cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Democratic Dystopia: Tocqueville and the American Penitentiary System

It is well established that for Alexis de Tocqueville the future of democracy is contingent. This essay argues that in his oft-neglected report on the penitentiary system in America, Tocqueville bears witness to one of these futures—a dystopic democracy in which the essential bulwarks of liberty have been stripped away, leaving behind perfect equality but also perfect servitude. Specifically, the penitentiaries deprive prisoners of their basic religious freedoms, attack their habits of association, and subject them to the tyranny of public opinion through the rigorous but mild disciplinary regime of the warden. By presenting a tangible imaginative of democratic equality taken to its limits, Tocqueville encourages his readers to heed his later recommendations for the maintenance of institutions and practices without which freedom is, at best, contingent.
Neighborhood upgrading effects of middle-income housing projects in New York City

Abstract In a sample of 50 New York City neighborhoods in which middle-income housing projects were built, assessed values increased by 9.89% per year while control areas increased only 4.64% annually. This upgrading effect is more pronounced in medium-quality neighborhoods than in either the best or the worst neighborhoods. Project size has apparently no effect on the impact of neighborhood upgrading, but project age seems to be positively related to neighborhood upgrading.
Restoration of α-Lactalbumin-inhibited rat parotid salivary gland hypertrophy and hyperplasia by agents specific for membrane glycoprotein N-acetylglucosamine

Abstract Chronic isoproterenol treatment of rats results in hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the parotid gland. This physiological change appears to be mediated in part by cell surface 4β-galactosyltransferase activity (EC No. 2.4.1.38) as the specific modifier protein. α-Lactalbumin, when injected concomitantly with isoproterenol, prevented both gland hypertrophy and hyperplasia. The further incorporation of agents with specificity for terminal N -acetylglucosamine residues of membrane glycoproteins in the above drug regimen resulted in the restoration of parotid gland hypertrophy and hyperplasia. These agents included soluble bovine 4β-galactosyltransferase and the lectin wheat-germ agglutinin. When plasma membranes were isolated from isoproterenol-treated parotid gland acinar cells, a new membrane glycoprotein with an apparent molecular mass of 30,000 Da was identified. This protein was not present in the membranes from control parotid glands. Therefore the transition from quiescent to active parotid acinar-cell proliferation appears to require two membrane events; the appearance of cell-surface galactosyltransferase and a new membrane glycoprotein substrate.
Neuronal temporal identity in post-embryonic Drosophila brain

Understanding how a vast number of neuron types derive from a limited number of neural progenitors remains a major challenge in developmental neurobiology. In the post-embryonic Drosophila brain, specific neuron types derive from specific progenitors at specific times. This suggests involvement of time-dependent cell fate determinants acting as 'temporal codes' along with lineage cues to specify neuronal cell fates. Interestingly, such temporal codes might be provided not only by several regulators acting in sequence, but also by the differential protein levels of the BTB-zinc finger nuclear protein Chinmo. Identifying temporal codes and determining their origins should allow us to elucidate how neuronal diversification occurs through protracted neurogenesis.
From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism by Patricia Hill Collins

As a scholar primarily educated in the cultural and critical tradition of sociological analyses of race and ethnicity, and also as one who works in both Media and African-American Studies, I have a...
A Large Deviations Analysis of Scheduling in Wireless Networks

We consider a cellular network consisting of a base station and N receivers. The channel to each receiver is assumed to be in one of two states (ON or OFF) and the channel states of the receivers are assumed to be independent of each other. The goal is to compare the throughput of two different scheduling policies given an upper bound on the queue overflow probability or the delay violation probability. The two scheduling policies that we consider are: (i) a greedy scheduling policy which chooses to serve any of the channels in the ON state, and (ii) a queue-length-based policy which serves the longest queue connected to an ON channel. We show that the total network throughput of the queue-length-based policy is no less than that of the greedy policy for all N and is strictly larger than the throughput of the greedy policy for large N. Further, given an upper bound on the delay violation probability, we show that the throughput of the queue-length-based policy is an increasing function of N while the throughput of the greedy policy eventually decreases with increasing N and goes to zero. Given an upper bound on the queue overflow probability, we show that the throughput of the queue-length-based policy is a strictly increasing function of N while the throughput of the greedy policy eventually goes to a constant.
Phases formed during crystallization of amorphous Al84Y9Ni5Co2 alloy

Understanding crystallization of amorphous metals is essential for the production of amorphous ribbons and powders and for the production of larger bodies by means of consolidation of an amorphous alloy powder. In this paper, we describe the evolution of the crystalline phases that form upon crystallization of amorphous Al84Y9Ni5Co2 ribbons during heating in a diAerential scanning calorimeter. X-ray diAraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy were used to determine the phases formed. Crystallization occurs in three stages: (1) primary crystallization of a-Al, (2) formation of an unknown phase, and (3) formation of Al3Y, Al9Co2 and ‘Al16Ni3Y’ needles. ” 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Some Problems Associated with the Analysis of Multiresponse Data

