cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pesticide usage pattern for vegetable cultivation in Manmunai South & Eruvilpattu divisional secretariat Division of Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka

Batticaloa, is a coastal district in Sri Lanka. Vegetables except up-country vegetables sold in Batticaloa District are mainly grown in villages. Manmunai South and Eruvilpattu divisional secretariat (DS) division is a predominantly vegetable cultivating area in the Batticaloa district. Farmers in this region use variety of synthetic pesticides to protect vegetables. Recently public concern related to health risks associated with pesticide residues has been increased, substantially. Therefore, a study was conducted to find out pesticide usage practices of farmers on vegetable cultivation in Manmunai South and Eruvilpattu DS division. Stratified random sampling method was used to select respondents’ for the survey and the collected data were analyzed statistically. It was observed that, the usage of pesticides was higher in the study area. Vegetable farmers use more than 14 Insecticides to control pest infestation. Farmers in the study area apply pesticides more frequently. Highly pesticide sprayed crop is Brinjal. About 66% of the Chilli producing farmers and 84% of the Brinjal producing farmers apply pesticide more than 22 times per cropping season. Around 90% of the farmers apply more than the recommended dosage and frequency of the pesticides. It was noticed that more than 89% of the farmers harvest the produce before the recommended pre harvest interval. It was found out that farmers in the study area are not following recommended pesticide usage practices. Hence, it is essential to educate the farmers on recommended pesticide usage practices, reduced usage of synthetic pesticides and use of organic farming practices to reduce the ill effects of synthetic pesticides. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i1.21092 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (1): 53-56, June, 2014
A Late-Glacial/Holocene Pollen Record from the Eastern Andes of Northern Peru

A pollen and sediment record of a core 4.2-m-long from Laguna Baja (7°42′ S, 77°32′ W, 3575 m) in the Cordillera Oriental of northern Peru suggests several episodes of major vegetational and climatic change over the past 13,000 yr. The oldest pollen assemblage consists of a mixture of paramo elements (tropical alpine vegetation), including high percentages of Poaceae (40%) that decline upward, moist montane forest (Compositae and Polylepis), and wet montane forest (e.g., Hedyosmum and Podocarpaceae). Organic carbon content range from 60%), with high percentages of Jamesonia, a fern characteristic of paramo and decreasing values of Plantago tubulosa and the wet montane forest elements Hedyosmum and Podocarpaceae. Charcoal percentages are at a maximum during this period, magnetic susceptibility and sand percentages are high, and percentages of organic matter are low. Several explanations for these changes are possible, including a reduction in temperature and moisture, more frequent periods of aridity with increased fires, or natural succession. The Holocene record begins with pronounced increases in organic carbon and pollen of wet montane forest, primarily Hedyosmum , Podacarpaceae, and Urticales. High values of Podocarpaceae pollen (>35%) and a decline in charcoal suggest temperature and moisture levels above modern-day values. Wet montane forest pollen remain high and charcoal values are low from about 10,000 to 6000 yr B.P., suggesting that warm and moist conditions prevailed for about 4000 yr. Subsequently Podocarpaceae and Urticales decline, and for a brief time Alnus is prominent in the pollen record. Following the Alnus maximum at about 5000 yr B.P., Poaceae, Ambrosia and Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae become frequent. Increased paramo and disturbance indicator pollen suggest increased anthropogenic activities in this region from the middle Holocene to the present.
Gastrointestinal Flu: Norovirus in Health Care and Long-Term Care Facilities

Noroviruses, recognized as the leading global cause of viral gastroenteritis and a major contributor to food-borne illness, present a growing challenge in health care and long-term care facilities. The virus spreads easily and by multiple routes. A visitor to a ward might initiate an outbreak by person-to-person contact, vomiting staff members or patients can disseminate the virus by airborne means, and contaminated surfaces, such as doorknobs and computer keyboards, can sustain an epidemic. In addition, although self-limited in healthy hosts, the virus can cause increased morbidity in more-vulnerable people. The GII.4 strain of the virus now dominates in multiple recent worldwide epidemics as well as in health care and long-term care facilities. Much like the influenza virus, norovirus appears to evolve by antigenic drift and evading the immune system, causing waves of global epidemics. Previous attempts at controlling outbreaks, both in the community and in closed facilities, provide guidance about the vigilance and action required by the health care community to diminish the clinical impact of norovirus infection.
Discriminating drunkenness: A replication

