cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of air pollution on wet deposition of mineral dust aerosols

[1] Mineral dust aerosols originating from arid regions are simulated in an atmospheric global chemical transport model. Based on model results and observations of dust concentration, we hypothesize that air pollution increases the scavenging of dust by producing high levels of readily soluble materials on the dust surface, which makes dust aerosols effective cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). This implies that air pollution could have caused an increase of dust deposition to the coastal oceans of East Asia and a decrease by as much as 50% in the eastern North Pacific.
CeO2 nanofibers for in situ O2 and CO sensing in harsh environments

As the most common type of harsh environment sensors, high temperature gas sensors are of paramount importance to improve combustion efficiency and control emissions. In this study, large scale and polycrystalline CeO2 nanofibers were prepared with an average diameter of 376 ± 55 nm using a facile two-step synthesis route including electrospinning and calcination. The as-prepared CeO2 nanofibers show good morphological and structural stability in high temperature environment (800–1000 °C). CeO2 nanofibers were further employed for in situ, real-time oxygen (O2) and carbon monoxide (CO) sensing at 800 °C and 1000 °C, respectively, both of which showed sensitive, reversible, and reproducible response. The mechanism for distinguishable response towards O2 and CO was discussed. These results indicate that electrospun CeO2 nanofibers are a promising nanomaterial for gas sensing in harsh environments.
The ARTS real-time object model

The authors present the motivation for using an object model for real-time operating systems, and describe the object model used in the ARTS kernel. A discussion is presented of the novel object classification and the priority inheritance properties which arise from this taxonomy. Various methods for implementing critical regions are described, and some guidelines as to the use of each are given. >
Correlate for Lightness in Terms of CIE-Tristimulus Values. Part II*

A triangulation technique was used to check the definition of lightness as applied in the previous paper. The results indicate that the procedure of defining lightness in terms of the luminous reflectance of neutral samples is satisfactory.The investigation has been further extended to show a systematic dependence of lightness index on background color. As might be expected, the lightness index of colors similar to the background is decreased and the lightness index of complementary colors is increased relative to the lightness index obtained using a black background. This effect is due to the change in chromatic adaptation of the eye.
Suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge: Have They Changed over Time?:

224 suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge in 1999-2009 were younger than other suicides handled by the Marin County Coroner but did not differ by sex or race. Those witnessed did not differ from those not witnessed. Compared to suicides from the bridge in the 1970s, recent suicides were older, more often male, and more often nonwhite.
An attack-norm separation approach for detecting cyber attacks

The two existing approaches to detecting cyber attacks on computers and networks, signature recognition and anomaly detection, have shortcomings related to the accuracy and efficiency of detection. This paper describes a new approach to cyber attack (intrusion) detection that aims to overcome these shortcomings through several innovations. We call our approach attack-norm separation. The attack-norm separation approach engages in the scientific discovery of data, features and characteristics for cyber signal (attack data) and noise (normal data). We use attack profiling and analytical discovery techniques to generalize the data, features and characteristics that exist in cyber attack and norm data. We also leverage well-established signal detection models in the physical space (e.g., radar signal detection), and verify them in the cyberspace. With this foundation of information, we build attack-norm separation models that incorporate both attack and norm characteristics. This enables us to take the least amount of relevant data necessary to achieve detection accuracy and efficiency. The attack-norm separation approach considers not only activity data, but also state and performance data along the cause-effect chains of cyber attacks on computers and networks. This enables us to achieve some detection adequacy lacking in existing intrusion detection systems.
Human consciousness and its relationship to social neuroscience: A novel hypothesis

A common modern view of consciousness is that it is an emergent property of the brain, perhaps caused by neuronal complexity, and perhaps with no adaptive value. Exactly what emerges, how it emerges, and from what specific neuronal process, are in debate. One possible explanation of consciousness, proposed here, is that it is a construct of the social perceptual machinery. Humans have specialized neuronal machinery that allows them to be socially intelligent. The primary role of this machinery is to construct models of other people’s minds thereby gaining some ability to predict the behavior of other individuals. In the present hypothesis, awareness is a perceptual reconstruction of attentional state; and the machinery that computes information about other people’s awareness is the same machinery that computes information about our own awareness. The present paper brings together a variety of lines of evidence, including experiments on the neural basis of social perception, on hemispatial neglect, on the out-of-body experience, on mirror neurons, and on the mechanisms of decision-making, to explore the possibility that awareness is a construct of the social machinery in the brain.
Nuclear Fos immunoreactivity in guinea pig myenteric neurons following activation of motor activity

