cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Space-charge-limited currents in materials with nonlinear velocity-field relationships

A general parametric form of the current-voltage characteristic of space-charge-limited currents (SCLC) is derived in the virtual cathode approximation. The result is used to obtain several new exact solutions for the trap-free insulator that is characterized by a nonlinear velocity-field (ν - F) relationship. Unlike previously reported results, the new solutions describe the gradual transition from the regime of constant mobility to that of the field-independent drift velocity. The first- and second-order corrections to the Mott-Gurney law then are obtained in a closed form for an important class of velocity-field relationships. Exact solutions are also Obtained for ν - F models that exhibit negative differential mobility behavior. The theory developed in this work is in good agreement with existing experimental data. The general result is used to specify the Condition that allows us to extract the anode field as well as the ν - F dependence from experimental current-voltage characteristics without assuming any a priori ν - F relation. In particular, such extraction is possible for the ideal trap-free insulator or materials with shallow traps. We illustrate the new approach by utilizing available experimental data to extract the ν - F dependence in GaAs.
Geometric theory of nonlocal two-qubit operations

We study nonlocal two-qubit operations from a geometric perspective. By applying a Cartan decomposition to su(4), we find that the geometric structure of nonlocal gates is a 3-torus. We derive the invariants for local transformations, and connect these local invariants to the coordinates of the 3-torus. Since different points on the 3-torus may correspond to the same local equivalence class, we use the Weyl group theory to reduce the symmetry. We show that the local equivalence classes of two-qubit gates are in one-to-one correspondence with the points in a tetrahedron except on the base. We then study the properties of perfect entanglers, that is, the two-qubit operations that can generate maximally entangled states from some initially separable states. We provide criteria to determine whether a given two-qubit gate is a perfect entangler and establish a geometric description of perfect entanglers by making use of the tetrahedral representation of nonlocal gates. We find that exactly half the nonlocal gates are perfect entanglers. We also investigate the nonlocal operations generated by a given Hamiltonian. We first study the gates that can be directly generated by a Hamiltonian. Then we explicitly construct a quantum circuit that contains at most three nonlocal gates generated by a two-body interaction Hamiltonian, together with at most four local gates generated by single-qubit terms. We prove that such a quantum circuit can simulate any arbitrary two-qubit gate exactly, and hence it provides an efficient implementation of universal quantum computation and simulation.
On the need, design, and prospects for an electronic information system serving igneous petrology

An information system is needed to restore access to published information, now so voluminous that suitable levels of familiarity with it cannot be maintained by conventional nonelectronic scholarly devices. The services of the system should be available to petrologists via mail or remote terminal, and should provide, as requested, either retrieval or reduction of data contained in its base. The base should contain chemical, geological, mineralogical, and petrographic information about specimens for which full descriptions have been published. Provisional plans for construction of such a base are briefly reviewed.
Collecting‐duct carcinoma presenting as upper tract lesion with abnormal urine cytology

A case of collecting-duct carcinoma associated with abnormal urine cytology is described. The finding of an abnormal cytologic examination, yet not typical of transitional-cell carcinoma (TCC), suggests that a close relationship between the cytology and histology of this uncommon malignancy may be demonstrated.
Epigenetic control of sexual differentiation of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.

The principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria teminalis (BNSTp) is larger and contains more cells in male mice than in females. These sex differences arise from a higher rate of cell death during early postnatal life in females. Perinatal differences in testosterone appear to create this difference because neonatal testosterone treatment reduces cell death in females to the level seen in males. There is a delay of about six days between testosterone exposure and the peak of cell death, indicating that cells somehow ‘remember’ whether or not they have been exposed to high levels of testosterone. This suggests that epigenetic mechanisms control cell fate. We examined whether histone acetylation, which is typically associated with activation of gene expression, plays a role in the sexual differentiation of the BNSTp. We manipulated the balance between histone acetylation and deacetylation by treating animals with the histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid (VPA) at the critical time for sexual differentiation. Males, females, and females treated neonatally with testosterone were treated with 50mg/kg VPA or saline on postnatal days 1 and 2. Animals were sacrificed on postnatal day 21 and volume and cell number of the BNSTp was determined. VPA treatment did not influence volume or cell number in control females but significantly reduced both of these parameters in males and testosterone-treated females, thereby eliminating the sex difference. No volume changes were noted in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, suggesting that the VPA effect was specific to the BNSTp. These findings suggest that a disruption in histone deacetylation blocks the masculinizing actions of testosterone in the BNSTp.
Efficacy of Breast Conservation Therapy in Early Stage Bilateral Breast Cancer.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of patients with bilateral breast cancer as compared to unilateral breast cancer treated with breast conservation therapy. Sixty patients with bilateral breast cancer (BBC) and 1,080 unilateral breast cancer (UBC) patients treated with breast conservation therapy from 1977 to 1994 were analyzed for outcome. Of the 60 bilateral patients, 44 were metachronous bilateral breast cancer patients (MBBC) and 16 were synchronous bilateral breast cancer patients (SBBC). The majority of patients received lumpectomy, axillary node dissection, and localized radiation therapy. Median tumor size was 1.4 cm for BBC and 1.5 cm for UBC patients. Median total dose to the tumor bed was 60 Gy for both unilateral and bilateral patients. Of the 44 MBBC patients, 14 received breast conservation for both the first and second lesions, while 30 received breast conservation for only the second metachronous lesion. Thus 58 lesions in 44 patients were treated with breast conservation therapy. Of the SBBC patients, 13 of 16 patients received breast-conserving therapy for both breasts, while 3 received a mastectomy for the second synchronous primary. Median follow-up was 50 months for SBBC patients, 45 months for MBBC patients, and 52 months for UBC patients. Local control and survival were analyzed in patients with SBBC, MBBC, and UBC. The interval to development of local recurrence and survival were calculated from the time of development of the second breast lesion in patients with MBBC. No differences were found for survival and failure-free survival in patients with SBBC, MBBC, or UBC. Five-year overall survival by lifetable analysis was 76% for SBBC, 78% for MBBC, and 87% for UBC patients (p = 0.32 by log-rank analysis). The 5-year failure-free survival was 79% for SBBC, 73% for MBBC, and 85% for UBC patients (p = 0.28 by log-rank analysis). No significant differences were seen for median age, tumor size, pathologic node status, tamoxifen use, chemotherapy use, or median total radiation dose for SBBC, MBBC, or UBC patients. A significant difference was found in the incidence of family history of breast cancer in patients with unilateral versus bilateral breast cancer (p = 0.028 by chi-square analysis). However, there was no difference in outcome of patients by family history of breast cancer. The local control was identical in both BBC and UBC patients, with a local failure rate of 3%. Therefore, breast conservation therapy in local-regional, early stage breast cancer is a rational and efficacious treatment modality for patients with SBBC, MBBC, and UBC. ▪
Measuring alcohol expectancies with the implicit association test.

Researchers have relied primarily on self-report questionnaires to measure alcohol expectancies. These questionnaires assess explicit expectancies about alcohol but do not provide any measure of the implicit processes that might also play an important role in determining drinking. The implicit association test (IAT; A. G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee, & L. K. Schwartz, 1998), a reaction time task, measures differential associations of 2 target concepts with an attribute. In this study, the IAT provided a measure of the strength of associations of alcohol concepts to positive or negative outcomes in memory. This implicit measure of alcohol expectancies successfully predicted alcohol use in 103 undergraduates. The findings also supported the hypothesis that an implicit measure of expectancy can add to the predictive power of existing questionnaire-based measures.
Homogeneous catalysis of the water-gas shift reaction by ruthenium carbonyl complexes: Studies in acidic solutions

Homogeneous catalysis of the water-gas shift reaction has been demonstrated for a system based upon Ru3(CO)12 in aqueous acidic diglyme solutions. At low partial pressures of carbon monoxide (Pco < 1 atm) the catalysis rate shows a first-order dependence upon both Pco and the total ruthenium concentration. In situ spectroscopic studies on the working catalyst lead to the formulation of the principal ruthenium species as a cationic dinuclear ruthenium carbonyl hydride derivative. The catalyst system shows a marked decrease in activity when Pco exceeds 1 atm, and this is attributed to an equilibrium between the dinuclear ruthenium hydride and Ru3(CO)13 favouring the latter at high values of Pco. A cyclic mechanism is proposed for the shift reaction catalysis and the system's activity dependence on various solution parameters.
Speech Preservation during Language‐dominant, Left Temporal Lobe Seizures: Report of a Rare, Potentially Misleading Finding

Summary: Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence and mechanism of ictal speech in patients with language-dominant, left temporal lobe seizures. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the video-EEG telemetry records for the presence of ictal speech in 96 patients with surgically proven left temporal lobe epilepsy and studied the seizure-propagation patterns in three patients who required intracranial EEG recordings for seizure localization. Results: Ictal speech preservation was observed in five patients. One patient’s seizures demonstrated rapid propagation of the ictal discharges to the contralateral temporal area where the seizure evolved, resembling a nondominant temporal lobe seizure. The other two patients had ictal discharges that remained confined to the inferomesial temporal areas, sparing language cortex. Conclusions: Preservation of speech in complex partial seizures of language-dominant, left temporal lobe origin is rare. Based on intracranial EEG recordings, the likely mechanism underlying this potentially misleading clinical finding is the preservation of language areas due to limited seizure-propagation patterns. Key Words: Ictal speech—Seizure semiology— Temporal lobe epilepsy—Language.
Collaborative Language Models for Localized Query Prediction

