cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reversible Association between the V1 and V0 Domains of Yeast Vacuolar H+-ATPase Is an Unconventional Glucose-Induced Effect

The yeast vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) is a multisubunit complex responsible for organelle acidification. The enzyme is structurally organized into two major domains: a peripheral domain (V1), containing the ATP binding sites, and an integral membrane domain (V0), forming the proton pore. Dissociation of the V1 and V0 domains inhibits ATP-driven proton pumping, and extracellular glucose concentrations regulate V-ATPase activity in vivo by regulating the extent of association between the V1 and V0 domains. To examine the mechanism of this response, we quantitated the extent of V-ATPase assembly in a variety of mutants with known effects on other glucose-responsive processes. Glucose effects on V-ATPase assembly did not involve the Ras-cyclic AMP pathway, Snf1p, protein kinase C, or the general stress response protein Rts1p. Accumulation of glucose 6-phosphate was insufficient to maintain or induce assembly of the V-ATPase, suggesting that further glucose metabolism is required. A transient decrease in ATP concentration with glucose deprivation occurs quickly enough to help trigger disassembly of the V-ATPase, but increases in cellular ATP concentrations with glucose readdition cannot account for reassembly. Disassembly was inhibited in two mutant enzymes lacking ATPase and proton pumping activities or in the presence of the specific V-ATPase inhibitor, concanamycin A. We propose that glucose effects on V-ATPase assembly occur by a novel mechanism that requires glucose metabolism beyond formation of glucose 6-phosphate and generates a signal that can be sensed efficiently only by a catalytically competent V-ATPase.
Association of NPPA rs5065 Genetic Variant With Increased Cardiovascular Risk in the General USA Population

Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Predicts Mortality and Cardiovascular Events in the General Community: Comparison to Other BNP Biomarkers Fima Macheret, Paul McKie, Guido Boerrigter, Lisa Costello-Boerrigter, Lahr Brian, Denise Heublein, Sandberg Sharon, Alessandro Cataliotti, Richard Rodeheffer, John C. Burnett Jr.; Cardiorenal Research Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Division of Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Eosinophilic colitis: university of Minnesota experience and literature review.

Eosinophilic colitis is a rare form of primary eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease that is poorly understood. Neonates and young adults are more frequently affected. Clinical presentation is highly variable depending on the depth of inflammatory response (mucosal, transmural, or serosal). The pathophysiology of eosinophilic colitis is unclear but is suspected to be related to a hypersensitivity reaction given its correlation with other atopic disorders and clinical response to corticosteroid therapy. Diagnosis is that of exclusion and differential diagnoses are many because colonic tissue eosinophilia may occur with other colitides (parasitic, drug-induced, inflammatory bowel disease, and various connective tissue disorders). Similar to other eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, steroid-based therapy and diet modification achieve very good and durable responses. In this paper, we present our experience with this rare pathology. Five patients (3 pediatric and 2 adults) presented with diarrhea and hematochezia. Mean age at presentation was 26 years. Mean duration of symptoms before pathologic diagnosis was 8 months. Mean eosinophil count per patient was 31 per high-power field. The pediatric patients responded very well to dietary modifications, with no recurrences. The adult patients were treated with steroids and did not respond. Overall mean followup was 22 (range, 2–48) months.
Features of HIV-1 That Could Influence Maternal-Child Transmission

Objective. —To evaluate the biological and serological properties of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) for factors potentially involved in the mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1. Design. —Isolates of HIV-1 were recovered from the blood of 12 of 44 nontransmitting mothers and six of eight transmitting mothers and their corresponding infants. These 24 HIV-1 isolates were compared for their biological and immunologic properties to discern any parameters that correlate with vertical transmission of HIV-1. Main Outcome Measures. —Replication capabilities of the above-mentioned HIV-1 isolates in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), human macrophages, and various T-cell lines and the susceptibilities of the viruses to neutralization or enhancement by anti-HIV-1 antibodies in autologous serum samples from mothers and infants. Setting. —San Francisco Bay Area, California. Participants. —A cohort of 52 HIV-1—infected women and their infants in a prospective study on perinatal HIV transmission by the Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Center. Results. —The viral isolates from the transmitting mothers and their infants differed from the isolates from the nontransmitting mothers in their efficient replication in human PBMCs and in their ability to infect one or more human T-lymphocytic cell lines. All the HIV-1 isolates were able to infect human macrophages with only low-level replication and were unable to form syncytia in the MT-2—lymphocytic cells. No correlation between transmission and reactivity of maternal serum samples to the peptide corresponding to the principal neutralization domain of the third hypervariable region of the viral envelope was observed. However, the majority (9/12) of maternal isolates from the nontransmitters were neutralized by their autologous serum samples compared with only two among six in the transmitter group ( P Conclusions. —Viral factors that appeared to correlate with mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 observed in a small cohort included rapid or high-titered replication in human PBMCs, T-cell line tropism, and resistance to neutralization or a sensitivity to enhancement of infection by the maternal serum. ( JAMA . 1994;272:467-474)
Multiple versus single maintaining factors of challenging behaviours as assessed by the QABF for adults with intellectual disabilities

