cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neuronal rhythms orchestrate cell assembles to distinguish perceptual categories

Categories are reflected in the spiking activity of neurons. However, how neurons form ensembles for categories is unclear. To address this, we simultaneously recorded spiking and local field potential (LFP) activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) of monkeys performing a delayed match to category task with two independent category sets (Animals: Cats vs Dogs; Cars: Sports Cars vs Sedans). We found stimulus and category information in alpha and beta band oscillations. Different category distinctions engaged different frequencies. There was greater spike field coherence (SFC) in alpha (~8-14 Hz) for Cats and in beta (~16-22 Hz) for Dogs. Cars showed similar differences, albeit less pronounced: greater alpha SFC for Sedans and greater beta SFC for Sports Cars. Thus, oscillatory rhythms can help coordinate neurons into different ensembles. Engagement of different frequencies may help differentiate the categories.
A 200MS/s 7bit time domain ring quantizer

This paper presents a new switched capacitor based ring quantizer circuit. The circuit is inspired from a ring amplifier with some important modifications to enable time based quantization instead of amplification. The proposed quantizer which is a natural extension of the ring amplifier can be employed as a multi bit quantizer in pipelined analogue-to-digital converter and delta-sigma-modulators thereby replacing conventional comparator based quantizers, hence drastically reducing the overall complexity. The proposed structure was designed and simulated in a 130 nm CMOS process. The quantizer was sampled at a clock frequency of 200 MHz (fs) and consumes 600μW at 1.2V power supply.
LSTM for septic shock: Adding unreliable labels to reliable predictions

Sepsis is a leading cause of death over the world and septic shock, the most severe complication of sepsis, reaches a mortality rate as high as 50%. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent most morbidity and mortality. Nowadays, the increasing availability of the electronic health records (EHRs) has generated great interests in developing models to predict acute medical conditions such as septic shock. However, septic shock prediction faces two major challenges : 1) how to capture the informative progression of septic shock in a long visit to hospital of a patient; and 2) how to obtain reliable predictions without well-established moment-by-moment ground-truth labels for septic shock. In this work, we proposed a generic framework to predict septic shock based on Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) model, which is capable of memorizing temporal dependencies over a long period. The framework integrates two levels of imperfect yet informative labels to jointly learn the discriminative patterns of septic shock: ICD-9 code as the visit-level label and the clinical criteria designed by domain experts as the moment-by-moment event-level label. We evaluate our method on a real-world data extracted from an EHR system constituted by 12,954 visits and 1,348,625 events, and compare it against multiple baselines. The robustness of the method is validated using three sets of clinician-proposed adjusted ground-truth labels. Also, we explore whether the framework is effective for the early prediction of the patients developing septic shock. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed method in the task of septic shock prediction.
SUSTAINED CAD/CAM INTEGRATION: INTEGRATING WITH SUCCESSIVE VERSIONS OF STEP OR IGES FILES

CAD/CAM/CAE integration offers designers, analysts, and manufacturers the opportunity to share data throughout the product development process. Such integration reduces product development cost and supports the development of better products. Finite-element (FE) meshing applications integrated with solid model data from CAD systems represent a major subset of CAD/CAM/CAE integration. Many practitioners find that sustained integration with the CAD geometry is often not economical because of mixed CAD formats and the need to simplify geometry before modeling. This article assesses those circumstances and the cost/benefit trade-offs that lead to the not-economical conclusion. The article also introduces new techniques for sustained integration with FE meshing applications. Virtual persistent identifiers (VPI) enabled by design change vectors (DCV) are proposed as tools to enable sustained integration between FE meshing applications and imported neutral format CAD models (e.g., STEP, IGES). VPI techniques are shown to enable sustained integration using neutral format files with no extensions to their current format. The approach accommodates “integrate as you go” (ad-hoc integration) instead of the homogeneous integration approach that requires extensive planning, investment, and policies. The same ad-hoc capability can be used to repair broken associativity and mitigate risks associated with migrating from one CAD platform to another. The authors conclude that VPI should be useful for ad-hoc integration, integration repair, and migration to new exchange standards like the feature definition standard in STEP AP-242. A simple example of the proposed process is shared.
Genetic diversity, effective population size, and structure among black bear populations in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA

Multiple small populations of American black bears Ursus americanus, including the recently delisted Louisiana black bear subspecies U. a. luteolus, occupy a fragmented landscape in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA (LMAV). Populations include bears native to the LMAV, bears translocated from Minnesota during the 1960s, and recently reintroduced and colonizing populations sourced from within the LMAV. We estimated population structure, gene flow, and genetic parameters important to conservation of small populations using genotypes at 23 microsatellite markers for 265 bears from seven populations. We inferred five genetic clusters corresponding to the following populations: White River and western Mississippi, Tensas River and Three Rivers, Upper Atchafalaya, Lower Atchafalaya, and Minnesota. Upper Atchafalaya was suggested as the product of Minnesota-sourced translocations, but those populations have since diverged, likely because of a founder effect followed by genetic drift and isolation. An admixture zone recently developed in northeastern Louisiana and western Mississippi between migrants from White River and Tensas River, resulting in a Wahlund effect. However, gene flow among most populations has been limited and considerable genetic differentiation accumulated (global FST = 0.22), particularly among the three Louisiana black bear populations that existed when federal listing occurred. Consistent with previous bottlenecks, founder effects, and persisting isolation, all LMAV bear populations had low genetic diversity (AR = 2.08–4.81; HE = 0.36–0.63) or small effective population size (NE = 3–49). Translocating bears among populations as part of a regional genetic restoration program may help improve genetic diversity and increase effective population sizes.
On discriminant matrices

Abstract This paper considers the usual compound matrix, the additive compound matrix, and the discriminant matrix. An investigation of the Jordan structure of discriminant matrices is initiated. The primary objective of the paper is the determination of the Jordan form of the discriminant of one Jordan block. This Jordan form has a very simple pattern. A number of related results are obtained. The main results are facilitated by the new precedence relation ordering and the block-persymmetric property of the matrices. Examples of the discriminant matrices and Jordan forms are provided.
Land, History and Separatist Conflict: The Origins of National Rebellion in the Post-Colonial World

Current research on self-determination conflicts -- whether they manifest in separatist, secessionist, or autonomy demands -- tends to grant causal supremacy heavily to the last couple of decades. I argue that this tight historical focus misses much of the explanation for why it is that such movements as the Iraqi Kurdish Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Aceh Independence Movement, and others have persisted from the early independence period to the present and extracted substantial concessions from their central governments. Drawing on analysis of group-level aggregate data covering the post-colonial world from 1946 to 2005, and on a natural experiment in greater Kurdistan, I argue that today's successful self-determination movements largely owe that success to an earlier generation of rural elites. Where hierarchical social structures dominated the countryside in minority regions, they provided the elite leadership and mobilizing resources to challenge new states. Ironically, where these states conquered the countryside by commercializing agriculture, they often set the stage for later, urban-based rebellions. The quantitative analysis shows a powerful relationship between early resistance and later rebellions, and I employ a comparative analysis of Kurdish movements in Iran and Iraq to illustrate the centrality of this cross-generational change to the success of self-determination struggles in the post-colonial world more broadly.
Chapter 4.4 The hippocampus, context processing and episodic memory

Abstract Contextual information plays a critical role in memory. Learned information becomes associated with the learning context and the context can cue the memories and behaviors associated with that context. An extensive literature involving experimental brain lesions has shown that the hippocampus is critically involved in processing contextual information and hippocampal output modulates processing in downstream brain regions in a context-dependent manner. Recent findings indicate that hippocampal spatial firing patterns (place fields) and neuronal responses to task-relevant events are highly sensitive to the context, even when the context is defined by abstract task demands rather than the background environment. Because these neuronal response patterns are unique to a given context, they could serve as a neural representation of the context. These context representations could, through learning processes, become associated with the memories and behaviors that are appropriate to the context. A key feature of episodic memory is the ability to distinguish one event from other similar events. However, neurophysiological data from rodents suggests that hippocampal neuronal responses are better suited to distinguishing contexts than episodic memories for individual training trials. Since episodic memories, by definition, include information about the time and place where the event occurred, contextual information is a necessary prerequisite for episodic memory. It is therefore suggested that episodic memory impairments resulting from hippocampal damage in humans and animals could be secondary to context processing deficits. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that the primary function of the hippocampus is the identification and encoding of contexts and that the hippocampus likely contributes these context representations to a wider circuitry which mediates episodic memory.
Perspectives on Automotive Manufacturing

This chapter provides a description along with a personal perspective on some aspects of automobile manufacturing at Ford Motor Company. In particular, the chapter begins with a brief overview of the scope of Ford’s North American manufacturing operations. After this overview, certain aspects of vehicle assembly and stamping operations are discussed in somewhat greater detail. The next subject to be covered is scheduling of manufacturing operations, both at the level of the assembly plant (first tier) and at the stamping plant as representative of a second tier supplier. With this material as background, new operating strategies in manufacturing such as computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), just-in-time (JIT), flexible machining, and statistical process control (SPC) will be considered from the perspective of change required for implementation. Finally, the chapter will conclude with a short summary. Throughout this overview, the focus will be on opportunities and/or requirements for change in order to achieve greater productivity and improved product quality.
Inadvertent Exemplars: Life History Portraits of Two Socially Just Principals

This study creates life history portraits of two White middle-class native-English-speaking principals demonstrating commitments to social justice in their work in public elementary schools serving...
Barium titanate perovskite nanoparticles as a photoreactive medium for chemical warfare agent detoxification.

