow among the races was investigated using differences in triose phosphate isomerase (TPI) allozyme frequencies of moths from sites sampled across the state. The fixed nature of the Tpi-1 allele in the BE race and increases in the Tpi-1 allele frequencies in UZ populations in sympatry with the BE race support the hypothesis that gene flow following hybridization is unidirectional from BE populations into the Z populations. In addition, the TPI genotypes of the 10 hybrid females analyzed were consistent with hybridization occurring by E males mating with Z females.
An antidiuretic substance in the blood of normal and adrenalectomized rats.

SummaryThe blood serum of normal rats contains a labile antidiuretic and chloruretic substance(s?) which increases in amount after adrenalectomy.
Does Feedback to Business-Plans Impact New Ventures? Evidence from a Field Experiment

Feedback about business plans is thought to potentially improve ventures’ decisions and outcomes. Nonetheless, there is no direct experimental evidence supporting that assumption. We show a randomized controlled trial that tests the effect of giving written feedback to entrepreneurs’ business plans on the subsequent survival of their venture. Out of 88 high-stakes entrepreneurs, half randomly received written feedback and half did not. Later on both groups participated in the incubator program Startup Chile and received $40,000. After four years treated entrepreneurs were 50% more likely to list their ventures in key websites like AngelList, a proxy for having lasted longer.
Religious Syncretism and Intimate Partner Violence in the Chinese American Community

Gender violence in the Chinese American community has been given little attention by researchers, clinicians, and community members. However, violence is a problem across cultures with cultural context playing an important role in disclosure, understanding, and treatment. The purpose of this chapter is to give voice to the many issues related to violence against women within the Chinese diaspora in the USA and to discuss important psychological and cultural constructs related to gender violence within these communities. The roles of religion and spirituality are highlighted specifically as factors for both religious leaders and treatment providers to consider when working with individuals of this ethnic/cultural background. The authors first provide a brief history and description of the Chinese population living in the USA with an overview of their immigration history and within-group differences. Next, an intersectionality approach is used as a lens to discuss the roles played by cultural and family values, gender, gender ideology, and religion in intimate partner violence (IPV) in this community. Lastly, a discussion is offered regarding treatment issues to consider when addressing the impact IPV has at the individual, familial, and societal levels. Implications for community members, religious leaders, researchers, and clinicians are discussed as well as potential challenges in the therapeutic context.
Insomnia etiology and comorbidity.

Insomnia is an extremely prevalent condition, affecting large segments of the population. There is a broad spectrum of risk factors for this disorder, most of which are various types of social, economic, or interpersonal stressors. Risk factors include age, female gender (especially post- and perimenopausal women), divorce/separation/widowhood, psychiatric illness (mood and anxiety disorders), medical conditions, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, coffee consumption, and certain prescription drugs. It is important to recognize that the symptom of insomnia (ie, disturbed or poor quality sleep) may be due to the presence of another primary sleep disorder, such as restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movements in sleep, or sleep apnea.
Characterization of Somatically-Eliminated Genes During Development of the Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)

The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is a basal vertebrate that undergoes developmentally programmed genome rearrangements (PGRs) during early development. These events facilitate the elimination of ∼20% of the genome from the somatic cell lineage, resulting in distinct somatic and germline genomes. Thus far only a handful of germline-specific genes have been definitively identified within the estimated 500 Mb of DNA that is deleted during PGR, although a few thousand germline-specific genes are thought to exist. To improve our understanding of the evolutionary/developmental logic of PGR, we generated computational predictions to identify candidate germline-specific genes within a new transcriptomic dataset derived from adult germline and the early embryonic stages during which PGR occurs. Follow-up validation studies identified 44 germline-specific genes and further characterized patterns of transcription and DNA loss during early embryogenesis. Expression analyses reveal that many of these genes are differentially expressed during early embryogenesis and presumably function in the early development of the germline. Ontology analyses indicate that many of these germline-specific genes play known roles in germline development, pluripotency, and oncogenesis (when misexpressed). These studies provide support for the theory that PGR serves to segregate molecular functions related to germline development/pluripotency in order to prevent their potential misexpression in somatic cells. This larger set of eliminated genes also allows us to extend the evolutionary/developmental breadth of this theory, as some deleted genes (or their gnathostome homologs) appear to be associated with the early development of somatic lineages, perhaps through the evolution of novel functions within gnathostome lineages.
Implementation of Measures to Improve SCIP Perioperative Beta-Blocker Compliance: Quality and Financial Implications.

