cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SCIENCE-DRIVEN DESIGN OF ENCELADUS FLYBY GEOMETRY

The Cassini-Huygens mission has discovered an active cryovolcanic south polar region on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. In response, new trajectory design techniques have been developed to optimize Enceladus flybys to maximize science return. This paper reviews the Enceladus flybys performed by the Cassini spacecraft to date, defines the different classes of flyby geometries, and develops analytic expressions to solve for and target the best geometry associated with both in situ and remote sensing instruments. These techniques were implemented to modify and improve Enceladus science return during the Cassini prime mission, and will be used to optimize Enceladus flyby geometry in the Cassini extended mission. While these techniques were developed for, and applied to Enceladus flybys, they can generically be applied to any hyperbolic satellite flyby given a region of interest.
From Blue-Printing to Finger-Printing: Building Healthy Communities with Scenario Planning

Scenario-based planning practices are generally conducted in two ways. Both are important and complementary to one another in a sequential way with a regional vision first being laid out as an underlying planning framework followed by a more locally-focused approach tailored to the specifics and uniqueness of a smaller jurisdiction. The two planning practices can be understood from multiple sets of planning theories, including planning as spatial inquiry, planning as communications, and planning as place-making. This chapter illustrates these different perspectives by presenting two scenario planning projects in the US as well as discussing a pilot project in North Carolina. This project employs scenario analysis methods as a way to connect regional blue-printing framework to local finger-printing processes and intends to translate regional planning principles, previously developed by a regional planning project, to a set of executable implementation items customized to a local neighborhood.
Suggestions for Pain Reduction and Response to Cold-Induced Pain

4 groups of male Ss were exposed to 3 minutes of continuous pain stimulation (immersion of the hand in cold water). Prior to stimulation, 3 of the groups received suggestions designed to reduce pain, while the fourth group (control) did not. Relaxation suggestions were effective in reducing subjective pain, whether given alone or together with suggestions to imagine the hand as numb. However, when relaxation suggestions were given together with suggestions to imagine the hand as warm, they were ineffective. Although subjective reports of pain differed among the groups, physiological measures did not.
A Search Engine That Learns.

Tuning a local Web site to generate better local search results is a time consuming and tedious process. In this paper, we describe a technique that can help to automate this process. Specifically, when a genetic algorithm is applied to a local search engine’s parameters, the performance of the local search engine can be improved. Once good values for the search engine have been learned, it is easy to identify local Web pages that are candidates for further improvement.
Factors Involved in Testing Products Carrying Residual Germicidal Chemicals

Germicidal and fungicidal chemicals are currently being added to paper, textiles, upholstering substances, paint, plastics, rubber, cement, waxes, and other materials with certain professed objectives. These might be listed as follows: 1. The preservation of the material itself and articles made therefrom from direct and indirect attack by bacteria and fungi. 2. Odor proofing materials and articles made therefrom by preventing the growth of bacteria and fungi on or in the material and/or commonly associated soils such as perspiration in the case of wearing apparel or moisture condensates on surfaces in humid areas. 3. The provision of a measure of protection to perishable commodities from microbial contaminants carried by environmental surfaces which might subsequently cause deterioration and spoilage. 4. The provision of a measure of health protection to man or other living animals through control of infectious bacteria and fungi carried by inanimate materials or articles fabricated therefrom. 5. The prevention of the production of body irritants and/or nuisances other than objectionable odors by suppressing the growth of bacteria and fungi on or in the material or its associated soils.
Differentially Private and Utility Preserving Publication of Trajectory Data

The universal popularity of GPS-enabled mobile devices and traffic navigation services has fueled the growth of trajectory data, as evidenced by Uber Movement and NYC taxi data release. Although trajectory data can generate valuable insights and value-added services for many, publishing this data while respecting mobile users’ privacy has been a long-standing challenge. In this paper, we present DP-Star, a methodical framework for publishing trajectory data with differential privacy guarantee as well as high utility preservation. DP-Star relies on a novel combination of several components. First, DP-Star's normalization algorithm uses the Minimum Description Length metric to summarize raw trajectories using their representative points, thereby achieving a desirable trade-off between the preciseness and conciseness of their information content. Second, DP-Star constructs a density-aware grid which ensures spatial densities can be preserved despite the noise added to satisfy differential privacy. Third, DP-Star preserves the correlations between trajectories’ end points through a private trip distribution, and intermediate points through a private Markov mobility model. Finally, DP-Star estimates users’ trip lengths using a median length estimation method, and generates synthetic trajectories that preserve both differential privacy and high utility. Our experimental comparison shows that DP-Star significantly outperforms existing approaches in terms of trajectory utility and accuracy.
Audience Engagement, Reciprocity, and the Pursuit of Community Connectedness in Public Media Journalism

