cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A rapid label-free method for quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 particles by nanospectroscopy

Infection of cells with human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) results in the production of both infectious and non-infectious virions. At present, several assays are available for the quantitation of virus particles based on the presence of either viral capsid protein or nucleic acid. However, the ability to detect the total number of virus particles, both infectious and non-infectious, has been an elusive goal that would advance the study of virus assembly and egress. A rapid optical detection scheme for real-time label-free quantitation of HIV-1 virus particles was developed. Virions produced in cell cultures transfected transiently were evaluated with a nanospectroscopic assay. Quantitation with the optical detection scheme correlated with routine conventional assays. Nanospectroscopy can be used for the detection of both infectious and non-infectious, wild type and mutant strains of HIV-1 in solution at concentrations as low as 7×10(10)particles/ml, requiring volumes as small as 2 μl per assay, and in significantly less time than standard techniques. This assay provides a rapid, reliable system for quantifying virus particles in solution and could be applied to the study of viral particle production in cell culture.
Fifty Years of Cartilage Research in Pittsburgh—A Department's Contribution to Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Historically, departments of Orthopaedic Surgery have led new and innovative research in many different fields. Cartilage research is one of those that the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh has pioneered since the foundation of the Ferguson Laboratory more than 50 years ago with many marvelous scientists and clinicians having conducted extraordinary research that still affect today's cartilage research. Nowadays, the department has 14 orthopaedic laboratories of different disciplines with over 150 people and 30 faculty members that continue to contribute to our understanding of cartilage injury and degenerative disease.
Neural correlates of focused attention during a brief mindfulness induction

Mindfulness meditationthe practice of attending to present moment experience and allowing emotions and thoughts to pass without judgmenthas shown to be beneficial in clinical populations across diverse outcomes. However, the basic neural mechanisms by which mindfulness operates and relates to everyday outcomes in novices remain unexplored. Focused attention is a common mindfulness induction where practitioners focus on specific physical sensations, typically the breath. The present study explores the neural mechanisms of this common mindfulness induction among novice practitioners. Healthy novice participants completed a brief task with both mindful attention (focused breathing (FB)) and control (unfocused attention) conditions during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Relative to the control condition, FB recruited an attention network including parietal and prefrontal structures and trait-level mindfulness during this comparison also correlated with parietal activation. Results suggest that the neural mechanisms of a brief mindfulness induction are related to attention processes in novices and that trait mindfulness positively moderates this activation.
Glueballs, string tension, tunneling and deconfinement

Abstract For SU (2) and SU (3) lattice gauge theories, results of computer simulations in the intermediate volume range are presented. Very good agreement with recent analytical calculations by Koller and van Baal is found. The relationship between the tunneling and the deconfining transition is investigated and a semiclassical calculation of the deconfinement temperature is proposed.
One-year outcomes of minor and subsyndromal depression in older primary care patients

Background Despite the high prevalence and morbidity of minor and subsyndromal depression in primary care elderly people, there are few data to identify those at highest risk of poor outcomes. The goal of this observational cohort study was to characterize the one-year outcomes of minor and subsyndromal depression, examining the predictive strength of a range of putative risks including clinical, functional and psychosocial variables.
Seat cushion comparison for nursing home wheelchair users.

Finding solutions to the seating problems of nursing home wheelchair users is challenging due to the lack of data regarding the pressure-relieving and comfort performance of wheelchair cushions for this population. This study's goal was to determine whether commercially available seat cushions provide better pressure relief and comfort than do traditionally provided or “makeshift” cushions or pads. Using a repeated measures design, 21 nursing home wheelchair users were enlisted to help evaluate two traditionally provided or “makeshift” cushions or pads and two selected commercially available seat cushions. The peak sitting pressures for 20 subjects were recorded using an Oxford pressure monitor. Twenty-one subjects were asked to score the test cushions' comfort. Due to the somewhat surprising results for the traditionally provided eggcrate cushion, the results fell short of supporting our initial hypothesis. Nevertheless, the study did identify three cushions, the eggcrate, the gel/foam, and the foam, whi...
Coping as a Moderator of Relations Between Reactivity to Interpersonal Stress, Health Status, and Internalizing Problems

Coping moderation of relations between involuntary stress-reactivity, health status, and internalizing problems was tested in sociotropic college students responding to a standardized laboratory interpersonal stressor. Coping moderated relations between heart rate reactivity and health status, with primary control engagement coping, secondary control engagement coping, and disengagement coping all serving as buffers. Primary control also buffered the link between self-reported arousal and health status, and secondary control coping buffered the link between self-reported arousal and health status and internalizing problems. Coping and involuntary responses to the standardized laboratory stressor were correlated with measures of naturalistic coping and involuntary stress-reactivity. Benefits of linking laboratory and naturalistic coping research are highlighted, along with implications of the interaction of involuntary stress-reactivity and coping.
Assessing fertilizer N placement on CH4 and N2O emissions in irrigated rice systems

