cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interannual Herbaceous Biomass Response to Increasing Honey Mesquite Cover on Two Soils

This study quantified herbaceous biomass responses to increases in honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torr.) cover on two soils from 1995 to 2001 in north central Texas. Vegetation was sampled randomly with levels of mesquite ranging from 0% to 100%. With no mesquite covering the silt loam soils of bottomland sites, peak herbaceous biomass averaged (6SE) 3 300 6 210 kg ? ha 21 vs. 2 560 6 190 kg ? ha 21 on clay loam soils of upland sites (P 5 0.001). A linear decline of 14 6 2.5 kg ? ha 21 in herbaceous biomass occurred for each percent increase in mesquite cove r( P 5 0.001). The slope of this decline was similar between soils (P 5 0.135). Herbaceous biomass with increasing mesquite cover varied between years (P 5 0.001) as did the slope of decline (P 5 0.001). Warm-season herbaceous biomass decreased linearly with increasing mesquite cover averaging a 73 6 15% reduction at 100% mesquite cover (P 5 0.001) compared to 0% mesquite cover. Coolseason herbaceous biomass was similar between soils with no mesquite, 1 070 6 144 kg ? ha 21 for silt loam vs. 930 6 140 kg ? ha 21 for clay loam soils, but averaged 340 6 174 kg ? ha 21 more on silt loam than on clay loam soils at 100% mesquite cover (P 5 0.004). Multiple regression analysis indicated that each centimeter of precipitation received from the previous October through the current September produced herbaceous biomass of 51 kg ? ha 21 on silt loam and 41 kg ? ha 21 on clay loam soils. Herbaceous biomass decreased proportionally with increasing mesquite cover up to 29 kg ? ha 21 at 100% mesquite cover for each centimeter of precipitation received from January through September. Increasing mesquite cover reduces livestock forage productivity and intensifies drought effects by increasing annual herbaceous biomass variability. From a forage production perspective there is little advantage to having mesquite present.
Potential Drivers of Terrorism out to the Year 2020

While no one can predict the future, informed forecasting can provide decision makers with information and intelligence to establish realistic and achievable goals. Gazing out to the year 2020, I e...
Loss of PPARγ Activates ERK 1/2-NF-κB-Nox4-H2O2 Signaling Axis to Promote Human Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation

Hypoxia stimulates pulmonary hypertension (PH) in part by increasing the proliferation of pulmonary vascular wall cells. Recent evidence suggests that hypoxia stimulates sustained nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) activation, increased NADPH oxidase4 (Nox4) expression, and downregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) to cause human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (HPASMC) proliferation. To further understand the role of reduced PPARγ in PH pathobiology, siRNA was employed to reduce PPARγ levels in HPASMC in vitro under normoxic conditions. PPARγ protein levels were reduced to levels comparable to those observed under hypoxic conditions. Knockdown of PPARγ for 24-72 hours activated mitogen-activated protein kinase, ERK 1/2, and NF-κB. Inhibition of ERK 1/2 prevented NF-κB activation caused by PPARγ knockdown indicating that ERK 1/2 lies upstream of NF-κB activation. Knockdown of PPARγ for 72 hours increased NF-κB-dependent Nox4 protein expression and H2O2 production. Degradati...
In vivo imaging reveals an essential role of vasoconstriction in rupture of the ovarian follicle at ovulation

Rupture of the ovarian follicle releases the oocyte at ovulation, a timed event that is critical for fertilization. It is not understood how the protease activity required for rupture is directed with precise timing and localization to the outer surface, or apex, of the follicle. We hypothesized that vasoconstriction at the apex is essential for rupture. The diameter and blood flow of individual vessels and the thickness of the apical follicle wall were examined over time to expected ovulation using intravital multiphoton microscopy. Vasoconstriction of apical vessels occurred within hours preceding follicle rupture in wild-type mice, but vasoconstriction and rupture were absent in Amhr2cre/+SmoM2 mice in which follicle vessels lack the normal association with vascular smooth muscle. Vasoconstriction is not simply a response to reduced thickness of the follicle wall; vasoconstriction persisted in wild-type mice when thinning of the follicle wall was prevented by infusion of protease inhibitors into the ovarian bursa. Ovulation was inhibited by preventing the periovulatory rise in the expression of the vasoconstrictor endothelin 2 by follicle cells of wild-type mice. In these mice, infusion of vasoconstrictors (either endothelin 2 or angiotensin 2) into the bursa restored the vasoconstriction of apical vessels and ovulation. Additionally, infusion of endothelin receptor antagonists into the bursa of wild-type mice prevented vasoconstriction and follicle rupture. Processing tissue to allow imaging at increased depth through the follicle and transabdominal ultrasonography in vivo showed that decreased blood flow is restricted to the apex. These results demonstrate that vasoconstriction at the apex of the follicle is essential for ovulation.
Fuel Homeostasis in the Ruminant

Sufficient amounts of energy are stored in the animal body to support its needs during periods when dietary intake does not meet energy requirements. To be utilized, these energy reserves must be converted to compounds appropriate for oxidation at the cellular level. In addition, energy supplies must be transferred from storage sites to sites of utilization. The biochemical pathways of oxidation provide not only a means of deriving energy from carbon compounds, but also a means of transferring carbons from one type of energy source to another. The transfer of carbons between carbohydrates, lipids, ketone bodies, and proteins is regulated by endocrine and substrate effects. Regulation of this activity constitutes fuel homeostasis. Breakdowns in these homeostatic mechanisms result in metabolic disease.
Quantitation of intracellular [Na+] in vivo by using TmDOTP5- as an NMR shift reagent and extracellular marker.