Localized query prediction (LQP) is the task of estimating web query trends for a specific location. This problem subsumes many interesting personalized web applications such as personalization for buzz query detection, for query expansion, and for query recommendation. These personalized applications can greatly enhance user interaction with web search engines by providing more customized information discovered from user input (i.e., queries), but the LQP task has rarely been investigated in the literature. Although exist abundant work on estimating global web search trends does exist, it often encounters the big challenge of data sparsity when personalization comes into play. In this article, we tackle the LQP task by proposing a series of collaborative language models (CLMs). CLMs alleviate the data sparsity issue by collaboratively collecting queries and trend information from the other locations. The traditional statistical language models assume a fixed background language model, which loses the taste of personalization. In contrast, CLMs are personalized language models with flexible background language models customized to various locations. The most sophisticated CLM enables the collaboration to adapt to specific query topics, which further advances the personalization level. An extensive set of experiments have been conducted on a large-scale web query log to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed models.
The Effect of Nonverbal Behaviors Associated With Sexual Harassment Proclivity on Women's Performance

We explored whether exposure to nonverbal behaviors that mirror those used by men with sexual harassment proclivity (i.e., high dominance and/or high sociosexual nonverbal behaviors) leads women to perceive those men as potential sexual harassers and lowers women's actual performance on the job. In our first experiment, women's performance was negatively affected when they interacted with a task administrator enacting dominant nonverbal behaviors. The women also perceived the dominant task administrator as more sexual. In our second experiment, viewers rated the task administrator enacting dominant nonverbal behaviors as more likely than the less dominant task administrator to show gender-based attention, social attention, and sexually harassing behaviors. Taken together, our findings suggest an association between perceptions of dominance and sexuality.
Beyond victims or villains: Young survivors of political violence

From 1945 to 1980, the former Yugoslavia functioned as a relatively peaceful country, albeit one formed from six ethnically and religiously diverse republics. With the death of President-for-life Josep Broz Tito, however, ethnic tensions began to mount, especially after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Beginning in 1991, moves for independence by various republics led to geopolitical fragmentation, violent conflicts, ethnic cleansing, mass rapes, seizures of property, and forced migrations. Between 1991 and 1999, hundreds of thousands of people were killed, wounded, and psychologically battered. Approximately 3 million were displaced from their original homes, some emigrating several times in the face of new conflicts. Besides the damage to people, the wars of the 1990s shattered the built environment, the political–economic infrastructure, and civil society itself. After a number of years (and NATO intervention) the wars ended and sovereign states were formed. Constitutions were created, and some displaced people returned to their prewar homes.
Bjerknes-like Compensation in the Wintertime North Pacific

Observational and model evidence has been mounting that mesoscale eddies play an important role in air–sea interaction in the vicinity of western boundary currents and can affect the jet stream storm track. What is less clear is the interplay between oceanic and atmospheric meridional heat transport in the vicinity of western boundary currents. It is first shown that variability in the North Pacific, particularly in the Kuroshio Extension region, simulated by a high-resolution fully coupled version of the Community Earth System Model matches observations with similar mechanisms and phase relationships involved in the variability. The Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) is correlated with sea surface height anomalies generated in the central Pacific that propagate west preceding Kuroshio Extension variability with a ~3–4-yr lag. It is then shown that there is a near compensation of O(0.1) PW (PW ≡ 10^(15) W) between wintertime atmospheric and oceanic meridional heat transport on decadal time scales in the North Pacific. This compensation has characteristics of Bjerknes compensation and is tied to the mesoscale eddy activity in the Kuroshio Extension region.
SV40 T antigen interacts with Nbs1 to disrupt DNA replication control

Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is characterized by radiation hypersensitivity, chromosomal instability, and predisposition to cancer. Nbs1, the NBS protein, forms a tight complex with Mre11 and Rad50, and these interactions contribute to proper double-strand break repair. The simian virus 40 (SV40) oncoprotein, large T antigen (T), also interacts with Nbs1, and T-containing cells experience chromosomal hyperreplication in a manner dependent on T/Nbs1 complex formation. A substantial fraction of NBS-deficient fibroblasts reinitiate DNA replication in discrete regions, and wild-type Nbs1 corrects this defect. Similarly, synthesis of an N-terminal Nbs1 fragment induced DNA rereplication and tetraploidy, in NBS-deficient but not NBS-proficient cells. Moreover, SV40 origin-containing DNA hyperreplicated in T-containing NBS-deficient cells by comparison with T-containing, Nbs1-reconstituted derivatives. Thus, Nbs1 suppresses rereplication of cellular DNA and SV40 origin-containing replicons, and T targets Nbs1, thereby enhancing the yield of new SV40 genomes during viral DNA replication.
Dysregulation of Leptin and Testosterone Production and Their Receptor Expression in the Human Placenta with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Whether the placenta contributes to some of the abnormal hormonal profiles in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) pregnancies and whether GDM affects placental endocrine signaling pathways are yet to be established. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in the expression of the placental steroid and peptide hormone synthesis-related factors, enzymes and their receptors between normal and GDM pregnancies. Nine term placentae from GDM pregnancies and twelve from healthy pregnancies were collected. The results of immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and semiquantitative RT-PCR indicated that mRNA and protein levels of leptin, leptin receptors, androgen receptor and FGF2 were significantly higher in the GDM placentae than non-GDM placentae; while NRIH3, NRIH2, StARD3, CYP11A1, HSD3B, HSD11B, HSD17B, ERalpha, ERbeta, progesterone receptor, FGF receptor-2, insulin receptor-alpha and -beta showed no differences. Interestingly, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry revealed that aromatase protein concentrations in the GDM placentae were significantly reduced without a change in mRNA levels. Moreover, androgen upregulated FGF2 expression in the placental villous explants. These findings suggest that the placentae of GDM pregnancies contribute to elevated testosterone and leptin levels due to a decrease in the conversion of testosterone to estrogens and to an increase in leptin production. The androgen and leptin signaling pathways may be over-activated by the presence of excessive ligands and overexpressed receptors in GDM placentae. Dysregulation of these two endocrine networks may contribute to placental abnormalities eventually increasing the frequency of maternal and fetal complications associated with GDM.
Type I Interferon Signaling and B Cells Maintain Hemopoiesis during Pneumocystis Infection of the Lung

Loss of CD4 T cells is the hallmark of HIV infection. However, type I IFN-producing plasmacytoid dendritic cells may also be lost. This results in susceptibility to an opportunistic infection such as Pneumocystis pneumonia. In addition, regenerative bone marrow failure resulting in pancytopenia is another common problem in advanced stage AIDS. This may be linked to both the failing immune system and recurrent opportunistic infections. We generated lymphocyte-deficient type I IFN receptor-deficient mice (IFrag-/-) to study the effects on Pneumocystis infection of the lung. When IFrag-/- animals were infected with Pneumocystis they died between days 16 and 21 postinfection with minimal pneumonia but severe anemia due to complete bone marrow failure. This included the loss of uncommitted hemopoietic precursor cells. Bone marrow failure was prevented by the reconstitution of IFrag-/- mice with wild-type lymphocytes, especially B cells. T and B cells lacking type I IFN receptor signaling could only partially prevent bone marrow failure in response to Pneumocystis infection. However, the presence of T and B cells lacking type I IFN signaling resulted in compensatory extramedullary hemopoiesis in the liver and spleen. Lymphocyte support of the regenerative capacity of the bone marrow was provided by both type I IFN-dependent and -independent mechanisms that acted synergistically. Our findings point to the requirement of both type I IFNs and lymphocytes in the regenerative capabilities of the hemopoietic system under the pressure of Pneumocystis infection, but not during steady-state hemopoiesis. This may have implications in the management of pancytopenia in AIDS.
Understanding Nursing Home Worker Conceptualizations about Good Care

This study explored how direct care workers in nursing homes conceptualize good care and how their conceptualizations are influenced by external factors surrounding their work environment and the relational dynamics between them and residents. Study participants were drawn from a local service employees' union, and in-depth interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, and the results revealed that direct care workers equated good care, such as resident cleanliness, comfort, and happiness as a desirable outcome of care activities. Good care also meant affectionate, respectful, and patient attitudes of direct care workers toward residents in care delivery processes. Nursing home workers internalized the perspectives of residents and other professionals about what constitutes good care, and then drew their own conclusions about how to balance, combine, and compromise those diverse demands. It is important to communicate accurate and consistent messages about what comprises good nursing home care to nursing home workers and build a working environment where workers' conceptualizations about good care can be executed without organizational barriers.
Magnetomotive optical coherence elastography for microrheology of biological tissues

