cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Convergent functional groups XIV. Synthesis and binding studies of new molecular clefts for recognition and catalysis

Two new molecular clefts have been synthesized, both containing an adenine receptor portion and a metal-binding site. The binding of adenine derivatives was evaluated in CDCl3, acetone-d6 and water using NMR titrations. Base-paired hydrogen-bonded complexes are formed in all three solvents, but structural differences in the complexes are also observed. The CuII binding ability was established using UV spectroscopy.
Interactive DVDs as a platform for education

While many technologies remain out-of-reach for households in the developing world, one exception to this rule is that of entertainment technologies. Even in poor communities, there is a strong drive to own devices such as TVs and, increasingly, DVD players. Though they are typically used for video content, ordinary DVD players also support rich interactivity and programmability, including the capability to browse over 100,000 menus using the remote control. Our vision is to leverage these capabilities to support interactive applications -- such as encyclopedias, language tutoring, and medical decision systems -- without any dependence on a computer.As a step towards this vision, in this paper we explore two novel applications of interactive DVDs in the context of education. The first is as a platform for PowerPoint presentations, where TV-DVDs have the potential to replace computers while reducing costs and improving teacher familiarity. The second is as a platform for children's books, where one can provide thousands of books on DVD for the same price as printing a single book. We evaluate each of these solutions -- which have already found uptake with NGOs -- via case studies in Indian schools.
The Whiteness of Nerds: Superstandard English and Racial Markedness

Mary Bucholtz TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY The Whiteness of Nerds: Superstandard English and Racial Markedness Anthropological research has shown that identities that are “not white enough” may be racially marked. Yet marking may also be the result of being “too white.” California high school students who embrace one such white identity, nerds, employ a superstandard language variety to reject the youth culture norm of coolness. These practices also ideologically position nerds as hyperwhite by distancing them from the African American underpinnings of European American youth culture. A s the explosion of the study of whiteness throughout the past decade continues with little sign of abatement, a corresponding set of critiques about the field’s foundational assumptions has also begun to emerge. Perhaps the most cogent of these critiques is the concern that in viewing whiteness as a normative, hegemonic, and unmarked racial posi- tion, scholars may be unwittingly reifying a singular and static version of whiteness. It is not the concept of racial unmarkedness itself that creates the problem but rather the common scholarly misperception that the un- marked status of whiteness is impervious to history, culture, or other local conditions. On the contrary, markedness theory, which can be traced back to its origins in linguistic theory (Trubetzkoy 1969), has been usefully extended to a broader semiotic context to provide a model of cultural ideologies, including racial ideologies. 1 Anthropology offers a perspective on markedness that is more sensitive to the instability of racial marking, as demonstrated most recently and thor- oughly by the work of John Hartigan (1999). Through a close ethnographic Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 11(1):84–100. Copyright © 2001, American Anthropological Association.
Test Preparation and Performance: A Self-Regulatory Analysis

Abstract The effect of self-regulatory processes on test preparation and performance was examined. The author used a structured 1-to-1 interview to query 62 college students enrolled in the same psychology class about their self-regulatory processes. The author expected that (a) high test scorers would use more self-regulatory processes to enhance their test preparation and performance than would low test scorers; (b) self-regulation would positively affect test performance; and (c) self-regulatory skill, self-efficacy beliefs, and perceived instrumentality would predict subsequent test performance. All hypotheses were supported by the data. The results of this study are discussed from a sociocognitive perspective.
Measuring the Containment and Spillover Effects of Urban Growth Boundaries: The Case of the Portland Metropolitan Area

Although urban growth boundaries (UGBs) are increasingly used as a containment policy to promote contiguous and compact urban forms, little is known about how UGBs affect development within the designated area or how development is displaced to other cities. This study analyzes the UGB's containment and spillover effects, focusing on the case of the Portland metropolitan area where UGBs have long been implemented. This is accomplished by employing a spatial market disequilibrium framework in which explicit consideration is given to the containment and spillover processes when under the influences of UGBs. The findings suggest that UGBs can promote development within the boundaries, but that cooperation with neighboring municipalities is necessary to effectively attain the policy goals. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Note on Linear and Second Order SignificanceTesting in Nonlinear Models

A modified ANOVA setting is used to develop a one degree of freedom test for intrinsic curvature effect. The approach provides clear cutoffs for the measurement of intrinsic curvature effect. It is shown that the significance of the correction factor itself and its usefulness in correcting a global test based on linear approximation are distinct elements. They depend on the local frame of reference provided by the model-data combination and null hypothesis considered.
Retrieving common dynamics of gene regulatory networks under various perturbations

