cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fossil History of Notiosorex (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) Shrews with Descriptions of New Fossil Species

ABSTRACT. Notiosorex shrews (Soricomorpha; Soricidae) have a fossil history that extends to the Miocene (i.e., mid-Hemphillian), In the intervening 6.69 million years, N. repenningi, N. jacksoni, and what heretofore was considered N. crawfordi existed with varying degrees of overlap in occurrence timewise and in geographic distribution in areas of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Examination of unusually small fossil specimens of Notiosorex indicated the presence of another species referable to this genus present in late Pleistocene- (i.e., early Wisconsinan) to Holocene-aged deposits. Based on statistical analyses, these specimens were as distinct from any of the other fossil or extant species of Notiosorex as any other pair of species within the genus. I referred these specimens to the new species N. harrisi. Analyses also indicted fossils heretofore considered N. crawfordl were equally distinct from other forms of Notiosorex. I referred them to the new species N. dalquesti. Individua...
Teachers Teaching Teachers: The Role of Networks on Financial Decisions

This paper studies the role of peers in the transmission of information pertinent to household financial decisions. Specifically, we examine the effect of peers on the mortgage refinancing decisions of school teachers in Texas by exploiting commonalities in teacher schedules to identify peer groups. Using this source of within-campus variation to separate campus-level unobservable shocks, we find that refinancing activity among a teacher's peers increases her likelihood of refinancing by 9.5%. Peers also affect a teacher's choice of lender. Overall, our findings suggest that a household's cost of acquiring and processing financial information is greatly reduced by interacting with peers.
Immune Responses to Experimental Vaccinia Infection

In vitro antigen-induced lysis of sensitive leucocytes from tuberculin-sensitive mice and guinea pigs was first observed by Favour (1947). Since then it has been studied as an immune response in such infections as tuberculosis (Waksman, 1953) and brucellosis (Feeley and Pickett, 1962). However, the occurrence of this type of specific sensitization in viral infections has not been described. As the mechanism of resistance to reinfection in vaccinia virus infec-
The Practicality of Moral Judgments

A claim on which certainly all moral philosophers agree is that moral judgments are practical, which is to say that they must be capable in some sense of guiding or influencing human behaviour. There is a difference of opinion among philosophers, however, on exactly how moral judgments have this power and on what consequences (if any) this has for the analysis of moral judgments, with one group holding that the practicality of moral judgments requires a very intimate relation to action which in turn radically affects their analysis, while the other sees no such consequences. This dispute, which has occurred in various forms throughout the history of philosophy, has been renewed in recent years by discussions of the relation between obligation and motivation, which are reviewed by William Frankena in " Obligation and Motivation in Recent Moral Philosophy '.1 In this article he expresses the general issue in the following way : Many moral philosophers have said or implied that it is in some sense logically possible for an agent to have or see that he has an obligation even if he has no motivation, actual or dispositional, for doing the action in question; many others have said or implied that this is paradoxical and not logically possible. The former are convinced that no reference to the existence of motives in the agent involved need be made in the analysis of a moral judgment; the latter are equally convinced that such a reference is necessarily there.2 These two positions he calls externalism and internalism respectively, for, he says, " the opposition in question is between those who regard motivation as external and those who regard it as internal to obligation ".3 Frankena does not present these two positions as differing responses to the demand that moral judgments be practical, but he acknowledges that this is one aspect of the problem of obligation and motivation when he writes: . . . the issue is not whether morality is to be practical. Both parties agree that it is to be practical in the sense of governing and guiding human behaviour. . . . But the one party insists that judgments of obligation must be practical in the further sense that their being efficacious in influencing behaviour is somehow logically internal to lWilliam K. Frankena, "Obligation and Motivation in Recent Moral Philosophy ", in Essays in Moral Philosophy, ed. by A. I. Melden (Seattle, 1958), pp. 40-81 (henceforth referred to as " Obligation and Motivation "). Although Frankena discusses only the recent literature, he professes to see the same problem in Aristotle's critique of Plato's idea of the good and in Hume's denial of reason in ethics. Among recent writers, many of whom will be discussed in this paper, W. D. Falk in particular, from whom Frankena derives the terms externalism and internalism, has contributed to clarifying the controversy. See W. D. Falk, " 'Ought' and Motivation ", Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1947-48, pp. 111-138. 2Frankena, " Obligation and Motivation ", p. 40. 8lbid., pp. 40-1.
Effect of Air Ions on Succinoxidase Activity of the Rat Adrenal Gland.

