cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electron and hole transport in degenerate semiconductors

Concentration-dependent activity coefficients were used in conjunction with dilute-solution transport equations to show the effect of degeneracy on the apparent physical properties of semiconductors and on the performance of photovoltaic cells. The approach presented here allows convenient treatment of degenerate semiconductors in a manner that is both thermodynamically consistent and consistent with the Fermi-Dirac distribution for electrons. These calculations show that neglect of the concentration dependency of the activity coefficients has a large effect on the calculated values for local concentrations in a photovoltaic device, but affects the calculated values of power density and cell potential only slightly. Neglect of the concentration dependency of the activity coefficients does have a significant effect on the calculation of the resistivity of the semiconductor.
For the Good of the Grid

The existing electricity infrastructure evolved to its technology composition today from the convolution of several major forces, only one of which was technologically based. Today opportunities and challenges persist in world-wide electric power networks, including reducing transmission congestion, increasing system/cyber security, and increasing overall system and end-use efficiency while maintaining reliability. And many other challenges engage those who plan for the future of the power grid: producing power in a sustainable manner (embracing renewable fuels while accounting for their scalability limitations; e.g., increased use of land and natural resources to produce higher renewable electricity will not be sustainable, and lowering emissions from existing generators), delivering electricity to those who don't have it (not just on the basis of fairness but also because electricity is the most efficient form of energy, especially for things like lighting), using electricity more wisely as a tool of economic development, and pondering the possible revival of advanced nuclear reactor construction.
Biofeedback and Neurofeedback in Sports

There is great promise in the technology of biofeedback for the field of sport psychology. However, very little empirical research has been conducted that speaks to the efficacy of psychophysiological intervention in sport. The general aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of different training protocols designed to teach cognitive and emotional self-regulation and improve athlete performance on sport-specific tasks. Results of these experiments demonstrated athlete mastery of self-regulation skills and improvement in sport performance.
Female underachievement and overachievement: parental contributions and long-term consequences

The present study, part of the Swedish longitudinal project, Individual Development and Adjustment (IDA; female N = 557), concerned two groups of girls designated "Underachievers" and "Overachievers". At age 16 the Underachievers exhibited higher intelligence but lower achievement, self-perceived ability, and school adaptation than did the Overachievers. To a significant extent, the Underachievers came from homes in which, three years earlier when the girls were 13, the parents had reported a low evaluation of their daughters' capacity for academic work; moreover, the parents had no aspiration for their daughters to continue their educations past compulsory school. In contrast, at age 16 the Overachievers did not come from families reporting the non-academically oriented parental evaluations and aspirations that characterised the parents of the Underachievers. In adolescence, the Underachievers' relations with their parents were more conflicted than were the relationships of the Overachievers. In adulthoo...
Let's grade all the faults

The motivation for carrying out fault grading is to obtain a metric which expresses the effectiveness of a test in screening defective components. In terms of shipped parts, this effectiveness is reflected by the reject rate, or the proportion of parts which fail when used in their intended application. The most useful metric would be one which tracks the resultant quality level well, so that improving the metric would result in fewer shipped bad die, and a "perfect" score would result in zero reject rate. >
The C-terminal region of hPrp8 interacts with the conserved GU dinucleotide at the 5' splice site.

A U5 snRNP protein, hPrp8, forms a UV-induced crosslink with the 59 splice site (59SS) RNA within splicing complex B assembled in trans- as well as in cis-splicing reactions. Both yeast and human Prp8 interact with the 59SS, branch site, polypyrimidine tract, and 39SS during splicing. To begin to define functional domains in Prp8 we have mapped the site of the 59SS crosslink within the hPrp8 protein. Immunoprecipitation analysis limited the site of crosslink to the C-terminal 50‐60-kDa segment of hPrp8. In addition, size comparison of the crosslink-containing peptides generated with different proteolytic reagents with the pattern of fragments predicted from the hPrp8 sequence allowed for mapping of the crosslink to a stretch of five amino acids in the C-terminal portion of hPrp8 (positions 1894‐1898). The site of the 59SS:hPrp8 crosslink falls within a segment spanning the previously defined polypyrimidine tract recognition domain in yPrp8, suggesting that an overlapping region of Prp8 may be involved both in the 59SS and polypyrimidine tract recognition events. In the context of other known interactions of Prp8, these results suggest that this protein may participate in formation of the catalytic center of the spliceosome.
A novel method for lifting weanling research pigs

