cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantitative Determination of Indole-3 Carboxyaldehyde in Aqueous Extracts of Cotton Bracts by HPLC

A reverse phase, high performance liquid chromatbgraphy procedure for the quantification of indole-3 carboxyaldehyde in aqueous extracts of cotton bract is described. The amount of indole-3 carboxyaldehyde that could be extracted by water was 14.3 and 14.1 ppm in frost-killed (brown) and air dried green cotton bract, respectively.
Consumer goal pursuit

Consumers pursue goals when they perform behaviors (e.g., purchase low-calorie food) in order to achieve a desired end state (e.g., lose weight). Recent goal pursuit research can be classified into two streams of thought: conscious and unconscious goal pursuit. Conscious goal pursuit occurs when consumers are aware of the goal, while unconscious goal pursuit occurs when consumers are not aware of the goal, but still perform behaviors to achieve it. After discussing recent findings on when each type is more effective in helping consumers achieve their goals, I conclude that future research should not investigate the conscious and unconscious systems separately. Rather, future work should use a cooperative approach focused on how these systems interact to influence consumer goal pursuit.
LOCAL WEATHER, REGIONAL CLIMATE, AND ANNUAL SURVIVAL OF THE NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL

Abstract. We used an information-theoretical approach and Cormack—Jolly—Seber models for open populations in program MARK to examine relationships between survival rates of Northern Spotted Owls and a variety of local weather variables and long-term climate variables. In four of the six populations examined, survival was positively associated with wetter than normal conditions during the growing season or high summer temperatures. At the three study areas located at the highest elevations, survival was positively associated with winter temperature but also had a negative or quadratic relation with the number of storms and winter precipitation. A meta-analysis of all six areas combined indicated that annual survival was most strongly associated with phase shifts in the Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which reflect large-scale temperature and precipitation patterns in this region. Climate accounted for a variable amount (1–41%) of the total process variation in annual survival but for ...
A Common Position-Dependent Mechanism Controls Cell-Type Patterning and GLABRA2 Regulation in the Root and Hypocotyl Epidermis of Arabidopsis

A position-dependent pattern of epidermal cell types is produced during root development in Arabidopsis thaliana. This pattern is reflected in the expression pattern of GLABRA2 (GL2), a homeobox gene that regulates cell differentiation in the root epidermis. GL2 promoter::GUS fusions were used to show that the TTG gene, a regulator of root epidermis development, is necessary for maximal GL2 activity but is not required for the pattern of GL2 expression. Furthermore, GL2-promoter activity is influenced by expression of the myc-like maize R gene (35S::R) in Arabidopsis but is not affected by gl2 mutations. A position-dependent pattern of cell differentiation and GL2-promoter activity was also discovered in the hypocotyl epidermis that was analogous to the pattern in the root. Non-GL2-expressing cell files in the hypocotyl epidermis located outside anticlinal cortical cell walls exhibit reduced cell length and form stomata. Like the root, the hypocotyl GL2 activity was shown to be influenced by ttg and 35S::R but not by gl2. The parallel pattern of cell differentiation in the root and hypocotyl indicates that TTG and GL2 participate in a common position-dependent mechanism to control cell-type patterning throughout the apical-basal axis of the Arabidopsis seedling.
Parenting Stress in the Infant Aphakia Treatment Study

Objective To evaluate parenting stress following infants’ cataract extraction surgery, and to determine if levels of stress differ between 2 treatments for unilateral congenital cataract in a randomized clinical trial. Methods At surgery, an intraocular lens (IOL) was implanted or children were left aphakic, treated with contact lens (CL). Stress measures were administered 3 months after surgery and at the first visit after the visual acuity (VA) assessment done at 12 months of age. Results Caregivers in the IOL group reported higher levels of stress than those in the CL group 3 months after surgery, but there were no group differences in stress scores at the post-VA assessment. Stress scores did not change differentially for participants assigned to IOL versus CL treatments. Conclusions Treatment assignment did not have a significant impact on caregiver stress during infancy or on the change in stress during the child’s first 2 years of life.
Research Note: The Impact of Home-Based Business on Family Life

Because family firms often unknowingly take on the roles, dynamics, and values of the family unit in which they began, it is useful to study businesses that began in, or are being run from, the hom...
A spanning multichannel linked hypercube: a gradually scalable optical interconnection network for massively parallel computing

