cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Increased survival from radiation by mixtures of radioprotective compounds.

>Serotonin, MEA ( BETA -mercaptoethylamine), and Aet (S, BETA aminoethylisothiuronium) are effective protectors against ionizing radiation; 10 mu M serotonin, 20 mu M AET, or 30 mu M MEA, when given alone to mice prior to exposure of lethal dose of 800 r, offered 50 to 65 per cent protection. At 1,100 r, no protection by any of these agents was found. However, when nilxtures of the above agents (5 mu M serotonin plus l0 mu M AET or 5 mu M serotonin plus 30 mu M MEA) were administered, 100 per cent and 70 to 80 per cent protection were obtained in mice exposed to 800 r and 1,100 r, respectively. (auth)
A Model Longitudinal Observation Medicine Curriculum for an Emergency Medicine Residency

The role of observation services for emergency department patients has increased in recent years. Driven by changing health care practices and evolving payer policies, many hospitals in the United States currently have or are developing an observation unit (OU) and emergency physicians are most often expected to manage patients in this setting. Yet, few residency programs dedicate a portion of their clinical curriculum to observation medicine. This knowledge set should be integrated into the core training curriculum of emergency physicians. Presented here is a model observation medicine longitudinal training curriculum, which can be integrated into an emergency medicine (EM) residency. It was developed by a consensus of content experts representing the observation medicine interest group and observation medicine section, respectively, from EM's two major specialty societies: the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). The curriculum consists of didactic, clinical, and self-directed elements. It is longitudinal, with learning objectives for each year of training, focusing initially on the basic principles of observation medicine and appropriate observation patient selection; moving to the management of various observation appropriate conditions; and then incorporating further concepts of OU management, billing, and administration. This curriculum is flexible and designed to be used in both academic and community EM training programs within the United States. Additionally, scholarly opportunities, such as elective rotations and fellowship training, are explored.
Synthesis and evaluation of an alkyne-modified ATP analog for enzymatic incorporation into RNA

Alkyne-modified nucleoside analogs are useful for nucleic acid localization as well as functional and structural studies because of their ability to participate in copper-catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions. Here we describe the synthesis of the triphosphate of 7-ethynyl-8-aza-7-deazaadenosine (7-EAATP) and the enzymatic incorporation of 7-EAA into RNA. The free nucleoside of 7-EAA is taken up by HeLa cells and incorporated into cellular RNA by endogenous RNA polymerases. In addition, 7-EAATP is a substrate for both T7 RNA polymerase and poly (A) polymerase from Escherichia coli in vitro, albeit at lower efficiencies than with ATP. This work adds to the toolbox of nucleoside analogs useful for RNA labeling.
A novel platelet lysate hydrogel for endothelial cell and mesenchymal stem cell-directed neovascularization

Abstract Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) hold promise in promoting vascular regeneration of ischemic tissue in conditions like critical limb ischemia of the leg. However, this approach has been limited in part by poor cell retention and survival after delivery. New biomaterials offer an opportunity to localize cells to the desired tissue after delivery, but also to improve cell survival after delivery. Here we characterize the mechanical and microstructural properties of a novel hydrogel composed of pooled human platelet lysate (PL) and test its ability to promote MSC angiogenic activity using clinically relevant in vitro and in vivo models. This PL hydrogel had comparable storage and loss modulus and behaved as a viscoelastic solid similar to fibrin hydrogels despite having 1/4–1/10th the fibrin content of standard fibrin gels. Additionally, PL hydrogels enabled sustained release of endogenous PDGF-BB for up to 20 days and were resistant to protease degradation. PL hydrogel stimulated pro-angiogenic activity by promoting human MSC growth and invasion in a 3D environment, and enhancing endothelial cell sprouting alone and in co-culture with MSCs. When delivered in vivo , the combination of PL and human MSCs improved local tissue perfusion after 8 days compared to controls when assessed with laser Doppler perfusion imaging in a murine model of hind limb ischemia. These results support the use of a PL hydrogel as a scaffold for MSC delivery to promote vascular regeneration. Statement of Significance Innovative strategies for improved retention and viability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are needed for cellular therapies. Human platelet lysate is a potent serum supplement that improves the expansion of MSCs. Here we characterize our novel PL hydrogel’s desirable structural and biologic properties for human MSCs and endothelial cells. PL hydrogel can localize cells for retention in the desired tissue, improves cell viability, and augments MSCs’ angiogenic activity. As a result of these unique traits, PL hydrogel is ideally suited to serve as a cell delivery vehicle for MSCs injected into ischemic tissues to promote vascular regeneration, as demonstrated here in a murine model of hindlimb ischemia.
On Transactional Memory, Spinlocks, and Database Transactions