Seventy-six students in an introductory psychopharmacology class watched a videotape that portrayed four adult males drinking at a poker game. The subjects were then asked to judge whether or not any or all of the players were legally drunk. In agreement with previous work, the accuracy of their judgments did not exceed chance.
Identification of Dynamical Regimes in an Intermediate Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Model

Abstract Earlier studies have used a series of tests based on linear inverse modeling (LIM) to investigate the proposition that the dynamics of observed tropical Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies may be described as a stable linear system driven by spatially coherent stochastic forcing. Previous verifications of these tests’ dependability have been performed on highly idealized systems such as the chaotic Lorenz model. In this study, LIM and tests for validity of its underlying assumptions are performed on the output of an intermediate coupled ocean–atmosphere numerical model. Five cases are considered: 1) a coupled ocean–atmosphere, with the dynamics dominated by a single, slightly unstable mode (case 1); 2) a model equivalent to case 1, but with additional stochastic forcing (case 2); 3) a coupled ocean–atmosphere as in case 2, but with the dynamics adjusted so as to be in the stable regime (case 3); 4) yet another coupled case (case 4) but with a stable dynamical regime farther away from t...
Purification of Bacterial APOA-1 and Characterization of Novel Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery System

Although chemotherapy regimens have proved effective in attacking cancer cells and tumors, side effects and drug resistance remain a major concern during cancer therapy. The use of reconstituted high density lipoprotein (rHDL) nanoparticles has been investigated as a drug delivery system, including the transporting of small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA). The use of rHDL nanoparticles has great potential, in this regard, due to their ability to specifically target cancer cells via the HDL (SR-B1) receptor. The goal of these studies was to improve the purification of Apolipoproteins A-1 (ApoA-1), a major component of rHDL, and the preliminary characterization of the siRNA carrying rHDL nanoparticles. E.Coli cells transfected with the apo A-I gene was grown at 37OC, until an optical density of 0.6 was reached. The cells were then induced with 0.5mM Isopropyl βa-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) and centrifuged. Subsequently, the pellets were suspended in the lysate solution and loaded onto a Nickel-Sepharose column. Thereafter, rHDL nanoparticles using siRNA were prepared. 160 mg per liter of purified ApoA1 was obtained. Particle measurements and the chemical composition of the particles are being investigated. Further investigation regarding the efficiency of the incorporation of siRNA, the physical and chemical properties as well as cytotoxicity of the particles will contribute to the assessment of the efficiency of these particles as a novel anti-cancer drug delivery system.
Changes in neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios during chemoradiation predict for survival and pathologic complete response in trimodality esophageal cancer patients