Abstract Improved N fertilizer management practices can increase rice yields and mitigate global warming potential (GWP). While banding N has been shown to have positive effects on yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), there is little information on how it affects greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from flooded rice systems. We tested the hypothesis that in continuously flooded rice systems where GWP is dominated by CH4 emissions, deep placement of urea in bands would reduce CH4 and N2O emissions. Rice yields and GHG emissions were measured from three field experiments which had three treatments: (1) no N (N0), (2) urea broadcast (U-BR) on soil surface and (3) urea banded at 7.5 cm soil depth (U-BA). All urea was applied in a single application before flooding in preparation for planting at N rates of 143–150 kg N ha− 1. Throughout the rice growing season GHG emissions were measured using a vented flux chamber and gas chromatograph. Across all fields, N fertilizer application increased yield on average by 121%. Between the N placement methods, grain yields and NUE (37 kg grain kg− 1) were similar. Daily N2O emissions were low to negative and did not differ among treatments. CH4 emissions were the major source of GWP emissions and cumulative emissions ranged from 6.3 to 297 kg CH4–C ha− 1 season− 1 among fields. While in some cases fertilizer N increased CH4 emissions, there was no effect of N placement on them.
The Theory of Liquid Helium

A quasi-thermodynamic theory of liquid helium is developed based on very general assumptions regarding the energy spectrum of the liquid. Below the $\ensuremath{\lambda}$-point helium can be considered as a mixture of two fluids capable of two velocity fields. The macroscopic hydrodynamic equations of this system are derived. These are in the same relation to ordinary hydrodynamics as a two-body is to a one-body problem in point mechanics. The flow connected with the center of mass coordinate is associated with the transport of mass at constant entropy, the one connected with the relative coordinate (internal convection) is associated with an entropy transport at constant density. The results are in excellent agreement with experiment, in particular with the measurements of the temperature waves (second sound), the existence of which was predicted by the theory. The Bose-Einstein liquid introduced earlier is a possible molecular model consistent with the macroscopic results. Landau's theory is discussed.
Predictive Control for Energy-Aware Consolidation in Cloud Datacenters

Infrastructure-as-a-Service is one of the most used paradigms of cloud computing and relies on large-scale datacenters with thousands of nodes. As a consequence of this success, the energetic demand of the infrastructure may lead to relevant economical costs and environmental footprint. Thus, the search for power optimization is of primary importance. In this perspective, this paper introduces an energy-aware consolidation strategy based on predictive control, in which virtual machines are properly migrated among physical machines to reduce the amount of active units. To this aim, a discrete-time dynamic model and suitable constraints are introduced to describe the cloud. The migration strategies are obtained by solving finite-horizon optimal control problems involving integer variables. The proposed method allows one to trade among power savings and violations of the service level agreement. To prove its effectiveness, a simulation campaign is conducted in different scenarios using both synthetic and real workloads, also by performing a comparison with three heuristics selected from the reference literature.
Growth inhibition of a human myeloma cell line by all-trans retinoic acid is not mediated through downregulation of interleukin-6 receptors but through upregulation of p21(WAF1).

All- trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has previously been shown to inhibit the growth of OPM-2 human myeloma cells. The growth inhibition was postulated to result from a transcriptional downregulation of interleukin-6 receptor  (IL-6R) with IL-6Rβ (gp130) unaffected. To formally test this hypothesis, an expression vector designed for constitutive IL-6R expression was constructed and used for transfection of OPM-2 cells. Six stable transfectants were cloned. The expression of IL-6R was shown by immunofluorescence with anti–IL-6R antibody and 125I-IL-6 binding. In five of six transfectant clones, cellular IL-6R was 1.5- to 6-fold higher than the parental cells, with the ligand binding affinity unchanged. While ATRA reduced IL-6R expression in the parental OPM-2 cells, it enhanced its expression in these five transfectants. The clonogenic growth of these transfectants, however, remained strongly inhibited by ATRA. Further analysis, comparing the parental OPM-2 cells and a representative transfectant, clone C5, showed that IL-6 caused rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of gp130 in both OPM-2 and C5 clones. Pretreatment with ATRA greatly reduced IL-6–induced gp130 phosphorylation in OPM-2 cells, reflecting a reduction in cellular IL-6R. In contrast, IL-6–induced gp130 phosphorylation was not reduced by ATRA pretreatment in C5 cells, indicating that the expressed IL-6R was functional. Similar to OPM-2 cells, C5 cells were sensitive to growth inhibition by dexamethasone, which was entirely reversed by exogenous IL-6, suggesting that the IL-6 postreceptor signal transduction remained intact. ATRA was further shown to upregulate p21WAF1 expression and cause dephosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) in both OPM-2 and C5 cells. Exogenous IL-6 also failed to reverse these effects of ATRA. Thus, the growth inhibitory activity of ATRA is not mediated through cellular IL-6R downregulation and is likely to result from a direct upregulation of p21WAF1 and consequent dephosphorylation of pRB.
Investigation of the Mechanism for the Preparation of 6-Phenyl-2,4-dioxotetrahydropyrans by the Potassium Carbonate Promoted Condensation between Acetoacetate Esters and Benzaldehyde

