cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Studies in tetrahydrofuran synthesis. Complete β-lactone formation in the bromolactonization of A 2,4-disubstituted β, γ-unsaturated carboxylic acid

Abstract A dienolate aldol/bromolactonization sequence has been used to demonstrate a new stereocontrolled route to protected α-(1-hydroxyalkyl) 2-oxetanones, and thus specifically functionalized tetrahydrofurans.
Structural analysis of the human cannabinoid receptor one carboxyl-terminus identifies two amphipathic helices.

Recent research has implicated the C-terminus of G-protein coupled receptors in key events such as receptor activation and subsequent intracellular sorting, yet obtaining structural information of the entire C-tail has proven a formidable task. Here, a peptide corresponding to the full-length C-tail of the human CB1 receptor (residues 400–472) was expressed in E.coli and purified in a soluble form. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy revealed that the peptide adopts an α-helical conformation in negatively charged and zwitterionic detergents (48–51% and 36–38%, respectively), whereas it exhibited the CD signature of unordered structure at low concentration in aqueous solution. Interestingly, 27% helicity was displayed at high peptide concentration suggesting that selfassociation induces helix formation in the absence of a membrane mimetic. NMR spectroscopy of the doubly labeled ( 15 N- and 13 C-) C-terminus in dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) identified two amphipathic α-helical domains. The first domain, S401-F412, corresponds to the helix 8 common to G protein-coupled receptors while the second domain, A440-M461, is a newly identified structural motif in the distal region of the carboxyl-terminus of the receptor. Molecular modeling of the C-tail in DPC indicates that both helices lie parallel to the plane of the membrane with their hydrophobic and hydrophilic faces poised for critical interactions.
Providing reliable information to clients: The case of environmental remediation

Abstract This article provides an overview and discusses the implications for the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements for environmental remediation liabilities. The overview and discussion is based upon the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Statement of Position (SOP) 96-1 “Environmental Remediation Liabilities.” The article concludes with a discussion of the CPAs reporting responsibility and related issues with respect to this major contemporary issue. A primary goal of CPA firms is to provide quality service to clients, In the realm of financial reporting, quality service means providing clients with reliable information. An increasing number of small and large businesses are exposed to high costs and large potential liability for cleanup of environmentally hazardous material. Certified public accountants who provide compilation, review, or audit services with respect to a non-public entity's financial statements need to be aware of the disclosure and reporting implications of companies confronted with disposal and cleanup of hazardous material.
Adjoint Wilson lines and the effective gluon mass

Abstract The effective mass of the gluon is defined in terms of the energy stored in the string between adjoint sources. For SU(2) lattice gauge theory, I present Monte Carlo evidence that this mass scales correctly in the weak coupling regime and hence is non-zero and finite in the continuum limit. Various systematic errors (chief among them are temperature effects) still make it difficult to give a precise numerical value for this mass at zero temperature, but a range of 500 to 800 MeV seems reasonable (using a value for the string tension of (420 MeV) 2 ). Some attempt is made to relate this quantity to a true “constituent gluon mass.”
Job-Match Quality as an Error Component and the Wage-Tenure Profiler A Comparison and Test of Alternative Estimators

The job-matching hypothesis implies that the disturbance of the standard-wage equation is correlated with one of the regressors, tenure, causing an overestimation of the effect of tenure on wages. This hypothesis is tested and consistent estimates of wage-equation parameters obtained using the methods of Hausman (1978). The approach treats job-match quality as a component of the disturbance term, and an error-components estimator is compared to a modified fixed-effects estimator. The results reject the hypothesis of no correlation between the disturbance term and tenure, but the estimated value of the tenure effect is contrary to the matching model. Other models that may be consistent with these results are discussed.
Studies on the Epidemiology of Colitis Due to Clostridium difficile in Hamsters

Hamsters treated with vancomycin developed enterocolitis significantly more often in a conventional animal room than in a room designed to prevent cross-infection with Clostridium difficile. In the conventional room C. difficile was isolated from cages, food racks, floors, buckets, the hands of caretakers, and the stools of animals with enterocolitis but not from untreated hamsters, air, or food from freshly opened bags. C. difficile was not isolated from environmental sources in the clean room. It was not possible to determine which of the sources of the organism was most important in its spread. Cross-infection with C. difficile may be important in the pathogenesis of antibiotic-associated enterocolitis in hamster colonies.
A Flat-Field Diffractive Landscape Lens: Design And Performance

A single diffractive lens with a separated aperture stop can be corrected for third-order coma, astigmatism, and Petzval curvature of field. This simple system provides a high quality imaging over a much wider field of view than conventional optically recorded holographic optical elements. This lens is compared with other lenses using modulation transfer function techniques. The correction of spherical aberration is achieved with a suitably designed Schmidt-camera-type aspheric corrector plate. The telecentric layout and distortion of the lens are shown to be suitable for use as a Fourier transform lens.
The mesoscale predictability experiment (MPEX)

