cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Drought stress alters floral volatiles and reduces floral rewards, pollinator activity, and seed set in a global plant

Plant–pollinator interactions are mediated by floral signals and by the quantity and quality of floral rewards. Biotic and abiotic disturbances can influence plant reproductive success through both direct effects on plant performance and indirect effects on pollinator attraction. In this study, we examined the effects of drought on buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moensch), a globally cultivated plant that is prone to drought stress, dependent on insect pollinators for reproduction, and increasingly utilized in on‐farm conservation. Between drought‐stressed and control plants, we compared: nectar quantity and chemical composition, pollen quantity, floral volatile emissions, visits by both managed and wild pollinators, and plant reproductive success. Drought‐stressed plants produced significantly fewer flowers and less nectar per flower, though pollen quantity per flower was unaffected. Nectar from drought‐stressed plants had a lower proportion of sucrose relative to total sugars, though overall sugar concentration was unaffected. Significantly fewer bumble bees, honey bees, and flies were recorded on drought‐stressed plants. While there was no significant difference in the quantity of total floral volatile emissions, volatile compositions differed, with drought‐stressed plants having higher emissions of (Z)‐3‐hexenol, isobutyraldehyde, 2‐methylbutanal, and 3‐methylbutanal. Finally, drought stress had negative effects on seed set and total seed mass per plant. Our results show that drought stress can have significant effects on floral traits and pollinator attraction, reducing plant reproductive success, and the nectar resources available to pollinators. Thus, the potential value of this plant in pollinator conservation and as a honey plant may be reduced under drought stress.
Dual Sensory Impairment and Perceived Everyday Discrimination in the United States.

Importance Perceived everyday discrimination is a psychosocial stressor linked to adverse health outcomes, including mortality. Objective To assess the association of vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI), and dual sensory impairments (DSI) with everyday discrimination. Design, setting, and participants Cross-sectional analysis of the Health and Retirement Study 2006 and 2008 surveys, a US population-based survey that included noninstitutionalized adults 51 years and older. Analyses were weighted to account for complex sample design and differential nonresponse. Data were analyzed between October 2019 and November 2019. Exposures Participants rated their vision and hearing, using eyeglasses and/or hearing aids if applicable, on a Likert scale (poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent). Sensory impairment was defined as poor or fair ability in the relevant modality, and sensory impairment was categorized as neither sensory impairment (NSI), VI alone, HI alone, and DSI. Main outcomes and measures Perceived everyday discrimination was measured on the validated 5-question Williams scale (range 0 to 5). Linear regression models estimated differences in discrimination scores by sensory categories, adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity, non-US birth, body mass index, relationship status, net household wealth, and number of chronic diseases (among diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, lung disease, nonskin cancer, and arthritis). Results The sample included 13 092 individuals. After weighting the sample to be representative of the US population, 11.7% had VI alone, 13.1% HI alone, and 7.9% DSI. In the fully adjusted model, participants with VI alone (β [change in discrimination score], 0.07; 95% CI, 0.02-0.13), HI alone (β = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.02-0.11), and DSI (β = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.16-0.29) perceived greater discrimination compared with participants with NSI. The DSI group perceived greater discrimination than VI alone or HI alone. Conclusions and relevance Older adults with VI or HI in the United States perceive greater everyday discrimination than older adults with NSI, and those with DSI perceive even more discrimination than those with either VI or HI alone. These results provide insight into the social impact of sensory loss and highlight a need to identify and address reasons for discrimination toward older adults with VI and HI.
The Future of Think Tanks: The Impact of Technology on Society

John Allen, President of The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, explores the Future of Think Tanks and Policy Advice in the United States.
Violence exposure, psychotic experiences, and social disconnection in an urban community sample

Background: Psychotic experiences (PEs) occur in the general population, serving as indicators of vulnerability to psychotic disorders and other mental and physical concerns. Environmental stressor...
A Case of Autoimmune Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Astrocytopathy (GFAP) Meningoencephalomyelitis Responsive to Infliximab (P1.2-009)