Experience has shown that unless special care is exercised in analyzing multiresponse data serious mistakes can be made. In this paper some problems associated with fitting multiresponse models are identified and discussed. In particular, three kinds of dependencies are considered: dependence among the errors, linear dependencies among the expected values of the responses, and linear dependencies in the data. Since ignoring such dependencies can lead to difficulties, a method is described for detecting and handling them. The concepts involved are illustrated with a chemical example.
A wireless multiple access control protocol for voice-data integration

In this paper, a new wireless medium access control protocol, called Mini-Packets Reservation Multiple Access (MPRMA), is proposed for the microcellular wireless environments to support voice and data traffic. Instead of using information packets to contend for reservation, the protocol uses smaller reservation packets for contention. Thus, regular slots can be further divided into smaller slots for sending reservation packets. Furthermore, in order to facilitate subsequent packet transmission, a continuation flag is used in each information packet for requesting further reservation. Comparing to the Packet Reservation Multiple Access (PRMA), it is shown by simulation that MPRMA can support more voice and data users, respectively, in a single traffic type environment. And more importantly, MPRMA is also a better alternative to PRMA for supporting voice-data integration. In order to counter adverse channel conditions, a strategy is also proposed. In addition, MPRMA requires no deadline scheduling at the base stations and minimizes overhead bandwidth on the downlink for sending acknowledgment messages.
Democratic Dispositions and Cultural Competency Ingredients for School Renewal

The current school reform movement of high-stakes testing is misguided. Rather than add to the deconstruction of standards-based reform, the authors propose two ideas for what should permeate the work in U.S. public schools. They advocate that democratic dispositions and cultural competency be included in the major goals of schooling and also propose that the purpose of schooling should be determined through public deliberation within diverse communities. The authors believe that schools should be responsible for educating good people.
Marketing Research Guides: An Online Experiment with LibGuides

ABSTRACT After migrating its research guides to the LibGuides content management system, the J. Paul Leonard Library at San Francisco State University conducted a marketing experiment to measure the impact of online marketing strategies on the usage of its guides. A team of librarians publicized half of a set of LibGuides in fall 2009 using home page listings, Twitter, Facebook, blog postings and e-mails, and compared their usage statistics between spring and fall semesters. While there was some difference between guide usage among the marketed and control group—with a 63% increase for the marketed guides and a 27% increase for the control group—analysis of individual marketing tactics using LibGuides and Google Analytics revealed an impact only in the case of direct e-mails. Additionally, marketing on behalf of subject specialists proved problematic given the primacy of the library's departmental liaison model and the importance of fostered relationships in online social media.
Erratum: Cross-sections for planetary systems interacting with passing stars and binaries

Most planetary systems are formed within stellar clusters, and these environments can shape their properties. This paper considers scattering encounters between solar systems and passing cluster members, and calculates the corresponding interaction cross sections. The target solar systems are generally assumed to have four giant planets, with a variety of starting states, including circular orbits with the semimajor axes of our planets, a more compact configuration, an ultra-compact state with multiple mean motion resonances, and systems with massive planets. We then consider the effects of varying the cluster velocity dispersion, the relative importance of binaries versus single stars, different stellar host masses, and finite starting eccentricities of the planetary orbits. For each state of the initial system, we perform an ensemble of numerical scattering experiments and determine the cross sections for eccentricity increase, inclination angle increase, planet ejection, and capture. This paper reports results from over 2 million individual scattering simulations. Using supporting analytic considerations, and fitting functions to the numerical results, we find a universal formula that gives the cross sections as a function of stellar host mass, cluster velocity dispersion, starting planetary orbital radius, and final eccentricity. The resulting cross sections can be used in a wide variety of applications. As one example, we revisit constraints on the birth aggregate of our Solar System due to dynamical scattering and find $N<10^4$ (consistent with previous estimates).
Microbiology of Frozen Foods: VI. The Survival of Pathogenic Microorganisms in Ice Cream

Summary Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella aertrycke, Brucella abortus Bang, Brucella abortus Porcine, Brucella melitensis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis hominis (Strains A, I and S), Mycobacterium tuberculosis bovis and Mycobacterium avium survived freezing in ice cream for periods longer than 30 months. While the artificially inoculated ice cream contained more organisms than would be encountered in ice cream made from naturally infected raw milk, such data suggest that ice cream should not be considered as a safe food just because it is frozen.
Locating suitable habitats for West Nile Virus-infected mosquitoes through association of environmental characteristics with infected mosquito locations: a case study in Shelby County, Tennessee