Background: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) predict for survival in cancer patients. In patients receiving multimodality therapy, the effect of therapy on the NLR and PLR is not well understood. We evaluated changes in NLR and PLR among locally advanced esophageal cancer patients who received trimodality therapy. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of nonmetastatic patients with esophageal cancer who received neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) followed by esophagectomy at our institution between March 2000 and April 2012. NLR and PLR values were obtained for the following time points (TPs): (I) at diagnosis before CRT; (II) after CRT but prior to surgery; and (III) after surgery. We evaluated changes in NLR and PLR using the difference and ratio between TPs. Overall survival (OS) was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were applied to evaluate the independent prognostic significance of NLR and PLR. Results: This IRB-approved study included the records of 83 consecutive patients with stage II-IV esophageal cancer. The median age was 60 years, and median follow-up was 29.3 months. Patients were treated to a median prescription dose of 50.4 Gy (range, 50.4-56.4 Gy) in 28-33 fractions. Median NLR and PLR were 3.3 and 157.2, 12 and 645, and 11.5 and 391.7 at TPs 1, 2, and 3, respectively. On multivariate analysis, superior OS was associated with PLR ≥250 at TP3 (P=0.03), PLR decrease ≥609.2 between TP2 and TP3 (P=0.02), and PLR ratio (TP3/TP1) ≥1.08 (P=0.03). Inferior progression-free survival (PFS) was associated with NLR ≥36 at TP2 (P=0.0008), NLR increase ≥28.3 between TP1 and TP2 (P=0.0005), and PLR ratio (TP2/TP3) ≥0.38 (P=0.1). Pathologic complete response (PCR) was less likely for adenocarcinoma (AC) histology (P=0.03), NLR ≥10.6 at TP2 (P=0.04), and NLR increase ≥4.6 from TP1 to TP2 (P=0.03). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine NLR and PLR values at various time intervals throughout treatment and demonstrate a correlation between OS, PFS, and PCR in patients undergoing trimodality therapy for esophageal cancer.
Description of a soft-bodied invertebrate with microcomputed tomography and revision of the genus Chtonobdella (Hirudinea: Haemadipsidae)

Two-jawed (duognathous) terrestrial leeches in the Haemadipsidae are major pests across their wide geographic range, represented by numerous endemic species in Australia and across many islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, haemadipsid taxonomy, based largely on externally visible characters, remains in conflict with phylogenetic relationships. We capitalize on the power of microcomputed tomography (μCT), allowing for the first description of an extant soft-bodied species – Chtonobdella tanae sp. n. – using this technology. Several fixation strategies for soft-bodied invertebrates in μCT scanning applications are also evaluated. Expanding on prior work, higher taxonomy of duognathous haemadipsids also was evaluated with phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data. Whereas monophyly of duognathous leeches was supported, substantial conflict remained with respect to named genera. Consequently, the genus Chtonobdella was revised to include all duognathous leech species previously distributed in 31, mostly monotypic genera.
Brands and Consumer Relationships

Brands, no matter how defined, have been identified by marketers as a primary ingredient in effectively and efficiently differentiating their products and services from those of competitors, thus, gaining marketplace advantage (Aaker, 1996). Marketers’ brand-building activities have assumed increasingly important relationships between brand owners and brand buyers/users and that they are critical to their ongoing success.
Initial fall in skeletal muscle force development during ischemia is related to oxygen availability.

We examined the hypothesis that the initial decline (first 1-2 min) in force development that occurs in working muscle when blood flow is halted is caused by O2 availability and not another factor related to blood flow. This was tested by reducing O2 delivery (muscle blood flow X arterial O2 content) to working muscle by either stopping blood flow [ischemia (I)] or maintaining blood flow with low arterial O2 content [hypoxemia (H)]. If initial decline in force development were similar between these two methods of reducing O2 delivery, it would suggest O2 availability as the common pathway. Isolated dog gastrocnemius muscle was stimulated at approximately 60-70% of maximal O2 uptake (1 isometric tetanic contraction every 2 s) until steady-state conditions of muscle blood flow and developed force were attained (approximately 3 min). Two conditions were then sequentially imposed on the working muscle: I, induced by shutting off pump controlling arterial perfusion of the muscle and clamping venous outflow, and H, induced by perfusing the muscle with deoxygenated blood (collected before testing while animal breathed N2) at steady-state blood flow level. Rates of the fall in force production in 17 matched conditions of H and I (approximately 40 s for each condition) were compared in 6 muscles tested. The blood perfusing the muscle during H had arterial PO2 = 8 +/- 1 (SE) Torr, arterial PCO2 = 37 +/- 1 Torr, and arterial pH = 7.39 +/- 0.03. The rate of decline in developed force was not significantly different (P = 0.46) between the 17 matched conditions of H (0.66 +/- 0.10 g force.g mass-1.s-1) and I (0.79 +/- 0.15 g force.g mass-1.s-1). These findings suggest that the initial fall in developed force in working skeletal muscle that occurs with ischemia is related to O2 availability.
Nonparametric bayesian models for unsupervised learning