Introduction The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) was launched in 2005. One of the SCIP metrics includes perioperative beta-blocker guideline (CARD-2), which measures the percentage of patients on a pre-operative beta-blocker with continued use in the perioperative period. Compliance is intended to decrease rates of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and cardiac mortality among high-risk patients. We desired to create low cost, standardized processes on an institutional level to improve compliance with the SCIP CARD-2 metric. Methods We assessed the impact of interventions on provider compliance with the SCIP CARD-2 metric and on simulated impact on institutional cost. Results We were able to improve CARD-2 compliance at one hospital within a year of intervention implementation. The hospital decreased its losses due to noncompliance in FY 2014 by $27 273. Discussion A relatively low cost intervention, aimed at educating providers that utilized existing infrastructure resulted in improved SCIP beta-blocker compliance. Changes in the reimbursement system made at the time of publication demonstrate that reimbursement measures are constantly in flux; tailored interventions based upon our successes may still produce similar results.
High-Pressure Far-Infrared Spectroscopy of PbTe and In-Doped Pb1−x Snx Te

The IV — VI semiconductors are notable for their unique doping and dielectric properties. The tendency in cubic PbSnTe alloys toward a displacive phase transition leads to a very low frequency soft TO phonon and a large static dielectric constant (ɛo ~ 1000). The large ɛo, in turn, effectively screens the ionized impurity potentials leading to high carrier mobilities and an apparent absence of shallow bound states. As a result, carrier freezeout is not usually observed in PbSnTe.
In vitro comparative study of drug loading and delivery properties of bioresorbable microspheres and LC bead

Drug loadable bioresorbable microspheres (BRMS) are specially designed for the treatment of hypervascular tumors through arterial embolization. These microspheres consist of carboxymethyl chitosan crosslinked with carboxymethyl cellulose, and are available at different size ranges varying from 50 to 900 µm in diameter. Similar to commercially available non-resorbable drug eluting microspheres, LC Bead® microspheres (LCB), BRMS were capable of loading more than 99 % of doxorubicin, an anticancer drug, from the solution within 2 h with highly similar kinetics (difference factor f 1 = 0.36; similarity factor f 2 = 97.99). Doxorubicin loaded BRMS exhibited the highest elution rate in the 30 % ethanol aqueous solution saturated with potassium chloride, and the elution time depended on the ratio between the amount of loaded BRMS and the volume of elution media. After injection through microcatheters, BRMS have a higher recovery rate of the microsphere weight than LCB (90.96 vs. 79.63 %, P = 0.026). Although loaded BRMS eluted more drug into the injection medium than loaded LCB (8.63 vs. 3.80 %, P = 0.0015), there was no significant difference in the drug delivery rate between BRMS and LCB (83.88 vs. 86.65 %, P = 0.504). This study compares the loading capability as well as the drug delivery rate of BRMS and a commercial product under a condition simulating a transcatheter arterial chemoembolization procedure and demonstrates the potential of drug loaded BRMS for the treatment of hypervascular tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma.
Thermal conductivity studies of electrophoretically deposited nanodiamond arrays

