cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
H- AND D- PRODUCTION BY BACKSCATTERING FROM ALKALI-METAL TARGETS

Measurements have been made of the total backscattered ${\mathrm{D}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and ${\mathrm{H}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yields from thick, clean targets of Cs, Rb, K, Na, and Li, bombarded with ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{H}}_{3}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{D}}_{3}^{+}$ with incident energies from 0.15 to 4.0 keV/nucleus. All of the measurements were made at background pressures less than ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ Torr, and the alkali-metal targets were evaporated onto a cold substrate ($T\ensuremath{\sim}77$ K) in situ to assure thick, uncontaminated targets. For each target, the ${\mathrm{H}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and ${\mathrm{D}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yields exhibited maxima (as high as 0.08 per incident proton and deuteron) at incident energies between 0.3 and 1.4 keV/nucleus. For both hydrogen and deuterium incident at any energy, the negative-ion yield decreases in going from Cs to Li in the order given above. Also, a definite isotope effect was observed for every target used, with the ${\mathrm{H}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yield peaking at a lower incident energy than the ${\mathrm{D}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yield and in most cases, the maximum ${\mathrm{H}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yield was higher than the maximum ${\mathrm{D}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yield. Measurements of the ${\mathrm{D}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yield as a function of Cs coverage were also made for ${\mathrm{D}}_{3}^{+}$ bombarding a Ni substrate. The ${\mathrm{D}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ yield maximized at or near the coverage at which the surface work function reached a minimum.
Subdural empyema as a complication of sinusitis in the pediatric population.

Summary Objective Sinusitis is a rare cause of intracranial infection in children. While intracranial complications of sinusitis are rare, the morbidity and mortality remain high. Subdural empyema is recognized as the most common sinogenic intracranial complication. We undertook a review of our cases of subdural empyema and other intracranial complications of sinusitis over the past 8 years at a busy inner city hospital. Our intent was to identify factors that may predispose children to these serious complications. Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted using ICD-9 codes to identify pediatric patients treated for complications of sinusitis at University Hospital (UH) from 1996 to 2004. Only patients age 18 or younger at the time of admission were included in this study. The following data were collected from hospital medical records: age, gender, past medical and social history, presenting symptoms, history of present illness, microbiology, surgical and medical intervention, and outcome. Results Twelve patients were identified that fit the criteria for this study. The mean age of these patients was 14.1 years, and 10 of our 12 patients were male (83.3%). The most common presenting complaints were fever, headache, altered mental status, orbital cellulitis, nasal symptoms, nausea and vomiting, and photophobia. In the week prior to admission for intracranial complications, nine patients were seen by a physician: five patients were seen in the ER and four by a primary care physician. Subdural empyema was the most commonly observed intracranial complication in this series. Microaerophilic and anaerobic organisms were most commonly identified in this series. Most sinus procedures consisted of endoscopic ethmoid and maxillary sinus drainage. There was a long-term morbidity rate of 16% and a mortality rate of 8%. Conclusions Three conclusions may be drawn from this study. First, the morbidity and mortality of intracranial complications of sinusitis remain high in the pediatric inner-city population despite adequate access to medical care. Second, subdural empyema appears to arise in the setting of subacute rather than acute frontal sinusitis. Lastly, there may be an under-diagnosis and delay in treatment of patients with frontal sinusitis, resulting in subsequent intracranial complications.
Subject ~ Verb word-order in Spanish interrogatives: a quantitative analysis of Puerto Rican Spanish

We conduct a quantitative analysis of conversational speech from native speakers of Puerto Rican Spanish to test whether optional non-inversion of subjects in wh-questions (?que tu piensas?) is indicative of a movement in Spanish from flexible to rigid word order (Morales 1989; Toribio 2000). We find high rates of subject expression (51%) and a strong preference for SV word order (47%) over VS (4%) in all sentence types, in line with assertions of fixed SVO word order. The usage-based examination of 882 wh-questions shows non-inversion occurs in 14% of the cases (25% of wh-questions containing an overt subject). Variable rule analysis reveals subject, verb and question type significantly constrain interrogative word order, but we find no evidence that word order is predicted by perseveration. SV word order is highest in rhetorical and quotative questions, revealing a pathway of change through which word order is becoming fixed in this variety.
A fast simulation framework for IEEE 802.11-operated wireless LANs