A new, scalable interconnection topology called the Spanning Multichannel Linked Hypercube (SMLH) is proposed. This proposed network is very suitable to massively parallel systems and is highly amenable to optical implementation. The SMLH uses the hypercube topology as a basic building block and connects such building blocks using two-dimensional multichannel links (similar to spanning buses). In doing so, the SMLH combines positive features of both the hypercube (small diameter, high connectivity, symmetry, simple routing, and fault tolerance) and the spanning bus hypercube (SBH) (constant node degree, scalability, and ease of physical implementation), while at the same time circumventing their disadvantages. The SMLH topology supports many communication patterns found in different classes of computation, such as bus-based, mesh-based, and tree-based problems, as well as hypercube-based problems. A very attractive feature of the SMLH network is its ability to support a large number of processors with the possibility of maintaining a constant degree and a constant diameter. Other positive features include symmetry, incremental scalability, and fault tolerance. It is shown that the SMLH network provides better average message distance, average traffic density, and queuing delay than many similar networks, including the binary hypercube, the SBH, etc. Additionally, the SMLH has comparable performance to other high-performance hypercubic networks, including the Generalized Hypercube and the Hypermesh. An optical implementation methodology is proposed for SMLH. The implementation methodology combines both the advantages of free space optics with those of wavelength division multiplexing techniques. A detailed analysis of the feasibility of the proposed network is also presented.
Analysis of neural networks with redundancy

Biological systems have a large degree of redundancy, a fact that is usually thought to have little effect beyond providing reliable function despite the death of individual neurons. We have discovered, however, that redundancy can qualitatively change the computations carried out by a network. We prove that for both feedforward and feedback networks the simple duplication of nodes and connections results in more accurate, faster, and more stable computation.
Characterization and Expression of HmuR, a TonB-Dependent Hemoglobin Receptor of Porphyromonas gingivalis

The gram-negative pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis requires hemin for growth. Hemoglobin bound to haptoglobin and hemin complexed to hemopexin can be used as heme sources, indicating that P. gingivalis must have a means to remove the hemin from these host iron-binding proteins. However, the specific mechanisms utilized by P. gingivalis for the extraction of heme from heme-binding proteins and for iron transport are poorly understood. In this study we have determined that a newly identified TonB-dependent hemoglobin-hemin receptor (HmuR) is involved in hemoglobin binding and utilization in P. gingivalis A7436. HmuR shares amino acid homology with TonB-dependent outer membrane receptors of gram-negative bacteria involved in the acquisition of iron from hemin and hemoglobin, including HemR of Yersinia enterocolitica, ShuA of Shigella dysenteriae, HpuB of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis, HmbR of N. meningitidis, HgbA of Haemophilus ducreyi, and HgpB of H. influenzae. Southern blot analysis confirmed the presence of the hmuR gene and revealed genetic variability in the carboxy terminus of hmuR in P. gingivalis strains 33277, 381, W50, and 53977. We also identified directly upstream of the hmuR gene a gene which we designated hmuY. Upstream of the hmuY start codon, a region with homology to the Fur binding consensus sequence was identified. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis revealed that hmuR and hmuY were cotranscribed and that transcription was negatively regulated by iron. Inactivation of hmuR resulted in a decreased ability of P. gingivalis to bind hemoglobin and to grow with hemoglobin or hemin as sole iron sources. Escherichia coli cells expressing recombinant HmuR were shown to bind hemoglobin and hemin. Furthermore, purified recombinant HmuR was demonstrated to bind hemoglobin. Taken together, these results indicate that HmuR serves as the major TonB-dependent outer membrane receptor involved in the utilization of both hemin and hemoglobin in P. gingivalis.
The evolution of avian migration

The study of avian migration has reached sophisticated levels in many areas, including ecology, behaviour, and physiology. Traditional discussions of the evolution of migration, however, have been compromised for several reasons. Previous ideas concerning the ancestral home of migrant species, southern or northern, and whether a partially migratory stage always precedes a fully migratory stage, were not expressed as testable hypotheses. Plotting migratory behaviour on phylogenetic trees has become commonplace and allows tests of traditional hypotheses. Some of these studies are reviewed, lending some support for almost all of the previous ideas. Although phylogenetic mapping helps to frame questions about the evolution of migration in a testable framework, there are two serious issues. First, experimental and observational studies reveal that the expression of migratory behaviour can change rapidly within a lineage, which can violate assumptions of character mapping. In addition, a species distribution model is used to show that current conditions for obligate migratory populations of the chipping sparrow were much restricted at the Last Glacial Maximum, and that the species might have been considered a partial migrant at that time. The expression of migratory behaviour in an extant species might be an artefact of the current inter-glacial period. Only if the rate of gains and losses of migratory behaviour can be incorporated into a phylogenetic mapping exercise will the actual evolutionary pattern of migration be revealed. For example, reconstruction of the ancestral area and the evolutionary history of migratory categories in a clade of New World warblers depended on the assumptions of character state transitions. A second concern is that the trait ‘migratory’ is too broad for evolutionary analysis and that, if possible, the expression of hyperphagia, Zugunruhe, and navigation could be mapped individually. Loss or suppression of any of these components can lead to sedentary populations, revealing how migratory behaviour can appear and disappear rapidly. A report of low levels of Zugunruhe in a sedentary bird, Saxicola torquata, is reconstructed as derived in a clade of otherwise migratory populations, suggesting that the loss of migration was a result of suppression (but not elimination) of Zugunruhe. When researchers mention the independent origin of migration in a clade, they are most likely referring to the gain or loss of the expression of the ancestral migratory programme, not the de novo evolution of migration per se. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104, 237–250.
Zero field viscosity in perpendicular media

