cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant Treatment Regulates the Humoral Immune Response during Acute Viral Infection

Generation of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) following antigen receptor ligation is critical to promote cellular responses. However, the effect of antioxidant treatment on humoral immunity during a viral infection was unknown. Mice were infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and treated with Mn(III)tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)porphyrin chloride (MnTBAP), a superoxide dismutase mimetic, from days 0 to 8 postinfection. On day 8, at the peak of the splenic response in vehicle-treated mice, virus-specific IgM and IgG antibody-secreting cells (ASC) were decreased 22- and 457-fold in MnTBAP-treated animals. By day 38, LCMV-specific IgG ASC were decreased 5-fold in the bone marrow of drug-treated mice, and virus-specific antibodies were of lower affinity. Interestingly, antioxidant treatment had no effect on the number of LCMV-specific IgG memory B cells. In addition to decreases in ASC, MnTBAP treatment decreased the number of functional virus-specific CD4(+) T cells. The decreased numbers of ASC observed on day 8 in drug-treated mice were due to a combination of Bim-mediated cell death and decreased proliferation. Together, these data demonstrate that ROI regulate antiviral ASC expansion and have important implications for understanding the effects of antioxidants on humoral immunity during infection and immunization.
Testing gene-treatment interactions in pharmacogenetic studies.

Drug-related side effects are one of the leading causes of death and illness in the developed world. Finding genes that modify drug response has the potential to significantly improve drug delivery, by identifying both individuals that can benefit from therapy and those at increased risk of harm. We present a simple approach to testing gene-by-treatment interactions in case-control pharmacogenetic studies. The approach utilizes a retrospective model that seeks to increase power through a Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium assumption among the controls, but does not assume that the event of interest is rare in the target population. We conduct extensive simulations and find that the approach shows similar or improved power, compared to standard methods, in all cases considered. We present methods for both autosomal and X-linked markers and show how the methods can be easily implemented using standard statistical software.
Efficient Synthesis and Cell-Transfection Properties of a New Multivalent Cationic Lipid for Nonviral Gene Delivery

Lipid-mediated delivery of DNA into cells holds great promise both for gene therapy and basic research applications. This paper describes the efficient and facile synthesis and the characterization of a new multivalent cationic lipid with a double-branched headgroup structure for gene delivery applications. The synthetic scheme can be extended to give cationic lipids of different charge, spacer, or lipid chain length. The chemical and physical properties of self-assembled complexes of the cationic liposomes (CLs) with DNA give indications of why multivalent cationic lipids possess superior transfection properties. The lipid bears a headgroup with five charges in the fully protonated state, which is attached to an unsaturated double-chain hydrophobic moiety based on 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid. Liposomes consisting of the new multivalent lipid and the neutral lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerophosphatidylcholine (DOPC) were used to prepare complexes with DNA. Investigations of the structures of these complexes by optical microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering reveal a lamellar L(alpha)(C) phase of CL-DNA complexes with the DNA molecules sandwiched between bilayers of the lipids. Experiments using plasmid DNA containing the firefly luciferase reporter gene show that these complexes efficiently transfect mammalian cells. When compared to the monovalent cationic lipid 2,3-dioleyloxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride (DOTAP), the higher charge density of the membranes of CL-DNA complexes achievable with the new multivalent lipid greatly increases transfection efficiency in the regime of small molar ratios of cationic to neutral lipid. This is desired to minimize the known toxicity effects of cationic lipids.
A tool for local area network modeling and analysis

Predicting the performance of local area networks (LAN) is a difficult task. Existing analytical models are often too restrictive to apply to cases of interest. The results from previous studies are often difficult to extrapolate to other cases. Individual simulation models for local area networks have been developed in the past. Still, translating the description of the network under study between these models is not straightforward. A general LAN analysis system (GLAS) has been developed to address the performance issues in a common environment. This system models carrier sense multiple areas with collision detection (CSMA/CD), token ring, token bus, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), networks using the standards defined by IEEE. Also, the logical link control protocol related to these standards is modeled, as are the priority mechanisms. Arbitrary topology and node traffic is allowed. A menu driven interface provides a convenient mechanism for the description of the LAN under study. New variance ...
Comparison of Cascade, Lattice, and Parallel Filter Architectures

We examine the use of different high-level filter architectures (cascade, lattice, and parallel). We discuss their advantages and disadvantages, and we present simulation results and filter-tolerance tests. This information serves as a useful comparative analysis in the selection of a high-level filter architecture for a particular problem. The sensitivity to nonlinearity is also evaluated as resonance-enhanced power in the feedback path. For narrowband band-pass responses, cascade architectures appear to be more tolerant to filter parameter variations than lattice architectures and are substantially more efficient than parallel architectures.
Fumigation of Sweetpotatoes with Methyl Bromide for Control of the Sweetpotato Weevil