Abstract It is possible to modify lifting techniques in small laboratory pigs to evoke less of a fear response, strengthen the human–animal bond, and improve welfare. The authors hypothesized that recently weaned pigs lifted with a ventral (belly) scoop method would show less fear of new humans and less fear during treatment than pigs lifted vertically by their hind limbs. To evaluate this hypothesis, 32 Yorkshire-cross pigs (age 3 weeks) were divided into 8 groups of 4. All pigs were acclimated to humans for 11 days and uniformly enriched prior to any lifting tests. Pigs were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 different combinations of ventral and/or vertical lifting techniques that varied by consecutive day (1 ventral-ventral; 2 ventral-vertical; 3 vertical-ventral; 4 vertical-vertical). Each day, data were collected regarding pigs' aversion to lifting and willingness to be caught multiple times. Two hours later, their time to approach a new person and proportion of time spent hiding from the new person were also measured. Aversion scores were assigned based on duration of squealing, shaking, and freezing responses during lifting. Pigs that were lifted using alternate methods on consecutive days showed significantly less aversion when being scooped ventrally ( P = 0.008) as compared to lifted vertically by their hind limbs. Additionally, behavioral trends were identified during the study. Based on standardized aversion scores, this research shows that the ventral scoop method induces less fear than the vertical lift method.
Redundancies and don't cares in sequential logic synthesis

The authors explore the relationships between redundant logic and don't care conditions in sequential circuits. Stuck-at faults in a sequential circuit may be testable in the combinational sense but may be redundant because they do not alter the terminal behavior of a nonscan sequential machine. These sequential redundancies result in a faulty state transition graph (STG) that is equivalent to the STG of the true machine. The authors present a classification of redundant faults in sequential circuits composed of single or interacting finite-state machines. Don't care sets can be defined for each class of redundancy, and optimally exploiting these don't care conditions results in the implicit elimination of any such redundancies in a given circuit. In cascaded and interconnected sequential circuits, sequential don't cares are required to eliminate redundancies. The authors present preliminary experimental results which indicate that by exploiting these don't cares medium-sized irredundant sequential circuits can be synthesized with no area overhead and within reasonable CPU times. >
Automated coregistration of MTI spectral bands.

In the focal plane of a pushbroom imager, a linear array of pixels is scanned across the scene, building up the image one row at a time. For the Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI), each of fifteen different spectral bands has its own linear array. These arrays are pushed across the scene together, but since each band's array is at a different position on the focal plane, a separate image is produced for each band. The standard MTI data products (LEVEL1B_R_COREG and LEVEL1B_R_GEO) resample these separate images to a common grid and produce coregistered multispectral image cubes. The coregistration software employs a direct ``dead reckoning' approach. Every pixel in the calibrated image is mapped to an absolute position on the surface of the earth, and these are resampled to produce an undistorted coregistered image of the scene. To do this requires extensive information regarding the satellite position and pointing as a function of time, the precise configuration of the focal plane, and the distortion due to the optics. These must be combined with knowledge about the position and altitude of the target on the rotating ellipsoidal earth. We will discuss the direct approach to MTI coregistration, as well as more recent attempts to tweak the precision of the band-to-band registration using correlations in the imagery itself.
Ontologies and representations of matter

We carry out a comparative study of the expressive power of different ontologies of matter in terms of the ease with which simple physical knowledge can be represented. In particular, we consider five ontologies of models of matter: particle models, fields, two ontologies for continuous material, and a hybrid model. We evaluate these in terms of how easily eleven benchmark physical laws and scenarios can be represented.
Petrology, Geochemistry, and Genesis of High-Al Tonalite and Trondhjemites of the Cornucopia Stock, Blue Mountains, Northeastern Oregon

Tonalitic and trondhjemitic compositions span a narrow range of trondhjemite SiO2 content (65‐74 wt %) and exhibit characteristics of a highAl tonalite‐trondhjemite‐granitoid (TTG) suite, including light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment, low Y, Nb and Rb/Sr, and high Al2O3 and Sr. These compositions are consistent with an
Wavelength-multiplexed holographic construction using a Ce: Fe: doped PR fiber with a tunable visible-light laser diode

A wavelength-multiplexed reflection-type photorefractive (PR) fiber hologram using a tunable visible-light laser diode is presented. We have shown that the wavelength-multiplexed PR fiber hologram offers a higher and more uniform wavelength selectivity than that of the transmission-type. Experimental demonstrations of wavelength-multiplexed reflection-type PR fiber hologram are provided, which are consistent with the theoretical analysis. >
Separation-of-function mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae MSH2 that confer mismatch repair defects but do not affect nonhomologous-tail removal during recombination.