Recently, with the growth of high-throughput proteomic data, in particular time series gene expression data from various perturbations, a general question that has arisen is how to extract meaningful structure from inherently heterogeneous data. Little is known about exactly how these gene regulatory networks (GRNs) operate under different stimuli. Challenges due to the lack of knowledge may cause bias or uncertainty in identifying parameters or inferring the GRN structure. We propose a new algorithm which enables us to estimate bias error due to the effect of perturbations, and correctly identify the common graph structure among biased inferred graph structures. To do this, we retrieve common dynamics of the GRN subject to various perturbations inspired by “image repairing” in computer vision [1].
Planning Motions and Placements for Virtual Demonstrators

In order to deliver information effectively, virtual human demonstrators must be able to address complex spatial constraints and at the same time replicate motion coordination patterns observed in human-human interactions. We introduce in this paper a whole-body motion planning and synthesis framework that coordinates locomotion, body positioning, action execution and gaze behavior for generic demonstration tasks among obstacles. Human-like solutions are achieved with a coordination model extracted from experiments with human subjects. Given an observer location and a target demonstration to be performed, the proposed planner automatically identifies body placements respecting visibility constraints, locomotion accessibility, and action feasibility among obstacles. Actions are modeled with clusters of example motions and a fast collision avoidance procedure in blending space is introduced to avoid nearby obstacles when needed. Locomotion towards new placements integrates planning among obstacles and is based on a motion capture database organized for efficient synthesis of motions with precise path following and arrival constraints. The proposed solution introduces effective approaches for modeling and solving complex demonstrative tasks for interactive applications.
Efficacy of antimicrobial compounds on surface decontamination of seven Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella inoculated onto fresh beef.

Several antimicrobial compounds have been used in commercial meat processing plants for decontamination of pathogens on beef carcasses, but there are many commercially available, novel antimicrobial compounds that may be more effective and suitable for use in beef processing pathogen-reduction programs. Sixty-four prerigor beef flanks (cutaneous trunci) were used in a study to determine whether hypobromous acid, neutral acidified sodium chlorite, and two citric acid–based antimicrobial compounds effectively reduce seven Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroups and Salmonella on the surface of fresh beef. Two cocktail mixtures were inoculated onto prerigor beef flank surfaces. Cocktail mixture 1 was composed of STEC serogroups O26, O103, O111, O145, and O157; and cocktail mixture 2 was composed of STEC serogroups O45, O121, and O157 and Salmonella. The inoculated fresh beef flanks were subjected to spray treatments with four antimicrobial compounds. Following antimicrobial treatments, both ...
Information deprivation and frequency of complexity-simplicity pattern exposure.

A 2 × 2 design was utilized to assess inspection times of complexity-simplicity patterns exposed randomly at 2 frequency levels and preceded by 2 conditions of information deprivation. Effects from information deprivation did not persevere but inspection times were significantly longer for complexity-simplicity patterns exposed infrequently out of a total of 80 presentations.
65 OBESITY, DIABETES, AND INSULIN RESISTANCE: RELATION TO ELEVATED C-REACTIVE PROTEIN LEVELS IN AFRICAN AMERICANS.

Purpose Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) has been strongly related to obesity, diabetes (DM), and insulin resistance (IR) in predominantly white non-Hispanic cohorts. There is limited information on systemic inflammation in African Americans. Methods The study cohort consisted of 5,202 participants (55 ± 13 years, 64% female) who presented for Jackson Heart Study Exam 1 (2001-2004). The contribution of traditional risk factors to the variability of CRP was tested using a stepwise regression model. We evaluated the relation of obesity, DM and IR to CRP among participants using analysis of variance. Results In the stepwise regression, the amount of variability in CRP explained by clinical covariates was 23%. BMI explained 57% of the variability of CRP due to traditional risk factors. The mean CRP for participants was 1.4 mg/L for those nonobese without IR, 3.2 mg/L for those obese without IR, 2.2 mg/L for those nonobese with IR, 4.0 mg/L for those obese with IR, 1.9 mg/L for those nonobese with DM, and 4.1 mg/L for those obese with DM. CRP was significantly higher for obese participants compared with nonobese participants regardless of IR or DM status (p Conclusions In this large population-based cohort of African Americans, we found that among traditional risk factors, BMI contributed the greatest to the variability of CRP. DM and IR were also significantly related to CRP.
High-Throughput Screens to Discover Inhibitors of Leaky Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Channels

