cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
And John Deserved to be God Too

Despite Galsworthy’s explicit denial of “chivalry” as a motive for his concern for others, conveyed through the persona of Michael at the end of A Modern Comedy, he re-enacted at Bury in Sussex during the last seven years of his life a personification of the chivalrous feudal lord on a scale he had not earlier achieved or attempted. In the spring of 1926, having been without a country locus for almost three years, he suggested to Rudolf and Viola Sauter, themselves interested in giving up the house at Hendon that Rudo had inherited from his mother and moving to the country, that they look for a place near the south coast, one large enough for themselves with perhaps a “suite of rooms” that the Galsworthys could occupy whenever they chose. Galsworthy told Viola that they might offer £3,000.1 During the early summer, Rudo and Vi looked at houses along the south coast from Rye to a few miles west of Arundel. In August, they took the Galsworthys on a two-day tour to show them the houses they had found, as Rudo has narrated: None of our choices would suit, for one reason or another. We were just about to give up on the second day and stopped for lunch in Pulborough. Vi thought she’d give an agent she’d spoken to one last ring. She came back to the table saying, ‘There’s only a mansion in a little village called Bury,’ expecting us to leave, but JG said, ‘Oh, let’s have a look.’2
Gardening matters: a political ecology of female horticulturists, commercialization, water access, and food security in Botswana

The Government of Botswana and its partners have sought to address household food insecurity and poverty by experimenting with gardening initiatives of various sizes and commercial orientation. We use a multi-method approach, incorporating both econometric analysis and qualitative data, viewed through the theoretical lens of feminist political ecology, to determine how effective these women’s gardening initiatives are in addressing household food insecurity. We compare the relationship between commercial orientation and food security for women who rely on borehole water, tap water, and river water. We find that food security status improves with commercial orientation only when women are already experienced with the commercial market and/or when commercialization helps cover unavoidable water costs. When women have access to a reliable source of inexpensive water (as the river water users do), they can sustainably pursue subsistence-oriented horticulture and may in fact see greater food security benefits ...
High frequency ultrasound sacral images in the critically ill: Tissue characteristics versus visual evaluation

Abstract Purpose High frequency ultrasound (HFUS) systems may identify tissue injury. We compared HFUS tissue characteristics (dermal thickness and dermal density) with visual image examination. Methods Longitudinal study in critically ill mechanically ventilated adults, from three ICUs (Surgical Trauma, Medical Respiratory, Neuroscience) enrolled within 24 hours of airway intubation. Sacral HFUS images were obtained daily for up to seven days. Expert evaluation of the best image per day was completed and compared to HFUS generated tissue characteristics (dermal thickness and dermal density). Results Of the113 subjects with 1614 comparisons analysed, 73.2% to 84% were normal, and 6.3% to 11.8% of the comparisons had injury present but no change was noted in the injury observed. There were no significant differences in one-day comparisons among type of injury and mean dermal thickness (p = 0.6645) or dermal median intensity (adjusted p = 0.06-0.17). All other day-to-day comparisons were similarly non-significant. Conclusions We found no association among dermal density, dermal thickness and visual examination of changes in sacral HFUS images for any day-to-day comparison. The use of sacral HFUS as a screening tool for the development of tissue injury is in its infancy. Additional comparative studies should be conducted to identify its future clinical usefulness.
The Maslov index for Lagrangian pairs on R2n

Abstract We discuss a definition of the Maslov index for Lagrangian pairs on R 2 n based on spectral flow, and develop many of its salient properties. We provide two applications to illustrate how our approach leads to a straightforward analysis of the relationship between the Maslov index and the Morse index for Schrodinger operators on [ 0 , 1 ] and R .
The role of fitbits in corporate wellness programs: Does step count matter?

Striving to promote the health and well-being of their workforce and decrease insurance expenditures, many organizations are incorporating wearable fitness trackers into their corporate wellness programs. Research suggests that these devices encourage individuals to make healthier choices; however, little is known about the drivers and impact of fitness trackers on employee health and wellbeing. We seek to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the following research questions: (1) what is the impact of wearable fitness device use on employee health and well-being? (2) what is the impact of wearable fitness device use on step count? Our results indicate that extended use has a positive impact on employee well-being and step count, which fully mediates the relationship between feature use and health. These findings have implications for research into wearable fitness trackers and, more specifically, for research on the uses of wearable fitness devices in corporate wellness programs. (Less)
Statistics: Can We Prove an Association for a Rare Complication?