In this paper, we develop a fast simulation framework for IEEE 802.11-operated wireless LANs (WLANs), in which a large number of packets are abstracted as a single fluid chunk, and their behaviors are approximated with analytic fluid models and figured into the simulation. We first derive the analytical model that characterizes data transmission activities in IEEE 802.11-operated WLANs with/without the RTS/CTS mechanism. All the control overhead incurred in the physical and MAC layers, as well as system parameters specified in IEEE 802.11 [12] are faithfully figured in. We validate the model with simulation in cases in which the network is and is not saturated. We then implement, with the use of the time stepping technique [21], the fast simulation framework for WLANs in ns-2 [2], and conduct a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate the framework in terms of speed-up and errors incurred under a variety of network configurations.The simulation results indicate that the proposed framework is indeed effective in simulating IEEE 802.11-operated WLANs. It achieves as much as two orders of magnitude improvement in terms of execution time as compared to packet-level simulation. The performance improvement is more pronounced when the number of wireless nodes, the number of applications running on each wireless node, or the number of WLANs increases. The relative error, on the other hand, falls within 2% in all cases, as long as the value of the time step is appropriately determined.
Lithic controls on the removal of iron and remediation of acidic mine drainage

Abstract The remediation of streams adversely affected by acidic mine drainage often employs limestone as a neutralization agent. However, metal precipitation on the limestone surface can render it ineffective. This investigation reports preliminary field and laboratory results demonstrating that, in the presence of a mixture of limestone and sandstone, iron preferentially precipitates on the sandstone surface, and iron removal from aqueous solution is greater than with either of the materials alone. First, a river in Tennessee (USA) with preferential iron precipitation was characterized with respect to water quality and lithic surface morphology. Second, a field experiment where lithic samples were placed in an Ohio stream receiving coal mine drainage demonstrated that iron hydroxide preferentially coats quartz-rich lithologies. Finally, laboratory experiments confirmed enhanced iron removal in the presence of mixed lithic surfaces. Based on these results, the use of multiple lithic surfaces, particularly in-stream, has the potential to provide improved methods for the treatment of acidic mine wastes.
Parameterization of Surface Moisture and Evaporation Rate in a Planetary Boundary Layer Model

Abstract Two methods of pararmeterizing expressions for ground surface evaporation rate that are used in planetary boundary layer models have been examined. In one method (Method A) the surface evaporation rate is proportional to M (Qs − Q1). In the other (Method B) the surface evaporation rate is proportional to hQs − Q1. Here Qs is the surface saturation mixing ratio, Q1 the mixing ratio at the lowest level of the atmospheric model, M the moisture availability parameter, and h the relative humidity immediately above the ground. The analysis was performed by running a planetary boundary layer numerical model several times, using at each time either Method A or B with different specifications of M and h. The calculated diurnal surface temperature and surface latent heat flux were examined. Specific results are: 1) for equal M andh, Method B results in higher surface temperatures than Method A; 2) the surface evaporation rate calculated using Method A is less sensitive to changes in M, than the surface eva...
Gene profiling of normal human bronchial epithelial cells in response to asbestos and benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE).

Abstract Asbestos and benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE) are pulmonary carcinogens with synergistic interaction in causing lung cancer. We used Affymetrix microarrays to study gene modulation in vitro using normal human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to chrysotile asbestos and/or BPDE for 4 or 24 h. Linear models were used to compare treated cells to controls at each time point to identify statistically significant up- or downregulation of genes. Profiles of genes regulated by chrysotile were dominated by cytokines, growth factors, and DNA damage. Profiles of genes with BPDE and chrysotile regulation were correlated with proliferation, DNA damage recognition and nucleotide-excision repair, cytokines, and apoptosis. Chemokines, growth-regulated oncogene-alpha (Gro-alpha, CXCL-1), and IL-8, were significantly increased, and these had previously been observed in bronchoalveolar lavage from asbestos workers or in animal models. Interestingly, the Hermansky-Pudlak gene, which is mutated in an autosomal recessive form of pulmonary fibrosis, was downregulated threefold by BPDE at 4 h. This is an interesting example of gene (Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome) and environment (BPDE) interaction. Transcription factors, including activating transcription factor 3 and Cbp/p300-interacting transactivator, were upregulated by chrysotile. Real Time PCR for IL-8, ATF-3, GADD45B, CXC Ligand 1, and CTGF compared to GAPDH validated microarray findings at 24 h. These in vitro findings in NHBE cells model environment-gene interaction for asbestos and BPDE, highlighting effects of inflammation, fibrosis, proliferation, and DNA damage recognition and repair.
A paleo perspective on hydroclimatic variability in the western United States

Aquatic resources management has become increasingly challenging as human demands on water supplies compete with the needs of natural ecosystems, particularly in arid lands. A wide range of factors, both natural and human, influence aquatic environments, but an important underlying component is climate variability. Instrumental records of hydroclimatic variability from precipitation, streamflow, and snowpack are limited to 100 years or less in most areas of the western U.S., and are too short to provide more than a subset of the full range of natural climate variability. Paleoclimatic proxy data from a variety of sources can be used to extend instrumental records of climate back centuries to tens of thousands of years and longer. In this review, four drought events over the past three millennia, each documented with a number of proxy records, illustrate natural hydroclimatic variability characteristics over the western U.S. Although a small sample of paleoclimate data, these four events exemplify the wide range of natural hydroclimatic variability over space and time. Climate is now, and will continue to be, impacted by human activities, but natural climatic variability will likely be an important underlying factor in future climate variability and change.
Assessment of everyday beliefs about health: The Lay Concepts of Health Inventory, college student version