Treatment of benzaldehyde and an acetoacetate ester with potassium carbonate in an alcohol solvent proceeds via γ-C-alkylation rather than α-C-alkylation resulting in the formation of 6-phenyl-2,4-dioxotetrahydropyran. Based upon results from deuterium exchange experiments, carbon-13 labeling experiments, 1H NMR monitoring studies, and reactivity studies, our proposed mechanism for this reaction involves deprotonation at the α-carbon, intramolecular proton transfer to form a γ-anion, addition of the resulting γ-anion to the carbonyl carbon of benzaldehyde, and intramolecular transesterification.
HONOR, NORMATIVE AMBIGUITY AND GANG VIOLENCE*

This paper examines the social context in which gang violence occurs in a Mexican American community. We argue that gang violence arises in situations where one party impugns the honor of his adversary. This sort of conduct violates the norms of interpersonal etiquette and constitutes, in Goffman's terminology, a violation of "personal space. " Gang members fluctuate uneasily between conventional and honor bound responses to these kinds of insults. The paper outlines a theory of normative ambiguity that deals with this movement between two antithetical codes for conduct. I. INTRODUCTION T his paper examines the social context in which gang violence occurs in an inner city, Chicano community. We will look at the ways a gang member's adherence to a code of personal honor shape his response to what he perceives as an insult. Our approach to what Albert Cohen (1965:9) calls the "microsociology of the deviant act" focuses on the normative "processes whereby acts and complex structures of action are built, elaborated and transformed." Our data consist of approximately fifty episodes of inter-gang violence. These incidents involved one or more members of a gang of male teenagers with whom we had regular
Occupational health examination results of lead-exposed workers in Wuxi City in the first half of 2011

[Objective]To investigate the effect of lead on health condition of lead-exposed workers.[Methods]Occupational health examination results of lead-exposed workers before post and during the post were analyzed in the first half of 2011.Chi-square test was used to compare rates,and u test was used to compare the mean value of blood Lead.[Results] The positive rate of neurasthenia in lead-exposed workers during the post was significantly higher than that of workers before post(P0.01).Abnormal rate of ECG,liver function,abolition of knee reflex and urinary lead in lead-exposed workers during the post was significantly higher than those of the workers before post.(P0.01).[Conclusion]Lead can cause a certain harm on the health of operation workers which should attached more attention from related department,especially for the female workers with lead exposure.
Using the NAO humanoid robot in the classroom

Robotics is a growing area, as evidenced by DARPA's recent Grand Challenge. A currently popular humanoid robot, NAO, developed by Aldebaran Robotics, has been used in many classroom activities, as well as competitions such as Robocup. This workshop will describe the features of NAO and introduce its software development environment, which includes a graphical programming language, a simulator, and APIs for many languages. Example programs developed in the graphical environment, as well as using the Python API, will be demonstrated and explained. A hands-on activity will allow participants to use either programming environment to perform a simple task. Ideas for using NAO in various settings will be presented as well. This workshop is intended for instructors at many levels. A Windows/Mac laptop is recommended.
Machine learning in brain imaging genomics

Brain imaging genomics is an emerging research topic that has arisen with the advances in high-throughput genotyping and multimodal imaging techniques. Its major task is to examine the association between genetic markers such as single nucleotide polymorphisms and quantitative traits extracted from multimodal neuroimaging data. Bridging imaging and genomic factors and exploring their connections have the potential to provide a better mechanistic understanding of normal or disordered brain functions. In the last decade, statistical and machine learning has been widely employed in this research area and has greatly advanced the association discoveries via univariate, multilocus, and bi-multivariate imaging genomic association analyses, as well as pathway and network enrichment analyses. This chapter describes the traditional and state-of-the-art machine learning models widely used in brain imaging genomic studies.
Guardians of the Internet: Building and Sustaining the Anonymous Online Community:

Online communities have displaced or become complements to organizations such as churches, labor unions and political groups which have traditionally been at the center of collective action. Yet, despite their growing influence and support of faster, cheaper and more flexible organizing, few empirical studies address how online communities are built and become enduring agents of social change. Using Internet-based ethnographic methods, this inductive field study examines how an online community called Anonymous transitioned from being a small gathering of contributors focused on recreation to becoming a community of trolls, activists and hackers incubating myriad projects. Findings reveal that the interplay of digital technology and a culture of transgression supported experimentation that culminated with the adoption of a resilient organizing platform that enabled several community factions to coexist in continuous engagement. This paper infuses community building research with an important emphasis on t...
Deer on the lookout: how hunting, hiking and coyotes affect white-tailed deer vigilance

Predators affect prey directly by removing animals from the population and indirectly by modifying prey behavior. Humans have extirpated apex predators from many ecosystems, and the extent to which smaller predators, or humans themselves, can ecologically replace apex predators remains uncertain. White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in the Eastern United States were released from their two most important predators a century ago following the extirpation of cougars Puma concolor and wolves Canis lupus. We studied the extent to which perceived predation risk from humans and a newly arrived mesopredator, the coyote, Canis latrans affects deer behavior, predicting that deer will be most vigilant in areas hunted by humans which also have the highest levels of coyote activity. We quantified deer vigilance rates in 33 natural areas of which 15 allowed hunting, across six states by evaluating the head posture of 3470 deer photographed at unbaited camera traps. We documented wide variation in coyote activity (0–2.5 detections/day) and human activity (0–306 detections/day), but contrary to our predictions, did not find strong positive relationships between deer vigilance and either of these predators. Deer vigilance was lower in areas with high levels of human recreation, suggesting that deer become habituated to the presence of humans. Vigilance increased across the fall season in both hunted and non-hunted populations, which suggests that increased vigilance may be associated more with mating behavior or environmental factors other than hunting. Our results show that variation in coyote and human activity does not significantly impact the vigilance behavior of white-tailed deer year-round, suggesting that deer rely on other risk-avoidance behaviors or neither are functioning as apex predators in the region.
Grain Boundary Diffusion of Nickel into Copper

A high resolution autoradiographic study of the diffusion of a nickel isotope (Ni63) into copper in the temperature range of 650° to 925°C, with particular emphasis on grain boundary diffusion, has been made. The extent of grain boundary diffusion is a function of the grain boundary angle and the diffusion temperature. The ratios of the grain boundary diffusion coefficient to the lattice diffusion coefficient ranges from 104 to 105. The activation energy for grain boundary diffusion decreases with increasing grain boundary angle.
Optimal Nutritional Assessment

Nutritional surveys and nutritional studies differ very markedly in scope, as in resources, funding, extent of personnel, and facilities for data analysis and the preparation of reports. Many are truly minimal, making use of available personnel and with scanty laboratory support. A few are extensive, involving multiple coordinated field teams, mobile laboratories, and backed by computer analysts, biostatisticians, and professional report writers. There is a tendency to confuse size with success and maximum funding with optimal results. Often, this is not the case.
The Real and the Mathematical in Quantum Modeling: From Principles to Models and from Models to Principles

The history of mathematical modeling outside physics has been dominated by the use of classical mathematical models, C-models, primarily those of a probabilistic or statistical nature. More recently, however, quantum mathematical models, Q-models, based in the mathematical formalism of quantum theory have become more prominent in psychology, economics, and decision science. The use of Q-models in these fields remains controversial, in part because it is not entirely clear whether Q-models are necessary for dealing with the phenomena in question or whether C-models would still suffice. My aim, however, is not to assess the necessity of Q-models in these fields, but instead to reflect on what the possible applicability of Q-models may tell us about the corresponding phenomena there, vis-a-vis quantum phenomena in physics. In order to do so, I shall first discuss the key reasons for the use of Q-models in physics. In particular, I shall examine the fundamental principles that led to the development of quantum mechanics. Then I shall consider a possible role of similar principles in using Q-models outside physics. Psychology, economics, and decision science borrow already available Q-models from quantum theory, rather than derive them from their own internal principles, while quantum mechanics was derived from such principles, because there was no readily available mathematical model to handle quantum phenomena, although the mathematics ultimately used in quantum did in fact exist then. I shall argue, however, that the principle perspective on mathematical modeling outside physics might help us to understand better the role of Q-models in these fields and possibly to envision new models, conceptually analogous to but mathematically different from those of quantum theory, helpful or even necessary there or in physics itself. I shall suggest one possible type of such models, singularized probabilistic, SP, models, some of which are time-dependent, TDSP-models. The necessity of using such models may change the nature of mathematical modeling in science and, thus, the nature of science, as it happened in the case of Q-models, which not only led to a revolutionary transformation of physics but also opened new possibilities for scientific thinking and mathematical modeling beyond physics.
Close Encounters: A Feminist Legal Theory Analysis of the State Treatment of Female Child Sexual Abuse Victims