Abstract Barium titanate nanoparticles (BTO-NPs) in the size range 8–12 nm, prepared by gel collection, are found to be a photoreactive detoxifier for Chemical Warfare Agent vapors, specifically, the sulfur mustard surrogate (2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide). The relatively monodisperse, uniformly spherical BTO-NPs, initially dispersed in alcohol solvents, form a stable and porous aggregated structure reminiscent of a nanostructured material with voids/pores of an average diameter of 4.6 nm and a relatively narrow distribution of their sizes (2.5–8.7 nm). Due to the interparticle porosity and a polar, chemically active surface, signifcant amounts of CWA surrogate and its decomposition products were adsorbed on the BTO-NPs. The recorded weight uptake on the perovskite was the highest among a series of materials and nanocomposites known for their detoxification activity and tested at the same conditions (169 mg/g, compared to 117 mg/g for zinc oxide and
Long-Term Results Following Repair for Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation − Analysis of Factors Influencing Durability

Background The majority of patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR) are amenable to reconstructive procedures. There is debate regarding factors that influence long-term durability with respect to repair technique, valve remodelling and progressive myxomatous change. Methods A total of 685 patients with DMR underwent mitral valve repair by a single surgeon between 1991 and 2011 with follow-up completed at 31 December 2016. Repair rate for patients undergoing surgery for DMR was over 90%. Mean age was 64 years (18–89) with 66.2% male, 47% NYHA class III–IV, and 20% had permanent atrial fibrillation (PAF). Major associated procedures were performed in 28% of patients (189); including coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) (127), aortic valve replacement (15), aortic root surgery (3) and tricuspid valve annuloplasty (61). Results Operative mortality (≤30 days) occurred in four patients (0.58%). At 20 years, survival was 58%, freedom from reoperation was 90% and freedom from reoperation and non-operated recurrent MR >2+ (relapse) was 78%. Factors influencing survival were advancing age, left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (ejection fraction 40 mm), New York Heart Association (NYHA) III–IV and PAF. Predictors of relapse were the degree of residual intraoperative mitral regurgitation (p Conclusion The great majority of degenerative mitral valves are repairable regardless of age with excellent long-term results achievable following surgery. Survival is reduced by significant symptoms, LV dysfunction and preoperative PAF. Repair is best performed before these features develop. Durability is largely dependent on the technical performance of the repair and degree of residual MR on the post-pump transoesophageal echocardiogram. We recommend surgery should be performed by surgeons specialising and skilled in mitral valve repair.
The relationship between nicotine metabolism and nicotine and carcinogen exposure among American Indian commercial cigarette smokers and electronic nicotine delivery system users.

Abstract Background In American Indian (AI) tobacco users from the southern plains region of the US, we examined the relationship between nicotine and carcinogen exposure and nicotine metabolism. Methods Smokers (n = 27), electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) users (n = 21), and dual users (n = 25) of AI descent were recruited from a southern plains state. Urinary biomarkers of nicotine metabolism (nicotine metabolite ratio [NMR]), nicotine dose (total nicotine equivalents [TNE]), and a tobacco-specific lung carcinogen (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol and its glucuronides [total NNAL] were measured. Results The geometric mean of NMR was 3.35 (95% Confidence Interval(CI): 2.42, 4.65), 4.67 (95% CI: 3.39, 6.43), and 3.26 (95% CI: 2.44, 4.37) among smokers, ENDS users, and dual users. Each of the three user groups had relatively low levels of TNE, indicative of light tobacco use. Among smokers, there were inverse relationships between NMR and TNE (r = −0.45) and between NMR and NNAL (r = −0.50). Among dual users, NMR and TNE, and NMR and NNAL were not associated. Among ENDS users, NMR and TNE were not associated. Conclusions AI tobacco users with higher NMR did not have higher TNE or NNAL exposure than those with lower NMR. This supports prior work among light tobacco users who do not alter their tobacco consumption to account for nicotine metabolism. Impact The high prevalences of smoking and ENDS among AI in the southern plains may not be related to nicotine metabolism. Environmental and social cues may play a more important role in light tobacco users and this may be particularly true among AI light tobacco users who have strong cultural ties.
Ethnic diversity matters: Putting implicit associations between weapons and ethnicity in context:

Weapons are implicitly associated with Black Americans. We examined the extent to which this implicit stereotype fluctuates as a function of the ethnic diversity of contexts. Across 351 U.S. metrop...
Potential Health Promoting Properties of Isoflavones, Saponins, Proanthocyanidins, and Other Phytonutrients in Pulses

This chapter reviews the structure, concentration, absorption, and health promoting activities of phytonutrients in pulses. The phenolic phytonutrients in pulses include isoflavones, flavan-3-ols, proanthocyanidins, hydroxycinnamic acids, and flavanols. A major non-phenol phytonutrient is saponins. The bioactivities of pulse phytonutrients which may have a beneficial role in cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, inflammation, and neurodegenerative disease are summarized. Gaps of knowledge in the previous research are suggested and future research directions are proposed.
Torsional and Proton Transfer Dynamics in Substituted 3-Hydroxyflavones.