Currently, hardware trends include a move toward multicore processors, cheap and persistent variants of memory, and even sophisticated hardware support for mutual exclusion in the form of transactional memory. These trends, coupled with a growing desire for extremely high performance on short database transactions, raise the question of whether the hardware primitives developed for mutual exclusion can be exploited to run database transactions. In this paper, we present a preliminary exploration of this question. We conduct a set of experiments on both a hardware prototype and a simulator of a multi-core processor with Transactional Memory (TM.) Our results show that TM is attractive under low contention workloads, while spinlocks can tolerate high contention workloads well, and that in some cases these approaches can beat a simple implementation of a traditional database lock manager by an order of magnitude.
Sunlight Without Sunburns: Balancing Public Access and Privacy in Ballot Measure Disclosure Laws

Today, record sums of money are being spent in highly polarizing ballot measure elections. Disclosure laws, which require the sources of campaign funding to be publicized on the Internet, are exposing ballot measure donors to an unprecedented loss of privacy and harassment. As a result, a growing number of individuals are challenging these laws in court and pressing state legislatures to raise disclosure thresholds. On the other side, however, public access advocates are insisting that states continue to publish all campaign finance data in order to promote voter competence, preserve election transparency and maintain donor accountability. These two sides are debating the issue as if the only available options are disclosure according to current law or no disclosure at all. This Article mines the vast, unexplored middle ground between these options and offers three innovative solutions that would protect donor privacy without undermining the goals of disclosure. These solutions, which require states to revise the information they disclose about certain donors and the means by which they disclose it, are modeled on the public access policies federal courts have adopted for plea agreements.
Evaluation of non-steady-state neutrophil kinetics during endotoxin-induced granulocytosis.

SummaryThe mechanism by which bacterial endotoxin induces granulocytosis in man has been investigated by labeling granulocytes with radioactive diisopropylfluorophosphate.In man, a moderate dose of bacterial endotoxin produces a granulocytosis. By labeling circulating granulocytes with DF32P and later giving endotoxin intravenously, the rates of granulocyte inflow and egress from the blood were measured. Equations were written which express these flow rates as a function of the variables derived from the experimental data. These equations were solved for several time intervals during the 24-hr experiments in each of 12 normal subjects. In the six subjects in whom there was a significant granulocytic response to endotoxin there was a mean increase of 180% (58-383) in the rate of granulocyte inflow to the blood and 150% (24-420) in the rate of egress of granulocytes from the blood during the 5-hour period immediately after endotoxin injection.The remaining six subjects did not have a granulocyte response be...
Effect of Maternal Diet on the Response of Japanese Quail to Purified and Practical Diets

Abstract Two experiments were conducted with Japanese quail to determine the effect of maternal diet on the response of offspring to practical and purified diets and to examine the nutritional value of eggs from chicken hens fed either practical or purified diets. In the first experiment quail fed a purified diet containing casein-gelatin had significantly lower growth rate, higher early mortality, delayed sexual maturity, reduced rate of egg production, and reduced egg weight, fertility and hatchability of fertile eggs in comparison to those fed a corn soybean meal ration. Weight of the intestine and gizzard per unit of body weight was significantly less and liver fat content higher for birds fed the purified diet. Whether or not the quail were hatched from eggs laid by hens fed the practical or purified diets did not influence the growth rate or reproductive performance of quail progeny. In the second experiment, no evidence was obtained for a carry-over of a nutritional factor in eggs from chicken hens fed a practical diet as these eggs were not superior to eggs from hens fed a purified diet for supporting reproduction in Japanese quail. Egg production and egg weight equivalent to that with the practical diet was obtained by including 20% of either source of dried eggs in the purified diet, but hatchability was inferior. Including 20% soybean meal in the purified diet resulted in both egg production and hatchability that was statistically equivalent to the practical ration.
Polymer waveguides for optical interconnect applications

Polymer optical interconnects are considered more and more to have the potential for competitive cost performance advantages and to be an important developmental technology for telecom and datacom applications. Several distinctly different passive polymer waveguide circuit technologies currently under applications development depend on unique polymer attributes such as etching, molding, and diffusion processes. To be successful each technology must resolve all critical cost performance issues with particular emphasis on passive interfacing of waveguides to fibers and/or optoelectronic components referred to as packaging. After providing an overview of several major polymer waveguide technologies and applications the presentation will describe the attributes and applications for DuPont’s polymer waveguide technology referred to as Polyguide™.
Career Patterns of Teachers in Negro Colleges

I N some respects the study on which this paper is based may be described as the first comprehensive analysis of the career patterns of teachers in colleges for Negroes. This is not to say that no previous inquiries have been made. The truth is, literature dealing with Negro colleges is fairly extensive, yet for the most part attention is focused upon the colleges as a unit, and only incidental consideration is given to the teacher as such.
Informed assent recall among adolescents in substance use disorder treatment research