Using fluorescence lifetime (FLT) detection of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), we have developed high-throughput screening (HTS) methods to discover compounds that modulate the ryanodine receptor (RyR) Ca2+ (Ca) channel for therapeutic applications. Regulation of cellular Ca homeostasis is critical for skeletal and cardiac muscle function, and RyR is a central player. In cardiomyocytes, high Ca “leak” via the cardiac isoform of RyR (RyR2), and reduced SR Ca uptake, conspire to reduce the SR Ca content and elevate diastolic [Ca]i, both hallmarks of heart failure (HF). RyRs that open inappropriately during diastole contribute to both systolic and diastolic dysfunction and arrhythmias in HF. Therefore, inhibitors of the RyR leaky state could become highly effective drugs. Our HTS methods specifically detect binding of key RyR modulatory proteins (CaM and FKBP12.6) that have been implicated in controlling the pathological RyR2 leak. Thus, under oxidizing conditions that mimic a pathological state, a drug that restores normal CaM and/or FKBP binding may correct the leaky RyR state. Integration of fluorescently labeled FKBP12.6 and CaM and FRET enables translation of these tools into ultrasensitive HTS assays to assess the RyR leaky conformation. We have carried out a pilot screen of the 731-compound NIH Clinical Collections, which yielded several compounds that changed FRET by >3SD (a typical threshold used to select hits in primary HTS). Ongoing studies will show how the HTS structural readout correlates with effects on RyR function.
Romans and the apologetic tradition: Romans 9–11: Paul defends his mission to the Gentiles for the sake of the Jews

Introduction Romans 9–11 offers strong support for the thesis that Paul is concerned to present his gospel and ministry and even himself as not inimical to the interests of Jewish Christians. The promises to the forefathers, the Law and most of all the potency and fairness of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are central convictions of Jewish Christians. In Romans 9–11, Paul will challenge head-on the implicit objections to his gospel and ministry as constituting a rejection of God's promise to Abraham and covenant with Israel. Several exegetes have suggested that Romans 9–11 is Paul's further response to the objection raised in 3.1–9. Romans 9–11 returns to the primarily negative aspect of Protreptic, countering alternative proposals. It may be that many Jewish Christians called into question the very premise of Paul's ministry, namely that there should be a Christian mission to the Gentiles at that time. Even a Jewish Christian who had no objection to the Gentile mission in principle, might sensibly ask: since there are still so many Jews who have not received the gospel, should Christian missionaries (and such an effective one as Paul) ignore the unredeemed Jews and turn their attention to Gentiles? Above all, might not the same Jewish Christians object and assert that it is Paul's reputed disdain for Jewish tradition that has made the conversion of Jews virtually impossible! It seems to me that a close reading of Romans and in particular Romans 9–11 suggests Paul is seeking to convince his readers that his gospel neither impugns the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob nor denies the elect status of Israel.
Scapegoating outsiders: The murders of street youth in modern Brazil

This analysis of youth murders in modern Brazil focuses on victim‐generating sociostructural situations and the social creation of victims. We assert that as political and social outcasts the young victims of murder are virtually powerless within the legitimate system ‐ hence their civic invisibility. And when poor youths’ presence on Brazilian streets is combined with their political inconsequence, the prospective victims are socially visible only as symbolic assailants and are rendered vulnerable to uncontested murder by strangers. For the most part their murderers are “rent‐a‐cops” and on‐ and off‐duty police, either working as lone‐wolf justiceiros or in groups of death squads. The actions of these killers is neutralized by cultural stereotypes that transform victims into victimizers and make killers into social servants.
The quark-gluon plasma revisited?

To The best of our knowledge, quarks always come in twos and threes. Mesons consist of a quark and an antiquark bound together by the strong force. Baryons, as protons and neutrons, consist of three quarks. However, by recreating the conditions that existed about 10 μs after the Big Bang, particle physicists may now have created a new, super-dense phase of matter in which quarks are free.
The link between childhood adversity and late-life mental health: evidence for the influence of early-life experiences or illusory correlations?

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) reflect stressful or traumatic early life events such as abuse, neglect, and significant household challenges. These experiences are increasingly appreciated as factors that exert influence on physical and mental functioning throughout the lifespan. Numerous studies have demonstrated dose–response relationships between the number of ACEs reported and negative health outcomes in adulthood (Anda et al., 2006). At the same time, evidence points to the role of ACEs in the development of heightened biological reactivity to stress that may serve to increase vulnerability to the development of mental and substance use disorders (e.g., Heim et al., 2010). Furthermore, the existence of sex differences in both stress reactivity and the prevalence of various forms of psychopathology in adulthood (Doom et al., 2013) raises the question of whether men and women are differentially vulnerable to the health risks posed by ACEs. Much of the work concerning ACEs has focused on outcomes as they present in middle adulthood, which may not generalize to later life, as there may be cohort effects in the prevalence of (or likelihood of reporting) ACEs. Studies finding that the newly old report greater numbers of ACEs than their more senior counterparts imply that rates of ACEs are increasing over time and may be contributing to the development of mental and substance abuse disorders (MSUDs) in the growing population of aging adults, and make a case for better understanding these associations in later life.
Entropy-driven segregation of polymer-grafted nanoparticles under confinement

