cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Direct Binding of a p58 Killer Cell Inhibitory Receptor to Human Histocompatibility Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-Cw4 Exhibits Peptide Selectivity

Natural killer (NK) cells in mice and humans express a number of structurally diverse receptors that inhibit target cell lysis upon recognition of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules expressed on targets. The contribution of peptide to the structural features of class I required for NK cell inhibition appears to vary depending on the type of receptor engaged. Thus, while there is no peptide specificity in NK inhibition mediated by Ly-49A in the mouse, human histocompatibility antigen (HLA)-B*2705–specific NK clones displayed selectivity for peptides. In this report, we examine the role of peptide in the recognition of HLA-C by the defined killer cell inhibitory receptor (KIR) cl42 with established specificity for HLA-Cw4. Binding of soluble KIR cl42 molecules to HLA-Cw4 expressed on transporter associated with antigen presentation (TAP)-deficient RMA-S cells occurred only upon exogenous peptide loading. Moreover, there was peptide selectivity in that certain substitutions at positions 7 and 8 of the nonamer peptide QYDDAVYKL abolished Cw4 interaction with KIR cl42 despite similar surface expression of HLA-C. The specificity of this direct interaction between peptideloaded HLA-Cw4 on RMA-S cells and soluble KIR cl42 correlated with recognition by NK clones in that they were inhibited only by HLA-Cw4 loaded with the appropriate peptides.
Potential acoustic discrimination within boreal fish assemblages

Differences in the acoustic characteristics of forage fish species in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea were examined using Kirchhoff ray-mode (KRM) backscatter models. Our goal was to identify species-specific characteristics and metrics that facilitate the discrimination of species using acoustic techniques. Five fish species were analyzed: capelin (Mallotus villosus), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius), and eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus). Backscatter amplitude differences exist among these species, especially between swimbladdered and non-swimbladdered fish. Echo intensities were variable within and among species. The effect of morphological variability was indexed using the ratio of the Reducedscattering length (RSL) standard deviation over its mean. Morphological variability was low only at fish length to acoustic wavelength ratios less than eight. Target strength differences between pairs of carrier frequencies (ranging from 12 kHz to 200 kHz) differed among species, and were dependent on fish size and body orientation. Frequency differencing successfully discriminated between fish species but the choice of frequency to maximize target strength differences was not consistent among species pairs. Frequencydependent, backscatter model predictions facilitate comparison of target strength differences prior to acoustic data collection.
A second locus for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia maps to chromosome 12.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) or Osler-Rendu-Weber disease is an autosomal dominant vascular dysplasia. Initial linkage studies identified an ORW gene localized to ?q33-q34 but with some families clearly excluding this region. A probable correlation in clinical phenotype between the 9q3-1inked families and unlinked families was described with a significantly lower incidence of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations observed in the unlinked families, in this study we examined four unrelated ORW families for which linkage to chromosome 9q33-q34 has been previously excluded. Linkage was established for all four families to markers on chromosome 12, with a combined maximum lod score of 10.77 (0- 0.04) with D12S339. Mapping of crossovers using haplotype analysis indicated that the candidate region lies in an II-cM interval between DI2S345 and D12S337, in the pericentromeric region of chromosome 12. A map location for a second ORW locus is thus established that exhibits a significantly reduced incidence of pulmonary involvement.
Phase-function normalization for accurate analysis of ultrafast collimated radiative transfer

The scattering of radiation from collimated irradiation is accurately treated via normalization of phase function. This approach is applicable to any numerical method with directional discretization. In this study it is applied to the transient discrete-ordinates method for ultrafast collimated radiative transfer analysis in turbid media. A technique recently developed by the authors, which conserves a phase-function asymmetry factor as well as scattered energy for the Henyey–Greenstein phase function in steady-state diffuse radiative transfer analysis, is applied to the general Legendre scattering phase function in ultrafast collimated radiative transfer. Heat flux profiles in a model tissue cylinder are generated for various phase functions and compared to those generated when normalization of the collimated phase function is neglected. Energy deposition in the medium is also investigated. Lack of conservation of scattered energy and the asymmetry factor for the collimated scattering phase function causes overpredictions in both heat flux and energy deposition for highly anisotropic scattering media. In addition, a discussion is presented to clarify the time-dependent formulation of divergence of radiative heat flux.
Concepts and issues in COA research.