ABSTRACTEvidence suggests that vulnerable populations such as substance users, those involved in the criminal justice system, and those with cognitive deficits often fail to recall information regarding the informed assent process. This study investigated correlates of assent quiz errors (AQE) among adolescents enrolling in a substance use disorder treatment study. Method: Adolescents (ages 13 to 19) entering substance use treatment completed a standard informed consent procedure to participate in a longitudinal research study, followed by a brief six-item assent quiz. Results: Informed assent quiz errors were lower in this study relative to those observed in the adult literature. Being male and having lower treatment resistance was associated with making an AQE. Both days of marijuana use and days spent in the criminal justice system were associated with AQE. Hyperactivity-impulsivity approached significance (p = .057) but was not a correlate of AQE. Conclusion: Those collecting assent should be aware th...
Study of Calyptratae in Daxiangling region of Sichuan province

Objective To explore the species and other information of Calyptratae in Daxiangling. Methods Mist nets were used to capture the subjects in different habitats. The specimens were then classified using stereomicroscopy. Specimens of significance were carefully preserved and new species were morphologically described,illustrated and published. Results A total of 136 species of Calyptratae under 53 genera,17 subfamilies of 7 families were found. This included 48 new(endemic) species,mostly from the Oriental region,which accounted for 35.29% of known species in this investigation.Conclusion Tremendous biodiversity of Calyptratae was found in Daxiangling region warranting further study.
Exploring deep learning architectures for automatically grading non-native spontaneous speech

We investigate two deep learning architectures reported to have superior performance in ASR over the conventional GMM system, with respect to automatic speech scoring. We use an approximately 800-hour large-vocabulary non-native spontaneous English corpus to build three ASR systems. One system is in GMM, and two are in deep learning architectures — namely, DNN and Tandem with bottleneck features. The evaluation results show that the both deep learning systems significantly outperform the GMM ASR. These ASR systems are used as the front-end in building an automated speech scoring system. To examine the effectiveness of the deep learning ASR systems for automated scoring, another non-native spontaneous speech corpus is used to train and evaluate the scoring models. Using deep learning architectures, ASR accuracies drop significantly on the scoring corpus, whereas the performance of the scoring systems get closer to human raters, and consistently better than the GMM one. Compared to the DNN ASR, the Tandem performs slightly better on the scoring speech while it is a little less accurate on the ASR evaluation dataset. Furthermore, given the results of the improved scoring performance while using fewer scoring features, the Tandem system shows more robustness for scoring task than the DNN one.
Clinical Applications of the Auditory Brain Stem Response

The auditory brain stem response is a powerful new tool for the detection and quantification of hearing impairment, especially in the pediatric population. It gives exact information about the functional status of the cochlea and brain stem pathways. The technique distinguishes recruiting from nonrecruiting losses, predominantly high frequency from flat losses, and retrocochlear from peripheral disorders. The recent introduction of bone conducted stimuli should soon permit the unambiguous separation of conductive and sensorineural losses.
The Use of Auditory and Visual Information in Phonetic Perception

Although speech perception is usually considered an auditory process, studies have shown that visual information provided by the movements of a talker’s mouth and face strongly influences what an observer perceives even when the auditory signal is clear and unambiguous. The now classic “McGurk effect” is an excellent example: the auditory syllable /bi/ presented in synchrony with a videotape of a talker saying the syllable /gi/ is usually perceived as /di/, a syllable not presented to either modality. This phenomenon has important implications for theories of speech perception which must account for how and why auditory and visual signals are integrated during phonetic processing. The purpose of the current talk is to describe some of the research that has contributed to our understanding of how visual and auditory information are used in phonetic perception. Specifically, this paper focuses on three issues: (1) what factors influence the integration of auditory and visual information; (2) the nature of the auditory and visual information used in phonetic perception; and (3) the interaction of the two sources of information during phonetic processing. The implications of these findings for theories of speech perception are discussed.
The ACC training outcomes survey of recently trained cardiology fellows.

In the mid-1990s, some observers conjectured that too many medical specialists were being trained for the anticipated physician workforce needs of the future, particularly under a managed care paradigm [(1–8)][1]. Reports were published indicating that trainees in certain specialties were having
Phase conjugation four-wave mixing in broad area diode lasers

Nonlinear four-wave mixing processes in semiconductor diode lasers are relevant for the application of active devices in optical amplification, switching, and signal processing. Previous investigators have studied four-wave mixing in single-stripe diode lasers and traveling wave amplifiers using external frequency injection techniques.1-3
Entr’acte A Sighting in Jena