In light of the media industry’s growing focus on audience engagement, this article explores how online and offline forms of engagement unfold within journalism, based on a comparative case study o...
Sexual selection on female collared lizards favours offspring production with multiple males

Females in diverse vertebrate and invertebrate clades often mate and produce offspring with multiple male partners. Deciphering the evolutionary mechanisms underlying the origins of females producing offspring with multiple sires remains a challenging problem, because a single male can usually provide enough sperm to fertilize all eggs produced by individual females. We tested the hypothesis that having multiple males sire individual clutches is adaptive for female eastern collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris, by examining both the fitness costs and benefits for females of producing offspring with one versus multiple male partners. We found no support for the hypothesis that females produce offspring with multiple sires to acquire access to higher-quality food resources or refuges. However, hatching success of clutches increased with the number of males that inseminated eggs, which suggests that accepting sperm from multiple males may improve offspring hatching success through one or more mechanisms. Our results also indicate that females producing offspring with multiple male partners gained genetic advantages. Although offspring mortality from clutches sired by one versus multiple males was similar, females producing clutches sired by multiple males had more total offspring that survived to maturity, resulting in a net fitness advantage for these females. Our results suggest that producing offspring with multiple males is adaptive for female collared lizards because it promotes acquisition of several fitness benefits.
Interpreted Logical Forms

Interpreted logical forms (ILFs) are part of providing a purely extensional semantics for propositional-attitude reports. According to ILF theories, propositional-attitude verbs (e.g., believe, desire, think, hope) express relations between agents and ILFs. The ‘logical form’ part of an ILF is, roughly, a sentential complement (a syntactic item), which typically takes one of the following forms: ‘a is F,’ ‘a's being F,’ or ‘that a is F.’ (Lexical items are part of an expression's logical form.) The ‘interpretation’ of an ILF is the assignment of referents to parts of the sentential complement.
Integration of a CMUT linear array for wideband H-scan ultrasound imaging

A new modality has recently emerged for the ultrasound (US) classification of acoustic scatterers. Termed H-scan US, this imaging approach links the mathematics of Gaussian-weighted Hermite functions to the physics of scattering and reflection from different tissue structures within a standard convolutional model of pulse-echo US systems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) for improved H-scan US imaging. Image data was acquired using a programmable US scanner (Vantage 256, Verasonics Inc) equipped with a 256-element L22-8v CMUT linear array transducer (Kolo Medical). Plane wave imaging was performed at a center frequency of 15 MHz. To generate the H-scan US image, three parallel convolution filters were applied to the radio frequency (RF) data to measure the relative strength of the received signals. After envelope detection, the relative strength of the filter outputs is color-coded to represent relative scatterer size. In vitro studies involved use of gelatin-based homogeneous phantoms that had different-sized spherical US scatterers, namely, 15, 30, or 45 μm. In vivo imaging of a breast tumor-bearing mouse was also used to test the new wideband H-scan US system. Results indicated that scatterers above 15 μm began to show good separation in the different Hermite. Findings from H-scan US imaging of a breast tumor– bearing mouse demonstrated that tumor tissue has a heterogenous distribution of scattering structures. Overall, H-scan US imaging is a promising approach for tissue classification and estimation of relative scatterer size.
From Parks to Landscapes: Reading of a Long Process

This chapter deals with the history of the biodiversity conservation landscape in Central Africa. Principally, it covers the background information on both political and biological practicalities of the landscape as a vision, while comparing them with traditional biological methods that defined such concepts as hotspots of biodiversity. Processes-wise, the chapter also presents the rationale that led to the current concept of landscape conservation in Central Africa, how their initial geographic configurations came to be drawn and, politically, the landscape approach had attained its current predominance in the conservation of the Congo Basin. As an historical documentation, the chapter goes in a step-wise procedure, commencing from the conceptualization of the ‘biodiversity conservation landscape’ to funding mechanisms and the implementation of activities via the mapping exercises that set out to define these priority conservation areas in Central Africa.
EcoPatches: Maker-Friendly Chemical-Based UV Sensing

Year-round ultraviolet exposure silently causes skin damage that goes unnoticed until sunburn. Current personal wearables for monitoring UV exposure have not seen significant uptake, which may be attributed to their one-size-fits-all aesthetic or inapplicability to people with different skin tones. We present EcoPatches, inkjet-printable chemical patches that mediate a person's relationship with their environment by allowing them to create designs and formulations that resonate with them. Supporting human- and machine-interpretability for EcoPatches' visual changes means that users can glance at their EcoPatch during the day to see large exposure changes or take a picture of their EcoPatch with a smartphone app for more accurate and precise readings. We conducted an online survey to elicit visual design recommendations that support these features. We also evaluated both interpretation methods, finding that they achieved strong Pearson correlation coefficients with the \projectnames' known exposure levels (human: 0.79, app: 0.90).
Behavioral and Other Actions of Adenosine in the Central Nervous System