Yeast Msh2p forms complexes with Msh3p and Msh6p to repair DNA mispairs that arise during DNA replication. In addition to their role in mismatch repair (MMR), the MSH2 and MSH3 gene products are required to remove 3* nonhomologous DNA tails during genetic recombination. The mismatch repair genes MSH6, MLH1, and PMS1, whose products interact with Msh2p, are not required in this process. We have identified mutations in MSH2 that do not disrupt genetic recombination but confer a strong defect in mismatch repair. Twenty-four msh2 mutations that conferred a dominant negative phenotype for mismatch repair were isolated. A subset of these mutations mapped to residues in Msh2p that were analogous to mutations identified in human nonpolyposis colorectal cancer msh2 kindreds. Approximately half of the these MMR-defective mutations retained wild-type or nearly wild-type activity for the removal of nonhomologous DNA tails during genetic recombination. The identification of mutations in MSH2 that disrupt mismatch repair without affecting recombination provides a first step in dissecting the Msh-effector protein complexes that are thought to play different roles during DNA repair and genetic recombination. In bacteria, yeast, and humans, the mismatch repair system (MMR) corrects misincorporation and DNA slippage errors that arise during DNA replication. In Escherichia coli the MutHLS system repairs single-base mismatches and small insertion-deletion mispairs of up to 4 nucleotides (reviewed in reference 46). MMR is thought to be initiated by MutS binding to a mispair. Interactions between MutL and the MutS-mispair complex are thought to result in an ATP-dependent bidirectional translocation of a MutS-MutL complex away from the mispair, resulting in the activation of MutH endonuclease ac
Adhesive block copolymers for tissue repair and drug delivery

Triblock copolymers are of considerable interest in drug delivery because of their self-assembly properties and their ability to form hydrogels by warming from ambient to body temperature. In this paper, we describe a route for the conjugation of (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-L-alanine (DOPA) to the endgroups of PEO-PPO-PEO block copolymers. DOPA is an unusual amino acid found in mussel adhesive proteins (MAPS) that is believed to lend adhesive characteristics to these proteins. DOPA-containing proteins have been found to be mucoadhesive, so we surmised that incorporation of DOPA into block copolymers could improve the mucoadhesivity of these hydrogels. DOPA-modified Pluronics were freely soluble in cold water, and the copolymers aggregated into micelles at characteristic temperatures that depended on block copolymer composition and concentration in solution. Above a block copolymer concentration of approximately 20 wt%, solutions of DOPA-modified PEO-PPO-PEO block copolymers exhibited sol-gel transitions upon heating, and the characteristic temperature could be tailored between /spl sim/23/spl deg/C and 46/spl deg/C by changing the composition, concentration and molecular weight of the block copolymer. Rheological measurement of the bioadhesive interaction between DOPA-modified Pluronic and bovine submaxillary mucin indicated that DOPA-modified Pluronic was significantly more bioadhesive than unmodified Pluronic.
Type studies on Pycnolejeunea (Lejeuneaceae, Hepaticae), IV

Pycnolejeunea surinamensis Steph. is transferred to Cheilolejeunea (Spruce) Schiffn. as C. surinamensis (Steph.) He; Rectolejeunea maxonii Evans is transferred to Lejeunea Libert as L. maxonii (Evans) He, and Pycnolejeunea miradorensis Steph. is synonymized with Lejeunea maxonii; Pycnolejeunea flagellifera S. Arnell is synonymized with Rectolejeunea berteroana (Gott.) Evans; and the status of Lejeunea novoguineensis Schiffn. and the genus Rectolejeunea Evans are reviewed. Complete descriptions and illustrations are provided.
The Importance of History for Accounting Research

This note responds to criticisms in this issue by Subotnik of my 1988 Abacus article. It rejects his claims that the findings in that 1988 article are devoid of social usefulness, that my discussion of knowledge accumulation ‘was partial’, and finally his suggestion of the futility in using citations as data and citation methods as tools of analysis. It is argued that Subotnik supports his criticisms with little more than rhetoric and unsupported assertions.
Finite-Element Modeling of the Deformation of a Thin Magnetoelastic Film Compared to a Membrane Model

Recently, a new class of biocompatible elastic polymers loaded with small ferrous particles (magnetoelastomer) was developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA. This new material was formed as a thin film using spin casting. The deformation of this material using a magnetic field has many possible applications to microfluidics. Two methods will be used to calculate the deformation of a circular magnetoelastomeric film subjected to a magnetic field. The first method is an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) finite-element method (FEM) and the second is based on nonlinear continuum electromagnetism and continuum elasticity in the membrane limit. The comparison of these two methods is used to test/validate the FEM.
Electrophoretic characterization of North American potato cultivars

A total of 112 named cultivars and advanced breeding lines were assayed through horizontal starch electrophoresis to test the utility of isozyme loci as a means to objectively identify potato cultivars. Both leaf and tuber tissue were sampled in thirteen enzyme systems. Two buffer systems (Histidine-citrate, pH 5.7 and Lithium-borate, pH 8.3) were used to resolve 16 isozyme loci, of which 14 were scorable without progeny testing. A total of 43 scorable allozymes were detected. All cultivars or advanced breeding lines that were the result of hybridization were discriminated by their sum electrophoretic pattern, whereas, sports (i.e., Russet Burbank vs. Burbank) or line selections (i.e., Norgold Russet “M1” vs. “M2”) have patterns that are identical to the original mother clone. The allelic diversity within and among cultivars indicate that horizontal starch electrophoresis offers an objective means to discriminate sexually-derived potato cultivars.
Dynamic Analysis and Debugging of Binary Code for Security Applications

