cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hepatocyte growth factor acts as a mitogen for equine satellite cells via protein kinase C δ-directed signaling.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signals mediate mouse skeletal muscle stem cell, or satellite cell (SC), reentry into the cell cycle and myoblast proliferation. Because the athletic horse experiences exercise-induced muscle damage, the objective of the experiment was to determine the effect of HGF on equine SC (eqSC) bioactivity. Fresh isolates of adult eqSC were incubated with increasing concentrations of HGF and the initial time to DNA synthesis was measured. Media supplementation with HGF did not shorten (P > 0.05) the duration of G0/G1 transition suggesting the growth factor does not affect activation. Treatment with 25 ng/mL HGF increased (P 0.05) on HGF-mediated 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation. By contrast, treatment of eqSC with 2 µm Go6983, a pan-protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, blocked (P 0.05) HGF-mediated EdU incorporation. The siPKCδ was specific to the kinase and did not affect (P > 0.05) expression of either PKCα or PKCe. Treatment of confluent eqSC with 25 ng/mL HGF suppressed (P < 0.05) nuclear myogenin expression during the early stages of differentiation. These results demonstrate that HGF may not affect activation but can act as a mitogen and modest suppressor of differentiation.
Homocysteine Biosynthesis in Plants

Synthesis by plants of homocysteine, the immediate precursor of methionine, is a key reaction in biology (Allaway, 1970). This is so because non-ruminant animals require a dietary source of homocysteine, which is normally provided in the form of methionine. Animals metabolize these sulfur amino acids eventually to inorganic sulfate. Plants complete the cycle of sulfur by reductive assimilation of inorganic sulfate to methionine (and cysteine) (Siegel, 1975), and are thus the ultimate source of methionine in most animal diets.
Inherited and Acquired Lipodystrophies

In humans, lipodystrophies constitute a heterogeneous group of inherited or acquired disorders characterized by the selective loss of adipose tissue. There is considerable variation in the extent of adipose tissue loss and the severity of metabolic complications resulting from insulin resistance, such as hyperinsulinemia, acanthosis nigricans, hypertriglyceridemia, diabetes mellitus, and hepatic steatosis. Among genetic lipodystrophies, the fat loss is observed either since birth as in congenital generalized lipodystrophy, or it occurs later in life as in familial partial lipodystrophy. Defects in several genes such as those encoding an enzyme (AGPAT2), a nuclear receptor (PPAR-γ), a nuclear lamina protein (LMNA) and its processing endoprotease (ZMPSTE24), a kinase (AKT2), and a protein of unknown function (BSCL2) have been found in patients with genetic lipodystrophies. Additional loci still remain to be discovered. Acquired lipodystrophies mainly occur due to autoimmune mediated fat loss or because of HIV-1 protease inhibitors induced adipose tissue atrophy. This chapter discusses various features of inherited and acquired lipodystrophies and their pathogenesis. We further discuss various possible mechanisms for the loss of adipose tissue based on our current understanding of adipocyte biology.
Anisotropic turbulent flow in rod bundles

This Note suggests an improvement to the computational approach for axial turbulent flow in rod bundle subchannels. The turbulence anisotropy and its effects on the mean flow are numerically determined. The predictions require both fewer assumptions and empirical coefficients than the commonly used numerical methods. The physical model of turbulence proposed by Roco and Zarea in 1978 is used to express the Reynolds stresses in the momentum equations, in terms of the main flow kinetic energy multiplied by specific turbulence indices. All parameters, including the anisotropy factor, are predicted with a time efficient computer code written in FORTRAN IV. Galerkin's weighted residual finite element method is applied and the resulting system of algebraic equations is solved using Gaussian elimination with iterative improvement. The numerical scheme is applied for air flow in subchannels of a 3 x 6 rectangular array of rods and other rod arrangements. The results are in good agreement with the experiments using heated sensors, as well as with available analytical and experimental results. The approach applied here for the two-dimensional streamcross case can be extended to three dimensional flow analysis.
Death to Credit as Leverage: Using the Bank Anti-Tying Provision to Curb Financial Risk