Objective: Describe a unique presentation and neuroimaging for autoimmune GFAP meningoencephalomyelitis. Identify Infliximab as an effective steroid-sparing therapy. Background: A novel intracellular astrocyte IgG autoantibody against GFAP has recently been identified as a biomarker for an autoimmune meningoencephalomyelitis. Design/Methods: Case Report Results: A 25 year old African American man presents with 7 months of decline in mental state and generalized weakness. Prior to the onset of these symptoms he had an unintentional loss of 30kg due to persistent nausea, hiccups, and headache. He then developed generalized weakness along with gait instability, frequent falls, and tremor. He began to have audio-visual hallucinations and impairment of short-term memory. His symptoms have not improved on anti-psychotic medications. He can only intermittently follow single-step commands and has sparse speech. He has intact cranial nerves, sensation, and reflexes. He has a high-frequency essential tremor and generalized weakness. Neuroimaging reveals diffuse leptomeningeal thickening and enhancement to brain and spinal cord along with enhancement of nerve roots. CSF has elevated protein (233mg/dL), 5 oligoclonal bands, elevated ACE (6.3U/dL), and lymphocytic pleocytosis. CT chest is concerning for hilar lymphadenopathy. With concern for neurosarcoidosis, he is started on high-dose steroids; however subsequent lymph node biopsy is negative for granulomatous disease. His mental state modestly improves on steroids with a rapid improvement following addition of infliximab. His CSF studies subsequently test positive for GFAP auto-antibodies. Conclusions: This case demonstrates autoimmune subacute meningoencephalitis due to astrocytopathy with GFAP auto-antibodies. Neuroimaging shows both leptomeningeal and nerve root enhancement, and his clinical condition significantly improves with the initiation of anti-TNF-alpha therapy with infliximab. The mechanism by which infliximab treats GFAP meningoencephalitis is unknown. However recent brain immunohistopathology demonstrated an extensive involvement of CD4+, CD3+, and CD8+ T cells, as well as B cells, plasma cells, and macrophages. Disclosure: Dr. Rodriguez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Romero has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Acorda and Genzyme.
What Happens after SGD Reaches Zero Loss? -A Mathematical Framework.

Understanding the implicit bias of Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) is one of the key challenges in deep learning, especially for overparametrized models, where the local minimizers of the loss function $L$ can form a manifold. Intuitively, with a sufficiently small learning rate $\eta$, SGD tracks Gradient Descent (GD) until it gets close to such manifold, where the gradient noise prevents further convergence. In such a regime, Blanc et al. (2020) proved that SGD with label noise locally decreases a regularizer-like term, the sharpness of loss, $\mathrm{tr}[\nabla^2 L]$. The current paper gives a general framework for such analysis by adapting ideas from Katzenberger (1991). It allows in principle a complete characterization for the regularization effect of SGD around such manifold -- i.e., the "implicit bias" -- using a stochastic differential equation (SDE) describing the limiting dynamics of the parameters, which is determined jointly by the loss function and the noise covariance. This yields some new results: (1) a global analysis of the implicit bias valid for $\eta^{-2}$ steps, in contrast to the local analysis of Blanc et al. (2020) that is only valid for $\eta^{-1.6}$ steps and (2) allowing arbitrary noise covariance. As an application, we show with arbitrary large initialization, label noise SGD can always escape the kernel regime and only requires $O(\kappa\ln d)$ samples for learning an $\kappa$-sparse overparametrized linear model in $\mathbb{R}^d$ (Woodworth et al., 2020), while GD initialized in the kernel regime requires $\Omega(d)$ samples. This upper bound is minimax optimal and improves the previous $\tilde{O}(\kappa^2)$ upper bound (HaoChen et al., 2020).
Regulation, Innovation, and Experimentation: The Case of Residential Rooftop Solar

Recent innovations in smart grid and distributed energy technologies, innovations in solar industry financial and business models, and utility concerns about their financial viability in the face of such innovations, motivate our analysis of the regulatory institutions and their features that may be conducive to lower barriers to innovation in electricity. We analyze residential rooftop solar as a case study that should, with subsequent research and analysis, continue to shed light on the burdens and opportunities facing technologists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and regulators attempting to orchestrate more efficient, dynamic, resilient, and clean electricity markets. We analyze electricity regulation, state policies, solar business models, and solar financing as various strata of experimentation, and how these various strata or layers intersect to influence the success or failure of distributed energy resources, in residential rooftop solar in California. We then present a framework for analyzing how these factors relate to either reduce or strengthen barriers to entry into the renewable electricity industry to firms or potential solar customers. Policies that enable market experimentation are most conducive to the innovation process that can create electricity that is simultaneously economic and cleaner. Such policies reduce barriers to market entry, enable retail competition, and are by definition technology-agnostic.
Molecular determinants of blood–brain barrier permeation

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a microvascular unit which selectively regulates the permeability of drugs to the brain. With the rise in CNS drug targets and diseases, there is a need to be able to accurately predict a priori which compounds in a company database should be pursued for favorable properties. In this review, we will explore the different computational tools available today, as well as underpin these to the experimental methods used to determine BBB permeability. These include in vitro models and the in vivo models that yield the dataset we use to generate predictive models. Understanding of how these models were experimentally derived determines our accurate and predicted use for determining a balance between activity and BBB distribution.
Thinking through the Body: The Body as Background