Dynamic analysis techniques have made a significant impact in security practice, e.g. by automating some of the most tedious processes in detecting vulnerabilities. However, a significant gap remains between existing software tools and what many security applications demand. In this paper, we present our work on developing a cross-platform interactive analysis tool, which leverages techniques such as symbolic execution and taint tracking to analyze binary code on a range of platforms. The tool builds upon IDA, a popular reverse engineering platform, and provides a unified analysis engine to handle various instruction sets and operating systems. We have evaluated the tool on a set of real-world applications and shown that it can help identify the root causes of security vulnerabilities quickly.
Clearance of rapid adenosine release is regulated by nucleoside transporters and metabolism.

Adenosine is a neuromodulator that regulates neurotransmission in the brain and central nervous system. Recently, spontaneous adenosine release that is cleared in 3-4 sec was discovered in mouse spinal cord slices and anesthetized rat brains. Here, we examined the clearance of spontaneous adenosine in the rat caudate-putamen and exogenously applied adenosine in caudate brain slices. The V max for clearance of exogenously applied adenosine in brain slices was 1.4 ± 0.1 μmol/L/sec. In vivo, the equilibrative nucleoside transport 1 (ENT1) inhibitor, S-(4-nitrobenzyl)-6-thioinosine (NBTI) (1 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly increased the duration of adenosine, while the ENT1/2 inhibitor, dipyridamole (10 mg/kg, i.p.), did not affect duration. 5-(3-Bromophenyl)-7-[6-(4-morpholinyl)-3-pyrido[2,3-d]byrimidin-4-amine dihydrochloride (ABT-702), an adenosine kinase inhibitor (5 mg/kg, i.p.), increased the duration of spontaneous adenosine release. The adenosine deaminase inhibitor, erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine (EHNA) (10 mg/kg, i.p.), also increased the duration in vivo. Similarly, NBTI (10 μmol/L), ABT-702 (100 nmol/L), or EHNA (20 μmol/L) also decreased the clearance rate of exogenously applied adenosine in brain slices. The increases in duration for blocking ENT1, adenosine kinase, or adenosine deaminase individually were similar, about 0.4 sec in vivo; thus, the removal of adenosine on a rapid time scale occurs through three mechanisms that have comparable effects. A cocktail of ABT-702, NBTI, and EHNA significantly increased the duration by 0.7 sec, so the mechanisms are not additive and there may be additional mechanisms clearing adenosine on a rapid time scale. The presence of multiple mechanisms for adenosine clearance on a time scale of seconds demonstrates that adenosine is tightly regulated in the extracellular space.
Sequential Oral Contraception Using DMAP

A synthetic steroid 3-desoxy-6-alpha-methyl-17-alpha-acetoxy progesterone (DMAP) was used as the progestin in a program of sequential oral administration of contraceptive tablets; indigent patients attending the postpartum clinic at the Medical College of Virginia were studied. No pregnancies occurred in 561 cycles of use. Withdrawal bleeding incidences usually occurred every 27 days lasted 5 days and were associated with moderate flow. The incidence of breakthrough bleeding was 3%; intermenstrual spotting 2.4%; and nausea or vomiting 9.5%. The endometrial changes more closely resembled those in a normal ovulatory cycle than those associated with oral contraceptive methods which utilize an estrogen-progestin mixture started on Cycle Day 5.(Authors modified)
Molecular Evolution of Pathogenic Escherichia coli

Over the past four decades, Escherichia coli bearing certain of the 164 known somatic O antigens of the genus have been shown to be associated with intestinal infections. These strains may be termed enterovirulent E. coli (EVEC). Only a small percentage of the ^9000 0:H serotypes possible are known to be enteric pathogens. Detailed studies of the pathogenic mechanisms involved permit the separation of EVEC into four groups [1]: (7) enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) that adhere to the mucosa of the small bowel and produce heat-labile (LT) toxin, heat-stable (ST) toxin, or both; (2) enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) that produce neither LT nor ST but, like Shigella, penetrate and multiply within the epithelial cells lining the colon; and (5) enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) that adhere to the mucosa of the small intestine and produce a characteristic effacement of microvilli. The latter are not invasive and do not produce LT or ST. The fourth group has been termed enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC); this group causes hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and are of the serotype 0157:H7. In this issue of the Journal, Whittam et al. [2] present genetic evidence of a clonal descent of E. coli 0157:H7, the strain associated with hemorrhagic colitis and HUS. This report suggests that 0157:H7 is a newly evolved strain originating from a single ancestor. Until recently, 0157:H7 was a rare serotype that was seldom isolated from humans and animals. When isolated during outbreaks of hemorrhagic colitis, these strains have been shown to be neither invasive nor enterotoxigenic. This serotype also was not a recognized enteropathogenic serotype. However, 0157:H7 strains produce high levels of Shigalike toxin (SLT), which is related to Shiga toxin of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 [3]. These toxins also have
A Curricular “Straw Man” for Biologists