AbstractBackground The Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) correctly identifies maintaining variables of challenging behaviour. However, for adults who have a long history of challenging behaviours, identifying one clear function of the maladaptive behaviour is difficult. Additionally, the person may develop multiple functions of their maladaptive behaviour.Method Characteristics of single versus multiple maintaining factors were evaluated using the QABF for 88 adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). The reliability of single versus multiple maintaining factors for aggression and self‐injurious behaviour was analysed. Multiple factors were analysed in terms of type of maintaining factors, and their order of importance by challenging behaviour was noted.Results The majority of behaviours examined were maintained by multiple functions. Reliability was higher for behaviours with a single maintaining variable when compared to behaviours with multiple maintaining variables.Conclusion These data appe...
Getting to the (c)ore of knowledge: mining biomedical literature

Literature mining is the process of extracting and combining facts from scientific publications. In recent years, many computer programs have been designed to extract various molecular biology findings from Medline abstracts or full-text articles. The present article describes the range of text mining techniques that have been applied to scientific documents. It divides 'automated reading' into four general subtasks: text categorization, named entity tagging, fact extraction, and collection-wide analysis. Literature mining offers powerful methods to support knowledge discovery and the construction of topic maps and ontologies. An overview is given of recent developments in medical language processing. Special attention is given to the domain particularities of molecular biology, and the emerging synergy between literature mining and molecular databases accessible through Internet.
Correspondence between laboratory and ambulatory measures of cardiovascular reactivity: A multilevel modeling approach.

We examined the correspondence between laboratory measures of cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) and within-person changes in cardiovascular activity during the challenges of daily life, after adjustment for posture, activity, and other effects. Healthy adults (n = 335) were administered laboratory measures of CVR along with 6 days of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and electronic diary reports. Compared with low reactors, high laboratory systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactors showed larger increases in SBP during periods of high task demand or low decisional control in daily life. High diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactors showed larger increases in ambulatory DBP during situations rated as both low control and high demand. This multilevel modeling approach may enhance our ability to detect the correspondence between laboratory and ambulatory measures of CVR, and to identify the circumstances under which it may be most clearly observed.
Single detector single shot high resolution iImaging

We propose and demonstrate single detector real-time line imaging with up to 1µm resolution at 1 line/50ns capture rate. Experimentally we demonstrate real time line imaging of ≪25µm particles and patterns such as fingerprints.
Activation of both acfA and acfD transcription by Vibrio cholerae ToxT requires binding to two centrally located DNA sites in an inverted repeat conformation.

Summary The Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae is the infectious agent responsible for the disease Asiatic cholera. The genes required for V. cholerae virulence, such as those encoding the cholera toxin (CT) and toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP), are controlled by a cascade of transcriptional activators. Ultimately, the direct transcriptional activator of the majority of V. cholerae virulence genes is the AraC/XylS family member ToxT protein, the expression of which is activated by the ToxR and TcpP proteins. Previous studies have identified the DNA sites to which ToxT binds upstream of the ctx operon, encoding CT, and the tcpA operon, encoding, among other products, the major subunit of the TCP. These known ToxT binding sites are seemingly dissimilar in sequence other than being A/T rich. Further results suggested that ctx and tcpA each has a pair of ToxT binding sites arranged in a direct repeat orientation upstream of the core promoter elements. In this work, using both transcriptional lacZ fusions and in vitro copper-phenanthroline footprinting experiments, we have identified the ToxT binding sites between the divergently transcribed acfA and acfD genes, which encode components of the accessory colonization factor required for efficient intestinal colonization by V. cholerae . Our results indicate that ToxT binds to a pair of DNA sites between acfA and acfD in an inverted repeat orientation. Moreover, a mutational analysis of the ToxT binding sites indicates that both binding sites are required by ToxT for transcriptional activation of both acfA and acfD . Using copper-phenanthroline footprinting to assess the occupancy of ToxT on DNA having mutations in one of these binding sites, we found that protection by ToxT of the unaltered binding site was not affected, whereas protection by ToxT of the mutant binding site was significantly reduced in the region of the mutations. The results of further footprinting experiments using DNA templates having + 5 bp and + 10 bp insertions between the two ToxT binding sites indicate that both binding sites are occupied by ToxT regardless of their positions relative to each other. Based on these results, we propose that ToxT binds independently to two DNA sites between acfA and acfD to activate transcription of both genes.
AIDS associated non-Hodgkin's lymphomas represent a broad spectrum of monoclonal and polyclonal lymphoproliferative processes.