Abstract The modification of nanoparticles with polymer ligands has emerged as a versatile approach to control the interactions and organization of nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposite materials. Besides their technological significance, polymer-grafted nanoparticle (PGNP) dispersions have attracted interest as model systems to understand the role of entropy as a driving force for microstructure formation. For instance, densely and sparsely grafted nanoparticles show distinct dispersion and assembly behaviors within polymer matrices due to the entropy variation associated with conformational changes in brush and matrix chains. Here we demonstrate how this entropy change can be harnessed to drive PGNPs into spatially organized domain structures on submicrometer scale within topographically patterned thin films. This selective segregation of PGNPs is induced by the conformational entropy penalty arising from local perturbations of grafted and matrix chains under confinement. The efficiency of this particle segregation process within patterned mesa−trench films can be tuned by changing the relative entropic confinement effects on grafted and matrix chains. The versatility of topographic patterning, combined with the compatibility with a wide range of nanoparticle and polymeric materials, renders SCPINS (soft-confinement pattern-induced nanoparticle segregation) an attractive method for fabricating nanostructured hybrid films with potential applications in nanomaterial-based technologies.
Public Opinion on Geopolitics and Trade: Theory and Evidence

This paper provides the first systematic examination of the role of security concerns in shaping mass preferences over international economic exchange. We employ survey and case study evidence, along with several survey experiments in the United States and India, to investigate how geopolitics affects voters' views of international trade. We show first that security externalities dominate in the public's mind. Citizens prefer trading with allies over adversaries because they believe that trade will lead to military growth. Yet we also find that a significant proportion of the public believes that trade can lead to peace, and that the peace inducing aspects of trade can lead voters to overcome their aversion to trade with adversaries. Our framework allows us to make sense of otherwise puzzling historical episodes, and explain when and why governments that are constrained by public opinion pursue economic cooperation in the shadow of conflict.
Culturally competent library services and related factors among health sciences librarians: an exploratory study

Objective: This study investigated the current state of health sciences libraries’ provision of culturally competent services to support health professions education and patient care and examined factors associated with cultural competency in relation to library services and professional development. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected with a survey questionnaire that was distributed via SurveyMonkey to several health sciences librarian email discussion lists. Results: Out of 176 respondents, 163 reported serving clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Various services were provided to develop or support initiatives in cultural competency in health professions education and patient care. A considerable number of respondents were unsure or reported no library services to support initiatives in cultural competency, although a majority of respondents perceived the importance of providing culturally competent library services (156, 89.1%) and cultural competency for health sciences librarians (162, 93.1%). Those who self-identified as nonwhites perceived culturally competent services to be more important than whites ( p =0.04). Those who spoke another language in addition to English had higher self-rated cultural competency ( p =0.01) than those who only spoke English. Conclusions: These findings contribute to our knowledge of the types of library services provided to support cultural competency initiatives and of health sciences librarians’ perceived importance in providing culturally competent library services and cultural competency for health sciences librarians. The results suggest implications for health sciences libraries in fostering professional development in cultural competency and in providing culturally competent services to increase library use by people from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds.
Brief for Sport Management Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiff-Appellee, O’Bannon V. NCAA (9th Cir. Filed Jan. 28, 2015)

Amici are 18 professors of sport management at U.S. universities whose names, titles, and academic affiliations are listed in Appendix A. Amici have an interest in the proper development of antitrust jurisprudence in the context of intercollegiate athletics, and would like to respond to (1) certain factual assertions made in the briefs filed by the NCAA, and amici curiae in support of the NCAA, about the sport industry, including the products of NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Football and Division I (D-I) Men’s Basketball, and (2) the ethical foundation utilized in their briefs to support the Collegiate Model of Athletics in relation to FBS Football and D-I Men’s Basketball. In this Brief, Amici limit their positions to factual challenges to arguments presented by the NCAA and supporting amici that rely on the preservation of amateurism as a justification for restrictions on athlete compensation. Amici take no position on legal questions presented in the lawsuit, including the merits of the plaintiffs’ antitrust law claim and whether NCAA athletes have a right of publicity in the context of live game broadcasts or the licensing of broadcast rights.
Identifying as American among Adolescents from Asian Backgrounds

An important aspect of identity development requires adolescents to consider and select the cultural label or labels that best fit with their conception of who they are. Yet, little is known about the longitudinal development of such labeling preferencs and their possible links with adjustment. Using longitudinal data from 180 Asian Americans (60% female; 74% U.S.-born), intra-individual and group-level changes in adolescents' American label use were tracked. Over time, 48% chose an American label as their "best-fitting" label and 42% chose an American label at least once, but did not include an American label during at least one other time point. American label use was not associated with continuous measures of American identity, but the use of American labels was linked with lower levels of ethnic identity. American identity, whether indicated by label use or continuous scale scores, was generally linked with positive psychological and academic adjustment, with some effects of label use moderated by gender and generational status. Developmental implications of American cultural labels as markers of adolescent identity and broader adjustment are discussed.
Life Events and the Boundaries of Midlife for Women