FOR SEVERAL decades biology has been the "sick man" of science. Despite the constant flow of important new information from the research laboratories, biology has steadily lost prestige among the public to the, apparently, more dynamic and romantic fields of chemistry and physics. Consequently, biology has often failed to attract the best undergraduate talent. Lack of positive achievement can hardly be blamed for this situation. The significant advances that have recently been made in our understanding of the organization and function of every biological unit from molecules to populations emphasize this point. As Glass (1957) has pointed out, we need not make apologies for being biologists. He writes that "to be a biologist is to seek for the uttermost of nature's secrets, the nature of life itself. We live, and in that kinship of life with plants and animals and microbes strive to comprehend what it is that sets us apart from the infinite uncomprehending universe." Taylor (1958) in a very penetrating article tells us that "the objectives of the biologist's inquiry is (sic) the hottest thing in the universe." If our achievements and our aims have been worthy, in what essential way has biology failed to maintain its proper status among the sciences? Many biologists feel that the major failure has been in communication. Glass (1957) says: "There are few biologists who endeavor to make their biology count for anything outside the laboratory and the classroom." If this statement is true, is it because we have not made our biology in the classroom count for enough? It is reasonably certain that we have not. As Behnke (1957) indicates, our curricula in biology have remained static despite the accretion of new "fringe" courses and the occasional fragmentation of older, traditional courses. The lag period between classroom biology and the research frontiers has been appalling.
The Benefit of Including Rarely-Used Species in Dendroclimatic Reconstructions: A Case Study Using Juglans nigra in South-Central Indiana, USA

ABSTRACT The benefit of using multiple species in dendroclimatic reconstructions in the eastern U.S. has been demonstrated. However, the benefit of including rarely-used species in multispecies reconstructions has been little explored. This paper shows the utility of using a rarely-used species in dendrochronology, Juglans nigra, in a multispecies Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) reconstruction at a site in southern Indiana. First, the crossdating J. nigra is established, followed by determining the climate response. The standardized J. nigra chronology is then compared with co-occurring standardized species chronologies (Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, and Liriodendron tulipifera) reported in Maxwell et al. (2015). Using a principal component regression model, the bi-weights of each species were calculated to determine how much J. nigra contributed to the explanatory power of the model. J.nigra had a high interseries correlation (0.604) and mean sensitivity (0.304) and a strong correlation with summer P...
Relationship between Asthma in Children and Family History of Asthma

Objective To investigate the relationship between children history of asthma and family history of asthma.Methods Three thousand and five hundred outpatients of asthma children were selected as investigation subjects.Family history of asthma was investigated in the form of questionnaire,and analyzed them from whether or not having family history of asthma,the first and second degree relative having family history of asthma.Results There was no family history of asthma in 1 659 cases(47.4%) and while 1 841 cases had family history of asthma(52.6%).The children who had family history of asthma were slightly more than those who had no family history of asthma.Among the 1 841 cases with family history of asthma,the first degree relatives with family history of asthma were more than those second degree relatives with fa-mily history of asthma.The incidence rate of relatives with family history of asthma on mother′s side was 59.9%,and the incidence rate of the father′s relatives was 40.1%.The incidence rate of mother′s relatives was higher than that of father′s relatives(P0.05).Conclusions The incidence rate of asthma has a direct genetic link.Meanwhile,children of the relatives on the mother′s side who has family history of asthma are very likely to have asthma,which deserves great attention.
Experience with the Horton-Devine Dermal Graft in the Treatment of Peyronie’s Disease

AbstractWe treated 15 patients with Peyronie’s disease surgically with the dermal graft technique described by Horton and Devine. Details of the preoperative management and surgical technique are provided. Return of normal sexual function without residual chordee or pain was achieved in more than 75 per cent of the patients, suggesting that this is the procedure of choice in the management of severe Peyronie’s disease.
Results of treatment of hyperlipidemias: long-term compliance and effect of lipid metabolism.