I The notion of background has moved progressively into the foreground of philosophical discussion. Over the past century, philosophers have increasingly recognized that our conscious mental life cannot adequately function without relying on a background of which we are not properly conscious but which guides and structures our conscious thought and action. The notion of body, though largely disregarded or disparaged by the dominantly idealistic tradition of Western philosophy, has likewise increasingly moved toward the foreground of philosophical theory, and indeed has formed my principal axis of research for the last decade. Because the term “body” is too often contrasted with mind and applied to insentient, lifeless things, while the term “flesh” has such negative associations in Christian culture (and evokes the merely fleshy dimension of embodiment), I use the term “soma” to designate the living, sensing, dynamic, perceptive, purposive body that lies at the heart of my research project of somaesthetics. If both background and body have moved toward the forefront of philosophical discussion, this is not mere coincidence. They are intimately connected in contemporary theories of the background that assert its crucial importance for mental life and that recognize the crucial somatic dimension of mind. This chapter examines the body's role as structuring unreflective background to conscious mental life and purposive action. But it further explains why this unreflective somatic background should be brought into the foreground of consciousness, not just theoretically but also sometimes in practical action. Such foregrounding of the somatic background in practical contexts of action goes against the received wisdom of master thinkers as different as Immanuel Kant, William James, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Critically addressing their key arguments while outlining some advantages of foregrounding background body consciousness, this chapter also examines how such foregrounding can be integrated and reconciled with the persistent, productive somatic background.
Mandibular deficiency syndrome. III. Surgical advancement of the deficient mandible in growing children: treatment results in twelve patients.

Abstract The rationale of waiting until the patient reaches skeletal maturity before advancing the mandible surgically in cases of idiopathic mandibular deficiency is reviewed. No scientific basis for this practice could be found. Twelve children who underwent mandibular advancement for correction of mandibular deficiency are studied herein. Harmonious maxillary-mandibular growth was found to occur after surgery which maintained the correction. The feasibility of earlier correction of the deficient mandible is discussed.
Comment on Hsu et al. BMI cut points to identify at-risk asian americans for type 2 diabetes screening. Diabetes Care 2015;38:150-158.

Hsu et al. (1) provided a comprehensive and informative overview of the existing literature pertaining to BMI, body composition differences, and type 2 diabetes prevalence and incidence in Asian American adults. We commend the authors’ excellent policy recommendation based on the data available and further applaud the American Diabetes Association for its subsequent change of the BMI cutoff for diabetes screening in Asian Americans. Throughout the article, the authors highlighted the need for prospective data in Asian American populations, and we would like to offer further expansion and support for this perspective. A common stereotype that has been applied to Asian Americans is that they are the model minority—this stereotype posits that …
Institutionally Appropriate Approaches to Privacy: Striking a Balance between Judicial and Administrative Enforcement of Privacy Law

This note argues for distribution of enforcement authority between the courts and the Federal Trade Commission that would vigorously and predictably protect a scope of personal privacy defined by law. The FTC should be the forum where corporate data privacy practices are balanced against the general public interest in data privacy, with a view toward striking the balance that maximizes overall societal utility. At the same time, courts should take an active role in resolving disputes that concern whether one person has infringed an interest of another, with the support of state administrative agencies specifically tasked with resolving these types of disputes. This note envisions a significant and unique role for the courts in privacy enforcement that is supportive of the FTC's current role, and makes provisional state legislative suggestions for how this role for the courts could be achieved.
The Words of Others: From Quotations to Culture

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Gary Saul Morson Year: 2011 Pages: 340 Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 978-0-300-16747-4 (hard cover).
Quantification of mRNA using competitive RT-PCR with standard-curve methodology.

The use of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with internal RNA competitive standards (competitors) provides a means for measuring absolute amounts of mRNA transcripts in smal...
A novel Geobacteraceae-specific outer membrane protein J (OmpJ) is essential for electron transport to Fe(III) and Mn(IV) oxides in Geobacter sulfurreducens.

Background Metal reduction is thought to take place at or near the bacterial outer membrane and, thus, outer membrane proteins in the model dissimilatory metal-reducing organism Geobacter sulfurreducens are of interest to understand the mechanisms of Fe(III) reduction in the Geobacter species that are the predominant Fe(III) reducers in many environments. Previous studies have implicated periplasmic and outer membrane cytochromes in electron transfer to metals. Here we show that the most abundant outer membrane protein of G. sulfurreducens, OmpJ, is not a cytochrome yet it is required for metal respiration.
Creative Cities: A 10-Year Research Agenda

Over the past decade, under the rubric of creative placemaking, policymakers, planners and practitioners have turned to arts and culture to enliven city life and stimulate urban economies. Good mul...
Interacting, convecting, vaporizing fuel droplets with variable properties