Since its first detection in 2001, West Nile Virus (WNV) poses a significant health risk for residents of Shelby County in Tennessee. This situation forced public health officials to adopt efficient methods for monitoring disease spread and predicting future outbreaks. Analyses that use environmental variables to find suitable habitats for WNV-infected mosquitoes have the potential to support these efforts. Using the Mahalanobis Distance statistic, we identified areas of Shelby County that are ecologically most suitable for sustaining WNV, based on similarity of environmental characteristics to areas where WNV was found. The environmental characteristics in this study were based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data, such as elevation, slope, land use, vegetation density, temperature, and precipitation. Our analyses produced maps of likely habitats of WNV-infected mosquitoes for each week of August 2004, revealing the areas that are ecologically most suitable for sustaining WNV within the core of the Memphis urban area. By comparing neighbourhood social characteristics to the environmental factors that contribute to WNV infection, potential social drivers of WNV transmission were revealed in Shelby County. Results show that human population characteristics and housing conditions such as a high percentage of black population, low income, high rental occupation, old structures, and vacant housing are associated with the focal area of WNV identified for each week of the study period. We demonstrated that use of the Mahalanobis Distance statistic as a similarity index to assess environmental characteristics is a potential raster-based approach to identify areas ecologically most suitable for sustaining the virus. This approach was also useful to monitor changes over time for likely locations of infected mosquito habitats. This technique is very helpful for authorities when making decisions related to an integrated mosquito management plan and targeted health education outreach.
Characterizing a single hot-electron-induced trap in submicron MOSFET using random telegraph noise

Individual interface traps generated by hot-electron stress were observed for the first time. Single trap filling and emptying can cause 0.1% step noise in drain current due to coulombic scattering. Trap location (3-10 A from interface), time constant, energy and escape frequency are found to be very different from pre-stress (process-induced) traps. Random telegraph (RTS) noise was found to be a useful tool for studying stress-induced interface traps. It is more easily observable for stress-induced traps than process-induced traps due to the small stress area and low stress-induced trap density after light stressing. Using RTS as a characterization tool, it was found that the stress-induced traps are located closer to the interface, and therefore have a shorter time constant and much stronger influence on scattering and DId than process-induced traps. RTS only reveals those traps near the Fermi level, while the DC MOSFET IV degradation is also influenced by all the charged traps
Fluorescent xDNA nucleotides as efficient substrates for a template-independent polymerase

Template independent polymerases, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) in particular, have been widely used in enzymatic labeling of DNA 3'-ends, yielding fluorescently-labeled polymers. The majority of fluorescent nucleotides used as TdT substrates contain tethered fluorophores attached to a natural nucleotide, and can be hindered by undesired fluorescence characteristics such as self-quenching. We previously documented the inherent fluorescence of a set of four benzo-expanded deoxynucleoside analogs (xDNA) that maintain Watson-Crick base pairing and base stacking ability; however, their substrate abilities for standard template-dependent polymerases were hampered by their large size. However, it seemed possible that a template-independent enzyme, due to lowered geometric constraints, might be less restrictive of nucleobase size. Here, we report the synthesis and study of xDNA nucleoside triphosphates, and studies of their substrate abilities with TdT. We find that this polymerase can incorporate each of the four xDNA monomers with kinetic efficiencies that are nearly the same as those of natural nucleotides, as measured by steady-state methods. As many as 30 consecutive monomers could be incorporated. Fluorescence changes over time could be observed in solution during the enzymatic incorporation of expanded adenine (dxATP) and cytosine (dxCTP) analogs, and after incorporation, when attached to a glass solid support. For (dxA)(n) polymers, monomer emission quenching and long-wavelength excimer emission was observed. For (dxC)(n), fluorescence enhancement was observed in the polymer. TdT-mediated synthesis may be a useful approach for creating xDNA labels or tags on DNA, making use of the fluorescence and strong hybridization properties of the xDNA.
Cell migration, chimerism, and graft acceptance

The chimeric nature of the transplanted liver was first shown in our long-surviving human recipients of orthotopic hepatic allografts in 1969.1 When liver grafts were obtained from cadaveric donors of the opposite sex, karyotyping studies showed that hepatocytes and endothelium of major blood vessels retained their donor specificity, whereas the entire macrophage system, including Kuppfer cells, was replaced with recipient cells.2 Where donor cells that had left the liver had gone was unknown, but their continued presence was confirmed by the acquisition and maintenance in recipient blood of new donor-specific immunoglobulin (Gm) types1,3 and red-blood-cell alloantibodies, if donors with ABO non-identity were used.4 Davies et al5 attributed the secretion of new soluble HLA class I antigens of donor type to transplanted hepatocytes. However, these HLA molecules come from bone-marrow-derived macrophages and/or dendritic cells,6 and probably have the same origin from migrated donor cells as the additional Gm types and red-cell antibodies.
The Slater-Koster tight-binding method: a computationally efficient and accurate approach