Several of the more effective methods of treating hyperlipidemia were discovered by accident. In some cases the mode of action of the agents remains unknown. As long as this state of ignorance persists, one must harbor some misgivings that, despite a satisfying fall in blood lipid concentrations, the treatment may be doing more harm than good. The present discussion will begin with a brief, general consideration of the theoretical possibilities available to explain the action of hypolipidemic agents in metabolic terms, followed by an attempt to classify the commonly prescribed drugs according to the scheme.
A Case Study Of Share Repurchases: Value Creation Or Financial Engineering

As growth rates in the global economy have slowed, the use of financial engineering as a tool for managing earnings per share (EPS) has grown. Stock repurchasing is frequently used to increase earnings per share and perceived value. Leverage recapitalizations fund major repurchasing programs as firms take advantage of historically low interest rates. This case requires students to analyze the impact of repurchases on EPS and to also reflect on future growth prospects when payout amounts exceed net income over an extended period of time. It allows students to critically examine the inputs for valuing stocks using the total payout model. The case is constructed using real world information extracted from 10K reports and from recent company announcements. It can be used at the undergraduate (400) or graduate level. It is most suitable for Corporate Financial Management or Corporate Finance courses. The basics of financial statement analysis, time value of money, stock valuation, capital structure and payout practices are necessary to successfully navigate the case.
365 Battlefield to farm field: risk perceptions of US military veterans transitioning into agriculture

Background Prompted by wars in the past two decades largely in the Middle East, the United States veteran population in the United States often struggles with unemployment. America is increasingly occupied by the mental health ramifications of deployment. Domestically, the United States grapples with securing a healthy and abundant food source to support a large food insecure population in the midst of decreases in the number of farms and increasing food imports. The veteran-to-farmer (V2F) movement converges within these two concerns to provide jobs and potential therapeutic benefits to veterans through food production. Methods The project combines a grounded theory approach with epidemiology to understand a broad range of implications for the V2F movement. Grounded theory will be utilised to conduct semi-structured interviews and participant-observation to explore veteran’s safety behaviours and construct an understanding of how knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about safety result in health or injury. Veteran’s health and safety outcomes will be measured using existing US Veterans Affairs’ mental and emotional health analysis tools. Results Outputs will include modified quality of life and reintegration assessment instruments specific to V2F. This project will also explore if the unique experiences and training of veterans creates a worldview that puts them at particular risk and so establishes V2Fs as a new vulnerable worker population. Results pending and will be available by September, 2016. Conclusions The study offers a new and emergent means to implementing research into practice by deriving hypotheses from a grounded theory approach and testing them through traditional epidemiological methods. While the V2F movement continues to expand, the unique risks posed to veterans through agriculture should be explored, recognised, and prevented for veterans as an at-risk population.
A Machine Learning Approach for Using the Postmortem Skin Microbiome to Estimate the Postmortem Interval

Research on the human microbiome, the microbiota that live in, on, and around the human person, has revolutionized our understanding of the complex interactions between microbial life and human health and disease. The microbiome may also provide a valuable tool in forensic death investigations by helping to reveal the postmortem interval (PMI) of a decedent that is discovered after an unknown amount of time since death. Current methods of estimating PMI for cadavers discovered in uncontrolled, unstudied environments have substantial limitations, some of which may be overcome through the use of microbial indicators. In this project, we sampled the microbiomes of decomposing human cadavers, focusing on the skin microbiota found in the nasal and ear canals. We then developed several models of statistical regression to establish an algorithm for predicting the PMI of microbial samples. We found that the complete data set, rather than a curated list of indicator species, was preferred for training the regressor. We further found that genus and family, rather than species, are the most informative taxonomic levels. Finally, we developed a k-nearest- neighbor regressor, tuned with the entire data set from all nasal and ear samples, that predicts the PMI of unknown samples with an average error of ±55 accumulated degree days (ADD). This study outlines a machine learning approach for the use of necrobiome data in the prediction of the PMI and thereby provides a successful proof-of- concept that skin microbiota is a promising tool in forensic death investigations.
Rationale for Adjuvant and Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in the Resection of Liver Metastases

Since chemotherapy of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) is palliative by definition, hepatic resection is the only potentially curative option for liver metastases. The demonstration of a curative potential of liver surgery in liver-limited stage IV CRC abrogated the need for randomized trials to address the value of surgery in the setting of resectable liver metastasis; in fact, such trials would be unethical. Methods to improve resectability of metastases and long-term outcome utilizing chemotherapy are explored in this chapter.
Ultrasound as a Localization Technique in Hyperparathyroidism

High-resolution ultrasound (US) of the thyroid, parathyroid, and soft tissues of the neck should always be performed prior to parathyroidectomy. US performed by experienced sonographers has similar sensitivity to Sestamibi (MIBI) scan in localizing eutopic parathyroid adenomas. US is the least expensive localization study. The results of US and other localization studies are highly dependent on the quality of imaging. When the surgeon can rely on accurate and clear US results to localize the parathyroid gland, he or she can proceed with parathyroidectomy solely guided by the US results and intraoperative PTH. When the parathyroid gland is not clearly identified or the images are equivocal, an additional study such as MIBI or 4DCT can be obtained. The choice of which additional localization study to obtain will depend on local expertise, surgeon’s comfort level with such study, and experience. US followed by 4DCT or US followed by MIBI appear to be the most cost-effective localization strategies.
A pulse-controlled modified-burst test instrument for accident-tolerant fuel cladding