Background and Objectives. Microcatheters for continuous spinal anesthesia were withdrawn from the market after an apparent increase in the incidence of cauda equina syndrome (CES) associated with spinal anesthesia after introduction of these catheters. The objective of this review is to evaluate the historical data on CES after spinal anesthesia and to compare the result to the recent data. Methods. The literature on the use of statistics and on complications associated with spinal anesthesia was reviewed. Poisson probabilities were calculated to assess the probability of seeing the recent cases of CES, given the historical data. The sample size required for a prospective study was calculated. Results. Statistics cannot “prove” an hypothesis but can only support or fail to support it. Use and interpretation of the p value are discussed, as are possible problems with interpretation of the p value. The difference between causal and statistical inference is discussed. Probabilities for the occurrence of CES after microcatheter use were calculated. The sample size for a prospective study of this problem was calculated; a large sample is required. Conclusions. Statistics alone cannot support an association of microcatheters with CES after spinal anesthesia. Additional considerations suggest a possible association, but further study is required.
Hyper IgE Syndrome and Renal Cell Carcinoma

Hyper IgE Syndrome (HIES) is an immunodeficiency disorder characterized by increased serum levels of IgE, eczema, and recurrent cutaneous and pulmonary infections. In this report, we present, to our knowledge, the first documented case of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) found in a patient with HIES. The patient received infectious disease clearance prior to obtaining a partial nephrectomy which revealed clear cell histology. Both HIES and RCC have an immunological basis for their pathophysiology and may involve common pathways. Further studies may provide insight into any possible link and clinicians should be mindful of immunocompromised patients who present with risk factors for genitourinary malignancy.
Measures of Biologic Age in a Community Sample Predict Mortality and Age-Related Disease: The Framingham Offspring Study

Background We tested the association of biologic age (BA) measures constructed from different types of biomarkers with mortality and disease in a community-based sample. Methods In Framingham Offspring participants at Exams 7 (1998-2001, mean age 62 ± 10) and 8 (2005-2008, mean age 67 ± 9), we used the Klemera-Doubal method to estimate clinical BA and inflammatory BA and computed the difference (∆age) between BA and CA. Clinical ∆age was computed at Exam 2 (1979-1983, mean age 45 ± 10). At Exam 8, we computed measures of intrinsic and extrinsic epigenetic age. Participants were followed through 2014 for outcomes. Cox proportional hazards models tested the association of each BA estimate with each outcome adjusting for covariates. Results Sample sizes ranged from 2532 to 3417 participants. In multivariable models, each 1-year increase in clinical ∆age at Exam 2 (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.04-1.06, p < 2 × 10-16) and clinical ∆age and inflammatory ∆age at Exam 7 significantly increased the hazards of mortality and incident cardiovascular disease (HR = 1.01-1.05, p < 2 × 10-7), whereas inflammatory ∆age increased the hazards of cancer (HR = 1.01, p < .05). At Exam 8, increased clinical ∆age, inflammatory ∆age, and extrinsic epigenetic age all significantly increased the hazard of mortality (HR = 1.03-1.05, all p < .05); clinical ∆age and inflammatory ∆age increased cardiovascular disease risk (HR = 1.04-1.05, all p < .01); and clinical ∆age increased cancer risk (HR = 1.03, p < .01) when all three BA measures were included in the model. Intrinsic epigenetic age was not significantly associated with any outcome. Conclusions Our findings suggest BA measures may be complementary in predicting risk for mortality and age-related disease.
MR Imaging–based Multimodal Autoidentification of Perivascular Spaces (mMAPS): Automated Morphologic Segmentation of Enlarged Perivascular Spaces at Clinical Field Strength

This article presents a fully automated method with which to segment enlarged perivascular spaces (ePVSs) in commonly acquired clinical sequences that yields morphologic (linearity, volume, width) information on each ePVS, as well as total ePVS volume and count.
Isolation of Mouse Cardiac Neural Crest Cells and Their Differentiation into Smooth Muscle Cells

Cardiac neural crest cells (CNCCs) originate at the dorsal edge of the neural tube between the otic pit and the caudal edge of the 3rd somite, and migrate into the pharyngeal arches and the heart. We have shown that fibronectin (Fn1) plays an important role in the development of the CNCC by regulating the differentiation of CNCCs into vascular smooth muscle cells around pharyngeal arch arteries (Wang and Astrof, 2016). This protocol describes the isolation of CNCCs from the neural tube and from the caudal pharyngeal arches, and the differentiation of neural crest-derived cells into smooth muscle cells. This protocol was adapted from (Newgreen and Murphy, 2000; Pfaltzgraff et al., 2012).
Internet advertising: technology, ethics, and a serious difference of opinion

Exploring the technical and ethical issues surrounding Internet advertising and ad blocking.
Simulation of molecular beam epitaxy type II infrared superlattice growth

The modeling of molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth has potential benefits in identifying optimal growth conditions and predicting atomic-scale defects that may form in actual growth. We describe the use of simulation software to conduct realistic atomic-scale MBE growth simulations of Type II infrared superlattices.
Nogo-A interacts with TrkA to alter nerve growth factor signaling in Nogo-A-overexpressing PC12 cells.