SummaryThe effect of air ions on the succinoxidase activity of the rat adrenal gland has been studied. The activity status of the animal was found to affect the succinoxidase concentration of the a...
Real-Time Data Exchange (revisited)

The Electronic Seismologist (ES) began hyping the Internet over six years ago: how it was going to help seismologists acquire, analyze, and present seismic data in new and wondrous ways. It was touted as the next really great whiz-bang thing that everyone had better get familiar with or get left behind. Boy, was the ES right! He clearly is a cool dude with a crystal ball who can see the really obvious when it whacks him on the head. After a few columns he even stuck his neck out and “envisioned a time in the future where data from almost any seismograph in the U.S. could be available in a continuous stream to almost anyone” (Malone, 1996). A data rate of 2 Mb/sec was estimated to be enough capacity to get the whole National Seismic Network. Well, we are close to being there. Currently there are a number of institutions that collect real-time seismic data from stations outside their own networks and process or provide these data as a “virtual seismic network.” The route that a particular seismic station's data take from the seismometer to a researcher can be complex and can vary with time. One can get composites of waveform segments from many stations from one event or a continuous feed from a subselection of stations in different ways. It gets confusing enough that the ES (who is, after all, an expert in such things) can't tell what's going on and if the data he is viewing are coming or going. It's time to try to make a little sense of all of this. The ES would like to review all the different ways real-time data are exchanged between different groups and provide a cogent summary for his enthralled fans. However, after getting started with the summary he became …
Vibration Isolation Control Via Simultaneous Left and Right Eigenvector Assignment

The objective of this research is to investigate the feasibility of utilizing the simultaneous left and right eigenvector assignment concept for vibration isolation feedback control design. The purpose of the right eigenvector assignment method is to alter the closed-loop system modes such that the modal components corresponding to the concerned regions (isolation end of an isolator) have relatively small amplitude. Correspondently, the design goal of left eigenvector assignment is to alter the left eigenvectors of the closed-loop system so that they are as closely orthogonal to the system’s forcing vectors as possible. With this approach, one can achieve both disturbance rejection and modal confinement concurrently for the purpose of vibration isolation. In this research, a new formulation is developed so that the desired left eigenvectors of this integrated system are selected through solving a generalized eigenvalue problem, where the orthogonality indices between the forcing vector and the left eigenvectors are minimized. The components of right eigenvectors corresponding to the concerned regions are minimized concurrently. To realistically implement the algorithm, an integrated closed-loop system with state estimator is developed. Numerical simulations are performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method on concurrent disturbance rejection and modal confinement for a isolator rod design. Frequency responses of the isolator in the selected frequency range are illustrated. It is shown that with the simultaneous left-right eigenvector assignment technique, both disturbance rejection and modal confinement can be achieved, and thus the vibration amplitude in the isolated regions can be suppressed significantly.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Stability of human immunoglobulin levels.

SummaryImmunoglobulin levels in 15 individuals were followed weekly for 25 weeks. The average variation was ± 17% at 2 standard deviations. This is small compared to the variation found among individuals; therefore the level of serum immuno-globulins within an individual is relatively stable.
The Short-Run Impact of Import Bans on Poverty: The Case of Nigeria (2008–2012)

The Nigerian government uses food import prohibition as part of policies that seeks to protect existing domestic producers and reduce the country's dependence on imports. This paper argues that suc...
Single Molecule Analysis of Laser Localized Interstrand Crosslinks

DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) block unwinding of the double helix, and have always been regarded as major challenges to replication and transcription. Compounds that form these lesions are very toxic and are frequently used in cancer chemotherapy. We have developed two strategies, both based on immunofluorescence, for studying cellular responses to ICLs. The basis of each is psoralen, a photoactive (by long wave ultraviolet light, UVA) DNA crosslinking agent, to which we have linked an antigen tag. In the one approach, we have taken advantage of DNA fiber and immunoquantum dot technologies for visualizing the encounter of replication forks with ICLs induced by exposure to UVA lamps. In the other, psoralen ICLs are introduced into nuclei in live cells in regions of interest (ROI) defined by a UVA laser. The antigen tag can be displayed by conventional immunofluorescence, as can the recruitment and accumulation of DNA Damage Response (DDR) proteins to the laser localized ICLs. However, substantial difference between the technologies creates considerable uncertainty as to whether conclusions from one approach are applicable to those of the other. In this report we have employed the fiber/quantum dot methodology to determine lesion density and spacing on individual DNA molecules carrying laser localized ICLs. We have performed the same measurements on DNA fibers with ICLs induced by exposure of psoralen to UVA lamps. Remarkably, we find little difference in the adduct distribution on fibers prepared from cells exposed to the different treatment protocols.. Furthermore, there is considerable similarity in patterns of replication in the vicinity of the ICLs introduced by the two techniques
The Design and Realization of Enterprise Process Management System

This article worked out a goal to improve the Enterprise process management from three angles of execution,supervision and decision-making.Draw up the framework of system,make detailed design for every function module.From the actual situations of the company,analysized choice and design for database.In consideration of the key problems of inefficient implementation to process,design detailed the definition of process and its descendants,adopt the technology of real-time monitoring and feedback to improve the execution and work efficiency.Finally describe platform constructing of the system,using.NET components and Web service method to develop the system.
Demonstration that the temporary sequestering of adventitious iron accounts for the inhibition of microsomal lipid peroxidation by bleomycin A2