To identify enteric neurons activated during intestinal motor activity, we examined myenteric plexus of guinea pig small intestinal segments for expression of the immediate early gene product, Fos. Fos immunoreactivity was detected immunohistochemically following in vitro manipulations, which included distension, electrical stimulation, exposure to forskolin, and peristalsis. All of these manipulations induced neuronal Fos expression, which was prevented by tetrodotoxin, indicating that expression depended on nerve activity. Distension-induced Fos expression was blocked by omega-conotoxin and significantly reduced by hexamethonium, indicating that neurons expressing Fos immunoreactivity were activated synaptically. Blocking smooth muscle contraction with nicardipine reduced expression of neuronal Fos, suggesting that muscle tone influences neuronal activity. Calbindin-immunoreactive putative sensory neurons did not express Fos during distension, peristalsis, or exposure to forskolin and expressed Fos only weakly after strong electrical stimulation. Conversely, calretinin-immunoreactive ascending excitatory interneurons and longitudinal muscle motoneurons exhibited Fos immunoreactivity after all experimental manipulations. These results indicate that Fos expression can, with some caution, be used to identify classes of enteric neurons activated by different stimuli under various experimental conditions.
Equilibrium Phase Diagrams

As many ceramics are oxides, the oxygen partial pressure, pO2, is an important variable. There is a lot of information about many metal–oxygen systems. In part, this is due to interest in how to obtain metals by direct reduction from their oxides. A frequent way of representing free energies of formation of oxides as a function of pO2 and T is the Ellingham diagram (Ellingham 1944) that was popularized by Richardson and Jeffes for iron and steel production (Richardson and Jeffes 1948). Much less is known about nitrides and oxynitrides or even carbides.
Abstract ES1-1: Advances in the Neurosurgical Management of CNS Metastases

As the overall survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer improves, greater attention has been drawn to involvement specific to the central nervous system (CNS). Brain metastases are the most common intracranial tumor in adults with breast cancer representing the second most common type of CNS brain metastasis. These lesions are thought to develop in up to 20% of breast cancer patients with over 15,000 new cases predicted in the United States each year. Spinal metastases, some with involvement of the spinal cord, are also a frequent occurrence in the breast cancer patient with up to 30% of patients developing this form of the disease. Unfortunately, new systemic therapies for CNS metastases have had little impact on disease control, a critical factor in the improvement of quality of life and survival for this group of patients. Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database reveal that one third of intra-cranial and one-half of spinal breast cancer patients with neurosurgically treated CNS metastases are alive at 1 year and that the overall post-operative survival has increased over time for spinal fusion procedures. We propose to review the current state of knowledge, the existing barriers to more successful neurosurgical treatment, and the future goals for treating CNS metastases with neurosurgical intervention. We will 1) review the clinical factors associated with the development of CNS metastases, 2) summarize current neurosurgical treatment strategies with evidence-based outcome data, 3) highlight possible directions for future research efforts. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr ES1-1.
Chromatographic separation of h and m antigens from histoplasmin.

SummaryThe h and m antigenic components of histoplasmin previously described by Heiner have been separated by anion-exchange column chromatography and fraction collection using a phosphate buffer system. The separation of the two antigens was demonstrated by the agar gel, double-diffusion precipitin method. The m antigen was found in earlier fractions at higher pH ranges, and the h was found in later fractions at lower pH ranges. A distinct separation occurred with no detectable overlap. The use of specific antigens should give more reliable experimental and diagnostic results.
High Signal-to-Noise Ratio Voltage Imaging: A Powerful Tool for Determining Electrophysiological Properties of CNS Axons

Although axons play a key role in neuronal computation, the small size of CNS axons precludes direct characterization with electrical recordings. We implement high signal-to-noise ratio VSD imaging to determine cortical axon functional properties.
Transtensional deformation and structural control of contiguous but independent magmatic systems: Mono-Inyo Craters, Mammoth Mountain, and Long Valley Caldera, California

The Long Valley region of eastern California (United States) is the site of abundant late Tertiary–present magmatism, including three geochemically distinct stages of magmatism since ca. 3 Ma: Mammoth Mountain, the Mono-Inyo volcanic chain, and Long Valley Caldera. We propose two tectonic models, one explaining the Mammoth Mountain–Mono-Inyo magmatism and the other explaining the presence of Long Valley Caldera. First, the ongoing Mammoth Mountain–Mono-Inyo volcanic chain magmatism is explained by a ridge-transform-ridge system, with the Mono-Inyo volcanic chain acting as one ridge segment and the South Moat fault acting as a transform fault. Implicit in this first model is that this region of eastern California is beginning to act as an incipient plate boundary. Second, the older Long Valley Caldera system is hypothesized to occur in a region of enhanced extension resulting from regional fault block rotation, specifically involving activation of the sinistral faults of the Mina deflection. The tectonic models are consistent with observed spatial and temporal differences in the geochemistry of the regional magmas, and the westward progression of magmatism since ca. 12 Ma.
Single-Molecule Biophysical Imaging, Superresolution, and Trapping

Single-molecule emitters provide nanoscale light sources yielding unprecedented new information about biological systems. Novel methods and molecules, including superresolution imaging in three dimensions and anti-Brownian electrokinetic trapping of single biomolecules in solution, will be reviewed.
Anterior slipping of the capital femoral epiphysis. Report of a case.