The Nogo-A protein, originally discovered as a potent myelin-associated inhibitor of neurite outgrowth, is also expressed by certain neurons, especially during development and after injury, but its role in neuronal function is not completely known. In this report, we overexpressed Nogo-A in PC12 cells to use as a model to identify potential neuronal signaling pathways affected by endogenously expressed Nogo-A. Unexpectedly, our results show that viability of Nogo-A-overexpressing cells was reduced progressively due to apoptotic cell death following NGF treatment, but only after 24 h. Inhibitors of neutral sphingomyelinase prevented this loss of viability, suggesting that NGF induced the activation of a ceramide-dependent cell death pathway. Nogo-A over-expression also changed NGF-induced phosphorylation of TrkA at tyrosines 490 and 674/675 from sustained to transient, and prevented the regulated intramembrane proteolysis of p75NTR, indicating that Nogo-A was altering the function of the two neurotrophin receptors. Co-immunoprecipitation studies revealed that there was a physical association between TrkA and Nogo-A which appeared to be dependent on interactions in the Nogo-A-specific region of the protein. Taken together, our results indicate that Nogo-A influences NGF-mediated mechanisms involving the activation of TrkA and its interaction with p75NTR.
PARTITIONING DEPENDENCE IN NONSTATIONARY BEHAVIORAL SEQUENCES

Abstract: A fault common to most methods of communication analysis is that they assume the data are stationary. A method is developed that does not assume stationarity and that allows assessment of the significance of dependence between acts separated by an arbitrary number of steps. The method essentially involves fitting ascending-order nonstationary Markov processes to the data. The statistic, based on a chi-squared distribution, is analogous to a partial correlation coefficient, and may be transformed to an information measure. Application of the method to records of aggressive communication in the hermit crab Calcinus tibicen reveals not only communication between individuals but the presence of an underlying motivational state.
Work Well-Being

Historically, research and writing in work well-being has been turf of industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists, organizational behavior scientists, and management scholars (O’Brien, 1990; Tait, Padgett, & Baldwin, 1989). Work well-being has been a topic that sprung from McGregor’s Theory Y in management. In this chapter, I will describe selected findings from QOL research dealing with work well-being. I organized this discussion to address the following questions:
5.10 – The Microcirculation and Solute Exchange

The parts of the vasculature involved in solute and gas exchange are identified as the terminal arterioles, capillaries, and venules, with most occurring across the capillaries. Three types of capillaries are identified: continuous, fenestrated, and discontinuous. Exchange occurs through diffusion, bulk flow of fluid, and transcytosis. Passive diffusion obeys Fick’s law of diffusion and is determined by the area, partition coefficient, distance of diffusion, and the driving force, the difference in concentration between blood and tissue. The diffusive flow is analyzed assuming steady-state, diffusion-limited and flow-limited conditions of transfer are identified. The extraction ratio, E, is defined. The main method of increasing solute exchange is identified as increasing the number of open capillaries. Bulk flow across the capillaries obeys the filtration equation taking into account hydrostatic and osmotic pressure differences across the capillary. In most capillary beds, there is filtration of fluid out of the arteriolar end and reabsorption at the venule end, but more fluid is filtered than reabsorbed. The net filtration is returned to the circulation via the lymph.
Bandwagon Effect and Authority Bias

James was a 56-year-old man who arrived to the ER after being thrown from his motorcycle. He was taken to a trauma center and was unable to move his legs. A CT scan showed a significant spinal cord injury. The neurosurgeon started him on high-dose, intravenous methylprednisolone, a steroid commonly used in neurological diseases to decrease inflammation, as this had been the hospital protocol for the past 15 years. James developed a urinary tract infection several days later and never regained movement in his legs.
Simulating Economic Development in Transformation Economies: The Role of Free-Market Processes and Government Intervention

The purpose of the game described in this paper is to help students understand the impact of various strategies of government intervention on the dynamic free-market processes stimulating economic ...
A Lightweight Linear Actuating System for Finger Articulation: A Proof-of-Concept Study

This paper provides a proof of concept for an actuating system comprised of a linear actuator and a spring steel strip that enables bidirectional articulation of a finger by transmitting the force directly to the finger tip. This proposed design can be distinguished from other orthosis designs, which use rigid linkages or cables with DC motors or fluidic systems for force generation and transmission. We designed an experimental setup with a 3D-printed model finger to mimic a passive human finger on which the actuation system was mounted and tested. The finger was positioned such that it would curl upward to lift various masses when articulated by the actuating system to demonstrate the system’s force generation capability. We tested two linear actuators and two steel strips, using a wide range of masses to determine which would be the most suitable components for our design. We analyzed motion profiles, joint angles, force generation, and actuator stroke velocities during various experimental trials. Our results demonstrate that our actuating system is capable of generating sufficient forces and motions with an adequate response time to be used in the design of a hand orthosis for grasping/releasing assistance. From our tests, a prototype was designed with three linear actuators positioned on the dorsal side of the hand and actuated the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Future work will include sensor integration and performance evaluation of the orthosis.
Psychometric Evaluation of the Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome Yellow Flag (OSPRO-YF) Tool: Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity.