The role of torsional motion in proton transfer dynamics of 4‘-(N,N-dimethylamino)-α-naphthyl-3-hydroxychromone has been studied using time-resolved emission spectroscopy. Excited state proton transfer (ESPT) rates in hydrocarbon solvents of varying viscosities are obtained. The viscosity is varied so that ESPT rate prior to, and following, torsional relaxation may be determined. The results show that as the aryl torsional relaxation proceeds, the exothermicity of proton transfer decreases and the proton transfer rate increases; thus, the system exhibits “Marcus inverted” behavior. These results are interpreted in terms of torsional potentials. These potential energy surfaces are constructed from solvent-dependent static absorption and emission spectra and time-dependent Stokes shift measurements. Potential energy surfaces are constructed for the normal and tautomeric forms of the molecule in both torsionally relaxed and unrelaxed states. From these surfaces, a ratio of reaction rates is obtained, which i...
Simulation-based Training in Ectopic Pregnancy and Salpingostomy.

Objective Ectopic pregnancy leads to approximately 3% of deaths in pregnancy. Surgical management is indicated when patients are hemodynamically unstable or have signs of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. Salpingectomy is more commonly performed, but salpingostomy is preferred in a patient with prior salpingectomy with a desire for future pregnancy. Due to the lack of exposure, salpingostomy is not frequently performed and most residents do not feel adequately trained. Our goal was to provide a hands-on simulation about ectopic pregnancy and salpingostomy in hopes that the simulation will improve the resident’s confidence and knowledge in recognizing an ectopic pregnancy, identifying an appropriate candidate for surgical management, and performing a salpingostomy. Methods The educational initiative was aimed towards postgraduate year (PGY) 1-4 OB/GYN residents (n=11). Knowledge and confidence questionnaires were given to participants prior to and post-simulation. A gynecologic mannequin was modified by taking the existing pelvic organs and creating a tubal pregnancy. In the first part of the simulation, a hemodynamically unstable patient presented with lab and imaging findings consistent with an ectopic pregnancy. Once recognized and the decision made for surgical intervention, participants were transferred to a simulated operating room where they performed salpingostomy or salpingectomy on the mannequin. The simulation was followed by a debriefing session to discuss the actions and thought processes of participants, provide reflection, and incorporate improvement opportunities for future cases. Finally, participants engaged in a didactic lecture where they were educated about the incidence, presentation, and management of tubal ectopic pregnancy. Results Analysis of the knowledge questionnaires showed the median score pre- and post-intervention was 9 and 12, respectively, with a median change of 3 (p=0.001). The median confidence value pre- and post-intervention were 28 and 42, respectively, with a median value change of 12 (p<0.001). Conclusion Our intervention improved residents' confidence and knowledge in recognizing an ectopic pregnancy, identifying an appropriate candidate for surgical management, and performing a salpingostomy.
Five Key Research Findings on Wealth Taxation for the Super Rich

This essay summarizes five key findings from the author’s in-progress research evaluating the potential of wealth tax reform proposals for taxing the super rich. These five key findings are as follows: -- First, the existing U.S. tax system does a very poor job of meaningfully taxing the super rich. -- Second, there are only two approaches for reform that could plausibly succeed in making it so that the U.S. tax system would meaningfully tax the super rich: wealth taxation and mark-to-market taxation (sometimes known as “accrual” taxation). -- Third, piecemeal reforms to the existing tax system that some have argued for as “progressive alternatives” to wealth tax reforms should be thought of as complements to wealth taxation rather than as competitors. -- Fourth, much of the public criticism of wealth tax reform proposals ignores recent legal scholarship on valuation methodologies and other implementation design options, to the extent that this criticism mostly only applies to outdated, “straw man” versions of how a modern wealth tax might be implemented. -- Fifth, concerns about the Supreme Court striking down wealth tax reforms as unconstitutional can be addressed by including fallback options in the wealth tax legislation.
A Normative Framework

This chapter answers the central question of this book. The fifth chapter starts with providing a review of the existing approaches. Afterward, it presents the suggested ethical framework for Global Governance for Health Research. This ethical framework has three main elements: First, a background of personal and subjective virtues that are the merging points of the traditional masculine and modern feminist accounts of virtue ethics; second, a core of principles mainly from the UNESCO Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights combined with the systematic framework that is named the NIH framework; and third, a place for situation ethics embodied in the crucial role of Research Ethics Committees and Institutional Review Boards composed of well-trained experts and lay-persons from all the involved parties and communities.
Lessons from the School of Disobedience: Responsibility and/for Resistance in Higher Education