The case of a white boy, fourteen and a half years old, who sustained an anterior slipping of the capital femoral epiphysis is reported. A thorough review of the literature failed to reveal any previous reports of this type of slipping. The mechanism of injury is discussed.
Comparing Policies for Case Scheduling Within 1 Day of Surgery by Markov Chain Models.

Background In previous studies, hospitals' operating room (OR) schedules were influenced markedly by decisions made within a few days of surgery. At an academic hospital, 46% of ORs had their last case scheduled or changed within 1 working day of surgery, and a private hospital had 64%. Many of these changes were for patients who were admitted before surgery (i.e., inpatient cases). In this study, we investigate the impact on OR productivity of how cases are scheduled within 1 working day before the day of surgery. Methods We consider the case-scheduling choice between 2 ORs. We compare 3 scheduling policies: Best Fit Descending, Worst Fit Descending, and Worst Fit Ascending. "Descending" strategies consider new cases from longest to shortest, whereas "Ascending" considers new cases from shortest to longest. Best Fit schedules each new case into the OR with sufficient but the least remaining underutilized OR time for the case. Worst Fit does the same but with the most remaining time. For our application, Best Fit chooses a later start time, whereas Worst Fit chooses an earlier start time. In our computational model, cases are of 2 possible durations, brief or long. Case cancellation is incorporated explicitly, and the number of new cases to schedule depends on the current number of scheduled cases in each OR, both new from previous studies. The number of cases in each OR is modeled as a Markov chain, evolving between 2 periods, corresponding to 1 day and 0 days before the day of surgery. For each scheduling policy, we evaluate the mean overutilized OR time and productivity. Our sensitivity analyses cover many cancellation rates, arrival settings, case durations, and initial conditions (i.e., how cases are scheduled into the 2 ORs preceding 1 workday before the day of surgery). Results Best Fit Descending and Worst Fit Descending achieved almost the same overutilized time and productivity. Worst Fit Ascending caused greater overutilized time (as much as 6.6 minutes more per OR) and thus lesser productivity (as much as 1.6% less) compared with Best Fit Descending or Worst Fit Descending. When the staff were scheduled for less time than the optimal allocated OR time, there were nearly the same differences between the staff productivity resulting from the use of Worst Fit Ascending rather than Worst Fit Descending or Best Fit Descending. Conclusions Scheduling office decision making within 1 day before surgery should be based on statistical forecasts of expected total OR workload (i.e., forecasts that include the addition of non-elective cases and the subtraction of cases that cancel). As long as a case is not scheduled into overutilized time when less overutilized time could be achieved in another OR, and cases are considered in descending sequence of scheduled durations, the differences in overutilized time and productivity among the scheduling policies are small. Cognitive bias in staff scheduling causes a significant reduction in productivity, but the differences among scheduling policies are nearly the same as when there is no bias.
Women with postpartum weight retention have delayed wake times and decreased sleep efficiency during the perinatal period: a brief report

Abstract Objective This study assessed sleep and circadian rhythms across the perinatal period in new mothers with and without postpartum weight retention (PPWR). Methods Weight was measured at 2 and 16 weeks postpartum in 21 women with previous major depression or bipolar disorder (mean age, 29.5 ± 4.7 years) who self-reported pre-pregnancy weight during third trimester. Wrist actigraphy was acquired at 33 weeks gestation and postpartum weeks 2, 6, and 16. Circadian phase was measured at 33 weeks gestation and 6 weeks postpartum. The Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory were completed during third trimester. Women were classified as PPWR + if weight at 16 weeks postpartum exceeded pre-pregnancy weight by ≥ 5 kg. Results Compared with prepregnancy, average weight gain (± SD) was 6.3 ± 8.8 kg at 2 weeks postpartum and 5.2 ± 8.5 kg at 16 weeks postpartum. Analysis of variance showed that PPWR + women (n = 8; 38%) had later sleep offset times and lower sleep efficiencies than did PPWR − women at all time points and were more likely to report snoring during pregnancy. Conclusions Data from this small sample showed that women with PPWR had more disturbed sleep and later wake times and were more likely to report symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing. Future work in larger samples should examine whether interventions to improve sleep during pregnancy decrease PPWR.
Miscellaneous (Adaptors, Extensions, Protectors, Tubing, etc.)