The sweetpotato weevil (Cylas formicarius (F.)) is at present found in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. It attacks the vines and roots of the sweetpotato, making the roots unfit for human consumption. The entire egg, larval, and pupal stages and part of the adult stage are spent within the vines or roots. The larvae leaves frass-filled tunnels as they feed. From early in January until late in March, in areas where the weevil is found, the sweetpotatoes are bedded for propagating purposes under 2 to 4 inches of soil, where they sprout. The sprouts, or draws, are pulled up when 6 to 10 inches long and set out in the field. The object of fumigating the seed is to destroy all stages of imbedded weevils in order to prevent the spread of the insect.
Deeply exclusive processes and generalized parton distributions

We discuss how generalized parton distributions (GPDs) enter into hard exclusive processes, and focuss on the links between GPDs and elastic nucleon form factors. These links, in the form of sum rules, represent powerful constraints on parametrizations of GPDs. A Regge parametrization for the GPDs at small momentum transfer –t is extended to the large-t region and it is found to catch the basic features of proton and neutron electromagnetic form factor data. This parametrization allows to estimate the quark contribution to the nucleon spin. It is furthermore discussed how these GPDs at large-t enter into two-photon exchange processes and resolve the discrepancy between Rosenbluth and polarization experiments of elastic electron nucleon scattering. PACS: 12.38.Bx Perturbative calculations – 13.60.Fz Elastic and Compton scattering
Genotype-Specific Transcriptional Regulation of PAI-1 Gene by Insulin, Hypertriglyceridemic VLDL, and Lp(a) in Transfected, Cultured Human Endothelial Cells

Abstract —Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) has been shown to be an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease. Variations in plasma PAI-1 levels have been attributed to variations in the PAI-1 gene, and associations between PAI-1 levels and PAI-1 genotypes suggest that PAI-1 expression may be regulated in a genotype-specific manner by insulin, hypertriglyceridemic (HTG) very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), or lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]. Polymerase chain reaction–amplified 1106-bp fragments of the promoter of the 1/1 and 2/2 PAI-1 genotypes were sequenced and showed 5 regions of small nucleotide differences in the 1/1 versus 2/2 PAI-1 promoters that consistently occurred with high frequency. These fragments were ligated into the luciferase reporter gene, and 1/1 and 2/2 PAI-1 genotype human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) cultures were transiently transfected with their respective p1PAI110/luc and p2PAI110/luc constructs and vice versa. Insulin induced an ≈12- to 16-fold increase in luciferase activity in both the 1/1 and 2/2 PAI-1 genotype HUVEC cultures transfected with the p1PAI110/luc construct. HTG-VLDL and Lp(a) induced luciferase activity by ≈14- to 16- and ≈8- to 11-fold, respectively, in both the 1/1 and 2/2 PAI-1 genotype HUVEC cultures transfected with the p2PAI110/luc construct. The positive control interleukin-1 showed an ≈7- to 12-fold response in the 1/1 and 2/2 PAI-1 genotype HUVEC cultures transfected with either of the constructs. These cross-over results demonstrate that regulation of either the 1/1 or 2/2 PAI-1 genotype by its respective inducer is due to the promoter itself and not to some factor(s) expressed differently in the 1/1 or 2/2 PAI-1 genotype HUVEC cultures.
The dielectric properties of ice and snow at 3.2 centimetres as related to the reflection coefficient of snow-covered surfaces

A study has been made of the reflecting properties of snow- and ice-covered surfaces at a wavelength of 3.2 centimeters. In making this study, two lines of investigation have been followed. In one, controlled laboratory measurements were made of the permittivity and loss tangent of ice and snow of varying density and crystal structure over the temperature range 0° to ?20° C, using waveguide techniques. In the other investigation, direct measurements were made, on an outdoor range, of the reflection coefficients of a flat metallic surface covered with snow.
A multi-GHz, multi-channel transient waveform digitization integrated circuit

A series of multi-channel transient waveform digitization integrated circuits with up to 5 GHz sample rates and parallel 10-bit digitization has been designed, tested, and fabricated in large quantities. The current CMOS circuit uses four arrays of 128 fast switched capacitors per channel to record four parallel analog transient inputs. Triggering and clocking is provided by an analogically-adjustable asynchronous active delay line that uses look-ahead to generate 128 multi-GHz 4-way interleaved clocks without the need for external high-speed clocking. After transient capture, each channel is fed into 128 parallel 10-bit analog to digital converters for fast, channel-parallel digitization, followed by digital readout. The fast triggering and waveform capture, channel-parallel digitization and convenient word-parallel digital readout results in a responsive and low dead-time system. Acquisition sample rates range from /spl sim/50 kHz to /spl sim/3 GHz. Analog input bandwidth was measured to be /spl sim/350 MHz. Temporal noise is typically equivalent to /spl sim/1 mV RMS, for a signal to noise ratio of /spl sim/2,500:1, RMS. Fixed-pattern spatial noise, after on-chip digitization, is equivalent to /spl sim/5 mV, RMS. Current efforts to improve this technology will yield larger array sizes, sample rates in excess of 10 GHz, analog bandwidth exceeding I GHz, higher conversion rates, lower dead-time, and enhanced flexibility.
Experimental evolution of viruses: Microviridae as a model system.