Summary form only given. The thermal relaxation of magnetic media is a topic of considerable importance. The stability is typically characterized by measuring the time dependence of the coercivity or by measuring the magnetization decay rate as a function of applied reverse field. For large thermal stability factors (KV/kT), the magnetization decay in zero applied field is considered to be negligible. This is not necessarily the case, however, in state-of-the-art media with KV/kT less than 100. We have recently reported on measurements of the decay of remanence in zero applied field for a series of longitudinal thin film and particulate media and for self-assembled L1/sub 0/ FePt nanoparticles. Here we report on the measurement and calculation of zero-field relaxation in a film with perpendicular anisotropy. For illustration we have used a CoCrPtB film with a coercivity of 1900 Oe. The decay of magnetization was measured at zero applied field after the application of a saturation-reverse field sequence for different reverse fields and the initial viscosity coefficient, S/sub 0/ = dm/dlog(t), was measured as a function of the initial remanent magnetization.
Divine self-limitation in Swinburne's doctrine of omniscience

In his book, The Coherence of Theism, Richard Swinburne seeks to construct a coherent doctrine of God. As a part of this endeavour he examines the idea of omniscience in chapter 10. One of Swinburne's conclusions is that God as an omniscient being must engage in cognitive self-limitation in order to preserve the freedom of both divine and human future actions. In this paper, I want to look at his argument as it is presented in this chapter. I will conclude that Swinburne's position on divine cognitive self-limitation results in an internal contradiction.
Fault-tolerant FFT data compression

Transform coefficients carry important data characteristics but can also be compressed significantly in many remote sensing applications. Failures in the several computing facilities that execute lossy compression algorithms and support the transmission of Fourier transform data can corrupt the values beyond recovery at the final destination. Various methods for including fault tolerance at the data processing level are exemplified by describing a protected system that computes the FFT, truncates small coefficients and compresses the remaining nonzero coefficients using lossless arithmetic coding. Algorithmic checks within the FFT and arithmetic encoding and decoding operations are augmented with additional features between and across several subsystems involved in compressing and transmitting the FFT data. End-to-end error detection is achieved in this manner.
Axial resolution in elastography.

The limits and trade-offs of the axial resolution in elastography were investigated using a controlled simulation study. The axial resolution in elastography was estimated as the distance between the full widths at half-maximum of the strain profiles of two equally stiff lesions embedded in a softer homogeneous background. The results show that the upper bound of the axial resolution in elastography is controlled by the physical wave parameters of the ultrasound (US) system used to acquire the data (transducer center frequency and band- width). However, an inappropriate choice of the parameters used to process the US data (cross-correlation window length and shift between consecutive windows) may compromise the best resolution attainable. The measured elastographic axial resolution was found to be on the order of the ultrasonic wavelength. (E-mail: Jonathan.Ophir@uth.tmc.edu) © 2002 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.
Bromocriptine Mesylate for Glycemic Management in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective:To review the pharmacologic characteristics, safety, and efficacy of bromocriptine mesylate for glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Data Sources:A Scopus and MEDLINE search (1950–June 2010) was conducted using the key words bromocriptine, diabetes, and circadian rhythm. Data were also received from the manufacturer.Study Selection and Data Extraction:Available abstracts, studies, and review articles published in English with human data discussing bromocriptine treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus were reviewed.Data Synthesis:Bromocriptine is an ergot derivative available for treatment of type 2 diabetes. The mechanism of action of this agent is unclear; however, activity as a dopamine D2 receptor agonist seems to provide the primary mechanism for utility in resetting the circadian rhythm in patients with type 2 diabetes. Other mechanisms, including α-1 antagonist, α-2 agonist, and serotonin and prolactin modulator, may also help to explain bromocriptine's glucose-lowerin...
Inhibitory role of β-arrestin2 in T cells protects against colitis. (MUC2P.823)

β-arrestins have shown to be important regulators of inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine the role of β-arrestin2 in intestinal inflammation. In response to DSS-induced colitis, β-arrestin2 knockout (KO) mice exhibit greater body weight loss, higher disease activity index, shortened colon and loss of thymic weight as compared to wild type (WT) mice. Additionally, number of CD4+T cells and proportion of IL-17A+ (and RORγT+) and IFNγ+ CD4+ T cells were markedly higher in DSS-treated KO colonic lamina propria (cLP). Surprisingly, control KO mice too had higher number of CD4+ T cells and il17a mRNA expression in colon tissue compared to control WT mice. Furthermore, T-cell receptor (TCR) stimulation of MLN and splenic cells led to significantly higher production of IFNγ and IL-17 from KO compared to WT cells. Additionally, naive CD4+ T cells from KO mice produced higher IFNγ and IL-17 and differentiated into Th1 and Th17 cells to a greater extent following TCR stimulation. These results suggest that the KO colon is likely predisposed to exacerbated mucosal inflammation by virtue of enhanced CD4+ T cell numbers and function. This overt response however, was independent of microbiota since, KO animals co-housed with WT mice also exhibited higher weight loss and colon shortening following DSS. Together, our results demonstrate that β-arrestin2 negatively regulates T cell activation and thereby modulates mucosal response under both basal and inflammatory conditions.
Social networks and quality of life for long-term survivors of leukemia and lymphoma