Optical coherence elastography (OCE) is an established paradigm for measuring biomechanical proper- ties of tissues and cells noninvasively, in real time, and with high resolution. We present a different development of a spectral domain OCE technique that enables simultaneous measurements of multiple biomechanical parameters of biological tissues. Our approach extends the capabilities of magnetomotive OCE (MM-OCE), which utilizes iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) distributed and embedded in the specimens as transducers for inducing motion. Step-wise application of an external magnetic field results in displacements in the tissue specimens that are deduced from sensitive phase measurements made with the MM-OCE system. We analyzed freshly excised rabbit lung and muscle tissues. We observe that while they present some similarities, rabbit lung and muscle tissue displacements display characteristic differentiating features. Both tissue types undergo a fast initial displacement followed by a rapidly damped oscillation and the onset of creep. However, the damping is faster in muscle com- pared to lung tissue, while the creep is steeper in muscle. This approach has the potential to become a novel way of performing real-time measurements of biomechanical properties of tissues and to enable the development of differ- ent diagnostic and monitoring tools in biology and medicine. ©The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. (DOI:
Pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus‐associated glomerulonephritis

Summary: Hepatitis C virus (HCV), in addition to causing both acute and chronic liver disease, may also be associated with several immunologically-mediated syndromes, particularly cryoglobulinaemia and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Although the glomerulonephritis may be a feature of a systemic cryoglobulinaemic syndrome, it may also present as a primary renal disease without evidence of vasculitis or liver disease. Most of these latter patients, however, will have detectable cryoglobulinaemia either at the time of presentation or with continued observation. In this review, we discuss the pathogenesis of the glomerular disease. Most evidence supports the hypothesis that HCV associated glomerular disease results from the deposition of circulating immune complexes that are usually cryoprecipitable and which contain HCV, anti-HCV IgG, and rheumatoid factors. However, HCV antigens have yet to be identified in glomerular biopsies. This has raised the possibility that other pathogenic mechanisms may be involved, including auto-antibodies directed against glomerular antigens and factors related to chronic liver disease. Further studies are necessary to fully elucidate the pathogenesis of this recently recognized disease.
Unsupervised Relation Discovery with Sense Disambiguation

To discover relation types from text, most methods cluster shallow or syntactic patterns of relation mentions, but consider only one possible sense per pattern. In practice this assumption is often violated. In this paper we overcome this issue by inducing clusters of pattern senses from feature representations of patterns. In particular, we employ a topic model to partition entity pairs associated with patterns into sense clusters using local and global features. We merge these sense clusters into semantic relations using hierarchical agglomerative clustering. We compare against several baselines: a generative latent-variable model, a clustering method that does not disambiguate between path senses, and our own approach but with only local features. Experimental results show our proposed approach discovers dramatically more accurate clusters than models without sense disambiguation, and that incorporating global features, such as the document theme, is crucial.
Vegetation Signature in the Observed Globally Integrated Spectrum of Earth Considering Simultaneous Cloud Data: Applications for Extrasolar Planets

A series of missions will be launched over the next few decades that will be designed to detect and characterize extrasolar planets around nearby stars. These missions will search for habitable environments and signs of life (biosignatures) in planetary spectra. The vegetation’s ‘‘red edge,’’ an enhancement in the Earth’s spectrum near 700 nm when sunlight is reflected from greenery, is often suggested as a tool in the search for life in terrestrial-like extrasolar planets. Here, through ground-based observations of the Earth’s spectrum, satellite observations of clouds, andanadvancedatmosphericradiative-transfercode,wedeterminethetemporalevolutionofthevegetationsignature of Earth. We find a strong correlation between the evolution of the spectral intensity of the red edge and changes in the cloud-free vegetated area over the course of observations. This relative increase for our single day corresponds to an apparent reflectance change of about 0:0050 � 0:0005 with respect to the mean albedo of 0.25 at 680 nm (2:0% � 0:2%).Theexcellentagreementbetweenmodelsandobservationsmotivatedustoprobemoredeeplyinto the red-edge detectability using real cloud observations at longer timescales. Overall, we find the evolution of the red-edge signal in the globally averaged spectra to be weak, and only attributable to vegetation changes when the real land and cloud distributions for the day are known. However, it becomes prominent under certain Sun-EarthMoon orbital geometries that are applicable to the search for life in extrasolar planets. Our results indicate that vegetation detection in Earth-like planets will require a considerable level of instrumental precision and will be a difficult task, but not as difficult as the normally weak earthshine signal might seem to suggest. Subject headingg astrobiology — Earth — Moon Online material: color figure
A Working Typology of Intentions Driving Face-To-Face and Online Interaction in a Graduate Teacher Education Course