Unsupervised learning is an important topic in machine learning. In particular, clustering is an unsupervised learning problem that arises in a variety of applications for data analysis and mining. Unfortunately, clustering is an ill-posed problem and, as such, a challenging one: no ground-truth that can be used to validate clustering results is available. Two issues arise as a consequence. Various clustering algorithms embed their own bias resulting from different optimization criteria. As a result, each algorithm may discover different patterns in a given dataset. The second issue concerns the setting of parameters. In clustering, parameter setting controls the characterization of individual clusters, and the total number of clusters in the data. Clustering ensembles have been proposed to address the issue of different biases induced by various algorithms. Clustering ensembles combine different clustering results, and can provide solutions that are robust against spurious elements in the data. Although clustering ensembles provide a significant advance, they do not address satisfactorily the model selection and the parameter tuning problem. Bayesian approaches have been applied to clustering to address the parameter tuning and model selection issues. Bayesian methods provide a principled way to address these problems by assuming prior distributions on model parameters. Prior distributions assign low probabilities to parameter values which are unlikely. Therefore they serve as regularizers for modeling parameters, and can help avoid over-fitting. In addition, the marginal likelihood is used by Bayesian approaches as the criterion for model selection. Although Bayesian methods provide a principled way to perform parameter tuning and model selection, the key question "How many clusters?" is still open. This is a fundamental question for model selection. A special kind of Bayesian methods, nonparametric Bayesian approaches, have been proposed to address this important model selection issue. Unlike parametric Bayesian models, for which the number of parameters is finite and fixed, nonparametric Bayesian models allow the number of parameters to grow with the number of observations. After observing the data, nonparametric Bayesian models fit the data with finite dimensional parameters. An additional issue with clustering is high dimensionality. High-dimensional data pose a difficult challenge to the clustering process. A common scenario with high-dimensional data is that clusters may exist in different subspaces comprised of different combinations of features (dimensions). In other words, data points in a cluster may be similar to each other along a subset of dimensions, but not in all dimensions. People have proposed subspace clustering techniques, a.k.a. co-clustering or bi-clustering, to address the dimensionality issue (here, I use the term co-clustering). Like clustering, also co-clustering suffers from the ill-posed nature and the lack of ground-truth to validate the results.
On The Modeling Of The Reinforcement Rings InMasonry Buildings: An Example

Repair operations on many masonry buildings require the insertion into the structure of metallic reinforcement parts, such as rods or plates. The ability to appropriately model the contact interaction between masonry and reinforcement is very important in numerical simulations. Such interaction can be taken into account by the introduction of mutual constraints, or tying relations, among the displacements of nodes facing each other at the interface. In this paper, after a brief outline of the numerical technique, the case of an old chimney with a reinforcement ring in analysed and the results presented.
Enumeration of Platelets

A correlation of the enumeration of platelets in peripheral smears with platelet counts performed by a direct method is presented. A ratio of 1 platelet per oil-immersion field for every 21,000 platelets of the chamber count indicates the normal average range of platelets to be approximately 7--21 per oil-immersion field.
The Effects of Ribosome Autocatalysis and Negative Feedback in Resource Competition