Drawing upon a visit to the School of Disobedience in Linz, Austria and the example of the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee, this chapter focuses on the critical need for reform in systems of higher education and the responsibility of those with positions of power within these institutions to lead the way in demanding change. Both the School of Disobedience and the Highlander Center offer forms of disobedience that might serve as exemplars for challenging business as usual in the academy. But we must be grounded in a clear set of ethical principles in order to guide this action. The process of structured ethical reflection provides a strategy for identifying a set of shared core values that we might use to inform ourselves—and our leaders—regarding ways to reinvent higher education to support positive change.
Brain tissue transcriptomic analysis of SIV-infected macaques identifies several altered metabolic pathways linked to neuropathogenesis and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) as potential therapeutic targets.

Despite improvements in antiretroviral therapy, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) remain prevalent in subjects undergoing therapy. HAND significantly affects individuals’ quality of life, as well as adherence to therapy, and, despite the increasing understanding of neuropathogenesis, no definitive diagnostic or prognostic marker has been identified. We investigated transcriptomic profiles in frontal cortex tissues of Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected Rhesus macaques sacrificed at different stages of infection. Gene expression was compared among SIV-infected animals (n = 11), with or without CD8+ lymphocyte depletion, based on detectable (n = 6) or non-detectable (n = 5) presence of the virus in frontal cortex tissues. Significant enrichment in activation of monocyte and macrophage cellular pathways was found in animals with detectable brain infection, independently from CD8+ lymphocyte depletion. In addition, transcripts of four poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) were up-regulated in the frontal cortex, which was confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results shed light on involvement of PARPs in SIV infection of the brain and their role in SIV-associated neurodegenerative processes. Inhibition of PARPs may provide an effective novel therapeutic target for HIV-related neuropathology.
Academically-contingent self-worth: Dimensionality and associations with negative affectivity and achievement goals

Abstract Academically-contingent self-worth is commonly viewed as unidimensional, capturing how much students' self-worth links to positive and negative academic outcomes. Recent evidence, however, suggests a bi-dimensional structure whereby positive contingencies and negative contingencies are separate. This bi-dimensional model ignores common variance between positive- and negative- contingency items. Therefore, in the current research, we compared the unidimensional model and bidimensional model to several bifactor models. Across three samples, the best candidate was the bifactor model with a general-contingency factor and a separate and unique positive-contingency factor. These two factors were differentially related to self-esteem, neuroticism, and learning goals. The identified model may provide theoretical clarity, resolve inconsistencies, and generate new hypotheses.
Factors That Influence Maternal Feeding Decisions for Toddlers: Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract Objective To use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to assess mothers’ behavioral intentions to provide toddlers with a healthy diet and see if the addition of the parental role construction (PRC) variable strengthened the TPB. Design An online survey using data gathered from preliminary research and a previously validated survey. Participants The final sample consisted of 148 mothers. The mean age was 32.8 (SD = 6.16) years. Most participants were married (87.2%), had earned a college degree or higher (79.7%), held part-time or full-time employment (60.8%), and were White (90.3%). Main Outcome Measures The TPB constructs, PRC, and the mothers’ behavioral intentions surrounding toddler feeding. Analysis The determinants of intention per the TPB were explored using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. Results The TPB model predicted 53% of the variance in mother's behavioral intention to provide their toddler with a healthy diet. The addition of the PRC variable added 6% more predictive power to the model. Conclusions and Implications Mothers’ behavioral intentions surrounding feeding their toddlers were strongly influenced by the TPB constructs and their perceptions of the maternal role. Health promotion efforts should aim to increase the mother's sense of behavioral control and parental responsibility rather than focusing on the benefits of healthy eating.
A Note Concerning the Effect of Wing Twist on the Response of a Wing to a Sharp-Edged Gust

IN A RECENT PAPER 1 the acceleration response to a sharp-edged gust of an airplane with one degree of freedom, vertical motion, was calculated using unsteady-lift functions for incompressible flow on the basis of the assumption that wing flexibility can be taken into account by considering an average twist which is proportional to the normal acceleration. This assumption is reasonable if the lift contributed by the tail and fuselage is not large, the mass of the wing (including nacelles, tip tanks, etc.) is small, and the effective spring constant is selected properly. Also, the neglect of pitching motion while including twist can be justified if the wing is relatively flexible, the moment of inertia of the airplane in pitch is large, and the airplane has little or no sweep. However, if the wing is highly swept back, the practical significance of the results obtained by assuming that a sharpedged gust hits all points on the leading edge simultaneously is somewhat uncertain. Without attempting to delimit the conditions for which these results are valid and significant, the purpose of this note is to recast the results of reference 1 in a form which exhibits the relative effects of the mass parameter and the stiffness parameter somewhat more clearly. The stiffness parameter cR used in reference 1 can, by reasoning similar to that of Appendix C of reference 1, be shown to be given by the relation
The Economics of Fertilizer Use in Crop Production