Today, the need for nimble financial regulation is paramount. The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill has not prevented further scandals and will not stop banks from selling risky products. Yet one understudied law is a surprisingly versatile device that has the potential to temper financial risk: the Bank Holding Company Act’s Anti-Tying Provision. The Anti-Tying Provision prohibits banks from requiring borrowers to purchase additional products in order to obtain a loan. It applies antitrust principles to bank sales and lending practices. Under antitrust law, a seller cannot condition the availability of one item (the desired product) on the consumer’s purchase of another item (the tied product). Similarly, the Anti-Tying Provision limits when banks can condition the availability of credit on a borrower’s purchase of another product. In the last two decades, those limits have been eroded by numerous exceptions.This Article recasts the Anti-Tying Provision as a bulwark against financial risk. Specifically, this Article proposes narrowing the exceptions to the Anti-Tying Provision so as to reduce the types of investment products that can be tied to loans. Further, this Article argues that plaintiffs in bank tying actions need only prove the existence of a tying requirement, rather than actual coercion. Bolstered in these two ways, the Anti-Tying Provision can curtail sales of risky financial products to borrowers.An expanded role for the Anti-Tying Provision draws upon four theoretical underpinnings. First, this approach approximates the separation between commercial and investment banking that was central to the Glass-Steagall Act and is again resurgent with the Volcker Rule. Second, recent developments in antitrust scholarship suggest that credit can be manipulated as leverage and rate evasion. Third, borrower welfare is the proper framework from which to evaluate tying, so the effect of leveraging credit should be analyzed for its harm to borrowers, not its benefit to banks. Fourth, one lesson from the financial crisis is that antitrust law must be concerned with more than efficiency. By extension, the Anti-Tying Provision should be viewed as serving broad goals such as mitigating financial risk.
Older Black Adults' Satisfaction and Anxiety Levels After Completing Alternative Versus Traditional Cognitive Batteries.

Objective The objective of this study was to examine satisfaction, test anxiety, and performance using computer-based cognitive batteries versus a paper-and-pencil neuropsychological battery among older Blacks. Method Self-identified Black adults (n = 87, age range: 55-86; mean education = 14) completed two computer-based tests (CogState and Joggle) and a paper-and-pencil neuropsychological battery. After each battery, participants reported their testing anxiety and satisfaction using the batteries. Descriptive, correlational, and regression analyses compared satisfaction, anxiety, and performance across the batteries. Results Majority of the participants reported more satisfaction with the computer-based (Joggle: 66%; CogState: 77%) than the neuropsychological (52%) battery. Participants also reported less testing anxiety after completing the computer-based batteries than the neuropsychological battery, F(2, 172) = 22.96, p .05). Although testing anxiety was not associated with performance across the batteries, age and education quality were uniquely associated with performance on the CogState and neuropsychological batteries. Conclusions Computer-based cognitive batteries appear to be less intimidating than the commonly used paper-and-pencil neuropsychological tests for Black adults. Thus, these cognitive batteries may be useful tools for monitoring older Blacks' cognitive status.
Despite Growing Utilization, the Use of Public Health Service Increased Risk Donors for Lung Transplantation is Not Associated with Increased Mortality

Purpose Despite a donor shortage, transplantation of lungs from donors identified as Public Health Service (PHS) Increased Risk Donors (IRDs) remains controversial, representing a potential bridge to this supply gap. While these donors are seronegative for HIV , Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C, they have factors that place them at increased risk. Prior work has shown that the use of IRDs for lung transplantation does not result in worse survival; however, an updated definition of IRD from the PHS in 2013 has led to greater percentages of IRD classification. Methods The UNOS Standard Transplant Analysis and Research database was queried for adult lung transplantations performed between June 2013 through March 2017. Kaplan-Meier analysis compared survival of recipients receiving IRD lungs versus non-IRD lungs. A multivariate logistic regression model was then constructed to control for donor and recipient factors significant on univariate analysis . Results In the examined period, 7254 lung transplantations were performed, 1471 (20.3%) of which were from IRD, a more than two-fold increase from the years prior to the definition change (Table). IRD and non-IRD cohorts differed significantly in terms of donor age, gender, race, and cause of death, as well as recipient gender and diagnosis. Unadjusted 1-year and 3-year survival was 87.6% and 67.8% for the IRD cohort vs. 88.5% and 70.1% for the non-IRD cohort (Figure, log-rank p=0.0268). When controlling for other donor and recipient factors, IRD status was not an independent predictor of mortality (OR 1.055, 95% CI 0.91-1.22; p=0.47). Conclusion Since 2013, the relative percentage of IRD has increased dramatically, relating to the inclusion of Hepatitis C in the definition. Despite several important differences between cohorts, IRD status itself does not confer a mortality disadvantage and in the era of treatability and cure in most instances for Hepatitis C, the practice of avoiding these donors is outdated.
Reframing success: participatory impacts of storytelling in a PAR collaborative with Latinx middle school students

This article examines the participatory impact of a storytelling project on a small group of Latinx English learners in a sixth grade classroom. The storytelling project unexpectedly emerged as a p...
Effects of the metal ion on the mechanism of phosphodiester hydrolysis catalyzed by metal-cyclen complexes