Lymphoma is a devastating complication of HIV disease occurring at an incidence of approximately 5–15% in AIDS patients, at a 25–100 fold increase as related to the non-HIV-infected population [1–3]. Initial studies emphasized the B-cell nature of these neoplasms analogous, except for the high incidence of Burkitt’s lymphoma, to the lymphomas arising in transplant patients [4–6] and patients with congenital immunodeficiencies [7–9]. Previous genotypic surveys of the HIV associated lymphomas found similarities to transplant lymphomas (a subset of transplant “lymphomas” are polyclonal and associated with the EBV) and Burkitt’s lymphomas (genotypic analysis of Burkitt’s lymphomas reveals chromosomal translocations near immunoglobulin (Ig) gene loci and the proto-oncogene c-myc) [10, 11]. More recently, phenotypic analysis was initiated to verify the B-cell nature of the neoplasms and this analysis was further expanded to explore the exact cellular milieu of the lymphomas associated with HIV infection [12].
Chapter 4 – Cold Plasma Discharges

Publisher Summary This chapter presents various features that are associated with realistic plasma that one can obtain in practice. The cold plasmas are usually created and maintained by direct current (DC), radio frequency (RF), or microwave power applied to a gas at low pressures. The treatment of a real plasma discharge in a reactor is not easily amenable to analytical or even numerical approaches, because of the variety of complex interactive phenomena. This chapter aims to obtain approximate behavior of the real plasma by simple physical reasoning. The most important feature in a cold plasma discharge is the appearance of a plasma sheath adjacent to the substrate or the wall. The plasma sheath is a region consisting of predominantly cations and owes its appearance to the difference in mass between the cation and the electron. The potential is virtually constant in the plasma except at the plasma sheath where it acquires a negative potential with respect to the plasma. A pre-sheath within which the cations acquire enough kinetic energy to move towards the cathode connects the plasma sheath and the plasma region in the discharge to one another. The physical and chemical nature of the plasma, which is affected by the different mechanisms available for the generation of electrons in the discharge, are discussed in the chapter.
Youth Activism: Considering Higher Ground

We were raised in river cities. Brendan’s first home was on the east side of the Susquehanna River, while Mike grew up near the confluence of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio Rivers. Water flows some 1,200 miles to get from Harrisburg to Paducah, yet one event joined our thinking as sure as the flow of the rivers. On March 28th, 1979, a partial nuclear meltdown occurred on one of two reactors at the Three Mile Island plant in Dauphin Island, Pennsylvania. This environmental disaster in Brendan’s “backyard” made international news. Although neither of us remembers many details of that accident, we have always been skeptical of nuclear power as an alternative to the hyper-fossil-fuel-based society in which we live. Perhaps because the proliferation of nuclear power plants never progressed in the United States following this accident, or maybe just because we were kids who thought more about sports and other ventures than the environment, this event did not inspire us to learn or do anything.
An Exploratory Study of Conflict and Coordination in Interorganizational Service Delivery System

This study examined conflict and coordination in interorganizational service delivery systems. I developed hypotheses relating service and client characteristics to the amount and type of coordinat...
The Unique G - banded Mitotic Karyotype of the Turkish Hamster (Mesocricetus brandti)

G-banded studies of the chromosome complement of the Turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti) reveal unique variations in the sex chromosomes and chromosome 16 when compared to previously published karyotypes. Details of the characteristics of the present mitotic karyotypes of male and female are presented.
New Technologies and the Fourth Amendment

Examines fourth amendment in the context of new technologies which allow remot uninvasive searches. 7 pages, 45 notes.
Neurodevelopmental Theories of Schizophrenia: Twenty‐First Century Perspectives

Schizophrenia is a devastating mental illness afflicting about 1 percent of the population, involving delusions and hallucinations. Although originally believed to be a disorder of neurodegeneration, multiple lines of inquiry now provide compelling evidence for its neurodevelopmental origins. As such, one of the most puzzling aspects about this disorder is its characteristic onset in late adolescence or early adulthood. In this chapter we review evidence for the involvement of both early (genetic and perinatal) and later (adolescent) neurodevelopmental influences in the etiology and pathogenesis of schizophrenia. New findings regarding its genetic architecture implicate both common and rare genetic variants that converge on pathways involving disruption of synaptic plasticity, which may be related to neural endophenotypes present in both patients and their clinically unaffected relatives. Together, these findings suggest a combination of these early and later neurodevelopmental factors converge to produce the cellular, structural, and functional deficits underlying the disorder. Keywords: brain development; synaptic plasticity; adolescence; prodrome; copy number variants; hypoxia; psychosis
Historiography in the Writing Classroom: A Case for Teaching Chicanx/Latinx History as an Alternative to Traditional Multicultural Pedagogies

The example of Brodkey’s English 306, representative of the 1980s culture wars and the universalist response of President Bill Clinton, provides rhetorical justifications for the cultural mission of diverse educational institutions, such as Hispanic-serving institutions. The Brodkey example points to the fear of political conservatives of changing pedagogies that stray from the classics, and it seems that Clinton’s universalist rhetoric would be more effective in calming these fears and garner more support from Republican factions.
The Arab American experience with diabetes: Perceptions, myths and implications for culturally-specific interventions.