AbstractThe Mesoscale Predictability Experiment (MPEX) was conducted from 15 May to 15 June 2013 in the central United States. MPEX was motivated by the basic question of whether experimental, subsynoptic observations can extend convective-scale predictability and otherwise enhance skill in short-term regional numerical weather prediction.Observational tools for MPEX included the National Science Foundation (NSF)–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Gulfstream V aircraft (GV), which featured the Airborne Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System mini-dropsonde system and a microwave temperature-profiling (MTP) system as well as several ground-based mobile upsonde systems. Basic operations involved two missions per day: an early morning mission with the GV, well upstream of anticipated convective storms, and an afternoon and early evening mission with the mobile sounding units to sample the initiation and upscale feedbacks of the convection.A total of 18 intensive observing periods (IOPs) were compl...
Eocene and Oligocene Otay-Type Waxy Bentonites of San Diego County and Baja California: Chemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology and Plate Tectonic Implications

Otay-type waxy bentonites of San Diego County are illite-smectite (I-S) with 85% diocta-hedral smectite mixed with dioctahedral illite showing a Reichweite of 0. Primary or secondary waxy bentonite exposures are found in all Eocene and Oligocene formations of southwest San Diego County and western Baja California north of Ensenada. Primary waxy bentonites formed when hot volcanic ash fell into quiet marine or brackish coastal water. The transformation from glass to bentonite occurred within hours or days but consolidation of the bentonite into its waxy consistency took longer. Primary waxy bentonite consists of 95 wt% I-S with the remainder consisting of volcanic glass shards, sanidine fourling twins, hexagonal biotite crystals and amorphous manganese oxides and hydroxides. Secondary waxy bentonite is primary waxy bentonite that was mixed with nonvolcanic detritus either before consolidation or after consolidation and subsequent erosion. The hydrophobic character of primary waxy bentonite allows it to reflect, accurately, the chemistry and petrology of the original volcanic material. Chemical analysis of primary waxy bentonites shows that the original lava was subduction-related and exhibited petrologic variations nearly identical to those of the modern Cascades of the northern Pacific coast of the lower United States. Primary and secondary waxy bentonites as well as smectites derived from the weathering of volcanic ash that fell outside the waxy bentonite-producing environments are the previously unrecognized products of extensive Eocene and Oligocene subduction-related volcanic activity. Baja California exposures of waxy bentonite demonstrate pre-Pliocene subduction tectonics that gave way to rifting tectonics.
Arbitrary eigenvalue assignments for linear time-varying multivariable control systems

The problem of eigenvalue assignments for a class of linear time-varying multivariable systems is considered. Using matrix operators and canonical transformations, it is shown that a time-varying system that is 'lexicography-fixedly controllable' can be made via state feedback to be equivalent to a time-invariant system whose eigenvalues are arbitrarily assignable. A simple algorithm for the design of the state feedback is provided.
Marginal Causal Effect of Year of Hospitalization on Sepsis Diagnosis

s / Annals of Epidemiology 24 (2014) 682e702 691 cross-classified mixed-effects model was fit, treating drugs as nested within drug-classes, and patients and drugs as cross-classified. Results: Adherence varied within, but overlapped between drug-classes; for example, average adherence to statins ranged from 64.8% (rosuvastatin) to 75.1% (pravastatin), and beta-blockers from 63.8% (timolol) to 79.6% (nadolol). Most variance in adherence was attributable to time-variant drugand patient-characteristics (65.9%), followed by time-invariant drug-specific attributes (29.2%); invariant patient characteristics and drug-class together explained 4.9%. Substantial variance within drug-class remained after adjusting for age, years living with diabetes, illness severity, number of medications, healthcare access, cost, socioeconomic status, sex, routes of administration, adverse events reported by drug, and combination-drugs. Conclusions: The majority of the variation in adherence is attributable to modifiable factors, including the actual drug prescribed. Adjusted differences in adherence by drug within classes may be used to select drugs with better adherence profiles. Further research is needed to understand variation in adherence at the drug-level.
Instructional and Design Elements that Support Effective Use of Virtual Worlds: What Graduate Student Work Reveals about Second Life

To determine if and how using immersive virtual platforms might further educational purposes, the report examines three graduate, teacher-education, online courses that were conducted in part in Second Life (SL). By studying students' SL-related debriefings and assignments, by considering the type, format, and scheduling of SL events, and by integrating the instructor's knowledge of the courses' progression, a perspective on the most effective instructional and design elements emerges from these three different courses. In all courses, students quickly become acclimated, overcoming the resistance of some to working in a virtual environment. Students made rich, expansive (beyond the direct course readings and experiences) comments and suggestions about the real world in which they did or would soon work; these comments sprang from the collegial interactions and virtual experiences within SL. However, students needed help becoming comfortable with the technology and scheduling concerns arose. This report co...
Genomic Differentiation Between Temperate and Tropical Australian Populations of Drosophila melanogaster