In this study, mechanisms of phosphodiester hydrolysis catalyzed by six di- and tetravalent metal-cyclen (M-C) complexes (Zn-C, Cu-C, Co-C, Ce-C, Zr-C and Ti-C) have been investigated using DFT calculations. The activities of these complexes were studied using three distinct mechanisms: (1) direct attack ( DA ), (2) catalyst-assisted ( CA ), and (3) water-assisted ( WA ). All divalent metal complexes (Zn-C, Cu-C and Co-C) coordinated to the BNPP substrate in a monodentate fashion and activated its scissile phosphoester bond. However, all tetravalent metal complexes (Ce-C, Zr-C, and Ti-C) interacted with BNPP in a bidentate manner and strengthened this bond. The DA mechanism was energetically the most feasible for all divalent M-C complexes, while the WA mechanism was favored by the tetravalent complexes, except Ce-C. The divalent complexes were found to be more reactive than their tetravalent counterparts. Zn-C catalyzed the hydrolysis with the lowest barrier among all M-C complexes, while Ti-C was the most reactive tetravalent complex. The activities of Ce-C and Zr-C, except Ti-C, were improved with an increase in the coordination number of the metal ion. The structural and mechanistic information provided in this study will be very helpful in the development of more efficient metal complexes for this critical reaction.
When Do Ecosystem Services Depend on Rare Species

Conservation aims to preserve species and ecosystem services. If rare species contribute little to ecosystem services, yet are those most in need of preservation, tradeoffs may exist for these contrasting objectives. However, little attention has focused on identifying how, when, and where rare species contribute to ecosystem services and at what scales. Here, we review distinct ways that ecosystem services can positively depend on the presence, abundance, disproportionate contribution or, counterintuitively, the scarcity of rare species. By contrast, ecosystem services are less likely to depend on rare species that do not have a unique role in any service or become abundant enough to contribute substantially. We propose a research agenda to identify when rare species may contribute significantly to services.
Dynamic perceptual completion and the dynamic snapshot view to help solve the ‘two times’ problem

Perceptual completion fills the gap for discrete perception to become continuous. Similarly, dynamic perceptual completion (DPC) provides an experience of dynamic continuity. Our recent discovery of the ‘happening’ (H) element of DPC completes the total experience for dynamism in the flow of time (FOT). However, a phenomenological explanation for these experiences is essential. The Snapshot Hypotheses especially the Dynamic Snapshot View provides the most comprehensive explanation. From that understanding the ‘two times’ problem (TTP) can be addressed. The static time of spacetime cosmologies has been irreconcilable with the dynamic FOT. Dismissing the FOT as an illusion is unsatisfactory. Therefore, we provide four hypotheses for the TTP. 1) Since cosmological static time demands that all events (cerebral included) are discrete, DPC elements for dynamism should likewise be expected to be discrete and accounted for by a snapshot phenomenology such as the DSV. 2) If temporality can be demonstrated to be similar to apparent motion by being a snapshot phenomenon and not demanding temporal extension it would confirm the DSV and permit reconciliation with static time. 3) If the ‘present moment’ (of the FOT) is subjective as static time theories suggest, it should be possible experimentally for an observer to choose his own ‘present’ by moving (perceptually) to various points in the past with the aid of virtual reality. 4) If dynamism e.g. motion can be precluded without significant information loss or violating physics principles it is a cognitive add-on, thereby contradicting non-static time theories which suggest that time is ‘real.’ We confirm those hypotheses.
ISO Standards from Quality to Environment to Corporate Social Responsibility and their Implications for Global Companies

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a not-for-profit international body established in 1947, is a network of national standards institutes from 157 countries, with a secretariat based in Geneva. The main objectives of ISO are to coordinate and unify the various industrial standards. Since 1947, ISO has published more than eighteen thousand international standards and has broadened its activities to include agriculture, construction, mechanical engineering, information technology, and so on. Before ISO, there existed two independent standardization organizations, the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA), established in 1926, and United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC), established in 1944. However, neither ISA nor UNSCC achieved worldwide acceptance. Whereas ISA was mainly a European organization, UNSCC had a limited number of worldwide members and was found to be ineffective in maintaining standards. ISO was organized to streamline the operations of ISA and UNSCC and provide a unified and stronger voice for the new independent association. When ISO was formed, many of the statutes, rules, and procedures were adopted from ISA. The impetus for establishing ISO was the devastation and destruction caused by the Second World War and the terrible economic consequences it caused in many countries, including the dismantling of the industrial infrastructure of Europe. Before the Second World War, there were many standardization organizations, including the aforementioned ISA and UNSCC, as well as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), among others. These various associations were fragmented and engaged in minimal coordination; standards developed by one organization were not considered part of the other organizations. Hence, all the organizations lacked credibility, and their codes and standards were difficult to enforce. ISO’s basic purpose is to develop international standards from those that already existed at the country level. The rest of this paper deals with the procedures for setting up standards, the introduction of quality standards, the development of the sustainability standards, and finally the introduction of the corporate social responsibility standards and their objectives. Currently, ISO is made up of the national standards bodies of ninety countries. It applies to small, medium, and large companies in both goods and services industries. At present, thousands of companies in more than one hundred countries have adopted ISO standards. In fact, the European Union requires companies exporting to its member countries to have ISO 9000 series certification. Moreover, consumers and business clients have come to expect ISO quality certifications.
A Note On Operator-Level Query Execution Cost Modeling.

