cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using IPEDS for Panel Analyses: Core Concepts, Data Challenges, and Empirical Applications

Responding to demands from policymakers, higher education researchers increasingly utilize econometric modeling techniques to evaluate policies. In particular, researchers have applied panel methods to panel datasets derived from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and its predecessor the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS). Analyses may yield biased results when panel datasets are not properly constructed, potentially leading to misguided policy recommendations. This chapter provides guidance about how to create institution-level panel datasets that are appropriate for specific research questions. We first provide an overview of institution-level data sources. Second, we describe change over time in the HEGIS/IPEDS sampling universe and the unit of analysis (e.g., institution, campus) represented by each observation. Third, we discuss parent-child reporting, which occurs when institutions complete some IPEDS survey components (e.g., Completions) at the campus level and other survey components at the institution level. Parent-child reporting affects many empirical applications of IPEDS panel data and affects what research questions can be answered using premade panel data from the Delta Cost Project. Fourth, we discuss solutions to common data challenges. Finally, we discuss what kinds of research questions can be addressed using IPEDS data and data from the Delta Cost Project.
Temperature-dependent regulation of sugar metabolism in wild-type and low-invertase transgenic chipping potatoes during and after cooling for low-temperature storage

Abstract Regulation of sugar metabolism in potato tubers stored at low temperatures has significant ramifications for producers and consumers of potato chips and French fries. Low-temperature storage reduces losses due to sprouting and disease but induces undesirable accumulation of the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. These sugars react with free amino acids during frying to produce dark-colored and bitter-tasting products that have elevated levels of acrylamide, a suspected human carcinogen. Elevated amounts of tuber glucose and fructose are produced when vacuolar acid invertase (VInv) hydrolyses sucrose derived from starch degradation. In this study, wild-type tubers and tubers in which VInv expression was reduced by RNA interference were used to study the temperature-dependent regulation of sugar accumulation and expression of carbohydrate metabolism genes during and after the cooling of tubers to 9 or 3 °C. It was found that transcriptional control of genes central to carbohydrate metabolism occurred in three overlapping phases. First, early in cooling, slight increases in VInv and β-amylase expression occurred. Second, at lower temperatures, large decreases in AGPase and GBSS expression were observed. Finally, when tubers reached 3–5 °C, large increases in β-amylase expression were observed, coinciding with large increases in sucrose in all genotypes and large increases in glucose and fructose in tubers with high VInv expression. Suppression of VInv expression did not alter the expression of β-amylase, AGPase, GBSS, or other genes, indicating that there was little or no feedback from reducing sugars to transcriptional control of carbohydrate metabolism. Invertase activity of WT tubers stored at 9 °C was comparable to that of WT tubers stored at 3 °C, but reducing sugars were markedly higher at the lower temperature. Taken together, these data support a model in which reducing sugar accumulation is controlled both by temperature-regulated changes in sucrose accumulation, resulting from increased starch degradation by β-amylase and decreased starch resynthesis by AGPase and GBSS, and by differences in VInv activity that persist throughout storage.
Advances in patch-based adaptive mesh refinement scalability

Patch-based structured adaptive mesh refinement (SAMR) is widely used for high-resolution simulations. Combined with modern supercomputers, it could provide simulations of unprecedented size and resolution. A persistent challenge for this combination has been managing dynamically adaptive meshes on more and more MPI tasks. The distributed mesh management scheme in SAMRAI has made some progress SAMR scalability, but early algorithms still had trouble scaling past the regime of 10 5 MPI tasks. This work provides two critical SAMR regridding algorithms, which are integrated into that scheme to ensure efficiency of the whole. The clustering algorithm is an extension of the tile-clustering approach, making it more flexible and efficient in both clustering and parallelism. The partitioner is a new algorithm designed to prevent the network congestion experienced by its predecessor. We evaluated performance using weak- and strong-scaling benchmarks designed to be difficult for dynamic adaptivity. Results show good scaling on up to 1.5M cores and 2M MPI tasks. Detailed timing diagnostics suggest scaling would continue well past that. We developed two key SAMR regridding components that scaled individually and integrated scalably.The cascade partitioner took 10% of the regrid time and yielded loads within 10% of ideal.The tile clustering step took about 2% of regrid time and reduced cluster counts by a factor of 38.Our benchmarks, set up to be challenging for dynamic adaptivity, scaled to 2M MPI tasks.Smooth, well-behaved timer trends indicate higher scaling is possible.
Pathology of trauma.