The study examined the intentions driving face-to-face and online interaction in a graduate online course from the meaning perspectives of the teacher and students. Participants in the study were eight students and the teacher of a graduate teacher education course at a southwestern university. The theoretical framework of the study was based on symbolic interactionism and the methodological approach was based on the canons of interpretive research as Erickson (1986) laid them out. Data analysis identified several intentions driving interaction. These included discussing and exchanging ideas, negotiating aspects of the course, providing feedback, gaining access and status in a setting, and socializing. The discussion and data excerpts clearly illustrate that underneath the surface of what, appear as ordinary day-to-day interaction, there are multiple meanings that are constructed and assigned when participants engage in joint action. Those meanings and intentions are what drive interaction.
Understanding and Addressing Contemporary Racism: From Aversive Racism to the Common Ingroup Identity Model

This article describes our collaborative research on aversive racism and a strategy we developed to combat it, the Common Ingroup Identity Model. In addition, we reveal some details about our personal and professional relationship in pursuit of our scientific agenda. We begin by discussing evidence for the existence of aversive racism, a subtle, unintentional form bias that can have pernicious effects. Then we review research concerning how a common ingroup identity can combat aversive racism by redirecting the forces of social categorization and social identity, such that "Us" and "Them" are regarded as "We." We conclude with a brief discussion of where we may look next for clues toward helping to achieve a farrier, more just society.
A Technique for Core Biopsies of Head and Neck Masses

A technique for performing core biopsies of indeterminate masses of the extracranial head and neck is described. Four patients with suspicious masses of the extracranial head and neck underwent coaxial core biopsies through an 18-gauge Hawkins-Akins blunt tip needle. Three of the four patients had diagnostically adequate samples. There were no neurologic or vascular complications.
The Clash Within: Democracy and the Hindu Right

The Gujarat pogrom of 2002 is evidence of a profound crisis in India's democracy. Samuel P. Huntington's influential thesis of the ‘clash of civilizations,’ according to which the world is torn bet...
Anaerobic Infections: A Clinical Overview

The explosion of genomic and metagenomic data in the last few years has exponentially increased our knowledge about the intricate microbiome community involved in human infections and has illuminated the communal nature of many of these infections. However, it has made a simple description of selected discrete organisms to look for in certain infections next to impossible. With the advent of automated molecular techniques to identify bacteria (e.g., 16S rDNA sequencing), the number of species being described is tremendous, and often, based on only a few strains. On the other hand, no specific microorganism can be found in up to half the patients thought to have an infectious disease (even higher for neutropenia) and the description of novel organisms can be instrumental in discerning aetiological agents for infections with no clear cause. These changes are reflected in the descriptions of anaerobic bacteria involved in human disease. In general, the source of anaerobes in an infectious process is commensal flora (such as Bacteroides fragilis is abdominal infections), but they can be exogenous as well. Anaerobes are generally found in mixed anaerobic–aerobic infections. This chapter highlights and discusses recent reports of the anaerobes most often found in infections with some attempt to compare current data to previous reports. This chapter focuses on molecular methods, and that includes both diagnostic tests for particular organisms as well as more general studies depicting microbiomes found associated with certain disease states.
Dependence of initiation factor IF-2 activity on proteins L7 and L12 from Escherichia coli 50 S ribosomes.

Abstract The activity of initiation factor IF-2 from Escherichia coli strain MRE600 has been studied as a function of the presence or absence of the 50 S ribosomal proteins L7 and L12. Three specific aspects of initiation factor IF-2 function were examined: (a) the binding of radioactive initiation factor IF-2 to 70 S ribosomes; (b) the ribosomal binding of N-formyl-methionyl transfer RNA which is dependent upon initiation factor IF-2; (c) 5'-guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis catalyzed by initiation factor IF-2 in the presence of 70 S ribosomes. The results show that the binding of initiation factor IF-2 and of N-formylmethionyl transfer RNA are both reduced 50 to 75% when 50 S particles deficient in L7 and L12 are employed. The 5'-guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis activity is far more drastically reduced with particles deficient in L7 and L12. The latter effect is similar to results found with the 5'-guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis activities associated with elongation factors EF-G and EF-Tu. The results suggest that proteins L7 and L12 are part of the binding site for initiation factor IF-2, but that they are more intimately involved in the 5'-guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis catalyzed by the factor. Furthermore, the results are consistent with a model in which the binding sites for all three factors, IF-2, EF-G, and EF-Tu, share certain common determinants, including the L7 and L12 proteins.
Leading by Example: A Case Study of Peer Leader Programs at Two Achieving the Dream Colleges