φX174 was developed as a model system for experimental studies of evolution because of its small genome size and ease of cultivation. It has been used extensively to address statistical questions about the dynamics of adaptive evolution. Molecular changes seen during experimental evolution of φX174 under a variety of conditions were compiled from 10 experiments comprising 58 lineages, where whole genomes were sequenced. A total of 667 substitutions was seen. Parallel evolution was rampant, with over 50 per cent of substitutions occurring at sites with three or more events. Comparisons of experimentally evolved sites to variation seen among wild phage suggest that at least some of the adaptive mechanisms seen in the laboratory are relevant to adaptation in nature. Elucidation of these mechanisms is aided by the availability of capsid and pro-capsid structures for φX174 and builds on years of genetic studies of the phage life history.
The production of bedspace: prison privatization and abstract space

Abstract. This paper reports results from a critical discourse analysis of Annual Reports for Corrections Corporation of America and Geo Group, Inc. (formerly Wackenhut), the two largest private prison firms currently operating in the United States. Considerable geographic scholarship has analyzed privatization, on the one hand, and imprisonment, on the other. However, geographers have paid less attention to explicitly for-profit imprisonment. In particular, geographers have overlooked or ignored the emergence of bedspace, a concept that now pervades penal discourse. Rather than continuing conventional public-versus-private prison debates, this paper identifies bedspace as the discursive common ground upon which private prison industrialists and the state actually converge. Applying Henri Lefebvre's theorization of "abstract space" to imprisonment, I argue that the discursive creation of bedspace produces a nondialectical representation of space that is fully commodified and bureaucratized. However, the paper concludes that this nondialectical space problematically severs the immanently human geography of imprisonment, which is a "messy" space that is always lived and experienced in particular ways, from its inanimate architectural infrastructure (i.e., beds). Beyond the potential ethical and empirical challenges raised by the production of such an abstract space, bedspace signals the discursive and material convergence of state punishment with capital flows that build and often move beyond prison boundaries while obscuring violent geographies.
Investing Up: FDI and the Cross-Country Diffusion of ISO 14001 Management Systems

Competition to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) creates opportunities for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to diffuse corporate management practices from their countries-of-origin (home countries) to countries hosting their foreign operations. We examine conditions under which MNEs transfer corporate environmental practices from home countries to host countries. Our focus is on ISO 14001, the most widely adopted voluntary environmental program in the world. We examine inward FDI stocks and ISO 14001 adoption levels for a panel of 98 countries, and a subset of 74 developing countries, for the period 1996–2002. We find support for the country-of-origin argument in that inward FDI stocks are associated with higher levels of ISO 14001 adoption in host countries only when FDI originates from home countries that themselves have high levels of ISO 14001 adoption. Countries’ ISO adoption levels are associated not with how much FDI host countries receive overall but from whom they receive it. Three implications emerge from this study: (1) FDI can become an instrument to perpetuate divergence in corporate practices across the world; (2) economic integration via FDI can create incentives for firms to ratchet up their environmental practices beyond the legal requirements of their host countries; (3) instead of racing down to match the less stringent corporate practices prevalent in developing countries, developed countries can employ FDI outflows to ratchet up corporate practices abroad given that developing countries are net recipients of developed countries’ FDI outflows.
Judges as Newsmakers

When Texas cattlemen sued Oprah Winfrey 10 years ago, alleging that she illegally had disparaged beef during her television talk show, the case quickly became a top national news story. As the litigation unfolded, the media focused attention, not only on the parties, but also on the presiding judge, the Hon. Mary Lou Robinson of the U.S. Northern District of Texas - Amarillo Division. The media, however, were interested in more than Judge Robinson’s decisions from the bench. As it turned out, they even wanted to know what she ate for lunch. The cattlemen’s case against Winfrey and the intense media attention it attracted illustrate how, anytime, anywhere, a judge might become a newsmaker. The case also serves as a basis for considering how judges generally may best prepare for the possibility that they someday will make headlines.
A Construct for Comparative Marketing Research

> Future comparative marketing studies will profit from a conceptual framework of what must be compared among marketing systems. Unlike other constructs proposed, this one focuses on comparing marketing systems, rather than on analyzing the impact of their environment.
A Single-Component Liquid-Phase Hydrogen Storage Material

The current state-of-the-art for hydrogen storage is compressed H(2) at 700 bar. The development of a liquid-phase hydrogen storage material has the potential to take advantage of the existing liquid-based distribution infrastructure. We describe a liquid-phase hydrogen storage material that is a liquid under ambient conditions (i.e., at 20 °C and 1 atm pressure), air- and moisture-stable, and recyclable; releases H(2) controllably and cleanly at temperatures below or at the proton exchange membrane fuel cell waste-heat temperature of 80 °C; utilizes catalysts that are cheap and abundant for H(2) desorption; features reasonable gravimetric and volumetric storage capacity; and does not undergo a phase change upon H(2) desorption.
Southeastern Extension of the Reelfoot Fault