Publisher Summary The need for commercial fertilizers to supplement the soil supply of available nutrients for crops has been amply demonstrated by agronomic research. Research workers in agronomy and agricultural economics, recognizing the importance of economics of fertilizer use for crop production, began cooperating on research projects designed to estimate the most profitable rates of plant nutrients for different soils. This research provided information that enabled the farmers to make more efficient use of fertilizer, thereby leading to an over-all increase of efficiency in agricultural production. Because of the interest in the economics of fertilizer use, the research has undergone rapid development in recent years. Therefore, the objectives, procedures, and terminology of this research may seem obscure to those who are not familiar with it.
Longitudinal Stability of Adult Personality

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the empirical evidence on the stability of personality. Personality researchers and theorists are realizing that the period of adulthood cannot be ignored, just as gerontologists have come to recognize that personality is central to the study of aging. Aging faces two formidable problems rarely encountered in other branches of psychology: (1) the independent variable, maturation cannot be manipulated. In consequence, only quasi-experimental designs can be used and these face well-known threats to their validity. (2) Aging is a process which requires decades to unfold. Researchers who wish to study changes must study the life span in segments or build upon the work of earlier researchers. The personality stability or change concerns normative shifts in the mean levels of personality. The fact that mean levels of most personality variables show little or no change with age does not necessarily imply that individuals do not change. Mean level stability cannot be observed even if all the individuals in the sample have undergone dramatic changes in the level of all personality variables. The major stability concerns the maintenance of rank order in individual differences. This form of stability is usually measured as a stability coefficient, a retest correlation based on re-administration of a measure after a period of years.
The future of agent communication

This short note discusses trends in computing environments where agent communication will have the most value. The main emerging trend in computing is toward openness, that is, toward large systems with dynamically changing, autonomous, heterogeneous components. This trend speaks the end of architecture in the traditional sense. More importantly, it emphasizes on declaratively specified interactions, that is, arms-length relationships, among independent components. Agents and multiagent systems provide key abstractions for computing in open settings. In particular, agent communications will be a key means for structuring distributed computations.
The Impulse Response Function of Economic Policy Uncertainty and Stock Market Returns: A Look at the Eurozone

This paper examines the impulse response function of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and stock market returns in the Eurozone. Using a vector autoregression analysis, this study explores how the Eurozone’s stock market responds to the impulse of economic policy uncertainty; a response feedback from the stock market is also examined. Using monthly data of the changes in economic policy uncertainty index and returns on the index of Eurozone stock market from 1993 to 2012, this study shows that Eurozone stock market returns respond positively to the changes in economic policy uncertainty; this response is statistically significant in the second, seventh and eighth months. However, the pooled OLS shows that the increase in the changes in economic policy uncertainty predicts lower stock market returns. The results also reveal a strong feedback from the stock market. The changes in economic policy uncertainty are significantly lower in the first, fourth and eighth months when the impulse is stock market returns.
Inhibition of γ-Glutamylcysteine Synthetase by l-Methionine-S-sulfoximine

Abstract Methionine sulfoximine was found to be an effective inhibitor of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase. The data indicate that methionine sulfoximine binds to the glutamate site of the enzyme and that, in the presence of ATP and metal ions (Mg2+ or Mn2+), it is converted to methionine sulfoximine phosphate. Of the four stereoisomers of methionine sulfoximine, only l-methionine-S-sulfoximine inhibits the enzyme; this is the same stereoisomer which inhibits glutamine synthetase and which causes convulsions in mice. Chemically synthesized l-methionine sulfoximine phosphate inhibits the enzyme in the presence of Mg2+ or Mn2+. These findings indicate that the mechanism of inhibition of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase by methionine sulfoximine is similar to that by which this compound was previously shown to inhibit glutamine synthetase. However, methionine sulfoximine phosphate is less tightly bound to γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase than to glutamine synthetase; thus, under certain conditions methionine sulfoximine phosphate can be released from inhibited γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase with restoration of catalytic activity. The findings are in accord with the view that enzyme-bound γ-glutamyl phosphate is an intermediate in the reaction catalyzed by γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase, and that phosphorylation of methionine sulfoximine by the enzyme reflects the phosphorylation step of the normal catalytic reaction.
David L. Callies, Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawai’i (2d Ed. 2010) (Book Review)

In 1984, Professor David Callies wrote Regulating Paradise to describe the regulatory scheme in Hawai’i. In 2010, he followed up that book with Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawai’i to reexamine the issues as they have developed over the last 25-plus years: housing affordability, the subjects of development agreements, condemnation, defining open space and agricultural lands, takings, cultural sensitivity, environmental assessment, the prevalence of covenanted communities, and redevelopment. This essay is a review of Professor Callies work which is a must read for anyone involved in land use in Hawaii. What emerges from his work are lingering questions about whether the regulatory scheme has over protected paradise.
On the Approximability of Orthogonal Order Preserving Layout Adjustment