Estimates of the number of children of alcoholics (COA’s) and the prevalence of alcohol use disorders among them can vary widely from study to study depending on research design features such as sample selection, data collection strategies, and assessment methods. Although investigators agree that COA’s are at higher risk for developing alcohol use disorders than children of nonalcoholics, problems with alcohol are not an inevitable consequence of COA status. Recent research has identified numerous biological, psychological, and social factors associated with a family history of alcoholism that may play a role in determining whether COA’s will develop an alcohol use disorder. The conceptual model presented in this article gives a general overview of how such risk factors can interact with life stressors to influence alcohol-related behavior in COA’s. (Subsequent articles in this issue explore some of
Thermal Expansion Properties of Some Synthetic Lithia Minerals

The binary compounds Li2O.5Al2O3 and Li2O.Al2O3 can be formed easily by reaction of pure materials at 1500°C. The ternary compounds βeucryptite and βT-spodumene and solid solutions involving these two compounds can be prepared by reaction of Li2CO3, Al2O3, and SiO2 at 1300°C. The thermal expansions of the lithium aluminates are very high, but the expansions of β-spodumene and β-spodumene solid solutions are very low. The compound β-eucryptite is unusual in that it shows a high thermal contraction to 1000°C. Some relations between the expansion data and the crystal structure of the phases given above are discussed.
Airway compromise due to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-induced angioedema: clinical experience at a large community teaching hospital.

Study objective: To evaluate the incidence of airway compromise, clinical presentation and morbidity of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-related angioedema (AE). Method: A retrospective chart review was conducted of all patients admitted to our hospital between 1996 and 2001 with the diagnosis of AE. Results: A total of 70 charts on which a diagnosis of AE had been entered were reviewed. Of those, 45 patients (64%) had AE that was thought to be related to ACEI therapy. Of those 45 patients, 29 were women. The mean age was 62 years, and 41 (91%) were African-American. The duration of ACEI therapy before presentation varied from 1 day to 5 years postingestion. Twenty-one of 32 patients presented within 2 months of the initiation of therapy. The mean duration between the onset of symptoms and presentation to the hospital was 9 h. Lip and tongue swelling was seen in all patients. Pulmonary manifestations were noted in 17 of 45 patients (38%) [dyspnea 17 of 17 patients; stridor/respiratory failure, 5 of 17 patients; cough, 2 of 17 patients]. Dysphagia was noted in 9 of 45 patients, drooling of saliva in 8 of 45 patients, and pruritus in 6 of 45 patients. Ten of 45 patients had a history of AE. In five of those patients (50%), ACEI use was a presumed cause of the AE for the current hospital admission. Eighteen of 45 (40%) patients required ICU admission. The mean ICU length of stay was 2.2 days. Five of 45 patients required endotracheal intubation. The mean time spent receiving ventilation was 2.2 days. Discontinuation of the initiating agent and supportive care were the keys to therapy. All of our patients responded to supportive management, and there was no mortality. Conclusion: Sixty-four percent of patients in this series had AE due to receiving an ACEI. The majority of the patients were African-American women. Most patients presented within 2 months of starting to receive the drug, although longer durations of therapy were not uncommon. Lip and tongue swelling was the most common airway manifestation. Based on our observations, the discontinuation of ACEI therapy and supportive management are the recommended approaches to therapy to prevent an untoward outcome.
The BAM1/BAM2 Receptor-Like Kinases Are Important Regulators of Arabidopsis Early Anther Development

Anther development involves the formation of several adjacent cell types required for normal male fertility. Only a few genes are known to be involved in early anther development, particularly in the establishment of these different cell layers. Arabidopsis thaliana BAM1 (for BARELY ANY MERISTEM) and BAM2 encode CLAVATA1-related Leu-rich repeat receptor-like kinases that appear to have redundant or overlapping functions. We characterized anther development in the bam1 bam2 flowers and found that bam1 bam2 anthers appear to be abnormal at a very early stage and lack the endothecium, middle, and tapetum layers. Analyses using molecular markers and cytological techniques of bam1 bam2 anthers revealed that cells interior to the epidermis acquire some characteristics of pollen mother cells (PMCs), suggesting defects in cell fate specification. The pollen mother-like cells degenerate before the completion of meiosis, suggesting that these cells are defective. In addition, the BAM1 and BAM2 expression pattern supports both an early role in promoting somatic cell fates and a subsequent function in the PMCs. Therefore, analysis of BAM1 and BAM2 revealed a cell-cell communication process important for early anther development, including aspects of cell division and differentiation. This finding may have implications for the evolution of multiple signaling pathways in specifying cell types for microsporogenesis.
Effect of Bovine Interferon on Acute Changes in Body Temperature and Serum Progesterone Concentration in Heifers