This research investigated lay conceptualisations about health using a progressive mixed-method approach, culminating in a new self-report measure of lay concepts of health. In Study 1, 223 community and college-aged adults provided everyday descriptors of healthy people. These open-ended qualitative responses were narrowed to 259 distinct descriptors, and subsequently rated on their importance to health by a second lay sample (Study 2). The health descriptors rated as most important were then subjected to exploratory factor analysis in Study 3, resulting in five distinguishable factors. Proposed scale items were then administered again (to college students, in Study 4), and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed. The CFA supported a four-factor model, comprised of Social-Emotional Health, Positive Health Practices, Absence of Stress and Anxiety, and Adequate Rest, presented as the college student version of the Lay Concepts of Health Inventory. The measure, as well as limitations and recommen...
Microfluidic chip-based nanoelectrode array as miniaturized biochemical sensing platform for prostate-specific antigen detection.

Abstract A microfluidic biosensor chip with an embedded three-electrode configuration is developed for the study of the voltammetric response of a nanoelectrode array with controlled inter-electrode distance in a nanoliter-scale sample volume. The on-chip three-electrode cell consists of a 5 × 5 array of Au working nanoelectrodes with radii between 60 and 120 nm, a Cl2-plasma-treated Ag/AgCl reference electrode, and a Au counter electrode. The nanoelectrode array is fabricated by creating high-aspect-ratio pores through an alumina insulating layer using an I2 gas-assisted focused-ion-beam (FIB) milling, ion beam sculpting, and electrodeposition of Au. The glass substrate with the electrode pattern is assembled with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel slab giving a volume of 180 nL for each channel. Cyclic voltammetry calibration with a standard redox species exhibits a significant increase of current density by two orders of magnitude compared to that obtained from a microelectrode. On-chip functionalization of the nanoelectrodes with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) biosensor complex and detection of PSA based on a competitive immunoassay method are performed. The detection limit is approximately 10 pg/mL (∼270 fM), which corresponds to roughly 30,000 copies of PSA in the microchannel test volume.
A follow up study of myocardial involvement in patients with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS).

Objective To investigate cardiac function in patients with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) and clarify the clinical features of cardiomyopathy in MELAS. Patients 11 consecutive patients with MELAS (mean age at initial examination 11.3 years, range 4 to 16 years) were enrolled in the study. Six were followed for more than five years. Results On echocardiographic examination, three patients showed increased left ventricular end diastolic posterior wall thickness (LVPWTd), exceeding 140% of the normal value. Four patients, including these three, had an ejection fraction of less than 50%, and two also had increased left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV) exceeding 140% of the normal value (%N). The LVPWTd%N was correlated positively with the LVEDV%N ( R = 0.669, p R = −0.6701, p Conclusions The cardiomyopathy in MELAS is characterised by an abnormally thick left ventricular wall with progressive dilatation and poor left ventricular contraction developing over several years, indicating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy advancing to dilated cardiomyopathy.
Nanomaterial‐Enabled Stretchable Conductors: Strategies, Materials and Devices

Stretchable electronics are attracting intensive attention due to their promising applications in many areas where electronic devices undergo large deformation and/or form intimate contact with curvilinear surfaces. On the other hand, a plethora of nanomaterials with outstanding properties have emerged over the past decades. The understanding of nanoscale phenomena, materials, and devices has progressed to a point where substantial strides in nanomaterial-enabled applications become realistic. This review summarizes recent advances in one such application, nanomaterial-enabled stretchable conductors (one of the most important components for stretchable electronics) and related stretchable devices (e.g., capacitive sensors, supercapacitors and electroactive polymer actuators), over the past five years. Focusing on bottom-up synthesized carbon nanomaterials (e.g., carbon nanotubes and graphene) and metal nanomaterials (e.g., metal nanowires and nanoparticles), this review provides fundamental insights into the strategies for developing nanomaterial-enabled highly conductive and stretchable conductors. Finally, some of the challenges and important directions in the area of nanomaterial-enabled stretchable conductors and devices are discussed.
Adding Personality to Gifted Identification: Relationships Among Traditional and Personality-Based Constructs

One of the underutilized tools in gifted identification is personality-based measures. Previous research has shown the Overexcitability Questionnaire II (OEQII) is able to differentiate between gifted and non-gifted respondents; however, the OEQII is difficult to administer and has questionable reliability. The Sensory Profile measures a similar construct to the OEQII without those issues. A multiple confirmatory factor analysis was utilized to examine the relationships between traditional identification methods (grade point average, achievement test, intelligence test, high school class rank) and personality-based measures (OEQII and Sensory Profile). The pattern of correlations between the four latent variables indicate this model could be measuring two constructs, one related to traditional intelligence-related aspects of giftedness and the other related to personality-related aspects of giftedness. If that is the case, a personality-based measure could prove to be a good measure of “personality-relate...
Structure-activity relations for anticholinergic dioxolans