Resource competition, and primarily competition for ribosomes, can lead to unexpected behavior of genetic circuits and has recently gained renewed attention with both experimental and theoretical studies. Current models studying the effects of resource competition assume a constant production of ribosomes and these models describe the experimental results well. However, ribosomes are also autocatalytic since they are partially made of protein and autocatalysis has been shown to have detrimental effects on a system9s stability and robustness. Additionally, there are known feedback regulations on ribosome synthesis such as inhibition of rRNA synthesis via ppGpp. Here, we develop two-state models of ribosome and protein synthesis incorporating autocatalysis and feedback to investigate conditions under which these regulatory actions have a significant effect in situations of increased ribosome demand. Our modeling results indicate that for sufficiently low demand, defined by the mRNA level of synthetic genes, autocatalysis has little or no effect. However, beyond a certain demand level, the system goes through a transcritical bifurcation at which the only non-negative steady state is at zero ribosome concentration. The presence of negative feedback, in turn, can shift this point to higher demand values, thus restoring the qualitative behavior observed in a model with a constant ribosome production at low demand. However, autocatalysis affects the dynamics of the system and can lead to an overshoot in the temporal response of the synthetic genes to changes in induction level. Our results show that ribosome autocatalysis has a significant effect on the system robustness to increases in ribosome demand, however the existing negative feedback on ribosome production compensates for the effects of the necessary autocatalytic loop and restores the behavior seen in the system with constant ribosome production. These findings explain why previous models with constant ribosome production reproduce the steady state behavior well, however incorporating autocatalysis and feedback is needed to capture the transient behavior.
The coupling of epidermal growth factor receptor down regulation and cell cycle arrest in growth suppression of ovarian cancer cells by 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3

Objective:To investigate the regulation of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)and cell cycle in human ovarian cancer cells(OVCAR3).Methods: Western blot was used to determine the expression of EGFR,p27,Cyclin E and GADD45 protein.Cell growth assay was used to measure cell growth,and flow cytometry was used to determine the cell cycle distribution.OVCAR3 cells were transfected with pcDNA3-EGFRvIII plasmids,for the establishment of stable clones(EGFR-OVCAR3) that highly express EGFR constitutively.Results: 1,25(OH)2D3 decreased EGFR protein expression in OVCAR3 cells.EGFR-OVCAR3 cells resisted to 1,25(OH)2D3-induced growth suppression of OVCAR3 cells.1,25(OH)2D3 increased p27 and GADD45 protein expression and decreased Cyclin E protein expression in OVCAR3.EGFR-OVCAR3 cells resisted to 1,25(OH)2D3-induced regulation of p27,Cyclin E and GADD45.Inhibitor of EGFR regulated p27 and Cyclin E protein expression in EGFR-OVCAR3 cells.Conclusion:1,25(OH)2D3 down regulates the expression of EGFR and then induces cell cycle arrest in growth suppression of ovarian cancer cells.
Phonon Scattering in Amorphous Solids

The thermal conductivity of all amorphous dielectric solids shows a most remarkable uniformity which appears to be insensitive to the host and to chemical impurities. This is demonstrated in Fig. 1 in which the conductivities of all amorphous dielectric solids measured to-date are summarized (1,2). To within less than a factor of 10, the conductivity Λ depends solely on the temperature and not on the material, it has a plateau in the temperature region around 10K, and below 1K approaches a power low Λ ∝Tδ where δ falls into the range 1.8 < δ < 2.0. (Note in particular the recent data obtained by Lasjaunias et al (2) extending the temperature range in which this law appears to hold to 0.025K, with δ=1.95). In this lecture, we want to review some of the studies undertaken to understand this remarkable fact.
Ethical Issues in the ‘New’ Genetics

The ‘new’ genetics refers to the increase in the power of genetics that followed understanding of the biochemical basis for genetics in DNA. This heightened power both creates new ethical and social concerns and exacerbates older ones. This article surveys those ethical and social concerns in seven different categories. It deals first with social dislocations that would follow success in fighting disease. It then discusses issues of identity, including forensic identification, human cloning, and ethnicity. It next describes problems arising from using DNA to predict the future, including prenatal selection to avoid disease or for genetic ‘enhancement,’ postnatal genetic testing, genetic discrimination, and behavioral genetics. The article then considers questions stemming from using DNA to reveal histories, both individual and collective. The next set of issues arises from the manipulation of human genes by gene therapy (both somatic cell and germ line), the creation of chimeras, and the creation of 2new2 genes. The article then analyzes issues of ownership and control, including control of research, patents, and privacy. It ends by examining the possible implications of the new genetics for our views of humans' relationship to other forms of life, humans' relationships to each other, and the ‘nature and nurture’ dichotomy.
Using the Bifocal Modeling Framework to Resolve “Discrepant Events” Between Physical Experiments and Virtual Models in Biology