Bovine interferon-alpha I1 has extensive sequence and functional homology with the antiluteolytic protein, bovine trophoblast protein-1. Because of the possible use of interferon-alpha I1 as a drug that supplements embryonic secretion of bovine trophoblast protein-1, interferon-alpha I1 was tested for other biological actions that might affect its usefulness as a fertility-enhancing treatment. Experiments were performed to evaluate whether interferon-alpha I1 causes hyperthermia and an acute depression in circulating concentrations of progesterone. In four experiments, intramuscular administration of interferon-alpha I1 (range 1.25 to 20 mg) caused hyperthermia; average peak body temperatures of 40 to 40.4 degrees C occurred 2.5 to 6 h after injection. Temperatures returned to baseline 12 to 16 h later. The rise in rectal temperature could be reduced, but not totally alleviated, with concomitant administration of an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis. The maximal hyperthermic response was similar when interferon-alpha I1 was delivered via osmotic minipumps or through a series of intramuscular injections. The hyperthermic response decreased with repeated daily exposure to interferon-alpha I1. The increase in rectal temperatures was associated temporally with a decrease in serum progesterone. Effects of interferon-alpha I1 on body temperature and circulating progesterone could possibly limit its effectiveness in enhancing fertility.
Exploring data parallelism and locality in wide area networks

Cloud computing has demonstrated that processing very large datasets over commodity clusters can be done simply given the right programming structure. Work to date, for example MapReduce and Hadoop, has focused on systems within a data center. In this paper, we present Sphere, a cloud computing system that targets distributed data-intensive applications over wide area networks. Sphere uses a data-parallel computing model that views the processing of distributed datasets as applying a group of operators to each element in the datasets. As a cloud computing system, application developers can use the Sphere API to write very simple code to process distributed datasets in parallel, while the details, including but not limited to, data locations, server heterogeneity, load balancing, and fault tolerance, are transparent to developers. Unlike MapReduce or Hadoop, Sphere supports distributed data processing on a global scale by exploiting data parallelism and locality in systems over wide area networks.
The Archaeology of Crafts Learning: Becoming a Potter in the Puebloan Southwest

Individuals learning to make pottery must master knowledge of materials and a complex production sequence. Intergenerational transmission of knowledge and diffusion of knowledge are basic processes in all human societies. How individuals learn, what they learn, and from whom they learn become aspects of their identity. Theoretical perspectives on learning and historical documents describing learning provide background for archaeologists interested in how crafts learning occurred in the past. New methods enable archaeologists to examine learning from skilled potters in childhood and learning from other skilled potters and objects later in life among the Ancestral Pueblos. Differences in learning and teaching frameworks have implications for the archaeological record.
Using Dynamic Software to Address Common College Calculus Stumbling Blocks.

There are specific topics in college calculus that can be major stumbling blocks for students. Having taught college calculus for four years to over a thousand students, we observed that even the students who have already taken pre-calculus or calculus during their high school careers had common misunderstandings. Students may remember a technique without retaining the understanding of why it can be applied or what it is accomplishing, essentially only having knowledge of a rote procedure. Educators can address these areas of difficulty by regularly utilizing dynamic technologies such as Geometer’s Sketchpad and Desmos in the classroom to fully illustrate calculus concepts. With these tools, teachers can help their students better understand how to reason mathematically in calculus.
Geometry of Curved Surfaces

One of the most spectacular applications of tensor calculus in the field of continuum mechanics is the general theory of shells. To study it, we shall need some knowledge of the theory of curved surfaces and we shall now embark upon this mathematical subject, keeping in mind the application we later want to make of it.
Assessment of insulin sensitivity with minimal model: role of model assumptions

Insulin sensitivity is frequently assessed with the minimal model (MM) and the insulin-modified intravenous glucose tolerance test (MIVGTT). To ascertain the validity of this approach, the mechanis...
Tension Control in Speech Pathology

The significance of word symbols is that much of our own behavior is governed by our internal speech, how we talk to ourselves. Our own words are our Pavlovian bells. In the delightful words of Fink (1953), “The uninformed stress the voluntary aspects of behavior. But among those who know psychology best, it is habits two to one.” A vocabulary of tension teaches tension. The person with a vocabulary of tension is in trouble if it is true that words are our map in time and place. Let us analyze some common maps drawn by the overly tense.
Embolization of Bone Tumors

• Bone tumor embolizations can be performed for palliation of pain/symptoms, or pre-operatively to reduce blood loss during surgery.
Circular Dichroism of Polymers: Theory and Practice

The goal of understanding the circular dichroism (CD) of a polymer is to be able to interpret the measured spectrum in terms of the conformation of the polymer. We want to know if the polymer is rigid or flexible. Is it a helix? What are the helical parameters? To deduce a polymer conformation from a measured CD we must calculate the CD for different assumed conformations. When we get agreement between calculation and experiment, we say this is a possible conformation. There may be other conformations which are also consistent.
MALDI MS in-source decay of glycans using a glutathione-capped iron oxide nanoparticle matrix.