One of the manifestations of the interaction of bleomycin with the microsomal mixed-function oxidase system is an inhibition of NADPH-dependent, reactive oxygen-mediated lipid peroxidation. The results of this investigation demonstrate that this effect by bleomycin can be attributed to the sequestering of adventitious iron. However, as a result of the microsome-catalyzed, iron-facilitated activation of bleomycin and the concomitant spontaneous decay of the activated bleomycin intermediate, iron can apparently no longer be bound by the bleomycin molecule; consequently, the inhibition of microsomal lipid peroxidation by bleomycin is only temporary.
Ultrafast Spectroscopic Signatures of Coherent Electron-Transfer Mechanisms in a Transition Metal Complex

The prevalence of ultrafast electron-transfer processes in light-harvesting materials has motivated a deeper understanding of coherent reaction mechanisms. Kinetic models based on the traditional (equilibrium) form of Fermi’s Golden Rule are commonly employed to understand photoinduced electron-transfer dynamics. These models fail in two ways when the electron-transfer process is fast compared to solvation dynamics and vibrational dephasing. First, electron-transfer dynamics may be accelerated if the photoexcited wavepacket traverses the point of degeneracy between donor and acceptor states in the solvent coordinate. Second, traditional kinetic models fail to describe electron-transfer transitions that yield products which undergo coherent nuclear motions. We address the second point in this work. Transient absorption spectroscopy and a numerical model are used to investigate coherent back-electron-transfer mechanisms in a transition metal complex composed of titanium and catechol, [Ti(cat)3]2–. The trans...
Improving Pain Relief in Elder Patients (I-PREP): An Emergency Department Education and Quality Intervention.

Objectives To assess the effectiveness of a novel combined education and quality improvement (QI) program for management of pain in older adults in the emergency department (ED). Design Controlled pre/postintervention examination. Setting An academic urban ED seeing 60,000 adult visits annually. Participants Individuals aged 65 and older experiencing moderate to severe pain. Intervention Linked standardized education and continuous QI for multidisciplinary staff in an urban, academic ED from January 2012 to January 2014. Measurements Pain intensity, percentage receiving and time to pain assessment and reassessment, percentage receiving and time to delivery of analgesic. Results The percentage of participants with final pain score of 4 or less (out of 10) increased 47.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 41.8–53.2%). Median decrease in pain intensity improved significantly, from 0.0 to 5.0 points (P < .001). Median final pain score decreased from 7.0 to 4.0 points (P < .001). The percentage of participants with any pain improvement increased 43.7% (95% CI = 37.1–50.3%, P < .001). Pain reassessments increased significantly (from 51.9% to 82.5%, P < .001). The percentage receiving analgesics increased significantly (from 64.1% to 84.8%, P < .001). After the intervention, participants had 3.1 (95% CI = 2.1–4.4, P < .001) greater odds of receiving analgesics and 4.7 (95% CI = 3.5–6.5, P < .001) greater odds of documented pain reassessment. Conclusion The I-PREP intervention substantially improved pain management in older adults in the ED with moderate to severe musculoskeletal or abdominal pain. Significant reductions in pain intensity were achieved, the timing of pain assessments and reassessments was improved, and analgesics were delivered faster. Tightly linking education to targeted QI improved pain management of older adults in the ED.
An Integrative Approach to Evaluating Healthcare Provider Mergers in the Era of the ACA

Annual healthcare spending in the United States is estimated at about $3 trillion, and is projected to grow to over $4.5 trillion by 2020. The healthcare industry impacts every American, involves serious amounts of money, and has an expenditure growth rate that may well be unsustainable. Yet, in reviewing how U.S. authorities apply antitrust law to the markets for healthcare provider services, it becomes apparent that the agencies do not readily incorporate the policy goals of healthcare reform legislation such as The Affordable Care Act into their analysis and are instead assuming that the industry today still must fit into the boxes of traditional analysis. But incentives and practices have changed the delivery of healthcare services. The antitrust enforcement agencies and courts need to account for these incentives and look at the realities of the delivery of medical services today. They need to integrate the antitrust analysis that has served us so well with the realities driving the delivery of healthcare going forward.The thesis of the analysis here is that the antitrust review process should not stop once there is a determination that a provider merger is likely to substantially lessen competition in a narrow market for the specific provider services in question. That analysis needs to move on from the narrow relevant market used to make the initial prediction of whether there is likely to be an adverse effect from a merger to consider more broadly whether there is sufficient evidence presented that such a loss of competition in one relevant product market is counterbalanced, or outweighed, by projected cost savings in the broader market for healthcare provider services (e.g., a hypothesized increase in the cost of primary care physician services that is compared to a hypothesized decrease in hospital admissions and the costs thereof).
An assessment of the association between asset ownership and intimate partner violence in Pakistan