Abstract Psychological characteristics consistently predict clinical outcomes for musculoskeletal pain conditions. The Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome Yellow Flag (OSPRO-YF) tool assesses negative mood, fear-avoidance, and positive affect/coping. Psychometric testing of the tool is needed to guide clinical use. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to determine the OSPRO-YF factor structure (17- and 10-item versions) and test factor reliability and concurrent validity. Data from 2 musculoskeletal pain cohorts (n1 = 428; n2 = 440) were used. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified the factor structure in the first cohort; a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) validated the factor structure in the second cohort. EFA yielded 4 factors for the 17-item version (catastrophizing, positive coping, negative mood, fear-avoidance) and 3 factors for the 10-item version (negative coping, negative mood positive affect/coping). CFA indicated good fit for the10-item and 17-item models. Factors from both versions demonstrated moderate to good test-retest reliability. Regression results revealed that factors from both versions contributed significantly to variance in pain intensity, disability, and quality of life. Results indicate the OSPRO-YF is a reliable and valid multidimensional psychological assessment tool for individuals with musculoskeletal pain. Future studies are needed to establish the OSPRO-YF as a prognostic and treatment monitoring tool. Perspective This article presents the psychometric properties of the OSPRO-YF tool. Findings indicate the OSPRO-YF is a reliable and valid multidimensional psychological assessment tool for individuals with musculoskeletal pain. Implementation of the OSPRO-YF tool may better guide clinical decision making and may lead to improved musculoskeletal pain management strategies.
Knowledge Spillover Mechanisms

The typical question asked about knowledge spillovers is do they occur? The answer to this question in the empirical literature is mixed.
Servant Leadership and Change: A Review of the Literature

One of the enduring images of Christianity is that of Christ as the good shepherd, which is a relevant metaphor for servant leadership’s emphasis on promoting enduring and desirable organizational change. Functional organizational change is a global construct that reflects the overall efficacy of servant leadership in promoting desirable employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance outcomes (Roberts, 2016). Servant leadership emphasizes two meta-dimensions of stewardship and servanthood directly promoting efficacious change management practices (Roberts, 2015). This chapter will review a large sample of servant leader empirical studies and present clear evidence of its positive influence on the attributes of servant leadership that promote effective organizational change. The research literature and subsequent analysis for this chapter is based upon 138 empirical mostly quantitative studies published from 2004 to 2019. Change related studies were then selected from this group of 138 by key word search in the 138 article abstracts. A total of 18 change related studies were identified through this process. The 138 studies generated 285 empirical outcomes of which 275 (96.5%) are favorable in directionality regarding the influence of servant leadership on change related outcomes. There were only nine nonsignificant (3.3%) and one negative (0.35%) relationships identified. Of the 138 studies, a final grouping of 104 studies was selected for the final analysis through the elimination of nonchange related dependent variables.
The role of non-neuronal cells in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is controlled by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) released by the hypothalamus. Disruption of this system leads to impaired reproductive maturation and function, a condition known as hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). Most studies to date have focused on genetic causes of HH that impact neuronal development and function. However, variants may also impact the functioning of non-neuronal cells known as glia. Glial cells make up 50% of brain cells of humans, primates, and rodents. They include radial glial cells, microglia, astrocytes, tanycytes, oligodendrocytes, and oligodendrocyte precursor cells. Many of these cells influence the hypothalamic neuroendocrine system controlling fertility. Indeed, glia regulate GnRH neuronal activity and secretion, acting both at their cell bodies and their nerve endings. Recent work has also made clear that these interactions are an essential aspect of how the HPG axis integrates endocrine, metabolic, and environmental signals to control fertility. Recognition of the clinical importance of interactions between glia and the GnRH network may pave the way for the development of new treatment strategies for dysfunctions of puberty and adult fertility.
SMART Syndrome: Retrospective Review of a Rare Delayed Complication of Radiation.