Given an initial placement of a set of rectangles in the plane, we consider the problem of finding a disjoint placement of the rectangles that minimizes the area of the bounding box and preserves the orthogonal order i.e. maintains the sorted ordering of the rectangle centers along both x-axis and y-axis with respect to the initial placement. This problem is known as Layout Adjustment for Disjoint Rectangles (LADR). It was known that LADR is \(\mathbb {NP}\)-hard, but only heuristics were known for it. We show that a certain decision version of LADR is \(\mathbb {APX}\)-hard, and give a constant factor approximation for LADR.
Stabilization of a nonholonomic system via sliding modes

Uses an approach based on sliding mode control to design a feedback which stabilizes the origin for a class of nonlinear driftless systems of the form x/spl dot/=B(x)u. introduced by Brockett (1993). Brockett showed that these systems fail his necessary condition for the existence of smooth feedback. >
Growth Control and Cyclic Alterations of Cyclic AMP in the Cell Cycle

Growth stimulated by protease treatment of untransformed cells is correlated with a decrease in cell cAMP levels and can be prevented by dibutyryl cAMP. The changed growth characteristics of transformed cells are discussed with regard to cAMP levels.
Relaxation and readout visibility of a singlet-triplet qubit in an Overhauser field gradient

Using single-shot charge detection in a GaAs double quantum dot, we investigate spin relaxation time (${T}_{1}$) and readout visibility of a two-electron singlet-triplet qubit following single-electron dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). For magnetic fields up to 2 T, the DNP cycle is in all cases found to increase Overhauser field gradients, which in turn decrease ${T}_{1}$ and, consequently, reduce readout visibility. This effect was previously attributed to a suppression of singlet-triplet dephasing under a similar DNP cycle. A model describing relaxation after singlet-triplet mixing agrees well with experiment. Effects of pulse bandwidth on visibility are also investigated.
Toxicity of droppings from coumaphos-fed hens to little house fly larvae.

White leghorn hens were fed mixtures of 50% coumaphos oral drench powder, and pelleted poultry feed. The insecticide levels were 0, 25, 75, and 125 mg of active ingredient per kg of feed. The mean mortalities of larvae of Fannia canicularis (L.) exposed to the droppings from these birds were 7.3, 18.0, 42.5, and 91.0%, respectively. Therefore coumaphos provided an effective degree of control when fed at the 125 mg/kg level. By a comparison of the concentrations of coumaphos required to produce approximately 90% mortality of the fly larvae in this field test with the results of our laboratory tests, it was estimated that approximately a 70-fold decrease in effectiveness occurred during passage of the insecticide through the birds.
Searching in the city of knowledge: challenges and recent developments

Today plenty of data is emerging from various city systems. Beyond the classical Web resources, large amounts of data are retrieved from sensors, devices, social networks, governmental applications, or service networks. In such a diversity of information, answering specific information needs of city inhabitants requires holistic IR techniques, capable of harnessing different types of city data and turned it into actionable insights to answer different queries. This tutorial will present deep insights, challenges, opportunities and techniques to make heterogeneous city data searchable and show how emerging IR techniques models can be employed to retrieve relevant information for the citizens.
Area Expansion and Adsorption Isotherm in Protein Binding to Mixed Lipid Membranes

We present a thermodynamic analysis of protein adsorption to a mixed lipid monolayer containing a binding component and a nonbinding component at constant surface pressure. We derive the general equations for the adsorption isotherm and for the area expansion of the monolayer. In the limits of either low or high surface coverage, simplified forms of these equations are obtained. We construct simple thermodynamic models to examine the crossover from low to high surface coverage.
The behavior of natural and anthropogenic osmium in the Hudson River–Long Island Sound estuarine system

Abstract The extent to which riverine Os is trapped in a temperate estuary was the aim of this study. The behavior of Os through the Hudson River, East River and the Long Island Sound (LIS) system is addressed using both natural Os and anthropogenically mobilized Os. The Os concentration ([Os]) and isotopic composition (187Os/188Os) of the Mid-Atlantic Bight as inferred from the analysis of a water sample of 31‰ salinity (S) at Vineyard Sound, MA are 46 fM and 1.070, respectively. In comparison, the Hudson River at Newburgh, NY has [Os] = 68 fM and 187Os/188Os = 1.265. The Os concentration of the East River at the Whitestone Bridge is 51 fM and remains essentially constant proceeding eastward in the LIS despite the increase of salinity from 20‰ towards the higher value of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. The 187Os/188Os ratio of water at Whitestone Bridge is 0.945 and increases eastward through the Sound to 0.979 at 7 km and then to 1.019 at 39.6 km. The behavior of Os through LIS appears to be conservative at S > 20‰. On the basis of Os concentration and isotopic composition we infer that anthropogenic Os is being added to the East River through sewers with the likely isotopic ratio of ∼0.13 and that about 24% of riverine Os must be removed at S ⩽ 20‰. There is a net transport of about 0.4–1 mole of anthropogenic Os per year from the East River into the LIS. The residence time of Os in the ocean at present must be about 39,000 years, unless an independent source of supply of Os can be identified.
Experimental Studies of Feeding in Larval Red Drum