To assist in the delivery of liquid nitrogen (LN) on-to lesions that may be hard to reach by conventional probes and tips; an array of extensions exists that may be adapted to the original equipment that comes with delivery units. Adaptors with or without exhaust, extensions, tubing and protectors are marketed. Some adaptors allow for attachments of a particular brand to be used with another.
Measurement of prostate viscoelasticity using Shearwave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (SDUV): An in vitro study

We report shear stiffness and viscosity “virtual biopsy” measurements of three excised non-cancerous human prostates using a new characterization tool known as Shearwave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (SDUV) in vitro. Improved methods for prostate guided-biopsy are required to effectively guide needle biopsy to the suspected site. In addition, tissue stiffness measurement helps identifying a suspected site to perform biopsy because stiffness has been shown to correlate with pathologies such as cancerous tissue. More importantly, early detection of prostate cancer may guide minimally-invasive therapy and eliminate insidious procedures. In this work, “virtual biopsies” were taken in multiple locations in three excised prostates; SDUV shear elasticity and viscosity measurements were performed at the selected “suspicious” locations within the prostates. We found that the range of the shear elasticity and viscosity were 1.31–12.81 kPa and 1.10–6.82 Pa⋅s, respectively. The mean and standard deviations for the shear elasticity and viscosity were 5.20 ± 2.55 kPa and 2.68 ± 1.47 Pa⋅s, respectively. SDUV measurements of prostate elasticity and viscosity are generally in agreement with preliminary values reported previously in the literature. It is however important to emphasize here that the obtained viscoelastic parameters values are local, and not a mean value for the whole prostate.
Relationship Building and People Work: An Exploratory Study of Social Networks and Environmental Activism

Environmental activism is often studied as a social movement that advocates on behalf of marginalized populations who are faced with environmental injustices. We expand on previous environmental ac...
Economics of LED Lighting

Lighting technologies have improved significantly over the past 10 years and now provide multiple options for supplemental plant growth lighting in greenhouses and sole-source lighting for indoor production. In 2014, the most efficient light emitting diode (LED) and high pressure sodium (HPS) fixtures had nearly identical efficiencies at 1.66–1.70 µmol per joule, but the initial capital cost of LED fixtures per photon delivered was five to ten times more than HPS fixtures. This high capital cost meant that the cost per mole of photons was thus 2.3 times higher for LED fixtures than for 1000-W HPS fixtures, calculated over a five-year period for electricity and fixture cost. The long-term maintenance costs for both LED and HPS technologies are small, and similar, so the economic incentive for using LEDs was only realized when a user took advantage of their more focused photon distribution pattern. Since 2014, the photon efficiency of LED fixtures has increased and the most efficient LED fixtures now exceed the best HPS technology (1000 W, double-ended). The cost per photon of LED fixtures for plant growth lighting is still high, but payback periods, compared to 1000 W HPS, of 8–20 years can be achieved in applications that utilize the lights for more than 4000 h a year. The payback period can be more rapid if users can take advantage of the focused output of LED fixtures to increase radiation capture. The lowest lighting system costs are achieved when an efficient fixture is coupled with effective canopy photon capture. We are continuing to evaluate advances in technology as they become available.
Mortality among referrals to a community-based intermediate care team

Objectives Intermediate care services have been introduced to help mitigate unnecessary hospital demand and premature placement in long-term residential care. Many patients are elderly and/or with complex comorbidities, but little consideration has been given to the palliative care needs of patients referred to intermediate care services. The objective of this study is to determine the proportion of patients referred to a community-based intermediate care team who died during care and up to 24 months after discharge and so to help inform the development of supportive and palliative care in this setting. Methods A retrospective cohort study of all 4770 adult patients referred to Northamptonshire Intermediate Care Team (ICT) between 11 April 2010 and 10 April 2011. Results Of 4770 patients referred, 60% were 75 years or older and 32% were 85 years of age or older. 4.0% of patients died during their ICT stay and 11% within 30 days of discharge. At the end of 12 months, 25% of the patients had died, increasing to 32% before the end of the second year. About 34% of all deaths occurred during the ICT stay or within 30 days of discharge, and a further 46% by the end of the first year. Male gender and higher age were associated with greater likelihood of death. Conclusions It is important for ICT clinicians to consider immediate and longer-term palliative care needs among patients referred to ICTs. Care models involving ICTs and palliative care teams working together could enable more people with end-stage non-cancer illnesses to die at home.
A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Cross-Over Pilot Study of Riluzole for Drug-Refractory Irritability in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Riluzole is a glutamatergic modulator of particular interest in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study we evaluated the safety and tolerability of 5-week of adjunctive riluzole treatment (vs. 5-week of placebo, with 2-week washout period) targeting ASD-associated drug-refractory irritability in eight individuals age 12-25 years. All participants tolerated riluzole 200 mg per day, however there were no statistically significant findings for the overall treatment effect, the treatment effect by week within period of the study, or a cross-over effect across the periods of the study on the Clinical Global Impression Improvement Scale or the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Irritability subscale. The results of this trial indicate that 5-week of riluzole treatment was well tolerated, but had no significant effect on the target symptoms. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02081027, Registered 5 August 2013, First participant enrolled 19 September 2013.
Coupled strain-induced alpha to omega phase transformation and plastic flow in zirconium under high pressure torsion in a rotational diamond anvil cell