BACKGROUND SMART (stroke-like migraine attacks after radiation therapy) is a rare, delayed complication of brain radiation. In this study, we wanted to review the spectrum of symptoms, neuroradiological findings, autoimmune status, and outcomes in SMART syndrome patients. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all consecutive adult patients (≥18 years) diagnosed with SMART syndrome at Mayo Clinic, Rochester between January 1995 and December 2018. RESULTS We identified 25 unique patients with SMART syndrome and a total of 31 episodes and 15 (60%) patients were male. The median age at onset was 46 (interquartile range [IQR] 43-55) years and the median latency of onset after the initial radiation was 21.6 (IQR 14.4-28.2) years. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed gyral edema and enhancement in all cases with the temporal (25, 80.6%) and parietal (23, 74.2%) lobes being the most commonly affected. The median follow-up of the patients in our cohort was 10 (IQR 6-32) weeks. On univariate analysis, factors associated with an increased risk of recurrent SMART episodes were female gender (odds ratio [OR] 8.1, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.1-52.6, p = 0.019) and absence of electrographic seizure discharges during initial symptoms (OR 7.4, 95% CI 1.1-45.9, p = 0.032). We could not identify an autoimmune etiology. Longer duration of symptoms (>10 weeks) correlated with an older age (p = 0.049), temporal lobe involvement (p < 0.001), and diffusion restriction (p = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS SMART is a syndrome with characteristic imaging findings and clinical features. Incomplete recovery by 10 weeks occurred in one-third of individuals and was associated with older age, temporal lobe involvement, and restricted diffusion on MRI.
Antimicrobial use quantification in adult dairy cows – Part 3 – Use measured by standardized regimens and grams on 29 dairies in the United States

This study describes antimicrobial use in terms of standardized regimens per cow year (REG/CY) and grams per cow year (GMS/CY) for 29 dairies in the United States during the years 2016 and 2017. To explore potential priorities for antimicrobial stewardship programs, these measures were stratified by both disease syndrome and antimicrobial class. Potential confounders of use measurements are discussed and challenges for measure interpretation are identified. When measured as REG/CY, the results indicate that mastitis is the disease syndrome with the greatest contribution to overall antimicrobial use. However, when GMS/CY is measured, metritis, lameness and unknown disease syndromes are also significant contributors. When use is stratified by antimicrobial class, measures of REG/CY indicate the greatest magnitude of use is the cephalosporin class. However, when measures of GMS/CY are stratified by drug class, use within the penicillin class contributes more than any other single class. These differences highlight the need for a more complete understanding of the relationship between antimicrobial use measures and their relationship to antimicrobial resistance selection pressure.
The general architecture of black fly-parasite interactions: Parasitism in lotic systems at a continental scale.

We examined the general architecture of interactions between stream-dwelling larval black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) and their common parasites in 1736 collections across North America. Mermithid nematodes (family Mermithidae), microsporidia (phylum Microsporidia), and the fungus Coelomycidium simulii Debaisieux (phylum Blastocladiomycota) infected larval black flies. We found similar continental distributions for these three parasite taxa across North America. At least one of these taxa was represented in 42.2% of all black fly collections. Species interactions in ecological networks typically imply that each link between species is equally important. By employing quantitative measures of host susceptibilities and parasite dependencies, we provide a more complete structure for host-parasite networks. The distribution of parasite dependencies and host susceptibilities were right-skewed, with low values indicating that most dependencies (parasites) and susceptibilities (hosts) were weak. Although regression analysis between host frequency and parasite incidence were highly significant, frequency analysis suggested that the distributions of parasites differ significantly among the four most common and closely related (same subgenus) species of hosts. A highly significant pattern of nestedness in our bipartite host-parasite network indicated that specialized parasites (i.e., those that interact with few host species) tend to occur as subsets of the most common hosts.
Routine Laboratory Screening for Acetaminophen and Salicylate Ingestion in Preadmission Psychiatric Patients Is Unnecessary.

Study objective Screening preadmission psychiatric patients for acetaminophen or salicylate overdose is unnecessary in the absence of specific clinical concern for medication ingestion. Methods This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of 3 Veteran’s Administration emergency departments that medically evaluate patients prior to psychiatric admission. During the 10-year study period, these departments followed screening protocols that required the measurement of acetaminophen and salicylate levels on every patient prior to psychiatric admission. We examined all the acetaminophen and salicylate assays performed to see if any that were sent for screening led to a diagnosis of overdose and/or the administration of antidotal therapy. Results A total of 33,439 combined acetaminophen and salicylate assays were sent on 10,482 unique patients over approximately 17,000 patient encounters. An estimated 29,000 assays were sent for screening purposes only—87% (95% confidence interval [CI] 85% to 89%) of salicylate assays and 85% (95% CI 83% to 87%) of acetaminophen assays. We identified 43 patients with elevated acetaminophen levels and 11 with elevated salicylate levels. Among these patients, only 6 in total had their levels drawn for screening purposes only, with no history of suspected ingestion; in all but 1 patient, the levels were only slightly above the reference range. None of the patients with elevated levels identified by screening had clinical toxicity or received antidotal therapy. Conclusion Over a 10-year period, 3 Veteran’s Administration emergency departments performed psychiatric preadmission screening protocols with acetaminophen and salicylate assays approximately 17,000 times without diagnosing a single case of toxicity. Our results suggest that this practice is unnecessary and wasteful.
Searching for CNN Architectures for Remote Sensing Scene Classification