The major unifying concept of the effect of trauma on the central nervous system is the application of force to the brain. The mode of delivery of energy and its dissipation result in the varying pathologic manifestations of hemorrhage, contusions, or tears. Topics discussed in this article include inner cerebral trauma, gunshot wounds, contusions and lacerations, hemorrhages, fractures, and spinal cord trauma.
J series thruster isolator failure analysis

Three Hg propellant isolators (two cathode and one main) failed during testing in the Mission Profile Life Test. These failures involved contamination of the surface of the alumina insulating body which resulted in heating of the vaporizer by leakage current from the high voltage supply, with subsequent loss of propellant flow rate control. Failure analysis of the isolators showed the surface resistance was temperature dependent and that the alumina could be restored to its original insulating state by grit blasting the surface. The contaminant was identified as carbon and the most likely sources identified as ambient facility hydrocarbons, directed back-sputtered facility materials, and outgassing from organic insulating materials within the thruster envelope. Methods to eliminate contamination from each of these sources are described.
A Review of Ruptures of the Achilles Tendon

Rupture of the Achilles tendon is a relatively infrequent injury that is often missed by the initial treating physician. The diagnosis can be established on the basis of the physical examination with weakness of plantarflexion, a palpable gap in the tendon, and a positive squeeze test. Special diagnostic studies are rarely necessary. In the majority of cases, the etiologic basis for the rupture appears to be a combination of intratendon degeneration and mechanical stress. Conservative treatment of an acute rupture by immobilization with a cast provides satisfactory results. For the younger, more athletic patient, surgical repair should be considered.
Fate of intravenously administered glycerol.

SummaryIntravenously administered glycerol rapidly disappears from the bloodstream. Single injections of 6 g glycerol did not produce excessive urinary excretion of glycerol but 12 g led to excretion of one-third the dose. Daily infusions of large doses of glycerol produced marked polyuria and in some animals led to tremors and convulsions. These disturbances were not caused by accumulation of glycerol in the blood.
The Mutillidae of Formosa.

Our knowledge of the Mutillid fauna of Formosa is based almost without exception on material collected by H. Sauter, and on a study of that material made by E. Zavattari (1913). The latter recognized thirty-one species, twenty-seven of which were referred to the genus Mutilla . The four remaining species were assigned to Myrmilla, Promecilla and Odontomutilla . Nine species were recorded from Formosa which had previously been described from other localities in the Oriental region. The writer found it necessary to consider the Formosa fauna in connection with other studies of Mutillidae and has examined not only the Sauter material, but also the type material of those species described by other authors and recorded by Zavattari as occurring in Formosa. In all such cases the type material proved to be different and distinct from the specimens on which the Formosa records were based. The result was that a number of the Formosa species remained undescribed. It was also found that the generic assignments of the Formosa species were in need of revision since the species assigned to the genus Mutilla by Zavattari represented several genera, none of which were Mutilla . The latter genus is apparently not represented in Formosa. In examining the material studied by Zavattari it was found that holotypes had not been designated and it seemed desirable to designate lectotypes. In all cases the specimen selected by me as lectotype has been labeled with a red label bearing the term “lectotype.”
Use of Calcofluor White in Clinical Mycology

Calcofluor white, a nonspecific fluorochrome with affinity for chitin and cellulose, can be used alone or with potassium hydroxide (KOH) to sharply delineate fungal elements in clinical specimens. This technique obviates the inaccuracies associated with the reading and interpretation of KOH preparations, is more sensitive than Gram's stain, and is faster to perform than periodic acid-Schiff or Gomori methenamine silver stains.
A Summary of the 20~(th) CIRED Conference in 2009

Conference Internationle Repartition et Distribution (CIRED) provieds a platform of international communication for power distribution field.This paper introduces a summary of the 20th CIRED Conference in 2009,including the aspects of main topics,publications and technical seminars.The developments of researching in international power distribution field and the latest developments of from DG to DER are described as well.
Meeting the Challenges of Globalization in the Advanced Economies

Globalization refers to the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through the increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services and of international capital flows, and also through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. On a broad level, the welfare benefits of globalization are essentially similar to those of specialization and the widening of markets through trade, emphasized by classical economists. By enabling a greater international division of labor and a more efficient allocation of capital, and by increasing the degree of competition faced by firms, globalization raises productivity and average living standards, while broader access to foreign products allows consumers to enjoy a wider range of goods and services at lower cost. On the capital account side, globalization can also confer benefits by allowing a country to mobilize a larger volume of financial savings and by spreading risks more effectively (in part because investors and savers have access to a wider range of fmancial instruments).
TABLEFS: Embedding a NoSQL database inside the local file system

Conventional file systems are optimzed for large file transfers instead of workloads that are dominated by metadata and small file accesses. This paper examines using techniques adopted from NoSQL databases to manage file system metadata and small files, which feature high rates of change and efficient out-of-core data representation. A FUSE file system prototype was built by storing file system metadata and small files into a modern key-value store: LevelDB. We demonstrate that such techniques can improve the performance of modern local file systems in Linux for workloads dominated by metadata and tiny files.
Analysis of loss mechanisms in InGaN solar cells using a semi-analytical model