Goals This study examined the relationship between personal and medical characteristics and quality of life (QOL) for long-term survivors (LTS) of leukemia and lymphoma, and how social networks influence this relationship.
Implications of the Electrophysiologic Study versus Electrocardiographic Monitoring trial for controlling ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation.

Abstract The Electrophysiologic Study versus Electrocardiographic Monitoring (ESVEM) trial had 2 objectives. The first was to determine the accuracy of noninvasive versus invasive means of predicting the efficacy of drug treatment for ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF). A second objective was to determine the relative efficacies of 7 antiarrhythmic drugs used in the treatment of ventricular tachyarrhythmias. ESVEM was the first opportunity to compare prospectively the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of a variety of antiarrhythmic drugs in the same patient population. No significant difference was observed between suppression of spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias on Holter monitoring and suppression of inducible ventricular arrhythmias by electrophysiologic study (EPS) in terms of the ability to predict the success of drug therapy. There was also no difference in predictive accuracy if patients in the electrophysiologic limb showed suppression by Holter monitoring in addition to suppression by EPS. Sotalol was more effective than the other 6 antiarrhythmic drugs, all class I agents, in preventing death and recurrence of arrhythmia. Efficacy compared with placebo, however, was not evaluated. In the EPS limb, sotalol was also statistically more likely to achieve an efficacy prediction than any of the sodium channel blocking drugs. Amiodarone was not used in ESVEM. It has been suggested that these conclusions, which differ from those of other, less controlled, invasive and noninvasive studies, might be because of the particular efficacy criteria used in the ESVEM protocol. Retrospective analyses of the ESVEM data were performed using more rigid efficacy criteria than were used in the original ESVEM analysis: a greater degree of ectopy suppression was required for Holter monitoring, and more stringent efficacy definitions were required in the stimulation protocol of the EPS limb. Results from the retrospective analyses and other studies support the initial ESVEM conclusions. In patients with both spontaneous and inducible sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias as well as frequent spontaneous premature ventricular contractions, therapy with sotalol (guided by either Holter monitoring or EPS) is a reasonable initial strategy because of its superior initial long-term efficacy and better acute and long-term tolerability compared with sodium channel blocking drugs. (Am J Cardiol 1996;78 (suppl 4A):34–40)
Modelling Growth and Light Absorption in the Marine Diatom Skeletonema Costatum

In this paper I consider the relationship between light absorption and growth in marine phytoplankton. In particular, I will derive a mathematical description of the daily carbon-specific rate of photosynthesis and the photosynthetic quantum yield of Skeletonema costatum as a function of four environmental factors: temperature, nutrient concentration, light intensity, and photoperiod. The formulations describe laboratory measurements of the growth of this marine diatom when the cells are fully acclimated and in continuous culture. Among other goals it is hoped that this study will aid in interpreting global ocean color imagery, which provides synoptic maps of the concentration of chlorophyll a at the sea surface, in regions where the four environmental parameters differ.
Goals in the Teaching of Ethics

Any discussion of possible goals in the teaching of ethics must begin by facing a number of formidable difficulties. The very phrase “the teaching of ethics” has a variety of connotations in our culture, and so for that matter does the term “ethics.” One can never be certain just what people hear when they encounter the notion of “teaching ethics”: for some, it means instructing people not to break the law, or to abide by some legal or professional code; for others, it means an attempt to improve moral character or to instill certain virtues; for still others, it primarily means imparting special skills in the handling of moral argumentation. Moreover, clarity is by no means guaranteed by the standard method of simply stipulating one’s own definitions or viewpoints. Someone who was once “taught ethics” by harsh and repressive methods of gross indoctrination may have trouble understanding “the teaching of ethics” in any more benign sense, however carefully one may point out other possibilities.
Abstract 144: Residual Cardiovascular Risk After Cardiac Rehabilitation