Abstract In this paper, free-standing nanodiamond arrays were fabricated by an electrophoresis deposition method in different electrolytes: acetonitrile (ACN), water, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Various types of nanodiamond were used: detonation nanodiamond (DND), sulfur functionalized DND (SDND) and high-pressure high-temperature nanodiamond with nitrogen vacancy center (ND(NV)). Thermal conductivity of the above nanodiamond arrays were measured and ordered as follows: ND(NV) > DND(DMSO) > DND(water) > DND(ACN) > SDND. The origin of thermal conductivity differences was investigated through the array fabrication parameters: size, functional group of nanodiamond and electrolyte. Large particle size without functionalization improves thermal conductivity of diamond nanoarrays. Meanwhile, DMSO increases thermal conductivity because nanoarrays grow from the bottom of the template and thermal resistance on the interface is reduced. This paper provides a physicial understanding of how thermal conductivity is influenced by template-based electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process and intrinsic properties of nanodiamond.
Oxytocin-receptor-expressing neurons in the parabrachial nucleus regulate fluid intake.

Brain regions that regulate fluid satiation are not well characterized, yet are essential for understanding fluid homeostasis. We found that oxytocin-receptor-expressing neurons in the parabrachial nucleus of mice (OxtrPBN neurons) are key regulators of fluid satiation. Chemogenetic activation of OxtrPBN neurons robustly suppressed noncaloric fluid intake, but did not decrease food intake after fasting or salt intake following salt depletion; inactivation increased saline intake after dehydration and hypertonic saline injection. Under physiological conditions, OxtrPBN neurons were activated by fluid satiation and hypertonic saline injection. OxtrPBN neurons were directly innervated by oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamus (OxtPVH neurons), which mildly attenuated fluid intake. Activation of neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract substantially suppressed fluid intake and activated OxtrPBN neurons. Our results suggest that OxtrPBN neurons act as a key node in the fluid satiation neurocircuitry, which acts to decrease water and/or saline intake to prevent or attenuate hypervolemia and hypernatremia.
Globally solving nonconvex quadratic programming problems with box constraints via integer programming methods

We present effective linear programming based computational techniques for solving nonconvex quadratic programs with box constraints (BoxQP). We first observe that known cutting planes obtained from the Boolean Quadric Polytope (BQP) are computationally effective at reducing the optimality gap of BoxQP. We next show that the Chvatal–Gomory closure of the BQP is given by the odd-cycle inequalities even when the underlying graph is not complete. By using these cutting planes in a spatial branch-and-cut framework, together with a common integrality-based preprocessing technique and a particular convex quadratic relaxation, we develop a solver that can effectively solve a well-known family of test instances. Our linear programming based solver is competitive with SDP-based state of the art solvers on small instances and sparse instances. Most of our computational techniques have been implemented in the recent version of CPLEX and have led to significant performance improvements on nonconvex quadratic programs with linear constraints.
Soil commensal rhizobia promote Rhizobium etli nodulation efficiency through CinR-mediated quorum sensing.

The rhizosphere microbiome is composed of diverse microorganisms directly interacting with plants and each other. We sought to achieve a better understanding of how rhizobia interact with other soil bacteria during the initial symbiosis period. In this study, we investigated how soil commensals, particularly other rhizobia, affect Rhizobium etli–Phaseolus vulgaris interactions. We found that R. etli formed significantly more nodules on beans grown in unsterilized soil than those in sterilized soil. Furthermore, a strain identified as Rhizobium fabae, isolated from unsterilized soil, was found to affect R. etli nodulation. Interestingly, we found that the key quorum sensing regulator CinR is important for R. etli nodulation efficiency when it is co-inoculated with R. fabae. Moreover, we found that quorum sensing signals produced by R. fabae promoted CinR-mediated gene expression in R. etli. These data suggest that the effects of R. fabae on R. etli symbiosis may act through multispecies bacterial cell–cell communication.
On the Estimation of Modulation Index for Binary Full Response CPM Signals