Abstract Strain-induced α → ω phase transformation (PT) in the zirconium (Zr) sample under compression and plastic shear in a rotational diamond anvil cell (RDAC) is investigated using the finite element method (FEM). The fields of the volume fraction of the ω phase, all components of the stress tensor, and plastic strain are presented. Before torsion, PT barely occurs. During torsion under a fixed applied force, PT initiates at the center of the sample, where the pressure first reaches the minimum pressure for strain-induced α → ω PT, p e d , and propagates from the center to the periphery and from the symmetry plane to the contact surface. Salient increase of the shear friction stress and pressure at the center of a sample, so-called pressure self-multiplication effect observed experimentally for some other materials, is predicted here for Zr. It is caused by much higher yield strength of the ω phase in comparison with the α phase. Except at the very center of a sample, the total contact friction stress is equal to the yield strength in shear of the mixture of phases and the plastic sliding occurs there. Due to the reduction in sample thickness and radial material flow during torsion, the ω phase can be observed in the region where pressure is lower than p e d , which may lead to misinterpretation of the experimental data for p e d . For the same applied force, torsion drastically promotes PT in comparison with the compression without torsion. However, the PT process in RDAC is far from optimal: (a) due to the pressure self-multiplication effect, the pressure in the transformed region is much higher than that required for PT; (b) the region in which PT occurs is limited by the pressure p e d and cannot be expanded by increasing a shear under a fixed force; and (c) the significant reduction in thickness during torsion reduces the total mass of the high-pressure phase. These drawbacks can be overcome by placing a sample within a strong gasket with an optimized geometry. It is shown that, due to strong pressure heterogeneity, characterization of α → ω and α → β PTs based on the averaged pressure contains large errors. The obtained results, in addition to providing an improved understanding of the strain-induced PTs, may be beneficial for the optimum design of experiments and the extraction of material parameters, as well as optimization and control of PTs by varying the geometry and loading conditions.
A game-theoretic account of implicature

I use game theory, decision theory, and situation theory to model a class of implicatures. Two types of relevance are distinguished and used to construct a model of Gricean communication between speaker and addressee.
NSF International’s Role in the Dietary Supplements and Nutraceuticals Industries

The dietary supplements industry has grown tremendously over the last several years, thanks in part to a regulatory structure that allows new products quick time-to-market. In turn, consumers have benefited from the wide range and availability of dietary supplements that help support a healthy lifestyle. With 68% of U.S. adults now labeling themselves as supplement users, nutritional product manufacturers have significant opportunity to grow their operations. However, with this growth comes responsibility to ensure that dietary supplements meet the safety and quality standards that consumers, and regulators, expect. NSF International, a global public health organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the food, water and consumer goods industries, discusses the importance of testing and certifying dietary supplements and what that process entails. The only American National Standard for dietary supplements and ingredients (NSF/ANSI Standard 173: Dietary Supplements) establishes labeling, contaminant and GMP (good manufacturing practices) requirements. NSF’s Dietary Supplement Certification program is based on this standard and helps protect consumers by testing for unsafe levels of contaminants and verifying that NSF Certified supplements contain only the ingredients listed on the label.
Sapience, Consciousness, and the Knowledge Instinct (Prolegomena to a Physical Theory)

The chapter describes a mathematical theory of sapience and consciousness: higher mental abilities including abilities for concepts, emotions, instincts, understanding, imagination, intuition, beauty, and sublimity. The knowledge instinct drives our understanding of the world. Aesthetic emotions, our needs for beauty and sublimity, are related to the knowledge instinct. I briefly discuss neurobiological grounds as well as difficulties encountered since the 1950s by previous attempts at mathematical modeling of the mind. Dynamic logic, the mathematics of the knowledge instinct, is related to cognitive and philosophical discussions about the mind and sapience.
Identification of influential proteins in the classical retinoic acid signaling pathway.