4-Dimethylaminomethyl 1, 3-dioxolan derivatives have been examined for anticholinergic potency. Quaternary derivatives in which C-2 was substituted with two bulky substituents were found to have anticholinergic potencies similar to those of atropine in the peripheral nervous system. A comparison of the enantiomeric cis and trans 2-cyclohexyl-2-phenyl-4-dimethylaminomethyl-1, 3-dioxolan methiodides showed that the observed configurational selectivity depended mainly on the configuration at C-2 and not on the geometrical relation between C-2 and C-4.
State of dermatology training: The residents' perspective

Abstract Changes in health care delivery necessitate modification in dermatology training. While the residents at The University of Alabama at Birmingham were planning their 1995–1996 curriculum, several questions regarding the most appropriate allocation of time and resources arose. Interest in other residency curricula prompted the development of a national survey of dermatology residents. Our purpose was to provide comprehensive data regarding the didactic, clinical, surgical, and other aspects of today's U.S. dermatology residency training from the perspective of the residents. It is hoped these data will assist dermatology residency programs with evaluation of their current curricula. A comprehensive 31-question multiplechoice survey was mailed to 631 residents in 70 U.S. dermatology residency programs. Results were tabulated and median values and percentages of responses were obtained. A Wilcoxon rank-sum test, a chi-square analysis, and logistic regression analysis were performed on survey items on the basis of residents' satisfaction with the training program. Two hundred forty-eight responses (39%) were returned with all years of training well represented. Median values and percentages obtained outlined the didactic, clinical, surgical, and other aspects of dermatology residency training. Seventeen percent of residents believed they were not being adequately trained. Satisfaction with training was noted with more didactic faculty involvement, consultations and research, and surgical procedures performed per month. Residents with enriched didactic, clinical, and surgical training experiences are more satisfied with their training programs.
Improving similarity join algorithms using vertical clustering techniques

String is a primary data format in majority of applications. With the rapid growth of diverse data driven applications in the current information era, retrieving string data from heterogeneous structured sources becomes more and more significant and challenging. The main concern is duplicate records are created when data is integrated from heterogeneous sources. Those duplicate records represent the same real-world entity because of inconsistent values and naming conventions, incorrect or missing data values, or incomplete information. Existing approaches make the assumption that group of related attributes will participate in the similarity join operation. However, in this paper we propose a pre-processing technique to improve existing similarity join techniques. Assuming relational data sources, our approach is to identify groups of related attributes that when similarity join is applied, we reduce false positives and false negatives, and increase precisions and F-measure.
A Crop Simulation Model for Predicting Yield and Fate of Nitrogen in Irrigated Potato Rotation Cropping System

3USDA-ARS, Crops Systems and Global Change Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland Simulation models are valuable tools to evaluate soil processes, crop growth, and production responses under varied agroclimatic and input-management production conditions. In this study, an upgraded potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) crop growth simulation model (CSPotato) was integrated with a multi-year, multi-crop simulation model (CropSystVB). The integrated CropSystVB-CSPotato model facilitated prediction of soil processes, and growth and yields of different crops in a potato rotation system under center pivot irrigation. The integrated model was validated using two years (2001-2002) of field data on ‘Ranger Russet’ cultivar grown in a Quincy fine sand in the Pacific Northwest Columbia Basin production region under different nitrogen-management practices. This study showed good agreement between the measured and predicted yields as well as N uptake across different N management practices in both years. The predicted water as well as nitrogen drainage below the potato rooting depth (0.6 m) was greater in 2002 than that in 2001. This study demonstrated that the upgraded potato model integrated with CropSystVB can be used as a valuable decision tool to predict the crop yields, fate, and transport of N in irrigated potato rotation cropping systems.
Numerical Simulation of Turbine Blade Boundary Layer and Heat Transfer and Assessment of Turbulence Models