In recent years it has become evident that the transmission process of central neurons is extraordinarily varied, as is the chemical vocabulary by which neurons communicate. There has been a considerable accumulation of evidence, primarily from histochemical studies, supporting the existence of transmitter-like molecules within certain neurons (Chan-Palay and Palay, 1984). However, the fact that a neuron contains more than one transmitter substance does not establish that each substance is being released as a transmitter (Phillis, 1984). It is possible that some neurons release more than one type of transmitter substance from the same terminal, with one of these serving as the primary transmitter and the others functioning, either pre- or postsynaptically, to modify or modulate the action, or further release, of the primary transmitter.
Osmotic Stress Triggers Phase Separation

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Jalihal et al. (2020) show that cell volume changes upon osmotic stress result in rapid and reversible condensation of numerous multivalent proteins.
SHEAR STRENGTH OF PLATE GIRDER WEB PANEL WITH OPENING AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURE

For flexibility of accommodating building service plants, openings are often introduced to the web of steel beams which affects the structural behaviour of the beams. The available design methods developed only for the ambient temperature situation. This paper is concerning with the effect of web opening in the ultimate shear capacity of the web panel at elevated temperature. The investigation will include the plate girders web panel containing centrally circular or square holes. In order to provide accurate assessment to the shear load carrying capacity of plate girder web panel with openings, a finite element model was established with both material and geometrical non-linearity by using ANSYS software package. Accuracy of the model is assessed by applying it to plate girders tested earlier by other researchers. Comparison of analytical results with the available experimental results for yielding patterns, ultimate load values and load–deflection relationships show good agreement between the finite element and experimental results thus validating the accuracy of the proposed model. A parametric study is undertaken to gain additional insight into the overall behaviour, failure modes, and deformation capacity for circular and square shapes of web panel openings with various sizes at elevated temperature. From these analyses, it is concluded that, variation of the ultimate shear capacity of plate girders with respect to the size of openings for girders with circular or square openings dropped continuously with increasing the temperature and the size of opening; and the drop in load carrying capacity increases significantly as the temperature increase and the opening size gets larger in size. Finally, an equation based on the results of numerical finite element analyses proposed to anticipate the reduction of the ultimate shear force due to circular or square opening size.
Brain-wide functional networks associated with anatomically- and functionally-defined hippocampal subfields using ultrahigh-resolution fMRI

The hippocampus is critical for learning and memory and may be separated into anatomically-defined hippocampal subfields (aHPSFs). Many studies have shown that aHPSFs, and their respective functional networks, are differentially vulnerable to a variety of disorders. Hippocampal functional networks, particularly during resting state, are generally analyzed using aHPSFs as seed regions, with the underlying assumption that the function within a subfield is homogeneous, yet heterogeneous between subfields. However, several prior studies that have utilized aHPSFs and assessed brain-wide cortical connectivity have observed similar resting-state functional connectivity profiles between aHPSFs. Alternatively, data-driven approaches offer a means to investigate hippocampal functional organization without a priori assumptions. However, insufficient spatial resolution may lead to partial volume effects at the boundaries of hippocampal subfields, resulting in a number of caveats concerning the reliability of the results. Hence, we developed a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) sequence on a 7T MR scanner achieving 0.94 mm isotropic resolution with a TR of 2s and brain-wide coverage to 1) investigate whether hippocampal functional segmentation with ultrahigh-resolution data demonstrate similar anatomical, lamellar structures in the hippocampus, and 2) define and compare the brain-wide FC associated with fine-grained aHPSFs and functionally-defined hippocampal subfields (fHPSFs). Using a spatially restricted hippocampal Independent Component Analysis (ICA) approach, this study showed that fHPSFs were arranged along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus that were not comparable to the lamellar structures of aHPSFs. Contrary to the anatomically defined hippocampal subfields which are bilaterally symmetrical, 13 out of 20 fHPSFs were unilateral. For brain-wide FC, the fHPSFs rather than aHPSFs revealed that a number of fHPSFs connected specifically with some of the functional networks. The visual and sensorimotor networks preferentially connected with different portions of CA1, CA3 and CA4/DG. The DMN was also found to connect more extensively with posterior subfields rather than anterior subfields. Finally, the frontoparietal network (FPN) was anticorrelated with the head portion of CA1. The investigation of functional networks associated with the fHPSFs may enhance the sensitivity of biomarkers for a range of neurological disorders, as network-based approaches take into account disease-related alterations in brain-wide interconnections rather than measuring the regional changes of hippocampus.
Temperature-Triggered Failure Hazard Mitigation of Transformers Subject to Geomagnetic Disturbances