In this article we discuss the Slater–Koster (SK) tight-binding (TB) method from the perspective of our own developments and applications to this method. We first present an account of our work in constructing TB Hamiltonians and applying them to a variety of calculations which require an accurate representation of the electronic energy bands and density of states. In the second part of the article we present the Naval Research Laboratory TB method, wherein we demonstrate that this elaborate scheme can accurately account for both the band structure and total energy of a given system. The SK parameters generated by this method are transferable to other structures and provide the means for performing computationally demanding calculations of fairly large systems. These calculations, including molecular dynamics, are of comparable accuracy to first-principles calculations and three orders of magnitude faster.
A multifunctional warning signal behaves as an agonistic status signal in a poison frog

Aposematic species use conspicuous “warning” signals to communicate unprofitability to potential predators. Although warning signals are classic examples of communication systems that evolved by natural selection, they can also function in the context of sexual communication and are therefore particularly useful for investigating conspicuous trait evolution under multifarious selection. To test whether aposematic signals also serve to mediate intrasexual disputes, we observed males from a highly territorial poison frog species (Oophaga pumilio) in their native territories and in experimental dyadic contests to assess the influences of body characteristics such as warning signal brightness and body size on the outcomes of territorial interactions. We report here that although neither male size (snout–vent length) nor mass significantly predicted male aggressiveness (latency to call) in dyadic contests, a male’s dorsal brightness was a significant predictor of willingness to initiate aggressive interactions, with brighter males exhibiting a shorter latency to call than duller males. Furthermore, brightness asymmetries between males predicted the outcomes of contests such that asymmetries were smaller in escalated aggression trials (where both males called), and brighter males were more likely to be the sole aggressor in trials with large asymmetries. These tests, combined with previous work, provide evidence that warning coloration has been co-opted as an agonistic indicator trait in this aposematic amphibian and reveal the potential evolutionary lability of conspicuous traits that arise through natural selection.
I-Get-It as a Type of Bonding Humor: The Secret Handshake

The primary function of what the authors call bonding humor appears to be the creation of a feeling of belongingness and togetherness. This category of humor covers a wide variety of comic endeavors, including the humor of various ethnic groups, racial groups, religions, professions, scientific disciplines and, indeed, any group of individuals who share a body of knowledge, rituals, experience, lore and, of, course, a sense of humor. A special kind of bonding humor is I-get-it humor, which is hermetic, that is, the listener must bring some kind of specialized knowledge to the joke-telling enterprise or the joke is meaningless, or, at least, not funny. The authors show that bonding humor, along with the narrower sub-category of I-get-it humor, is a powerful tool for producing and/or strengthening a shared social bond, and can serve many purposes.
Actin-Depolymerizing Factor and Cofilin-1 Have Unique and Overlapping Functions in Regulating Intestinal Epithelial Junctions and Mucosal Inflammation

The actin cytoskeleton is a crucial regulator of the intestinal mucosal barrier, controlling the assembly and function of epithelial adherens and tight junctions (AJs and TJs). Junction-associated actin filaments are dynamic structures that undergo constant turnover. Members of the actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF) and cofilin protein family play key roles in actin dynamics by mediating filament severing and polymerization. We examined the roles of ADF and cofilin-1 in regulating the structure and functions of AJs and TJs in the intestinal epithelium. Knockdown of either ADF or cofilin-1 by RNA interference increased the paracellular permeability of human colonic epithelial cell monolayers to small ions. Additionally, cofilin-1, but not ADF, depletion increased epithelial permeability to large molecules. Loss of either ADF or cofilin-1 did not affect the steady-state morphology of AJs and TJs but attenuated de novo junctional assembly. The observed defects in AJ and TJ formation were accompanied by delayed assembly of the perijunctional filamentous actin belt. A total loss of ADF expression in mice did not result in a defective mucosal barrier or in spontaneous gut inflammation. However, ADF-null mice demonstrated increased intestinal permeability and exaggerated inflammation during dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis. Our findings demonstrate novel roles for ADF and cofilin-1 in regulating the remodeling and permeability of epithelial junctions, as well as the role of ADF in limiting the severity of intestinal inflammation.
7.1 – Soil Formation

Chemical processes that drive the formation of soil are among the most ubiquitous processes on Earth. In the past decade, significant advances have been made that are propelling our knowledge of soil processes: (1) access to georeferenced soil chemical and physical data is now available instantly on multiple platforms, (2) new models have been developed to decipher the rates of mineral weathering rates in soils as a function of fluid flow, (3) an understanding of the interplay between physical erosion and chemical weathering is beginning to evolve, and (4) our understanding of geochemistry of arid and hyperarid soils is rapidly advancing, thus providing guidelines for interpreting an emerging understanding of the chemistry of Martian soils. Numerous challenges remain however. Most pressing is understanding the human footprint on global soil chemical processes. Geochemists have enormous opportunities to apply existing models and methods to the 25% of the Earth that has been directly altered by agriculture and other disturbances, thereby providing a basis for more effectively managing and conserving soil for some of the twenty-first century's most pressing needs: food production and adaptation to changing climate and energy resources.
CRUD On The Web Pedagogical Modules For Web-Based Data Access