In the classical pathway of retinoic acid (RA) mediated gene transcription, RA binds to a nuclear hormone receptor dimer composed of retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR), to induce the expression of its downstream target genes. In addition to nuclear receptors, there are other intracellular RA binding proteins such as cellular retinoic acid binding proteins (CRABP1 and CRABP2) and cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, whose contributions to the RA signaling pathway have not been fully understood. The objective of this study was to compare the significance of various RA binding receptors, i.e. CRABP1, CRABP2, CYP and RAR in the RA signaling pathway. In this regard, we developed a mathematical model of the RA pathway, which is one of the few models, if not the only one, that includes all main intracellular RA binding receptors. We then performed a global sensitivity analysis (GSA) to investigate the contribution of the RA receptors to RA-induced mRNA production, when the cells were treated with a wide range of RA levels, from physiological to pharmacological concentrations. Our results show that CRABP2 and RAR are the most and the least important proteins, respectively, in controlling the model performance at physiological concentrations of RA (1–10 nM). However, at higher concentrations of RA, CYP and RAR are the most sensitive parameters of the system. Furthermore, we found that depending on the concentrations of all RA binding proteins, the rate of metabolism of RA can either change or remain constant following RA therapy. The cellular levels of CRABP1 are more important than that of CRABP2 in controlling RA metabolite formation at pharmacological conditions (RA = 0.1–1 μM). Finally, our results indicate a significant negative correlation between total mRNA production and total RA metabolite formation at pharmacological levels of RA. Our simulations indicate that the significance of the RA binding proteins in the RA pathway of gene expression strongly depends on intracellular concentration of RA. This study not only can explain why various cell types respond to RA therapy differently, but also can potentially help develop pharmacological methods to increase the efficacy of the drug.
Corporate diversification and abnormal returns

We examine the effect of corporate diversification by comparing abnormal returns between portfolios of diversified firms and focused firms. Our study covers US firms for the years 1976–2009 and compares abnormal returns over 12, 24, and 36-month windows. Initial univariate tests show mixed results, though after we control for firm, industry, and time effects, we find convincing evidence that diversified-firm portfolios outperform focused-firm portfolios over the 3-year term. Our findings indicate that the benefits of corporate diversification are captured over longer investing horizons.
Cells to Surgery Quiz: September 2014

QUESTIONS 1. Which of the following therapies results in the most rapid regeneration of normal skin when applied topically to the wound pictured above that was created by full-thickness skin excision? a. Low-dose tacrolimus monotherapy. b. AMD3100 monotherapy. c. AMD3100 + low-dose tacrolimus. d. Cyclosporin A. Cells to Surgery Quiz: September 2014 Robert Denison Griffith1, Leyre Falto-Aizpurua1, Mohammad-Ali Yazdani Abyaneh1 and Keyvan Nouri1 Journal of Investigative Dermatology (2014) 134, e5. doi:10.1038/jid.2014.279
Residual Stress Asymmetry in Thin Sheets of Double-Sided Shot Peened Aluminum

The local mechanical properties and residual stresses of a double-sided shot-peened aluminum alloy AA7050-T7451 sheet were measured by nanoindentation and simulated by the finite element method (FEM). The variation of the pileup area around the indentation due to residual stresses, as well as changes in hardness as a function of cold working, was assessed. Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the residual stress profile. When the indentation contact area was corrected to account for pileup induced from residual stresses, the hardness increased about 10% over the range of depths at which compressive residual stresses exist, indicating some strain hardening did occur. The maximum compressive residual stress for the second shot-peened surface is on the order of 10% higher than the first surface; this is ascribed to the sequencing during the peening process, in which the first side peening influenced the stress throughout the part thickness for these thin plate structures. The ability to couple FEM simulations and rapid experimental assessments of residual stresses and hardness allows for future prediction of part thickness effects in double-sided peening processes.
HST Spectrophotometry and Models for Solar Analogs

Absolute flux distributions for seven solar analog stars are measured from 0.3 to 2.5 \mu m by HST spectrophotometry.In order to predict the longer wavelength mid-IR fluxes that are required for JWST calibration, the HST SEDs are fit with Castelli & Kurucz model atmospheres; and the results are compared with fits from the MARCS model grid. The rms residuals in 10 broad band bins are all <0.5% for the best fits from both model grids. However, the fits differ systematically: The MARCS fits are 40-100 K hotter in T_{eff}, 0.25-0.80 higher in log g, 0.01-0.10 higher in log z, and 0.008-0.021 higher in the reddening E(B-V), probably because their specifications include different metal abundances. Despite these differences in the parameters of the fits, the predicted mid-IR fluxes differ by only ~1%; and the modeled flux distributions of these G stars have an estimated ensemble accuracy of 2% out to 30 \mu m.
Visualizing and Mining Social Media Data for Smart Emergency Management