Geomagnetic Disturbances (GMDs) could potentially damage the power grid through reactive power losses and overheating the high-voltage power transformers. A high-impact Low-frequency event such as GMD could induce a hotspot temperature rise over the transformer's overall temperature during a full load condition leading to an accelerated asset loss of life and increased risk of failure. This paper focuses on the impact of GMDs on transformers heating and its consequences on transformer's loss of life cycle and failure risk. Moreover, this paper proposes a transformer hazard mitigation approach to reduce the temperature-dependent transformer risk of failure. The proposed method is tested in the synthetic Texas 2000-bus grid, and the results are numerically analysed, demonstrating the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Equivalent Circuit Parameter Extraction of PV Modules using Light Intensity Modulation Impedance Spectroscopy

AC equivalent circuit parameters of photovoltaic modules can be utilized to quantify a module’s aging and overall performance degradation. I-V curve testing can quantify power conversion efficiency but cannot extract impedance information or equivalent circuit parameters in PV modules. This paper presents an approach for measuring the impedance of PV modules, and an algorithm to extract equivalent circuit parameters. The proposed approach uses a 100W white LED array driven by a current-controlled synchronous buck converter to optically perturb the PV module in order to measure the AC impedance. Through this, AC equivalent circuit parameters are extracted based on impedance data.
“Do More, Feel Better”: Pilot RCT of Lay-Delivered Behavioral Activation for Depressed Senior Center Clients

Abstract This pilot randomized control trial (RCT) tested “Do More, Feel Better” (DMFB), a lay-delivered Behavioral Activation intervention for depressed senior center clients. The study examined: 1. the feasibility of training older lay volunteers to fidelity; and 2. the acceptability, safety, and impact of the intervention. Twenty-one lay volunteers at four senior centers were trained in DMFB. Fifty-six depressed clients were randomized to receive 9 sessions of DMFB or Behavioral Activation delivered by social workers (MSW BA). Research assessments of overall client activity level (BADS) and depression severity (HAM-D) were conducted at baseline and weeks 3, 6, and 9. Eighty-one percent of lay volunteers who underwent training were formally certified in DMFB. Depressed clients receiving each intervention reported high levels of satisfaction and showed large and clinically significant changes in 9-week activity level (d ≥ 1.35) and depression severity (d ≥ 3.34). Differences between treatment groups were very small for both activity level (dMSW = 0.16; 95% CI, -0.70 to 1.02) and depression (dMSW = 0.14; 95% CI, -0.63 to 0.91). Increases in activity level were associated with decreases in depression (β = -0.42; 95% CI, -0.55 to -0.30). Both interventions appeared to work as intended by increasing activity level and reducing depression severity. “Do More, Feel Better” shows the potential of evidence-based behavioral interventions delivered by supervised lay volunteers, and can help address the insufficient workforce available to meet the mental health needs of community-dwelling older adults.
Distributions of debris as measured by the NASA-WISE instrument

From December 2009 thru 2011 the NASA Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) gathered radiometrically exquisite measurements of debris in near Earth orbits, adding substantially to the current catalog of known debris. Assuming grey-body emissivity, the apparent size of debris objects may be inferred from that data. This report describes a general model for debris size distributed near the GEO belt. Linear and nonlinear regression models were fit to data from the WISE orbital debris catalog. Using those results we estimate the sensitivity of the instrument to detection of small debris objects near the GEO belt.
Biofuel Cells, Enzyme Catalysis of Oils

Biofuel cells are a type of fuel cell where biocatalysts are employed to catalyze the oxidation of fuels at the anode and/or reduction of oxygen or peroxide at the cathode. Biofuel cells are a popular research area in energy conversion, but most biofuel cells employ sugars, such as glucose, as fuels. These sugar fuels have been employed for two reasons: possible applications for implantable energy conversion devices and the prevalence of commercial enzymes for sugar oxidation due to the glucose biosensor field. However, oils are very high in energy density and could be advantageous as fuels for biofuel cells. This article explores the enzymes capable of bioelectrocatalysis of oils and describe from the literature, examples of their use in a biofuel cell. Keywords: biofuel cells; lipoxygenase; bioelectrocatalysis; soybean oil; oleic acid; linoleic acid; linolenic acid
Bond strengths in POCl3−, POCl2−, and PSCl2−

Abstract The bond strengths D(OCl2P− Cl) = 172 ± 7, D(OClP Cl−) = 177 ± 8, and D(SClP Cl−) = 186 ± 6 kJ mol−1 have been determined at 0 K by measuring thresholds for collision-induced dissociation in a flowing afterglow-tandem mass spectrometer. This thermochemistry is consistent with a close balance between dissociative and nondissociative electron capture for POCl3 and PSCl3. B3LYP and G3 computational results give bond strengths lower by an average of about 20 kJ mol−1.
Prognostic value of PET-derived coronary flow reserve for survival in patients with dialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease

26 Objectives To determine the prognostic value of positron emission tomography (PET)-derived coronary flow reserve (CFR), a measure of coronary health that integrates the hemodynamic effects of epicardial coronary stenosis, diffuse atherosclerosis, and microvascular disease, for survival in patients with dialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Methods We studied 196 consecutive patients with dialysis-dependent ESRD who underwent Rb-82 or N-13 ammonia rest/stress myocardial perfusion PET for evaluation of known or suspected coronary artery disease. Patients’ medical history was ascertained at the time of PET. CFR was calculated as the ratio of stress to rest myocardial blood flow (MBF, mL/min/g), corrected for baseline rate pressure product. Percent left ventricular (LV) scar and ischemia were determined by semiquantitative analysis. Patients were followed for a median of three years for death as ascertained by medical record review and the Social Security Death Index. Results Forty-nine deaths occurred (25%). In unadjusted analysis, each higher quartile of CFR (defined as 2.1) was associated with increased survival (trend χ2 = 17.16, overall log-rank p Conclusions PET-derived CFR has independent and incremental prognostic value for survival in patients with dialysis-dependent ESRD.
Sampling s-Concave Functions: The Limit of Convexity Based Isoperimetry

Efficient sampling, integration and optimization algorithms for logconcave functions [BV04, KV06, LV06a] rely on the good isoperimetry of these functions. We extend this to show that *** 1/(n *** 1)-concave functions have good isoperimetry, and moreover, using a characterization of functions based on their values along every line, we prove that this is the largest class of functions with good isoperimetry in the spectrum from concave to quasi-concave. We give an efficient sampling algorithm based on a random walk for *** 1/(n *** 1)-concave probability densities satisfying a smoothness criterion, which includes heavy-tailed densities such as the Cauchy density. In addition, the mixing time of this random walk for Cauchy density matches the corresponding best known bounds for logconcave densities.
A cross-national study of motives for drinking alcohol

The role of individualism–collectivism in influencing the motives for alcohol use was examined by comparing motives for drinking among 72 U.S. (individualist) and 83 Nigerian (collectivist) respondents in 1998. The study also examined the role of gender. The Drinking Motives Questionnaire (Cooper, M.L.; Russell, M.; Skinner, J.B.; Windle, M. Development and Validation of a Three-Dimensional Measure of Drinking Motives. Psychol. Assess. 1992, 4, 123–132.) that classifies drinking motives into coping, enhancement, and social motives was used. The U.S. respondents were hypothesized to score higher on coping motives and lower on social motives than Nigerian participants. This hypothesis was supported. Male respondents also scored higher than females on all the three motives. These results have implications for intervention approaches regarding alcohol use for people with differing cultural orientations.
Life History Strategies of the Montane Vole, Microtus montanus

Emphasis in microtine rodent biology has historically been placed on population regulation and the population cycle. Until recently, little attention has been directed to behavior and sociality in microtine rodents, but work on the sociobiology of the montane vale (Jannett, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982) is serving to integrate various aspects of the biology of this species so that its life history characteristics can be interpreted in an evolutionary framework. Work undertaken in 1982 continues previously initiated surveys of various topics, such as synchrony of population events in different populations, survivorship, scent gland development, patterns of cranial and dental variation, population trends in a sympatric species of vole (M. longicaudus), and reproduction in a primary predator, the shorttail weasel (Mustela erminea). It will also serve in preparation for more detailed studies of the social system and its demographic correlates to begin in 1983.
Alkaline Degradation of Inulin and Its Structural Implications

Alkaline degradation of inulin under controlled conditions shows that not all molecules in an inulin preparation are nonreducing and, thus, alkali-stable and suitable for clinical measurements. Reducing "inulin" molecules are degraded by the normal beta-alkoxy carbonyl mechanism, and the main product of degradation in calcium hydroxide solution is "α"-D-glucosaccharinic acid. An inulin preparation can be made alkali- stable by sodium borohydride reduction. There appears to be a difference in the alkali lability of inulin and other fructan preparations obtained from different sources.
Electrical properties of forsterite, Mg 2 SiO 4 . II

In this paper we develop a model for ionic transport in forsterite which predicts a different directional dependence of transport for magnesium interstitials and vacancies. This model, together with dc transport measurements on forsterite into which iron was diffused, suggests that we are dealing with interstitial transport in synthetic forsterite, whereas diffusion experiments on olivine reported in the literature have been dealing with vacancy transport. Our transport measurements also support the idea that ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ acts as an acceptor level lying 3.0 eV above the valence band of forsterite. Transport measurements are also reported for forsterite into which hydrogen has been diffused.
Adler’s zero and effective Lagrangians for nonlinearly realized symmetry

Long ago Coleman, Callan, Wess and Zumino (CCWZ) constructed the general effective Lagrangian for nonlinearly realized symmetry by finding all possible nonlinear representations of the broken group $G$ which become linear when restricted to the unbroken group $H$. However, in the case of a single Nambu-Goldstone boson (NGB), which corresponds to a broken $U(1)$, the effective Lagrangian can also be obtained by imposing a constant shift symmetry. In this work we generalize the shift symmetry approach to multiple NGBs and show that, when they furnish a linear representation of $H$ that can be embedded in a symmetric coset, it is possible to derive the CCWZ Lagrangian by imposing (1) ``the Adler's zero condition,'' which requires scattering amplitudes to vanish when emitting a single soft NGB and (2) closure of shift symmetry with the linearly realized symmetry. Knowledge of the broken group $G$ is not required at all. Using only generators of $H$, the NGB covariant derivative and the associated gauge field can be computed to all orders in the NGB decay constant $f$.
Preclinical safety evaluation of human platelets treated with antimicrobial peptides in severe combined immunodeficient mice.