The red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is the only marine fish species in commercial culture in the US. Red drum can be induced to spawn on demand at any time of the year and the young grown to marketable size in indoor raceways or in ponds. Although many eggs are produced (up to 1 million per spawning pair), grow-out through the larval stage remains a bottleneck in commercial production. Most larvae for commercial use are grown in outdoor ponds where natural blooms of phytoplankton and zooplankton are induced, but pond production is limited seasonally and geographically since red drum larvae require sea water and are intolerant of temperatures below 20 C. It is possible to raise larvae indoors in tanks year-round by controlling temperature and salinity and by culturing live food, but not in sufficient number to supply commercial fish growers. Experimental studies are being carried out to modify the feeding and rearing systems to improve production of post-larvae. Of utmost importance is the development of a complete diet independent of live foods. Results of studies of highly unsaturated fatty acid requirements, digestive system development and activity levels of digestive enzymes are being incorporated into the development of an improved diet for red drum larvae.
How does knowledge from translational research impact our clinical care of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease patients

Recent translational studies have provided new insights into pathogenesis, disease behavior, and treatment responses in pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Registry studies have identified distinct clinical phenotypes with increasing age of onset; this has led to a revision of the clinical phenotyping system, now termed the Paris classification system. It is recognized that there are infantile (age <2 years), very early onset (VEO, age 2–10), and early onset (EO, age 10–17) forms of disease. Rare genetic mutations affecting anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory pathways have been discovered in infantile and VEO forms, while genetic pathways identified in EO disease have been similar to adult-onset IBD. Genetic and serologic patterns measured soon after diagnosis have been shown to be associated with more aggressive stricturing behavior; these patterns may now be used clinically to help predict disease course. More recently, clinical and genetic models have been developed that, if validated, could be used to predict treatment responses.
CETACEANS OF THE WESTERN TROPICAL INDIAN OCEAN: DISTRIBUTION, RELATIVE ABUNDANCE, AND COMPARISONS WITH CETACEAN COMMUNITIES OF TWO OTHER TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS

We conducted a cetacean survey in the pelagic western tropical Indian Ocean (WTIO) aboard an 85-m research vessel from March to July 1995, covering 9,784 linear km. Using 25 × binoculars and line-transect methods, we recorded 589 sightings of 21 species. Stenella longirostris was the most abundant cetacean, in terms of number of individuals sighted, by an order of magnitude above any other species, while Physeter macrocephalus was the most frequently sighted, in terms of number of schools. Twelve species were widespread, seven were rare, and two were localized; our sightings include new distributional records for 12 species. Significant observations included the following: (1) Delphinus cf. tropicalis was abundant off the coast of Oman (16 sightings) and readily distinguishable in the field from D. delphis and D. capensis, (2) Balaenoptera musculus was fairly common and localized in the area of the Maldives (17 sightings), and (3) three sightings were made of an unidentified bottlenose whale tentatively referred to as Indopacetus (i. e., Mesoplodon) pacificus. We recorded 26 mixed-species cetacean schools, 43 schools with which seabirds associated, and 17 schools associated with tuna. Notable among these were mixed aggregations of Stenella attenuata, S. longirostris, yellowfin tuna, and seabirds. The cetacean community of the WTIO was similar to that of the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) and the Gulf of Mexico (GM) in several respects. First, differences in abundance rank of individual species were small, with the result that common species were common and rare species were rare, regardless of ocean. Second, these differences in abundance were due primarily to differences in encounter rate, which varied with ocean by as much as 3,000%, and less so to school size, which generally varied less than 100%. Third, regardless of ocean, three species comprised the majority of cetaceans in the community, Stenella attenuata, S. longirostris, and S. coeruleoalba, representing 62%-82% of all individuals for all species. However, the rank order of abundance for these three species differed with ocean. Most notably, S. attenuata was abundant in the ETP and GM (abundance rank = 2 and 1, respectively) but much less common in the WTIO (abundance rank = 6). Although habitat preferences for S. attenuata appear to overlap considerably with those of S. longirostris in the ETP, our results suggest there may actually be significant differences between these two species. Detailed analysis of oceanographic correlates of distribution will be necessary in order to understand fully the habitat requirements of these pelagic dolphins, often the most conspicuous elements of tropical cetacean communities around the world.