A method is presented to measure the absolute concentration of intracellular Na+([Na+]i) in vivo by using interleaved 23Na- and 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and TmDOTP5− as shift reagent and chemical marker of tissue extracellular space (ECS). The technique was used to determine [Na+]iand relative ECS in livers of control rats (21 ± 3 and 0.11 ± 0.02 mM, respectively) and in rats exposed to carbon tetrachloride (103 ± 29 and 0.23 ± 0.03 mM, respectively). The NMR measurements were confirmed independently on excised tissue samples by using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results confirm that TmDOTP5− can be used as a combined cation shift reagent and ECS marker, thereby allowing quantitation of [Na+]iin vivo by NMR.
Intergenerational Social Mobility and Partisan Choice

David E. Butler and Donald E. Stokes have collected the best available data about the political effects of intergenerational social mobility in Britain, but they are wrong in their conclusion that “social mobility can make only a small contribution to the fact that more than a quarter of British electors fail to vote in accord with their class.” They have defined social mobility too narrowly. My reanalysis of their data shows that over a third of those Britons who do not support the predominant party of their class are intergenerationally mobile. The upwardly mobile constitute 12 per cent of the Labour party electorate, and 75 per cent of the middle-class Labourites.
Rat small intestine expresses primarily type VI γ-glutamyl transpeptidase RNA

To clarify differences between gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma GT) expression in the rat and the mouse small intestine, we cloned and sequenced 13 rat small intestine gamma GT cDNAs and compared them with those obtained from the mouse (Carter, et al. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 24581-24585). We found that all 13 were type VI, which in both species accounts for 80-90% of intestinal gamma GT. However, rat type VI gamma GT is substantially longer than mouse type VI RNA and includes at least 67 additional nucleotides at the 5' end that are non-homologous with the 5' end of the mouse type VI RNA; further, these show no homology to another mouse exon (VII) that splices to type VI RNA. In addition, a 168 nucleotide stretch is present in the middle of rat RNA that is absent in mouse type VI RNA.
Amniotic fluid phosphatidylglycerol in stressed pregnancies.

In normal pregnancies phosphatidylglycerol (PG) correlates with increasing lecithin-sphingomyelin (US) values and gestational age. Acceleration of pulmonary maturity has been noted to occur in certain complicated pregnancies. In this study, using one-dimensional thin-layer chromatography, PG was noted to be present in some “stressed” pregnancies with US values
Vasopressin and oxytocin: Modulators of neurohypophysial blood flow

We examined the role of arginine vasopressin (AVP) as a mediator of neurohypophysial (NH) blood flow regulation in anesthetized dogs. First, we evaluated the NH hyperemia that occurs during hemorrhagic hypotension in the presence (n = 7) and absence (n = 7) of the selective AVP-V1 receptor antagonist [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP. AVP-V1 blockade did not alter NH transient or steady-state flow responses to a standardized decrease to 80 mmHg mean arterial blood pressure. We then determined whether exogenous AVP alters NH and regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) (n = 8). Sequential intracarotid infusions resulted in sagittal sinus blood AVP concentrations ranging from 6.97 +/- 3.3 x 10(3) to 2.45 +/- 0.47 x 10(6) pg/ml. No change in NH blood flow (control 428 +/- 162 vs. 487 +/- 75 ml.min-1.100 g-1) was observed even at the highest blood level. However, CBF at the highest AVP level increased from a control value of 20 +/- 3 to 40 +/- 4 ml.min-1.100 g-1, while cerebral oxygen consumption remained unchanged. Administration of a selective AVP-V1 receptor antagonist, [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP, blocked AVP-induced elevation in CBF in a third set of dogs (n = 5). Oxytocin was also given by intracarotid infusion at a constant rate (1-200 micrograms/ml) in a final group (n = 5). NH blood flow was unchanged at all doses, whereas CBF increased from control (24 +/- 2 to 38 +/- 5 ml.min-1.100 g-1) at the highest dose. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Are Filopodia Privileged Signaling Structures in Migrating Cells

Filopodia are thin, fingerlike structures that contain bundled actin filaments and project from the cell periphery. These structures are dogmatically endowed with the ability to sense cues in the microenvironment, implying that filopodia foster local signal transduction, yet their small diameter hampers the imaging of dynamic processes therein. To overcome this challenge, we analyzed total internal reflection fluorescence images of migrating fibroblasts coexpressing either a plasma membrane marker or tagged AktPH domain, a translocation biosensor for signaling through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway, along with a cytosolic volume marker. We devised a scheme to estimate the radii of filopodia using either the membrane marker or volume marker data, and we used that information to account for geometry effects in the biosensor data. With conservative estimates of relative target molecule abundance, it is revealed that filopodia typically harbor higher densities of 3' phosphoinositides than adjacent regions at the cell periphery. In this context at least, the analysis supports the filopodial signaling hypothesis.
Understanding Higher Education Institutions’ Publicness: Do Public Universities Produce More Public Outcomes than Private Universities?