Background Bacterial sepsis is a complication attributed to room temperature (RT)-stored platelets (PLTs) in transfusion medicine. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as new therapeutic agents against microbes. We had previously demonstrated bactericidal activity of select synthetic AMPs against six types of bacteria in stored PLTs. In this report, we tested these AMPs for their potential antibody response and interference with the recovery and survival of human PLTs in an animal model. Study Design and Methods Two separate studies were conducted to evaluate the safety of the synthetic AMPs. 1) Two AMPs (PD3 and PD4), derived from thrombin-induced human PLT microbicidal protein, and four repeats of arginine-tryptophan (RW), containing two to five repeats (RW2-RW5), were tested in rabbits for potential antibody response. 2) RT-stored human PLTs treated for 2 hours with each of the six AMPs individually or with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) alone were infused into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice to evaluate their in vivo recovery and survival by flow cytometry. Results Except for PD3, which showed a weak immune response, all other peptides did not induce any detectable antibodies in rabbits. Furthermore, all six AMPs tested did not significantly affect the in vivo recovery and survival of human PLTs in SCID mice compared to PBS alone–treated PLTs. Conclusion Preclinical evaluation studies reported here demonstrate that the selected AMPs used in the study did not adversely affect the human PLT recovery and survival in the SCID mouse model, suggesting further study of AMPs toward addressing the bacterial contamination of PLTs.
Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping

Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping . Edited by Dyan Mazurana, Angela Raven-Roberts, and Jane Parpart. Lanham, MD, and New York: Rowman & Littlefield. 2005. 304 pp. $75.00 cloth, $31.95 paper. Framed in the language of peace (making, keeping, building), the United Nations military interventions of the 1990s have spawned feminist demands for participation, together with critiques of the sexist and gendered practices that have characterized these missions. In Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping , 14 scholar-practitioners relay their observations of the way in which gender politics pervades UN peace missions and postconflict reconstruction.
Determination of total dissolved phosphorus and particulate phosphorus in natural waters1

Procedures are presented for separate analyses of total dissolved phosphorus and total particulate phosphorus in natural waters. The method for both procedures involves drying a sample with magnesium sulfate and baking the residue at a high temperature to decompose organic phosphorus compounds. The residue is then treated with hydrochloric acid to hydrolyze polyphosphates and the orthophosphate is measured by the molybdate method. The method gives 100% recovery with refractory phosphorus compounds, is usable on undiluted samples with up to 18 µmol of phosphorus per liter (6 µg P per sample), and has a mid-range precision of ±1%.
Global dynamics of winner-take-all networks

In this paper, we study the global dynamics of winner-take-all (WTA) networks. These networks generalize Hopfield's networks to the case where competitive behavior is enforced within clusters of neurons while the interaction between clusters is modeled by cluster-to- cluster connectivity matrices. Under the assumption of intracluster and intercluster symmetric connectivity, we show the existence of Lyapunov functions that allow us to draw rigorous results about the long-term behavior for both the iterated-map and continuous-time dynamics of the WTA network. Specifically, we show that the attractors of the synchronous, iterated- map dynamics are either fixed points or limit cycles of period 2. Moreover, if the network connectivity matrix satisfies a weakened form of positive definiteness, limit cycles can be ruled out. Furthermore, we show that the attractors of the continuous-time dynamics are only fixed points for any connectivity matrix. Finally, we generalize the WTA dynamics to distributed networks of clustered neurons where the only requirement is that the input-output mapping of each cluster be the gradient map of a convex potential.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Pregnancy rates of cooled, transported equine embryos

Summary The ability to collect embryos and transfer them to another location has many advantages. The results of a field trial on the fertility of embryos cooled and stored in an Equitainer and transported by commercial airline to Colorado State University are presented. Time from embryo collection to transfer was generally less than 12 h, but ranged from 5 to 24 h. Cooling, storage at 5°C and/or transportation of embryos had no effect on embryo size and quality. Pregnancy rates at 15 and 50 days were similar (P>0.05) for fresh control embryos (20 of 26 and 17 of 26) compared to cooled embryos (20 of 24 and 18 of 24).
Summary of some results of internal‐wave investigations in the North Atlantic