External query execution cost modeling using query execution feedback has found its way in various database applications such as admission control and query scheduling. Existing techniques in general fall into two categories, plan-level cost modeling and operator-level cost modeling. It has been shown in the literature that operator-level cost modeling can often significantly outperform plan-level cost modeling. In this paper, we study operator-level cost modeling from a robustness perspective. We address two main challenges in practice regarding limited execution feedback (for certain operators) and mixed cost estimates due to the use of multiple cost modeling techniques. We propose a framework that deals with these issues and present a comprehensive analysis of this framework. We further provide a case study to demonstrate the efficacy of our framework in the context of index tuning, which is itself a new application of external cost modeling techniques.
Optimization of 4‐Substituted Benzenesulfonamide Scaffold To Reverse Acinetobacter baumannii Serum‐Adaptive Efflux Associated Antibiotic Tolerance

Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen of urgent concern for public health due to rising rates of multidrug and pandrug resistance. In the context of environmental cues such as growth in human serum, A. baumannii is known to display adaptive efflux, in which a multitude of efflux-associated genes are upregulated, resulting in efflux-mediated drug tolerance in strains that are otherwise susceptible to antibiotic therapy. Previously, we identified a sulfonamide-containing scaffold molecule (ABEPI1) that reversed serum-associated antibiotic tolerance in A. baumannii. Herein, we present structure-activity relationship studies on 29 newly synthesized analogues. These molecules were characterized for their ability to potentiate multiple antibiotics in serum, reduce serum-associated ethidium bromide efflux and depolarize bacterial cell membranes. In addition, they were assessed for toxicity to mammalian cells. Collectively, these molecules may represent promising potential adjuvants for use in combination with new and existing antibiotics to treat A. baumannii bacterial infections.
Pulp/Dentin Regeneration: It Should Be Complicated

Stem cell-mediated regenerative endodontics has reached the human clinical trial phase; however, many issues still exist that prevent such technology to be a widely used clinical practice. These issues are not straightforward and are complicated. They should be because pulp regeneration is dealing with a small dead-end space. In addition, when regeneration is needed, the space is often heavily infected. The true standard of pulp regeneration should be everything except generation of some fibrous connective tissue and amorphous mineral deposit. As of now, we are still far short of reaching the standard of complete vascularized and innervated pulp regeneration with newly formed tubular dentin in all types of teeth. Thus, we need to go back to the bench and use established animal models or create new animal models to tackle those issues. This article will address several key issues including the possibility of pulp regeneration in small canals of molar teeth by enhancing the neovascularization, and whether the organized tubular dentin can be generated on the canal walls. Data from our semi-orthotopic tooth fragment mouse model have shown that complete pulp regeneration using dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in small canal has been inconsistent because of limited blood supply. This inconsistency is similar in our orthotopic miniature swine model, although in some cases vascularized pulp-like tissue can be formed throughout the canal space after DPSC transplantation. Furthermore, no tubular dentin was observed in the orthotopic pulp regeneration, despite the fact that DPSCs have the capacity to generate some tubular dentin-like structure in the hydroxyapatite/tricalcium phosphate-mediated ectopic pulp/dentin formation model in mice. Potential strategies to be tested to address these regeneration issues are discussed herein.
CANVS: an easy-to-use application for the analysis and visualization of mass spectrometry-based protein-protein interaction/association data.

We have developed CANVS (Clean Analyze Network Visualization Software), an easy-to-use tool to analyze, contextualize, and visualize mass spectrometry protein-protein interaction/association (PPI/A...
COVID-19 Associated Collapsing FSGS in an APOL1 Homozygous Transplant Recipient After Successful COVID Vaccination, a Case Report

Organ transplant recipients exhibit lower rates of immune response to COVID-19 vaccination. Even when they do mount a demonstrable antibody response, it is unclear what degree of protection is conferred against the myriad potential complications of COVID-19 infection. We present here a case of a kidney transplant recipient who was homozygous for APOL-1 risk alleles on low-dose immunosuppression who developed an antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination and subsequently acquired COVID-19 infection. Although she experienced relatively minor effects in other organ systems, she developed severe collapsing FSGS that left her dependent on hemodialysis on hospital discharge. This suggests that COVID-19 vaccination may not provide protection from infection-associated FSGS in patients with APOL-1 risk alleles.
On the core and bargaining set of a veto game

The notion of veto player was originally introduced in simple games (see Nakamura in Int J Game Theory 8:55–61, 1979), for which every coalition has a value of 0 or 1. In this paper we extend it to monotonic cooperative games with transferable utility: a player has veto power if all coalitions not containing her are worthless. We examine and characterize the core (and other solution concepts) for these “veto games”. In particular, for this class of games, we show the equivalence between the core and the bargaining set. Our work generalizes the clan games and big-boss games introduced respectively by Potters et al. (Games Econ Behav 1:275–293, 1989) and Muto et al. (Econ Stud Q 39:303–321, 1988).
How many pharmacists are in our future? The Bureau of Health Professions Projects Supply to 2020.