This article explores the way in which the law currently deals with sexual violence against female children in the home – evaluating the ways in which the state has access to the private realm of the family and the ways in which civil and criminal legal systems deal with this type of trauma to girls across a spectrum of time. Research shows that the child protection system only captures a small percentage of sexual abuse right after it happens. However, research also shows that female child sex abuse survivors appear in statistically significant numbers among other groups – drug and alcohol abusers, status offenders, domestic violence victims, the sexually trafficked, and juvenile delinquents. The state often has close encounters with these young girls in various settings over the course of their lifetimes – public schools, juvenile delinquency centers, hospitals, jails, mental health institutions, courtrooms, and social service offices. Yet, very few of these systems initially screen for child sexual abuse among females with symptoms indicative of past significant trauma. In the Child Protective Services system, there is a high percentage of mothers who were sexually abused as children and whose children are placed in state foster care. The common denominator in these encounters with both the girl child and the adult woman is this: the perpetrator of the crime against her has suffered little or no consequence for his actions. She, on the other hand, has suffered many subsequent compound issues that negatively affect her life in profound ways. In an effort to address the cycle of child abuse among families, this article asks a broad question: why hasn’t there been a coordinated approach in dealing with the treatment of girls who have been sexually assaulted in the home? Using feminist legal theory, this article argues that the state’s multiple encounters with the same female child victim over time are paternalistic and reinforce a sense of helplessness that often perpetuates this cycle of abuse within families. It analyzes the state response regarding information about past crime(s) perpetrated against girls and young women and how this response impacts their ability to heal, become empowered, parent and regain custody of their children. It concludes by offering a new coordinated state framework that can connect the dots between state systems and offer a universal process to address the issue of sexual violence against female children in the home.
Electric-field noise and carbon diffusion on Au(110)

The decoherence of trapped-ion quantum gates due to heating of their motional modes is a fundamen-tal science and engineering problem. This heating is attributed to electric-field noise arising from the trap-electrode surfaces. We have investigated the origin of this noise by focusing on the diffusion of carbon-containing adsorbates on the Au(110) surface. We show how the carbon adatom diffusion on the gold surface changes the energy landscape, and how the adatom dipole moment varies with the diffusive motion. A simple model for the diffusion noise, which varies quadratically with the variation of the dipole moment, predicts a noise spectrum, in accord with the measured values.
Fatigue - but not mTBI history, PTSD, or sleep quality - directly contributes to reduced prospective memory performance in Iraq and Afghanistan era Veterans

Objective: Memory problems that affect daily functioning are a frequent complaint among Veterans reporting a history of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), especially in cohorts with com...
MicroRNA expression patterns in human anterior cingulate and motor cortex: A study of dementia with Lewy bodies cases and controls.

Abstract Overview MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, we evaluated the expression of miRNAs in anterior cingulate (AC; Brodmann area [BA] 24) and primary motor (MO; BA 4) cortical tissue from aged human brains in the University of Kentucky AD Center autopsy cohort, with a focus on dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Methods RNA was isolated from gray matter of brain samples with pathology-defined DLB, AD, AD + DLB, and low-pathology controls, with n = 52 cases initially included (n = 23 with DLB), all with low ( Results The miRNA expression patterns differed substantially according to anatomic location: of the relatively highly-expressed miRNAs, 150/481 (31%) showed expression that was different between AC versus MO (at p Conclusion A subset of miRNAs (some previously associated with α-synucleinopathy and/or directly targeting α-synuclein mRNA) were differentially expressed in AC and MO, which may help explain why these brain regions show differences in vulnerability to Lewy body pathology.
Phase-type bounds on network performance

Evaluation of end-to-end network performance using realistic traffic models is a challenging problem in networking. The classical theory of queueing networks is feasible only under rather restrictive assumptions on the input traffic models and network elements. An alternative approach, first proposed in the late 1980s, is to impose deterministic bounds on the input traffic that can be used as a basis for a network calculus to compute end-to-end network delay bounds. Such deterministic bounds are inherently loose as they must accommodate worst case scenarios. Since the early 1990s, efforts have shifted to development of a stochastic network calculus to provide probabilistic end-to-end performance bounds. In this paper, we capitalize on the approach of stochastically bounded burstiness (SBB) which was developed for a general class of bounding functions, and was demonstrated for a bound that is based on a mixture distribution. We specialize the SBB bounds to bounds based on the class of phase-type distributions, which includes mixture distributions as a particular case. We develop the phase-type bounds and demonstrate their performance.1
Conditioning Processes in Opioid Dependence and in Relapse