Determining the genetic basis of environmental adaptation is a central problem of evolutionary biology. This issue has been fruitfully addressed by examining genetic differentiation between populations that are recently separated and/or experience high rates of gene flow. A good example of this approach is the decades-long investigation of selection acting along latitudinal clines in Drosophila melanogaster. Here we use next-generation genome sequencing to reexamine the well-studied Australian D. melanogaster cline. We find evidence for extensive differentiation between temperate and tropical populations, with regulatory regions and unannotated regions showing particularly high levels of differentiation. Although the physical genomic scale of geographic differentiation is small—on the order of gene sized—we observed several larger highly differentiated regions. The region spanned by the cosmopolitan inversion polymorphism In(3R)P shows higher levels of differentiation, consistent with the major difference in allele frequencies of Standard and In(3R)P karyotypes in temperate vs. tropical Australian populations. Our analysis reveals evidence for spatially varying selection on a number of key biological processes, suggesting fundamental biological differences between flies from these two geographic regions.
Comparison of scanning and focal-plane-array cameras for IR thermal wave imaging

Thermal wave imaging (TWI) has typically relied upon HgCdTe optomechanical scanning radiometers in the 8 - 12 micrometers spectral range for image acquisition. However, recent improvements in manufacturing technology, spatial resolution, and device efficiency make PtSi and InSb focal plane array (FPA) cameras an attractive alternative in the 2 - 5 micrometers spectral range. We have compared the performance of off-the-shelf imagers of both scanning HgCdTe, and PtSi and InSb FPA types, in typical TWI applications, such as boxcar image processing of plastics and metals. The relative merits of detecting transient surface temperature variations in the 2 - 5 and 8 - 12 micrometers bands are discussed.
Periodic and Strongly Free Automorphisms on Inclusions of Type IIIλ Factors

We prove that a periodic and strongly free automorphism acting on a strongly amenable inclusion Q ⊂ P of type IIIλ factors, λ ∈ (0,1), with a common discrete decomposition, is classified, up to conjugacy, by its period, its standard invariant on the type II core of Q ⊂ P, and its Connes–Takesaki module.
A randomized clinical trial to dismantle components of cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in female victims of interpersonal violence.

The purpose of this experiment was to conduct a dismantling study of cognitive processing therapy in which the full protocol was compared with its constituent components—cognitive therapy only (CPT-C) and written accounts (WA)—for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid symptoms. The intent-to-treat (ITT) sample included 150 adult women with PTSD who were randomized into 1 of the 3 conditions. Each condition consisted of 2 hr of therapy per week for 6 weeks; blind assessments were conducted before treatment, 2 weeks following the last session, and 6 months following treatment. Measures of PTSD and depression were collected weekly to examine the course of recovery during treatment as well as before and after treatment. Secondary measures assessed anxiety, anger, shame, guilt, and dysfunctional cognitions. Independent ratings of adherence and competence were also conducted. Analyses with the ITT sample and with study completers indicate that patients in all 3 treatments improved substantially on PTSD and depression, the primary measures, and improved on other indices of adjustment. However, there were significant group differences in symptom reduction during the course of treatment whereby the CPT-C condition reported greater improvement in PTSD than the WA condition.
The Jean Rouch Tribute Website at DER: A Collaborative Work

I first encountered Jean Rouch on February 19, 2004, the day after he died. Looking for a new research and writing project, I had walked into Documentary Educational Resources in Watertown, Massachusetts, to meet with Cynthia Close, DER's director. Cynthia spoke about the company's history, about DER's founder John Marshall, and about his longtime friend and fellow ethnographic filmmaker, Jean Rouch. Cynthia and John were both shocked and saddened by the news of Rouch's death. As we talked, Cynthia had the inspiration that DER should create an online homage (see Figure 12). We agreed to talk again and I left with two books-Paul Stoller's The Cinematic Griot and Steve Feld's
Filter design for N-port DC-DC converters

Modern power converters use input filters as power conditioners to guarantee the quality of equipment performance. Input filters have various topologies with primary objectives to reduce noise and improve system reliability. However, a poor implementation, in turn, can often hinder the dynamic performance and the stability of the converter. In this paper, the design of a single-section low-pass LC filter for N-port DC-DC converters is addressed. Mathematical expressions for the minimum sizing of the filter components are established using the voltage and current ripple. Frequency response analyses based on the converter state-space model are employed to study its performance. A linear feedback controller is then designed to stabilize the system. The LC filter design procedure is demonstrated for a 4-port DC-DC converter tied to the utility grid, a battery bank, a renewable energy source, and a load.
Targeting and mimicking collagens via triple helical peptide assembly