Abstract Two vaporizing droplets moving in tandem are numerically investigated. The forced convection of the gas phase, the transient deceleration due to the drag force, the surface regression, the relative motion between the two droplets, the internal circulation, transient heating of the liquid phase, and variable properties are considered. The unsteady, axisymmetric description of the global flowfield, the behavior of the interacting droplets, and the transient variation of the droplet spacing are presented. The dependencies on initial droplet Reynolds number, initial droplet spacing, initial droplet size ratio, variable properties, transfer number are determined. The critical droplet size ratio dividing the region where droplets collide from the region where they separate is determined. Correlations for the drag coefficients, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers of the lead droplet and the downstream droplet are obtained.
In vivo real time imaging with micromachined based Dual-axes confocal microscope

We demonstrate a novel microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based Dual-Axes confocal (DAC) microscope in a 10-mm diameter handheld package. Miniaturization is achieved by using a barbell-shaped, gimbaled, two-dimensional (2-D) MEMS scanner that is actuated by self-aligned vertical comb actuators. The maximum DC optical scan angles are ±4.25° on the inner axis and ±1.5° on the outer axis, and the corresponding resonance frequencies are 3.4 kHz and 1.2 kHz. The maximum imaging rate is 5 frames/second. The miniature DAC microscope operating at 785-nm-wavelength achieves full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) transverse and axial resolutions of 4.2 µm and 7 µm, respectively.
Cognitive dysfunction in compulsive checkers: further explorations.

Abstract Recent evidence suggests a relationship between certain memory deficits and compulsive-checking behavior. The present study explores this relationship in the context of several additional memory capacities not yet investigated. Using the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory and the Everyday Checking Behavior Scale four groups of Ss were identified: (1) frequent checkers, (2) occasional checkers, (3) infrequent checkers and (4) noncheckers. Consistent with previous research, a memory-for-actions task indicated a deficit among compulsive checkers. Furthermore, checking status was found to be negatively related to memory functioning as measured by the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). This memory deficit was most pronounced on the Logical Memory subtest of the WMS. Checkers appear to have difficulty recalling details of meaningfully linked sequences, either presented in narrative form or engaged in personally. Although the reasons for these checking-related deficits are not clear, a complete understanding of checking phenomena will involve an appreciation of the role played by memory deficits.
EMBO conference series: Chemical Biology 2014.

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, hosted the fourth biennial Chemical Biology conference from August 20–23, 2014. The conference, featuring exciting, diverse advances in the field of chemical biology, was organized by three scientists from EMBL Heidelberg: Maja Kohn, Edward Lemke and Carsten Schultz, and one scientist from EMBL-EBI (Hinxton): John Overington. The sessions comprised 36 talks including three keynote lectures and 21 invited talks. In addition, 15 short talks were selected from abstracts—five each from students, postdocs and principal investigators. There were also nearly 200 poster presenters among the 300 participants at the meeting. The conference attracted a highly international audience, representing 18 countries from around the globe. The EMBL Corporate Partnership Programme also awarded ten travel fellowships to students attending from under-represented countries. The conference was structured to provide ample time for discussions and networking. Two separate “Meet the Speakers” sessions were provided to give attendees the unique opportunity to informally chat with speakers (Figure 1). In addition, the posters were presented over three well-attended sessions that allowed sufficient time for viewing and discussion. At the end of the conference, three students were awarded prizes for outstanding presentations or posters; these were sponsored by ChemBioChem. The prize for short talk by a graduate student was presented to Elisabeth Storck Saha (Imperial College, London); the prize for short talk by a postdoctoral student was given to Malte Gersch (Technische Universitat Munchen); and the poster prize was awarded to Jacob Bush (University of Oxford). Figure 1 Meet the Speakers session.
Isentropic compression experiments to 1 Mbar using magnetic pressure

Isentropic compression experiments that utilize intense magnetic fields to compress samples have been designed, developed and performed. The technique has been shown to work to pressures of more than 1 Mbar on Sandia National Laboratory's Z pulsed power machine. We are extending the technique to use high-explosive pulsed power.
Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection in a 27-Year-Old Woman

Abstract Background Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) causes acute coronary syndromes or sudden death in young patients who are often lacking classic coronary disease risk factors. Systemic inflammatory and connective tissue diseases have been suggested as risk factors for SCAD. Objective To review the risk factors, diagnosis, and management of this uncommon but life-threatening disease. Case Report We report a case of a 27-year-old woman with a history of an ill-defined inflammatory arthropathy who presented with an acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. SCAD was diagnosed by coronary angiography. Percutaneous coronary intervention was attempted but was unsuccessful. The patient recovered uneventfully with medical management and was ultimately diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. Conclusions SCAD is a rare but important cause of acute coronary syndromes and sudden death. It commonly occurs in young women. Although pregnancy is the most well-established risk factor, systemic inflammatory and connective tissue diseases have also been suggested as risk factors.
Deformation-Induced Amorphization of Crystalline Particles in a Cu-Ti Metallic Glass