Higher education institutions produce a broad array of public outcomes. However, little is known about the varying levels of their contribution to the public good and what explains the variation among institutions. This study uses the theory of organisational publicness and examines how these institutions’ ownership status and resource publicness explain their outcome publicness, focusing on the expenditure for teaching, research and public service activities. The analysis of four-year public and private universities in the 2012 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System shows that universities’ reliance on federal funding is positively associated with the percentages of the expenditure on all three activities and their reliance on state funding is positively associated with the percentages of teaching and public service expenses. The findings reveal that the proportion of tuition and fees revenue is negatively associated with the percentage of public service expenditure. The results suggest that declining state funding and increasing reliance on tuition and fees weaken these institutions’ public service function, especially in the area of community engagement.
Designing for the Future of Education Requires Design Education

Design used to be the seasoning you'd sprinkle on for taste; now it's the flour you need at the start of the recipe,” tweeted John Maeda (2015), former president of Rhode Island School of Design. O...
The Urban Communication Network and Social Stratification: A “Small World” Experiment

A small world experiment, using four targets, and controlling information regarding the identification of the target's race and occupation in the packet, was conducted in a tri-city area in the Nor...
Vision Quests: An Alternative Hypothesis for Signal Fires Along Seminole Canyon, Val Verde County, Texas

(1986). Vision Quests: An Alternative Hypothesis for Signal Fires Along Seminole Canyon, Val Verde County, Texas. Plains Anthropologist: Vol. 31, No. 111, pp. 73-76.
Applicatives and Applied Datives

Chapter 5 focuses on dative arguments that are introduced by Appl(icative) heads; such arguments have played a major role in the theory of argument structure in recent years, and they are a robust aspect of Icelandic syntax. Sect. 5.1 provides an overview of different kinds of applicative structures, and argues that Icelandic does not have so-called “high applicatives,” but does have “low” and “high-low” applicatives. Sect. 5.2 turns to the analysis of valency reduction in ApplP structures. It starts by studying structures closer to those studied in Chap. 3, where the external argument is prevented from merging, forming “anticausatives” of ditransitives. Here, an important morphosyntactic property of Appl is revealed: while the dative case of direct objects is systematically lost (as shown in Chap. 3), the dative case of arguments introduced by Appl is retained. This, it is proposed, underlies a somewhat surprising gap in the overall set of structures: while -st can merge in SpecVoiceP, and SpecpP, it generally cannot merge in SpecApplP. Given the analysis in Chap. 4, we know exactly what the empirical situation would look like if -stcould merge in SpecApplP, and that is simply not what we find.
Nanofluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Boundary Layers: The Influence of Concentration Diffusion on Heat Transfer Enhancement

The present work uses a perturbation procedure to deduce the small perturbation differential equations for velocity, temperature, and the diffusion equation for nanoparticle volume concentration. T...
Nodal Downstaging in Gastric Cancer Patients: Promising Survival if ypN0 is Achieved

The American Joint Committee on Cancer’s 8th edition introduced ypStage, a separate staging system for patients with gastric cancer having undergone preoperative therapy. Overall, ypN0 patients have better survival outcomes than ypN+ patients. However, whether patients with cN+/ypN0 disease (“downstaged N0”) and those with cN0/ypN0 disease (“natural N0”) have similar survival is unknown. An institutional database was reviewed to identify gastric adenocarcinoma patients who underwent potentially curative R0 resection after induction chemotherapy or chemoradiation. Patients were categorized into three groups based on nodal status: cN0/ypN0, cN+/ypN0, and ypN+. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were used to identify clinicopathologic factors associated with overall survival (OS). We identified 316 patients who met the study criteria. Ninety-four patients (30%) had cN0/ypN0 disease, 93 (29%) had cN+/ypN0 disease, and 129 (41%) had ypN+ disease. The median OS was 7.7 years, and the 5-year OS was 60.3%. In the multivariate analysis, OS did not differ between the cN0/ypN0 and cN+/ypN0 patients (hazard ratio, 0.90 [95% CI 0.54–1.48]; p = 0.666), but it was shorter in ypN+ patients (hazard ratio, 1.82 [95% CI 1.15–2.87]; p = 0.01). In gastric cancer patients who underwent preoperative therapy, we found similar OS in cN0/ypN0 and cN+/ypN0 patients. Because ypN+ patients had poor OS, achieving ypN0 status is an important hallmark demonstrating the effectiveness of preoperative therapy for gastric cancer.
Scalable Logo Detection and Recognition with Minimal Labeling