As the major structural component of the extracellular matrix, collagen plays a crucial role in tissue development and regeneration. Since structural and metabolic abnormalities of collagen are associated with numerous debilitating diseases and pathologic conditions, the ability to target collagens of diseased tissues could lead to new diagnostics and therapeutics. Collagen is also a natural biomaterial widely used in drug delivery and tissue engineering, and construction of synthetic collagen-like materials is gaining interests in the biomaterials community. The unique triple helical structure of collagen has been explored for targeting collagen strands, and for engineering collagen-like functional assemblies and conjugates. This review focuses on the forefront of research activities in the use of the collagen mimetic peptide for both targeting and mimicking collagens via its triple helix mediated strand hybridization and higher order assembly.
Single-Crystalline and Twinned Zn3P2 Nanowires: Synthesis, Characterization, and Electronic Properties

We describe the synthesis of zigzag-shaped single-crystalline or twinned Zn3P2 nanowires via a thermochemical method. The single-crystalline nanowires possessed two different kinds of kink angles and were formed via a vapor−solid process by using ZnS and GaP as source materials, whereas the twinned nanowires were synthesized via a vapor−liquid−solid process under additional introduction of In2S3 nanoparticles as the catalyst precursors. The products were characterized in detail by using X-ray diffraction, a scanning electron microscope, and a transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Field-effect transistors based on individual zigzag nanowires were fabricated and their electronic transport at different temperatures was analyzed. The results showed that these unusual structures are p-type semiconductors and that the thermal activation with a 49.7 meV energy is the dominant transport mechanism.
Comparison of evoked electromyography of the larynx to electrical and magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex of the dog

The electromyographic and contractile properties of the laryngeal muscles upon stimulation of the laryngeal nerve have been described before. In the present investigation, we used electrical and magnetic stimulation to activate the vocalis muscle in dogs. Stimulation of the vagus nerve at the brain stem exit point resulted in evoked vocalis compound muscle action potential identical in onset latency and configuration to that obtained by the transcranial single-shock magnetic stimulation at high intensity (greater than 80%). Electrical stimulation of the laryngeal representation of the somatomotor cortex resulted in a contralateral evoked vocalis compound muscle action potential. Central delay time for the 10th cranial nerve was calculated by subtracting the latency of the vocalis recorded by stimulation of the vagus nerve as it exited the brain stem from the latency obtained by direct cortical stimulation.
The vasculopathy of varicella‐zoster virus encephalitis

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) encephalitis has become more prevalent in the era of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and other immunosuppressive diseases and poses diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for clinicians, radiologists, and pathologists. Six cases studied at our institutions shed light on the patterns and pathogenesis of the disease. VZV encephalitis is predominantly a vasculopathy, involving small and large vessels, that generates seizures, mental changes, and focal deficits. Brain imaging reveals large and small ischemic or hemorrhagic infarcts, often both, of cortex and subcortical gray and white matter. Deep-seated white matter lesions often predominate and are ischemic and/or demyelinative, depending on the size of blood vessels involved and the amount of additional demyelination caused by infection of oligodendrocytes. The demyelinative lesions are smaller and less coalescent than those seen in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
Selected language characteristics of middle-class and inner-city children.

Abstract The performances of first-grade middle-class and inner-city children were compared on selected measures of language functioning. A variety of morphologic and syntactic inflections were evaluated using portions of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, and the Berry-Talbott Experimental Test of Grammar. The inner-city children received lower scores on all of the measures. Correlations among the tests are also presented and discussed. The findings are discussed in light of both the “deficit” and the “difference” points of view.
Non-specific interference in the measurement of plasma ammonia: importance of using a sample blank.

BackgroundEnzymatic assays using glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) to monitor the transformation of NAD(P)H to NAD(P)+ by a spectrophotometric technique are the most common methods to measure plasma a...
The Culture of Politics: The Politics of Culture

In a way, there is an unspoken subtext to this “state-of-the-field” panel on political history. For at least some of us, there is a whisper of uneasiness associated with this topic, a small internal voice concerned about the health and survival of political history. In the relatively recent past, the flowering of social history challenged and eventually toppled the dominance of political history—a fine development, given that in the long reach of history politics is only part of the story. Unfortunately, this shift of balance left some scholars with a bad taste in their mouths. Some social historians have retained a lingering antipathy toward political history as a looming presence—an elite-driven, chronologically organized, “imperalist” narrative that threatens to subsume scholarship once again. Some political historians, in turn, feel besieged by social history and its seeming focus on minority and underprivileged populations to the exclusion of much else. Both of these emotionalized outlooks rest on distorted and exaggerated assumptions. But for many political historians, the end result is a current of nervous tension about the place of their field in the larger scheme of historical scholarship.
OMVPE Growth of AIGaIn/Ga/sub x/ln/sub 1-x/P Strained Quantum Well Structures and their Applications to Visible Laser Diodes