In this paper, we investigate an approach to supporting students’ learning in science through a combination of physical experimentation and virtual modeling. We present a study that utilizes a scientific inquiry framework, which we call “bifocal modeling,” to link student-designed experiments and computer models in real time. In this study, a group of high school students designed computer models of bacterial growth with reference to a simultaneous physical experiment they were conducting, and were able to validate the correctness of their model against the results of their experiment. Our findings suggest that as the students compared their virtual models with physical experiments, they encountered “discrepant events” that contradicted their existing conceptions and elicited a state of cognitive disequilibrium. This experience of conflict encouraged students to further examine their ideas and to seek more accurate explanations of the observed natural phenomena, improving the design of their computer models.
Presidents, Parties, and Prime Ministers: Insiders and Outsiders

If we think of parties as teams of politicians who cooperate in elections and in government, then a critical question is, How do parties select their leaders? All organizations must cope with delegation problems, as principal-agent theory suggests. In this chapter, we consider how different democratic regimes shape the central issue parties face in terms of delegation: selection of those who seek the offices of president and prime minister. As noted in Chapter 2, principals who hire agents face the inherent potential for agency losses, which occur when agents do not act faithfully in their principals' interest. In business or industry, disputes often emerge over the amount of effort the agents expend (“slacking”). In politics, by way of contrast, conflicts frequently emerge over the course of action agents pursue (Kiewiet and McCubbins 1991, 24). Parties have good reason to fear such agency losses due to two problems: adverse selection and moral hazard. Adverse selection is a danger because prospective agents have incentives to misrepresent their preferences, downplay their character flaws, and hide their lack of experience or skills – particularly if their true plans clash with the organization's preferences. When agents have misrepresented themselves, they can make Madison's worst nightmare come true if after selection to the leadership post they pursue their own interests, or pursue their own vision of what the party's goals ought to be – even if their personal interests or goals are adverse to the party's.
Factor Analyses of Aspects of Individual Volunteer Fund Raising

This paper contributes to the growing body of research which reflects the efforts of marketers to apply their expertise to non-business problems. Three sets of variables concerned with fund raising by volunteer soliciters - sales behavior,personal characteristics, and outcomes - were examined to determine underlying factors. The data employed was gathered from 37 of 42 fund raising volunteers for a health-related charitable organization. Eleven factors in total were identified and named. Of the eleven factors, two accounted for 61.7% of the variance in sales behaviors; five accounted for 59% of the variance in personal characteristics; and four accounted for 66% of the variance in outcomes.
Clinical documentation of dental care in an era of electronic health record use.

Abstracts Background Although complete and accurate clinical records do not guarantee the provision of excellent dental care, they do provide an opportunity to evaluate the quality of care provided. However, a lack of universally accepted documentation standards, incomplete record-keeping practices, and unfriendly electronic health care record (EHR) user interfaces are factors that have allowed for persistent poor dental patient record keeping. Methods Using 2 different methods—a validated survey, and a 2-round Delphi process—involving 2 appropriately different sets of participants, we explored what a dental clinical record should contain and the frequency of update of each clinical entry. Results For both the closed-ended survey questions and the open-ended Delphi process questions, respondents had a significant degree of agreement on the "clinical entry" components of an adequate clinical record. There was, however, variance on how frequently each of those clinical entries should be updated. Summary Dental providers agree that complete and accurate record keeping is essential and that items such as histories, examination findings, diagnosis, radiographs, treatment plans, consents, and clinic notes should be documented. There, however, does not seem to be universal agreement how frequently such items should be recorded. Clinical Implications As the dental profession moves towards prevalent use of electronic health care records, the issue of standardization and interoperability becomes ever more pressing. Settling issues of standardization, including record documentation, must begin with guideline-creating dental professional bodies, who need to clearly define and disseminate what these standards should be and everyday dentists who will ultimately ensure that these standards are met and kept.
Ethnicity, Masculinity, and Lineage: The Cultural Biography of a Colonial Massachusetts Parcel of Land