The first fights of the Grande Armee were in many ways their most glo-rious. Austerlitz (2 December 1805) is often thought the most perfect Napoleonic battle. He split the armies of the three emperors, beat them seriatim and executed his preferred manoeuvre sur les derrieres, an oblique attack to turn the enemy flank, perfectly. Jena-Auerstadt (14 October 1806) was his most devastating triumph. In a single blow he utterly destroyed Prussia. He later regretted he had allowed the mortally crippled state to survive. He appeared invincible. The armies of the French Revolution had never penetrated so deeply into Germany nor had they made kings and emperors tremble so uncontrollably on their thrones. Napoleon’s lightning victories reified the nightmares of princes, potentates, and the elites of the ancien regime. They also heartened all those who sought reform and transformation. Much of the German intelligentsia embraced Napoleon.
Antagonizing the Androgen Receptor with a Biomimetic Acyltransferase

The Androgen Receptor (AR) remains the leading target of advanced prostate cancer therapies. Thiosalicylamide analogs have previously been shown to act in cells as acyltransfer catalysts that are capable of transferring cellular acetate, presumably from acetyl-CoA, to HIV NCp7. Here we explore if the cellular acetyl-transfer activity of thiosalicylamides can be redirected to other cellular targets guided by ligands for AR. We constructed conjugates of thiosalicylamides and the AR-binding small molecule tolfenamic acid, which binds the BF-3 site of AR, proximal to the coactivator “FXXLF” binding surface. The thiosalicylamide-tolfenamic acid conjugate, YZ03, but not the separate thiosalicylamide plus tolfenamic acid, significantly enhanced acetylation of endogenous AR in CWR22Rv1 cells. Further analysis confirms that Lys720, a residue critical to FXXLF coactivator peptide binding, is a site of acyl-YZ03 acetylation. Under acyl-transfer conditions, YZ03 significantly enhances the ability of BF-3 site binding...
Modulating hydrogen-bond basicity within the context of protein-ligand binding: A case study with thrombin inhibitors that reveals a dominating role for desolvation.

Understanding subtle aspects of hydrogen bonding is a challenging but crucial task to improve our ability to design ligands with high affinity for protein hosts. To gain a deeper understanding of these aspects, we investigated a series of thrombin inhibitors in which the basicity of the ligand's group that accepts an H-bond from Gly216 was modulated via bioisosterism; e.g., a C=O acceptor was made electron deficient or rich via bioisosteric replacements of the adjacent moiety. Although the ligand's binding affinity was anticipated to improve when the H-bond basicity is increased (due to stronger H-bonding with the protein), we herein present data that unexpectedly revealed an opposite trend. This trend was attributed to a dominating role played by desolvation in determining the relative binding affinity. For example, a decrease in the H-bond basicity reduces the desolvation penalty and, as experimentally observed, improves the binding affinity, given that the reduction in the desolvation penalty dominates the change in the net contribution of the ligand's interactions with the protein. The current study, therefore, reveals that desolvation can be a major underlying cause for the apparently counterintuitive structure-activity relationship (SAR) outcomes, and indicates that understanding this factor can improve our ability to predict binding affinity and to design more potent ligands.
An Integrative Common Liabilities Model for the Comorbidity of Substance Use Disorders with Externalizing and Internalizing Disorders

This paper presents an integrative research-derived model to explain comorbidity among SUDs, externalizing disorders, and internalizing disorders. This hierarchical model is based on phenotypic covariance among the disorders and latent common genetic liability. At the highest level of the hierarchy, general genetically-influenced biological dispositions to negative emotionality and behavioral disinhibition each give rise to spectra of related personality traits, cognitive processes, behavioral tendencies, and psychopathology that account for the pattern of co-occurrence among mental disorders. At the lowest level of the hierarchy, disorder-specific genetic and environmental effects explain the presence of some and not other disorders associated with a given general liability. Interplay between the general liabilities and both other genes and environmental factors throughout development affect the likelihood of developing specific mental disorders.
Diversity exploiting MIMO-OFDMA ranging

This paper addresses initial ranging (uplink synchronization and power control) for TDD MIMO OFDMA systems. Exploiting the channel knowledge from the downlink control channel together with initial power control, we develop a novel initial ranging method which provides multiuser and multi-antenna diversity gains and significant power saving for the subscriber stations. By means of ranging signal design, we develop efficient low-complexity algorithms for OFDMA ranging. The advantages of the proposed approach over existing methods in terms of ranging performance, energy saving, and complexity saving are illustrated by analytical and simulation results.
Nocturnal Orgasms: Females' Perceptions of a “Normal” Sexual Experience