Aims Culturally-specific lifestyle diabetes prevention programs require an assessment of population disease perceptions and cultural influences on health beliefs and behaviors. The primary objectives were to assess Arab Americans’ knowledge and perceptions of diabetes and their preferences for a lifestyle intervention.
Linear-rank testing of a non-binary, responder-analysis, efficacy score to evaluate pharmacotherapies for substance use disorders.

The design of pharmacological trials for management of substance use disorders is shifting toward outcomes of successful individual-level behavior (abstinence or no heavy use). While binary success/failure analyses are common, McCann and Li (CNS Neurosci Ther 2012; 18: 414-418) introduced "number of beyond-threshold weeks of success" (NOBWOS) scores to avoid dichotomized outcomes. NOBWOS scoring employs an efficacy "hurdle" with values reflecting duration of success. Here, we evaluate NOBWOS scores rigorously. Formal analysis of mathematical structure of NOBWOS scores is followed by simulation studies spanning diverse conditions to assess operating characteristics of five linear-rank tests on NOBWOS scores. Simulations include assessment of Fisher's exact test applied to hurdle component. On average, statistical power was approximately equal for five linear-rank tests. Under none of conditions examined did Fisher's exact test exhibit greater statistical power than any of the linear-rank tests. These linear-rank tests provide good Type I and Type II error control for comparing distributions of NOBWOS scores between groups (e.g. active vs. placebo). All methods were applied to re-analyses of data from four clinical trials of differing lengths and substances of abuse. These linear-rank tests agreed across all trials in rejecting (or not) their null (equality of distributions) at ≤ 0.05.
Association between neural reactivity and startle reactivity to uncertain threat in two independent samples.

Prior studies indicate that anxiety disorders are associated with heightened sensitivity to uncertain threat (U threat). Individual differences in reactivity to U threat have been measured in the laboratory with two methodologies-startle eyeblink potentiation and fMRI. While startle and fMRI are purported to relate to each other, very little research exists on whether individual differences in one measure are associated with individual differences in another and, thus, whether startle and fMRI capture shared mechanisms. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate if and where in the brain measures of startle potentiation and fMRI BOLD signal correlate during response to U threat across two independent samples. Participants in both studies completed two threat anticipation tasks-once during collection of startle potentiation and once during fMRI. In Study 1 (n = 43), the startle and fMRI tasks both used electric shock as the threat. As an extension, in Study 2 (n = 38), the startle task used electric shock but the fMRI task used aversive images. Despite these methodological differences, greater startle potentiation to U threat was associated with greater dorsal anterior cingulate, caudate, and orbitofrontal cortex reactivity to U threat in both samples. The findings suggest that startle and fMRI measures of responding to U threat overlap, and points toward an integrated brain-behavior profile of aberrant U threat responding.
Effect of internal absorption on cathodoluminescence from GaN

We have studied optical properties of GaN grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition in the near band-edge energy range by cathodoluminescence. A large shift of the bandedge luminescence to lower energies is induced by increasing the beam energy. The free exciton position shifts about 20 meV when the beam energy is increased from 5 keV to 25 keV at room-temperature. The effect is explained by internal absorption caused by an exponential absorption tail at the band-edge. An Urbach parameter of about 30 to 40 meV for the exponential band-tail in our samples is estimated by comparing experimental with simulated spectra.
Neighborhood Moderation of Sensation Seeking Effects on Adolescent Substance Use Initiation.

Adolescent substance use carries a considerable public health burden, and early initiation into use is especially problematic. Research has shown that trait sensation seeking increases risk for substance use initiation, but less is known about contextual factors that can potentially unmask this risk. This study utilized a diverse longitudinal subsample of youth (N = 454) from a larger study of familial alcoholism (53.1% female, 61% non-Hispanic Caucasian, 27.8% Hispanic, 11.2% other ethnicity). Study questions examined sensation seeking in early adolescence (mean age = 12.16) and its relations with later substance use initiation (mean age = 15.69), and tested whether neighborhood disadvantage moderated sensation seeking’s effects on initiation of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use. Neighborhood disadvantage significantly moderated the relation between sensation seeking and all three forms of substance use. For the most part, sensation seeking effects were weakened as neighborhood disadvantage increased, with the most advantaged neighborhoods exhibiting the strongest link between sensation seeking and substance use initiation. These results highlight the importance of focusing on relatively advantaged areas as potentially risky environments for the sensation seeking pathway to substance use.
Parameters sensitivities for sustainable urban infrastructure