Observations at 13 anchor-stations occupied by Atlantis within recent years have substantiated Helland-Hanson's earlier suggestion that short-period vertical oscillations of the water-layers cause significant time-variations of oceanographic properties throughout the ocean space. And, hence, occasional vertical series of oceanographic observations may not necessarily represent average conditions at the locality sampled. Measurements of vertical oscillations of the water-layers of the deep ocean were obtained from temperature- and salinity-samplings, repeated as rapidly as possible over periods ranging from 27 to more than 300 hours, at 17 levels, between surface and 1,200 to 1,300 meters. Since the localities selected for study were characterized by gently sloping isopycnal surfaces, the corrected observations when plotted as time-series clearly show the vertical displacements.
Connecting the Dots Linking Mind, Behavior, and Disease: The Biological Concomitants of Coping Patterns: Commentary on “Attachment and Cancer: A Conceptual Integration”

Science advances up the mountain of knowledge by one scientist standing on the shoulders of colleagues and predecessors, and when one scientist gives another a leg up, a theory can find a temporary resting place on a sound ledge, which is undergirded by evidence. The more connections between scientists, theories, and evidence, the more sure the ascent. This is one reason I applaud the efforts by Anna M. Tacon in drawing connections between attachment theories and research on coping patterns and disease outcomes. My intention in this commentary is to build on her interesting conceptual integration by elaborating upon the connections between theories and research on type C and those concerned with development, emphasizing the biological connections by which coping patterns developed in early life and/or based on genetic predisposition can affect the development and progression of disease in later life. At the outset, it is important to note that my research on the type C coping pattern has focused exclusively on how this pattern may influence the progression rather than the development of disease in malignant melanoma and HIV/AIDS. Nearly all biopsychosocial oncology researchers have studied cancer progression/outcome rather than development/incidence because of the immense difficulty of testing large numbers of children or young adults and then waiting 20 to 30 years to follow up and determine who has developed cancer. The difficulty of collecting data relevant to the developmental roots of coping patterns does not, however, refute the logic and clinical evidence that these coping patterns were forged in childhood. Indeed, the difficulty in changing these patterns through psychosocial interventions in adulthood underscores their deep roots in childhood learning experiences and suggests their biological entrenchment.
Trypanosoma brucei: Frequent loss of a telomeric variant surface glycoprotein gene

Abstract We have observed the loss of an inactive telomeric variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) gene that is located on a minichromosome in Trypanosoma brucei. If this is due to gene conversion, it is the third “silent” gene conversion (i.e., one that does not produce an antigenic switch) detected in 19 antigenic switches of the IsTaR 1 serodeme. This is suprisingly frequent since the immune response cannot select against the inactive gene. We estimate that 10−1 to 10−3 telomeric VSG gene conversions occur per generation, which is at least 100 times more frequent than antigenic switching. Since all three “silent” gene conversions involved an IsTat 5 VSG gene, the frequency may vary among telomeric VSG genes. However, the high gene conversion frequency for the 5 VSG gene does not ensure a higher antigenic switch frequency than other telomeric VSG genes for which we have probes. These results suggest that gene conversion rapidly alters the repertoire of telomeric VSG genes, possibly including those on minichromosomes, producing a continual variation in the VSG genes that are more likely to be expressed.
Mechanical behavior of interlocking multi-stepped double scarf adhesive joints including void and disbond effects

Abstract Surface topographical effects on the mechanical behavior of interlocking multi-stepped double scarf adhesive joints under tensile load were studied. For this purpose, finite element analysis (FEA) of the joint geometry at 10 different step angles was carried out. In the second stage, the effects of substrate voids and adhesive delaminations on the interfacial strength were studied for the scarf angle of 32.2° by FEA simulation as well as experimentally. For the cases of the missing steps (voids) and delamination (absence of bonding induced by release agent) the ratios of maximum stresses (principal, von Mises, normal, shear and transverse) between the completely bonded and altered (void or delaminated) joints were compared with the failure load ratios for the same joints to interpret the mechanism of failure. The results revealed that except for the normal stress, the maximum stress ratios reach a maximum value and then decrease with increasing scarf angle. FEA analysis with the voids showed that the strength of the joint not only depends on their size, but also on their location in the joint. When the experimental results were compared with the FEA using the stress ratio between the unmodified (completely bonded) and modified (void or disbond) cases, the results indicated that the normal stress dominates the failure behavior of the 32.2° scarf angle joint. Comparison of the experimental results for the void, and disbond cases revealed that the disbond cases can possess higher joint strength in comparison to the void cases. This finding could not be predicted by FEA, and was attributed to the presence of friction at the interface subsequent to delamination.
Psychoacoustic speech feature optimization through adaptive generalized scale transforms