A new matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry matrix is proposed for molecular mass and structural determination of glycans. This matrix contains an iron oxide nanoparticle (NP) core with gluthathione (GSH) molecules covalently bound to the surface. As demonstrated for the monosaccharide glucose and several larger glycans, the mass spectra exhibit good analyte ion intensities and signal-to-noise ratios, as well as an exceptionally clean background in the low mass-to-charge (m/z) region. In addition, abundant in-source decay (ISD) occurs when the laser power is increased above the ionization threshold; this indicates that the matrix provides strong energy transfer to the sample. For five model glycans, ISD produced extensive glycosidic and cross-ring cleavages in the positive ion mode from singly charged precursor ions with bound sodium ions. Linear, branched, and cyclic glycans were employed, and all were found to undergo abundant fragmentation by ISD. 18O labeling was used t...
C-REACTIVE PROTEIN IS ASSOCIATED WITH CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL BLOOD PRESSURE IN WHITES, BUT NOT IN BLACKS: THE BOGALUSA HEART STUDY

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a biomarker of systemic inflammation, is known to have associations with various cardiovascular risk factors -including central and peripheral blood pressures. However, information is scant on whether this association is consistent across white and black
Rhythms of the Pachakuti: Indigenous Uprising and State Power in Bolivia: Gutiérrez Aguilar, Raquel, Durham, NC: Duke University Press 336 pp., $94.95, ISBN 978-0822355991 Publication Date: July 2014

Raquel Gutierrez is a recognized intellectual and activist born in Mexico, who has been deeply involved in Bolivian politics. Currently, she is a sociology professor at University Autonoma in Puebl...
Performance of Pipe Extender-Shear Key at In-Span Hinges of Multiframe Bridges

In multiframe bridges, shear keys are elements located at in-span hinges. They preserve the transverse integrity of adjacent frames during seismic events. In-span hinges must simultaneously accommodate longitudinal and transverse seismic deformations to prevent unseating and collapse. The California Department of Transportation has standardized a shear key detail known as the pipe extender–shear key (PE-SK). In some cases, cable restrainers pass through the PE-SK. This detail serves three functions: (a) it acts as a shear key for transverse motion, (b) it provides cable restraint to prevent unseating, and (c) it is a backup against unseating if the cables rupture. The transverse capacity and stiffness of this detail have not been fully investigated. In this paper, findings from finite element analyses performed to study the load–deformation behavior of the PE-SK with varying longitudinal gap sizes are discussed. A refined three-dimensional finite element model of the detail was developed with Abaqus. The ...
Effects of Intervention of Knowledge About Chronic Disease in Community

Objective To evaluate the effect of intervention on knowledge about chronic disease in communities. Methods After base-line investigation, community people of intervention group were sent the brochure. People of intervention group and control group were investigated by the same questionnaire six months later. And data were analyzed by Epidata 3.0 and SPSS 11.5. Results There was a statistical difference between knowledge score about chronic disease before and after intervention. The average knowledge score about chronic disease after intervention was 19.63±7.646. And 21 questions had statistical difference between correct proportion before and after intervention. Conclusions Knowledge score about chronic disease and correct proportion of some questions can be raised by brochure to some extent. Carrying out health education of chronic disease must use much more intervention means to acquire outstanding effect.
Viscosity of Geiatin-latex Mixtures

AbstractThe use of polymer dispersions for the modification of photographic gelatin emulsions started in the early sixties, the first patent being granted to Du Pont. In this paper the functions of polymer dispersions in photographic emulsions, and the conditions for their application are discussed.The interaction of gelatin and dispersions was investigated using rheological measurements and the effects of materials such as surfactants and the role of pH was examined.
Metallic Minerals, Ores, and Metals

This chapter may seem somewhat unusual to those readers more accustomed to other discussions of archaeometallurgy. Typical of those researches, one often finds the focus on the metal artifact foremost with ancillary areas such as manufacturing, utilization, and provenance archaeological/geochemical) examined at various levels of detail. These emphases are important and well placed particularly from the standpoint of the materials science, but it is the aim of this chapter to characterize archaeological metals, minerals, and ores from a geological perspective. By this, we mean to discuss the geology of ancient metallurgy without any special emphasis on the end product, e.g., the metal artifact.
New insights into discrepancies between self-reported and accelerometer-measured moderate to vigorous physical activity among women – the mPED trial