III-nitrides material systems have attracting growing interests in photovoltaic (PV) applications after huge success in optoelectronics. In this work, a semi-analytical model is used to analyze the PV performance of single junction InGaN solar cells. Through clarifying four basic types of loss mechanisms, including transmission loss, thermalization loss, spatial relaxation loss and recombination loss, we discover that transmission loss accounts for the primary part of efficiency loss due to the large bandgaps of III-nitride materials. As for all recombination-related losses, Shockley-Reed-Hall (SRH) recombination loss is dominant over others. By incorporating non-step-like absorptance and emittance with below-bandgap absorption, we discover that reducing SRH recombination current by improving the material quality of InGaN layers proves an efficient approach to optimize the cell performance. Furthermore, the energy conversion efficiency increases with higher material quality and larger solar concentration. Our calculations show that energy conversion efficiency of 7.35% can be achieved under one sun and maximum efficiency of 8.43% under 1000 suns. This theoretical study offers detailed guidance for the future design of high-performance thin film InGaN solar cells.
Karl Wolfskehl, 1933: A Poem Sequence: New York: Schocken Books, 1947. Pp. 123. $3.50.

(1949). Karl Wolfskehl, 1933: A Poem Sequence. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 71-72.
Coprime Factors Model Reduction of Spatially Distributed LTV Systems Over Arbitrary Graphs

This technical note is on the model reduction of distributed systems formed by discrete-time, linear time-varying, heterogeneous subsystems interconnected over arbitrary directed graphs and subjected to communication latency. We give two procedures to construct a strongly stable coprime factorization for a strongly stabilizable and strongly detectable system. One of the procedures ensures the contractiveness of the resulting factorization. Then, we apply the structure-preserving balanced truncation method for distributed systems. We illustrate the proposed methods through an example.
Criminal Record Questions in the Era of “Ban the Box”

Research Summary This study examines three central questions about criminal record inquiries on job applications, which is a rapidly developing area in criminology and public policy. We find the following: (1) Among the 78% of employers who ask about records, specific application questions vary greatly regarding the severity and timing of offenses. (2) Applications for restaurant positions are least likely to inquire about criminal histories, whereas racially diverse workplaces and establishments in the most and least advantaged neighborhoods are more likely to ask. (3) The race gap in employer callbacks is reduced when applicants have the chance to signal not having a record by answering “no,” which is consistent with theories of statistical discrimination. Policy Implications We conclude with a call to develop standards and best practices regarding inquiries about juvenile offenses, low-level misdemeanor and traffic offenses, and the applicable time span. The need for such standards is made more apparent by the unevenness of criminal record questions across employees, establishments, and neighborhoods. We also suggest best practices for Ban the Box implementation to help combat potential statistical discrimination against African American men without records. Have you been convicted of a felony using your current name or any other name? If you do not answer this question, your application will not be considered. —Job application for laborer position at waste management company
Design of high-throughput and low-power true random number generator utilizing perpendicularly magnetized voltage-controlled magnetic tunnel junction

A true random number generator based on perpendicularly magnetized voltage-controlled magnetic tunnel junction devices (MRNG) is presented. Unlike MTJs used in memory applications where a stable bit is needed to store information, in this work, the MTJ is intentionally designed with small perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). This allows one to take advantage of the thermally activated fluctuations of its free layer as a stochastic noise source. Furthermore, we take advantage of the voltage dependence of anisotropy to temporarily change the MTJ state into an unstable state when a voltage is applied. Since the MTJ has two energetically stable states, the final state is randomly chosen by thermal fluctuation. The voltage controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) effect is used to generate the metastable state of the MTJ by lowering its energy barrier. The proposed MRNG achieves a high throughput (32 Gbps) by implementing a 64×64 MTJ array into CMOS circuits and executing operations in a parallel manner. Furt...
A Review of Negative Heavy-Ion Sources

There can be little doubt that the major impetus for negative ion source development, particularly for ions with Z > 1, has been the tandem accelerator. Progress since 1960, when the number of available negative ions could probably be counted on one hand and 20 nA was considered a respectable current, has been remarkable. Numerous developments have occurred, but by far the most outstanding were (1) the discovery of the large charge exchange cross sections for negative ion formation in alkali and alkaline earth vapors—frequently permitting 10%–30% conversion of positive to negative ions, and (2) the high sputter yield of negative ions from surfaces overlayed with about a monolayer of cesium.
New insight into the action of tryptanthrins against Plasmodium falciparum: Pharmacophore identification via a novel submolecular QSAR descriptor.