Abstract Pellet-cladding mechanical interaction due to thermal expansion of nuclear fuel pellets during a reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) is a potential mechanism for failure of nuclear fuel cladding. To investigate the mechanical behavior of cladding during an RIA, we developed a mechanical pulse-controlled modified-burst test instrument that simulates transient events with a pulse width from 10 to 300 ms. This paper includes validation tests of unirradiated and pre-hydrided ZIRLO™ cladding tubes. A ZIRLO™ cladding sample with 168 wt. ppm of hydrogen showed ductile behavior and failed at the maximum limits of the mechanical test setup; hoop strain to failure was greater than 9.2%. ZIRLO™ samples showed high resistance to failure even at very high hydrogen contents (1466 wt. ppm). When the hydrogen content was increased to 1554 wt. ppm, “brittle-like” behavior was observed at a hoop strain of 2.5%. Preliminary scoping tests at room temperature of tubes fabricated from FeCrAl, a candidate material for accident-tolerant cladding were conducted to reproduce the pulse behavior of transient test reactors during integral tests. The preliminary FeCrAl tests are informative from the perspective of characterizing the test rig and supporting the design of RIA integral tests for current cladding materials and for candidate accident-tolerant cladding materials.
Prosecutors, Flying Blind and Flying Solo

Criminal prosecutors must do a complex job, one that is crucial to public safety and the quality of justice. Unfortunately, they must do so under circumstances that are tilted toward failure. The typical local prosecutor, working within the current legal framework, must “fly blind” and “fly solo.” The prosecutor flies blind because so little information is available about overall trends in case processing, prevention programs, corrections costs, and voter concerns about public safety. Prosecutors can see some details about individual cases but not so much about systemic effects of their work. Supervisors within larger prosecutor offices also operate in the dark about many case-level choices of line prosecutors. It is equally troubling that prosecutors fly solo. Judges, police, defense attorneys, and community groups have relatively little influence over the diversion, charge selection, and case resolution choices of individual prosecutors or office policies on these topics. To address the problems of flying blind and flying solo, improvements in the information available to prosecutors and changes in the partners they consult hold the greatest promise for improving prosecutors’ work.
Clinicopathologic and genetic characteristics of young patients with pleural diffuse malignant mesothelioma

Pleural diffuse malignant mesothelioma typically presents during the seventh decade of life and has poor prognosis. Recent epidemiologic studies have shown differences between young and older mesothelioma patients, but the biology of pleural mesothelioma in young patients is poorly understood. We studied the clinicopathologic and genetic characteristics in pleural mesothelioma patients aged 35 years and younger. Thirty-six consecutive pleural mesothelioma patients aged 35 years and younger were compared with 48 older patients. We examined demographic and clinical characteristics, histologic type, growth patterns, mitotic index, and nuclear grade on hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides, BAP1 protein expression by immunohistochemistry, and CDKN2A and NF2 deletions by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Clinicopathologic and cytogenetic results were compared between young and older groups, and correlated with overall survival. Young patients were more frequently women, reported less asbestos exposure, and had a greater frequency of prior therapeutic radiation and family history of breast cancer than older patients (P 0.05). CDKN2A deletion was less prevalent in young patients (P=0.01), loss of BAP1 protein expression less frequent in young patients (P=0.06), and NF2 deletion rates similar between groups (P>0.05 each). Median overall survival was 40 vs 26 months (P=0.10) in young and older patients, respectively, and 47 vs 31 months (P=0.04) when comparing patients with epithelioid histology only. High mitotic index and non-epithelioid histology were the only characteristics associated with a poor overall survival in young patients. Young patients with pleural mesothelioma have an equal sex distribution and are more likely to have a history of mantle radiation, family history of breast cancer, and lower rates of CDKN2A deletion than older patients. Our results suggest that pleural mesothelioma in young patients has distinctive clinical and genetic characteristics, despite some similarities to pleural mesothelioma in older patients.
ACM Creativity and Cognition Conference 2017

Learn about the ACM Creativity and Cognition (ACM CC) conference that took place in Singapore in June 2017, featuring technical papers, artwork, workshops, technology demonstrations, and visual pictorials. Now in its 11th year, CC continued its tradition of bringing together researchers, practitioners, and educators from diverse disciplines for a jam-packed program focused on human creativity from multiple perspectives.
Equilibria in Finite Games with Imperfect Recall