The boundary layer development and convective heat transfer on transonic turbine nozzle vanes are investigated using a compressible Navier-Stokes code with three low-Reynolds-number {kappa}-{epsilon} models. The mean-flow and turbulence transport equations are integrated by a four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme. Numerical predictions are compared with the experimental data acquired at Allison Engine Company. An assessment of the performance of various turbulence models is carried out. The two modes of transition, bypass transition and separation-induced transition, are studied comparatively. Effects of blade surface pressure gradients, free-stream turbulence level, and Reynolds number on the blade boundary layer development, particularly transition onset, are examined. Predictions from a parabolic boundary layer code are included for comparison with those from the elliptic Navier-Stokes code. The present study indicates that the turbine external heat transfer, under real engine conditions, can be predicted well by the Navier-Stokes procedure with the low-Reynolds-number {kappa}-{epsilon} models employed.
THE SUTTON HOO SHIP-BURIAL: A CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

property of Major M. C. Barton, Bromeswell (Suffolk) near Woodbridge, overlooks the river Deben (pron. di vn, di bbn) and is about two miles SSW of Rendlesham, once the seat of the Anglo-Saxon kings of East Anglia. The ship with its treasure was buried in a barrow about 100 ft above water-level and some 800 yards inland; it was excavated in June and July 1939. In a letter of 15 April 1952 Mr Guy Maynard, Curator emeritus of the Museum of Natural hIistory, Ethnology, and Archaeology, in the Borough of Ipswich (Suffolk), reminds me that "It is still not widely realized that no structural remains [of the ship] still existed when we found it in 1939. All that was to be seen was the sooty shadow in the sand caused by the decay of the timber, with, of course, the nails still in position.... The only actual wood found in the 1939 ship was the length of timber on the bottomai of the hull where there was mnore moisture; possibly also, since it must have been largely covered up by the mass of clothes and other objects, these may have tended to conserve the water and so helped preserve it." The grave-goods, of a inagnificence unequalled in Western Europe, were moved to the British Museum on 3 August, the gold and silver objects were on 4 August found by a coroner's jury not to be treasure-trove; the whole was presented to the Museum by Mrs Pretty on 22 August and constitutes the greatest gift ever received by the British Museum from a living person. When it becoines practicable, electrotrype replicas of the finds will, in accordance with the wishes of Mrs Pretty, be deposited in the Museum of Natural HIistory in Ipswich. With the outbreak of World WVar II the treasure was moved from the British Museum to a place of safekeeping and in April 1940 to an even safer hiding place. In 1939 and 1940 a photographic exhibition of the excavation and the treasure was held in the entrance hall of the British Museum, but the treasure itself was not seen by the public until 24 April 1946, when the museum was reopened after the war. The ship, an 80-foot rowing boat (originally about 86 feet long), served as a cenotaph (with no body) for either the East Anglian king Anna (d. 654) or, less
Armed Negotiations: The Institutionalization of the Late Ottoman Locality

This article aims to revisit autonomy and decentralization in the nineteenth century as dynamics that captured the hybrid position of the Ottomans in the rapidly changing regional and international contexts. Addressing briefly a number of different examples, the article argues that the emergence of the “autonomous province,” as a specific administrative practice, constituted not an imperial defeat but a compromise that allowed the empire to survive. In fact, the different chronological and regional manifestations of autonomy in the empire’s provincial universe invite recognition not only of this specific phenomenon but also of broader, long-ignored aspects of the Ottoman reform as a whole. Within this context, Kostopoulou’s article looks at a number of examples that best capture the elements of both promise and danger entailed in nineteenth-century Ottoman decentralization. This double capacity of being simultaneously a colonizer and a colony characterized the Ottomans throughout the period in question and is best illustrated by their strategies and agonies over their autonomous provinces.
The early history of the biochemistry of muscle contraction.

Since antiquity, motion has been looked upon as the index of life. The organ of motion is muscle. Our present understanding of the mechanism of contraction is based on three fundamental discoveries, all arising from studies on striated muscle. The modern era began with the demonstration that
Long-term outcomes for cryoablation of pediatric patients with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia.

The long-term efficacy and complications of cryoablation for pediatric atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) have not been completely defined. We performed a retrospective review of pediatric patients diagnosed with AVNRT and treated with cryoablation therapy. A total of 73 patients underwent cryoablation for AVNRT from 2003 to 2008. Of the 73 patients, 61 were included in the present study. The mean interval from initial successful ablation was 3 ± 1 years. Of the 61 patients, 4 had documented recurrence of AVNRT after the initially successful ablation, 3 with late recurrence 1 to 2 years after ablation. Procedural complications consisting of transient atrioventricular block developed in 10 patients, and 2 patients were diagnosed with new arrhythmias after AVNRT ablation (1 with junctional ectopic tachycardia and 1 with left ventricular outflow tract tachycardia originating near the region of the atrioventricular node 3 months after ablation). In conclusion, cryoablation is a safe and effective therapy for AVNRT. Recurrences can develop late, up to 2 years after initially successful ablation.
Nuevas aportaciones al estudio de los grupos consonánticos marginales en español

El estatuto de la silaba como entidad linguistica ha cobrado una importancia considerable en los estudios desarrollados en fonologia durante los ultimos anos. Dentro de la silaba, ha merecido particular atencion el analisis de los grupos consonanticosy las leyes que los regulan. Los estudios e interpretaciones de estas estructuras en espanol son numerosos y variados; a pesar de que estos trabajos hayan sido en gran parte responsables de nuestro interes en el tema, no nos proponemos comentarlos aqui, sino exponer y comentar los resultados obtenidos durante el transcurso de nuestro experimento.
Detection of West Nile virus RNA in mosquitoes and identification of mosquito blood meals collected at alligator farms in Louisiana.