In this paper we describe a new approach to detecting and locating brand logos in an image using machine learning methods and synthetic training data. Deep learning methods, particularly the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), have been very popular for extracting visual information, such as image shapes and objects, from images. A CNN has parameters and configuration information that are learned from training images. To obtain good accuracy usually a large amount of labeled (groundtruthed) images are required for training. Collecting the training images and labeling them can be expensive and time consuming. Methods that include data augmentation, image synthesis, and bootstrapping techniques provide useful alternatives to creating training images. In this paper, we present a logo detection method that requires minimum labeled images. First, we use synthetic images to train a CNN to detect logos. Then, this CNN is used to automatically detect and localize logos from images extracted from the web. Finally, these images are used to train a logo classifier. The combination of the logo detector and the classifier allows us to locate and classify multiple logos in a scene. While existing methods rely on manually labeled images, our method is fully trained with images obtained in an automated manner with minimal human supervision.
Diagnosis of Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias

The trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) are defined by several important characteristics. They are all short-lived headaches (except for hemicrania continua, HC) and tend to be severe in intensity. The TACs share a common site of origin in the hypothalamus, but an initial thorough workup for posterior fossa or pituitary pathology is warranted before making the diagnosis of these primary headache disorders. Many of the entities in two groups, the TACs and the other primary headache disorders—with important exceptions—respond to indomethacin; in fact, some of the headaches should be absolutely responsive to indomethacin. TACs often demonstrate ipsilateral parasympathetic hyperactivity and/or sympathetic hypoactivity.
Eggs, Yolk, and Embryonic Growth Rate

In this chapter we describe various strategies that seabirds have adopted in their reproductive process such as the relative size of their eggs, the relative amount of yolk they contain, the caloric content of their eggs, the cost of egg formation, and the embryonic growth rate. In addition we document energetic strategies of some species whose eggs have larger than normal yolk content.
Tissue Elasticity Estimation from Ultrasonic A-Mode Signals and B-Mode Images

Biological soft tissues exert mechanical resistance when subjected to a physical deformation. The degree of deformation is proportional to the elasticity of the tissue; i.e., softer tissue deforms more and harder tissue stays rigid. The elastic properties of the tissue are mainly determined by the structural components of the tissue, such as fat, collagen, myofibrils, and protein contents. The percentages of these components in the meat are related to juiciness, tenderness, and palatability of the beef. However, these constituents are difficult to measure non-destructively for the purpose of evaluating the quality and value of beef.
Ras/Raf and Their Influence in Glycolysis in Colon Cancer

Genetic alterations that cause the constitutive activation of Ras/Raf signaling are highly prevalent in colorectal cancers and contribute significantly to critical stages of tumor growth and invasion. While genetic analyses have firmly established the importance of this pathway in cancer, the many contributions of dysregulated Ras/Raf signaling to cancer cell phenotypes remain a topic of intensive investigation. This review will focus on recent insights into the role of Ras/Raf signaling on glucose uptake, and the consequences of altered glucose metabolism on the evolution of neoplastic cell clones. Tumor-promoting metabolic defects have suggested new strategies for anticancer therapy.
Tumor Mutation Burden and Efficacy of EGFR-Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Patients with EGFR-Mutant Lung Cancers.

Purpose: Tumor mutation burden (TMB) is a biomarker of response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). The impact of TMB on outcomes with targeted therapies has not been explored. Experimental Design: We identified all patients with metastatic EGFR exon19del or L858R mutant lung cancers treated with first/second generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) with pre-treatment large panel next generation sequencing data (MSK-IMPACT assay). The effect of TMB on time to treatment discontinuation (TTD) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated in univariate and multivariate analyses. EGFR wild-type (WT) lung adenocarcinoma samples were used for comparison. Results: Among 153 patients with EGFR mutant lung cancer, TMB was lower compared to EGFR wild-type (n=1849) (median 3.77 vs. 6.12 mutations/Mb, p<0.0001) with a broad range (0.82-17.9). EGFR mutant lung cancer patients whose tumors had TMB in the upper tertile had shorter TTD (HR=0.46, p=0.0008) and OS (HR=0.40, p=0.006) compared to patients with low/intermediate TMB. Evaluating by median TMB, there was significantly shorter TTD and OS for patients with higher TMB (TTD p=0.006, OS p=0.03). In multivariate analysis, TTD and OS remained significantly longer in the low/intermediate tertile compared to high TMB (HR=0.57, p=0.01; HR=0.50, p=0.02, respectively). In paired pre-treatment and post-progression samples, TMB was increased at resistance (median 6.56 vs 3.42 mutations/Mb, p=0.008). Conclusions: TMB is negatively associated with clinical outcomes in metastatic EGFR mutant lung cancer patients treated with EGFR-TKI. This relationship contrasts with that seen in lung cancers treated with immunotherapy.
Within-Season Shift in Fungicide Resistance Profiles of Botrytis cinerea in California Strawberry Fields.