Crystalline particles and grains embedded in Cu/sub 35/Ti/sub 65/ glass ribbons have been amorphized by isothermal cold rolling. The structural evolution has been studied by x-ray diffraction and TEM techniques. Initial particle morphologies are spherulitic and spherical, the latter with sizes ranging between 10 and 100 nm. The new amorphous phase seems to nucleate at crystalline-amorphous matrix interfaces. Initially there is a well-defined interface between the new and the existing amorphous phases but it disappears as rolling progresses. Crystallites on a nanoscale still present in the final stages of particle amorphization have been observed by convergent beam electron diffraction. After sufficient deformation the consolidated ribbon becomes completely glassy. A morphological description of the transformation process in terms of crystal destabilization and solid-state particle melting is presented.
Two new anthraquinone photoreactions

Abstract Two new photochemical reactions of 1-allyloxy-9,10-anthraquinones have been discovered. Both reactions involve initial photoinduced hydrogen abstraction and subsequent intramolecular electron transfers. The reactions were discovered as part of a project investigating the utility of intramolecular abstraction/SET processes for the release of biologically active aldehydes. The expected photochemistry for these compounds has been used to prepare trans-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal in 91% yield. However, under certain conditions, a number of unexpected reaction pathways became important. The first reaction included a remarkable C C bond formation; mechanistic possibilities are suggested. The second reaction involved a 6-endo cyclization of a photochemically generated phenolic radical on a tethered alkene, followed by an unprecedented electron transfer from a secondary carbon-centered radical to a semiquinone radical. The resulting carbocation was then trapped by solvent. In one molecule, both reactions were observed, along with a third photoinduced Claisen rearrangment.
Nuclear imaging of autoimmunity: Focus on IBD and RA

There is a need for methods to improve the diagnosis, patient staging and evaluation of therapeutic response in patients with autoimmune conditions to improve patient care. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are two inflammatory diseases characterized by involvement of innate and adaptive immune components that change the metabolic state of their respective target tissues, thus providing an opportunity for molecular imaging probes to detect such changes. Optimally, such probes and the imaging methods employed would be non-invasive, robust and reproducible, give a quantitative result, report on the status of the affected tissue(s) and respond to the effects of a therapeutic molecule. Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are nuclear imaging approaches that have the potential to satisfy such requirements. In this review, the work to date and the potential of PET and SPECT imaging probes in these two inflammatory conditions, IBD ...
Optional regularity of fourier integral operators with one-sided folds

We obtail optional continuity in Sobolev for the Fourior integral operators associated to singular canonical relations, when one of the two projection is a Whitney fold. The regularity depends on the type, K, of the projuction from the canonical relation (k=1 for whitney fold). We prove that one loses of a derivative in the regularity properties. The proof is based on the L2 estimates for oscillatory inntegral operators
Performance of the cesium iodide calorimeter at the KTeV experiment at Fermilab

Abstract We describe the KTeV pure cesium iodide calorimeter and explain the calibration of the detector. The calorimeter has a global energy resolution better than 0.75% and an energy non-linearity less than 0.5% between 3 and 75 GeV. We discuss the performance of the calorimeter during the data-taking runs in 1996 and 1997 and briefly comment on the performance in 1999.
An exploratory study of gender effect on student presentation evaluations: Does gender similarity make a difference?

Purpose – This study aims to examine the potential effects of the gender similarity between the presenter and evaluator on the presentation evaluation scores obtained with an evaluation form.Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected from marketing students at two universities in the USA. A rubric and separate survey instrument were used to capture student presentation evaluation scores and perceptions of gender differences in various aspects of presentation quality.Findings – Findings indicate that gender of evaluators or presenters did not have any significant effect on presentation scores. The survey of student perceptions of gender effect on student presentations indicate that while female students seem to be perceived as better presenters than male students, the study found no consistent patterns of gender effect on presentation evaluations.Research limitations/implications – Only four evaluation criteria were used to measure presentation quality.Originality/value – The results of this exp...
On the persistence of breathers at deep water

The long-time behavior of a perturbation to a uniform wavetrain of the compact Zakharov equation is studied near the modulational instability threshold. A multiple-scale analysis reveals that the perturbation evolves in accord with a focusing nonlinear Schrodinger equation for values of wave steepness μ < μ1 ≈ 0.274. The long-time dynamics is characterized by interacting breathers, homoclinic orbits to an unstable wavetrain. The associated Benjamin-Feir index is a decreasing function of μ, and it vanishes at μ1. Above this threshold, the perturbation dynamics is of defocusing type and breathers are suppressed. Thus, homoclinic orbits persist only for small values of wave steepness μ ≪ μ1, in agreement with recent experimental and numerical observations of breathers.
Language and reading: Some perceptual prerequisites