Background: CAD is the leading cause of death and disability in US. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program is an important secondary-prevention intervention to reduce mortality, cardiovascular (CV) events, & disability. At start of CR program, patients undergo extensive risk assessment to guide risk reduction goals. However, the residual risk at CR completion is not well studied. We sought to investigate the residual modifiable risk factors of patients completing CR Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our center’s data on consecutive patients between October 2012 and November 2013 who were entered into the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) registry and identified those who completed the CR program. We calculated their residual risk using the newly released ACC/AHA’s ‘Pooled Cohort Equations CV Risk Calculator’ (ACC/AHA risk) and Framingham risk (FR) calculator Results: Out of 128 consecutive CR participants, 44 (34%) completed the program. Patient characteristics and risk assessment are summarized in table 1. As per AACVPR risk stratification algorithm, 37 (84%) of patients were intermediate to high risk. Compared to the start, at completion of CR program, there was a significant improvement in 6-minute walk distance (365±107 vs 484± 137, p<0.001), favorable reduction in total cholesterol, LDL-C, non-HDL-C (p<0.001) and metabolic syndrome (p=0.02). At time of completion, calculated 10 year CV risk using ACC/AHA risk calculator was still elevated (14±10%), while 64% of patients had elevated risk≥7.5% (mean 19.3±9%). FR estimation was low (9±4%). The two risk scores showed moderate correlation (Pearson’s r=0.6, p<0.001), but the ACC/AHA risk was significantly higher than the FR estimation (p<0.001). In multivariate linear regression model, waist circumference (WC) at discharge was significant modifiable independent predictor of ASCVD risk, while systolic BP showed a trend towards significance Conclusion: Successful completion of CR program is associated with improvement in CV risk profile. However, the residual CV risk remains elevated at time of CR completion and is driven by WC & systolic BP. Elevated WC from central adiposity is the main residual atherogenic CV risk factor post CR completion. Further research on significant WC reduction during CR is needed ![][1] ![][2] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/graphic-2.gif
INTERALLELIC COMPLEMENTATION AT THE sh LOCUS IN MAIZE AT THE ENZYME LEVEL

EMS-induced sh mutants and their heterozygotes were examined for the enzyme, sucrose synthetase, which has previously been shown to be coded by the Sh locus. Complementing heterozygotes have a wild-type phenotype, but show no hybrid protein band after starch gel electrophoresis. The existence of a heteromeric complex, however, is inferred from the two-fold elevation in sucrose cleavage activity in the complementing heterozygotes as compared to the mutant homozygotes. The observations on complementation described here are unique, as the elevation in the activity of this reversible enzyme is noticed only in one direction (viz, sucrose cleavage) of the reaction and not the other (sucrose synthesis).
Using Problem-Based Learning in the Clinical Setting to Improve Nursing Students’ Critical Thinking: An Evidence Review

In preparation for the progressive nature of today's acute care hospital environments and the requirements for safe and effective patient care, it is essential that nursing students learn how to think critically. Problem-based learning is a method of education designed to encourage critical thinking. This article examines the evidence regarding the use of problem-based learning to improve critical thinking. A review of published literature was conducted using the CINAHL, ERIC, PsychInfo, and PubMed databases with the keywords nursing, problem-based learning, and critical thinking. Although the evidence is still accumulating, the studies reviewed indicate a positive relationship between problem-based learning and improved critical thinking in nursing students. There is a need for more rigorous research on the use of problem-based learning to examine the effects on critical thinking. Until this occurs, nursing instructors must rely on the extant evidence to guide their practice or continue to use the traditional model of clinical nursing education.
Challenges of Off-Site Library Storage Facilities: Cataloging, Access and Management of Off-Site Serials

This session presented several case studies of libraries facing challenges following a decision to move materials to an off-site storage facility. The presenters described the entire process of moving materials to an off-site location: from planning and selecting materials to organizing the collection off-site, with an emphasis on the unique problems created by serials. All three presenters shared strategies and decision-making methods with the audience.
Structure, Directional-Correlation, and Doppler-Shift Lifetime Measurements in 61 Cu via 58 Ni( 4 He,p γ) Reaction Spectrometry