Abstract AlGaInP/Ga0.43In0.57P strained single quantum well (SSQW) structures were grown by low pressure (60 Torr) OMVPE at various growth temperature on Si-doped GaAs substrates. A large blue shift of FL spectra and a reduction of spectrum linewidths were observed with increasing growth temperature and the dependence of PL peak energy on the substrate off angle completely disappeared at 780°C. It was found that the degree of sub-lattice ordering in the SSQW structure can be controlled by growth temperature with preserving a high crystalline quality. A separate confinement heterostructure AlGaInP/Ga0.43In0.57P strained multiple quantum well laser was grown on (100) Si-doped GaAs at 740°C. Continuous wave operation was observed up to 160°C, the highest operating temperature ever reported in the lasers operating in the visible wavelength. The characteristic temperature was 160 K between 25 and 50°C. The emission wavelength and the threshold current density for a 80×940 μm device at 25°C were 692 nm and 410 A/cm2, respectively.
Inference of Natural Selection from Interspersed Genomic Elements Based on Polymorphism and Divergence

Complete genome sequences contain valuable information about natural selection, but this information is difficult to access for short, widely scattered noncoding elements such as transcription factor binding sites or small noncoding RNAs. Here, we introduce a new computational method, called Inference of Natural Selection from Interspersed Genomically coHerent elemenTs (INSIGHT), for measuring the influence of natural selection on such elements. INSIGHT uses a generative probabilistic model to contrast patterns of polymorphism and divergence in the elements of interest with those in flanking neutral sites, pooling weak information from many short elements in a manner that accounts for variation among loci in mutation rates and coalescent times. The method is able to disentangle the contributions of weak negative, strong negative, and positive selection based on their distinct effects on patterns of polymorphism and divergence. It obtains information about divergence from multiple outgroup genomes using a general statistical phylogenetic approach. The INSIGHT model is efficiently fitted to genome-wide data using an approximate expectation maximization algorithm. Using simulations, we show that the method can accurately estimate the parameters of interest even in complex demographic scenarios, and that it significantly improves on methods based on summary statistics describing polymorphism and divergence. To demonstrate the usefulness of INSIGHT, we apply it to several classes of human noncoding RNAs and to GATA2-binding sites in the human genome.
Is Ticagrelor the Antiplatelet Therapy Panacea

Ticagrelor is a reversibly binding P2Y12 receptor antagonist that has undergone phase 3 clinical trials and is currently under Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review. Ticagrelor has proposed benefits over clopidogrel in that it has a faster onset of action, greater platelet inhibitory potency, and less interpatient variability in pharmacodynamic response. Unlike clopidogrel, ticagrelor does not require bioactivation to an active metabolite by cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19) and, therefore, is not expected to be influenced by CYP2C19 genetic polymorphisms. Article see p 556 Ticagrelor has been compared with clopidogrel in 18 624 patients with acute coronary syndromes in the Study of Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes (PLATO).1 It was found to be superior to clopidogrel, with the primary outcome of death from vascular causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke occurring in 9.8% of patients receiving ticagrelor compared to 11.7% of those receiving clopidogrel (hazard ratio [HR], 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77 to 0.92; P <0.001). This leads to the question of whether the superiority of ticagrelor over clopidogrel in this acute coronary syndromes population is driven by the known diminished clinical effectiveness of clopidogrel in genetically defined subsets of patients who cannot efficiently produce the active metabolite of clopidogrel to achieve adequate inhibition of platelet aggregation (ie, CYP2C19 poor and intermediate metabolizers). This question was investigated, in part, in a previously published pharmacogenetic substudy of PLATO that demonstrated improved outcomes with ticagrelor compared to clopidogrel in both patients with CYP2C19 loss-of-function alleles (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.99; P =0.038) and those without loss-of-function alleles (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.01; P =0.0608).2 Further, consistent with many other published reports, in clopidogrel-treated patients, the event rates were higher among those with loss-of-function alleles than those without (5.7% versus 3.8%; P =0.028). In response to a body of …
How Well Are We Measuring Workers’ Rights?

The literature overwhelmingly supports the proposition that high-quality domestic institutions are a precondition for economic growth. Political freedoms have been shown to contribute to this institutional quality. A smaller literature suggests that the adoption and enforcement of core labor standards (CLS) that protect the rights of workers can be an important boon for economic development. This article aims to lay a stronger groundwork for the literature linking workers’ rights and economic outcomes by examining more closely some of the proxies that have been used to measure these rights. Our results suggest that the ratification of CLS is only weakly correlated with the improvement of broader political freedoms. The figures also show some link between CLS ratification and proxies for actual rights enjoyed by workers.
Sediment Quality in Arkansas Bait Minnow Ponds