Abstract Objective To describe a Bureau of Health Professions model for estimating the numbers and selected demographic characteristics of active pharmacists in the United States and to relate the model's findings. Design We constructed a model using as base counts data from the Pharmacy Manpower Project census of 1989 to 1991 and advancing the counts annually based on estimates of pharmacists entering and leaving the workforce. The total number of active pharmacists in any year was the sum of the male and female cohorts from age 24 through age 75. The model and its underlying assumptions included consideration of U.S. graduates through 1998, international pharmacy graduates who become licensed in the United States, new schools, type of entry-level degrees, and separation states. A basic series and high and low alternative series were constructed based on different assumptions. Results The basic series projected 196,011 active pharmacists in 2000, 224,524 by 2010, and 249,086 by 2020. Estimated pharmacists per 100,000 population were 71.2 in 2000, 74.9 in 2010, and 76.7 in 2020. The workforce was projected to consist increasingly of women: 32% in 1991, 46% in 2000, 50% in 2003, and 64% in 2020. Percentages of graduates receiving the BS degree fell from 94% (1980) to 64.4% (1998) and were projected to decrease to 0% by 2005. Estimated U.S. graduates were 7,945 in 2000, 8,133 in 2010, and 8,452 in 2020. The mean age in 2000 was 38 years for women pharmacists, 46 for men, and 42 overall. Estimates of total pharmacists in 1998 were similar to those from other sources, increasing confidence in the model. Conclusion The Bureau of Health Professions model, which can be readily rewised as more and better data become available, provided estimates of active pharmacists by age and sex from 1991 to 2020. The model portrayed an increasingly female pharmacy workforce, with more pharmacists holding the PharmD degree. The model and data are useful for research, analysis, and health care planning.
Passengers Management and Guidance at Railway Station

Abstract The man-machine interface of railway passengers and railway service system is described In Japan, railways play an important role in the urban areas and the railway transportation service is divided among the national and various private railways. Furthermore, the degree of passenger concentration in rush hours in the morning and the evening is very high On the other hand, the introduction of automatic revenue collection systems such as automatic gates and automatic ticket vending machines have been put forward positively for rationalization of management. Researches conducted by Kinki Nippon Railway Co., Ltd. under these circumstances are mainly described. They include the problems involved in the man-machine interface in utilizing the systems efficiently with a minimum burden on passengers who are inexperienced in handling such machines as well as the solutions to these problems Also mentioned is the sign system devised by this company — instruction and guidance systems for passengers through visual information which have become more important owing to the decreasing number of staff at ticket windows and gate
Analysis of Coast Times upon Loss of GPS Signals for Integrated GPS/Inertial Systems

For aircraft navigation, integrating the Global Positioning System (GPS) with an inertial reference system provides a synergistic benefit because of their complementary error characteristics. GPS h...
Women’s Household Preparation for Retirement at Young and Mid-Adulthood: Differences by Children and Marital Status

There are increasing concerns about whether Americans are saving enough for retirement. Recent research has called for improved understanding of the relationship between family structure and economic preparation for retirement at earlier stages of the life course. Using multiple years of the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances, we examined how number of children and marital status were associated with women’s household retirement savings at young and mid-adulthood. Several household-level indicators of retirement preparation were considered: desire to save for retirement, retirement account ownership, eligibility to participate in a defined-contribution plan, participation in defined-contribution plans, and retirement account wealth. Results from regression analyses revealed variation in women’s household financial preparation for retirement at young and mid-adulthood by family context. Additional children were negatively associated with several measures of retirement preparation among single-female households but not for couple households. Overall, we found that low economic preparation for retirement is an additional economic disadvantage facing single mothers at young and mid-adulthood, with potentially long-term implications for their financial security. The results shed light on linkages between family structure and women’s economic status.
Diversifying Systemic Risk in Agriculture: A Copula- based Approach

One of the biggest obstacles for the development of private crop insurance markets is the systemic risk inherent in crop yields. Driven by spatially correlated weather events, crop losses are highly correlated within a certain area. As a result, the portfolio insurance risk has been raised prohibitively high for viable private crop insurance markets unless subsidized by the government. For example, the portfolio risk faced by U.S. crop insurers is about ten times larger than that of conventional insurance lines (Miranda and Glauber, 1997).
Variability in normal-incidence acoustic response in shallow-water marine sediments