Abstract Objective This study assessed the association between women's reports of asset ownership (home and land) and experience of three types of intimate partner violence (IPV): physical violence, emotional violence, and husbands' controlling behaviors. Study design Population-based secondary analysis. Method This cross-sectional study used data from a sub-sample of 658 women from the nationally representative Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012–13. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association between asset ownership and IPV. Results Results from logistic regressions indicated that when women owned assets their husbands were 2.3 times more likely to use controlling tactics ( P Conclusion The study findings highlight the importance of culture and context in policy implementation.
Is College and Career Readiness Adequately Addressed in Annual and Postsecondary Goals

In current special education law, the individualized education program (IEP) addresses the transition to adult life by mandating goal statements be written in employment, postsecondary education, a...
P35 The responsiveness of spatial and temporal elements of instrumented single-limb balance in those with chronic ankle instability

Study Design Reliability/Responsiveness study. Objectives To determine the responsiveness of single-limb postural control variables in those with chronic ankle instability (CAI) over 2 weeks without intervention. The variables of interest included the spatial (area of a 95% confidence ellipse) and temporal (average velocity of COP excursions) elements of centre of pressure excursions (COP). Background Single limb balance assessment using an instrumented force plate is one of the most common assessments of sensorimotor dysfunction associated with CAI. These measures have been used in numerous investigations, but the responsiveness of these measures remains unclear. Methods and Measures Seventy-seven participants with self-reported CAI participated in this study. CAI was defined in accordance to the International Ankle Consortium guidelines. All participants performed three 10 s trials of single limb balance with eyes open and eyes closed. After a 2 week period, all participants were reassessed. To analyse the spatial and temporal elements of the COP excursions, the area of a 95% confidence ellipse (cm 2 ) and the average resultant velocity (cm/s) were calculated, respectively. The mean of 3 trials in each condition was used for analysis. To analyse the responsiveness, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC (2,3) ), the standard error of measure (SEM), and the minimum detectable change (SEM*2 1/2 ) were calculated. Results The spatial element of COP excursions displayed strong responsiveness (eyes open ICC=0.78,SEM=1.7 cm 2 ,MDC=1.9 cm 2 ; eyes closed ICC=0.85,SEM=3.9 cm 2 ,MDC=5.6 cm 2 ). Similarly, the temporal element demonstrated excellent responsiveness (eyes open ICC=0.96,SEM=0.4 cm/s,MDC=0.55 cm/s; eyes closed ICC=0.91,SEM=0.8 cm/s,MDC=1.1 cm/s). Conclusion Based on the results of this study, both the spatial and temporal elements of COP excursions display excellent responsiveness over time in those with CAI. By understanding the normally occurring error associated with these single-limb balance measures, it is possible to determine the clinical meaningfulness of changes associated with injury and rehabilitation in the CAI population. Changes/differences beyond the MDCs associated with this study may be potentially meaningful.
Exercise ameliorates neurocognitive impairments in a translational model of pediatric radiotherapy

Background While cranial radiation therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment, healthy areas surrounding irradiation sites are negatively affected. Frontal lobe functions involving attention, processing speed, and inhibition control are impaired. These deficits appear months to years after CRT and impair quality of life. Exercise has been shown to rejuvenate the brain and aid in recovery post-injury through its effects on neurogenesis and cognition. Methods We developed a juvenile rodent CRT model that reproduces neurocognitive deficits. Next, we utilized the model to test whether exercise ameliorates these deficits. Fischer rats (31 days old) were irradiated with a fractionated dose of 4 Gy × 5 days, trained and tested at 6, 9, and 12 months post-CRT using 5-choice serial reaction time task. After testing, fixed rat brains were imaged using diffusion tensor imaging and immunohistochemistry. Results CRT caused early and lasting impairments in task acquisition, accuracy, and latency to correct response, as well as causing stunting of growth and changes in brain volume and diffusion. Exercising after irradiation improved acquisition, behavioral control, and processing speed, mitigated the stunting of brain size, and increased brain fiber numbers compared with sedentary CRT values. Further, exercise partially restored global connectome organization, including assortativity and characteristic path length, and while it did not improve the specific regional connections that were lowered by CRT, it appeared to remodel these connections by increasing connectivity between alternate regional pairs. Conclusions Our data strongly suggest that exercise may be useful in combination with interventions aimed at improving cognitive outcome following pediatric CRT.
Offering a First-year Composition Classroom for Veterans and Cadets: A Learning-Community Model Case Study