Convolutional neural network (CNN) models for remote sensing (RS) scene classification are largely built on pretrained networks that are trained on the general-purpose ImageNet dataset in computer vision. The pretrained networks can easily be adapted for transfer learning in RS scene classification. However, the accuracy of transfer learning may decline as RS images are considerably different from other images. Thus, the pretrained CNN model learned on ImageNet may not be sufficient for the accurate classification of RS image scenes. Furthermore, most of the pretrained models have large memory footprints, which place a further burden on computational requirements. In this work, we explore SLGE-based random search with early stopping in the search for CNN architectures for both single-label and multilabel RS scene classification tasks. In SLGE, the architecture search space is capable of representing multipath Inception-like modular cells with skip-connections similar to human-expert designs. The experimental results on four RS scene classification benchmarks show that the automatically discovered networks demonstrate the promising capability in classifying multispectral satellite image scenes compared with fine-tuned pretrained CNN models. Using fewer parameters with 0.56B FLOPS, our best network achieves a classification accuracy rate of 96.56% and 96.10% on NWPU-RESISC45 single-label and AID single-label RGB aerial image datasets, respectively, and the classification accuracy rate of 99.76% and 93.89% on EuroSAT single-label and BigEarthNet multilabel multispectral satellite image datasets, respectively. The results position our approach among the best of the state of the art.
Structure of the Streptococcus pyogenes NADase translocation domain and its essential role in toxin binding to oropharyngeal keratinocytes.

The emergence and continued dominance of a Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus, GAS) M1T1 clonal group is temporally correlated with acquisition of genomic sequences that confer high level expression of co-toxins streptolysin O (SLO) and NAD+-glycohydrolase (NADase). Experimental infection models have provided evidence that both toxins are important contributors to GAS virulence. SLO is a cholesterol-dependent pore-forming toxin capable of lysing virtually all types of mammalian cells. NADase, which is composed of an N-terminal translocation domain and C-terminal glycohydrolase domain, acts as an intracellular toxin that depletes host cell energy stores. NADase is dependent on SLO for internalization into epithelial cells, but its mechanism of interaction with the cell surface and details of its translocation mechanism remain unclear. In this study we found that NADase can bind oropharyngeal epithelial cells independently of SLO. This interaction is mediated by both domains of the toxin. We determined by NMR the structure of the translocation domain to be a β-sandwich with a disordered N-terminal region. The folded region of the domain has structural homology to carbohydrate binding modules. We show that excess NADase inhibits SLO-mediated hemolysis and binding to epithelial cells in vitro, suggesting NADase and SLO have shared surface receptors. This effect is abrogated by disruption of a putative carbohydrate binding site on the NADase translocation domain. Our data are consistent with a model whereby interactions of the NADase glycohydrolase domain and translocation domain with SLO and the cell surface increase avidity of NADase binding and facilitate toxin-toxin and toxin-cell surface interactions. Importance NADase and streptolysin O (SLO) are secreted toxins important for pathogenesis of group A Streptococcus, the agent of strep throat and severe invasive infections. The two toxins interact in solution and mutually enhance cytotoxic activity. We now find that NADase is capable of binding to the surface of human cells independently of SLO. Structural analysis of the previously uncharacterized translocation domain of NADase suggests that it contains a carbohydrate binding module. The NADase translocation domain and SLO appear to recognize similar glycan structures on the cell surface, which may be one mechanism through which NADase enhances SLO pore-forming activity during infection. Our findings provide new insight into the NADase toxin and its functional interactions with SLO during streptococcal infection.
A New Algorithmic Model for the Transient Semiconductor Problem

After an overview of time-dependent semiconductor device modeling, giving the development of the’ standard’ drift/diffusion model, we indicate why/when/how the model might be (radically) modified. The new proposed model has an algorithmic (computational) form but is not derived in the usual way as an approximation to a previously prescribed partial differential equation model — rather, it is introduced directly from ‘first principles’.
Nonlinear coupling network to simulate the development of the r mode instability in neutron stars. II. Dynamics

R-modes of a rotating neutron star are unstable because of the emission of gravitational radiation. We explore the saturation amplitudes of these modes determined by nonlinear mode-mode coupling. Modelling the star as incompressible allows the analytic computation of the coupling coefficients. All couplings up to $n=30$ are obtained, and analytic values for the shear damping and mode normalization are presented. In a subsequent paper we perform numerical simulations of a large set of coupled modes.
Molecular advances in the cell biology of SARS-CoV and current disease prevention strategies