ABSTRACT Since 2001, alligator farms in the United States have sustained substantial economic losses because of West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Once an initial infection is introduced into captive alligators, WNV can spread among animals by contaminative transmission. Some outbreaks have been linked to feeding on infected meat or the introduction of infected hatchlings, but the initial source of WNV infection has been uncertain in other outbreaks. We conducted a study to identify species composition and presence of WNV in mosquito populations associated with alligator farms in Louisiana. A second objective of this study was to identify the origin of mosquito blood meals collected at commercial alligator farms. Mosquitoes were collected from 2004 to 2006, using Centers for Disease Control light traps, gravid traps, backpack aspirators, and resting boxes. We collected a total of 58,975 mosquitoes representing 24 species. WNV was detected in 41 pools of fe...
A hybrid estimation framework for Cooperative Localization under communication constraints

In this paper, we consider the problem of multi-centralized Cooperative Localization (CL) under severe communication constraints, i.e., when each robot can communicate only a single bit per real-valued (analog) measurement. Existing approaches, such as those based on the Sign-of-Innovation Kalman filter (SOI-KF) and its variants, require each robot to process quantized versions of both its local (i.e., recorded by its own sensors) and remote (i.e., collected by other robots) measurements. This results in suboptimal performance since each robot has to discard information that is available in its own analog measurements. To address this limitation, we introduce a novel hybrid estimation scheme that enables each robot to process both quantized (from remote sensors) and analog (from its own sensors) measurements. Specifically, we first present the hybrid (H)-SOI-KF, a direct extension of the SOI-KF, for processing both types of measurements. Secondly, we introduce the modified (M)H-SOI-KF, that uses an asymmetric encoding/decoding scheme to incorporate additional information during quantization (based on the hybrid estimates locally available to each robot), resulting in substantial accuracy improvement. Lastly, we present extensive simulations which demonstrate that both hybrid estimators not only outperform the SOI-KF, but also achieve accuracy comparable to that of the standard (analog) centralized Kalman filter.
A smart pre-classifier to reduce power consumption of TCAMs for multi-dimensional packet classification

Ternary Content-Addressable Memories (TCAMs) has become the industrial standard for high-throughput packet classification. However, one major drawback of TCAMs is their high power consumption, which is becoming critical with the boom of data centers, the growing classifiers and the deployment of IPv6. In this paper, we propose a practical and efficient solution which introduces a smart pre-classifier to reduce power consumption of TCAMs for multi-dimensional packet classification. We reduce the dimension of the problem through the pre-classifier which pre-classifies a packet on two header fields, source and destination IP addresses. We then return to the high dimension problem where only a small portion of a TCAM is activated and searched for a given packet. The smart pre-classifier is built in a way such that a given packet matches at most one entry in the pre-classifier, which make commodity TCAMs sufficient to implement the pre-classifier. Furthermore, each rule is stored only once in one of the TCAM blocks, which avoids rule replication. The presented solution uses commodity TCAMs, and the proposed algorithms are easy to implement. Our scheme achieves a median power reduction of 91% and an average power reduction of 88% on real and synthetic classifiers respectively.
Timing of Blood Pressure Measurement Related to Caffeine Consumption

Objective To determine whether patients should wait 30 minutes after caffeine consumption to have their blood pressure measured. Data sources Literature was obtained by searching MEDLINE (1980-September 2007), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1980-September 2007), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1994-September 2007). Search terms included caffeine and blood pressure. Literature was also obtained from citations in relevant articles. Study selection and data extraction Articles that examined caffeine's acute effect on blood pressure were reviewed, with additional focus on caffeine tolerance and hypertensive status. Data synthesis Caffeine appears to affect blood pressure through adenosine receptor inhibition and an increased release of select neurotransmitters. Caffeine levels peak 30-120 minutes after oral intake and caffeine's half-life is 3-6 hours. The effect of caffeine on blood pressure has been examined for decades, with variable results depending on factors such as population examined (eg, hypertensive status, physical stressors, age) and study design (eg, acute effects, chronic ingestion, retrospective epidemiologic review). Caffeine tolerance diminishes the acute effect of caffeine on blood pressure, and hypertensive individuals are more susceptible to blood pressure changes. Reviews of caffeine's acute effect on blood pressure indicate changes of 3-15 mm Hg systolic and 4-13 mm Hg diastolic. Typically, blood pressure changes occur within 30 minutes, peak in 1-2 hours, and may persist for more than 4 hours. Conclusions Having a patient abstain from caffeine for 30 minutes prior to blood pressure monitoring is not adequate to avoid caffeine's potential effects. An alternative approach to blood pressure monitoring would be to ask the patient about recent caffeine consumption and interpret the blood pressure reading based on this information. In addition, healthcare practitioners should provide education regarding caffeine's effects.
John‐Jerome of Prague (1368–1440) and the Errores Graecorum: Anatomy of a Polemic Against Greek Christians