Although conditioning may play a role in the development of tolerance to opioids (see Chapter 6), this phenomenon and physical dependence are basically unconditioned; that is, they can be demonstrated in animal preparations virtually incapable of acquiring classically conditioned responses. Thus, Wilder and Frank (1948) reported the development of tolerance to the depressant effects of morphine and methadone on the flexor reflex in the chronic spinal dog, as well as well-defined abstinence syndromes after abrupt withdrawal of these drugs (hyperexcitability of the flexor reflex and spontaneous “running” movements of the paralyzed hind limbs). Earlier, Shurrager and Culler (1938, 1940) and Shur-rager and Shurrager (1946) reported that a semitendinosus twitch could be conditioned in acute spinal preparations; Dykman and Shurrager (1956) also described spinal conditioning in chronic preparations. However, Kellogg et al. (1947) and Deese and Kellogg (1949) were unable to obtain spinal conditioning in recent chronic preparations. Reinvestigating this question, Lloyd et al. (1969) were unable to demonstrate classical conditioning of the flexor reflex in three drug-free chronic spinal dogs even after a maximum of 2500 conditioning and 500 test trials; they concluded that at least in the adult dog, classical conditioning of a skeletal motor response requires the functional integrity of supraspinal as well as intraspinal pathways. Hence, classical conditioning could have played no role in the development of tolerance to and physical dependence on morphine or methadone in chronic spinal dogs.
Case Studies on the Application of Adaptive Risk Analysis to USDA’s Resource Conservation Programs

As part of its role of ensuring that major regulations proposed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are based on sound scientific and economic analysis, the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis (ORACBA) is undertaking a series of case studies to apply a multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) risk analysis technique to USDA’s Resource Conservation Programs. The MCDM tool being developed and tested is aimed at providing a clear understanding of the environmental and human health benefits and associated level of uncertainty of various management practices that are implemented under the Resource Conservation Programs. The case studies examine two different programs: 1) the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and 2) the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The EQIP case study will focus on specific watersheds and determine the impact of a range of manure management practices on multiple environmental and human health objectives and will provide the basis for a comparison of benefits, including those related to the reduction or prevention of risk to the costs associated with a set of potential alternative management strategies. The CRP case study will evaluate the effects of various kinds of managed disturbances to grasslands enrolled in the CRP with the objectives of reducing nutrient runoff and enhancing wildlife values. Both projects were in their initial stages at the time this paper was prepared and therefore only the progress to-date and the underlying theory being applied to the case studies are discussed.
Affine Isometric Embedding for Surfaces

A strictly convex hypersurface in Rn can be endowed with a Riemannian metric in a way that is invariant under the group of (equi)affine motions. We study the corresponding isometric embedding problem for surfaces in R3. This problem is formulated in terms of a quasilinear elliptic system of PDE for the Pick form. A negative result is obtained by attempting to invert about the standard embedding of the round sphere as an ellipsoid.
Challenges to the Citadel: A Brief Overview of Recent Trends in Canadian Corporate Governance

Politicians, bureaucrats, owners, managers and employees are becoming increasingly concerned with the capacity of Canadian corporations to survive and prosper in the twenty-first century. By and large, the attention focused on competitiveness has developed from the rapid international integration of goods, capital and service markets. This integration has resulted in the creation of a new borderless world, in which consumer preferences reign supreme and in which those corporations that fail to anticipate, shape and respond to these preferences with costand quality-competitive products face certain failure. Concern over the survival of national firms commands widespread societal attention because of the dependency of many core public policies on the economic surplus generated by robust private markets. Given the focus on globalization and competitiveness, it is not at all surprising that academics have expended considerable energy identifying and analyzing the determinants of national economic success in this new international order. Although the composition of the basket of favoured policies varies from scholar to scholar, most accord at least some importance to the quality of the system of corporate governance that obtains in a given country. Tracking the modern use of this term, most scholars look beyond the mere operation of a firm's formal governance apparatus (i. e., the board of directors) and consider how a wide range of market (e.g., capital, product, managerial and takeover markets), legal (e.g., derivative and personal suits) and political (e.g., shareholder voting) devices combine to discipline managerial behaviour.
Complementary regioselective synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted isoxazoles from ynones

Abstract Two regioselective synthetic routes towards 3,5-disubstituted isoxazoles from ynones are reported. One route takes place via first converting the ynones to ynone O-methyl oximes, followed by a palladium-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization. The other involves the formation of 5-hydroxy-4,5-dihydroisoxazoles by a cyclocondensation between ynones and hydroxylamine, and subsequent acid mediated dehydration. The two routes are not only both highly regioselective, but also complementary to each other as a pair of regioisomeric 3,5-disubstituted isoxazoles are readily prepared from one single ynone substrate. The efficiency of the two routes are further evaluated and demonstrated in the synthesis of three representative 3,5-disubstituted isoxazoles.
Nest-to-Surf Mortality of Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) Hatchlings on Florida’s East Coast