Abstract Lateral variations in mass properties of sediments (grain density, porosity, and composition) occur at many spatial scales in all types of sediments. Sediment bulk properties determine elasticity and density and, therefore, the degree of acoustic response. Variations in properties and processes limit the potential of using acoustic response to differentiate sediment types. Small changes in one or more properties can produce a wide variation in the acoustic response, and empirical curve fitting most often serves as models for these relationships. Sedimentary data and acoustic variability at 30 and 50 kHz from three sites in the Mississippi Sound ( Lambert et al., 2002 ) have been further analyzed and compared for the available Shepard sediment classes. Initial observations revealed trends in acoustic variability based on sediment classification. Clustering techniques were used to estimate the central tendency of the sparse set of geoacoustic measurements based on selected combinations of geotechnical parameters. The group-averaged sediment properties (geotechnical, granulometric, and geoacoustical) partially correlate with the acoustic coefficient of variation of the normal-incidence ping-ensemble 50 kHz response. Changes in acoustic fluctuations at 30 and 50 kHz strongly correlate with water content and compositional variations, and are consistent with volume variability and scattering.
Progress in discovery of small-molecule modulators of protein-protein interactions via fragment screening.

Abstract Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) present a formidable challenge to medicinal chemistry. The extended and open nature of many binding sites at protein interfaces has made it difficult to find useful chemical matter by traditional screening methods using standard screening libraries. This Digest focuses on the progress that has been made in discovering small-molecule modulators for a diverse selection of PPI targets using fragment screening and highlights the utility of this strategy in this context.
Contradicting Conventional Wisdom in Constraint Satisfaction

Constraint satisfaction problems have wide application in artificial intelligence. They involve finding values for problem variables where the values must be consistent in that they satisfy restrictions on which combinations of values are allowed. Two standard techniques used in solving such problems are backtrack search and consistency inference. Conventional wisdom in the constraint satisfaction community suggests: 1) using consistency inference as preprocessing before search to prune values from consideration reduces subsequent search effort and 2) using consistency inference during search to prune values from consideration is best done at the limited level embodied in the forward checking algorithm. We present evidence contradicting both pieces of conventional wisdom, and suggesting renewed consideration of an approach which fully maintains arc consistency during backtrack search.
What Use is Economic Theory

I examine how neoclassical economic theory is useful to the understanding of economic policy. I also describe what I view as the role of economic theory in economics. This talk was prepared for the conference ``Is Economics Becoming a Hard Science?'' 29--30 October, 1992, Paris, France.
Short Gamma Ray Bursts: Marking the Birth of Black Holes from Coalescing Compact Binaries

As soon as the catalog of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the BATSE (Burst And Transient Source Experiment) had enough events to allow a statistical study, it was discovered that GRB light curves could be separated in two families [44]. Long GRBs are characterized by a duration of more than 2 seconds and a somewhat soft spectrum. Short GRBs, on the other hand, are characterized by a duration of less than 2 seconds and a harder spectrum. Not much more could be said in the BATSE era, due to the lack of precise localizations and impossibility of long wavelength follow-up that plagued both the long and short GRB populations. With the launch of the Italian-Dutch satellite BeppoSAX, the situation for long GRBs changed dramatically. X-ray, optical and radio afterglows were discovered [16, 87, 82] to follow the prompt phase. Spectroscopy revealed that the GRBs lie at cosmological distances and that involve explosion energies similar to core collapse supernovae [54, 45]. Evidence of beaming and association to massive stars emerged [72, 77] leading to the now widely accepted scenario of long GRBs as collimated relativistic outflows associated to Type Ib/c supernova explosions [79, 37]. Unfortunately BeppoSAX was non optimally designed to detect short GRBs and none of the above information was available for the short bursts that remained elusive and mysterious. The only advance came from the discovery that short GRBs also have longer wavelength emission on longer timescale [46]. Such discovery was however made on a stacked light curve from past events, and did not allow for any follow-up observation. A general consensus was reached in those years that short GRBs could be associated to the merger of compact binary systems [21], based on a theoretical desire more than on any robust evidence.
Longitudinal hydraulic analysis of river-aquifer exchanges

[1] A longitudinal analysis of transient flow between a river and an underlying aquifer is developed to calculate flow rates between the river and the aquifer and the location of groundwater seepage into the river as it changes over time. Two flow domains are defined in the analysis: an upstream domain of fluvial recharge, where water flows vertically from the river into the unsaturated portion of the aquifer and horizontally in saturated parts of the aquifer, and a downstream domain of groundwater seepage to the river, where groundwater flows parallel to the underlying impermeable base. The river does not necessarily penetrate completely through the aquifer. A one-dimensional, unsteady flow equation is derived from mass conservation, Darcy's law, and the geometry of the river-aquifer system to calculate the water table position and the groundwater seepage rate into the river. Models based on numerical and analytical solutions of the flow equation were applied to a reach of the Methow River in north central Washington. The calibrated models simulated groundwater seepage with a root-mean-square error less than 5% of the mean groundwater seepage rates for three low-flow evaluation periods. The analytical model provides a theoretical basis for a nonlinear exponential base flow recession generated by a draining aquifer, but not an explicit functional form for the recession. Unlike cross-sectional approaches, the longitudinal approach allows the analysis of the length and location of groundwater seepage to a river, which have important ecological implications in many rivers. In the numerical simulations, the length of the groundwater seepage varied seasonally by about 4 km and the upstream boundary of groundwater seepage was within 689 m of its location at a stream gage on 9 September 2001 and within 91 m of its location on 6 October 2002. To demonstrate its utility in ecological applications, the numerical model was used to calculate differences in length of groundwater seepage to the Methow River under an early runoff scenario and the timing of those differences with respect to life stages of chinook salmon.
Analyzing chain programs over difference constraints