This article discusses my university’s creation of first-year-composition courses designed with a learning community or cohort approach for student-veterans, service-members, and cadets desiring this model. At my locale , neither the standard sections of Composition I nor II had been created to provide a military population with a common student community, customized readings, flexible attendance policies, and seamless communication with university veteran services that might better facilitate the transition to college for some student-veterans. Thus, as writing program administrator, I piloted linked composition courses for a service-member, veteran, and ROTC learning community, with the latter course also enrolling a nontraditional-student population. In a year-long study, I investigated the impact of enrolling military-affiliated students in linked courses within a traditional classroom to interact under a continuing instructor, engage with military-based readings, and opt to write about their military backgrounds. In presenting patterns that emerged, I argue that these experimental learning-community courses, contingent upon some local factors, supported many military-affiliated students’ engagement with first-year composition, as well as facilitated their transition to academia, through a loosely-structured, cohort model promoting aspects of students’ common but broadly-defined identities.
Characterization of an A-Site Selective Protein Disulfide Isomerase A1 Inhibitor

Protein disulfide isomerase A1 (PDIA1) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase that is an important folding catalyst for secretory pathway proteins. PDIA1 contains two active-site domains (a and a′), each containing a Cys-Gly-His-Cys (CGHC) active-site motif. The two active-site domains share 37% sequence identity and function independently to perform disulfide-bond reduction, oxidation, and isomerization. Numerous inhibitors for PDIA1 have been reported, yet the selectivity of these inhibitors toward the a and a′ sites is poorly characterized. Here, we identify a potent and selective PDIA1 inhibitor, KSC-34, with 30-fold selectivity for the a site over the a′ site. KSC-34 displays time-dependent inhibition of PDIA1 reductase activity in vitro with a kinact/KI of 9.66 × 103 M–1 s–1 and is selective for PDIA1 over other members of the PDI family, and other cellular cysteine-containing proteins. We provide the first cellular characterization of an a-site selective PDIA1 inh...
Scaling of human brain size.

What makes humans unique as a species and as individuals? Our uniqueness stems from language, tool use, reasoning, and other cognitive abilities that are largely mediated by specialized regions of the cerebral cortex. These regions of higher cognitive function have expanded disproportionately during human evolution (compared with nonhuman primates) and during postnatal maturation, when cortical surface area expands threefold between infancy and adulthood ( 1 ). Our uniqueness as individuals reflects countless differences in brain structure, function, and connectivity. One basic anatomical difference between similarly aged individuals is a more than 1.5-fold variation in total brain size (and total cortical volume) ( 2 ). On page 1222 of this issue, Reardon et al. ( 3 ) bring this aspect of individual variability under the umbrella of “differential scaling” by showing that human brains of different sizes do not scale uniformly across all regions. Rather, larger brains show greater expansion in regions associated with higher cognition and less expansion in regions associated with sensory, motor, and limbic (emotion- and affect-related) functions.
FINITE GROUPS OF ALTERNATING TYPE

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses certain results in the direction of a classification of finite groups with 2-components of alternating type and some contributions to the unbalanced group problem. As finite groups that are not 2-connected are known by the work of Gorenstein–Harada and Aschbacher, the existence of unbalancing 2-components gives some inductive leverage in attacking the unbalanced group conjecture. The method of attack has been to attempt to successively rule out all of the known unbalanced groups as unbalancing 2-components in a minimal counterexample, G, to the unbalanced group conjecture. A general result with applications in this context is a theorem presented in the chapter. The theorem depends on strong closure and embedding theorems of Goldschmidt and Aschbacher, and relies ultimately on the classification by Janko, Janko–Wong, Lyons, and Gorenstein–Harada of simple groups. The chapter also presents a classification of finite groups with 2-components of alternating type, which is independent of any hypotheses on other unbalancing 2-components.
What Linguistics Can Do For Trademark Law

This contribution to an inter-disciplinary book on Trademarks and Brands responds to the work of Alan Durant, a linguist who (in his chapter of the book) provides legal scholars with both a rich understanding of how linguists view terms that are part of the basic argot of trademark law and a potentially vital explanation of the different social functions that word marks might serve. The Response explains why linguistics should matter to trademark law, but also why trademark law might on occasion ignore the precise reality of consumer understanding as might be provided by linguistics. I suggest that, while trademark law should not become beholden to linguistics, the lessons of Durant's linguistic analysis are to some extent already accommodated in the practice of trademark law, and could be important guides in the further development of a number of legal principles. In particular, I explain how trademark law does in large part take into consideration Durant's observation that legal analysis would comport more with the reality of how words function if it focused on marks as they are used. The Chapter also argues that Durant's exploration of the concepts of "distinctiveness" and "descriptiveness", as understood by lawyers and linguists, respectively, should reinforce important lessons for legal scholars about the complex policy prescriptions embodied in those concepts. Finally, I argue that particular insights developed by Durant from the field of linguistics may prove valuable in illuminating several points of contention in contemporary trademark law. In particular, Durant stresses that determining whether a defendant's use has evoked the source-identifying aspect of plaintiff's mark, as opposed to the descriptive properties of that term, can only be done by analyzing the "discourse 'setting' in which interpretations are constructed." Thus, although the type of use should be relevant to assessing infringement, any analysis of use type must be highly contextualized. This insight should inform the choice of doctrinal vehicles by which trademark law establishes limits on the scope of protection.
Adapted head- and eye-movement responses to added-head inertia.