Low-impact development (LID) is an important infrastructure method for improving urban drainage through stormwater best management practices. The parameterisation sensitivities for LID techniques a...
Cost-sensitive security risk management for large-scale computing infrastructures

Security threats to large-scale computing and networking infrastructures are increasingly prevalent and difficult to manage. Because of cost, labor, and other operational constraints present in large computing systems, it is often not possible to address all security risks immediately as they are discovered. This leaves known security threats unaddressed and risk managers are forced to dynamically prioritize different classes of threats. We use techniques from optimal control to derive a dynamic policy for choosing different security modes in a manner that achieves security management goals in a cost-sensitive manner. By leveraging results from the applied probability literature, we show that under some very general conditions our proposed scheme will keep unaddressed security risks at acceptable levels whenever possible.
An accelerated image matching technique for UAV orthoimage registration

Abstract Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) drone with an attached non-metric camera has become a popular low-cost approach for collecting geospatial data. A well-georeferenced orthoimage is a fundamental product for geomatics professionals. To achieve high positioning accuracy of orthoimages, precise sensor position and orientation data, or a number of ground control points (GCPs), are often required. Alternatively, image registration is a solution for improving the accuracy of a UAV orthoimage, as long as a historical reference image is available. This study proposes a registration scheme, including an Accelerated Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints (ABRISK) algorithm and spatial analysis of corresponding control points for image registration. To determine a match between two input images, feature descriptors from one image are compared with those from another image. A “Sorting Ring” is used to filter out uncorrected feature pairs as early as possible in the stage of matching feature points, to speed up the matching process. The results demonstrate that the proposed ABRISK approach outperforms the vector-based Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) approach where radiometric variations exist. ABRISK is 19.2 times and 312 times faster than SIFT for image sizes of 1000 × 1000 pixels and 4000 × 4000 pixels, respectively. ABRISK is 4.7 times faster than Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints (BRISK). Furthermore, the positional accuracy of the UAV orthoimage after applying the proposed image registration scheme is improved by an average of root mean square error (RMSE) of 2.58 m for six test orthoimages whose spatial resolutions vary from 6.7 cm to 10.7 cm.
The merger of transition metal and photocatalysis

The merger of transition metal catalysis and photocatalysis, termed metallaphotocatalysis, has recently emerged as a versatile platform for the development of new, highly enabling synthetic methodologies. Photoredox catalysis provides access to reactive radical species under mild conditions from abundant, native functional groups, and, when combined with transition metal catalysis, this feature allows direct coupling of non-traditional nucleophile partners. In addition, photocatalysis can aid fundamental organometallic steps through modulation of the oxidation state of transition metal complexes or through energy-transfer-mediated excitation of intermediate catalytic species. Metallaphotocatalysis provides access to distinct activation modes, which are complementary to those traditionally used in the field of transition metal catalysis, thereby enabling reaction development through entirely new mechanistic paradigms. This Review discusses key advances in the field of metallaphotocatalysis over the past decade and demonstrates how the unique mechanistic features permit challenging, or previously elusive, transformations to be accomplished. Transition metal catalysis is well established as an enabling tool in synthetic organic chemistry. Photoredox catalysis has recently emerged as a method to effect reactions that occur through single-electron-transfer pathways. Here we review the combination of the two to show how this provides access to highly reactive oxidation states of transition metals and distinct activation modes that further enable the synthetic chemist.
Forward Chaining for Hybrid ASP

In this paper, we define an analogue of the Forward Chaining (FC) algorithm due to Marek, Nerode, and Remmel [12] for Hybrid Answer Set Programming (H-ASP). The FC algorithm for normal logic programs takes as an input a well ordering ≺ of the non-Horn clauses of a normal logic program P and produces a stable model D ≺ for a subprogram A ≺ of P. It is the case that for every stable model M of P, there is a well ordering ≺ such that D ≺ = M and A ≺ = P. Thus the search for a stable model of P becomes a search for a well ordering ≺ such that A ≺ = P. We show that a similar result hold in case of FC for H-ASP. H-ASP is an extension of normal logic programming or Answer Set Programming (ASP), introduced by the authors in [2] that allows users to combine ASP type rules and numerical algorithms. The MFC algorithm, introduced by the authors in [1] is a Monte Carlo algorithm that combines the FC algorithm and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm to search for stable models of normal logic programs. We shall briefly discuss how one can produce an analogue of the MFC algorithm to search for stable models of H-ASP programs.
Wearable inkjet printed energy harvester

This paper proposes two types of inkjet printed wearable energy harvesters scavenging energy from an off-the-shelf two-way radio which operates at 464 MHz. One of them uses loop antenna and the other applies segmented loop antenna to reduce the interference from human tissue. The effects of the human tissue on the RF link are taken into consideration both in simulation and measurement. The maximum output powers of the loop-type and the segmented-loop-type harvesters are 96 and 55 mW, respectively while the distance between the radio and the harvesters is 5 cm. Moreover, the effects of misalignment between the radio and the harvesters are also addressed.
Getting over naïve scientism c. 1950: what Fogel and North got wrong