Abstract A new submolecular quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) descriptor was applied toward elucidating the anti-malarial pharmacophore of tryptanthrins, a class of compounds known for their anti-parasitic activities. The new descriptor is based on experimental and computational measurements of the tunneling barriers of individual lobes of the molecular orbitals. Lobe-by-lobe QSAR correlation plots revealed a single lobe of the LUMO to be strongly associated with tryptanthrin’s anti-malarial activity. The correlation also showed a threshold behavior wherein barriers below a particular value show low IC50 values. Above the threshold, the correlation of IC50 vs the logarithm of the barrier is linear with R2 = 0.999. This barrier threshold may be applied as a design criterion for future tryptanthrin-based anti-malarial lead optimization. The new descriptor may be broadly applicable toward other molecular systems of interest, such as catalysts, pesticides, and herbicides. The authors have named the new descriptor: submolecular tunneling analysis of barriers (STAB).
Performance Evaluation of a Power-Efficient and Robust 60 GHz Wireless Server-to-Server Datacenter Network

Datacenters have become the digital backbone of the modern world. To support the growing demands on bandwidth, datacenter networks (DCNs) consume an increasing amount of power. Additionally, the complex cabling in traditional datacenters poses design and maintenance challenges and increases the energy cost of the cooling infrastructure by obstructing the flow of chilled air. In this paper, we present a wireless server-to-server datacenter network architecture using millimeter-wave links to eliminate the need for power-hungry switching fabric of traditional fat-tree based datacenter networks. The server-to-server wireless datacenter network (S2S-WiDCN) architecture requires line-of-sight (LoS) between servers to establish direct communication links. However, in the presence of an obstruction such as an IT technician, the LoS may be blocked. To address this issue, we propose a novel obstruction-aware adaptive routing algorithm for S2S-WiDCN. We evaluate the performance of S2S-WiDCN in terms of traffic flow completion duration and throughput, with different kinds of datacenter traffic as well as in presence of obstruction to LoS links. We also compare the performance and power efficiency of S2S-WiDCN with the traditional fat tree DCN as well as a top-of-rack (ToR)-to-ToR wireless DCN.
Restless legs syndrome in children

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common pediatric condition that often goes undiagnosed. The genetics and pathophysiology of this sensorimotor condition are still not well understood. RLS can affect any part of the body, but the thighs and calves are the most commonly affected. Because of unpleasant sensations caused by RLS, these patients experience sleep disturbance and its consequences. The diagnosis of RLS is a clinical one. RLS occurs at a higher frequency and the symptoms are more severe in patients with iron deficiency; therefore, correcting iron deficiency improves the symptoms. Both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions can be effective in the treatment of children with RLS. However, in contrast to adults with RLS, most children with RLS are not treated with pharmacologic agents because the symptoms are not as severe as they are in adults. [Pediatr Ann. 2018;47(12):e504-e506.].
Carbon ecology of termite gut and phenol degradation by a bacterium isolated from the gut of termite

Metagenomics and transcriptomics have had some success analyzing community and functional ecology of the termite gut, but carbon utilization ecology and the effect of diet on the gut community are not well understood. This study was done to determine the effect of three hardwood tree types, oak (Quercus spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum), and tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) on the termite species, Reticulitermes flavipes in the family Rhinotermitidae. Termite abdomen homogenates were incubated on agar plates containing three common carbon sources in the termite gut, namely, acetate, cellobiose, and phenol under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Bacterial growth was higher on cellobiose than any other carbon source. Higher bacterial growth on cellobiose was observed from termite colonies feeding on oak than on phenol from the other two wood types. The difference between aerobic and anaerobic conditions was not significant. A bacterium, Acinetobacter tandoii isolated and identified from our previous study was subjected to high concentrations of phenol as the sole carbon source and this bacterium was able to degrade phenol concentration up to 600 mg/L.
A Self-Sustained Circuit Building Block Based on 10-kV Silicon Carbide Devices for High-Voltage Applications

This paper presents a self-sustained circuit building block (CBB) that utilizes 10-kV silicon carbide (SiC) devices as the main switches. The CBB achieves a self-sustained operation by powering the gate drives of its main switches with the energy from its dc bus capacitor. The CBB can serve as one of the submodules in a multilevel converter for high-voltage applications. This paper focuses on the design of the 10-kV SiC device’s gate drive and its associated auxiliary power supply (APS). The gate drive and its APS are the major technical challenges in the CBB development. The gate drive in the CBB features a common mode transient immunity (CMTI) over 200 kV/ $\mu \text{s}$ and fast protection functions. Its APS is based on an active voltage divider concept and achieves 7-kV input voltage with a simple circuit structure and control scheme. The operational principles and design guidelines of the gate drive and its APS are presented in detail. Test results of the CBB in a double-pulse test setup with a 7-kV dc bus voltage are presented to validate the design. Reliable operation of the CBB is demonstrated under dv/dt up to 100 kV/ $\mu \text{s}$ .
110th Anniversary: Kinetics and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy in Methane Total Oxidation over Alumina-Supported Pt, Pd, and Ag–Pd Catalysts