The growing popularity of Internet-enabled commerce has produced increased demand for Information Technology (IT) professionals who are skilled in the development and management of data-driven, Web-based business applications. Many academic programs in information systems offer courses on relational database design and management, as well as courses on Web development using technologies such as PHP or Microsofts ASP.NET. However, such courses typically contain independent content, which tends to leave students with a fragmented understanding of how these technologies (i.e. the Web and relational databases) interact. In this paper, we present integrated instructional modules for teaching best practices in connecting advanced Web applications with a relational database backend. The objective of these modules is to provide students with a seamless context for developing both a relational database and a Web interface supporting database transactions.
Control of Instabilities in Liquid Fueled Combustor by Modification of the Reaction Zone Using Smart Fuel Injector

This paper describes an experimental investigation of suppressing combustion instabilities in a liquid fueled (n-heptane) atmospheric combustor incorporating an array of “smart” fuel injectors. These injectors were designed so that their spray properties could be manipulated without changing the overall operating conditions (power, mass flow rates, equivalence ratio, etc.) of the combustor. In this paper, the stability characteristics of a combustor incorporating seven such smart injectors were determined. Additionally, high speed photography was used to provide visualization of the different modes of instabilities, and suppression of instabilities in this combustor by slow tuning of the injector spray properties was demonstrated.
Antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolated from healthy human

Objective:To investigate antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolated from faeces samples of healthy human.Methods: E.coli was isolated and identified according to the Micro-biology in Preventive Medicine and Inspection Technique.The antimicrobial susceptibility of the 150 isolates which were tested to the 16 kinds antibiotics was determined by the Kirby-Bauer method based on the Performance Standards for Anti-microbial Susceptibility Testing recommended by NCCLS.Results: Over 35% of tested strains were resistant to 6 antibiotics.They were Teracycline(63.33%),Nalidixic Acid(49.33%),Sulfamethoxazole(40.67%),Amplocilin(38.67%),Sulfamethoxazole timethoprim(35.33%) and Streptomycin(35.33%).All isolates were susceptible to Cefmelazon and Amikacin.Of all the isolates,122 strains(81.33%) were resistant to 1 or more antibiotics,88 strains(58.67%) to over 2 kinds of antibiotics,44 strains(29.33%) to over 5 kinds of antibiotics,2 strains with the highest level of antibiotic resistance were resistant to 10 kinds of antibiotics.Conclusion: The situation on antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli in healthy human is serious.
Simultaneous Determination of Six AromaticAmines in Water by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction-Gas Chromatography

A method for simultaneous determination of six aromatic amines including fluoroaniline in environmental water samples by dispersed liquid-liquid microextraction-gas chromatography was proposed The optimal column type and temperature program were established,and six aromatic amines could be separated and detected in 4 minutes.In order to extract and enrich the six aromatic amines,the effects of pretreatment conditions such as the species and dosage of extractant,the species and dosage of dispersant,pH value and the amount of NaCl were studied.Under the optimum conditions,the working curves were obtained.The correlation coefficients were in the range of 0.9991～0.9999,and the linear ranges were greater than or equal to 103.The detection limits were in the range of 0.2～0.7 μg/L(S/N=3).The average recoveries of samples were 93.2%～104% and the relative standard deviations were 3.4%～4.9%.
Analyses of Gene Function in Amphioxus Embryos by Microinjection of mRNAs and Morpholino Oligonucleotides

The invertebrate chordate amphioxus (Branchiostoma), which is the most basal living chordate, has become an accepted model for the vertebrate ancestor in studies of development and evolution. Amphioxus resembles vertebrates in regard to morphology, developmental gene expression, and gene function. In addition, the amphioxus genome has representatives of most vertebrate gene families. Although it has not undergone the two rounds of whole genome duplications that occurred early in the vertebrate lineage, the amphioxus genome has retained considerable synteny with vertebrate genomes. Thus, studies of genes and development in amphioxus embryos can reveal the fundamental genetic basis of the vertebrate body plan, giving insights into the developmental mechanisms of such organs as the somites, pharynx, kidney, and the central nervous system. Moreover, amphioxus is very useful for understanding how these characters evolved. This chapter details methods for microinjection of amphioxus eggs with mRNAs or morpholino antisense oligonucleotides to analyze gene networks operating in early development.
Conclusion: Ellison, Obama and Post-Race Politics in the Twenty-First Century