Sensitivity of Botrytis cinerea to seven fungicide chemical classes was determined for 888 isolates collected in 2016 from 47 California strawberry fields. Isolates were collected early season (min...
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Presenting as a Subcortical Watershed Infarct

Internal watershed infarcts (WI) involve white matter between deep and superficial arterial systems of middle cerebral artery. These infarcts are considered to be either from low blood flow or microembolism. Anemia is an extremely rare cause of watershed infarcts. Very few cases of hemolytic anemia causing watershed cerebral infarcts have been reported. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is frequently complicated with secondary autoimmune cytopenia such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), and pure red cell aplasia. AIHA is present in about 7-10% of patients with CLL. AIHA from CLL presenting as WI is an extremely rare phenomenon with no previously published case reports to the best of our knowledge.
Comparative Effectiveness of Telehealth Devices in Pediatric Clinic Setting

Health services research has shown that telemedicine is effective in a number of settings, but little has been published in the peer reviewed literature regarding the evaluation of digital health tools to validate the quality of the data acquired from such devices to accurately inform clinical decision making. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate a novel multifunctional remote examination device in comparison to other FDA approved stand-alone digital examination devices currently available to clinicians. The secondary aim was to evaluate which device produced images or sounds that …
Angular Dependence of the Spatial Resolution in Virtual Reality Displays

We compare two methods for characterizing the angular dependence of the spatial resolution in virtual reality head-mounted displays (HMDs) by measuring the line spread response (LSR) across the field of view (FOV) of the device. While slanted-edge is the standard method for determining the resolution of cameras, the standard approach for display devices is to used a line or edge aligned to the display pixel array. However, applying the LSR to head-mounted displays (HMDs) presents additional challenges due to the neareye optics. The LSRs of the HTC Vive and HTC Vive Pro were measured using a line of single white pixels by setting the red, green, and blue subpixels at maximum driving level. The white line was swept along a single direction over a 30° range in the FOV and the spatial resolution was measured using two approaches: wide-field and angle-scanning. In the wide-field method, the 30° FOV is imaged onto a stationary camera. In the second method, the camera is rotated across the FOV such that the white line remains static on the camera with the rotation axis located behind the lens to mimic the human visual system. The results show that the wide-field method overestimates the spatial resolution of the HMD by approximately 40% for angles larger than 10°. Consistent results obtained for the Vive and the Vive Pro indicate that the cause of the resolution limitation depends on the location in the FOV. The limitation in the center of the FOV is the pixel density, whereas, the off-axis spatial resolution is limited by optical components. Achieving high resolution VR HMDs requires system-wide design and technology improvement.
Digital mapping of structural conservation practices in the Midwest U.S. croplands: Implementation and preliminary analysis.

Abstract The application of best management practices is a long-term conservation effort in Midwest U.S. croplands, and many farmers have adopted structural conservation practices (SCPs) to reduce soil erosion and surface water runoff, such as terraces and grassed waterways. Despite that, the geographic distribution of these practices is barely known in the region, and mapping initiatives are required to develop timely and spatially explicit inventories of SCP areas. This study presents the first mapping of SCPs in the agricultural areas over 12 Midwest U.S. states. Semantic segmentation model (adapted U-Net) and National Agriculture Imagery Program 2018–2019 data were used to map the SCP areas at 2-m spatial resolution (490.2 billion pixels). In general, mapping results achieved 78.2% overall accuracy across 20 counties. Our results indicate that 52% of SCP areas are distributed over Iowa (26%), Illinois (15%), and Nebraska (11%). In contrast, the states with the lowest SCP areas are Michigan and North Dakota, with less than 4% of SCP areas. Since the SCP extent is also dependent on the number of cropland areas per state, the percentage of SCP per cropland area was calculated. Specifically, the average percentage of SCP area per cropland is ~1.19%, ranging from 0.8 (e.g., North Dakota and south Minnesota) to 5.5% (e.g., northeast Kansas and southwest Iowa). Interestingly, results also illustrate that regions with high soil erosion rates present the largest percentage of SCP areas in croplands, indicating conservation efforts by farmers. While this preliminary analysis shows some limitations in the mapping quality (mislabel, non-accurate location or discontinuity of SCP areas), the framework has a potential for operational conservation monitoring. The development of such mapping has positive implications for conservation programs, and this geospatial inventory is easily accessible information for the large-area evaluation of conservation practices across Midwest U.S. croplands.
Effects of Transverse Steel on the Axial-Compression Strength of FRP-Confined Reinforced Concrete Columns Based on a Numerical Parametric Study

Abstract Reinforced concrete (RC) columns can be effectively rehabilitated or strengthened by externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wraps, which can improve the axial load capacity and d...
Mechanical properties of reactive powder concrete: a comparison study

Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) is one of the new and most important concrete manufacturing advancements. A significant number of researchers have studied the mechanical properties of such type of concrete and the effect of different parameters on it. Some of these researchers presented questions to predict the properties of reactive powder concrete depends on its components and the method of curing. This research presents an experimental investigation on the mechanical properties of RPC such as compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength. The findings were compared to the previous studies’ experimental work and formulated equations.
On the Nature of the Impersonal SE: Why Italian is not like Catalan and Spanish