Chain Programming is a restricted form of Linear Programming; in a Chain Program, there exists a total ordering on the program variables. In other words, the constraints x1 ≤ x2 ... xn are either implicitly or explicitly part of the constraint system. At the present juncture, it is not clear whether an arbitrary linear program augmented with a chain is easier to solve than linear programs in general, either asymptotically or computationally. However, if the linear program is constituted entirely of difference constraints, then the total ordering results in a number of interesting properties, which are not true of constraint systems in general. Inasmuch as difference constraint logic is an integral part of a number of verification problems in both model-checking and real-time scheduling, our results are of particular importance to these communities.
Stochastic compositional gradient descent: algorithms for minimizing compositions of expected-value functions

Classical stochastic gradient methods are well suited for minimizing expected-value objective functions. However, they do not apply to the minimization of a nonlinear function involving expected values or a composition of two expected-value functions, i.e., the problem $$\min _x \mathbf{E}_v\left[ f_v\big (\mathbf{E}_w [g_w(x)]\big ) \right] .$$minxEvfv(Ew[gw(x)]). In order to solve this stochastic composition problem, we propose a class of stochastic compositional gradient descent (SCGD) algorithms that can be viewed as stochastic versions of quasi-gradient method. SCGD update the solutions based on noisy sample gradients of $$f_v,g_{w}$$fv,gw and use an auxiliary variable to track the unknown quantity $$\mathbf{E}_w\left[ g_w(x)\right] $$Ewgw(x). We prove that the SCGD converge almost surely to an optimal solution for convex optimization problems, as long as such a solution exists. The convergence involves the interplay of two iterations with different time scales. For nonsmooth convex problems, the SCGD achieves a convergence rate of $$\mathcal {O}(k^{-1/4})$$O(k-1/4) in the general case and $$\mathcal {O}(k^{-2/3})$$O(k-2/3) in the strongly convex case, after taking k samples. For smooth convex problems, the SCGD can be accelerated to converge at a rate of $$\mathcal {O}(k^{-2/7})$$O(k-2/7) in the general case and $$\mathcal {O}(k^{-4/5})$$O(k-4/5) in the strongly convex case. For nonconvex problems, we prove that any limit point generated by SCGD is a stationary point, for which we also provide the convergence rate analysis. Indeed, the stochastic setting where one wants to optimize compositions of expected-value functions is very common in practice. The proposed SCGD methods find wide applications in learning, estimation, dynamic programming, etc.
Spanners for geometric intersection graphs

A disk graph is an intersection graph of a set of disks with arbitrary radii in the plane. In this paper, we consider the problem of efficient construction of sparse spanners of disk (ball) graphs with support for fast distance queries. These problems are motivated by issues arising from topology control and routing in wireless networks. We present the first algorithm for constructing spanners of ball graphs. For a ball graph in Rk, we construct a (1+e)-spanner with O(ne-k+1) edges in O(n2l+δe-klogl S) expected time, using an efficient partitioning of the space into hypercubes and solving intersection problems. Here l = 1-1/([k/2]+2), δ is any positive constant, and S is the ratio between the largest and smallest radius. For the special case where all the balls have the same radius, we show that the spanner construction has complexity almost equivalent to the construction of a Euclidean minimum spanning tree. Previously known constructions of spanners of unit ball graphs have time complexity much closer to n2. Additionally, these spanners have a small vertex separator (hereditary), which is then exploited for fast answering of distance queries. The results on geometric graph separators might be of independent interest.
Impetigo or pyodermatitis neonatorum

In 1864, Tilbury Fox described the contagious impetigo of children and infants. He called attention especially to the vesicular form which now appears in maternity wards. In 1891, Almquist showed that the infecting organism was a staphylococcus. In 1900, Matzenauer linked pemphigus neonatorum to impetigo contagiosa by proving the identity of the activating microbe. Animal inoculation generally failed, but in 1911, Landsteiner and his associates produced pemphigoid lesions in the chimpanzee. With these several discoveries, the knowledge of impetigo remained about the same until 1917. Curiously, in the fifty-three years that elapsed after its recognition by Fox, particular attention was not called to the disease in any widespread epidemic. In 1917, however, as a questionnaire verified, this condition, hitherto rare and sporadic, suddenly changed its type and appeared in more or less virulent epidemics. Few maternity cases were exempt, and some physicians who had not had any experience with impetigo as a nursery problem were overwhelmed by the flood of cases. Everywhere nurseries were treated like hospitals for contagious diseases, but only with partial success. Many were closed entirely, and others should have been.
Joint Bayesian Tracking of Head Location and Pose from Low-Resolution Video