In 1995 Ralph Ellison seemed outdated. Richard Bernstein opens his 1995 review of Ralph Ellison’s collected essays expressing shame that Ellison had “faded from the public mind, occupying what might be called a highly respected position on the sidelines of the general consciousness” (Bernstein, “Black Identity, Racism and a Lifetime of Reflection”). In light of our current political circumstances Bernstein’s reasons for Ellison’s irrelevance are very telling. Ellison, Bernstein writes, had faded from the public mind because he was an “integrationist in his very marrow and in these times of intense identity politics and multiculturalism that puts him outside the contemporary trendy mainstream” (Bernstein, “Black Identity, Racism and a Lifetime of Reflection”). In the four years leading up to Ellison’s death the USA was also at the height of the so-called Culture Wars and the critical reception of his work was and continues to be greatly influenced by that bellicose state of affairs. These concerns were clearly on Bernstein’s mind as he wrote his review for the New York Times. Bernstein, who in 1994 published Dictatorship of Virtue: How the Battle Over Multiculturalism Is Reshaping Our Schools, Our Country and Our Lives, a broadside against multiculturalist public policy and corporate hiring practices, welded Ellison’s work as a sacred talisman against the errant virtues of the times.
Constitutional Mixologists: Muddling the Analysis of Protectionist Alcoholic Beverage Laws After Granholm v. Heald

In its 2005 decision in Granholm v. Heald, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that state alcoholic beverage laws that discriminate against outof-state entities are unconstitutional restrictions of interstate trade under the dormant Commerce Clause. Despite this holding, lower courts have split in their analyses and conclusions regarding protectionist alcoholic beverage laws. Specifically, the Eighth Circuit recently upheld Missouri’s residency requirements for alcoholic beverage distributors. Meanwhile, a district court in Michigan has found that a similar law imposing residency requirements on alcoholic beverage retailers was an unconstitutional restriction of interstate commerce. This confusion adversely affects both consumers and smaller producers of alcoholic beverages. Therefore, this Note argues the Supreme Court should, in the appropriate case, clarify that Granholm applies to residency requirements for wholesalers and retailers, thereby subjecting these restrictions to heightened Commerce Clause scrutiny.
Policy traps y subsidios al consumo. La política de tarifas de servicios públicos en Argentina, 2002-2014

espanolLos paises en desarrollo destinan muchos recursos para bajar los precios al consumidor de bienes y servicios basicos. Las teorias sobre el Estado de Bienestar explican parcialmente por que las politicas de subsidio de amplio espectro al consumo crecen y se enraizan. Segun esa literatura, los grupos organizados de beneficiarios presionan a favor de politicas publicas visibles; sin embargo, en los paises en desarrollo los consumidores estan atomizados y los subsidios que reciben son de poca visibilidad publica. El tamano y la durabilidad de los subsidios surgen de la incertidumbre politica y los shocks de precios, factores que incentivan a los gobernantes a evitar ser culpabilizados por desmantelar los subsidios. Con el tiempo, presiones contextuales –como la volatilidad de precios– y el temor de enfrentar reveses politicos se refuerzan mutuamente, conduciendo al crecimiento tanto del gasto publico en subsidios como del costo politico de recortarlos. Asi, estos subsidios se convierten en lo que denominamos policytraps: politicas publicas de costo fiscal inicialmente bajo, que crecen y se enraizan rapidamente, reduciendo el margen de maniobra de los gobiernos. Con este marco analitico estudiamos los subsidios en servicios publicos en la Argentina de la post-crisis. Alli, los subsidios crecieron pese a la provision privada de los servicios –lo que hacia dificil que el gobierno obtuviera reditos politicos– y a que los subsidios fluyeron incluso hacia sectores sin actores organizados EnglishDeveloping countries devote significant resources to lowering consumer prices for basic goods and services such as food and electricity. Theories of the welfare state only partially elucidate why consumer subsidy regimes grow so large and become entrenched. While the welfare state literature stresses how concentrated, organized beneficiary groups push for the expansion and protection of well-known programs such as pensions, the developing world’s consumers are atomized, and subsidies themselves are of low visibility. The size and durability of consumer subsidy regimes stem primarily from political uncertainty and price shocks that provide politicians with strong incentives to avoid blame for repeal. Over time, environmental pressures and fears of political backlash against repeal reinforce one another, increasing the fiscal burden subsidies impose and dramatically raising the political cost of program exit. In this sense, consumer subsidy programs come to form “policy traps” –initially modest policies that quickly grow and become entrenched, thereby greatly reducing politicians’ maneuvering room. We utilize this framework to analyze the meteoric growth and entrenchment of utility subsidies in post-crisis Argentina. In Argentina, subsidies grew despite the private provision of subsidized services –making it difficult for the government to claim credit– even in sectors with weakly organized interests.
Record number of Yellow-billed Oxpeckers Buphagus africanus Linnaeus, 1766 (Aves: Passeriformes: Buphagidae) foraging on a single host