Of paramount importance to our ability to assess seismic hazards in the New Madrid Seismic Zone is determining accurate estimates of the magnitudes of the 1811-1812 events. Based on intensity determinations, moment magnitudes for the three largest 1811-1812 earthquakes are estimated to be between M 7.8 and 8.1. Earthquakes of these large magnitudes suggest coseismic fault rupture lengths in excess of 100 km for each event, yet the only clear case of coseismic surface deformation occurred during the February 7, M 8.0 earthquake when uplift occurred over a distance of 32 km along the Reelfoot Fault scarp. The Lake County uplift and the Reelfoot Fault scarp are within the northwest-trending central arm of the New Madrid Seismic Zone; however, contemporary seismicity in this part of the seismic zone extends beyond the Lake County uplift from New Madrid, Missouri, to near Dyersburg, Tennessee, a total distance of approximately 70 km. Although no fault scarp is present southeast of Reelfoot Lake, we believe that the Reelfoot Fault ruptured this entire length during the February 7 earthquake. A Mini-Sosie seismic-reflection line at Lane, Tennessee, shows evidence of a faulted asymmetric anticline along the projection of the Reelfoot Fault Zone. We believe that prehistoric and 1811-1812 coseismic uplift in the hanging wall of the Reelfoot Fault has caused subtle surface warping from Reelfoot Lake to Dyersburg. Evidence for this warping includes (1) a structural high on top of the Eocene strata in the projected hanging wall of the Reelfoot Fault, (2) a nearly continuous drainage divide on the hanging wall of the Reelfoot Fault that extends from the Mississippi River floodplain onto the uplands to near Dyersburg, (3) drainage-basin asymmetry suggesting a fault block margin along the southeastern projection of the Reelfoot Fault, (4) narrowing of the Obion River floodplain where the river crosses the fault, (5) possible warping of Obion River terraces and floodplain sediments across the fault, and (6) the formation of a temporary Lake Obion in the Obion River Valley on the footwall of the projected Reelfoot Fault.
Study on the copolymerization of AM and SAA in PEG solution

In this paper the emulsion of polyacrylamide(HPAM) was synthesized in the polyglycol solutions,acryl amide(AM) and acrylic acid sodium(SAA) was used as the monomer.In more detail,we investigated the effect of the concentration of the monomers,the ratio of monomer and PEG,the ratio of monomers,temperature,and emulsifier on the stability of the HPAM emulsion and the molecular weight of the HPAM.The optimum HLB of the system was determined.The molecular weight of the HPAM in W/W emulsion was as high as 1.5×10~7.
Mining student responses to learn answer models: a case study using data from an introductory programming course

Effective formative assessments of student knowledge during lectures and class discussions for a programming class are an often neglected part of computer science pedagogy. This paper introduces a tool called the studentsRespond system to collect student responses and build models using expressions with wildcard and disjunction operators. This paper presents five models, one for each of five prompts, based on a total of 38 correct responses. The analysis is run offline, but theoretically the data labeling task is simple enough to be completed by a typical instructor during classroom instruction.
Abstract 2592: The role of surgery in the treatment of epithelioid trophoblastic tumor: A single institution case series

Objective: Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT) is a rare variant of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) that develops from chorionic-type intermediate trophoblasts, simulates carcinoma, often presents many years following a pregnancy event, is associated with low or normal human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels, and is relatively resistant to chemotherapy. Our aim was to identify the role of surgery in the management of both localized and metastatic ETT. Methods: A retrospective review of women with ETT treated at a gestational trophoblastic disease center from 2010-2015 identified five women. Medical records were abstracted for demographic data, clinical presentation, hCG levels, prior pregnancy information, disease sites, and treatment with chemotherapy and surgery. Results: The five women with ETT ranged in age from 28 to 48 years. Clinical presentation was abnormal uterine bleeding prompting dilation and curettage, which established the diagnosis of ETT in three women. One woman presented with repeated spontaneous pneumothorax requiring thoracoscopic resection, which identified a 6 cm ETT in the lung. Another woman was initially treated with methotrexate for a presumed ectopic pregnancy without a response. Two women had no identifiable antecedent pregnancy, two women had spontaneous abortions 19 and 72 months prior to the diagnosis of ETT, and one woman had a normal term delivery 48 months earlier. Four of five women had metastatic disease to the lungs. Three of these women underwent pulmonary wedge resection as well as hysterectomy followed by paclitaxel-cisplatin/paclitaxel-etoposide (TP/TE) chemotherapy, while the other woman was treated with etoposide, methotrexate, actinomycin D/etoposide, cisplatin (EMA/EP) chemotherapy and hysterectomy. The one woman with nonmetastatic disease was treated with hysterectomy only. All five women are currently without evidence of disease. Conclusions: Surgery, including hysterectomy and resection of metastatic disease, is an important component in the treatment of women with ETT. Adjuvant chemotherapy with a platinum-containing regimen, such as TP/TE or EMA/EP, should be used in women with metastatic disease. All five women with ETT in this series were cured using this approach, including the four with metastatic disease. Citation Format: Abigail Winder, Janelle Sobecki-Rausch, Kruti Maniar, Karen Novak, Julie Kim, John Lurain. The role of surgery in the treatment of epithelioid trophoblastic tumor: A single institution case series. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2592.
Pancreatic Hormones: Insulin and Glucagon