This report draws on the experiences of two Massachusetts community colleges that employed academically successful students to serve as peer leaders. The Achieving the Dream initiative supports colleges’ investments in the resources and personnel needed to make desired institution-wide changes. As part of the initiative, Northern Essex Community College has used Supplemental Instruction Leaders, and Bunker Hill Community College has used Peer Mentors in order to strengthen student success and promote institutional improvement efforts.Both colleges chose to implement peer leader programs in developmental (remedial) and gatekeeper (introductory college-level) courses that have historically been difficult for many students to pass. This report describes recruitment, training, activities, and costs related to developing these peer leader programs as well as how peer leaders worked with students and faculty inside the classroom. Students, peer leaders, faculty, and administrators offered perspectives in focus groups and interviews during the 2010-2011 academic year. Key findings include the following:--Peer leaders at both colleges offered additional academic assistance to students by introducing and reinforcing lessons covered in class and by helping their faculty partners facilitate classroom activities.--Program staff and faculty members recruited and selected peer leaders with strong academic and interpersonal skills. However, specific peer leader tasks and functions inside and outside the classroom varied based on how assigned faculty members agreed to have peer leaders work with students.--Students in peer-assisted courses generally felt that they benefited from receiving peer leaders’ guidance and support, and they appreciated that this guidance and support was provided by fellow students.--Both colleges have expanded their peer leader programs across sections and disciplines, prompting them to establish more program standards and articulate more practices. College administrators generally considered the programs affordable and cost-effective.The development of peer leader programs at Northern Essex and Bunker Hill reveals innovative ways in which colleges can enhance student learning and engagement in community college classrooms. Over the past years, both colleges have carefully implemented and expanded peer leader programs for students in need of extra support. Peer leaders provide a unique perspective for students and have the ability to create a learning environment unlike that of the typical instructor-student relationship. Community colleges interested in creating or expanding their own peer leader programs may find lessons in the theoretical, operational, and fiscal challenges and considerations that marked the implementation of the two programs discussed in this report.
Anthropology and Climate Change: From Encounters to Actions by Susan A. Crate and Mark Nuttall

It is difficult to imagine a more important and timely research topic than the human dimensions of global climate change. Although the science behind the phenomenon—including climate modeling and e...
Enhanced Thermal Decomposition of Nitromethane on Functionalized Graphene Sheets: Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The burning rate of the monopropellant nitromethane (NM) has been observed to increase by adding and dispersing small amounts of functionalized graphene sheets (FGSs) in liquid NM. Until now, no plausible mechanisms for FGSs acting as combustion catalysts have been presented. Here, we report ab initio molecular dynamics simulations showing that carbon vacancy defects within the plane of the FGSs, functionalized with oxygen-containing groups, greatly accelerate the thermal decomposition of NM and its derivatives. This occurs through reaction pathways involving the exchange of protons or oxygens between the oxygen-containing functional groups and NM and its derivatives. FGS initiates and promotes the decomposition of the monopropellant and its derivatives, ultimately forming H2O, CO2, and N2. Concomitantly, oxygen-containing functional groups on the FGSs are consumed and regenerated without significantly changing the FGSs in accordance with experiments indicating that the FGSs are not consumed during combus...
Data-driven second-order sliding-mode decoupling control for non-affine nonlinear discrete-time system

A data-driven second-order sliding-mode decoupling control approach is proposed to deal with the varyingstructure control problem of model-unknown systems, which is intractable for the conventional discrete second-order sliding-mode control approaches. By applying a data-driven control strategy, we develop an online discrete second-order sliding-mode control(2–DSMC) law according to the I/O(input/output) data of the system. Furthermore, promoted by the idea of the observer, we introduce a discrete extended state observer(DESO) to the controller design for estimating the couplings between control loops, uncertainties and external disturbances, and then to realize the decoupling control and improve the control performance. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed method provides better decoupling effect, higher asymptotic stability and stronger robustness, even for general non-affine nonlinear discrete multi-input multi-output(MIMO) systems with disturbances and uncertainties.
Serum and growth factor induction of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase subunit mRNAs in Clone 9 cells: role of protein kinase C.

In a previous study, we found that addition of serum to confluent Clone 9 cells, a nontransformed rat liver cell line, increased the abundance of mRNA alpha 1 and mRNA beta 1 at 3 h by 2- and 2.7-f...
Maternal Interleukin Genotypes Are Associated With NICU Outcomes Among Low-Birth-Weight Infants

Background:Maternal interleukin (IL) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with obstetrical outcomes. Conversely, infant SNPs are associated with subsequent neonatal intensive care ...
Assessment of Hydraulic Conductivity Upscaling Techniques and Associated Uncertainty