This cultural biography traces the multiple meanings of a large parcel of land in colonial Dunstable, Massachusetts, for members of the Tyng family between the late 17th and the end of the 18th centuries by examining the representation of the land in the documentary record of deeds and probate documents. The land and the deeds employed to transform new territory into a bounded and saleable item were artifacts used in the definition of the Tyngs’ ethnicity (Anglo-American), particularly in the context of 17th-century interactions with the Native Americans. The land was also tied to the expression of independent masculinity and the ability to provide a competence for sons. The role that the land played in the construction of their identities, however, could never be reduced to simply one of these factors since both land ownership and the idea of Englishness and masculinity were tied to concepts of status, family hierarchy, and profession. Finally, an analysis Sarah Tyng’s land transactions at the end of the 18th century demonstrates the ways in which women could also use land to make statements of power and about lineage.
Generation-After-Next Power Electronics: Ultrawide-bandgap devices, high-temperature packaging, and magnetic nanocomposite materials

A new generation of power electronic conversion systems is being enabled by wide-bandgap (WBG) devices. Applications in both the civilian and defense sectors are already beginning to benefit from the improved size, weight, and power (SWaP) now being demonstrated in power converters utilizing silicon carbide (SiC) and/or gallium nitride (GaN) switches, and numerous manufacturers are offering various types of switching devices fabricated from these two WBG semiconductors.
Protein profiles of hatchery egg shell membrane

Eggshells which consist largely of calcareous outer shell and shell membranes, constitute a significant part of poultry hatchery waste. The shell membranes (ESM) not only contain proteins that originate from egg whites but also from the developing embryos and different contaminants of microbial and environmental origins. As feed supplements, during post hatch growth, the hatchery egg shell membranes (HESM) have shown potential for imparting resistance of chickens to endotoxin stress and exert positive health effects. Considering that these effects are mediated by the bioactive proteins and peptides present in the membrane, the objective of the study was to identify the protein profiles of hatchery eggshell membranes (HESM). Hatchery egg shell membranes were extracted with acidified methanol and a guanidine hydrochloride buffer then subjected to reduction/alkylation, and trypsin digestion. The methanol extract was additionally analyzed by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The tryptic digests were analyzed by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) to identify the proteins. Our results showed the presence of several proteins that are inherent and abundant in egg white such as, ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, ovocleidin-116, and lysozyme, and several proteins associated with cytoskeletal, cell signaling, antimicrobial, and catalytic functions involving carbohydrate, nucleic acid, and protein metabolisms. There were some blood derived proteins most likely originating from the embryos and several other proteins identified with different aerobic, anaerobic, gram positive, gram negative, soil, and marine bacterial species some commensals and others zoonotic. The variety of bioactive proteins, particularly the cell signaling and enzymatic proteins along with the diverse microbial proteins, make the HESM suitable for nutritional and biological application to improve post hatch immunity of poultry.
A cross-cultural examination of the curvilinear relationship between perceived demands-abilities fit and risk-taking propensity

Abstract We propose a U-shaped relationship between perceived demands-abilities (D-A) fit and risk-taking propensity that is contingent on individual-level uncertainty avoidance and test this relationship in the U.S., China, and Japan. We find a consistent cross-cultural support for the main curvilinear relationships, whereas the moderating role of individual-level uncertainty avoidance is supported in the U.S. and Japan, but not China. Our results challenge the conventional wisdom that relationships between fit and job outcomes are linear and open up new research avenues for person-environment research which should examine both ‘bright’ and ‘dark’ sides of fit.
Complexity of Human Antibody Response to Dengue Virus: Implication for Vaccine Development.