Sediment cores were collected from 7-yr-old, 20- to 25-yr-old, and 30- to 35-yr-old ponds at a bait minnow farm at Lonoke, Arkansas, USA. Average depths of soft sediment (S and M horizons) were 8 cm in young ponds, 12 em in intermediate-age ponds, and 26 cm in old ponds. Organic carbon concentrations in sediment were low to moderate (1–2%) and carbon to nitrogen ratios were wide (20–50). Phosphorus and sulfur concentrations increased as ponds aged. Most of the phosphorus (78.9%) was in organic form, but sulfur was primarily inorganic in form (presumably iron sulfide). There appears to be two major problems associated with sediment accumulation over time. Deep, soft sediment interferes with pond management and especially with harvest. High phosphorus concentration in old sediment may contribute to dense phytoplankton blooms by supplying phosphorus to the water. Sodium nitrate treatment did not increase the rate of sediment organic matter decomposition in laboratory trials and would not be expected to enhance the degradation of sediment organic matter in ponds. The best method for improving the condition of bottoms in older bait minnow ponds probably is to remove the sediment.
Validation trial of predictive fate models using an aquatic herbicide (endothall).

Environmental risk assessment of pesticides in aquatic environments requires predictions of their persistence and compartmentalization. A strategy for developing confidence in predictive fate models, such as the Exposure Analysis Modeling System (EXAMS) and the Simplified Lake and Stream Analysis model (SLSA), is to test the models using carefully chosen chemicals in semi-controlled and field situations. For example, endothall, a relatively water-soluble aquatic herbicide, essentially has a sole fate process, biotransformation. This dicarboxylic acid was used to test the predictive capabilities of EXAMS and SLSA and to identify sources of variance in those predictions. The models were parameterized using laboratory, experimental pool and field measurements. Persistence and compartmentalization of endothall in the water, sediments and aquatic plants (Eurasian watermilfoil-Myriophyllum spicatum L.) contained in experimental pools were measured using gas chromatography. Both EXAMS and SLSA predicted aqueous compartment half-lives ranging from 7.3 to 7.8 d, whereas an aqueous half-life of 4 d was observed in the experimental pools. Endothall was introduced to areas within Pat Mayse Lake, a 2,400-ha reservoir in north central Texas, as part of an aquatic plant management program for M. spicatum. Concentrations of endothall were below detection limits (0.002 mg L-1 water, 0.01 mg kg-1 sediment) in 2 to 3 d and in 4 d in the water and sediment compartments, respectively. EXAMS and SLSA predicted half-lives ranging from 3 to 6 d in the water column. Observed aqueous half-lives ranged from 0.1 to 0.23 d. Horizontal dispersion and dilution contributed significantly to the dissipation of endothall at these sites. Predicted concentrations of endothall in sediment were similar to the measured concentrations. This study is one validation trial of EXAMS and SLSA in which the models were not considered validated.
Extensible monitoring with Nagios and messaging middleware

Monitoring is a core function of systems administration, and is primarily a problem of communication - a good monitoring tool communicates with users about problems, and communicates with hosts and software to take remedial action. The better it communicates, the greater the confidence administrators will have in its view of their environment. Nagios has been a leading open-source monitoring solution for over a decade, but in that time, the way it gets data in and out of its scheduling engine hasn't changed. As applications are written to extend Nagios, each one has to figure out its own way of getting data out of the Nagios core process. This paper explores the use of messaging middleware, in an open-source project called NagMQ, as a way to provide a common interface for Nagios that can be easily utilized by a variety of applications.
Multi-cumulant and pareto strategies for stochastic multi-player pursuit-evasion

The paper presents an extension of cumulant-based control theory over a finite horizon for a class of multi-player pursuit-evasion wherein the evolution of the states of the game in response to adversarial strategies selected by pursuit and evasion teams from the efficient Pareto sets of admissible strategies is described by a stochastic linear differential equation and an integral-quadratic performance-measure. Both cooperation within each team and competition between the teams presumably exist. A direct dynamic programming approach for the Mayer optimization problem is used to solve for a multi-cumulant and Pareto-based solution when the members in each team optimally implement collective strategies and effectively shape the distribution of their Chi-squared random measures of performance associated with this special class of stochastic multi-player pursuit-evasion games.
Purification and Properties of an Antimicrobial Substance Produced by Lacfobacillus bulgaricus

Media taken from cultures of Lactobacillus bulgaricus were found to contain an antibiotic substance different from lactic acid. This antibiotic substance was active against Pseudomonas frugi and, to a lesser extent, Staphyloccus aureus. The optimum pH for activity was approximately 4.0. At this pH the activity was stable at 6°C for 18 days and for at least 1 hr at 100°C. Active substance was isolated from the growth medium and purified by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography procedures after removal of proteins by ethanol precipitation. Chromatography was performed first on an uncapped C-8 column, then on a fully capped C-18 column. A negative Biuret test indicated that the purified substance was not a polypeptide. UV absorption and mass spectra were consistent with a structure having an aromatic moiety and a molecular weight ≤ 700.
Dynamic Imaging of Current Conduction in Dielectric Films by Emission Microscopy