The aims of this report were 1) to describe the duration of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and the proportion of participants meeting the recommended criterion of at least 150 min of MVPA per week as measured by the 7 Day Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire (7D-PAR) and accelerometer among women who were enrolled in the mPED trial; 2) to assess the level of agreement of the two measures using a Bland-Altman plot; and 3) to describe the positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively) of meeting the guidelines by calculating the percentage of women meeting the physical activity recommendation by the 7D-PAR who also met this recommendation based on data from the accelerometer. Baseline data on duration of MVPA from the mPED trial were analyzed for 215 women. Among the women who met the recommended criterion by the 7D-PAR (self-report), we calculated the proportion of individuals who also met it by the accelerometer (objective measure). A Bland Altman Plot was used to assess concordance between the two measures. The mean age was 52.4 (±11.2) years; 54.4 % were white; and 48.8 % were single or divorced. While median MVPA was 160 min/week by the 7D-PAR, it was only 24 min/week in the accelerometer. A total of 117 women met the 150-min criterion by the 7D-PAR. Of these, only 18 also met the criterion by the objective measure (PPV 15.4 %, 95 % CI 9.4–23.2 %). Among the 98 women who did not meet the criterion by the 7D-PAR, none met it by the accelerometer (NPV 100 %). A Bland Altman plot showed the mean difference of +145 min between the two measures with a 95 % limit of agreement at + 471 to −181 min. The large discrepancy between the self-reported and objective measures of MVPA meeting the 150-min criterion suggests that self-reported physical activity measures should be used with caution in intervention studies. While our data suggest that self-report could be used to identify a physically inactive sample, it would be likely to over-estimate the proportions of women who become active in one or both arms of trials of interventions promoting MVPA. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01280812
Adding analog, EPROM and EEPROM modules to CMOS logic technology: how modular?

The issue of modularity (design, process, manufacturing, reliability) in the addition of analog (resistor and capacitor), EPROM (electrically programmable ROM) (12.5-V isolation and cell), and EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable ROM) (18-V isolation, 18-V transistor and cell) modules to core CMOS technologies is discussed. Design modularity permits the design of complex circuits using standard cell logic libraries, process modularity simplifies the task of creating and executing the process flow, manufacturing modularity defines the incremental equipment requirements, and reliability modularity eliminates the need to requalify the core process. Three specific examples are described, including an 18-V EEPROM module for a 1.6- mu m CMOS core for an 8-b microcontroller with EPROM and EEPROM; a 5-V analog module for a 1.0- mu m CMOS core for a 10-b switched-capacitor, analog-to-digital converter (ADC); and a 10-V EEPROM module for a 0.8- mu m CMOS core for a EPROM programmable array logic device. >
The Impact of Model Parameterization and Estimation Methods on Tests of Measurement Invariance With Ordered Polytomous Data

Evaluations of measurement invariance provide essential construct validity evidence—a prerequisite for seeking meaning in psychological and educational research and ensuring fair testing procedures...
‘I’m Beautiful the Way I Am’: Empowerment, Beauty, and Aesthetic Labour

The early twenty first century has given rise to an ongoing girls’ ‘confidence movement’ (Gill and Orgad 2015). This movement is decentralised, taking place in non-profit organisations, state-funded initiatives, advertising campaigns, marketing, and social media. Hundreds of organisations have emerged globally that focus on the empowerment of girls and women (Banet-Weiser 2015). Corporate culture has also joined the empowerment conversation, creating a slew of campaigns and advertisements shown on television and social media. One after another, companies like Verizon, CoverGirl, Always, and Dove have churned out emotional advertising campaigns, urging us to pay closer attention to girls and the opportunities available to them both personally and professionally. Ostensibly, the varied strands of the girls’ empowerment and confidence movement seek to mobilise publics to collective action and to create a collective subjectivity around the need to be more gender inclusive.
College Students’ Perceptions of Personal Learning Environments Through the Lens of Digital Tools, Processes and Spaces

A review of the literature reveals there is a gap in the research regarding how students currently perceive PLEs and how they structure their PLEs to support their learning goals. The purpose of this study was to establish an understanding of college students’ perceptions of PLEs and what digital tools are currently being used to structure PLEs in order to facilitate personal growth and development. Participants (N=109) were asked to share their perceptions of PLEs and what digital tools, devices, and services they use to create PLEs. Analysis of blog submissions revealed similarities and differences between the ways that undergraduate and graduate students perceive PLEs and how they characterize these learning spaces. Students reported using a variety of digital tools for learning however their expectations of digital tools were to foster discussion, collaboration, and interaction, organization, planning, and resource management, experiential learning, personalization and a desire for effective technology. The findings of this study have important implications with respect to the competencies and skills needed to create effective PLEs and the affordances of digital technologies needed to support PLE development.
Guest Editorial Special Issue on Emerging Electric Ship MVDC Power Technology

Increased demand for electric power in general and emerging requirements for servicing highly dynamic loads at reduced size and weight of the overall electric power system and its associated components on board ships, especially for naval surface combatants, motivates the consideration of a variety of new power systems architectures and technologies. While there are still advances in the alternating current (ac) system, the advent of wide bandgap (WBG) power electronics for high-power applications specifically drives the development of medium-voltage direct current (MVDC) power systems. Those are expected to provide significant operational and economic benefits for future ships. However, several technical challenges arise with MVDC systems. The main objective of this Special Edition is to collect the latest developments from industry and academia to address these technical challenges from different aspects.
Critical infrastructure asset identification: seemingly simple but frustratingly elusive