The kinetics of methane oxidation over Pt/Al2O3, Pd/Al2O3, and Ag–Pd/Al2O3 is investigated as a function of the O2/CH4 ratio. We show that as the oxygen fraction increases from low values, three distinct kinetic regimes exist that are nearly first order, negative order, and zero order with respect to the oxygen concentration. At O2/CH4 < 3, Pd and Ag–Pd are superior catalysts, whereas at higher oxygen concentrations, Pt is superior. Hysteresis with bistability is demonstrated over all three catalysts with two distinct activity regimes at identical feed compositions: higher activity upon increasing oxygen concentration from low values and lower activity upon decreasing oxygen concentration from high values. In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) over the Ag–Pd catalyst suggest that the bistability stems from different oxidation states of the catalyst as well as a core–shell structure in the reduced state.
Reading against the grain: female sexuality in classical South Asian Buddhism

ABSTRACTResponding to and building upon Jose Cabezon’s groundbreaking work, Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism (2017), this essay challenges a hermeneutic that capitulates to the androcent...
Does vegetation change over 28 years affect habitat use and reproductive success

Individuals should prefer and use habitats that confer high fitness, but habitat use is not always adaptive. Vegetation in natural landscapes changes gradually and the ability of species to adaptively adjust their habitat use to long-term changes is largely unstudied. We studied nest patch and territory use over 28 yr in Orange-crowned Warblers (Oreothlypis celata) in a system that has undergone natural long-term changes in vegetation. Abundance of maple (Acer grandidentatum), its preferred nesting habitat, gradually declined from 1987 to 2015. We examined whether habitat use and its fitness consequences changed as the availability of preferred habitat decreased. We used resource selection function models to determine changes over time in the probability of using a nest patch given available patches, and the probability of using a territory given available territories. We estimated nest survival to evaluate changes over time in the fitness consequences of nest patch use. We also compared habitat use (nest patch and territory) and fitness (nest survival) between areas with naturally reduced abundance of maple and experimentally increased abundance of maple (fenced areas). Nest patch use depended on maple abundance and did not change drastically across 28 yr, even though the availability of preferred maple patches decreased over time. In contrast, nest survival tended to decrease over time. We did not see differences in nest patch use and nest survival between unfenced and fenced areas, unlike territory use, which increased with the abundance of maple in fenced areas and decreased in unfenced areas. Our study depicts one example of relatively unchanged habitat use in the face of decreased availability of preferred vegetation across years, with a resulting decrease in reproductive success. Investigating changes in habitat use and fitness consequences for animals exposed to long-term habitat change is necessary to understand adaptive behavioral responses.
Left Bundle Branch Block Chest Pain Conundrum

Left bundle branch block is a pattern of altered ventricular depolarization and subsequently affects repolarization. These obscure patterns can affect the traditional ST segment shift criteria for the electrocardiographic detection of coronary insufficiency syndromes. Previously, patients with coronary ischemic pain and LBBB judged to be "new" (not previously documented) were considered to have ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) warranting acute thrombolytic therapy. Current STEMI management favors emergent invasive angiography; however, recent data suggests the prevalence of coronary obstructive pathology may be as low as 50%. The application of more specific, less-sensitive Sgarbossa electrocardiographic criteria may reduce angiographic assessment in an otherwise high-risk population unlikely to tolerate further myocardial injury. We present a case that may facilitate a more nuanced EKG-based approach to distinguish those who may benefit from acute invasive angiography while reducing the frequency of unnecessary angiographic evaluation.
Alternating convex projection methods for discrete-time covariance control design

The problem of designing a controller for a linear, discretetime system is formulated as a problem of designing an appropriate plant-state covariance matrix. Closed-loop stability and multiple-output performance constraints are expressed geometrically as requirements that the covariance matrix lies in the intersection of some specified closed, convex sets in the space of symmetric matrices. We solve a covariance feasibility problem to determine the existence and compute a covariance matrix to satisty assignability and output-norm performance constraints. In addition, we can treat a covariance optimization problem to construct an assignable covariance matrix which satisfies output performance constraints and is as close as possible to a given desired covariance. We can also treat inconsistent constraints, where we look for an assignable covariance which best approximates desired but unachievable output performance objectives; we call this the infeasible covariance optimization problem. All these problems are of a convex nature, and alternating convex projection methods are proposed to solve them, exploiting the geometric formulation of the problem. To this end, analytical expressions for the projections onto the covariance assignability and the output covariance inequality constraint sets are derived. Finally, the problem of designing low-order dynamic controllers using alternating projections is discussed, and a numerical technique using alternating projections is suggested for a solution, although convergence of the algorithm is not guaranteed in this case. A control design example for a fighter aircraft model illustrates the method.
Antibacterial action of nitric oxide-releasing hyperbranched polymers against ex vivo dental biofilms