The difficulty of studying midlife in women is illustrated dramatically by the above statement. Midlife typically is characterized as a transitory rather than as a distinct phase of the life cycle. As a phase defined primarily by the end of youth, it is accorded little importance in developmental conceptualizations, in literature, or in the media. Midlife also is defined as the time to prepare for old age and death, the time when one begins to count forward rather than backward (in terms of years to live rather than years lived). This view is reflected in research methodologies that relate behavior in midlife to outcomes in old age. Midlife adjustment, sexuality, satisfaction, and health are considered possible predictors of adjustment to old age but are rarely considered outcomes of earlier behavior (see, as a notable exception, the Berkeley and Oakland growth studies; Eichorn, Clausen, Haan, Honzik, and Mussen, 1981).
Experimental study of La1Ba2Cu3Ox.

We have prepared samples in the La/sub 1/Ba/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub x/ series with superconducting transition temperatures T/sub c/ ranging from 23 to 72 K (onset temperatures from 43 to 88 K). Results from scanning-electron-microscopy characterization, x-ray diffraction analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, the temperature dependence of the resistivity, and temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility are presented. The samples with T/sub c/ greater than 50 K are orthorhombic while samples with T/sub c/ less than 50 K show tetragonal structure. The transition temperature is found to depend on the oxygen content x with an apparent peak near x = 7. Our sample with the highest T/sub c/ (72 K) had x = 6.75. As x decreases, so does T/sub c/, reaching 44 K when x = 6.47. For oxygen content greater than 7, T/sub c/ decreases rapidly to a value of 23 K when x = 7.27. The room-temperature resistivity increases systematically from 0.8 to 7.9 m..cap omega.. cm as T/sub c/ decreases from 72 to 27 K. The increase is resistivity in the normal state and the decrease in the resistivity ratio (rho/sub 300 K//rho/sub residual/ are interpreted in terms of disorder in the microscopic structure which suppresses T/sub c/. Themore » magnetic susceptibility of these samples separates into a Pauli susceptibility chi/sub 0/ and a Curie-Weiss susceptibility C/(T-FTHETA), after the core contribution is subtracted. A systematic increase in chi/sub 0/ and a decrease in the Curie constant C has been observed as T/sub c/ varies from 23 to 72 K.« less
Reducing Bias in Y-90 PET Images by Enforcing Non-Negativity in Projection Space

Most existing PET image reconstruction methods impose a nonnegativity constraint in the image domain that is natural physically, but can lead to biased reconstructions. This bias is particularly problematic for Y-90 PET because of the low probability positron production and high random coincidence fraction. We propose a new PET reconstruction formulation that enforces nonnegativity of the projections instead of the voxel values. This formulation allows some negative voxel values thereby potentially reducing bias. To relax the non-negativity constraint embedded in the standard methods for PET reconstruction, we used an Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). Because choice of ADMM parameters can greatly influence convergence rate, we applied an automatic parameter selection method to improve the convergence speed. We investigated several variants differentiated by the base model and the constraint condition using lung to liver slices of XCAT phantom. We simulated low true coincidence count-rates with high random fractions corresponding to the typical values from patient imaging in Y-90 microsphere radioembolization. We compared our new methods with standard reconstruction algorithms. As the proposed algorithm iterates, the new method reduces the bias in cold spot while yielding lower noise than the standard method. The new model improves the quantification in all regions of interest when the methods achieve similar level of noise in the liver. The improvements with the new method are especially notable when simulating conditions corresponding to patients with lower activity administration (i.e., higher random fractions).
Operative Airway Management and Tracheostomy

Tracheostomy is one of the earliest surgical procedures described for the management of OSA with a near-complete resolution of symptoms following surgery. While the procedure is not as commonly utilized today for management of OSA due to other less invasive modalities, it remains a reliable reserve for patients who do not tolerate or fail other management strategies discussed in this book. This chapter will discuss tracheostomy for management of OSA including indications and complications, as well as surgical technique and modifications necessary for the patient with OSA.
Review: Banaras Reconstructed: Architecture and Sacred Space in a Hindu Holy City, by Madhuri Desai