The attacks of 9/11 highlighted irrefutable vulnerabilities in the US critical infrastructure system and prompted necessary efforts to strengthen defence and resiliency of infrastructure against attack. As critical infrastructures become more dependent on cyber resources, the threat landscape continues to rapidly evolve exposing critical infrastructure to a heightened risk of cyber-attacks. The Department of Homeland Security's Risk Management Framework was developed to guide protection efforts and depends heavily on the ability of the department to effectively identify critical infrastructure assets. However, program audits have reported fundamental flaws in the US identification and prioritisation program. Specifically, there is a need for validation and verification that the right assets are being considered in order to ensure that scarce national resources are not wasted towards protection of the wrong assets. This paper summarises US critical infrastructure identification efforts, ongoing challenges to current programs, and recommendations for moving forward.
Agriculture and Sustainable Economic Growth

The decelerating growth in real agricultural gross domestic product and land productivity, increasing food insecurity among the poor and an increased level and persistence of food inflation are having an adverse impact on the growth of the economy. Agricultural growth always demands massive public goods provision and that in turn requires a radical reorientation of central, state and district government activities.
High-NA Chromatic-aberration-corrected Diffractive Lens for Broadband Focusing

Replacing bulky refractive lenses, a planar high-NA diffractive-lens is demonstrated to achieve apochromatic broadband focusing. For three-wavelength illumination (450nm, 538nm and 610nm), an average focusing efficiency of 66.6% is achieved with far-field-diffraction limited focal spots.
Transform and Transcend: Synthesis as a Transdisciplinary Approach to Thinking and Learning

In 2003, a DJ named Brian Burton, also known as Danger Mouse, produced an album that blended music from the Beatles’ White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album—it was appropriately titled the Grey Album. By the DJ’s own admission, the project was intended as an underground hip-hop experiment, primarily for local club use. However, word of the compilation spread quickly via the Internet, as did downloads of the music. It became a phenomenon unto itself. This, in turn, spurred legal backlash from EMI for the unauthorized remixing of Beatles samples. At the time, many national news outlets reporting on this incident made reference to mixing (Danger Mouse’s ‘Grey Album’ spurs dispute, 2004), remixing (Pareles, 2004), and melding (DJ Mixes Beatles, Jay-Z into “Grey,” 2004), while others used a more colloquial term long known in the music world. Danger Mouse had created the quintessential mash-up. And the term began its journey toward the mainstream.
Safety in Numbers: On the Queerness of Quantification

Adam J. Greteman and Justin N. Thorpe examine how quantification constructs queerness. The landscapes surrounding American schools are littered with numbers, and numbers have become the dominant object used to portray contemporary school experiences. From scores on exams, numbers on a scale, and the quantification of violence against queer bodies, a rather strange safety in numbers has emerged. Numbers have come to illustrate what Jane Gallop calls “logical eroticism.” In contemporary educational discourses, instruments and the data they produce have come to speak and judge the reality of experience in order to make political demands persuasive (see Lorraine Daston, Ian Hacking, Theodore Porter, Nikolas Rose), and quantification promises progress and an end to any given crisis (e.g., obesity, anti-gay bias, achievement gap). Utilizing queer theory and rhetorical studies, Greteman and Thorpe critique the quantification of anti-gay bias violence, looking specifically at the major reports released by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network to explore the queerness of numbers (e.g., their fetishization) and the rhetorical-ness of quantification regarding the queer experience. Their project does not seek simply to negate the use of quantification or numbers, but, rather, critically investigates how such numbers impact and produce the subjective possibilities of queer students.
Response of the invasive Centaurea maculosa and two native grasses to N-pulses

Nitrogen is often a limiting resource on semi-arid grasslands. During the growing season, N is often only available during short-term pulses associated with wetting events. The Eurasian forb Centaurea maculosa Lam. has invaded millions of hectares of semi-arid grasslands in western North America. C. maculosa's success could be attributed to greater use of N-pulses, or more efficient use of N supplied in those pulses compared with native grasses. In a glasshouse, C. maculosa and two native grasses, the caespitose Pseudoroegneria spicata [Scribn. and Smith] A. Love and the rhizomatous Pascopyrum smithii [Rybd.] A. Love, were established in mixed- and monoculture combinations, and then conditioned to weekly N-pulses of 8, 24, or 72 h for 8 weeks. These pulse durations are typical on semi-arid grasslands. At the end of the 8 weeks, plants were exposed to 15N-labeled nitrate (15NO3−) for 8 h and harvested 16 h later to compare short-term root uptake of 15NO3−. C. maculosa did not have greater enrichment (atom % 15N), rate of 15N-uptake (μmol g−1 h−1), or 15N acquired (relative to 15N applied) than the grasses. C. maculosa's 15N-uptake per unit mass was relatively consistent across pulse durations, whereas 15N-uptake was lower at the longer pulse durations for the grasses. In general, C. maculosa acquired more of the applied 15N than P. spicata but less than P. smithii. 15N acquired was often influenced by the neighbour's identity. Regarding growth responses, C. maculosa produced more total biomass than the grasses, except for P. smithii plants growing with C. maculosa conditioned to 72 h pulses of N. Root mass ratios varied depending on the neighbor. Overall, C. maculosa used nitrogen less efficiently than the grasses. C. maculosa's success as an invasive species cannot be explained wholly by a greater response to N-pulses or more efficient use of N-pulses compared with native grasses with which it competes.
Rust Belt Cities