Abstract. The ability of a community to prepare for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to disastrous events is defined as disaster resilience. Disaster resilience can be better understood by investigating human behaviors during the four phases of emergency management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. However, a major challenge is that data describing communities’ behaviors in different phases of emergency management are difficult to access through traditional databases. Social media such as Twitter is increasingly being used as an effective platform to observe human behaviors in disastrous events. These responses and behaviors could be better understood by analyzing real-time social media data through categorizing them into different phases of the emergency management. This research studies the Twitter use during 2012 Hurricane Sandy and 2017 Hurricane Harvey, which struck the U.S. northeast and south coasts, respectively. The objectives are fourfold: (1) to develop a Twitter data mining and visualization framework and a set of indexes for emergency management and resilience analysis; (2) to visualize the spatial-temporal patterns of disaster-related Twitter activities during the two hurricane events; (3) to examine and compare the social-geographical disparities of disaster-related Twitter activities during Sandy and Harvey; and (4) to build applications using social media data for smart management, including surveying human behaviors and emergency rescue.
Boosting H\to b\overline{b} with machine learning

High-pT Higgs production at hadron colliders provides a direct probe of the internal structure of the gg → H loop with the $$ H\to b\overline{b} $$ decay offering the most statistics due to the large branching ratio. Despite the overwhelming QCD background, recent advances in jet substructure have put the observation of the $$ gg\to H\to b\overline{b} $$ channel at the LHC within the realm of possibility. In order to enhance the sensitivity to this process, we develop a two-stream convolutional neural network, with one stream acting on jet information and one using global event properties. The neural network significantly increases the discovery potential of a Higgs signal, both for high-pT Standard Model production as well for possible beyond the Standard Model contributions. Unlike most studies for boosted hadronically decaying massive particles, the boosted Higgs search is unique because double b-tagging rejects nearly all background processes that do not have two hard prongs. In this context — which goes beyond state-of-the-art two-prong tagging — the network is studied to identify the origin of the additional information leading to the increased significance. The procedures described here are also applicable to related final states where they can be used to identify additional sources of discrimination power that are not being exploited by current techniques.
Heritability and genetic correlations of feed intake, body weight gain, residual gain, and residual feed intake of beef cattle as heifers and cows.

The cow herd consumes approximately 70% of the annual feed resources. To date, most genetic evaluations of feed intake in beef cattle have been made in growing animals and little information is available for mature cows. Genetic evaluations in mature cows have predominately been confined to lactating dairy cows and the relationship between feed intake as growing heifers and mature cows has not been addressed. It was the purpose of this study to estimate the heritability of feed intake when measured as growing heifers and mature cows and determine the genetic correlation between these measurements. Individual feed intake and BW gain were measured on 687 heifers and 622 5-yr-old cows. The heritability of average daily DMI (ADDMI) estimated in heifers was 0.84 ± 0.12 and 0.53 ± 0.12 in cows. The heritability of ADG estimated in heifers was 0.53 ± 0.12 and 0.34 ± 0.11 in cows. The genetic correlation between heifer and cow ADDMI was 0.84 ± 0.09. The genetic correlation between heifer and cow ADG was 0.73 ± 019. Heritability of residual feed intake in heifers was 0.25 ± 0.11 and 0.16 ± 0.10 in cows. Heritability for residual gain in heifers was 0.21 ± 0.11 and 0.14 ± 0.10 in cows. Feed intake and ADG are heritable and genetically correlated between heifers and cows. Selection for decreased feed intake and ADG in growing animals will probably have the same directional effects on mature cows.
Strategy Literacy: Seeking Competitive Advantage

Strategy, as a discipline of the holistic, is more important than ever, especially as our infrastructure converges, sectors intersect, and different disciplines overlap. These forces are creating a unique challenge and opportunity for companies to create new frameworks and management methodologies that reflect our rapidly changing environment. Strategy is grounded in one’s own experiences. If one has been in the situation before, one knows what to do. If the situation is new, one may fail while trying to make decisions. The energy strategist needs to know their strategic context quickly so as to diagnose what type of problem they may have and what responses are appropriate. Picking the right strategy will help the organization gain a competitive edge over their peers.
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Applications

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are a form of health insurance combining a range of coverage in a group basis. Physician groups and other medical professionals offer care through the HMO for a flat monthly rate with no deductibles. HMOs influenced financing and delivery of health care in the United States during the past several decades. By 1999, there were 643 HMO plans covering over 80 million people throughout the US (US Census 2000 on www.Allcountries.org).
Thermal Evolution Models