In the aftermath of the SARS epidemic, there has been significant progress in understanding the molecular and cell biology of SARS-CoV. Some of the milestones are the availability of viral genome sequence, identification of the viral receptor, development of an infectious cDNA clone, and the identification of viral antigens that elicit neutralizing antibodies. However, there is still a large gap in our understanding of how SARS-CoV interacts with the host cell and the rapidly changing viral genome adds another variable to this equation. Now the SARS-CoV story has entered a new phase, a search for preventive strategies and a cure for the disease. This review highlights the progress made in identifying molecular aspects of SARS-CoV biology that is relevant in developing disease prevention strategies. Authors conclude that development of successful SARS-CoV vaccines and antivirals depends on the progress we make in these areas in the immediate future.
Superconductor requirements and characterization for high field accelerator magnets

The 2014 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) strategic plan for U.S. High Energy Physics (HEP) endorses a continued world leadership role in superconducting magnet technology for future Energy Frontier Programs. This includes 10 to 15 T Nb 3 Sn accelerator magnets for LHC upgrades and a future 100 TeV scale pp collider, and as ultimate goal that of developing magnet technologies above 20 T based on both High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) and Low Temperature Superconductors (LTS) for accelerator magnets. To achieve these objectives, a sound conductor development and characterization program is needed and is herein described. This program is intended to be conducted in close collaboration with U.S. and International labs, Universities and Industry.
Efficient syntheses of [3-15N]uracil and [3-15N]thymine

Regiospecific syntheses of [3-15N]uracil and [3-15N]thymine are described using [15N]ammonium sulfate as a source of labeled nitrogen. The overall yields are excellent, and the reactions are amenable to production of multigram quantities of labeled material.
AWARDS OF ATTORNEYS' FEES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES: THE SOVEREIGN IS STILL SOMEWHAT IMMUNE

In Alyeska Pipeline Servtce Co. v. Wilderness Soctety 1 the United States Supreme Court wrote: "In the United States, the prevailing litIgant IS ordinarily not entitled to collect a reasonable attorneys fee from the loser"2 ThIS IS known as the Amencan Rule" and denves from the common law It has, however, numer ous statutory exceptIons; some, if not most, of whICh Congress en­ acted to encourage pnvate litIgatIon to Implement public policy 3 It also has two major common law exceptIons, the common benefit doctrme and the bad faith doctnne, whICh denve from the histonc authority of federal courts to do equity m partIcular situatIons. 4 Apart from the Amencan rule, awards of attorneys fees agamst the United States traditIonally were barred at common law under the sovereIgn Immunity doctnne. The sovereIgn Immunity doctnne not only protects the government m suits agamst it, but also pre­ cludes a party from obtammg court fees when he wms a Judgment agamst the government. 5 ThIS artICle will exam me Congress adop­ tIon of the sovereIgn Immunity doctnne to bar fee awards agamst the United States. It will examme the availability of the common law exceptIons to the Amencan rule m suits agaInst the United States and, m the appendix, it will present the statutory exceptIons Congress has created to allow fee awards m such suits. Finally it will discuss the WIsdom of contInumg to bar awards of attorneys fees agaInst the United States.
Radiation exposure of ovaries during hysterosalpingography.

Abstract Radiation exposure to an area approximating the location of the ovaries was measured in 29 patients undergoing hysterosalpingography. A thermoluminescent crystal technique was used for some patients; a pocket dosimeter placed into the upper vagina was used for additional patients. Radiation dosage varied from 75 to 550 millirads. The weight of the patient did not affect the amount of radiation delivered to the gonads. The duration of fluroscopic time was the major factor increasing dosage. A discussion of hysterosalpingographic technique and suggestions for decreasing gonadal irradiation during hysterosalpingography are included.
Ukraine in the WTO: Effects and Prospects

Over 6 years have passed since Ukraine became a member of the WTO. The accession has had both positive and negative effects on the country’s economy. The process of accession took place in the absence of any definite economic development strategy. As a consequence, the national manufacturers were hurt in many respects. Ukraine acceded to the WTO on terms rather unfavourable for the country, with little to no regard for the opinions of experts and the business milieu. That resulted in losses for the most vulnerable sectors of Ukraine’s economy. Those are the industries which produce high value-added products, including machine building, consumer goods industry and food-processing. This goes to show that the country’s WTO membership was detrimental for the innovation-oriented industries involving high technologies. The branches of the real sector of the economy which produce low value-added products (such as agriculture, chemical industry, and metallurgy) fared better. Despite the patterns of poor judgment shown, there are certain positive effects of Ukraine’s WTO membership. Among them one can mention the possibility to conduct equitable dialogue with the country’s foreign trade partners, enhancement of competitive advantages of the major producers in the real sector, provision of incentives to harnessing new technologies, improvement of production quality in order to enhance the competitiveness on the global market. Ukraine’s experience shows that it is obviously necessary for Russia to make efforts in order to ensure that Russia’s WTO membership would advantage the national economy and the real sector entities. Russia’s WTO membership can give a great impetus to the country development, but only if relevant domestic reforms will adapt Russian economic and legislative institutions to the conditions of the WTO multilateral trade agreements.
Multiple-parameter coupling metrics for layered component-based software