This paper presents a visual particle filter for jointly tracking the position of a person and her head pose. The resulting information may be used to support automatic analysis of interactive people behavior, by supporting proxemics analysis and providing dynamic information on focus of attention. A pose-sensitive visual likelihood is proposed which models the appearance of the target on a key-view basis, and uses body part color histograms as descriptors. Quantitative evaluations of the method on the `CLEAR'07 CHIL head pose' corpus are reported and discusssed. The integration of multi-view sensing, the joint estimation of location and orientation, the use of generative imaging models, and of simple visual matching measures, make the system robust to low image resolution and significant color distortion.
Keeping our charm: residents, growth, and quality of life issues in a small but growing Texas coastal community.

This study assessed residents' perceptions of quality of life, conservation, and growth in a small, fast-growing coastal community. Data were collected from an on-site survey in Aransas County, TX, from 2006 to 2007. Results show that the residents are concerned about preserving their natural resources, maintaining a small-town atmosphere in their community, and ensuring citizen involvement in future planning efforts, especially with tourism. The implications of the study for Extension professionals and residents are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.
Effects of cow milk versus extensive protein hydrolysate formulas on infant cognitive development.

Little research has focused on infant developmental effects, other than growth, of formulas that differ substantially in the form of protein. To examine development of infants fed formulas differing in free amino acid content, we randomized 0.5-month-old infants (n = 79) to either a control group who fed only cow milk formula (CMF) during the first 8 months (CMF8), or to one of two experimental groups: one experimental group fed extensively protein hydrolyzed formula (EHF) for 1–3 months during first 4.5 months (EHF1-3) of life, and the other fed EHF for 8 months (EHF8). The Mullen Scales of Early Learning were administered monthly from 1.5 to 8.5 months to assess fine (FM) and gross (GM) motor control, receptive (RL) and expressive (EL) language, visual reception (VR), and an early learning composite (ELC). Across the 5.5–8.5-month time period, when compared to CMF8 infants, GM scores in EHF1-3 infants averaged 1.5 points higher (95 % CI 0.1, 3.0) and in EHF8 infants 2.2 points higher (95 % CI 0.3, 4.0). Similarly, VR scores averaged 1.9 points higher (95 % CI 0.1, 3.8) in EHF1-3 infants and 2.2 points higher (95 % CI −0.2, 4.5) in EHF8 infants. EHF8 infants’ RL scores averaged 1.8 points lower (95 % CI 0.1, 3.6) than CMF8 infants. These data suggest that the form of protein in infant formula may impact cognitive development and that the higher free amino acid content in breast milk may be a contributing factor to the differential cognitive development between breastfed and CMF-fed infants. Clinical Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov NCT00994747.
What's the Option?

Global warming, alterations of ecosystems, and sunk investmentsall imply irreversible changes with uncertain future costs and benefits. Twoconcepts measure how this combination of uncertainty and irreversibilitychanges the value of preserving an ecosystem or postponing an investment.First, the environmental and resource economics literature developed theArrow-Fisher-Hanemann-Henry quasi-option value. Second, the real optionsliterature developed the Dixit-Pindyck option value. This paper clarifiesthe precise differences between the two approaches in a simple two periodmodel. We explain that the quasi-option value captures the value of learningconditional on preservation, while the Dixit-Pindyck option value capturesthe net value of preservation under learning. We show how either of the twoconcepts alters the common net present value decision rule. We illustratesimilarities, differences, and the decision rules in two instructive examples.
Team Formation Strategies in a Dynamic Large-Scale Environment

In open markets and within business and government organizations, fully autonomous agents may form teams to work on large, multifaceted problems. Factors such as uncertain information, bounded rationality and environmental dynamicism can lead to sudden, unforeseen changes in both solution requirements and team participation. Accordingly, this paper proposes and examines strategies for team formation strategies in a large-scale, dynamic environment. Strategies control how agents select problems to work on and partners to work with. The paper includes an experimental evaluation of the relative utility of each strategy in an increasingly dynamic environment, and concludes that a strategy which combines greedy job selection with adaptive team selection performs best in highly dynamic environments. Alternatively, greedy job selection combined with selecting smaller teams performs best in environments with little to no dynamicism.
Novel electrically resonant terahertz metamaterials

We present new designs for metamaterials that exhibit a tailored resonant electrical response, investigated with THz time domain spectroscopy. These electric metamaterials will significantly ease the burden of construction for future negative index metamaterial devices.