This paper discusses the anti-Greek writings of the Camaldolese John-Jerome of Prague from 1409 to 1433. It demonstrates how his varied experiences in Poland and the Middle East helped shape his views on eastern Christians, and how these views were further affected by the role Greek theology played in the thought of his great opponents, the Hussites. His hostile statements about the Greeks provide some indication of the depth of the antipathy between the two sides, as well as the limited knowledge of many in the Latin West about the details of ecclesiastical history and Greek theology on the eve of the Council of Florence. A discussion of his writings over a quarter century illustrates how John-Jerome’s opinions about Greek Christians changed as he experienced different aspects of the relationship between the Latin and Greek churches. It is interesting to compare John-Jerome’s views with two contemporaries whom he knew personally, the Camaldolese humanist Ambrogio Traversari and the Greek Dominican theologian Andrew Chrysoberges.
Diversity and Leadership: The Color of Leadership

The author focuses on racial/ethnic diversity and the role leadership plays for emerging library leaders of color. The article covers the need for minority library leadership and the differences between white and minority leadership. Additionally, the author provides her five leadership categories followed by ten leadership realities of which readers should be aware.
Towards Systems Based Immunotherapy of Cancer

The essay, dedicated to Academician Drago Iki}–a pioneer in the development and preparation of vaccines for prevention of infectious diseases –at the occasion of his 95 th birthday, discusses the relative failure of therapeutic vaccination for malignant diseases. From a personal perspective, the author recounts the historic examples of »spontaneous« tumor regressions in conjunction with acute infections; development of the first marketed purportedly antigen–specific cellular immunotherapy (for metastatic prostate cancer); the paradox of immunotherapy effect on overall survival, but not on time to disease progression; and the promise of the new complex systems–based approaches to a more rational design of cellular immunotherapy in the hope of bringing this mode of treatment into the therapeutic mainstream and standard of care.
Mesoporous Ni60Fe30Mn10-alloy based metal/metal oxide composite thick films as highly active and robust oxygen evolution catalysts

A major challenge in the field of water electrolysis is the scarcity of oxygen-evolving catalysts that are inexpensive, highly corrosion-resistant, suitable for large-scale applications and able to oxidize water at high current densities and low overpotentials. Most unsupported, non-precious metals oxygen-evolution catalysts require at least ∼350 mV overpotential to oxidize water with a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M alkaline solution. Here we report on a robust nanostructured porous NiFe-based oxygen evolution catalyst made by selective alloy corrosion. In 1 M KOH, our material exhibits a catalytic activity towards water oxidation of 500 mA cm−2 at 360 mV overpotential and is stable for over eleven days. This exceptional performance is attributed to three factors. First, the small size of the ligaments and pores in our mesoporous catalyst (∼10 nm) results in a high BET surface area (43 m2 g−1) and therefore a high density of oxygen-evolution catalytic sites per unit mass. Second, the open porosity facilitates effective mass transfer at the catalyst/electrolyte interface. Third and finally, the high bulk electrical conductivity of the mesoporous catalyst allows for effective current flow through the electrocatalyst, making it possible to use thick films with a high density of active sites and ∼3 × 104 cm2 of catalytic area per cm2 of electrode area. Our mesoporous catalyst is thus attractive for alkaline electrolyzers where water-based solutions are decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen as the only products, driven either conventionally or by photovoltaics.
Microwave background bispectrum. II. A probe of the low redshift universe

Gravitational fluctuations along the line of sight from the surface of last scatter to the observer distort the microwave background in several related ways: The fluctuations deflect the photon path (gravitational lensing), the decay of the gravitational potential produces additional fluctuations (ISW effect) and scattering off of hot gas in clusters produce additional fluctuations (Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect). Even if the initial fluctuations generated at the surface of last scatter were Gaussian, the combination of these effects produces non-Gaussian features in the microwave sky. We discuss the microwave bispectrum as a tool for measuring and studying this signal. For MAP, we estimate that these measurements will enable us to determine the fraction of ionized gas and to probe the time evolution of the gravitational potential.
La Ilustración radical y la masonería: Estado actual de la cuestión

Sometimes updating the observations and conclusions achieved long ago is necessary, especially when new scholarship on the topic appears. In this article, recent works about the relationship between radical enlightenment and Freemasonry are discussed.
Protein phosphatase 2A regulatory subunit B56α limits phosphatase activity in the heart