I argue that impersonal se is bound by empty pronouns in Catalan, Spanish and Italian. The impersonal pronouns always receive nominative case (contra Dobrovie-Sorin C. Linguistic Inquiry 29: 399–347, 1998) since they trigger Differential Object Marking (DOM), allow bare DP objects, and are incompatible with dative experiencer psychological verbs. In the second part of the paper I examine the interpretative properties of the empty pronominals. On the one hand, these constructions allow generic and existential interpretations, and I attribute them to an empty pronoun ϕ as in Holmberg (Holmberg A. The null generic subject pronoun in Finnish: A case of incorporation in T. Parametric variation: Null subjects in minimalist theory. Biberauer T, Holmberg A, Roberts I, Sheehan M. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 200–230, 2010) and Mendikoetxea (Mendikoetxea A. Transactions of the Philological Society 106: 290–336, 2008). However, I argue that Italian has an additional interpretation of impersonal se as first person plural WE (D’Alessandro R. Impersonal SI constructions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2007). Thus, I assume that Italian has a WE/ϕ pronoun, but Catalan and Spanish only have a ϕ pronoun. This double nature of impersonal se in Italian is parallel to what is found in other languages such as French on. Finally, I show that certain unexamined differences between se in Catalan and Spanish on the one hand, versus Italian, on the other, can be explained under this new approach.
Learning viscoelasticity models from indirect data using deep neural networks

Abstract We propose a novel approach to model viscoelasticity materials, where rate-dependent and non-linear constitutive relationships are approximated with deep neural networks . We assume that inputs and outputs of the neural networks are not directly observable, and therefore common training techniques with input–output pairs for the neural networks are inapplicable. To that end, we develop a novel computational approach to both calibrate parametric and learn neural-network-based constitutive relations of viscoelasticity materials from indirect displacement data in the context of multiple-physics systems. We show that limited displacement data holds sufficient information to quantify the viscoelasticity behavior. We formulate the inverse computation – modeling viscoelasticity properties from observed displacement data – as a PDE-constrained optimization problem and minimize the error functional using a gradient-based optimization method. The gradients are computed by a combination of automatic differentiation and implicit function differentiation rules. The effectiveness of our method is demonstrated through numerous benchmark problems in geomechanics and porous media transport.
Single-cell protein production by photosynthetic bacteria.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the single-cell protein production by photosynthetic bacteria. Photosynthesis is one of the basic biochemical processes, in which plants, algae, and specialized populations of bacteria convert the energy from sunlight or solar energy into chemical energy for cellular biosynthesis. Man has used this natural process of harnessing solar energy in the development of algal cultivation systems for secondary waste treatment and for the production of human foods, livestock feeds, and fertilizers. Photosynthesis, as it occurs in plants and algae, differs from that of photosynthetic bacteria in several respects. Plant photosynthesis is basically an aerobic process in which CO 2 is used as the sole carbon source for cellular biosynthesis. Plants and algae contain different photosynthetic pigments, or chlorophylls, and are capable of hydrolysing water to derive reducing power (H + ) for biosynthesis and molecular oxygen. Bacterial photosynthesis is an anaerobic process in which molecular hydrogen, reduced sulfur compounds, and organic compounds are used as exogenous electron donors.
Racial and ethnic differences in diabetes care and health care use and costs.

Author(s): Lee, Jung-Ah; Liu, Chuan-Fen; Sales, Anne E | Abstract: IntroductionPrevious studies have shown racial and ethnic differences in diabetes complication rates and diabetes control. The objective of this study was to examine racial and ethnic differences in diabetes care and health care use and costs for adults with diabetes using a nationally representative sample of the U.S. noninstitutionalized civilian population.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional analysis of the 2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and its related Diabetes Care Survey. The respondents were adults (aged 18 years and older) with diabetes, including non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic African Americans, and Hispanics. Racial and ethnic differences were examined in diabetes process of care and health care use and costs using logistic regression, negative binomial regression, and ordinary least squares regression with log cost.ResultsMost of the outcomes in diabetes care management, treatment, and complications were not significantly different among race groups. After adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, Hispanics were more likely to have eye problems than whites (odds ratio, 1.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-2.56). African Americans and Hispanics had lower total health care costs, lower ambulatory care costs, and lower prescription drug costs than whites (P l .01 for all).ConclusionWe found differences in ambulatory care and prescription drug fills among white, African American, and Hispanic adults with diabetes. However, most of the diabetes care measures were not significantly different among the three racial and ethnic groups. Understanding the reason outcomes do not differ when health care use and costs differ significantly should be a focus of future studies.
Mechanical design of a shape memory alloy actuated prosthetic hand

This paper presents the mechanical design for a new five fingered, twenty degree-of-freedom dexterous hand patterned after human anatomy and actuated by Shape Memory Alloy artificial muscles. Two experimental prototypes of a finger, one fabricated by traditional means and another fabricated by rapid prototyping techniques, are described and used to evaluate the design. An important aspect of the Rapid Prototype technique used here is that this multi-articulated hand will be fabricated in one step, without requiring assembly, while maintaining its desired mobility. The use of Shape Memory Alloy actuators combined with the rapid fabrication of the non-assembly type hand, reduce considerably its weight and fabrication time. Therefore, the focus of this paper is the mechanical design of a dexterous hand that combines Rapid Prototype techniques and smart actuators. The type of robotic hand described in this paper can be utilized for applications requiring low weight, compactness, and dexterity such as prosthetic devices, space and planetary exploration.
Widespread occurrence in animal tissues of an enzyme catalyzing the conversion of NAD+ into a cyclic metabolite with intracellular Ca2+-mobilizing activity.