Fogel and North, both of them old radicals in the 1950s, received the Nobel Memorial Prize in 1993 for their advocacy—and practice—during the 1960s and 1970s of quantitative methods and especially of basic economic thinking in the study of the economic past. Both were scientific giants, and great teachers and advocates. But even giants make mistakes, and in both cases the mistakes became more evident in the decades after they received the glittering prize. Fogel’s late-career studies of health and welfare, though admirably serious examples of applied economics right to the end, were less scientifically pioneering than his work on railways or slavery. North’s much more influential advocacy—and very much less his practice—of neo-institutionalism, by contrast, was probably a scientific error. Fogel realized more and more the salience of ethics in the economy, and even taught (philosophically unsophisticated) courses on business ethics. North drifted further and further from the essentially ethical underpinnings of an innovative economy, speaking of “brain science” rather than the mind-scanning equipment of the humanities, and led his many followers in the drift.
Eliciting Risk Attitudes in the Field: Surveys or Experimental Methods? An Empirical Comparison in Rural Niger

AbstractWe compare several risk preference elicitation methods – including incentivised, non-incentivised, and framed methods as well as a traditional Likert survey question – in a developing country and empirically test how well consequent measures of risk attitudes predict risk taking behaviour. We find that Likert scale and non-incentivised framed survey questions are not sufficient substitutes for costlier incentivised methods in rural Niger. Instead, the incentivised framed question works best while a simplified incentivised lottery question works almost as well. More risk and ambiguity averse farmers are less likely to adopt fertiliser microdosing indicating the importance of insurance and strategies to promote learning.
Ckmeans.1d.dp: Optimal k-means Clustering in One Dimension by Dynamic Programming

The heuristic k-means algorithm, widely used for cluster analysis, does not guarantee optimality. We developed a dynamic programming algorithm for optimal one-dimensional clustering. The algorithm is implemented as an R package called Ckmeans.1d.dp. We demonstrate its advantage in optimality and runtime over the standard iterative k-means algorithm.
Potential Influence of Centrally Acting Herbal Drugs on Transporters at the Blood–Cerebrospinal Fluid Barrier and Blood–Brain Barrier

Complementary and alternative medications (CAM) with known or suspected pharmacologic activity in the central nervous system (CNS) are common. These herbal preparations may cause clinically significant drug-drug interactions (DDIs) when coadministered with medications that act in the CNS. This can result in negative outcomes such as toxicity or loss of efficacy. Most drug interaction reports with CAM focus on cytochrome P450 (CYP) modulation. However, drug interactions between CAM and conventional medications may occur via mechanisms other than CYP inhibition or induction; in particular, modulation of drug transport proteins represents an important mechanism by which such interactions may occur. This article provides an updated review of transporter-mediated mechanisms by which herbal products may theoretically interact with centrally acting medications at the blood-brain barrier and blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier. Further research is required before the true clinical impact of interactions involving modulation of centrally located membrane transporters can be fully understood.
Synapsis, synaptic adjustment and DNA synthesis in mouse oocytes

The behavior of the synaptonemal complex (SC) during synapsis in duplication and inversion heterozygotes has been studied mainly in surface spreads of mouse spermatocytes (Poorman et al., 1981a, b; Moses and Poorman, 1981; Davisson et al., 1981; Moses et al., 19821 Two phases of synapsis (i.e., SC formation) have been revealed: the first, at zygotene, is restricted to homologous regions (homosynapsis); the second occurs during pachytene, is indifferent to homology and permits SC formation between nonhomologous regions (heterosynapsis). The transition between the two phases is not ordinarily recognized during synapsis because the “straight” SCs normally formed at zygotene are stable and pass through the second, homology-indifferent phase unchanged. Rearrangement configurations (duplication buckles and inversion loops) of SC’s formed at zygotene undergo alterations that result at the end of pachytene in straight, normal-appearing SC’s nonhomologously synapsed in the rearrangement regions. This process of change has been termed “synaptic adjustment” (review: Moses, 1981).
Endorectal ultrasound for preoperative staging

Evaluation of the anus and rectum has traditionally been done through external examination, digital rectal examination, anoscopy, flexible or rigid proctosigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy. Imaging techniques have included barium enema, CT scan, and MRI. With the introduction of endoluminal ultrasonography, a greater degree of objectivity has been implemented in the evaluation of the anorectum. This is especially important in the evaluation and treatment of rectal cancer. Accurate preoperative staging guides decision for neoadjuvant therapy, sphincter sparing procedures, and local excision. Endorectal ultrasound (ERUS) and endoanal ultrasound (ERAS) are also used in the diagnosis of benign mucosal lesions, fistula in ano, fecal incontinence, anorectal abscesses, and extrarectal masses. This chapter will focus on the use of endoluminal ultrasound in the evaluation of low rectal cancer, with particular attention to decisions regarding intersphincteric resection of low rectal tumors.
Electromagnetic Simulation of High-Speed and RF Multi-Chip Modules — An Overview