Adaptation to inertia added to the head was studied in men by mounting masses on a rigidly attached helmet until two- to ten-fold increases of inertia were produced, while an overhead suspension compensated for the weights. The observed changes in the eye and head movement coordination included increased head movement latencies, as well as changes in the eye movement amplitude, and later stabilizing alternate contractions of the neck muscles. Oscillopsia, or continual displacement or instability of the visual world, which is a symptom of a breakdown of space constancy, was prominent and consistent in the perceptual reports of the subjects. Although adaptation resulting from adding inertia to the head occurred much faster than that induced by adding prisms or lenses, it has similar perceptual and motor components that may be objectively studied in detail.
An experimental test of the effect of male attractiveness on maternal investment in Dark-eyed Juncos

While social mate choice is an obvious point where sexual selection acts on males, cryptic selection can occur based on how much females invest in a male's offspring. I tested 4 hypotheses about the relationship between female investment and social mate attractiveness by manipulating a sexually selected trait, white tail feathers (“tail white”), in male Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis thurberi): (1) the differential allocation hypothesis predicts that females optimize lifetime reproductive success by maximizing parental investment in the offspring of ornamented mates and minimizing investment when mated to less attractive males; (2) instead of positive differential allocation, females could show negative differential allocation by investing more in less attractive males to compensate for their lower quality; (3) female care could also be influenced directly by paternal investment, in particular what appears to be positive differential allocation could be compensation for reduced care by attractive males; or (4) females could reduce care when paired with socially attractive males that are “good parents”. To evaluate these hypotheses, I examined the impact of tail white manipulation on clutch size, female incubation and brooding, and female and male provisioning. Females did not differentially allocate in relation to social mate attractiveness, nor were females responsive to patterns of male investment, even although artificially attractive males provisioned offspring significantly more than did controls. Naturally bright males, who were also the largest males, did not provision at higher rates, highlighting the need to experimentally separate the role of specific traits from other correlated factors. Tail white-manipulated males were involved in rare cases of polygyny and at times were actively guarded by their mates. Together, these results suggest that tail white influences reproductive behaviors in this junco population, but because of the potential for extrapair paternity, additional data are needed to accurately investigate the trait's role in female investment.
Repressed Wnt Signaling Accelerates the Aging Process in Mouse Eyes.

Purpose. Ocular aging is a natural process of functional decline in vision. When the process reaches a point that compromised vision affects normal daily activity, it manifests as age-related ocular diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and pseudoexfoliation syndrome. We previously reported that repressed Wnt signaling accelerated the maturation of corneal epithelium during tissue development. Here, we explore the hypothesis that repressed Wnt signaling is associated with accelerated aging in mouse eyes. Methods. Wnt ligand antagonist secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (sFRP1) was expressed in the corneal stroma by a tissue-specific, inducible, bitransgenic system. Tissue structure was analyzed for signs of aging. Signal transduction analysis was performed to determine the cellular response to sFRP1. Results. Mouse eyes with sFRP1 expression showed signs of accelerated aging, resembling those found in pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome, a known age-related disease. Specific findings include granular deposition on the surface of the anterior lens capsule, pigment loss from the anterior surface of the iris, the presence of fibrillary material in the anterior chamber, and changes in cell size (polymegethism) and shape (pleomorphism) of the corneal endothelial cells. In vitro studies demonstrated that sFRP1 did not inhibit Wnt5a function and that cells responded to sFRP1 and Wnt5a in a very similar manner. Conclusion. The expression of sFRP1 accelerates the aging process in mouse eyes and future studies are warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.
Affective response and narrative coherence in the Mocedades de Rodrigo

Critical attention to the Mocedades de Rodrigo has overwhelmingly centered on identifying narrative cohesion in a work that for many readers has seemed chaotic and fragmentary. Early on, these effo...
Feasibility Study for Using Jet Fuel in Diesel Engines

We have determined the primary jet fuel performance properties that have the greatest impact on how effectively they can be used in diesel engines, requiring improvement with the help of functional additives. We have studied the effect of a cetane improver additive based on 2-ethylhexyl nitrate and an antiwear additive based on higher carboxylic acids on the performance properties of jet fuels when they are used in diesel engines, and we have optimized their composition. We present the results of a study of the proposed fuel compositions based on jet fuel and functional additives, using laboratory and qualification methods and indicator properties for the D-245.125 engine cycle.
Terminating rice innate immunity induction requires a network of antagonistic and redox-responsive E3 ubiquitin ligases targeting a fungal sirtuin.