Since Orton first noted the communicative and perceptual deficits of reading impaired children, many investigators have attempted to delineate in more detail the nature of perceptual impairment in children with language and reading disabilities. Considerable advances in our knowledge concerning the manner in which speech is processed as a code have occurred since Orton’s time. These advances have made it possible to demonstrate a more direct link between perceptual deficits and the development of communication skills, including reading.
“The Standard of Revolt”: Revolution and National Independence in Moore’s Lalla Rookh

This article argues that Thomas Moore's collection of narrative poems Lalla Rookh, an Oriental Romance (1817), by presenting disguised versions of the French Revolution and the Irish Rebellion of 1798, condemns the former but justifies the latter. As the “National Poet” and preeminent literary voice of Ireland, as well as a witness of the 1798 Rebellion, Moore was particularly concerned with the subjects of national independence and armed revolution. The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan depicts a monstrous embodiment of French Jacobinism in the form of the eighth-century false prophet Mokanna, who hides his horrific face behind a beautiful veil. In contrast to Mokanna's corrupt and evil revolution, the national uprising depicted in The Fire-worshippers is depicted as noble and justified. Moore intended this story of Persian resistance to Arab Muslim colonizers as an allegory of Irish Catholic resistance to England, with special reference to the 1798 Rebellion. The prose linking narrative of Lalla Rookh also contains a political dimension, looking forward to possible political reforms that would make armed struggle unnecessary.
Agile autonomous guidance using spatial value functions

This paper describes an autonomous guidance system based on receding horizon (RH) optimization. The system is integrated around a spatial, state-dependent cost-to-go (SVF) function that is computed as an approximation to the value function associated with the optimal trajectory planning problem. The function captures the critical interaction between the vehicle dynamics and environment, thereby resulting in tighter coupling between planning and control. The consistency achieved between the RH optimization and the SVF enables a more rigorous implementation of the RH framework to autonomous vehicle guidance. The paper describes the overall approach along flight experimental results obtained in an Interactive Guidance and Control Laboratory.
How to critically appraise a clinical practice guideline.

Purpose: Clinical practice guidelines play a critical role in guiding the evidence-based clinical practice of urology. We describe a systematic approach to critical appraisal of urology guidelines. Materials and Methods: Based on a focused clinical question derived from a clinical scenario, we identified a relevant clinical practice guideline that we critically appraised using the Users' Guide to the Medical Literature framework as to whether the results are valid, what are the results, and can they be applied to the care of an individual patient. Results: A clinical practice guideline by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence on the use of sunitinib as the first line treatment for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma was identified. The guideline development process was found to be appropriately rigorous and included an explicit rating of the quality of evidence. The recommendations were clearly stated and appeared applicable to the specific patient in the clinical scenario. Conclusions: Clinical practice guidelines should be developed using rigorous evidence-based methodology. Urologists should have the skills and knowledge to critically appraise a guideline before applying it to the care of their patients.
Nanobiotechnology for the capture and manipulation of circulating tumor cells

A necessary step in metastasis is the dissemination of malignant cells into the bloodstream, where cancer cells travel throughout the body as circulating tumor cells (CTC) in search of an opportunity to seed a secondary tumor. CTC represent a valuable diagnostic tool: evidence indicates that the quantity of CTC in the blood has been shown to relate to the severity of the illness, and samples are readily obtained through routine blood draws. As such, there has been a push toward developing technologies to reliably detect CTC using a variety of molecular and immunocytochemical techniques. In addition to their use in diagnostics, CTC detection systems that isolate CTC in such a way that the cells remain viable will allow for the performance of live-cell assays to facilitate the development of personalized cancer therapies. Moreover, techniques for the direct manipulation of CTC in circulation have been developed, intending to block metastasis in situ. We review a number of current and emerging micro- and nanobiotechnology approaches for the detection, capture, and manipulation of rare CTC aimed at advancing cancer treatment.
Housing Washington: Two Centuries of Residential Development and Planning in the National Capital Area

Richard Longstreth (Ed.), Chicago, Columbia College Chicago Press, 2010, 480 pp., $49.50 (hbk), ISBN 9781935195078 Housing Washington: Two Centuries of Residential Development and Planning in the N...
Co-design of channel buffers and crossbar organizations in NoCs architectures

Network-on-Chips (NoCs) have emerged as a scalable solution to the wire delay constraints, thereby providing a high-performance communication fabric for future multicores. Research has shown that power, area and performance of Network-on-Chips (NoCs) architecture are tightly integrated with the design and optimization of the link and router (buffer and crossbar). Recent work has shown that adaptive channel buffers (on-link storage) can considerably reduce power consumption and area overhead by reducing or replacing the power hungry router buffers. However, channel buffer design can lead to Head-of-Line (HoL) blocking which eventually reduces the throughput of the network. In this paper, we explore the design space of organizing channel buffers and router crossbars to improve the performance (latency, throughput) while reducing the power consumption. Our proposed designs analyze the power-performance-area trade-off in designing channel buffers for NoC architectures while overcoming HoL blocking through crossbar optimizations. Our simulation and NoC design synthesis shows that for a 8 × 8 mesh architecture, we can reduce the power consumption by 25–40%, improve performance by 10–25% while occupying 4–13% more area when compared to the baseline architecture.
Brain injury and the eye

Visual loss associated with brain damage is the single greatest cause of visual impairment in children in developed countries. Damage may occur in any of five separate visual systems: primary visual cortex, visual associative cortex area, optic radiations, optic nerves, and visual attention pathways. Improving our understanding of the pathophysiology of these causes for visual loss may lead to better rehabilitation and educational strategies for these children.
Incorporating science into decision-making.