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to provide data concerning a sparsely studied topic in the field of human sexuality: female nocturnal orgasms. The study utilized a series of self-report questionnaires completed by 245 female undergraduate and graduate students. No support was provided for the hypothesis that nocturnal orgasms and anxiety in females are related. Nocturnal orgasm experience was related to experiencing orgasms by other means, but not to virginity or sexual satisfaction. Among this sample, the circumstances under which nocturnal orgasms occur varied widely, and nocturnal orgasms were not common knowledge nor overwhelmingly accepted. The major conclusion from the study is that female nocturnal orgasms are not a deviant form of behavior and are deserving of further study.
Clinical Associations of Early Dysnatremias in Critically Ill Neonates and Infants Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Dysnatremias (DN) are common electrolyte disturbances in cardiac critical illness and are known risk factors for adverse outcomes in certain populations. Little information exists on DN in children with cardiac disease admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) after undergoing cardiac surgery, either corrective or palliative. The aim was to determine the incidence and adverse outcomes associated with DN in neonates and infants undergoing cardiac surgery. Retrospective cohort and single center study performed at Children’s Hospital Colorado from May 2013 to May 2014, in children under 1 year old admitted to the CICU after undergoing surgery for congenital or acquired cardiac disease. 183 subjects were analyzed. Exclusions: subjects that demonstrated DN before surgery. Serum sodium levels were recorded for the first 72 h post-operatively. DN was present in 54% of the subjects (98/183): hypernatremia in 60 (33%), hyponatremia in 38 (21%). Multivariate analysis revealed that mild hypernatremia (146–150 mmol/dl) and moderate hypernatremia (151–155 mmol/dl) were associated with longer hospital length of stay (LOS, p < 0.05) and ventilation times (p < 0.05). No association was shown between mild/moderate hyponatremia (125–134 mmol/dl) with either outcome. Hours to DN were significantly lower in hypernatremic (median = 5.8 h) than hyponatremic (median = 43.8 h) patients (p < 0.001). Children younger than 30 days presented DN at an earlier stage than those 31 days–1 year old (median +2.2 vs. 17.3 h). No associations present between DN and the class of diuretic (loop vs. thiazide) administered, or the route of administration (intravenous bolus vs. constant infusion). Total median sodium bicarbonate administration was associated with hypernatremia, as was exposure to vasopressin within the first 72 h post-operatively. Dysnatremias are common in the early post-operative period in neonates and infants undergoing cardiac surgery. Mild to moderate hypernatremia, but not hyponatremia, is associated with longer LOS and longer ventilation time in infants undergoing cardiovascular surgery. Hypernatremia is also associated with younger infants, a higher surgical complexity, administration of bicarbonate and exposure to vasopressin. Diuretic type or interval timing of intravenous delivery did not demonstrate any effect. Prospective studies are needed in this population, in order to determine how DN, particularly hypernatremia, contributes to adverse outcomes, whether this association is independent of illness severity, and what may be safe treatments and interventions for these disorders.
Finite Deformation of Biaxially Loaded Columns

An analysis is presented within the context of finite deformation theory to describe the behavior of linearly elastic members of thin-walled open cross section subjected to biaxial bending and a co...
Antidepressant Prescribing in Primary Care to Older Adults Without Major Depression.

Objective:The study compared distress levels among two groups of older adults who had been newly prescribed an antidepressant by their primary care physician, those with major depressive disorder (MDD) and those without MDD.Methods:This analysis used a convenience sample of participants (N=231) who had been newly prescribed an antidepressant in a randomized controlled trial of a program to improve antidepressant adherence and depression outcomes among older adults (≥55). After determining the proportion of participants with and without MDD (using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV), the authors compared groups on demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics, including the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey physical and mental component summary scores (PCS and MCS). Logistic regression was used to test the association of these characteristics with antidepressant use in the absence of MDD.Results:Most (57%) participants did not have MDD. This group was older (69.4 versus 64.7, p<.001), ha...
Mining, meaning and memory in the Andes

This paper examines the relationship between mining, memory and environmental suffering on the Bolivian Altiplano (Andean plateau). Mining activity has had a long and well documented role in transforming landscapes throughout the Andean region, and Bolivia provides some of South America's starkest examples of mine-related water and soil contamination. In Bolivia, mining is publicly memorialised as central to the collective national experience, and public murals and monuments help construct a national identity as a pais minero (mining country). Memory is similarly important, though less public, for populations impacted by mine-related pollution and their demands for remediation and reparation. In discussing these conditions, residents of the region draw on memories of past landscapes and waterscapes, which they often represent as verdant and bountiful. Such memory narratives are less important for what they tell us about the former landscapes – which were likely less pristine than reported – than what they tell us about contemporary conditions. Drawing on ethnographic research, I argue that memory – as represented in stories told about past experience – necessarily requires selective remembering and selective forgetting, and may function as a political and ideological resource in its own right. In this sense, memory can be mobilised in various forms and at a range of scales, from the individual to the national. As a representation of the past, memory is always also a representation of the present, and a reflection of contemporary realities, which in turn informs political demands. The paper ends by considering the potential and limitations of memory as a conceptual tool for envisioning environmentally just futures.
Improving the average response time in collective I/O

In collective I/O, MPI processes exchange requests so that the rearranged requests can result in the shortest file system access time. Scheduling the exchange sequence determines the response time of participating processes. Existing implementations that simply follow the increasing order of file offsets do not necessary produce the best performance. To minimize the average response time, we propose three scheduling algorithms that consider the number of processes per file stripe and the number of accesses per process. Our experimental results demonstrate improvements of up to 50% in the average response time using two synthetic benchmarks and a high-resolution climate application.
Utilization and Validity of the Dental Diagnostic System over Time in Academic and Private Practice.