Sea turtles are vulnerable immediately after emerging from nests and before they reach the surf. Mortality rates during this brief period are largely unknown. Many sea turtle monitoring programs measure hatchling production from nest inventories. These inventories rarely account for post-emergence mortality, leaving an unknown bias in hatchling production estimates. This study addresses the nest-to-surf data gap for Florida’s east coast nesting assemblages of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Five locations were surveyed during the 2016-nesting season. Across all beaches, 7.6% of the observed hatchlings did not survive to reach the water. Mortality sources varied by location. Observed predators include: mammals, birds, and crabs. Hatchling disorientation and misorientation due to photopollution occurred more frequently in urban areas than natural areas. Factors identified as important in hatchling mortality included numbers of hatchlings emerging, nest-to-surf distance, and level of urbanization. The results of this study may help sea turtle nesting managers address nest-to-surf mortality and improve hatchling production estimates.
Trimodality vs Chemoradiation and Salvage Resection in cN2 Stage IIIA Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

To determine the overall survival (OS) in patients who underwent planned trimodality therapy (TMT) and those who underwent definitive concurrent chemoradiation (CRT), but later received salvage resection (SR) for stage IIIA (cN2) (AJCC 7th ed.) non–small cell lung cancer. National Cancer Database data set from 2004 to 2014 was queried. TMT was defined as multiagent CRT with dose >45 Gy, followed by lobectomy or pneumonectomy ≤90 days from end of CRT. SR was defined as multiagent CRT with dose >59 Gy and lobectomy or pneumonectomy performed >90 days from CRT completion. Propensity score weighting and propensity score matching methods were used to balance patient and tumor characteristics and to calculate hazard ratios. A total of 2025 (1899 TMT and 126 SR) patients were analyzed. TMT and SR groups shared similar characteristics. Surgery occurred at a median of 41 days (range 1–90) after CRT in the TMT group and 114 days (91–440) in the SR group. The 90-day mortality after surgery was 6.5% for TMT and 5% for SR (P = 0.43). The 3- and 5-year OS were 55.1% and 35.7% for TMT and 51.6% and 45.0% for SR (P = 0.92, 0.68), with no difference across unadjusted cohort and propensity-adjusted cohort. Patients with cN2 stage IIIA non–small cell lung cancer treated in the United States with definitive CRT followed by SR had similar OS as upfront TMT with similar postoperative mortality despite SR occurring >90 days after >59 Gy CRT. SR remains an option for medically appropriate patients after definitive dose CRT.
Effect of radioimmunotherapy-based conditioning for autologous stem cell transplantation on poor-risk molecular profiling in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

6547 Background: Gene expression profiling has improved risk stratification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in the first line setting as shown by DNA microarray analysis and immunohistoche...
Queer Fashion and Style: Stories from the Heartland

Iowa State University Curators: Kelly L. Reddy-Best, PhD, assistant professor; Dana Goodin, doctoral student; and Eulanda A. Sanders, PhD, Donna R. Danielson Professor in Textiles and Clothing, and...
Looking forward, looking back: The impact of goal progress and time urgency on consumer responses to mobile reward apps

Abstract The authors conduct two studies to examine how time urgency affects consumer responses to mobile reward apps. For participants who have made high progress toward reaching goals, short expiration dates (“collect 10 stamps for a free coffee by tomorrow”) cause to-go framing (”2 more stamps to go”) to be more effective than to-date framing (”8 stamps collected so far”), but for participants who have a long way to go before reaching the goal, short expiration dates cause to-date framing to be more effective than to-go framing. However, a long expiration date produced no difference between to-go and to-date framings, under both high and low progress.
Combined Immunosuppression Impairs Immunogenicity to Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccination Among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

BACKGROUND Pertussis epidemics have recently emerged across the United States, prompting broad public health recommendations for adult Tdap vaccination (tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis). The impact of immunosuppressive regimens for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on vaccine responses to the Tdap vaccine is not known. METHODS We performed a prospective controlled trial between April 2011 and March 2012. Adults with IBD were consecutively stratified based on therapeutic regimen into one of 5 groups: A: no IBD therapy or 5-aminosalicylates alone; B: maintenance biologic monotherapy; C: maintenance immunomodulator monotherapy; D: combined biologic and immunomodulator therapy; and E: healthy age-matched controls. Subjects received Tdap, and serum antibody levels against tetanus toxoid, pertussis toxoid, and filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) were drawn just before and approximately 4 weeks after vaccination. The primary outcome was the booster response rate to each antigen. Secondary outcomes included the differences in pregeometric and postgeometric mean titers. RESULTS A total of 98 subjects enrolled, and 84 completed the study. Tetanus response rates were 55%, 56%, 40%, 27%, and 63% across groups A to E, respectively. Group D rates were lower than those of group B (P = 0.02). Postvaccination pertussis toxoid responses were 59%, 72%, 47%, 45%, and 75%, while FHA responses were 86%, 72%, 80%, 64%, and 75% across groups A to E, respectively. Prevaccination and postvaccination geometric mean titer differences for FHA were lower in group D than those in group A (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Antibody responses to tetanus and pertussis vaccination may be affected by therapeutic drug regimen. Patients with IBD should optimally receive Tdap before starting immunomodulators, particularly when used in combination with anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha agents.
Albumin fusion with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor acts as an immunotherapy against chronic tuberculosis.