This letter considers a full response binary continuous phase modulation (CPM) scheme with a single modulation index. Two estimators are proposed for estimating the modulation index of the underlying CPM scheme. The first estimator is based on the method of moments (MoM) that makes use of the auto-correlation function of the received signal whereas the second estimator is the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE), which is based on an approximate linear model. A closed-form expression of the modified Cramer-Rao bound (MCRB) is also derived. The MoM estimator is developed only for the rectangular phase shaping functions, while the MCRB expression and the BLUE estimator are applicable to signals with arbitrary phase shaping functions. Numerical performance analysis in terms of mean-squared error and bit-error rate shows that the method of moments estimator performs better at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), whereas the performance of the BLUE is close to MCRB at high SNR.
Predicting Soft-Response of MUX PUFs via Logistic Regression of Total Delay Difference

This paper presents a logistic regression based approach to predict the soft-response for a challenge using the total delay-difference as an input. This approach enables us to determine whether a challenge is stable or not. Soft-response is the probability of response bit corresponding to the challenge being 1. The total delay-difference is computed from the input challenge by assuming that the delay-difference of the stages are known. The approach learns a logistic function based on the total delay-difference which has just 3 parameters. Therefore, this is a simple approach which gives comparable performance against a more complex approach based on artificial neural network (ANN) models. The model demonstrates good sensitivity and precision but poor specificity. Furthermore, we use scaling parameter of the logistic function to study its relation to the arbiter's timing parameters like setup and hold time.
Automatic fault interpretation with optimal surface voting

ABSTRACTNumerous types of fault attributes have been proposed to detect faults by measuring reflection continuities or discontinuities. However, these attributes can be sensitive to other seismic d...
Computational Icing Risk Analysis of the D8 "Double Bubble" Aircraft

A computational icing risk analysis utilizing LEWICE3D was performed for the D8 Double Bubble aircraft. A variety of discrete drop sizes spanning the Appendix C and O regimes were simulated. For computational efficiency a 50-bin global discretization was produced and projected onto the distributions of interest, eliminating redundant simulations. The trajectory and impingement characteristics for discrete drop diameters were analyzed to help understand the behavior of the water drops in the presence of a complex flow field. The collection efficiency results for the discrete drop diameters were then weighted by their contributions to the total water content of six different continuous distributions and subsequently superposed to approximate these curves. Results indicate that significant variation in impingement exists as a function of drop diameter for complex wing body geometries, and that current discretization practices may be insufficient to accurately predict water collection on certain regions of the aircraft. Results also indicate that the Appendix O distributions, specifically those with considerable water content at large drops, generates water collection patterns that are markedly different from distributions representative of Appendix C.
Ternary Solution Mutual Diffusion Coefficients and Densities of Aqueous Mixtures of Sucrose with NaCl and Sucrose with KCl at 25°C

Ternary solution isothermal mutual diffusion coefficients (interdiffusion coefficients) have been measured for aqueous mixtures of 0.250 mol-dm−3 sucrose (component 1) with 0.5 and 1.0 mol-dm−3 NaCl or with 0.5 and 1.0 mol-dm−3 KCl (salt = component 2) at 25.00°C using Rayleigh interferometry with computerized data acquisition. Densities were also measured. The volume-fixed diffusion coefficients (D ij)V show the following characteristics. At all compositions (D 21)V is much larger than (D 12)V and (D 21)V is a fairly significant fraction (33 to 68%) of (D 11)V. In addition, (D 12)V is slightly larger for mixtures containing NaCl than for those containing KCl at the same concentration, whereas (D 21)V is significantly larger for mixtures containing KCl. Values of (D 11)V are slightly larger for solutions containing KCl than for solutions containing NaCl. The observed trends imply that (D 21)V will probably exceed (D 11)V in both mixtures if concentrations of NaCl or of KCl are increased much further while maintaining the sucrose concentration at 0.250 mol-dm−3. Finally, the solvent-fixed cross-term diffusion coefficients (D 12)0 and (D 21)0 are significantly larger than their corresponding (D 12)V and D 21)V.