Madhuri Desai Banaras Reconstructed: Architecture and Sacred Space in a Hindu Holy City Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017, 304 pp., 7 maps, 8 color and 115 b/w illus. $90 (cloth), ISBN 9780295741604; $30 (paper), ISBN 9780295741994 “There are few cities in India as traditionally Hindu and as symbolic of the whole of Hindu culture as the city of Banaras.”1 Thus begins Diana L. Eck's pioneering 1982 book on the Indian pilgrimage center of Banaras. Eck, a religious studies scholar, sketched a vivid account that offered dazzling insights into the city's cloistered world of rituals, mythology, and sacrality. Much has been written since then on the city, often considered India's most important pilgrimage center, and over the past twenty years, historians, anthropologists, and literary scholars have analyzed the processes through which Banaras was inhabited, shaped, and invented through political, social, and cultural configurations.2 Yet, within the domain of architectural history, we have until now remained tied to Eck's perception of Banaras as a visual symbol and a symptom of a purportedly timeless Hinduism. The publication of Madhuri Desai's Banaras Reconstructed: Architecture and Sacred Space in a Hindu Holy City changes that. As Desai explains, from the sixteenth century onward, the Hindu architecture of the pilgrimage center was based on typologies made popular by the Muslim Mughal rulers of South Asia. For instance, the forms of the Man Mandir, built on the city's riverfront around 1600 by the rulers of the western Indian kingdom of Amber, cited sixteenth-century Mughal imperial architecture. Desai argues that over time, the spatial and temporal flows of sacrality in Banaras were altered, punctuated, and interspersed with an architecture of political governance. Under colonial rule, European architectural styles, too, left ineradicable traces on the sacred city. What, then, is the architecture of a “traditional” Hindu …
Was Schopenhauer a Kantian Ethicist

Commentators have generally seen the compassionate person as a second-rate character vis-a-vis the ascetic ‘saint’ who denies the will-to-life and resigns from willing altogether in Schopenhauer's ...
A Low-Power BFSK Transmitter Architecture for Biomedical Applications

This paper describes a binary frequency shift keying (BFSK) transmitter architecture designed with a technique involving signal generation, mixing, and image rejection for low-power operation. The method enables the coherent generation of the two tones representing the BFSK symbols without changing the phase-locked loop (PLL) output frequency, which relaxes the settling time requirements of the PLL and thus reduces power consumption by design. The architecture allows programmable data rates and channel bandwidths according to application-specific needs. This paper includes analyses of the transmitter signal generation and building blocks. Key design equations are derived to give insights into circuit implementation details. The 480 MHz transmitter was designed and fabricated in a standard 130 nm CMOS technology, and the measurement results provide the first proof-of-concept for the feasibility of this architecture. The transmitter operates around 480 MHz with programmable data rates of 1 Mbps and 10 Mbps. It consumes 170 μW and 180 μW with the two data rates using 0.6 V and 1 V supplies for analog and digital blocks respectively. State-ofthe-art figures of merit for power-efficient BFSK transmission of 170 pJ/bit and 18 pJ/bit are achieved at the data rates of 1 Mbps and 10 Mbps.
Measuring the Dream for an Equitable and Sustainable Future

More than 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, what has become of his call for social, political, and economic equality for African Americans? How do we equip a new generation with knowledge, techniques and strategies of past activists, and assessments of the policies that were implemented and/or defeated in the struggle for justice and equality? How do we measure our progress toward a more just and equal society? The Measuring the Dream (MTD) project informs, enables, and inspires a diverse audience to understand the history of the journey toward a more equal society. To quantify national changes in equity since the 1950s, the project’s MTD Index identifies six arenas in which the struggle for equal justice has taken place and can be objectively traced. Data within each area are cataloged and then combined to calculate a MTD Index score from pre-1950–2016. No single index exists with this set of indicators that provides the scaling and longitudinal framework necessary to assess America’s strive towards prosperity and equality for all. This chapter describes the importance of a national equity measurement, the process to select indicators, the challenges of historical data, and construction of the MTD Index.
Improving Follow-up Attendance for Discharged Emergency Care Patients Using Automated Phone System to Self-schedule: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background Automated phone appointment reminders have improved adherence with follow-up appointments in a variety of hospital settings, but have mixed results in patients discharged from the emergency department (ED). Increasing adherence to follow-up care has been a priority in the ED to improve patient outcomes and reduce unnecessary future visits. Methods We conducted a prospective randomized open, blinded end-point (PROBE) trial of 278 adult patients discharged from the ED and referred to a provider for follow-up care. Participants in the intervention arm received a self-scheduling text or phone message that automatically connected them to their referral provider to schedule a follow-up appointment and sent them appointment reminders. Those in the control arm received standard of care written instructions to contact listed referral providers. The primary outcome was time to appointment. The secondary outcome was time to return visit to the ED. Results The automated reminders increased the cumulative incidence of keeping the referral appointment after ED discharge (p-value Conclusions An automated self-scheduling phone system significantly improved follow-up adherence after ED discharge, but did not decrease ED revisits.
Why We Tend to Be Unprepared for the Inevitable Next Disaster

It is human nature to be unprepared for rare catastrophic events. Human nature includes inclinations towards optimism, optimizing for best performance if nothing changes, linear thinking, innumeracy, inertia, greed, a desire to fit in with the crowd, and myopia. Thus, being prepared for an unknown future disaster of an unknown type requires going against human nature. TOPICS:Risk management, legal/regulatory/public policy, behavioral financial theory Key Findings • Human nature has not changed since modern humans evolved. • Myopic linear thinking, inertia, greed, and social pressure lead to optimizing for what would be the best results if conditions never changed. • Resiliency when conditions change requires actively preparing for events that may never happen, which is rarely part of human nature.
Anteroinferior Hip Instability in Flexion During Dynamic Arthroscopic Examination Is Associated With Abnormal Anterior Acetabular Horn.