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses pancreatic hormones such as insulin and glucagon. A feature essential for life of higher vertebrates is their ability to maintain a relatively constant blood glucose concentration. In the higher animals, glucose is essential as an energy source for all cells. Although some cells can utilize alternate fuel metabolites such as amino acids or fatty acids, the brain and its neurons are dependent upon a continuous supply of blood-delivered glucose. Superimposed on the requirement for the maintenance of a constant blood glucose level are the perturbations in blood glucose that may naturally occur as a consequence of ongoing physiological and metabolic events. Insulin is a potent hormone in that it has a wide sphere of influence; directly or indirectly it affects virtually every organ and tissue in the body. The main functions of insulin are to stimulate anabolic reactions for carbohydrates, proteins, and fats; all of which will have the metabolic consequences of producing a lowered blood glucose level. Glucagon can be thought of as an indirect antagonist of insulin. Glucagon stimulates catabolic reactions that lead ultimately to an elevation of blood glucose levels. Pancreas is continuously adjusting the relative amounts of glucagon and insulin secreted in response to the continuous perturbations of blood glucose and other fuel metabolites occurring as a consequence of changes in anabolism and catabolism in the various tissues.
Trauma and Neurological Risks of Addiction

This chapter focuses on the biological and psychological relationships between traumatic stress and substance use. Traumatic stress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affect individuals physiologically as well as psychologically. Traumatic events occur throughout the life cycle and can predispose people to the risk of developing substance use disorders stemming from neurological, cognitive, and emotional stressors. Anxiety and hypervigilance are key symptoms of traumatic stress that foster drug-seeking behavior, because substance use can suppress cognitive functions and sympathetic nervous system arousal, whereby the use of alcohol and other drugs temporarily ameliorates PTSD symptoms. Traumatic stress also affects the endocannabinoid (eCB) signaling system within the stress-sensitive cells in the hypothalamus and amygdala, thus pointing to the significance of the eCB system in the regulation of neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to stress. Cannabis also affects the eCB system, and the use of cannabis may provide temporary relief of PTSD symptoms. The high prevalence of cannabis use among persons with PTSD is quite probably due to the benefits they experience in relation to dampening of PTSD symptoms.
Inner Retinal Oxygen Delivery, Metabolism, and Extraction Fraction in Ins2Akita Diabetic Mice.

Purpose Retinal nonperfusion and hypoxia are important factors in human diabetic retinopathy, and these presumably inhibit energy production and lead to cell death. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effect of diabetes on inner retinal oxygen delivery and metabolism in a mouse model of diabetes. Methods Phosphorescence lifetime and blood flow imaging were performed in spontaneously diabetic Ins2Akita (n = 22) and nondiabetic (n = 22) mice at 12 and 24 weeks of age to measure retinal arterial (O2A) and venous (O2V) oxygen contents and total retinal blood flow (F). Inner retinal oxygen delivery (DO2) and metabolism (MO2) were calculated as F ∗ O2A and F ∗ (O2A - O2V), respectively. Oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), which equals MO2/DO2, was calculated. Results DO2 at 12 weeks were 112 ± 40 and 97 ± 29 nL O2/min in nondiabetic and diabetic mice, respectively (NS), and 148 ± 31 and 85 ± 37 nL O2/min at 24 weeks, respectively (P < 0.001). MO2 were 65 ± 31 and 66 ± 27 nL O2/min in nondiabetic and diabetic mice at 12 weeks, respectively, and 79 ± 14 and 54 ± 28 nL O2/min at 24 weeks, respectively (main effects = NS). At 12 weeks OEF were 0.57 ± 0.17 and 0.67 ± 0.09 in nondiabetic and diabetic mice, respectively, and 0.54 ± 0.07 and 0.63 ± 0.08 at 24 weeks, respectively (main effect of diabetes: P < 0.01). Conclusions Inner retinal MO2 was maintained in diabetic Akita mice indicating that elevation of the OEF adequately compensated for reduced DO2 and prevented oxidative metabolism from being limited by hypoxia.
Breaking reciprocity in nanophotonics: optomechanical interactions (Conference Presentation)

Lorentz reciprocity refers to a fundamental symmetry relation that governs several physical systems. In this talk, we will discuss our recent theoretical, design, experimental, and commercialization efforts in the area of non-reciprocal photonics, using temporal modulation of metamaterial elements to realize isolation for guided waves in nanophotonic systems and radio-frequency circuits, and for propagating waves in free-space, as well as to break the symmetry between emission and absorption in optical and radio-frequency open systems.
A love story: for ‘Buddy System’ research in the academy