Abstract Objectives This study investigates the antibiofilm action of nitric oxide (NO)-releasing hyperbranched polymers against ex vivo multispecies periodontal biofilms. Methods The antibiofilm efficacy of NO-releasing hyperbranched polymers was evaluated as a function of NO-release properties, polymer concentrations, and oxygen levels in the exposure media. 16s rRNA sequencing technique was employed to evaluate the impact of NO-releasing hyperbranched polymers on the microbial composition of the biofilms. Results The addition of NO release significantly improved the antibiofilm action of the hyperbranched polymers, with NO-releasing hyperbranched polyamidoamines of largest NO payloads being more effective than hyperbranched polykanamycins. Furthermore, the NO-releasing hyperbranched polymers reduced the biofilm metabolic activity in a dose-dependent manner, killing biofilm-detached bacteria under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, with greater antimicrobial efficacy observed under aerobic conditions. Significance These results demonstrate for the first time the potential therapeutic utility of NO-releasing hyperbranched polymers for treating multispecies dental biofilms.
Site-Directed Mutagenesis of Modular Polyketide Synthase Ketoreductase Domains for Altered Stereochemical Control

Bacterial modular type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) are complex multidomain assembly line proteins that produce a range of pharmaceutically relevant molecules with a high degree of stereochemical control. Due to their colinear properties, they have been considerable targets for rational biosynthetic pathway engineering. Among the domains harbored within these complex assembly lines, ketoreductase (KR) domains have been extensively studied with the goal of altering their stereoselectivity by site-directed mutagenesis, as they confer much of the stereochemical complexity present in pharmaceutically active reduced polyketide scaffolds. Here we review all efforts to date to perform site-directed mutagenesis on PKS KRs, most of which have been done in the context of excised KR domains on model diffusible substrates such as β-keto N-acetyl cysteamine thioesters. We also discuss the challenges around translating the findings of these studies to alter stereocontrol in the context of a complex multidomain enzymatic assembly line.
Wγ AND Zγ PRODUCTION AND LIMITS ON ANOMALOUS WWγ, ZZγ AND Zγγ COUPLINGS WITH D0 DETECTOR

The recent D0 results on Wγ and Zγ production are presented. First, the cross-section and the difference in rapidities between photons and charged leptons for inclusive W(→lν)+γ production in eγ and μγ final states are discussed, then are the cross-section and differential cross-section as a function of photon transverse momentum for Zγ→l+l-(l = e, μ) process. Finally, I present the limits on anomalous WWγ, ZZγ and Zγγ couplings.
Generalized Bernoulli process with long-range dependence and fractional binomial distribution

Bernoulli process is a finite or infinite sequence of independent binary variables, Xi, i = 1, 2, · · ·, whose outcome is either 1 or 0 with probability P(Xi = 1) = p, P(Xi = 0) = 1 – p, for a fixed constant p ∈ (0, 1). We will relax the independence condition of Bernoulli variables, and develop a generalized Bernoulli process that is stationary and has auto-covariance function that obeys power law with exponent 2H – 2, H ∈ (0, 1). Generalized Bernoulli process encompasses various forms of binary sequence from an independent binary sequence to a binary sequence that has long-range dependence. Fractional binomial random variable is defined as the sum of n consecutive variables in a generalized Bernoulli process, of particular interest is when its variance is proportional to n2H, if H ∈ (1/2, 1).
Sewage Promotes Vibrio vulnificus Growth and Alters Gene Expression

Vibrio vulnificus is a naturally-occurring, potentially lethal pathogen found in coastal waters, fish, and shellfish. Sewage spills in coastal waters occur when infrastructure fails due to severe storms or age, and may affect bacterial populations by altering nutrient levels. This study investigated effects of sewage on clonal and natural V. vulnificus populations in microcosms. Addition of 1% sewage to estuarine water caused the density of a pure culture of V. vulnificus CMCP6 and a natural V. vulnificus population to increase significantly, whether measured by qPCR or culture. Changes in the transcription of six virulence- and survival-associated genes in response to sewage were assessed using continuous culture. Exposure to sewage affected transcription of genes that may be associated with virulence. Specifically, sewage modulated the oxidative stress response by altering superoxide dismutase transcription, significantly increasing sodB transcription while repressing sodA. Sewage also repressed transcription of nptA, which encodes a sodium-phosphate cotransporter. Sewage had no effect on sodC transcription or the putative virulence-associated genes hupA or wza. The effects of environmentally relevant levels of sewage on V. vulnificus populations and gene transcription suggest that sewage spills that impact warm coastal waters could lead to an increased risk of V. vulnificus infections.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder characterized by oligo-anovulation, clinical and/or biochemical signs of hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries. Its pathophysiology is complex and commonly includes functional ovarian hyperandrogenism (FOH) and in some instances functional adrenal hyperandrogenism (FAH). It is occasionally associated with elevation of insulin, anti-mullerian hormone (AMH), and/or luteinizing hormone (LH). PCOS may be associated with obesity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus type 2, infertility, and depression. Therefore, it is imperative that primary care providers can identify patients that should be evaluated for PCOS and can initiate the diagnostic evaluation and treatment plan for PCOS and its complications. Treatment strategies are based on concomitant patient comorbidities and patient preferences.
Defending American Classical Liberalism