The level structure and the decay properties of the levels in $^{61}\mathrm{Cu}$ up to 4082 keV of excitation have been carefully investigated via prompt $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and $p\ensuremath{\gamma}$ coincidence experiments employing Ge(Li) $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray detectors and annular Si surface-barrier charged-particle detectors. From these experiments and from high-resolution singles energy and directional- correlation measurements an improved decay scheme has been obtained which includes 44 levels in $^{61}\mathrm{Cu}$ and incorporates 120 $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays. New levels at 2584.5, 3739.4, 3942.4, and 4081.8 keV were postulated, while the $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ decay of several previously reported levels between 3277-3802 keV was not observed. The singles directional correlations from many transitions were used to obtain (i) reliable branching ratios for the more intense $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays and (ii) multipole mixing ratios $\ensuremath{\delta}(\frac{E2}{M1})$ by employing both a ratio method and an independent analysis of the correlations via the compound statistical theory of nuclear reactions. Branching ratios for the weaker $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays were obtained from spectra taken at 55\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} to the beam direction. The lifetimes of 31 levels in $^{61}\mathrm{Cu}$ were measured by the Doppler-shift attenuation method via the $^{58}\mathrm{Ni}(^{4}\mathrm{He},p\ensuremath{\gamma})$ reaction at bombardment energies between 9.7 and 12.2 MeV. Lifetimes were extracted from singles spectra obtained at 0, 15, 30, 45, 70, 90, and 110\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and from $p\ensuremath{\gamma}$ coincidence spectra obtained at 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} to the beam direction, by employing both a centroid shift analysis for the data from all angles and a line-shape fitting analysis for the data from angles \ensuremath{\le}45\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. The stopping power of Ni previously calibrated for Cu ions, was used for the line-shape analysis and for obtaining reliable $F(\ensuremath{\tau})$ curves applicable to the present conditions of both the singles and the coincidence experiments. For a large number of transitions in $^{61}\mathrm{Cu}$ values for $B(E2)$ and $B(M1)$ were obtained. The $B(E2)$ and $B(M1)$ values together with the $\ensuremath{\delta}(\frac{E2}{M1})$ values and the branching ratios from the first 10 levels in $^{61}\mathrm{Cu}$ are compared with recent detailed calculations for $^{61}\mathrm{Cu}$ based on a unified model. Good general agreement is observed between experiment and theory for the $B(E2)$ values. Only moderate agreement between experiment and theory is observed for the $B(M1)$ and $\ensuremath{\delta}(\frac{E2}{M1})$ values.
Effects of degree of fuel unsaturation on NOx emission from petroleum and biofuel flames

Iodine number is used as a measure of the fuel unsaturation of vegetable oils and fatty acid methyl esters. However, its relevance as a measure of total unsaturation of petroleum fuels like diesel, Jet A and their blends with biodiesels is debatable due to the significant differences in the reactivity of iodine with petroleum fuels. Bromine number, used as a measure of aliphatic unsaturation in petrofuel samples, does not account for the aromatic unsaturation from petroleum fuels. Hence, a common parameter that is relevant for both biodiesels and petroleum fuels needs to be identified to quantify the fuel unsaturation. A parameter, termed “Degree of Unsaturation (DOU),” which accounts for the total unsaturation of the fuel from all sources such as double and triple bonds, aromatics and other ring structures irrespective of the families of the fuels (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics, ether or ester) that has been used in organic chemistry literature is proposed in this work and identified as a potential indicator of NOx emissions from biodiesel blends. DOU is observed to strongly correlate with cetane and iodine numbers. Furthermore, relationships between DOU and the NO emission index on a mass basis (EINO) in prevaporized laminar flames of neat fuels such as soy methyl ester (SME), canola methyl ester (CME), rapeseed methyl ester (RME), palm methyl ester (PME), diesel, Jet A and petroleum/biodiesel blends at various equivalence ratios are presented. The NO emission index of flames of biodiesel/petroleum blends was found to increase with DOU, but with varying trends depending on their families of origin. The effects of DOU on EINO were significantly influenced by the equivalence ratio, with the maximum influence at an equivalence ratio of 1.2. At the equivalence ratio of 1.2, EINO increased from 2.4 g/kg at a DOU value of 1.7–4.4 g/kg at a DOU of 3.0 DOU provides a common platform to compare and quantify the effects of fuel unsaturation across different fuel families and can be employed as an indicator of NOx emissions. DOU can be evaluated based on the average molecular formula of the fuel alone without involving complex and expensive experimental procedures such as those involved in the measurement of iodine number.
Supported molybdenum oxides as effective catalysts for the catalytic fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

The catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of pine was investigated over 10 wt% MoO3/TiO2 and MoO3/ZrO2 at 500 °C and H2 pressures ≤0.75 bar. The product distributions were monitored in real time using a molecular beam mass spectrometer (MBMS). Both supported MoO3 catalysts show different levels of deoxygenation based on the cumulative biomass to MoO3 mass ratio exposed to the catalytic bed. For biomass to MoO3 mass ratios <1.5, predominantly olefinic and aromatic hydrocarbons are produced with no detectable oxygen-containing species. For ratios ≥1.5, partially deoxygenated species comprised of furans and phenols are observed, with a concomitant decrease of olefinic and aromatic hydrocarbons. For ratios ≥5, primary pyrolysis vapours break through the bed, indicating the onset of catalyst deactivation. Product quantification with a tandem micropyrolyzer–GCMS setup shows that fresh supported MoO3 catalysts convert ca. 27 mol% of the original carbon into hydrocarbons comprised predominantly of aromatics (7 C%), olefins (18 C%) and paraffins (2 C%), comparable to the total hydrocarbon yield obtained with HZSM-5 operated under similar reaction conditions. Post-reaction XPS analysis on supported MoO3/ZrO2 and MoO3/TiO2 catalysts reveal that ca. 50% of Mo surface species exist in their partially reduced forms (i.e., Mo5+ and Mo3+), and that catalyst deactivation is likely associated to coking.
Private-information group contests: Best-shot competition