AbstractThis article makes a case for a ‘buddy system’ approach to research and scholarship, or a kind of ‘caring with’ our colleagues, as feminist praxis and as an intentional, politicized response to the neoliberalization of the academy. Through autoethnographic writing on our travels together into farmed animal auction yards, we explain the buddy system as a mode of caring, solidarity, and love that differs from collaborative research, focused as it is on caring for and about our colleagues and their research even (or especially) when we have no direct stakes in the research being conducted. We contribute to three feminist conversations with this approach: feminist care ethics in geography; emotional geographies; and critical perspectives on the neoliberalization of the academy. We advocate the buddy system as an extension of feminist care ethics, enriching how feminists think about ‘doing’ research. We draw on feminist geographies of emotion and our own emotions (grief especially) experienced while wi...
Microstructure-enabled control of wrinkling in nematic elastomer sheets

Nematic elastomers are rubbery solids which have liquid crystals incorporated into their polymer chains. These materials display many unusual mechanical properties, one such being the ability to form fine-scale microstructure. In this work, we explore the response of taut and appreciably stressed sheets made of nematic elastomer. Such sheets feature two potential instabilities – the formation of fine-scale material microstructure and the formation of fine-scale wrinkles. We develop a theoretical framework to study these sheets that accounts for both instabilities, and we implement this framework numerically. Specifically, we show that these instabilities occur for distinct mesoscale stretches, and observe that microstructure is finer than wrinkles for physically relevant parameters. Therefore, we relax (i.e., implicitly but rigorously account for) the microstructure while we regularize (i.e., compute the details explicitly) the wrinkles. Using both analytical and numerical studies, we show that nematic elastomer sheets can suppress wrinkling by modifying the expected state of stress through the formation of microstructure.
Unemployment and social class stigmas

ABSTRACTWestern economies have seen a shift away from a model of job security to a model of work precarity. Cycles of unemployment are a defining feature of the new precarious economy. Given these ...
Activation of preexisting transverse structures in an evolving magmatic rift in East Africa

Abstract Inherited crustal weaknesses have long been recognized as important factors in strain localization and basin development in the East African Rift System (EARS). However, the timing and kinematics (e.g., sense of slip) of transverse (rift-oblique) faults that exploit these weaknesses are debated, and thus the roles of inherited weaknesses at different stages of rift basin evolution are often overlooked. The mechanics of transverse faulting were addressed through an analysis of the Kordjya fault of the Magadi basin (Kenya Rift). Fault kinematics were investigated from field and remote-sensing data collected on fault and joint systems. Our analysis indicates that the Kordjya fault consists of a complex system of predominantly NNE-striking, rift-parallel fault segments that collectively form a NNW-trending array of en echelon faults. The transverse Kordjya fault therefore reactivated existing rift-parallel faults in ∼1 Ma lavas as oblique-normal faults with a component of sinistral shear. In all, these fault motions accommodate dip-slip on an underlying transverse structure that exploits the Aswa basement shear zone. This study shows that transverse faults may be activated through a complex interplay among magma-assisted strain localization, preexisting structures, and local stress rotations. Rather than forming during rift initiation, transverse structures can develop after the establishment of pervasive rift-parallel fault systems, and may exhibit dip-slip kinematics when activated from local stress rotations. The Kordjya fault is shown here to form a kinematic linkage that transfers strain to a newly developing center of concentrated magmatism and normal faulting. It is concluded that recently activated transverse faults not only reveal the effects of inherited basement weaknesses on fault development, but also provide important clues regarding developing magmatic and tectonic systems as young continental rift basins evolve.
Jennifer Orr, Literary Networks and Dissenting Print Culture in Romantic-Period Ireland

Review by Bridget Keegan (Creighton University) of Jennifer Orr, Literary Networks and Dissenting Print Culture in Romantic-Period Ireland. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave, 2015. Pp. xviii + 279. £55. ISBN 9781137471529.
Applications of virtual-evidence based speech recognizer training.

We present two applications of our previously proposed virtualevidence (VE) based speech recognizer training algorithm [1, 2]. The first relates to two-pass training where segmentations obtained during the first pass are used as VE to train the subsequent pass. We use the TIMIT phone and SVitchboard continuous speech recognition tasks to demonstrate the benefits of using VE based training in two-pass systems. The second application involves making use of functions that can incorporate prior domain knowledge to generate VE-scores. Here, in the case of TIMIT phone recognition, we show that using the proposed function to generate VE-scores results in about 6% relative error rate reduction over the baseline.
The importance of and need for rapid hydrologic assessments in Latin America