Rust Belt cities, once urban centers in the heartlands of industrial production, fell victim to global restructuring, technological change, and international competition. By the late 1970s they became synonymous with poverty, population loss, and urban decay. To reverse this decline, these cities now focus on the arts, urban agrarianism, and repurposing abandoned industrial spaces to house new technologies and create jobs to attract immigrants and new, younger residents. Keywords: economic development; globalization; urbanization
SeCore: Continuous Extrospection with High Visibility on Multi-core ARM Platforms

We present SeCore, which is a novel continuous extrospection system on multi-core ARM platform. SeCore leverages ARM TrustZone technology to keep one core in the secure world and assure the integrity of the static kernel data and code in the normal world. By breaking the original time-sharing paradigm of such systems, SeCore enables continuous coprocessor-like monitoring with high visibility into the rich execution environment on mobile and IoT platforms. By ensuring that secure tools execute on certain physical CPU cores, the system's attack surface is also significantly reduced.
Clinic access and teenage birth rates: Racial/ethnic and spatial disparities in Houston, TX.

Abstract Teenage motherhood is a pressing issue in the United States, and one that is disproportionately affecting racial/ethnic minorities. In this research, we examine the relationship between the distance to the nearest reproductive health clinic and teenage birth rates across all zip codes in Houston, Texas. Our primary data come from the Texas Department of State Health Services. We use spatial regression analysis techniques to examine the link between clinic proximity and local teenage birth rates for all females aged 15 to 19, and separately by maternal race/ethnicity. We find, overall, limited support for a connection between clinic distance and local teenage birth rates. However, clinics seem to matter most for explaining non-Hispanic white teenage birth rates, particularly in high-poverty zip codes. The racial/ethnic and economic variation in the importance of clinic distance suggests tailoring clinic outreach to more effectively serve a wider range of teenage populations. We argue social accessibility should be considered in addition to geographic accessibility in order for clinics to help prevent teenage pregnancy.
Response: Discomfort in the Elements, Discomfort in Schools: An Anthropocentric Response to an Anthropocentric Argument

Everyone, everywhere experiences the atmospheric conditions. Weather is awesome; it is pure energy — creating, converting, transforming, recreating. Although human beings do not control and dominate weather (as we do other aspects of the environment), we have managed to alter it, to poison it — global warming being the obvious example. As such, place-based environmental education scholarship, such as LeAnn Holland’s eloquently written “An Element-ary Education,” posits that it is not enough to continue learning merely about the natural environment from within the confines of school walls. In challenging deeply entrenched assumptions about what constitutes a learning environment, Holland’s essay makes a strong case for exploring environmental conditions for learning outside the school structure. She offers a meditation on exposure among outdoor elements — in weather — to engender an educative encounter that is holistic, incorporating the body and mind for a transformative learning experience. In building a strong theoretical context for her argument, Holland urges her audience to rethink the canon (specifically Plato’s Phaedrus and Rousseau’s Emile) as she illustrates the relationship among the body, mind, and the elemental forces of weather in the context of experiential learning.
The Role of Estuarine Modeling in Nutrient Control

Two case studies are presented to demonstrate how estuarine water quality models can be used in planning eutrophication control. In the first study, a steady-state model is used to assess the impact of point source phosphorus reduction on the phytoplankton biomass in the upper James Estuary in Virginia during the summer months. The modeling results indicate that phosphorus is in ample supply to support the phytoplankton growth in the system. However, substantial reduction of loads by phosphorus removal at the wastewater treatment plants would lead to a phosphorus limiting condition thereby lowering the phytoplankton biomass levels. In the second study, a time-variable model is developed to investigate the potential of blue-green algal (Microcystis) blooms in the Neuse Estuary in North Carolina. More specifically, the model is designed to address two management questions. First, recognizing that high nonpoint nitrogen loads in the spring months would lead to a proliferation of non-nitrogen fixing blue-green genera, should parallel control of nitrogen be considered? Second, in light of the potential for algae species dominance to shift, is control of nitrogen fixing blue-green algal blooms possible? Based on the modeling calibration results using data from 1983, 1984 and 1985 under different hydrologic conditions, freshwater flow to the estuary is found to be a key factor in controlling blue-green algal blooms in the Neuse Estuary.
Shelterbelt: soybean production model (SBELTS)