Alan Leshner's Editorial “Public engagement with science” (14 Feb., p. [977][1]) highlights a conundrum: Why is science often ignored in important societal decisions, even as the call for decisions based on sound science escalates? One reason is that decision-making is often driven by a variety of nonscientific, adversarial, and stakeholder dynamics ([1][2]). Thus, even though science helps inform choices, it is only one of many values and interests considered by each stakeholder. In response to this emerging challenge, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are exploring the problems of incorporating science into value-laden societal decisions. This research includes designing experiments that will assess the appropriateness of using the new and emerging approach of Joint Fact Finding ([2][3], [3][4]). This approach is a multistep participatory process, managed by a neutral facilitator, that is designed to (i) enhance the capacity of the lay public to express concerns in terms that scientists can readily incorporate, (ii) ensure participants an opportunity to advise on all the value judgments involved in any effort to analyze or assess impacts of decisions on ecosystem and natural resource management and environmental quality, (iii) incorporate local knowledge of stakeholders while giving appropriate weight to the scientific knowledge of experts, and (iv) avoid the delays and unnecessary costs that occur when legal battles develop over science-intensive policy decisions. This approach is intended to preserve the independence of the scientists, as well as their commitment to the best practices of scientific inquiry, while engaging them with citizens, thereby helping to ensure that science informs decisions and builds trust. Scientists and institutions must expand their capacity to work in collaborative problem-solving environments to ensure that new partnerships with citizens and decision-makers are meaningful and successful. To this end, the USGS has offered an internal course on Joint Fact Finding ([4][5]), has experimented with interactive learning tools, such as role-playing simulation ([5][6]), and is developing guidelines for scientists and managers as they engage with the public. 1. 1.[↵][7] 1. L. Susskind, 2. P. Field , Dealing with an Angry Public (The Free Press, New York, 1996). 2. 2.[↵][8] 1. C. J. Andrews , Humble Analysis—The Practice of Joint Fact-Finding (Praeger, Westport, CT, 2002). 3. 3.[↵][9] 1. L. Susskind 2. et al. , The Consensus Building Handbook (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1999). 4. 4.[↵][10] See . 5. 5.[↵][11] See [www.crowdingtherim.org/docs/ctr/rimsim.html][12]. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.299.5609.977 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #ref-5 [7]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1. in text" [8]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2. in text" [9]: #xref-ref-3-1 "View reference 3. in text" [10]: #xref-ref-4-1 "View reference 4. in text" [11]: #xref-ref-5-1 "View reference 5. in text" [12]: http://www.crowdingtherim.org/docs/ctr/rimsim.html
Effects on Electronic Properties of Molecule Adsorption on CuO Surfaces and Nanowires

First-principles calculations were performed to study the stabilities, electronic structures, and chemical activities of various CuO surfaces for the understanding of the gas-induced change of conductance of CuO nanowires. It was found that CuO(111) and CuO(111) have the lowest surface energies under ambient conditions and hence should be the most preferential facets of CuO nanowires. While band gaps of these surfaces are narrower than that of bulk CuO, they maintain the semiconductor feature. Adsorption of oxidizing gas such as O2 or NO2 on the CuO(111) and CuO(111) surfaces induces metallic behavior, and molecules gain electrons from the substrates. These two effects result in an increase of hole density and hence enhance the surface conductivity of CuO nanowires as observed in our experiments. On the contrary, adsorption of H2O molecules on CuO(111) not only widens the band gap but also donates electrons to the surface, which leads to reduction of surface conductivity. In addition, we found that CuO(...
M. J. Hartmann Memorial Session Paper: A Review of Research on Turbomachinery at MIT Traceable to Support From Mel Hartmann

Research conducted at MIT since 1968 stemming from early initiatives on the Blow-down Compressor Experiment and on transonic three-dimensional CFD is reviewed from the viewpoint of the consequences of enlightened support of research by exceptionally capable leaders of government research. Among the consequences in this case are development of detailed understanding of the unsteady flows in transonic compressors and their contribution to losses, and the ability to compute the three-dimensional transonic flow in such machines. Analogous results for turbines include the ability to measure and compute the unsteady heat flux distribution on turbine blades and vanes as well as the flow field. In addition to these research results, the programs traceable to Mel Hartmann’s early support have produced more than seven faculty members who continue to teach and conduct research in aircraft propulsion and closely related fields, and a corresponding number of students.
MyoD Acetylation Influences Temporal Patterns of Skeletal Muscle Gene Expression