The study of Earth as an object whose history can be understood by application of physical laws dates back 200 years. This tradition is, however, rife with missteps related to as yet undiscovered physics or fundamentally incorrect assumptions. While the former is unavoidable, the latter amounts to self-inflicted wounds that may have forestalled scientific progress. Even in the absence of knowledge of initial conditions, linear mathematical relationships such as first order loss (e.g., radioactive decay) have proved useful in predicting Hadean conditions. However, more complex physical systems cannot be uniquely extrapolated back in time. For example, mantle convection, a highly non-linear, dispersive, chaotic system is, by its very nature, uninvertible. This fact has not inhibited generations of modeler’s from making ab initio predictions regarding early Earth evolution. Their results were initially limited by technological impediments and adoption of assumptions regarding the relationship between interior temperature and planetary heat loss that narrowed possible solutions. Radically new proposals regarding both the latter issue and discontinuous transitions between modes of heat loss have tempered earlier conclusions that plate-tectonic-like behavior could not arise on early Earth. Physical calculations have an important role to play in assessing the plausibility of Hadean geodynamic models, but should best be seen as “convenient fictions”.
Development of an Electronic Dashboard to Monitor Intra-operative Patient Core Temperatures

Background Maintaining normothermia is a complex process which requires collaboration from perioperative personnel throughout all phases of perioperative care. It's essential that a patient's core temperature remain within normothermic range (36°C-38°C) to mitigate risk for surgical site infections (SSI) as well as other complications. Our surgical site infection performance improvement team (SSI-PI) implemented several interventions to maintain normothermia for our surgical patients but lacked an efficient process to obtain intra-operative core temperatures from the medical record to measure the efficacy of these interventions. This need led to development of an electronic dashboard to streamline review of intra-operative core temperatures. Methods At a 1,541 bed academic medical center, an Infection Preventionist along with SSI-PI team members collaborated with our Joint Data Analytics Team to create an electronic dashboard which communicates with our electronic medical record system to collate intra-operative core temperatures that are recorded every minute. Colorectal, abdominal hysterectomy and total joint arthroplasty procedures were chosen as the primary focus to develop this interactive dashboard. The dashboards contents and format were selected based on feedback provided by SSI-PI team members. Data within the dashboard was validated for accuracy by an Infection Preventionist. Results The dashboard shows starting, final, mean, and median core temperature measurements and calculates the percentage of core temperatures below 36.0°C for each patient. All temperature metrics can be displayed as an aggregate as well. Data can be analyzed by date range and filtered by hospital within our healthcare system, procedure type, surgeon, anesthesiologist, warming method, and by infection status. Conclusions Overall, this electronic dashboard has helped our SSI-PI team better understand the core temperature distribution among patients during their surgical procedures. More importantly, it has allowed the SSI-PI team to measure the effectiveness of warming practices in order to better maintain patient normothermia throughout the perioperative period.
Complex evolutionary dynamics govern the diversity and distribution of biosynthetic gene clusters and their encoded specialized metabolites

ABSTRACT While specialized metabolites are thought to mediate ecological interactions, the evolutionary processes driving their distributions, particularly among closely related lineages, remain poorly understood. Here, we examine the evolutionary dynamics governing the diversity and distribution of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in 118 strains across nine described species within the marine actinomycete genus Salinispora. While previous evidence indicated that horizontal gene transfer largely contributed to BGC diversity, we find that a majority of BGCs in Salinispora genomes are maintained by processes of vertical descent. In particular, we identified species-specific signatures that were associated with both BGC distributions and the production of their encoded specialized metabolites. By analyzing nine experimentally characterized BGCs that range in conservation from species to genus specific, we find that the distribution of BGCs among Salinispora species is maintained by selection, while BGC diversification is constrained by recombination among closely related strains and strengthened by gain/loss events between species. Notably, the evolutionary processes driving BGC diversification had direct consequences for compound production, elucidating the mechanisms that lead to chemical diversification. These results support the concept that specialized metabolites, and their cognate BGCs, represent functional traits associated with ecological differentiation among Salinispora species. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Pitirim Sorokin and COVID-19

In 1942, the sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, a survivor of the post-WorldWar I pandemic, published "Man and Society in Calamity," a comparative study of the human response (including political responses) to four recurrent mass-death events. One was "pestilence." Sorokin reached many general conclusions. In Fall of 2020, the author of this paper (Wilkinson) held a seminar whose students attempted to re-evaluate Sorokin's conclusions, based upon their own experiences, observations, and mutual dialogue. In general, the seminar found that Sorokin's conclusions were mostly still applicable, but that his social theory of pestilence needed drastic changes as concerned (a) the gendered, class-based, ethnic and national distribution of pestilence and its consequences of pestilence, (b) the much-changed capacity (from 1942) for the scientific and technological response to pestilence, and (c) the much changed capacity (again, since 1942) for international-organizational response to pestilence. With these updates, Sorokin's theory of the human social response to pestilence can serve as guidance both for study and for policy in regard not only to the current pandemic, but for epidemics and pandemics yet to come.