Background:The stabilization of the femoral head is provided by the distal acetabulum when the hip is in a flexed position. However, the osseous parameters for the diagnosis of hip instability in f...
Volumetric additive manufacturing system optics

Volumetric additive manufacturing is a novel 3D printing method to form parts in a single exposure, in contrast to traditional stereolithography 3D printing which builds parts layer-by-layer. Photopolymerizable resin is exposed with grayscale images from different angles over 360 degrees to deliver a 3D distribution of light energy which cures the resin to form the desired part. The exposure images are calculated using computed tomography (CT), the same principles which are used to convert X-ray images obtained during a computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan to reconstruct a 3D volume of the patient. A digital micromirror device is used to project the sequence of calculated exposure images into a cylindrical vial of resin as it is rotated thus exposing over 360 degrees. The polymerization kinetics of the resin, the alignment of the resin vial to the projected images, and the uniformity of the illumination field are all tightly coupled together and must all be understood and controlled to generate quality parts. Projecting a good image is challenging as the vial and resin are essentially a strong cylindrical lens located at the image plane, and the desired build space is not a plane but a volume. We perform an analysis of the cylindrical lensing on the image quality (and thus the print quality) and investigate methods to correct for the lensing. We demonstrate different methods to improve print quality and discuss the benefits and limitations of each technique.
KEAP1 Is Required for Artesunate Anticancer Activity in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Artesunate is the most common treatment for malaria throughout the world. Artesunate has anticancer activity likely through the induction of reactive oxygen species, the same mechanism of action utilized in Plasmodium falciparum infections. Components of the kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1)/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) pathway, which regulates cellular response to oxidative stress, are mutated in approximately 30% of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC); therefore, we tested the hypothesis that KEAP1 is required for artesunate sensitivity in NSCLC. Dose response assays identified A549 cells, which have a G333C-inactivating mutation in KEAP1, as resistant to artesunate, with an IC50 of 23.6 µM, while H1299 and H1563 cells were sensitive to artesunate, with a 10-fold lower IC50. Knockdown of KEAP1 through siRNA caused increased resistance to artesunate in H1299 cells. Alternatively, the pharmacological inhibition of NRF2, which is activated downstream of KEAP1 loss, by ML385 partially restored sensitivity of A549 cells to artesunate, and the combination of artesunate and ML385 was synergistic in both A549 and H1299 cells. These findings demonstrate that KEAP1 is required for the anticancer activity of artesunate and support the further development of NRF2 inhibitors to target patients with mutations in the KEAP1/NRF2 pathway.
Model Identification and Parameter Estimation

The control engineering literature is replete with countless methods of system identification, particularly for linear systems. This chapter discusses the few basic techniques that have been most commonly applied in physiology system analysis. The fact that most physiological systems are closed‐loop systems can introduce some complications into the process of system identification or parameter estimation. The problem of structural identifiability is intimately coupled to the problem of model‐building. The chapter also introduces a number of techniques for system identification of parametric and nonparametric models. It reviews some of the basic computational techniques commonly employed in the identification of single‐input, single‐output, open‐loop systems. Since most physiological control processes operate under closed‐loop conditions, researchers have applied a variety of techniques to "open the loop" by isolating the components of interest from other components that comprise the entire system.
Modeling Biphasic Hydrogels under Spherical Indentation: Application to Soft Tissues

Abstract The mechanical characterization of hydrated soft materials, such as tissues and hydrogels, plays an important role in the growing bioengineering and medical fields. Indentation techniques have been successfully employed to determine the mechanical properties of biomaterials using elastic, viscoelastic or poroviscoelastic theories partly because of their inherent simplicity and partly because the material configuration for in vivo or in vitro mechanical testing does not permit other experimental methods. In this study, we examine the mechanical behavior of gelatin hydrogels through two types of indentation tests, namely indentation-load relaxation and quasistatic indentation. The material properties extracted from the rheometer-stress relaxation experiment are used in a biphasic poroviscoelastic (BPVE) material model to simulate the indentation tests using finite element analysis (FEA). Parametric studies using FEA of the indentation-load relaxation experiment are used to estimate the hydraulic permeability and the largest time constant accurately. Force response predicted from FEA of indentation experiments using BPE and BPVE models demonstrate the significant role played by the flow-independent solid matrix relaxation behavior of soft polymeric media emphasizing the need to use a BPVE model. Investigation of the spatiotemporal variations in the pore pressure and solid matrix stress within the hydrogel and near the indenter surface provides clues to the differences seen in the estimated relaxation modulus from various tests (rheometer and indentation). From the studies on indentation testing of gelatin hydrogels, the relaxed shear modulus is an intrinsic material property of soft-tissues and hydrogels that is found to be the most appropriate material property for comparison with those obtained using other experiments.
The Use of Community Health Workers in Community Health Centers.