Abstract We model competing groups when players' values for winning are private information, each group's performance equals the best effort (“best shot”) of its members, and the group with the best performance wins the contest. At the symmetric equilibrium of symmetric contests, increasing the number of competing teams may increase or decrease each team's performance, but it unambiguously increases the overall expected best shot. Depending on the elasticity of the distribution of players' values, individual, team, and contest performance may increase or decrease with team size. Considering just two competing groups that differ only in size, we show members of the smaller group use the more aggressive strategy, but, depending on the nature of uncertainty, either team may be more likely to win. More generally, when teams' value cdfs differ, increasing one team's size decreases (increases) that team's chance of winning if its value cdf is elastic (inelastic).
Estimation of blood loss is inaccurate and unreliable.

Background To determine the characteristics associated with improved accuracy or reliability of estimating operative blood loss. Methods Operating room personnel at a tertiary care hospital evaluated 3 operative simulations and provided estimations of blood loss. The simulations utilized precise, known volumes of porcine blood and saline on tapes, sponges, and in suction containers. Low volume (50 mL), mid volume (300 mL), and high volume (900 mL) blood loss scenarios were used in this simulation. Information collected included the blood loss estimation, the participant's occupation, years of experience in the operating room, confidence level in estimating blood loss, and their opinion as to which group would provide the most accurate estimation. Results Sixty practitioners participated: 17 anesthesia providers, 22 surgeons, and 21 nurses and technicians. Overall, estimations were significantly inaccurate: scenario 1, mean error 52%; scenario 2, mean error 61%; scenario 3, mean error 85%. Ninety-five percent of participants provided estimations that had >25% error in at least 1 scenario. Only 27% demonstrated consistency in over or under-estimating the blood loss. There was no association between specialty, years of experience, or confidence in ability with consistency or accuracy of estimating blood loss. Conclusion This study demonstrates that visual estimation of operative blood loss is unreliable and inaccurate. No provider specialty, level of experience, or self-assessment of ability was associated with improved estimation. Blood loss estimations are not a reliable metric to judge physician performance or patient outcomes. Consideration should be given to alternative reporting of operative blood loss to better direct perioperative care.
Inferior Prefrontal Cortex Mediates the Relationship between Phosphatidylcholine and Executive Functions in Healthy, Older Adults

Objectives: This study examines the neural mechanisms that mediate the relationship between phosphatidylcholine and executive functions in cognitively intact older adults. We hypothesized that higher plasma levels of phosphatidylcholine are associated with better performance on a particular component of the executive functions, namely cognitive flexibility, and that this relationship is mediated by gray matter structure of regions within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) that have been implicated in cognitive flexibility. Methods: We examined 72 cognitively intact adults between the ages of 65 and 75 in an observational, cross-sectional study to investigate the relationship between blood biomarkers of phosphatidylcholine, tests of cognitive flexibility (measured by the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Trail Making Test), and gray matter structure of regions within the PFC. A three-step mediation analysis was implemented using multivariate linear regressions and we controlled for age, sex, education, income, depression status, and body mass index. Results: The mediation analysis revealed that gray matter thickness of one region within the PFC, the left inferior PFC (Brodmann’s Area 45), mediates the relationship between phosphatidylcholine blood biomarkers and cognitive flexibility. Conclusion: These results suggest that the inferior PFC acts as a mediator of the relationship between phosphatidylcholine and cognitive flexibility in cognitively intact older adults. This report demonstrates a novel structural mediation between plasma phosphatidylcholine levels and cognitive flexibility. Future work should examine the potential mechanisms underlying this mediation, including phosphatidylcholine-dependent cell membrane integrity of the inferior PFC and phosphatidylcholine-dependent cholinergic projections to the inferior PFC.
Pharmacogenetics and Pathophysiology of CACNA1S Mutations in Malignant Hyperthermia

A review of the pharmacogenetics (PGt) and pathophysiology of calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1 S (CACNA1S) mutations in malignant hyperthermia susceptibility type 5 (MHS5; MIM #60188) i...
Extending the 'Social Safety Net': Female Labor Supply and Pension Eligibility

A 1991 legal change extended the coverage of pensions in rural Brazil to include large numbers of previously uncovered women, conditional on subjective work requirements. This change was accompanied by an increase in female employment, in particular among newly covered women. This paper analyzes the extent to which a causal relationship existed between these two phenomena; specifically, the extent to which women increased their labor supply in response to future pension eligibility. Using a differences-in-differences approach, I find evidence that pension eligibility increased the labor supply of rural women in two ways. First, I find that rural women made immediately eligible by age temporarily increased labor supply, and second, I find that at least some cohorts of younger rural women eligible in the future also increased labor supply, presumably as an anticipatory response. These results shed light on the capacity of elderly workers to respond to financial incentives for old-age labor supply participation, in addition to the extent to which younger workers might be forward-looking in their responses to retirement incentives.
Reconfigurable analog photonic networks