Electromagnetic (EM) simulators have already become established in the design of a variety of electromagnetic devices, such as MMICs (monolithic microwave integrated circuits), antennas, shields, electromechanical machines, and magnetic circuits. Such broad applicability results from the fact that the EM simulators are software packages for numerically solving the Maxwell’s fundamental electromagnetic field equations; for the same reason, and unlike some of the other simulators, they are independent of technology, models, foundry, and other such ephemeral considerations. Although designers have long carried out electromagnetic analysis of RF components and packages where necessary, the availability of commercial EM simulators1’2 since 1989 has made this task much more common, rapid, and easier. This development parallels the concurrent development of multi-chip module (MCM) technology for high-speed digital systems, as well as the front-ends of radio-frequency (RF) systems, such as receivers, transponders, transceivers, synthesizers, and transmit-receive modules. MCMs are a modern method of electronic packaging and integration that has the advantages of low-cost, compact size, and reliability. At low speeds/frequencies, the analysis, design, simulation, layout, and verification, of MCMs requires a number of software tools for computer-aided design (CAD), including process simulators, device simulators, circuit simulators, thermal simulators, and system simulators. For high-speed and RF MCMs, the design requirements make an additional CAD tool, namely EM simulator, indispensable.
Pramatic Atomistic Analysis of Nano-scale Metal Plasticity

Recent progresses in atomistic simulations of plastic deformation in nano-scale metallic crystals are presented. Attention is devoted to adjusting the interatomic potential parameters with the objective of gaining fundamental insight into the crystal defect processes in fcc metals. An initial defect is utilized in the molecular statics model to trigger plasticity in a controlled manner. A parametric study is performed by varying the atomic interaction range used in the copper model, such that dislocation slip behavior and/or phase transformation can first be observed without the influence of an unstable surface state of the specimen. We focus on tensile loading along a low-symmetry orientation where single slip prevails upon yielding. When the interaction distance is small, dislocation slip is seen to be the dominant deformation mechanism. A slight increase in the interaction range results in phase transition from the fcc structure to a bcc structure. Re-orientation of the bcc lattice also occurs at later stages of the deformation via a twinning operation. The phase transition mechanism is further enhanced if the nanowire is attached to a flat substrate parallel to the initial close-packed plane. When the atomic interaction range is increased further, the effect of surface stress becomes increasingly important. Plastic yielding occurs in the form of partial slip which creates a stacking fault in the slip plane. The initial point defect plays a less significant role and phase transition during deformation is suppressed. Detailed mechanisms of these atomistic features, as well as their implications to computational simulations of plastic deformation in metallic nanostructures, will be discussed.
The Seashells of an Iconic Public Artwork: Diversity and Provenance of the Mollusks of the Watts Towers

The Watts Towers (WT), an iconic Los Angeles artwork created by Sabato Rodia in 1921–1954, is covered with mosaics whose elements include thousands of mollusk shells. Little is known about the diversity or sources of these shells. Here, we document the diversity of mollusk shells present in the WT and use data on their characteristics to make inferences about their provenance. We identified shells of 34 species, 24 of them bivalves (clams and their relatives) and 10 gastropods (snails). Almost all (29/34) of these species are native to southern California shorelines, especially those of bays and estuaries. Rodia could have accessed these sites on foot, by automobile, or by using the Red Car trolley system. Some of the bivalve shells bear drill holes made by naticid gastropods, suggesting that they were collected post-mortem, presumably after they had washed up on beaches. These observations are consistent with the sparse documentary evidence on the origin of the shells of the WT. This detailed information on the diversity of the seashells of the WT should be of utility to conservators, and of interest to scholars of and visitors to the WT.
Temporal dynamics and uncertainty in binaural hearing revealed by anticipatory eye movements

Accurate perception of binaural cues is essential for left-right sound localization. Much literature focuses on threshold measures of perceptual acuity and accuracy. This study focused on supra-threshold perception using an anticipatory eye movement (AEM) paradigm designed to capture subtle aspects of perception that might not emerge in behavioral-motor responses, such as the accumulation of certainty, and rapid revisions in decision-making. Participants heard interaural timing differences (ITDs) or interaural level differences in correlated or uncorrelated narrowband noises, respectively. A cartoon ball moved behind an occluder and then emerged from the left or right side, consistent with the binaural cue. Participants anticipated the correct answer (before it appeared) by looking where the ball would emerge. Results showed quicker and more steadfast gaze fixations for stimuli with larger cue magnitudes. More difficult stimuli elicited a wider distribution of saccade times and greater number of corrective saccades before final judgment, implying perceptual uncertainty or competition. Cue levels above threshold elicited some wrong-way saccades that were quickly corrected. Saccades to ITDs were earlier and more reliable for low-frequency noises. The AEM paradigm reveals the time course of uncertainty and changes in perceptual decision-making for supra-threshold binaural stimuli even when behavioral responses are consistently correct.
Twenty Years of the Journal of African Business: A Bibliometric Analysis