We generalize traditional equilibrium concepts for finite games in extensive form with behavioral strategies so that they apply to all games, including games of imperfect recall. Adapting and augmenting previous de finitions (in particular, by Piccione and Rubinstein, and by Battigalli), we de fine four notions: Distributed Agent Equilibrium (DAE), Distributed Nash Equilibrium (DNE), Distributed Sequential Equilibrium (DSE), and Distributed Perfect Equilibrium (DPE). We show that, in a precise sense, these extend the classical equilibrium notions: (a) they form a strict inclusion hierarchy (e.g., every DNE is a DAE but not necessarily vice versa, and so on up the hierarchy), (b) every game has a DPE (and therefore also a DSE, DNE and DAE), and (c) in the subclass of games of perfect recall, DAE, DNE, DSE and DPE collapse, respectively, to agent equilibrium, Nash equilibrium, sequential equilibrium, and perfect equilibrium. In service of these results we introduce several novel notions - including the distributed agent form and phantom strategies - which may be interesting in their own right.
Theoretische Grundlagen des Versicherungsmarketing

Mit der Etablierung des Marketing als wissenschaftliche Disziplin sind unterschiedliche Forschungsansatze und Theorien entwickelt worden. Diese warden zum Teil erganzend oder auch konkurrierend zur Analyse, Erklarung und Gestaltung des Marketing betrachtet. Das Versicherungsmarketing, interpretiert als spezielle Form des Dienstleistungsmarketing, kann auf vorhandenen Ansatzen aus Marketing und Dienstleistungsmarketing aufbauen. Es setzt gleichsam aber die Berucksichtigung einer Reihe von Besonderheiten voraus.
Formation of the Nephric Duct

Publisher Summary During embryonic development, the intermediate mesoderm differentiates into tubular epithelial tissues of the kidney and genital system. One of the first mesenchymal-to-epithelial conversions that occurs, results in formation of the nephric duct. This duct, which later in development is called the “mesonephric” or “Wolffian” duct, differentiates into portions of the male genital system and is required for further kidney development. The nephric duct induces surrounding intermediate mesoderm to differentiate into nephrons of the mesonephric kidney, the excretory organ of a majority of vertebrate species and a developmental intermediary excretory organ of birds and mammals. In birds and mammals, the nephric duct issues a caudal diverticulum—the ureteric bud—which is essential for the formation of their adult excretory organ—the metanephros. The ureteric bud gives rise to the water-conserving collecting system required for land-dwelling animals and induces the surrounding caudal intermediate mesoderm to differentiate into nephrons. Nephric duct extension appears to be dependent on the rearrangement of progenitors cells present in the duct rudiment that forms at the axial level of the cervical somites. The molecules that trigger duct extension and provide directional cues for this process remain poorly understood.
The Saltville Salt Works

It is now the morning of December 21st, 1864. We were sitting round a blazing hickory fire chattering as merrily as Confederate women could in that disastrous year, trying to banish sad thoughts of the sufferings of our poor soldiers in those dark days – for a group of little boys were asking endless questions about Santa Claus [223].
CONFLICT AND COMMUNITY SURVIVAL

Many urban communities are riven by intercommunal strife raising doubts as to whether the separate ethnic communities or the urban society can survive. This paper discusses recent urban riots in Britain both in relation to their internal urban causes and in relation to larger international issues.
Copper-dependent amino oxidase 3 governs selection of metabolic fuels in adipocytes

Copper (Cu) has emerged as an important modifier of body lipid metabolism. However, how Cu contributes to the physiology of fat cells remains largely unknown. We found that adipocytes require Cu to establish a balance between main metabolic fuels. Differentiating adipocytes increase their Cu uptake along with the ATP7A-dependent transport of Cu into the secretory pathway to activate a highly up-regulated amino-oxidase copper-containing 3 (AOC3)/semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO); in vivo, the activity of SSAO depends on the organism’s Cu status. Activated SSAO oppositely regulates uptake of glucose and long-chain fatty acids and remodels the cellular proteome to coordinate changes in fuel availability and related downstream processes, such as glycolysis, de novo lipogenesis, and sphingomyelin/ceramide synthesis. The loss of SSAO-dependent regulation due to Cu deficiency, limited Cu transport to the secretory pathway, or SSAO inactivation shifts metabolism towards lipid-dependent pathways and results in adipocyte hypertrophy and fat accumulation. The results establish a role for Cu homeostasis in adipocyte metabolism and identify SSAO as a regulator of energy utilization processes in adipocytes.
Low-Energy Electronic Transition in SiB Rings

Five- and six-membered rings containing Si–B bonds were synthesized by salt metathesis of magnesium disilanides with tetramethylpiperidinyldichloroborane (TMPBCl2). Materials were characterized by 1H, 11B, 13C, and 29Si NMR spectroscopy, as well as X-ray crystallography. Insights from crystallography facilitate conformational analysis of the cyclosilanes and elucidation of conformation-dependent optical properties. Crystallography also supports assignment of π character to the BN bond of the tetramethylpiperidinylborane fragment. The SiB rings have unique optical properties compared to all silicon rings. A 350 nm electronic transition only observed in SiB rings is assigned to a σ–π* transition on the basis of density functional theory calculations.