Background Until 2016, community health centers (CHCs) reported community health workers (CHWs) as part of their overall enabling services workforce, making analyses of CHW use over time infeasible in the annual Uniform Data System (UDS). Objective The objective of this study was to examine changes in the CHW workforce among CHCs from 2016 to 2018 and factors associated with the use of CHWs. Research design, subjects, measures The two-part model estimated separate effects for the probability of using any CHW and extent of CHW full-time equivalents (FTEs) reported in those CHCs, using a total of 4102 CHC-year observations from 2016 to 2018. To estimate the extent to which increases in CHW workforce are attributable to real growth or rather are a consequence of a change in reporting category, we also conducted a difference-in-differences analysis to compare non-CHW enabling services FTEs between CHCs with and without CHWs before (2013-2015) and after (2016-2018) the reporting change in 2016. Results The rate of CHCs that employed CHWs rose from 20.04% in 2016 to 28.34% in 2018, while average FTEs stayed relatively flat (3.32 FTEs). Patient visit volume (larger CHCs) and grant funding (less reliant on federal but more reliant on private funding) were significant factors associated with CHW use. However, we found that a substantial portion of this growth was attributable to a change in UDS reporting categories. Conclusion While we do not address the reasons why CHCs have been slow to use CHWs, our results point to substantial financial barriers associated with CHCs' expanding the use of CHWs.
Distortion-Induced Fatigue Crack Growth

Out-of-plane distortion of transverse cross-bracing systems in bridge superstructures has been known to cause localized fatigue cracking. The cracking is a result of the differential displacement of adjacent bridge girders, which causes high stress concentrations in unstiffened web-gap regions at the interface of girder and stiffener connection plates. Fatigue cracking within the web gap can occur because of cyclical loading scenarios. Rehabilitation efforts have shown to be unpredictable in preventing crack propagation once through-thickness crack profiles have developed. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms causing fatigue crack propagation in such detail is essential in developing effective repair methods. In this study, numerical analyses of typical web-gap connections are conducted using the extended FEM to characterize crack directionality and growth rate. Simulations varying the web-gap length, stress range, loading ratio, and initial crack length were used to determine the primary variables effecting crack growth in the web-gap region. Increasing the web-gap length was noted to stabilize crack propagation rates, resulting in stable growth, which can be correlated to the Paris Law. Elongation of horizontal initial crack lengths resulted in reorientation of crack growth. In stiffer web gaps, a combined high stress ratio and long initial crack length resulted in crack profiles propagating into the flange-web interface with eventual crack arrestment. The study suggests that horizontal extension of initial cracks has the potential to cause the crack to arrest, after stable propagation, without adversely compromising local structural integrity of bridge superstructures.
Links Between Single-Trial Changes and Learning Rate in Eyelid Conditioning

The discovery of single-trial learning effects, where the presence or absence (or the number) of climbing fiber inputs produces measureable changes in Purkinje cell response and in behavior, represents a major breakthrough in cerebellar learning. Among other things, these observations provide strong links between climbing fiber-mediated plasticity and cerebellar learning. They also demonstrate that cerebellar learning is stochastic, with each instantiation of a movement producing a small increment or decrement in gain. The sum of the small changes give rise to the macroscopic properties of cerebellar learning. We used a relatively large data set from another example of cerebellar-dependent learning, classical conditioning of eyelid responses, to attempt a behavioral replication and extension of single-trial learning effects. As a normal part of training, stimulus-alone trials provide instances where the climbing fiber response would be omitted, similar to non-climbing-fiber trials (gain down) during smooth pursuit training. The consequences of the stimulus-alone trial on the amplitude and timing of the conditioned response on the following paired trials were examined. We find that the amplitude of the conditioned response during the trial after a stimulus-alone trial (no climbing fiber input) was measurably smaller than the amplitude on the previous trials, and this single-trial effect on amplitude is larger for longer interstimulus intervals. The magnitude of the single-trial effect parallels the rate of extinction at different interstimulus intervals supporting the previously observed link between single-trial effects and learning.
The Effects of Instructor Service Performance, Immediacy, and Trust on Student–Faculty Out-of-Class Communication

Student initiated out-of-class communication (OCC) with instructors has been linked to benefits for students, faculty, and the institution at large, yet garners little attention in business educati...