Introduction:To fill the void created by insufficient dental terminologies, a multi-institutional workgroup was formed among members of the Consortium for Oral Health Research and Informatics to de...
How and why have attitudes about cannabis legalization changed so much

Abstract Since the late 1990s public opinion about cannabis legalization has become drastically more liberal, and some states have begun to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Why have attitudes changed so much? Prior research has considered a few of the reasons for this change, but this is the first comprehensive and empirically-based study to consider the wide range of potential causes for how and why this happened. We use data from the General Social Survey, National Study of Drug Use and Health, and word searches from the New York Times. We find that attitudes largely liberalized via intracohort changes. Most Americans developed more liberal views, regardless of their race and ethnicity, gender, education, religious or political affiliation, or religious engagement. Changes in cannabis use have had minimal effects on attitudes, and legalization of cannabis has not prompted attitude change in neighboring states. As to root causes, evidence suggests that a decrease in religious affiliation, a decline in punitiveness, and a shift in media framing all contributed to changing attitudes.
A Hierarchical Control Strategy for the Modular Microgrid

Environmental pollutions, limited traditional resources and increasing demand for electrical energy are today's major issues. The solutions that is found until now are to use renewable energy resources, electric vehicles and improvement in energy efficiency. A microgrid which is an interface between distributed renewable resources and the utility grid is one and reliable way to make use of renewable resource like; PV and wind and is also able to operate both in grid-connected and stand-alone modes. The concept of microgrid is only possible because of rapid development of fastacting power electronics devices. The focus of our research is to develop a hierarchical control strategy for the modular microgrid system by optimally splitting (sharing) the power between energy storage system modules and the utility grid in such a way to reduce the total cost of the electricity (in connected mode). This can be achieved by performing iterations through planning high level algorithm (e.g. a dynamic programming based algorithm) and a local low level algorithm (e.g. model predictive control based algorithm).
Current study of enterohemorrthagic Escherichia coli and related outbreak

Escherichia coli is one kind of normal flora in bowel of healthy people.However,several serotypes of E.coli are pathogenic,which is called diarrhea-causing E.coli(DCEC).As one of the common group of DCEC,enterohemorrhagic E.coli(EHEC)is a significantly important pathogen of foodbome diseases.O157 is the conventional serotype of EHEC,which has caused outbreaks all around the world,since the first outbreak in America in 1982.The pathogenic characteristics,outbreaks in past years,and identification of EHEC are reviewed in this article. Key words: Escherichia coli; Outbreaks; Pathogenic characteristics; Identificaion
Binge Eating Assessment

This chapter provides an overview of binge eating assessments that are commonly used for diagnosis, case conceptualization, treatment planning, ongoing assessment, and treatment outcome. Included is a review of well-validated clinical interviews, self-report measures, and laboratory eating paradigms that are available for the assessment of binge-eating disorder (BED) in clinical and research contexts. Assessments with adequate psychometric properties are described, and benefits, limitations, and criteria assessed to aid in the selection of an appropriate measure for each context and question. This chapter describes disorders characterized by binge eating based on DSM-5 criteria and relevant updates from ICD-11. A review of clinical interviews including the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), Eating Disorder Assessment for DSM-5 (EDA-5), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5) are provided along with evaluations of self-report measures including the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS), the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (EPSI), Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns (QWEP), and self-monitoring completed within the context of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Finally, laboratory eating paradigms are discussed as a useful and objective real-time assessment of eating behavior. In sum, this chapter provides information that may assist clinicians and researchers in understanding and selecting appropriate measures to evaluate binge eating.
Beyond Victim Blaming: Students’ Perceptions of Bystanders Who Fail to Intervene

Bystander intervention education has been a common feature on college campuses for more than a decade. Although research has explored the degree to which bystander training influences students’ att...
Warm Dust around Cool Stars: Field M Dwarfs with WISE 12 or 22 μm Excess Emission

Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7) spectroscopic catalog, we searched the WISE AllWISE catalog to investigate the occurrence of warm dust, as inferred from IR excesses, around field M dwarfs (dMs). We developed SDSS/WISE color selection criteria to identify 175 dMs (from 70,841) that show IR flux greater than the typical dM photosphere levels at 12 and/or 22 μm, including seven new stars within the Orion OB1 footprint. We characterize the dust populations inferred from each IR excess and investigate the possibility that these excesses could arise from ultracool binary companions by modeling combined spectral energy distributions. Our observed IR fluxes are greater than levels expected from ultracool companions (>3σ). We also estimate that the probability the observed IR excesses are due to chance alignments with extragalactic sources is <0.1%. Using SDSS spectra we measure surface gravity-dependent features (K, Na, and CaH 3) and find <15% of our sample indicates low surface gravities. Examining tracers of youth (Hα, UV fluxes, and Li absorption), we find <3% of our sample appear young, indicating we are observing a population of field stars 1 Gyr, likely harboring circumstellar material. We investigate age-dependent properties probed by this sample, studying the disk fraction as a function of Galactic height. The fraction remains small and constant to |Z| ~ 700 pc and then drops, indicating little to no trend with age. Possible explanations for disks around field dMs include (1) collisions of planetary bodies, (2) tidal disruption of planetary bodies, or (3) failed planet formation.
Servant leadership, leader effectiveness, and the role of political skill: A study of interscholastic sport administrators and coaches:

Servant leadership is a model of leadership based on ethics and benevolent service to others and has been associated with numerous positive outcomes for employees and organizations. Due to a limite...
Structure-function analysis of TOPBP1's role in ATR signaling using the DSB-mediated ATR activation in Xenopus egg extracts (DMAX) system.

The protein kinase ATR is activated at sites of DNA double-strand breaks where it plays important roles in promoting DNA end resection and regulating cell cycle progression. TOPBP1 is a multi BRCT repeat containing protein that activates ATR at DSBs. Here we have developed an experimental tool, the DMAX system, to study the biochemical mechanism for TOPBP1-mediated ATR signalling. DMAX combines simple, linear dsDNA molecules with Xenopus egg extracts and results in a physiologically relevant, DSB-induced activation of ATR. We find that DNAs of 5000 nucleotides, at femtomolar concentration, potently activate ATR in this system. By combining immunodepletion and add-back of TOPBP1 point mutants we use DMAX to determine which of TOPBP1’s nine BRCT domains are required for recruitment of TOPBP1 to DSBs and which domains are needed for ATR-mediated phosphorylation of CHK1. We find that BRCT1 and BRCT7 are important for recruitment and that BRCT5 functions downstream of recruitment to promote ATR-mediated phosphorylation of CHK1. We also show that BRCT7 plays a second role, independent of recruitment, in promoting ATR signalling. These findings supply a new research tool for, and new insights into, ATR biology.
Stress Fractures in Sport: Pelvis and Acetabulum

Bone stress injuries (BSIs) of the pelvis and sacrum comprise only 1–7% of all BSIs and can be challenging to diagnose and manage. These BSIs are often missed since they are difficult to diagnose on plain radiographs, their presenting symptoms are often vague and can be easily mistaken for other diagnoses. For this reason, advanced imaging is often required for diagnosis. Pelvic BSIs are medium-risk, meaning that they have a low likelihood of progressing to complete fracture or non-union, but should still be treated with caution. These BSIs tend to require a much longer treatment period prior to return to full activity. This chapter focuses on BSIs in the pubic rami, ilium, acetabular roof, and sacrum, in addition to osteitis pubis, including epidemiology, common presentation, diagnosis, and management recommendations.
David Monaghan, Ariane Hudelet, and John Wiltshire. The Cinematic Jane Austen: Essays on the Filmic Sensibility of the Novels

Although Jane Austen's fiction is known worldwide for its universal truths, clever irony, and romantic drama, it is not known for its descriptions of visual characteristics. In fact, as critics hav...
D-AMPS performance in PCS bands with array processing

Cellular systems that are upbanded from 800 MHz to 1900 MHz for PCS deployment will have to contend with additional path loss (6-7 dB), and faster fading, in addition to time dispersion and co-channel interference. On the downlink, additional power can be used to compensate for the path loss. On the uplink, increasing the power output from the hand portable is not possible from regulatory and battery life considerations. Faster fading further complicates adaptive equalization as well as adaptive interference mitigation techniques. For the digital-AMPS (D-AMPS or IS-136) standard, these impairments can be overcome through a combination of array processing and adaptive equalization using MLSE techniques.
Efficiency and Firm Ownership: Some New Evidence

The paper investigates the effect of state ownership on efficiency of firmsusing an econometric model that allows for the separation of technical from allocative efficiency in adynamic setting. The estimation results, based on a sample of international airlines, suggest that state ownershipis associated with lower technical and allocative efficiency. State ownership's effect on technical efficiencyis mainly a dynamic one – lowering the rate of cost decline, whereas its effect on allocativeefficiency is static – raising the level of costs. Thus lower technical, rather than allocative, efficiency isthe main reason for state-owned firms to be less efficient than their private counterparts.
Differential Requirements of Rab5 and Rab7 for Endocytosis of Influenza and Other Enveloped Viruses