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a serine/threonine-selective holoenzyme composed of a catalytic, scaffolding, and regulatory subunit. In the heart, PP2A activity is requisite for cardiac excitation-contraction coupling and central in adrenergic signaling. We found that mice deficient in the PP2A regulatory subunit B56α (1 of 13 regulatory subunits) had altered PP2A signaling in the heart that was associated with changes in cardiac physiology, suggesting that the B56α regulatory subunit had an autoinhibitory role that suppressed excess PP2A activity. The increase in PP2A activity in the mice with reduced B56α expression resulted in slower heart rates and increased heart rate variability, conduction defects, and increased sensitivity of heart rate to parasympathetic agonists. Increased PP2A activity in B56α(+/-) myocytes resulted in reduced Ca(2+) waves and sparks, which was associated with decreased phosphorylation (and thus decreased activation) of the ryanodine receptor RyR2, an ion channel on intracellular membranes that is involved in Ca(2+) regulation in cardiomyocytes. In line with an autoinhibitory role for B56α, in vivo expression of B56α in the absence of altered abundance of other PP2A subunits decreased basal phosphatase activity. Consequently, in vivo expression of B56α suppressed parasympathetic regulation of heart rate and increased RyR2 phosphorylation in cardiomyocytes. These data show that an integral component of the PP2A holoenzyme has an important inhibitory role in controlling PP2A enzyme activity in the heart.
Disconnected! The parallel streams of network literature in the natural and social sciences

During decades the study of networks has been divided between the efforts of social scientists and natural scientists, two groups of scholars who often do not see eye to eye. In this review I present an effort to mutually translate the work conducted by scholars from both of these academic fronts hoping to unify what has become a diverging body of literature. I argue that social and natural scientists fail to see eye to eye because they have diverging academic goals. Social scientists focus on explaining how context specific social and economic mechanisms drive the structure of networks and on how networks shape social and economic outcomes. By contrast, natural scientists focus primarily on modeling network characteristics that are independent of context, since their focus is to identify universal characteristics of systems instead of context specific mechanisms. In the following pages I discuss the differences between both of these literatures by summarizing the parallel theories advanced to explain link formation and the applications used by scholars in each field to justify the study of networks. I conclude by briefly reviewing the historical sources of these differences and by providing an outlook on how these two literatures may come closer together. Introduction: Why Networks? “Science must, over the next 50 years, learn to deal with these problems of organized complexity.”—Warren Weaver, 1948 In 1948 Warren Weaver, director of the Rockefeller Foundation’s division of natural sciences, published his now classic paper entitled Science and Complexity. In this paper, Weaver explained the three eras that for him defined the history of science. These were the era of simplicity, disorganized complexity, and organized complexity. In the eyes of Weaver--who was a
Discoveries, target identifications, and biological applications of natural products that inhibit splicing factor 3B subunit 1

Covering: 1992 to 2015 The natural products FR901464, pladienolide, and herboxidiene were discovered as activators of reporter gene systems. Unexpectedly, these compounds target neither transcription nor translation; rather, they target splicing factor 3B subunit 1 of the spliceosome, causing changes in splicing patterns. All of them showed anticancer activity in a low nanomolar range. Since their discovery, these molecules have been used in a variety of biological applications.
Minimizing user involvement for accurate ontology matching problems

Many various types of sensors coming from different complex devices collect data from a city. Their underlying data representation follows specific manufacturer specifications that have possibly incomplete descriptions (in ontology) alignments. This paper addresses the problem of determining accurate and complete matching of ontologies given some common descriptions and their pre-determined high level alignments. In this context the problem of ontology matching consists of automatically determining all matching given the latter alignments, and manually verifying the matching results. Especially for applications where it is crucial that ontologies are matched correctly the latter can turn into a very time-consuming task for the user. This paper tackles this challenge and addresses the problem of computing the minimum number of user inputs needed to verify all matchings. We show how to represent this problem as a reasoning problem over a bipartite graph and how to encode it over pseudo Boolean constraints. Experiments show that our approach can be successfully applied to real-world data sets.
An Analysis of Diversity in Nonhuman Animal Rights Media

Lack of diversity in the ranks as well as a failure to resonate with disadvantaged groups and other anti-oppression movements has been cited as one important barrier to the American Nonhuman Animal rights movement’s success (Kymlicka and Donaldson in Animal rights, multiculturalism and the Left. The Mellon Sawyer Seminar at the Graduate Center, CUNY. City University of New York, New York, 2013). It is possible that social movements are actively inhibiting diversity in the ranks and audience by producing literature that reflects a narrow activist identity. This article creates a platform from which these larger issues can be explored by investigating the actual demographic representations present in a small sample of popular media sources produced by the movement for other animals. A content analysis of 131 magazine covers produced by two highly visible movement actors, PETA and VegNews, was conducted to demonstrate that activist representations in at least some dominant American Nonhuman Animal rights media are mostly white, female, and thin.