A response to ‘Radical’ Catholics such as Patrick Deneen who hold liberalism, including American classical liberalism, to be intrinsically hostile to Christianity
Perceptions of teachers regarding the importance and existence of researched-based program characteristics in alternative high schools and teacher's perceptions of efficacy in the Commonwealth of Virginia

PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS REGARDING THE IMPORTANCE AND EXISTENCE OF RESEARCH-BASED PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS IN ALTERNATIVE HIGH SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF EFFICACY IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA Robert Craig Lowerre, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010 Major Director: Cheryl Magill, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership School of Education The purpose of this research was to determine teachers’ perceptions of the degree to which research-based characteristics exist in alternative high schools and programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the importance of these characteristics to effective education. In addition, this research investigated whether or not these perceptions were related to the teachers’ perception of efficacy. These seven characteristics were (a) clearly identified enrollment criteria, (b) low ratio of student to teachers, (c) one-to-one interactions between staff and students, (d) social skills instruction, (e) effective academic instruction, (f) parental involvement and parental support programs, and (g) specific training for teachers who are working with at-risk youth. Alternative school teachers were also administered the short form of the Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001) Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale that is specifically designed to assess the respondents’ perceptions of their self-efficacy as teachers. The data show that alternative school teachers in Virginia ranked “low student to staff ratio” as the most important and “parental involvement and parental support programs” as the least important research-based characteristics for the academic focus of their schools. It was also evidenced by the data that none of the research-based characteristics were shown to have “strong evidence” of existence in Virginia’s alternative schools and programs. Finally, the data showed that there is a positive correlation between the existence of the research-based characteristics and the reported self-efficacy of the alternative school teachers.
Das elektromagnetische Feld. Allgemeine und spezielle Beziehungen

Wir setzen voraus, das der Leser mit der Maxwell schen Theorie vertraut ist und beschranken uns daher in diesem einleitenden Abschnitt auf eine kurze Zusammenstellung einiger grundlegender Beziehungen, von denen in der Folge Gebrauch gemacht wird. Dabei wird gleichzeitig die Bedeutung der Symbole erkenntlich warden*).
Elizabeth Bouvia: whose space is this anyway?

KIE: Elizabeth Bouvia, a quadriplegic victim of cerebral palsy, sued Riverside Hospital in California two years ago for the right to refuse feeding via a nasogastric tube. Bouvia fled to Mexico when she lost the case, but later returned to California and again sought hospital care without force feedings, though this time she agreed to eat voluntarily. In September 1985 she was transferred from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center to High Desert Hospital, which instituted a policy of force feeding Bouvia until she reached her "ideal weight." Bouvia sought a restraining order to remove the nasogastric tube, a request that was rejected in Bouvia v. Glenchur (L.A. Superior Court, C583828, 21 Feb 1986). Annas accuses High Desert Hospital and the judge in Glenchur of highhandedly denying Bouvia the right to refuse coercive treatment.
An analysis of empirical PMF based tests for least significant bit image steganography

We consider here the class of probability mass-function (PMF) based detectors of least significant bit (LSB) embedded steganography. That is, in this paper we investigate the use of frequency counts of pixel intensities as a statistic for tests detecting the presence of hidden messages. We focus on LSB replacement (though we briefly consider LSB matching) embedding as it is a simple technique where the effect on the true PMF of the resulting image can be understood mathematically. We begin our study by considering the existing tests of Westfeld and Pfitzmann [11] and Dabeer et al.[1]. These tests assume that pixel intensities are random values that are independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.). We generalize these tests by considering PMFs of neighboring pixel intensities. We argue that consideration of higher order of correlations provide only diminishing marginal returns, and thus we can make general statements on the value of PMF based detectors. We measure the performance of our tests by calculation of receiver operating curves (ROC) over a corpus of 350 digital images. We then proceed to compare to a non-PMF based test, in particular the RS tests of Fridrich et al [3]. Although our generalized tests outperform existing PMF based predecessors, they are outperformed by the RS tests. This indicates that using PMFs as a statistic for detecting hidden messages is inherently insufficient.
Equilibrium configurations of point vortices on a sphere

Configurations of point vortices on the sphere are considered in which all vortex velocities are zero. A sharp upper bound for the number of equilibria lying on a great circle is found, valid for generic circulations, and some unusual equilibrium configurations with a free real parameter are described. Equilibria of rings (vortices evenly spaced along circles of latitude) are also discussed. All equilibrium configurations of four vortices are determined.
The inactivation of the antidiuretic hormone of the posterior pituitary gland by blood from pregnant patients