Fungal phytopathogens can suppress plant immune mechanisms in order to colonize living host cells. Identifying all the molecular components involved is critical for elaborating a detailed systems-level model of plant infection probing pathogen weaknesses; yet, the hierarchy of molecular events controlling fungal responses to the plant cell is not clear. Here we show how, in the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, terminating rice innate immunity requires a dynamic network of redox-responsive E3 ubiquitin ligases targeting fungal sirtuin 2 (Sir2), an antioxidation regulator required for suppressing the host oxidative burst. Immunoblotting, immunopurification, mass spectrometry and gene functional analyses showed that Sir2 levels responded to oxidative stress via a mechanism involving ubiquitination and three antagonistic E3 ubiquitin ligases: Grr1 and Ptr1 maintained basal Sir2 levels in the absence of oxidative stress; Upl3 facilitated Sir2 accumulation in response to oxidative stress. Grr1 and Upl3 interacted directly with Sir2 in a manner that decreased and scaled with oxidative stress, respectively. Deleting UPL3 depleted Sir2 during growth in rice cells, triggering host immunity and preventing infection. Overexpressing SIR2 in the Δupl3 mutant remediated pathogenicity. Our work reveals how redox-responsive E3 ubiquitin ligases in M. oryzae mediate Sir2 accumulation-dependent antioxidation to modulate plant innate immunity and host susceptibility.
Computer vision and machine learning enabled soybean root phenotyping pipeline

Root system architecture (RSA) traits are of interest for breeding selection; however, measurement of these traits is difficult, resource intensive, and results in large variability. The advent of computer vision and machine learning (ML) enabled trait extraction and measurement has renewed interest in utilizing RSA traits for genetic enhancement to develop more robust and resilient crop cultivars. We developed a mobile, low-cost, and high-resolution root phenotyping system composed of an imaging platform with computer vision and ML based segmentation approach to establish a seamless end-to-end pipeline - from obtaining large quantities of root samples through image based trait processing and analysis. This high throughput phenotyping system, which has the capacity to handle hundreds to thousands of plants, integrates time series image capture coupled with automated image processing that uses optical character recognition (OCR) to identify seedlings via barcode, followed by robust segmentation integrating convolutional auto-encoder (CAE) method prior to feature extraction. The pipeline includes an updated and customized version of the Automatic Root Imaging Analysis (ARIA) root phenotyping software. Using this system, we studied diverse soybean accessions from a wide geographical distribution and report genetic variability for RSA traits, including root shape, length, number, mass, and angle. This system provides a high-throughput, cost effective, non-destructive methodology that delivers biologically relevant time-series data on root growth and development for phenomics, genomics, and plant breeding applications. This phenotyping platform is designed to quantify root traits and rank genotypes in a common environment thereby serving as a selection tool for use in plant breeding. Root phenotyping platforms and image based phenotyping are essential to mirror the current focus on shoot phenotyping in breeding efforts.
27.3 EM and Power SCA-Resilient AES-256 in 65nm CMOS Through >350× Current-Domain Signature Attenuation

Computationally-secure cryptographic algorithms when implemented on physical platforms leak critical physical signals correlated with the secret key in the form of power consumption and electromagnetic (EM) emanations. This can be exploited by an adversary, leading to side-channel attacks (SCA) that can recover the secret key. Circuit-level on-chip countermeasures include a switched-capacitor current equalizer [1], charge-recovery logic [2], an integrated voltage regulator (IVR) [3], and an all-digital low-dropout (LDO) regulator [4], which suffer from performance degradation, high power/area overheads because of large embedded passives, as well as EM leakage from large metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor top plates. Alternatively, simulations of shunt LDO-based regulators have been shown to be effective for power SCA resistance [5]. Noting that the correlated current is the source of both power (at supply pin) and EM leakage (radiation throughout current path), this work embraces current-domain ‘signature attenuation’ (CDSA) as a low-overhead generic countermeasure against both EM and power side-channel attacks to achieve the highest minimum traces to disclosure (MTD $> 1\mathrm{B})$ reported to date.
Optimizing Hydroxychloroquine Dosing for Patients With COVID-19: An Integrative Modeling Approach for Effective Drug Repurposing.

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a promising candidate for Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) treatment. The optimal dosing of HCQ is unknown. Our goal was to integrate historic and emerging pharmacological and toxicity data to understand safe and efficacious HCQ dosing strategies for COVID-19 treatment. The data sources included were (i) longitudinal clinical, pharmacokinetic (PK), and virologic data from patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection who received HCQ with or without azithromycin (n = 116), (ii) in vitro viral replication data and SARS-CoV-2 viral load inhibition by HCQ, (iii) a population PK model of HCQ, and (iv) a model relating chloroquine PKs to corrected QT (QTc) prolongation. A mechanistic PK/virologic/QTc model for HCQ was developed and externally validated to predict SARS-CoV-2 rate of viral decline and QTc prolongation. SARS-CoV-2 viral decline was associated with HCQ PKs (P 400 mg b.i.d. for ≥5 days were predicted to rapidly decrease viral loads, reduce the proportion of patients with detectable SARS-CoV-2 infection, and shorten treatment courses, compared with lower dose (≤ 400 mg daily) regimens. However, HCQ doses > 600 mg b.i.d. were also predicted to prolong QTc intervals. This prolongation may have clinical implications warranting further safety assessment. Due to COVID-19's variable natural history, lower dose HCQ regimens may be indistinguishable from controls. Evaluation of higher HCQ doses is needed to ensure adequate safety and efficacy.
Traditions of Death and Burial: By Helen Frisby. London & Oxford: Shire Publications, 2019. 96 pp. Illus. £9.99 (pbk). ISBN 978-1-78442-377-3