The use of numerical models for studying subsurface flow and transport has become common practice in hydrology over the last three decades. However, hydraulic parameters introduced to these models are still of a major concern. Data are usually collected at a scale much smaller than that used in numerical models but by using geostatistical techniques, available measurements can be used to stochastically populate the entire domain of the studied area. Models built based on these geostatistical techniques should be on the same scale as the supporting measurements which lead to models with very large number of cells. Dealing with these numerical models stochastically is beyond the capabilities of current computational resources. Upscaling is the process of transforming the detailed description of hydraulic parameters in a grid constructed at measurement scale (fine grid) to a coarser grid with less detailed description (coarse grid) for the purpose of numerical subsurface modeling. The fact that the coarse grid hydraulic conductivity should have a value between the harmonic mean and arithmetic mean of the fine grid conductivities inside this coarse grid cell led researchers to use the power average technique for the upscaling process with exponent varying from -1.0 to 1.0. The objective of this study is to develop a technique for assessing the uncertainty in upscaling flow and transport parameters and the impact of this uncertainty on prediction uncertainty of models relying on upscaled parameter values. This technique is tested using log-normal distribution of hydraulic conductivity with small variance and exponential covariance, results were found to match with analytical solution.
Contingent engagement: What we learn from patients with complex health problems and low socioeconomic status.

Abstract Objective Elicit patients’ perceptions of factors that facilitate their engagement in care Methods In-depth interviews with 20 adult Medicaid patients who had complex health problems, frequent hospitalizations/emergency department use, and who were enrolled in an intensive, team-based care program designed to address medical, behavioral, and social needs. Results Prior to engaging in the program, participants described weak relationships with primary care providers, frequent hospitalizations and emergency visits, poor adherence to medications and severe social barriers to care. After participating in the program, participants identified key factors that enabled them to develop trust and engage with care including: availability for extended intensive interactions, a non-judgmental approach, addressing patients' material needs, and providing social contact for isolated patients. After developing relationships with their care team, participants described changes such as sustained interactions with their primary care team and incremental improvements in health behaviors. Conclusion These findings illuminate factors promoting “contingent engagement” for low socio-economic status patients with complex health problems, which allow them to become proactive in ways commensurate with their circumstances, and offers insights for designing interventions to improve patient outcomes. Practice implications For these patients, engagement is contingent on healthcare providers’ efforts to develop trust and address patients’ material needs.
Upper-limb biomechanical analysis of wheelchair transfer techniques in two toilet configurations.

Abstract Background Using proper technique is important for minimizing upper limb kinetics during wheelchair transfers. The objective of the study was to 1) evaluate the transfer techniques used during toilet transfers and 2) determine the impact of technique on upper limb joint loading for two different toilet configurations. Methods Twenty-six manual wheelchair users (23 men and 3 women) performed transfers in a side and front wheelchair-toilet orientation while their habitual transfer techniques were evaluated using the Transfer Assessment Instrument. A motion analysis system and force sensors were used to record biomechanical data during the transfers. Findings More than 20% of the participants failed to complete five transfer skills in the side setup compared to three skills in the front setup. Higher quality skills overall were associated with lower peak forces and moments in both toilet configurations (−0.68 Interpretation Transfer skills training, making toilet seats level with the wheelchair seat, positioning the wheelchair closer to the toilet and mounting grab bars in a more ideal location for persons who do sitting pivot transfers may facilitate better quality toilet transfers.
Mutant p53 regulates enhancer-associated H3K4 monomethylation through interactions with the methyltransferase MLL4

Monomethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me1) is enriched at enhancers that are primed for activation and the levels of this histone mark are frequently altered in various human cancers. Yet, how alterations in H3K4me1 are established and the consequences of these epigenetic changes in tumorigenesis are not well understood. Using ChIP-Seq in human colon cancer cells, we demonstrate that mutant p53 depletion results in decreased H3K4me1 levels at active enhancers that reveal a striking colocalization of mutant p53 and the H3K4 monomethyltransferase MLL4 following chronic tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) signaling. We further reveal that mutant p53 forms physiological associations and direct interactions with MLL4 and promotes the enhancer binding of MLL4, which is required for TNFα-inducible H3K4me1 and histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) levels, enhancer-derived transcript (eRNA) synthesis, and mutant p53-dependent target gene activation. Complementary in vitro studies with recombinant chromatin and purified proteins demonstrate that binding of the MLL3/4 complex and H3K4me1 deposition is enhanced by mutant p53 and p300-mediated acetylation, which in turn reflects a MLL3/4-dependent enhancement of mutant p53 and p300-dependent transcriptional activation. Collectively, our findings establish a mechanism in which mutant p53 cooperates with MLL4 to regulate aberrant enhancer activity and tumor-promoting gene expression in response to chronic immune signaling.