Long‐term observations are critical in hydrology to understand the dynamics of biological and physicochemical processes involved in and affected by the flux of water. Long‐term observations have been employed to provide basic understanding of the water cycle (e.g., infiltration, evaporation, run‐off generation, and groundwater–surface water interactions), but they are lacking in hydrologically relevant regions such as the Andes Mountains, including alpine watersheds. Although the call for long‐term data acquisition in Latin America has been made, the establishment of long‐term data collection centres remains logistically challenging. This ever‐growing scientific gap hinders our understanding of differences and similarities in hydrological processes of tropical and temperate regions. Furthermore, technological advances such as in situ optical sensors for water quantity and quality remain cost‐prohibitive for both short and long deployment at most existing research sites in Latin America, restricting researchers pursuing research funding or developing meaningful, intersite comparisons and syntheses. Here, we emphasize the importance of and need for rapid assessments (i.e., field campaigns conducted over a few days) for improved hypothesis development and mechanistic understanding of hydrological dynamics in Latin America. We report on rapid assessments conducted in the high‐elevation mountains (>3,000 m) of Colombia. Our results highlight rapidly changing dynamics in nutrient retention potential and dissolved CO₂ (pCO₂), as well as highly variable spatial distribution of water quality parameters (N, C, P, Cl) in areas with varying land use. We present an initial examination of the effects of land‐use change on stream nutrient dynamics in one of the most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems on Earth. We conclude that rapid assessments not only are necessary but also represent a cost‐effective way to develop clear, testable hypotheses to advance a hydrologic research agenda in Latin America and work towards long‐term hydrological knowledge and information for use by other scientists.
Tree Species Effects on Nitrogen Cycling and Retention: A Synthesis of Studies Using 15N Tracers

The forests of the Catskill Mountains in New York receive some of the highest rates of nitrogen (N) deposition in the northeastern United States, and many watersheds are beginning to show signs of N saturation. The watershed export of N is variable, despite relatively uniform N deposition. I tested the hypothesis that tree species vary in their influence on forest N retention and loss. A laboratory study showed that tree species influenced soil microbial biomass and organic soil C:N, but that variation in these properties cannot explain differences in potential net mineralization, net nitrification, or microbial uptake of 15N. A greenhouse experiment showed that sugar maple seedlings take up more NH4 + than NO3 −, while beech seedlings take up more NO3 − than NH4 +. Results from a 300-day 15N experiment in the field showed that most of the N deposited onto forests is retained within the forest floor, and the magnitude of N retention varied among tree species. Sugar maple stands retained the least N, and red oak stands retain the most. A fertilization experiment showed that red oak stands are most likely to have the greatest decrease in N retention if availability increases in the future. Sugar maple stands currently export substantially more N than the other forests, in part due to a limited capacity to take up NO3 −. Tree species composition can be a strong regulator of forest N retention, but differences among species may depend on N inputs. Future research needs to address the interacting effects of increased N inputs and changes in tree species composition, as nonlinear effects may likely occur in biogeochemical cycles.
Revision and Validation of the Truax-Carkhuff Relationship Questionnaire.

A demand for a short, valid, and reliable scale to measure the counseling relationship was met by revising and validating the Truax-Carkhuff Relationship Questionnaire. This questionnaire and two o...
VEWL: A Framework for Building a Windowing Interface in a Virtual Environment.

VEWL (Virtual Environment Windowing Library) is a library designed to provide a highly flexible interface metaphor for building window-based interfaces within a virtual environment. VEWL was built on top of DIVERSE and uses the object-oriented paradigm of signals and slots through the use of Qt. In addition to the windowing metaphor presented this library was designed to provide an API (Application Programming Interface) to allow rapid development of new interfaces. This paper will describe the design and implementation of this library and provide preliminary results of a brief usability study.
Allotransplants for Patients 65 Years or Older with High-Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract The outcome of persons > 65 years with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is poor. A transplant from an HLA-identical sibling or an HLA-matched unrelated donor can cure some of these patients but is associated with a substantial transplant-related mortality and a high relapse risk. We analyzed 185 subjects > 65 years with high-risk AML receiving conventional (n = 42) or reduced-intensity (n = 143) pretransplant conditioning and a transplant from an HLA-identical sibling (n = 66) or a 10/10 loci HLA-matched unrelated donor (n = 119). Two-year survival was 37%. Subjects with serious adverse events during before chemotherapy for their leukemia had a poor outcome after stem cell transplantation. Patients who had active leukemia or measurable residual disease (MRD) before transplantation had a worse outcome. Delayed hematologic recovery after induction or consolidation chemotherapy, high-risk AML genetics, donor–recipient HLA-DRβ3/4/5-DP mismatches, and history of cardiovascular disease were also correlated with survival in multivariate analyses. The 57 MRD-negative patients with few other adverse prognostic factors had an excellent outcome (2-year overall survival, 76%), whereas the 58 patients with detectable leukemia and more than 1 other additional factor fared poorly (2-year overall survival, 8%). These data indicate it is possible to identify persons > 65 years with high-risk AML likely to benefit from an allotransplant. Validation of this prediction is needed.
Ultrasonic Sensing and Actuation in Laminate Structures Using Bondline-Embedded d35 Piezoelectric Sensors