Spurred by advances in scalable photonic system integration, ideas in photonic information processing have recently experienced a resurgence. We review the latest results in reconfigurable analog photonic networks, neuromorphic photonics, and multivariate RF photonics. These architectures could enable next-generation microwave signal processing and scientific computing.
Ultra-low turn-on voltage and on-resistance vertical GaN-on-GaN Schottky power diodes with high mobility double drift layers

This letter reports the implementation of double-drift-layer (DDL) design into GaN vertical Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) grown on free-standing GaN substrates. This design balances the trade-off between desirable forward turn-on characteristics and high reverse breakdown capability, providing optimal overall device performances for power switching applications. With a well-controlled metalorganic chemical vapor deposition process, the doping concentration of the top drift layer was reduced, which served to suppress the peak electric field at the metal/GaN interface and increase the breakdown voltages of the SBDs. The bottom drift layer was moderately doped to achieve low on-resistance to reduce power losses. At forward bias, the devices exhibited a record low turn-on voltage of 0.59 V, an ultra-low on-resistance of 1.65 mΩ cm2, a near unity ideality factor of 1.04, a high on/off ratio of ∼1010, and a high electron mobility of 1045.2 cm2/(V s). Detailed comparisons with conventional single-drift-layer (S...
The Private Capital Access Index: Methodology and Implications

Starting in the first quarter of 2012, the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project has done a quarterly survey of private companies asking questions about the demand for and availability of external capital for their business. Through factor analysis, we have identified a subset of variables from this survey data that together represent the overall state of the world with respect to private companies’ demand for and access to capital. From this data and using factor analysis we construct two indices, scaled from zero to one hundred. The first, called the Private Capital Access (PCA) Index, reflects the current availability of capital to private firms. The second, the Private Capital Demand (PCD) Index, measures the current need for external capital by these same firms.
Empire Day in Africa: Patriotic Colonial Childhood, Imperial Spectacle and Nationalism in Nigeria, 1905–60

Anyone born or raised in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, after 1960 would remember Children’s Day, observed every 27 May. However, few knew that it started as Empire Day in the first decad...
The Complicity of Economics

AbstractEconomics has long promoted an image of agents who profit and consume for their own individual benefit without any kind of responsibility for each other, and who rationally evaluate means b...
Psychosocial Correlates of Marijuana Use among Pregnant and Nonpregnant Adolescent Girls.

Abstract Study Objective Pregnant and nonpregnant populations in the United States report marijuana as the most commonly used illicit drug. Patterns of marijuana use and psychosocial correlates are unclear among non–treatment-seeking teenage girls. Design, Setting, Participants, Interventions, and Main Outcome Measures The objective of this study was to use cross-sectional data to examine the psychosocial correlates of recent marijuana use among a sample of 646 pregnant and nonpregnant adolescent girls presenting to urban primary care clinics (mean age = 15.6 years, SD = 1.9 years; 65% African American; 8.8% pregnant). Results In Poisson regression analysis, frequency of marijuana use was significantly associated with greater likelihood of pregnancy (incident rate ratio [IRR], 1.30; 95% CI, 1.03-1.65), alcohol use (IRR, 1.11; 95% CI, 10.08-1.14), condomless sex (IRR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.61-2.37), parents’ drug use (IRR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.05), and negative peer influences (IRR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.10-1.16). Conclusion Marijuana use among adolescent girls in this sample was associated with a number of risk behaviors as well as parental and peer influences. Culturally sensitive screening and intervention approaches for marijuana use among adolescent girls should address multiple individual, relationship, and community factors, to prevent unwanted pregnancy as well as to reduce marijuana use during this vulnerable time.
A Framework for Supporting Decisions in a Global Context – The Case of a Global DSS for Financial Planning

Internet technologies are enabling firms to become distributed across the globe and compete in international markets. Decision makers, hence, have to deal with differences in national policies and social cultures, as well as various international management strategies (global, multinational, and transnational). While advanced technologies such as intelligent agents, search engines, and collaborative technologies can provide support for global teams making decisions, it is critical that the nature and intensity of information shared is well understood before developing such support. This paper develops a framework to characterize decisions under different strategies and presents a global decision support system (g-DSS) architecture to support these decisions. The case of a corporate financial planning model is used to illustrate this architecture.
ON THE SUMMATION OF FORMAL SOLUTIONS AT AN IRREGULAR SINGULAR POINT BY FACTORIAL SERIES

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a summation of formal solutions at an irregular singular point by factorial series. The formal series F(z) can be replaced by a convergent generalized factorial series so as to obtain a convergent expression for F(z). Such factorial series have their natural domain of convergence, half-planes. This problem is closely related to the Borel summability of the formal series F(z) to the function F(z) and is usually approached via Laplace transformations. The asymptotic behavior of the formal series in a formal solution for the reduced system is then given via an associated system of difference equations.