In June 2016, we observed a group of Yellow-billed Oxpeckers foraging on a single male Giraffe, in the Savuti area of Chobe National Park, Botswana. From photographic evidence we estimate the Oxpecker group numbered between 51 and 60, the highest number on record for a single host.
Experimental and theoretical modeling of behavior of 3D-printed polymers under collision with a rigid rod

Abstract The behavior of five different 3D-printed polymers has been analyzed both theoretically and experimentally under low-speed collision conditions. The impact of a rigid rod with a flat specimen fabricated of 3D-printed materials was analyzed. An experimental setup has been designed in order to capture the motion of the rod during the impact using a high-speed camera. Image processing algorithms were developed to estimate the velocity before and after the impact as well as the coefficient of restitution. Also, permanent deformations after the impact were scanned with an optical profilometer. In this work, a theoretical formulation for the contact force during the impact is proposed. The impact was divided into two phases, compression and restitution, in which materials considered elastic–plastic in the first and fully elastic in the second one. The experimental results are used to measure the damping coefficient. Results show a good correlation between the proposed formulation for the contact force and the behavior of materials.
Hybrid analysis of SystemC models for fast and accurate parallel simulation

Parallel SystemC approaches expect a thread-safe and race-condition-free model from the designer or use a compiler which identifies the race conditions. However, they have strong limitations for real world examples. Two major obstacles remain: a) all the source code must be available and b) the entire design must be statically analyzable. In this paper, we propose a solution for a fast and fully accurate parallel SystemC simulation which overcomes these two obstacles a) and b). We propose a hybrid approach which includes both static and dynamic analysis of the design model. We also handle library calls in the compiler analysis where the source code of the library functions is not available. Our experiments demonstrate a 100% accurate execution and a speedup of 6.39× for a Network-on-Chip particle simulator.
The effect of culture on opportunity recognition: a qualitative study of immigrant and native-born entrepreneurs

Several studies have highlighted the effect of culture on decisions and behaviours of entrepreneurs. Building on this research stream, this paper suggests that comparing immigrant entrepreneurs and native-born entrepreneurs provides a fruitful setting to examine the effect of culture on entrepreneurship in general and opportunity recognition in particular. Through qualitative analysis of matched pairs of seven immigrant and seven native-born entrepreneurs, this exploratory study reveals that immigrant entrepreneurs exhibit a higher tendency towards recognising entrepreneurial opportunities through the opportunity discovery process rather than the opportunity creation process.
On the use of a snow aridity index to predict remotely sensed forest productivity in the presence of bark beetle disturbance

We used multiple sources of remotely sensed and ground based information to evaluate the spatio-temporal variability of snowpack accumulation, potential evapotranspiration (PET), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) throughout the Southern Rocky Mountain ecoregion, USA. Relationships between these variables were used to establish baseline values of expected forest productivity given water and energy inputs. Although both the snow water equivalent (SWE) and a snow aridity index (SAI), which used SWE to normalize PET, were significant predictors of the long-term (1989 – 2012) NDVI, SAI explained 11% more NDVI variability than SWE. Deviations from these relationships were subsequently explored in the context of widespread forest mortality due to bark beetles. Over the entire study area, NDVI was lower per unit SAI in beetle-disturbed compared to undisturbed areas during snow-related drought; however, both SAI and NDVI were spatially heterogeneous within this domain. As a result, we selected three focus areas inside the larger study area within which to isolate the relative impacts of SAI and disturbance on NDVI using multivariate linear regression. These models explained 66%-85% of the NDVI and further suggested that both SAI and disturbance effects were significant, although the disturbance effect was generally greater. These results establish the utility of SAI as a measure of moisture limitation in snow-dominated systems, and demonstrate a reduction in forest productivity due to bark beetle disturbance that is particularly evident during drought conditions resultant from low snow accumulation during the winter.
Editorial: Special Issue on Recent Advances in Computer and Communication Networks Technology

Dramatic improvements in networking technologies over the past couple of decades have yielded substantial increase in computer and communication capabilities. A number of new networking technologies such as middleware, wireless mesh networks anWiMAX, global IPv6, new generation multimedia, and modern network security started taking off. To date, some of these development efforts have mainly focused on protocol standardization, product development, and network operations besides being research targets. We believe that the accumulated experience in new networking practices now provide interesting research opportunities, not only for the broader network research community, but also for those who have been involved in these advancement developments.
Cardiovascular Pharmacogenomics and Cognitive Function in Patients with Schizophrenia