Crown architecture is of interest to people working in sheiterbelt design, honiculture, and tree piiysiology. Crown structure may help farmers design a better sheiterbelt. horticulturists to prune to get better crown structure, and physiologists understand the relationship between morphology and physiology. This study evaluated the Weibull distribution function as a way to estimate vertical surface area curve for a hybrid cottonwood clone (Populus euramericana. NC-5326). Seventeen open grown hybrid cottonwood trees of various sizes were harvested, and total surface area within each one-meter segment was measured. Surface area distribution of each tree fit the two parameter Weibull distribution quite well. The shape parameter of the distribution for each of the 17 sample trees was similar with a mean of 2.07 and a standard deviation of 0.17. The scale parameter of the
Experiential Learning Theory in Digital Marketing Communication: Application and Outcomes of the Applied Marketing & Media Education Norm (AMEN)

Industry trades report the digital marketing skills gap continues to widen. In response to this need, Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and a partnership with a leader in marketing technology was applied to create the Applied Marketing & Media Education Norm (AMEN). AMEN provides a model matching the employment needs of the digital marketing space while creating a means for academic programs to remain current with technology. AMEN also offers unique advantages when it comes to bridging theory-based and skills-based education models through applied projects and software certifications. This produces positive outcomes for the students, faculty, department, university, and industry.
Inclusion of alkyl alcohol guest molecules into a copper (II)-based hydrogen-bonded metal-organic framework

Abstract In this study, the investigation of a copper (II) complex, which is formed by a reaction between Cu2+ ions and pyridine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid, yielding the Cu(HPDCA)2(H2O)2 compound. The previously mentioned copper (II) compound reacts with DL-α-methylbenzylamine, resulting in a complex yielding a bilayer framework containing a 5-coordinate copper (II) centre. The dissociated water molecule is assisting in the formation of a bilayer. This bilayer framework has the ability to include guest molecules, particularly alkyl alcohol molecules. The discussion of four guest included hydrogen-bonded frameworks are discussed in: (1) [α-methylbenzylammonium]2Cu(PDCA)2(H2O), (2) [α-methylbenzylammonium]2Cu(PDCA)2(H2O)·(1-octanol), (3) [α-methylbenzylammonium]2Cu(PDCA)2(H2O)·(2-octanol), (4) [α-methylbenzylammonium]2Cu(PDCA)2(H2O)·(cyclohexanol).
Non-Normative Principles

How should we think about legal principles? I mean principles understood as a distinct kind of legal provision (contrasted with rules and with enacted standards). In analytic jurisprudence, the best-known account of legal principles — Ronald Dworkin’s account — assigns them a normative function in law, albeit not a hard or determinate one. But legal principles sometimes serve a characterizing rather than a normative function: they tell us about the character of a legal system rather than giving us instructions about how to deal with difficult cases. There is a further question whether characterizing principles can nevertheless perform some sort of normative function in legal argument. In the second half of this paper, I consider the operation of constitutional principles, like the rule of law and the separation of powers. John Manning, in his treatment of the separation of powers, implies that is hard for constitutional principles to work normatively in our law because their representation in the constitutional text is ragged and compromised, and they present us with no canonical text other than the detailed provisions of the Constitution itself to chart the contours of such compromises.
Eggs, dietary cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease: the debate continues

Our group recently published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association , reporting that higher consumption of eggs or dietary cholesterol was associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in US adults (1). The publication of this result has triggered a new round of discussion and debate regarding the health concerns of egg and dietary cholesterol consumption. As discussed in the article (1) as well as related editorials (2,3), this is an observational study with limitations, although we pooled together a large diverse sample and implemented rigorous methodologies to analyze the data. In this editorial, I plan to cover several issues that are not discussed in the published article due to space constraints (1).
Draft Genome Sequences of Eight Pseudomonas aeruginosa Corneal Infection Isolates.

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the major cause of bacterial keratitis, a sight-threatening ocular infection that can occur in contact lens wearers, as well as in others. Here, we report the draft genomes of 8 different P. aeruginosa corneal isolates, adding to the list of publicly available corneal infection-associated P. aeruginosa genomes.
mTOR signaling at the crossroads of environmental signals and T-cell fate decisions

The evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) forms the distinct protein complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2 and integrates signals from the environment to coordinate downstream signaling events and various cellular processes. T cells rely on mTOR activity for their development and to establish their homeostasis and functional fitness. Here, we review recent progress in our understanding of the upstream signaling and downstream targets of mTOR. We also provide an updated overview of the roles of mTOR in T-cell development, homeostasis, activation, and effector-cell fate decisions, as well as its important impacts on the suppressive activity of regulatory T cells. Moreover, we summarize the emerging roles of mTOR in T-cell exhaustion and transdifferentiation. A better understanding of the contribution of mTOR to T-cell fate decisions will ultimately aid in the therapeutic targeting of mTOR in human disease.