Enveloped viruses often enter cells via endocytosis; however, specific endocytic trafficking pathway(s) for many viruses have not been determined. Here we demonstrate, through the use of dominant-negative Rab5 and Rab7, that influenza virus (Influenza A/WSN/33 (H1N1) and A/X-31 (H3N2)) requires both early and late endosomes for entry and subsequent infection in HeLa cells. Time-course experiments, monitoring viral ribonucleoprotein colocalization with endosomal markers, indicated that influenza exhibits a conventional endocytic uptake pattern--reaching early endosomes after approximately 10 min, and late endosomes after 40 min. Detection with conformation-specific hemagglutinin antibodies indicated that hemagglutinin did not reach a fusion-competent form until the virus had trafficked beyond early endosomes. We also examined two other enveloped viruses that are also pH-dependent for entry--Semliki Forest virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. In contrast to influenza virus, infection with both Semliki Forest virus and vesicular stomatitis virus was inhibited only by the expression of dominant negative Rab5 and not by dominant negative Rab7, indicating an independence of late endosome function for infection by these viruses. As a whole, these data provide a definitive characterization of influenza virus endocytic trafficking and show differential requirements for endocytic trafficking between pH-dependent enveloped viruses.
Theoretical model images and spectra for comparison with rhessi and microwave observations of solar flares

We have computed bremsstrahlung and gyrosynchrotron images and spectra from a model flare loop. Electrons with a power-law energy distribution are continuously injected at the top of a semi-circular magnetic loop. The Fokker-Planck equation is integrated to obtain the steady-state electron distribution throughout the loop. Coulomb scattering and energy losses and magnetic mirroring are included in the model. The resulting electron distributions are used to compute the radiative emissions. Sample images and spectra are presented. We are developing these models for the interpretation of the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) x-ray/gamma ray data and coordinated microwave observations. The Fokker-Planck and radiation codes are available on the Web at http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/hessi/modelware.htm This work is supported in part by the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Program.
Operation of ferroelectric plasma cathodes in magnetic field

Summary form only given. The phenomenon of strong ferroelectric emission has been studied widely in many laboratories all around the world. The application of a driving pulse of /spl sim/ 1 kV between solid rear and patterned front electrodes which cover a sample of a ferroelectric ceramic results in electron emission from the side of the front electrode. The current density of this electron emission varies from tens to hundreds A/cm/sup 2/. Ferroelectric cathodes can operate with a repetition rate up to several MHz without significant vacuum deterioration. In plasma mode the strong electron emission occurs from surface discharge plasma formed on the ceramic surface near the edges of the front electrode pattern. This plasma has a density of /spl sim/10/sup 12/ cm/sup -3/, an electron temperature of 2-3 eV, and consists mostly from the material of the ferroelectric ceramics and the front electrode. Although ferroelectric plasma cathodes were used successfully in several experimental setups with applied magnetic field, particularly in relativistic magnetrons, the behavior of the ferroelectric plasma cathodes in the magnetic field and the dependence of the plasma parameters on the magnetic field strength were not studied yet. In the present work the results of experimental investigations of the operation of planar ferroelectric plasma cathodes in the uniform magnetic field are presented. It is shown the ferroelectric plasma cathodes can be successfully used in the magnetic field up to several kGs without substantial deterioration of the emissive properties. The dependence of plasma parameters on the applied magnetic field is reported.
Robustness of Group-Based Models for Longitudinal Count Data:

In recent years, there have been efforts to develop latent class models for trajectories. The semiparametric mixed Poisson regression (SMPR) model has been used in many empirical studies, but there have been few attempts to evaluate the robustness of the estimates from this model. The authors use simulated data to evaluate the performance of the SMPR model under a variety of assumptions. They find that estimates are sensitive to the conditional distribution of counts and misspecification of the shape of the trajectory. When there is only one underlying trajectory and overdispersion is present, the SMPR model frequently finds multiple groups, which often appear to differ in shape as well as level. The tendency can be substantially reduced by use of the zero-inflated Poisson distribution in conjunction with top-coding of large counts. The article concludes with a discussion of other extensions and alternatives to the standard SMPR model that might provide more robust estimates.
Protoplast formation from selected species of ectomycorrhizal fungi

Conditions for the formation of protoplasts from selected species of ectomycorrhizal fungi are described. The age of the fungal culture and extent of incubation in a lytic enzyme mixture are critical factors for efficient formation of protoplasts. There is a correlation between the distribution of nuclei in hyphal fragments and protoplasts and the frequency of protoplast regeneration. Protoplasts from at least two of the species studied are formed in sufficient numbers and regenerate at suitable frequencies to be useful for development of genetic transformation and cell fusion systems. These fungi can now be considered in experiments designed for the improvement of ectomycorrhizal associations through genetic manipulation of the fungal component.