This book is in the excellent Shire Library series and is written by an expert in the field. The theme of death and burial has grown exponentially within both the academic and popular spheres, and ...
Libman-Sacks endocarditis and associated cerebrovascular disease: The role of medical therapy.

Background Libman-Sacks endocarditis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is commonly complicated with embolic cerebrovascular disease (CVD) or valve dysfunction for which high-risk valve surgery is frequently performed. However, the role of medical therapy alone for Libman-Sacks endocarditis and associated acute CVD remains undefined. Objective To determine in this cross-sectional and longitudinal study if conventional anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic therapy may be an effective therapy in SLE patients with Libman-Sacks endocarditis and associated acute CVD. Methods and materials 17 SLE patients with Libman-Sacks endocarditis detected by two-and-three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and complicated with acute CVD [stroke/TIA, focal brain injury on MRI, or cognitive dysfunction] were treated with conventional anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic therapy for a median of 6 months and then underwent repeat TEE, transcranial Doppler, brain MRI, and neurocognitive testing for re-assessment of Libman-Sacks endocarditis and CVD. Results Valve vegetations decreased in number, diameter, and area (all p ≤0.01); associated valve regurgitation significantly improved (p = 0.04), and valve thickening did not progress (p = 0.56). In 13 (76%) patients, valve vegetations or valve regurgitation resolved or improved in number and size or by ≥1 degree, respectively, as compared to 4 (24%) patients in whom vegetations or valve regurgitation persisted unchanged or increased in size or by ≥1 degree (p = 0.03). Also, cerebromicroembolism, lobar and global gray and white matter cerebral perfusion, ischemic brain lesion load, and neurocognitive dysfunction resolved or significantly improved (all p ≤0.04). Conclusion These preliminary data suggest that combined conventional anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic therapy may be an effective treatment for Libman-Sacks endocarditis and its associated CVD and may obviate the need for high-risk valve surgery.
The Constitutional Imaginary and the ‘Metabolic’ Realities of European Integration

Understanding the European Union (EU) as an autonomously constitutional entity—what this volume evocatively calls the EU’s ‘constitutional imaginary’—has been central to judicial decision-making and legal scholarship on European governance over many decades. If our aim, however, is to understand what European governance actually is, rather than what the dominant discourse among lawyers, judges and law professors asserts it should be, then we must consider whether this discourse obscures more than reveals. The constitutional imaginary has primarily served, this chapter asserts, as an ideology that legal elites have deployed in a process of institutional change to overcome Europe’s polycentric, nation-state constitutional realities. The core weakness of this ideology as an agent of change, however, has been its almost exclusive focus on the ‘constraint’ function of constitutionalism rather than on the actual ‘constitution’ of power in a socio-political sense. The latter refers to the capacity of a system of governance not just to produce constraining legal norms but also to mobilise human and fiscal resources in a legitimate and compulsory fashion toward ends that governing bodies select. The construction of this sort genuinely ‘metabolic’ constitution in the EU—one unmediated through the member states—is the true Rubicon that European governance must cross in order to turn its ‘constitutional imaginary’ into a socio-political reality.
Independent Sports Television in the Networked Era

As the rise of internet distribution has transformed television, precipitating the continued expansion and fracturing of the medium, sports television has not been excluded. In analyzing the effect...
Effects of Aging on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Sn-Ag-Cu-Bi Solder Alloys

In this study, the effects of aging and Bi content on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Sn-Ag-Cu-Bi alloys were investigated. Samples of three types of alloys, SAC405, $\text{SAC}405+2\%\text{Bi}$ , and $\text{SAC}405+3\%\text{Bi}$ , were cast and subjected to aging at 25°C, 75°C, and 125°C for up to 90 days. For samples from each of the temperature and storage durations, the microstructure was investigated with SEM and the mechanical properties, including hardness and creep strength, were studied by nano-indentation. The results revealed that the addition of Bi induced pronounced changes in the size and distribution of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) and subsequently the mechanical properties. 2% to 3% Bi addition to SAC405 can greatly enhance the creep strength of SAC405 with aging as the Bi caused IMCs to be finely dispersed in Sn matrix. Moreover, Bi content of 2% to 3% in SAC405 was able to retain the hardness as it was in the as-cast condition. The results provide important information on solder selection for applications where solder joint fatigue life is main consideration.