MyoD is sufficient to initiate the skeletal muscle gene expression program. Transcription of certain MyoD target genes occurs in the early phases, whereas that of others is induced only at later stages, although MyoD is present throughout the differentiation process. MyoD acetylation regulates transcriptional competency, yet whether this post-translational modification is equally relevant for activation of all the MyoD targets is unknown. Moreover, the molecular mechanisms through which acetylation ensures that MyoD achieves its optimal activity remain unexplored. To address these two outstanding issues, we have coupled genome-wide expression profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation in a model system in which MyoD or its nonacetylatable version was inducibly activated in mouse embryonic fibroblasts derived from MyoD-/-/Myf5-/- mice. Our results reveal that MyoD acetylation influences transcription of selected genes expressed at defined stages of the muscle program by regulating chromatin access of MyoD, histone acetylation, and RNA polymerase II recruitment.
Testosterone administration in severe burns ameliorates muscle catabolism.

Objective: To assess the effects of testosterone administration on muscle protein metabolism after severe burn injury. We hypothesized that restoration of blood testosterone concentrations would restore an important anabolic stimulus to skeletal muscle, and would further increase the anabolic response of muscle to amino acid supplementation. Design: Pre- and postintervention trial conducted between September 1997 and July 1999. Setting: Burn intensive care unit. Patients: Six severely burned male patients (>70% total body surface area). Intervention: Testosterone enanthate, 200 mg/wk (intramuscularly), for 2 wks. Measurements and Main Results: Muscle protein synthesis, breakdown, and amino acid kinetics were determined. After a basal period in each study, we subsequently investigated the response to acute amino acid supplementation during enteral feeding. Total testosterone increased significantly from baseline to the low normal range after 1 wk, and to upper normal range after two injections (p <.001). Protein synthesis was unchanged, however, protein synthetic efficiency increased 2-fold (p <.01). Protein breakdown decreased almost 2-fold after testosterone enanthate (p <.05), resulting in an improvement in net amino acid balance to a value that was approximately zero (p <.0001). Amino acid supplementation at either time point provided no additional effects. Conclusions: Restoration of blood testosterone can ameliorate the muscle catabolism of severe burn injury with normal feedings.
A Study of Juror and Jury Judgments in Civil Cases: Deciding Liability for Punitive Damages

A study was conducted to investigate civil juries' decisions concerning defendants' liability for punitive damages in tort cases. A total of 121 six-member mock juries composed of jury-service-eligible citizens were presented summaries of previously decided cases and given a comprehensive instruction on the defendant's liability for punitive damages. Most of the mock juries decided that the consideration of punitive damages was warranted, although appellate and trial judges had concluded that they were not warranted. The tendency to find the defendant liable was partly due to jurors' failure systematically to consider the full set of legally necessary conditions for the verdicts they rendered. Individual differences in the jurors' backgrounds were not strongly related to their verdicts; income and ethnicity were weakly related to judgments. The social processes in deliberation on civil juries were similar to the dynamics of deliberation that have been observed in criminal juries.
Morphological changes to mouse testicular tissue from in vivo ultrasonic irradiation (preliminary report).

Abstract Mouse testes have been ultrasonically irradiated in vivo and subsequently examined morphologically. Each testis was sequentially exposed for 30 sec at a spatial peak intensity of 25 W/cm 2 at a frequency of 1 MHz. The testes were removed at varying times post irradiation, from immediate to 19 days, fixed and histologically prepared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin and periodic acid Schiff. The results suggest that two types of ultrasonically induced damage occur wherein, for different specimens under identical exposure conditions, there is either semeniferous tubule disruption with a suggestion of minor intertubule space involvement or a more severe form of tubule damage with significant interstitial tissue involvement. It appears that spermatocytes are affected earlier than spermatogonia, contrary to the situation following ionizing radiation.
Glide Avalanche Prediction From Surface Topography

As the head/disk spacing continues to decrease, the demand for thin film disks with glide capability below 20 nm becomes more pressing. As a consequence, the design of such media requires an ever increasing control of the surface topography to a nanometer level. This paper is an attempt to analytically predict the intrinsic glide capability of a textured disk, given the knowledge of its peak height distribution, as measured by a surface profilometer. This model also takes into account the long wavelength component of the topography, or waviness, by treating it as an independent variable leading to a broadening of the peak height distribution. This analysis also predicts relationships between various roughness parameters. Experimental data obtained on a total of 27 media surfaces of various types compare favorably to the theoretical predictions.