Real time images of the dielectric breakdown were shown in a movie produced by Emission Microscopy. We show that a faint light is emitted during current conduction through dielectric films. Current flows through a large area in an undamaged oxide. Upon breakdown the current flow immediately constricts into a tiny point. Current flow at asperities dances around between multiple asperities. This behavior can be understood as a result of electron trapping and detrapping in the vicinity of poly asperities. Emission Microscopy is the only known technique for viewing current localization at asperities. It is also the most sensitive and the fastest technique for locating oxide defects in VLSI products.
Effect of Platelet Activation on Coronary Collateral Blood Flow

Background —The platelet products thromboxane A2 and serotonin have been shown to cause constriction of well-developed coronary collateral vessels. This study was performed to determine whether intravascular platelet activation produced with platelet activating factor (PAF) can cause a decrease in coronary collateral blood flow. Methods and Results —Collateral vessel growth was induced by embolization of a hollow stainless steel plug into the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) of adult dogs. The animals were returned to the laboratory 3 to 6 weeks later for surgical instrumentation and measurement of collateral blood flow. Collateral flow was assessed by measuring retrograde blood flow from the cannulated collateral-dependent artery. PAF (10 nmol) was injected into the left main coronary artery to allow products of platelet activation to reach collateral vessels arising from the left coronary system. PAF caused a vasoconstrictor response, which became maximal 3 minutes after injection and resulted in a 40.3±7.4% decrease in retrograde blood flow (32.1±2.1 to 19.6±3.2 mL/min; P <0.05). By 15 minutes after the PAF injection, both retrograde blood flow and transcollateral resistance had returned to normal. After pretreatment with the thromboxane A2 receptor antagonist SQ30,741, the vasoconstrictor response to PAF was abolished and, in contrast to the decrease in retrograde blood flow from PAF alone, a weak vasodilator effect was unmasked. Conclusions —PAF caused a decrease in coronary collateral blood flow. This vasoconstrictor response required the participation of thromboxane A2.
Progress in methods for rare variant association

Empirical studies and evolutionary theory support a role for rare variants in the etiology of complex traits. Given this motivation and increasing affordability of whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing, methods for rare variant association have been an active area of research for the past decade. Here, we provide a survey of the current literature and developments from the Genetics Analysis Workshop 19 (GAW19) Collapsing Rare Variants working group. In particular, we present the generalized linear regression framework and associated score statistic for the 2 major types of methods: burden and variance components methods. We further show that by simply modifying weights within these frameworks we arrive at many of the popular existing methods, for example, the cohort allelic sums test and sequence kernel association test. Meta-analysis techniques are also described. Next, we describe the 6 contributions from the GAW19 Collapsing Rare Variants working group. These included development of new methods, such as a retrospective likelihood for family data, a method using genomic structure to compare cases and controls, a haplotype-based meta-analysis, and a permutation-based method for combining different statistical tests. In addition, one contribution compared a mega-analysis of family-based and population-based data to meta-analysis. Finally, the power of existing family-based methods for binary traits was compared. We conclude with suggestions for open research questions.
The Species of Enibidopsocinae of the United States (Psocoptera: Liposcelidae)

Belaphotroctes hermosus (Texas and New Mexico), B. okalensis (Florida), Embidopsocus laticeps , and E. citrensis (both Florida) are described as new, and E. needhami (Enderlein) is redescribed from material collected in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Utah. The subfamily Embidopsocinae is primarily tropical, and only one of the five United States species has been found outside the southern tier of states. Belaphotroctes has hitherto been recorded only from Africa. Its alate females are described here for the first time.
Toward a digital gene response: RNA G-quadruplexes with fewer quartets fold with higher cooperativity

Changes in RNA conformation can alter gene expression. The guanine quadruplex sequence (GQS) is an RNA motif that folds in the presence of K(+) ions. Changes in the conformation of this motif could be especially important in regulating gene expression in plants because intracellular K(+) concentrations often increase during drought stress. Little is known about the folding thermodynamics of RNA GQS. We show here that RNA GQS with tracts containing three G's [e.g., (GGGxx)(4)] have a modest dependence on the K(+) concentration, folding with no or even negative cooperativity (Hill coefficients ≤1), and are associated with populated folding intermediates. In contrast, GQS with tracts containing just two G's [e.g., (GGxx)(4)] have a steep dependence on the K(+) concentration and fold with positive cooperativity (Hill coefficients of 1.7-2.7) without significantly populating intermediate states. We postulate that in plants, the more stable G3 sequences are largely folded even under unstressed conditions, while the less stable G2 sequences fold only at the higher K(+) concentrations associated with cellular stress, wherein they respond sharply to changing K(+) concentrations. Given the binary nature of their folding, G2 sequences may find application in computation with DNA and in engineering of genetic circuits.
Thickness-dependent Crystallization Behavior of Phase Change Materials