A long duration of treatment and emerging drug resistance pose significant challenges for global tuberculosis (TB) eradication efforts. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel strategies to shorten TB treatment regimens and to treat drug-resistant TB. Using an albumin-fusion strategy, we created a novel albumin-fused granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (albGM-CSF) molecule that harnesses albumin’s long half-life and targeting abilities to enhance the biostability of GM-CSF and direct it to the lymph nodes, where the effects of GM-CSF can increase dendritic cell populations crucial for eliciting a potent immune response. In this study, we demonstrate that albGM-CSF serves as a novel immunotherapy for chronic Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infections by enhancing GM-CSF biostability in serum. Specifically, albumin is very safe, stable, and has a long half-life, thereby enhancing the biostability of GM-CSF. In the lungs and draining lymph nodes, albGM-CSF is able to increase the numbers of dendritic cells, which are crucial for the activation of naive T cells and for eliciting potent immune responses. Subcutaneous administration of albGM-CSF alone reduced the mean lung bacillary burden in mice with chronic tuberculosis infection. While GM-CSF administration was associated with IL-1β release from Mtb-infected dendritic cells and macrophages, higher IL-1β levels were observed in albGM-CSF-treated mice with chronic tuberculosis infection than in mice receiving GM-CSF. Albumin fusion with GM-CSF represents a promising strategy for the control of chronic lung tuberculosis infections and serves as a novel therapeutic vaccination platform for other infectious diseases and malignancies.
A Constructive Explanation of Consciousness

This paper describes the consciousness-related aspects of the AGI system NARS, discusses the implications of this design and compares it with other relevant theories and designs. It is argued that ...
E-scooters and sustainability: Investigating the relationship between the density of E-scooter trips and characteristics of sustainable urban development

Abstract Shared E-Scooters have become popular in many cities around the world. E-Scooters provide convenient and quick rides for short distances and can act as a connection for first/last mile trips. This study aims to identify spatial factors associated with scooter trips. To accomplish this, a Generalized Additive Modeling (GAM) approach was applied to analyze 159 TAZs in Louisville, Kentucky based on data between November 2018 and February 2020. Contributing factors investigated included demographics, land use, connectivity and urbanism scores. Peak-hours of E-scooter use was studied in addition to all time periods. According to the model, commercial land use percent, industrial land use percent, Walk Score and Bike Score influenced E-Scooter trip density at a TAZ level. Results were compared to studies in other cities in the US. Distributing E-scooters and implementing policies based on the findings of this study can improve the quality of micromobility services by providing an alternative solution for first-mile-last-mile (FMLM) while taking sustainability of urban development into consideration.
How Coopetition Influences Environmental Performance: Role of Financial Slack, Leverage, and Leanness

Focal firms are struggling to improve their environmental performance for several reasons, including a scarcity of internal and external environmental resources. This study suggests that coopetition provides a boost to a focal firm’s environmental performance. In particular, this research theorizes that a coopetitor firm’s environmental performance has a spillover effect on a focal firm’s environmental performance. This study also investigates the moderating role of a focal firm’s financial slack, financial leverage, and inventory leanness on this relationship. The empirical analysis indicates that coopetitor firms’ environmental performance significantly influences a focal firm’s environmental performance. This relationship is weaker for firms with higher financial slack, and stronger for firms that have lower financial leverage and higher leanness. Collectively, these findings provide important managerial and research implications regarding the consequences of coopetition on a focal firm’s environmental performance.
Skint: Retirement? Financial Hardship and Retirement Planning Behaviors

This study used data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study to investigate the association between financial hardship and retirement planning behaviors. Results from logistic regressions showed that respondents with high difficulty making ends meet were more likely to calculate retirement needs and more likely to own a non-employer sponsored retirement plan. The perceived over-indebtedness was positively associated with owning an employer-sponsored account while negatively associated with owning a non-employer-sponsored account. Financial fragility was associated with a lower likelihood of calculating retirement needs and having a retirement account. The results of additional generational analyses revealed that the difficulty making ends meet and the perceived over-indebtedness showed different patterns with retirement planning behavior across three generations. In contrast, financial fragility showed consistent and negative associations with the retirement planning behaviors across generations.