Ultrasonic systems employing embedded piezoelectric transducers have seen increased interest in recent years. The ability to sense, actuate, and analyze the wave propagation modes in engineering structures has been fundamental to the advancement of ultrasonic structural health monitoring (SHM). This paper presents a study into the sensing and actuation properties of shear-mode (d35) piezoelectric transducers made of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) that are internally embedded in the bondline of laminate structures. The manuscript presents analytical analysis, finite element simulation, and experimental validation building from an individual piezoelectric element to a full laminate structure. The validated model was then used to perform a parametric study into the effects of d35 PZT transducer size on the strength of actuation and sensing output signal. The selectivity of d35 PZT sensors was also investigated by generating multiple wave modes in the laminate structure and inspecting the output signals. The d35 PZT sensors were found to selectively detect only certain modes of the wave propagation providing a fundamental hardware filter that could be employed to simplify signal analysis and processing. The results of this study indicate that d35 PZTs embedded in the bondline have multiple properties that can potentially be employed for ultrasonic SHM.
Mistrust in Science — A Threat to the Patient–Physician Relationship

Mistrust in Science Trust is the foundation of relationships between patients and the health care system. But assumptions about how trust is created and maintained have to be reexamined on the basi...
Student Perceptions of Connectedness in Online Graduate Business Programs.

Researchers investigated students’ perceptions of connectedness in two online graduate-level business programs at a small college in the Midwest. One hundred and six participants completed the Onli...
Temperature correction strategy for improving concentration predictions with near-infrared spectra of aqueous-based samples.

Abstract Concentration predictions from near-infrared spectra are used across a range of application areas. When aqueous samples are employed, the extreme temperature sensitivity of underlying water absorption bands can lead to significant errors in predicted analyte concentrations, even when efforts are made to control sample temperatures. To address this issue, a temperature-correction procedure was developed on the basis of modeling the systematic error that occurs in predicted concentrations as a function of variation in sample temperature. With this approach, a quantitative calibration model was developed for samples at a fixed temperature. This model was subsequently applied to the spectra of a second set of samples with known analyte concentrations collected under conditions of varying temperature. Using either measured temperatures or those estimated from a spectral temperature prediction model, a least-squares polynomial fit was performed between concentration residuals and temperature. Going forward, for a given sample temperature, the polynomial model was used to estimate the concentration residual at that temperature. The estimated residual was then used to correct the predicted concentration. For spectra collected in the 5000-4000 cm−1 near-infrared region, this methodology was tested for samples of glucose in buffer and mixture samples of glucose and lactate in buffer over the temperature range of 20.0–40.5 °C.
Case 39-2019: A 57-Year-Old Woman with Hypotension and Trauma after a Motorcycle Accident

A Woman with Hypotension and Trauma after a Motorcycle Accident A 57-year-old woman presented to the ED after a traumatic motorcycle accident. Bleeding from the pelvis and thigh resulted in hemorrh...
6 – Structural Alternatives

Publisher Summary This chapter examines two structural methods of reducing discretion: modification of the character of rules and reorganization of delivery systems. Specific rules are usually more amenable to statistical monitoring than are rules that provide for discretionary judgments, especially since the primary source of information about the latter is the case file prepared by the social worker. The control of information is the key to supervision; if the social worker can retain control of the information on which his decisions are based, he can greatly hamper effective supervision. In addition, proposals to vary delivery structures are also controversial. Social services planners and administrators have always been appalled at the diversity, complexity, and overlap of programs and have argued that this causes clients undue hardship. On the other hand, centralizing social services can also impose burdens on clients. The monopoly elements in die delivery system increase discretion and lead to in Rosenheim's terms, problemization. Staines would introduce more competitive elements to reduce discretion, and Rosenheim would deprofessionalize the front-line agencies in an effort to normalize client problems.
Emotion Regulation among Children in Foster Care Versus Birth Parent Care: Differential Effects of an Early Home-Visiting Intervention.

Children involved with Child Protective Services (CPS) often show worse emotion regulation than non-involved children, with downstream effects on adaptive functioning. The current study uses two randomized control trials, one conducted with foster caregivers and one conducted with birth parents, to investigate the longitudinal effects of caregiver type (foster versus birth parent) and a home-visiting parenting intervention on emotion regulation among young children referred to CPS. Participants were 211 children referred to CPS during infancy or toddlerhood, of whom 120 remained with their birth parents and 91 were placed in foster care. Caregivers were randomly assigned to receive Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC), a 10-session intervention designed to promote nurturing, sensitive, and non-intrusive caregiving, or a control intervention. Caregiver type moderated the effects of ABC on young children’s observed anger dysregulation during a frustrating task at age 2 to 3 years. Among children remaining with their birth parents, children whose caregivers received ABC showed lower anger dysregulation than children whose caregivers received the control intervention. Children placed in foster care showed lower anger dysregulation than children with birth parents regardless of parenting intervention, and additionally showed higher adaptive regulation than children remaining with their birth parents. Adaptive regulation was not significantly associated with parenting intervention or the caregiver by intervention interaction. Results suggest that foster care placement may be protective for emerging emotion regulation skills among young children referred to CPS, and an attachment-based parenting intervention buffers risks of remaining in the home for young children’s emotion dysregulation.