Abstract A metabolite with intracellular Ca2+-mobilizing activity can be produced by incubating NAD+ with extracts from sea urchin eggs. Structural determination indicates it is a cyclized ADP-ribose, and we have proposed cyclic ADP-ribose as a common name for it. In this study, we addressed the question of how widespread is the occurrence of the synthesizing enzyme for this NAD+ metabolite. Incubation of NAD+ with extracts prepared from rabbit liver resulted in a progressive increase in Ca2+ release activity which was monitored by a biological assay using sea urchin egg homogenates. The half-maximal concentration of NAD+ required was about 1 mM. The reaction was stereospecific, and the extracts were sensitive to protease treatment and heat, as well as alkaline pH of about 9.0, indicating the reaction was catalyzed by a protein. The active metabolite was purified by an identical high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure used for cyclic ADP-ribose. Functionally, the liver metabolite behaved similarly to cyclic ADP-ribose. Both discharged the same Ca2+ stores in sea urchin egg homogenates with the same half-maximal effective concentrations. Both were active in inducing the cortical exocytosis reaction when microinjected into sea urchin eggs. That they are indeed identical compounds was demonstrated by structural analyses showing that they coeluted on a Partisil 5 SAX HPLC column and had identical 1H NMR spectra. Mass spectrometry indicated a mass of 540.0529 for the molecular ion (M - H)- of the liver metabolite, which was identical to within 0.74 ppm of cyclic ADP-ribose. Furthermore, their collisional activated decomposition mass spectra were virtually superimposable. Extracts from rabbit brain, heart, spleen, and kidney were all active in producing similar Ca2+-releasing metabolites which could be isolated by the same HPLC procedure and had similar elution times on both the mixed mode and the Partisil 5 SAX column. It is therefore apparent that the synthesizing enzyme for cyclic ADP-ribose is a very common enzyme.
Making Family-friendly Internet a Reality: The Internet Community Ports Act

The time has arrived to work together to find a reasonable balance among the values of the First Amendment, the appeal of an unfettered technological frontier, the right to be free of unwanted speech, and the right of parents to have the aid of the government in protecting children from age-inappropriate sexually explicit content online. One objective of this Article is to stimulate the discussion and the innovation necessary to arrive at some solution. In this Article, I provide an overview of one suggestion, the Internet Community Ports Act (ICPA). ICPA is devised to provide nation-wide support for the effective implementation of Internet zoning technology. ICPA allows parents to make meaningful choices concerning their children's access to sexually graphic material, while still allowing adults to publish and access any legal content online. ICPA relies on channeling content among the over 65,000 Internet ports rather than, as is the current practice, sending virtually all content together over just a handful of ports. ICPA does not prevent any willing adult from speaking or hearing any legal speech. Rather, it gives citizens the option of requesting from their Internet service provider only those ports on which material that is harmful for minors may not be posted. The Article outlines a few of the legal issues ICPA is written to address: drawing a definitional line; choosing whether the standard is community or national; defining a minor; identifying and locating offenders; dealing with proxy sites and hosted sites; creating safe harbors for Internet service providers; allowing for reasonable record keeping; and dealing with unsecured wireless Internet networks. The text of the proposed ICPA is included as a 36-page appendix.
Clay modified electrodes: Part VII. The electrochemical behavior of tetrathiafulvalenium-montmorillonite modified electrodes☆

Abstract Tetrathiafulvalenium (TTF + _incorporated into a modifying layer of Texas montmorillonite on a platinum electrode surface shows two kinds of voltammetric responses. These may be attributed to interlamellar TTF + (type I) (e.g., in presence of F − and SO 2− 4 ) and extralamellar TTF + (type II) (in the presence of Br − and I − ). Type I behavior is characteristic of the redox chemistry of (TTF) 2+ 2 , while type II behavior reflects formation of non-stoichiometric TTF-halides. Non-electroactive, electronically conductive crystals of TTFBr 0.7 are produced during cycling in 1.0 M NaBr. These promote charge transfer from the substrate platinum electrode to solution species and produce a biconductive clay layer. The electrochemistry of the modified electrode is interpreted in terms of a model for hydrated smectite clays.
Key attributes of health ministries in African American churches: an exploratory survey.