Coupling represents the degree of interdependence between two software components. Understanding software dependency is directly related to improving software understandability, maintainability, and reusability. In this paper, we analyze the difference between component coupling and component dependency, introduce a two-parameter component coupling metric and a three-parameter component dependency metric. An important parameter in both these metrics is coupling distance, which represents the relevance of two coupled components. These metrics are applicable to layered component-based software. These metrics can be used to represent the dependencies induced by all types of software coupling. We show how to determine coupling and dependency of all scales of software components using these metrics. These metrics are then applied to Apache HTTP, an open-source web server. The study shows that coupling distance is related to the number of modifications of a component, which is an important indicator of component fault rate, stability and subsequently, component complexity.
Budget Deficits and Interest Rates in Germany

This study uses the basic tools of cointegration to determine whether there exists a long-term relationship between budget deficits and nominal interest rates in Germany. Maximum eigenvalue, trace, and likelihood ratio tests all affirm that there does apparently exist a long-term relationship between the budget deficit and the nominal interest rate. Accordingly, regression studies and formal causality tests have a reasonable basis for investigating whether budget deficits lead to higher interest rates in Germany.
Can pseudo-homogeneous reactor models be valid?

Abstract In this paper, we discuss a packed-bed catalytic reactor model in which we take into account axial dispersion in the fluid phase, and internal diffusion and reaction within individual particles; in other words a heterogeneous or two-phase model. From an analysis of this model, we arrive at conditions for limiting cases to be valid. Thus we find situations under which internal gradients in particles may be neglected, conditions for admitting quasi-static assumptions for either the particle phase or the fluid phase, and so on. From this analysis , we find that the use of steady-state effectiveness factors (i.e. quasi-static assumption for the particle phase) can be made only when diffusion limitations in the particles are too strong to permit worthwhile conversion in the reactor. In particular, from the perspective of the more realistic heterogeneous reactor model, the commonly used pseudo-homogeneous reactor models are found to be invalid for transient analysis. This raises fresh questions about chemical reactor stability viewed through pseudo-homogeneous models and the need to revise them with heterogeneous models. The analysis in this paper was accomplished through an operator-theoretic approach consisting of an investigation of the spectral properties of the self-adjoint operator representing the heterogeneous model. This analysis is an important prerequisite for a more realistic treatment of reactor steady-state multiplicity and stability viewed from the perspective of heterogeneous models. The power of the operator-theoretic approach lies in the fact that the conclusions of this paper are valid for considerably more general models than those actually used herein.
Contribution of human factors to incidents in the petroleum refining industry

Human factors consider how effectively and safely personnel interact with processes. It can cover a variety of issues, from facility design to procedures to overall management systems. In order to minimize human factors as potential causes for incidents, the causal relationship of human factors to safety incidents must be understood. An examination of previous incidents and incident investigations can provide valuable insight into the types of human factors that most often contribute to human error and, ultimately, to loss events. The contribution of human factors to previous incidents in the U.S. petroleum refining industy are described in this paper. First, the data collection effort, which resulted in the documentation of over 130 incidents that occurred during the past 8 years, is examined. Next, the analysis approach is discussed, including a description of the characterization scheme used to identify cause-contribution factors with specific incidents. Lastly, the results of the analysis are presented and valuable insights into the most common contributors are discussed.
Gender Role Beliefs and Parents’ Support for Athletic Participation:

Pay-to-play fees in public schools place more support for sport participation in the hands of parents; this may disproportionately affect the ability of girls to garner the benefits of sports. Using an online survey of a national sample of parents (N = 814), we examined the relationship between parents’ gender role beliefs, parents’ beliefs about the benefits and monetary value of sports, and the types of sports their daughters play. The results indicate that parents placed somewhat greater value on sport for sons, than for daughters, both ideologically and financially. Gender role beliefs played a small, but significant role, in shaping parents’ beliefs about their daughters’ involvement in sport, and the types of sports their daughters play.
The variability of individual charitable giving in the US

Using five-year panel data, this study examines the various dimensions of the variability of individual charitable contributions at all income levels: the variation in the generosity of individuals and the variability of the individuals' giving over a five-year period. The study finds considerable variability of both kinds. One finding is that the variability of generosity is substantially greater at the higher income levels. Another finding is that variability is substantially less pronounced by observing a five-year period of an individual's generosity than by observing annual behaviour. One consequence is that a relatively small proportion of donors account for a large proportion of total giving. The popular reputation of the wealthy for generosity is actually due to the exceptional generosity of a minority rather than widespread generosity among the wealthy. Differences in generosity and variability of giving over time are both more pronounced among high-income donors. Results of the study have implications for research on charitable giving, for predicting the effects of tax policy changes on giving, and for fund-raising.