Abstract A simple method is presented for evaluating the antidiuretic effect of solution of posterior pituitary, using human subjects for the experiments. Our studies indicate that when Pitressin is incubated with blood from patients in the last half of pregnancy, the antidiuretic effect of Pitressin is absent or markedly diminished. Incubation with blood from nonpregnant patients evokes little change.
Transform feed for low sidelobe space-fed lens phased array antenna

This study explored the use of a two-dimensional transform feed to provide overlapped subarray illumination in an optically-fed active lens phased array. The feed forms a set of over-lapped subarray beams which illuminate the rear face of the array lens. The lens contains transmit/receive (T/R) modules (active lens) and/or phase shifters (passive lens) and front and rear face radiating elements. The multi-element transform feed is comprised of a beamforming network having N beamports and in series with each beamport is a time delay unit, phase shifter, and circulator. The feed time delay units and phase shifters provide wide bandwidth steering at the subarray level and frequency independent collimation of the subarray beams. A power divider provides the multiple beamport amplitude weights on transmit and an adaptive network sets the beamport amplitude and phase weights on receive. The summation of the beams at the rear face of the lens produces low sidelobe illuminations on receive and an efficient taper on transmit. A computer model was developed and has been used to perform design tradeoffs and to determine design parameter values.
Histidine Photodegradation during UV Resonance Raman Spectroscopy

We report photodegradation of imidazole [ImH], 4-methylimidazole [4MeImH], and histidine during collection of UV resonance Raman [UVRR] spectra. The degradation rate of histidine residues in two proteins, Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD) and the CO adduct of hemoglobin, was also examined. A two-photon mechanism is proposed for ImH, in which photoexcitation from an initially excited state produces ImH•+ cation radical, which deprotonates and dimerizes or reacts with other ImH molecules or with O2. Photodegradation rates were measured for spherical and cylindrical focusing lenses, as well as for continuous wave and pulsed laser excitation. The cylindrical lenses slowed photodegradation 5-fold, while pulsed excitation (0.3 μJ, ∼20 ns, 1 kHz) speeded it up ∼2.5-fold. Histidine photodegradation is an insidious problem in protein UVRR spectroscopy because of the weakness of the histidine Raman signals. By keeping the laser power low and using cylindrical lenses, one can minimize damage to histidine while ...
Why Surface Reading Is Not Enough: Morolf, the Skin of the Jew, and German Medieval Studies

This essay makes a case for the continued necessity and usefulness of so-called “symptomatic reading” within the context of German medieval studies. To demonstrate this necessity, the essay focuses on a short episode at the beginning of the medieval German minstrel epic Salman und Morolf in which Morolf, brother of Salman, the Christian king of Jerusalem, disguises himself in the skin of a murdered Jew in order to retrieve Salman’s wife Salme, who has been kidnapped by a heathen king. Because the “surface” of the text offers no specific comment on how the episode should be received, solving the puzzles it elicits is only possible by a reading that takes into full account things like historical context (the crusade milieu) and interpretive tools like repression and projection. Using these tools, the essay articulates how the episode operates in relation to the fraught status of the Jew in both Germany and the Middle East. As a conclusion, the essay then offers a broader reading of the epic in which the fig...
Landau-Yang Theorem and Decays of a Z' Boson into Two Z Bosons

We study the decay of a Z' boson into two Z bosons by extending the Landau-Yang theorem to a parent particle decaying into two Z bosons. For a spin-1 parent the theorem predicts that (1) there are only two possible couplings and (2) the normalized differential cross section depends on kinematics only through a phase shift in the azimuthal angle between the two decay planes of the Z boson. When the parent is a Z' the two possible couplings are anomaly induced and CP violating, respectively. At the CERN Large Hadron Collider their effects could be disentangled when both Z bosons decay leptonically.
Development Policies for Southern Italy

I. Southern Italy as an underdeveloped economy, 517. — II. A model of regional development, 528. — III. The pattern of regional growth, 533. — IV. Implications for development policy, 539.
On the Supposed "Gradualness" of Creole Development

Two recent works by Carden & Stewart (1988) and Arends (1989) have tried to prove a gradual rather than a single-generational origin for Haitian and Sranan respectively. Both arguments, however, are severely flawed. The Carden-Stewart argument from Haitian reflexivization is shown to depend on misinterpretations of both bioprogram theory and generative principles. Further, their claim that early Haitian was not a full language would entail that Middle English (among others) was also not a full language. Arends' claims of radical diachronic change in Sranan involve treating as an early creole sample a fragmentary text which, given the social and historical context of seventeenth-century Suriname, was most probably produced by a second-language learner of the creole. Reanalysis of Arends' data shows that he exaggerates the significance of marginal forms and mistakenly treats the inherent variability characteristic of all languages as evidence for ongoing change. In fact, none of the data reviewed in these works is inconsistent with the emergence of Haitian and Sranan as full languages in a single generation.