This article presents a bibliometric analysis of the Journal of African Business on its twentieth anniversary. The article focuses on the journal’s intellectual development by objectively examining...
The McDonald Distinguished Christian Scholars Conference: Is Religious Liberty Under Threat? Trans-Atlantic Perspectives

This is a brief report on an international conference on the contested place of religious freedom in the United States and the United Kingdom, offering legal, historical, and comparative perspectives.
Abstract 842: Racial disparity in breast cancer: Tissue-specific epigenetic mechanisms

Racial disparity in breast cancer is well recognized. Compared with European American (EA) women, African American (AA) women have higher mortality rate despite low incidence rate, and they are more likely being diagnosed at younger age and with features that are more aggressive. Many risk factors of breast cancer, including social, culture, behavioral, genetics, and environmental factors, are disproportionally distributed across two racial groups. These factors could influence DNA methylation differently, as suggested by recent reports that describe biological differences of breast tumor in different racial group. However, no studies have systematically evaluate tissue-specific epigenetic mechanisms underlying the observed racial disparity in breast cancer development. We conducted a molecular epidemiological study of 276 EA and 186 AA healthy women. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling was performed in normal breast tissue using the Illumina Methyl Captured EPIC-sequencing. Genome-wide association between race and DNA methylation identified differentially methylated sites near genes implicated in metastatic potential and aggressiveness of tumor, tamoxifen-resistance, immune response, and cancer-related metabolic pathways. Many of these genes have not been reported previously to be associated with breast cancer or racial disparities. Further analyses showed that differentially methylated sites across two racial groups were significantly overlapped with differentially methylated sites in tumor and normal breast tissue, suggesting tissue- and racial-specific epigenetic mechanisms underlying breast cancer development. Furthermore, meQTL analyses between known breast cancer risk loci and DNA methylation also suggested AA-specific risk loci were associated with DNA methylation sites implicated in metastatic potential and aggressiveness of tumor. Our study sheds light on tissue-specific genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying racial disparity in breast cancer. Further research is warranted to validate the findings in larger studies and to understand gene regulation network by linking with RNA-seq data. Citation Format: Nan Lin, James Castle, Jinpeng Liu, Aditi Shendre, Chi Wang, Yunlong Liu, Chunyan He. Racial disparity in breast cancer: Tissue-specific epigenetic mechanisms [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 842.
An Empirical Assessment of the Sources of Police Job Satisfaction

Dissatisfied workers are at risk for negative occupational behaviors such as job turnover, poor performance, work avoidance, decreased morale among coworkers, and physical or legal liability. Relyi...
Right Brain: Dad's pride.

It was a slow night at the end of a week of slow nights, which felt like a blessing. A blessing you don't want to talk about too loud in case you jinx yourself, but a blessing all the same. I was in the call room starting to consider a nap when my pager went off with the special tone that indicates a stroke code. Patient K, floor 8 West, onset now. I recognized the room number as belonging to the stem cell transplant unit. I took the elevator, congratulating myself on not having gone to bed earlier; it is hard to get on full functioning mode after being woken up suddenly.
FRP confinement of SCC incorporating expansive agent and saturated lightweight sand

Abstract This study investigated the effect of shrinkage, the use of lightweight sand (LWS) as internal curing and an expansive agent (EA) as shrinkage-reducing admixture on the confinement of self-consolidating concrete. Sixty-three concrete filled fiber reinforced polymer tube specimens were tested under axial compression. Using high EA content resulted in reduction in the unconfined compressive strength of concrete while using LWS resulted in up to 30% increase in the unconfined compressive strength at late ages. The coupled effect of LWS and EA increased the confinement effectiveness by 83%. The use of temporary confinement, in the form of rigid formwork, in conjunction with EA increased the confined strength by up to 23%.
From surviving to living: voice, trauma and witness in Rwandan women’s writing: by Catherine Gilbert, Montpellier, Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2018, 294 pp., €27.00 (paperback), ISBN 978-2-36781-268-7

The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda has become a subject of intense scholarly and creative investment. This is hardly surprising: as Catherine Gilbert describes in her new study, From Sur...
Extreme Heat Vulnerability of Subsidized Housing Residents in California

Extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of mortality in the United States, but there is little evidence about how this climate hazard affects residents of different housing types. In this...