Background Church leaders are considered instrumental in the successful implementation of church-based health programs. However it is unknown which program attributes they perceive as important and which program attributes exist in their congregations. Objective To explore the perceived importance and existence of health ministry-related attributes in predominately African American churches. Methods Cross-sectional survey, with a convenience sample of 98 registered church leaders attending a conference on health and spirituality in Raleigh, NC. Attendees were asked to complete a brief survey assessing perceived importance (very important vs. somewhat or not important) and existence (yes vs. no) of 20, health ministry-related attributes in their churches. Percent perceived as very important, percent existence, and their differences were assessed for each attribute. Results Seventy-two (73.5%) of the attendees completed the survey. Attributes perceived as very important were: displaying health information in churches (73.6%); hosting health fairs for church members (73.2%); pastoral, church-based Internet access (70.8%); willingness to receive foundation funding for activities (66.7%); and incorporating health messages in Sunday bulletins (65.3%). For each of these program attributes, there was a gap between the proportion rating them "very important" and existence of the attribute in their own congregations (range diff in %: -8.3 to -22.2). Limitations Lack of generalizability due to sample selection and homogeneity. Conclusions Among leaders surveyed, despite perceived importance, attributes did not exist for all. Future studies should evaluate whether attributes considered important by church leadership parallel an increase in the development and maintenance of health program activities, and are associated with congregation health behaviors and health outcomes.
On-the-fly dynamic dead variable analysis

State explosion in model checking continues to be the primary obstacle to widespread use of software model checking. The large input ranges of variables used in software is the main cause of state explosion. As software grows in size and complexity, the problem only becomes worse. As such, model checking research into data abstraction as a way of mitigating state explosion has become more and more important. Data abstractions aim to reduce the effect of large input ranges. This work focuses on a static program analysis technique called dead variable analysis. The goal of dead variable analysis is to discover variable assignments that are not used. When applied to model checking, this allows us to ignore the entire input range of dead variables and thus reduce the size of the explored state space. Prior research into dead variable analysis for model checking does not make full use of dynamic run-time information that is present during model checking. We present an algorithm for intraprocedural dead variable analysis that uses dynamic run-time information to find more dead variables on-the-fly and further reduce the size of the explored state space. We introduce a definition for the maximal state space reduction possible through an on-the-fly dead variable analysis and then show that our algorithm produces a maximal reduction in the absence of non-determinism.
Prospects for Flow Measurements Based on Spectroscopic Methods

The shadow, schlieren, and interferometric methods have been very useful in many areas of gas dynamics, particularly for the study of planar or axisymmetric compressible flows. With the development of the laser, the potential exists for the introduction of methods whereby the thermodynamic state of a general three-dimensional nonsteady compressible flow could be routinely measured at an arbitrary point in space. However, all known methods are presently limited by factors which have prevented their common use in general laboratory experiments and wind tunnels. As laser development continues and a wider choice of laser characteristics becomes available, it appears certain that continued research will lead to a routine application of one or more of these approaches. The known methods are reviewed in a general way by introducing a classification which places each into one of three categories. The grouping identifies the basic measurement concept employed, the relationship between the different approaches, their fundamental limitations, and reasons for choosing one approach over another. The motivation for employing laser-induced fluorescence as a diagnostic scheme for measuring density (as well as temperature and velocity) in certain flows is discussed, and the status of research in applying the method to various fluid mechanical problems is reviewed, together with a discussion of the outlook for continued development of the technique.
A Caenorhabditis elegans model of orotic aciduria reveals enlarged lysosome-related organelles in embryos lacking umps-1 function.

Gut granules are cell type-specific lysosome-related organelles found within the intestinal cells of Caenorhabditis elegans. To investigate the regulation of lysosome-related organelle size, we screened for C. elegans mutants with substantially enlarged gut granules, identifying alleles of the vacuolar-type H+-ATPase and uridine-5′-monophosphate synthase (UMPS)-1. UMPS-1 catalyzes the conversion of orotic acid to UMP; this comprises the two terminal steps in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. Mutations in the orthologous human gene UMPS result in the rare genetic disease orotic aciduria. The umps-1(−) mutation promoted the enlargement of gut granules to 250 times their normal size, whereas other endolysosomal organelles were not similarly affected. UMPS-1::green fluorescent protein was expressed in embryonic and adult intestinal cells, where it was cytoplasmically localized and not obviously associated with gut granules. Whereas the umps-1(−) mutant is viable, combination of umps-1(−) with mutations disrupting gut granule biogenesis resulted in synthetic lethality. The effects of mutations in pyr-1, which encodes the enzyme catalyzing the first three steps of de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis, did not phenotypically resemble those of umps-1(−); instead, the synthetic lethality and enlargement of gut granules exhibited by the umps-1(−) mutant was suppressed by pyr-1(−). In a search for factors that mediate the enlargement of gut granules in the umps-1(−) mutant, we identified WHT-2, an ABCG transporter previously implicated in gut granule function. Our data suggest that umps-1(−) leads to enlargement of gut granules through a build-up of orotic acid. WHT-2 possibly facilitates the increase in gut granule size of the umps-1(−) mutant by transporting orotic acid into the gut granule and promoting osmotically induced swelling of the compartment.
Intratesticular hemorrhage: A birth trauma

Abstract Attention is called to the frequent occurrence of intratesticular hemorrhage as an injury sustained during birth in cases where the head is the presenting part.