We have investigated the crystallization behavior of phase change materials as a function of their thickness. Thin films of variable thickness between 1 and 50nm of the phase change materials Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST), N-doped GST (N-GST), Ge15Sb85 (GeSb), Sb2Te, and Ag and In doped Sb2Te (AIST) were deposited by magnetron sputtering, and capped in situ by a 10nm thick Al2O3 film to prevent oxidation. The crystallization behavior of the films was studied using time-resolved X-ray diffraction. For each material we observed a constant crystallization temperature Tx that was comparable to bulk values for films thicker than 10 nm, and an increased Tx when the film thickness was reduced below 10 nm. The thinnest films that showed XRD peaks were 2 nm for GST and N-GST, 1.5 nm for Sb2Te and AgIn-Sb2Te, and 1.3 nm for GeSb. The observed increase in the phase transition temperature with reduced film thickness and the fact that very thin films still show clear phase change properties are indications that Phase Change Random Access Memory technology can be scaled down to several future technology nodes.
GO WITH YOUR GUT: A THEORY OF EMOTION AND INEQUALITY IN HIRING

In the following paper, I present labor market stratification as an emotional process fundamentally rooted in micro-social interaction. Drawing from Randall Collins’ theory of interaction ritual (2...
Learning goal orientation and locus of control interact to predict academic self-concept and academic performance in college students

Abstract This study replicates and extends previous research to examine how internal locus of control and learning goal orientation relate to academic self-concept and academic achievement among U.S. college students. We show that locus of control and learning goal orientation have positive direct and interactive effects on academic self-concept. Further, we show that academic self-concept mediates the relationship between the interaction of locus of control and learning goal orientation at time 1, and academic achievement in college courses at time 2 (one year later). These results shed light on the personality antecedents of academic self-concept and demonstrate how individual differences shape performance in college.
The embryology of cleft lip and cleft palate.

During recent years, rapid progress has been made in research related to normal embryonic facial development and the alterations which lead to the formation of clefts of the lip and palate. Characteristic developmental alterations of both genetic and environmental origin lead to different kinds of facial clefts.
A GCM investigation of impact of aerosols on the precipitation in Amazon during the dry to wet transition

The climatic effects of aerosols on the precipitation over the Amazon during the dry to wet transition period have been investigated using an atmospheric general circulation model, NCEP/AGCM, and the aerosol climatology data. We found increased instability during the dry season and delayed wet season onset with aerosols included in the model simulation, leading to the delay of the maximum precipitation over the Amazon by about half a month. In particular, our GCM simulations show that surface solar flux is reduced in the Amazon due to the absorption and scattering of the solar radiation by aerosols, leading to decreased surface temperature. Reduced surface solar flux is balanced by decreases in both surface sensible heat and latent heat fluxes. During the wet season, the subtropical system over the Amazon has a shallower convection. With the inclusion of aerosols in the simulation, precipitation in the rainy season over the Amazon decreases in the major rainfall band, which partially corrects the overestimate of the simulated precipitation in that region. The reduced surface temperature by aerosols is also coupled with a warming in the middle troposphere, leading to increased atmosphere stability and moisture divergence over the Amazon. However, during the dry season when the convective system is stronger over the Amazon, rainfall increases in that region due to the warming of the air over the upper troposphere produced by biomass burning aerosols, which produces an anomalous upward motion and a convergence of moisture flux over the Amazon and draws the moisture and precipitation further inland. Therefore, aerosol effects on precipitation depend on the large-scale atmospheric stability, resulting in their different roles over the Amazon during the dry and wet seasons.
Litter Decomposition of Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus: Implications of Climate Change in Salt Marshes

ABSTRACT Wu, W.; Huang, H.; Biber, P., and Bethel, M., 2017. Litter decomposition of Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus: Implications of climate change in salt marshes. Decomposition of plant litter in salt marshes plays an important role in coastal trophodynamics, nutrient cycling, sediment trapping, and short-term carbon storage, all of which are likely to be affected by climate change and accelerated sea-level rise. Warmer temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, longer and more frequent inundation, and saltwater intrusion will all interact to affect decomposition of plant litter in a complex way. A combination of field experiments and model selection techniques was applied to study how these environmental factors affected litter decomposition of two dominant salt marsh species, Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus, along the northern Gulf of Mexico. The results from summer field experiments conducted between June and August of 2013 showed that S. alterniflora in the low marsh ha...
Virtualization of our university for the recruitment and orientation of new students

This paper introduces an ongoing project for creating a virtual version of a real university, and discusses the benefits of such a project for recruitment, education, and software development involvement. A development team consisting of undergraduate students is designing, developing, and implementing virtual environment software to create a virtual tour that surpasses by leaps and bounds attempts previously made by other universities to represent some aspects of their institutions in cyberspace. In this project, students and other participants are able to walk through the university on a virtual tour, enter campus buildings, and visit professors. Prospective students can tour the campus, visit campus facilities, meet faculty and administrators, and interact with current students.