The authors sought to examine the impact of multiple risk alleles for cognitive dysfunction and cardiovascular disease risk on cognitive function and to determine if these relationships varied by cognitive reserve (CR) or concomitant medication use in patients with schizophrenia. They conducted a cross-sectional study in ambulatory mental health centers. A total of 122 adults with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis who were maintained on a stable antipsychotic regimen for at least 6 months before study enrollment were included. Patients were divided into three CR groups based on years of formal education: no high school completion or equivalent (low-education group [18 patients]), completion of high school or equivalent (moderate-education group [36 patients], or any degree of post-high school education (high-education group [68 patients]). The following pharmacogenomic variants were genotyped for each patient: AGT M268T (rs699), ACE insertion/deletion (or ACE I/D, rs1799752), and APOE e2, e3, and e4 (rs429358 and rs7412). Risk allele carrier status (identified per gene as AGT M268 T carriers, ACE D carriers, and APOE e4 carriers) was not significantly different among CR groups. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) scale was used to assess cognitive function. The mean ± SD patient age was 43.9 ± 11.6 years. Cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia diagnoses, and use of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering agents, did not significantly differ among CR groups. Mixed modeling revealed that risk allele carrier status was significantly associated with lower verbal memory scores for ACE D and APOE e4 carriers, but AGT T carrier status was significantly associated with higher verbal memory scores (p=0.0188, p=0.0055, and p=0.0058, respectively). These results were only significant in the low-education group. In addition, medication-gene interactions were not significant predictors of BACS scores. ACE D and APOE e4 carrier status, independent of medication use, was associated with lower verbal memory scores in patients with schizophrenia who had relatively lower CR, as identified by formal education. These results suggest that increasing CR may be protective against cognitive impairment that may be worsened by select cardiovascular risk alleles in patients with schizophrenia.
The Meaning of “Breastfeeding” Is Changing and So Must Our Language About It

Abstract For millennia, the word “breastfeeding” has meant feeding an infant at his/her own mother's breast. With the recent introduction of high-efficiency breast pumps, other possibilities are now widely used, including feeding an infant his/her own mother's milk from a cup or bottle. This milk may be recently pumped or stored for a short or long time. Infants also may be fed another mother's milk. As a result, the use of the term “breastfeeding” to describe these different behaviors now inhibits clear communication among and between healthcare providers, researchers, mothers, and members of the lay public. We propose a comprehensive set of terms to describe these and related behaviors. Adoption and consistent use of these terms would facilitate communication among all interested parties on the topic of maternal lactation and infant feeding.
A 173 GHz Amplifier With a 18.5 dB Power Gain in a 130 nm SiGe Process: A Systematic Design of High-Gain Amplifiers Above $f_{\max }/2$

A novel theory of stability for two-port networks is developed. Using this theory, a new method of designing amplifiers with a high-power gain working close to the maximum frequency of oscillation ( $f_{\max }$ ) is proposed. Contrary to the existing amplifier design methodologies, in this method, the transistor capability of power amplification is fully utilized. This becomes more important at frequencies close to the $f_{\max }$ where having a high-power gain is challenging due to the degraded activity of the employed device. The proposed method considers the modeling errors and process–voltage–temperature variations of the employed components in the design stage to ensure that the fabricated amplifier will be stable with a decent power gain even if the worst case variations and modeling errors happen. To show the feasibility of the proposed approach, a three-stage amplifier at 173 GHz, using bipolar junction transistors from a 130 nm SiGe process, is designed. The fabricated amplifier has a maximum measured power gain of 18.5 dB at 173 GHz. A similar three-stage amplifier using the same transistors with the same bias would give a maximum gain of 6.8 dB in simulation, assuming perfect lossless conjugate matching at input, output, and between stages. So it is clear that the fabricated amplifier achieves a significant improvement over the power gain.
Evaluation of the Mechanism of Action of Anti-fertility Treatment in Cases of Sexual Assault: Moral Certitude and Human Acts

Anti-fertility treatment for victims of sexual assault is a first-line defense in Catholic healthcare. However, respect for human life prohibits interventions that destroy nascent human beings. Proper assessment of a treatment’s mechanism of action [MOA] demands moral certitude that it is not embryocidal. The most widely utilized treatment is the nonprescription emergency contraception [EC] drug levonorgestrel [LNG]. Another widely marketed EC is ulipristal acetate [UPA], available only by prescription. The anti-fertilization action of these compounds is only relevant in the narrow 6-day fertile window beginning 5 days before ovulation. Although LNG has long been promoted as an anovulant, it is now indisputable that it rarely prevents pregnancy by that means when administered in the fertile window, although clinical pregnancy is virtually eliminated. Its impact on pre-fertilization processes, including sperm motility and transport, capacitation, and sperm-egg binding, is too negligible to account for its efficacy. Its principal modality for preventing pregnancy remains unresolved but it does so in the face of an extraordinarily high ovulation rate. That data necessitates a robust postovulatory MOA. Careful assessment of the scientific corpus cannot rule out significant post fertilization MOA and cannot establish the minimum level of confidence necessary for moral certitude that it is not abortifacient. UPA is a known contragestative that adversely effects endometrial development. Very early fertile window administration typically suppresses ovulation but later administration, when pregnancy is more likely, carries significant abortifacient risk. Current rape treatment protocols are grossly inadequate and fail to provide moral certitude precluding embryocide.