We are presenting a method for the improvement of small scale text independent automatic speaker identification systems. A small scale identification system is a system with a relatively small number of enrolled speakers (20 or less). The proposed improvement is obtained from adaptive frequency warping. Most modern speaker identification systems employ a short-time speech feature extraction method that relies on frequency warped cepstral representations. One of the most popular frequency warping types is based on the mel-scale. While the mel-scale provides a substantial boost in recognition performance for large scale systems, it is suboptimal for small scale systems. With experiments we have shown that our methodology has the potential to reduce the error rate of small scale systems by 24% over the mel-scale approach.
Two Legacies, Two Presidents, Father and Son

The Gulf: The Bush Presidencies and the Middle East. By Michael F. Cairo. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2012. 232 pp., $31.50 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0-813-13672-1). The foreign policy legacy of the United States in the post-Cold War world is one of conflicting visions, as four presidents have embarked on different strategies and different ways of using American power. George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush had remarkably divergent ways of approaching foreign policy, and yet each was president as turbulent world events enveloped their presidencies. There have been many books and academic articles written about Bush I's response to the end of the Cold War and actions during the first Gulf War and Bush II's response to the events of 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the actions during the global war on terror. But there have been few scholarly treatments that look at both Bush legacies and offer a leadership and foreign policy take on why their foreign policy decisions were so different. In The Gulf: The Bush Presidencies and the Middle East, Michael Cairo addresses these two legacies through the filter of the Persian Gulf, and how that region has been central to contemporary American foreign policy. In the first part, Cairo sets out the fundamental differences between father and son. Here, he tells a familiar narrative and discusses a number of the reasons why George W. Bush, whose foreign policy bona fides were not well honed, did not follow the worldview of his father's …
Space-time domain decomposition for parabolic problems

We analyze a space-time domain decomposition iteration, for a model advection diffusion equation in one and two dimensions. The discretization of this iteration is the block red-black variant of the waveform relaxation method, and our analysis provides new convergence results for this scheme. The asymptotic convergence rate is super-linear, and it is governed by the diffusion of the error across the overlap between subdomains. Hence, it depends on both the size of this overlap and the diffusion coefficient in the equation. However it is independent of the number of subdomains, provided the size of the overlap remains fixed. The convergence rate for the heat equation in a large time window is initially linear and it deteriorates as the number of subdomains increases. The duration of the transient linear regime is proportional to the length of the time window. For advection dominated problems, the convergence rate is initially linear and it improves as the the ratio of advection to diffusion increases. Moreover, it is independent of the size of the time window and of the number of subdomains. Numerical calculations illustrate our analysis.
The evolution of defective and autonomous parvoviruses.

Because of the small size and genetic simplicity of small DNA viruses, parvoviruses would appear to be excellent models for studying viral evolution and adaptation. In an earlier publication we hypothesized the evolution of sequences of cellular “junk” DNA into protective interfering transposons. These transposons would interfere with invading pathogenic viruses by competing with the pathogen DNA for replicative enzymes. We speculated that a small, defective parvovirus, the adeno-associated virus (AAV), which usually requires the presence of a pathogenic helper virus to replicate, may have evolved from such a piece of cellular “junk” DNA. Our theory predicted that AAVs, as a consequence of their defective nature, developed under pressures favoring maintenance of their transposon like qualities. In contrast, disease-causing, autonomous, non-defective parvoviruses such as the B19 agent of humans and the canine parvovirus, even though their origins may have been in cellular DNA, would appear to have developed under totally different evolutionary pressures. In this paper we will present evidence for a common ancestry for the defective and autonomous parvoviruses and discuss the divergent paths this evolution may have taken in establishing the two genera.
Psychological distress and SSRI use predict variation in inflammatory cytokines during pregnancy.

Evidence supports the premise that maternal psychological distress adversely affects pregnancy outcomes and that inflammatory markers and placentally-produced corticotrophin-releasing hormone (pCRH) are likely mediating factors. The primary aim of the study was to explore the associations between maternal psychological distress, use of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, pCRH, and maternal plasma inflammatory markers during pregnancy. Measures of maternal plasma pCRH, Interleukins-1, 6, & 10, C-Reactive Protein, Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor, and Tumor Necrosis Factor-αwere completed in 100 pregnant women. Measures of depression, anxiety, and perceived stress were completed, as well as collection of demographic/behavioral data, e.g. use of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Significant correlations were found at 14-20 weeks gestation between IL-6 & 10, and depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. Also at 14 - 20 weeks gestation, IL10 levels were significantly lower in women with 4th quartile pCRH levels and IL1β, IL6, and IL10 were significantly lower among women who took an SSRI during pregnancy. After controlling for maternal age, BMI, pCRH level, and SSRI use, psychological distress remained to explain variation in maternal inflammatory markers. These results might suggest that future research should focus on whether depression and anxiety are effectively being treated during pregnancy, and how such a scenario might contribute to an immune system pathway to poor pregnancy outcome.