The four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV) are the leading cause of arboviral diseases in humans. Decades of efforts have made remarkable progress in dengue vaccine development. Despite the first dengue vaccine (dengvaxia from Sanofi Pasteur), a live-attenuated tetravalent chimeric yellow fever-dengue vaccine, has been licensed by several countries since 2016, its overall moderate efficacy (56.5-60.8%) in the presence of neutralizing antibodies during the Phase 2b and 3 trials, lower efficacy among dengue naive compared with dengue experienced individuals, and increased risk of hospitalization among young children during the follow-up highlight the need for a better understanding of humoral responses after natural DENV infection. Recent studies of more than 300 human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against DENV have led to the discovery of several novel epitopes on the envelope protein recognized by potent neutralizing mAbs. This information together with in-depth studies on polyclonal sera and B-cells following natural DENV infection has tremendous implications for better immunogen design for a safe and effective dengue vaccine. This review outlines the progress in our understanding of mouse mAbs, human mAbs, and polyclonal sera against DENV envelope and precursor membrane proteins, two surface proteins involved in vaccine development, following natural infection; analyses of these discoveries have provided valuable insight into new strategies involving molecular technology to induce more potent neutralizing antibodies and less enhancing antibodies for next-generation dengue vaccine development.
Education policy research in the big data era: Methodological frontiers, misconceptions, and challenges

Despite abundant data and increasing data availability brought by technological advances, there has been very limited education policy studies that have capitalized on big data—characterized by large volume, wide variety, and high velocity. Drawing on the recent progress of using big data in public policy and computational social science research, this commentary discusses how to approach big data and how big data can be used in education policy research. First, I introduce big data that is potentially relevant to education policy research. I then present methodological frontiers by examining the assumptions, key concepts, merits, and caveats of three commonly used analytical approaches to mining massive amounts of text data: topic models, network text analysis, and sentiment analysis. Next, to ensure the veracity of using big data in education policy research, I debunk three methodological misconceptions. This commentary concludes with a discussion on developing interdisciplinary research capacity and addressing the privacy concerns and ethical conundrums as we explore a research agenda of using big data in education policy.
Spatially encoded fast single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy with full field-of-view

We report a simple single-molecule fluorescence imaging method that increases the temporal resolution of any type of array detector by >5-fold with full field-of-view. We spread single-molecule spots to adjacent pixels by rotating a mirror in the detection path during the exposure time of a single frame, which encodes temporal information into the spatial domain. Our approach allowed us to monitor fast blinking of an organic dye, the dissociation kinetics of very short DNA and conformational changes of biomolecules with much improved temporal resolution than the conventional method. Our technique is useful when a large field-of-view is required, for example, in the case of weakly interacting biomolecules or cellular imaging.
Co-Regularized Deep Multi-Network Embedding

Network embedding aims to learn a low-dimensional vector representation for each node in the social and information networks, with the constraint to preserve network structures. Most existing methods focus on single network embedding, ignoring the relationship between multiple networks. In many real-world applications, however, multiple networks may contain complementary information, which can lead to further refined node embeddings. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel multi-network embedding method, DMNE. DMNE is flexible. It allows different networks to have different sizes, to be (un)weighted and (un)directed. It leverages multiple networks via cross-network relationships between nodes in different networks, which may form many-to-many node mappings, and be associated with weights. To model the non-linearity of the network data, we develop DMNE to have a new deep learning architecture, which coordinates multiple neural networks (one for each input network data) with a co-regularized loss function. With multiple layers of non-linear mappings, DMNE progressively transforms each input network to a highly non-linear latent space, and in the meantime, adapts different spaces to each other through a co-regularized learning schema. Extensive experimental results on real-life datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.
The α-Globin Genotype as a Determinant of Hematologic Parameters in Sickle Cell Trait

ABSTRACT It has been predicted that the trimodal distribution of the percentages of hemoglobins containing either an α-globin mutant or a β-globin mutant is caused by differing numbers of α-globin genes in subjects heterozygous for the mutation. Using restriction endonuclease mapping as an objective measure of the number of α-globin genes present, we were able to demonstrate that the percentage of hemoglobin S in black sickle trait subjects is proportional to the number of α-globin genes present. We compared three hematologic parameters: hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, and percentage of hemoglobin S to the number of α-globin genes present. Using the Hb concentration and the mean corpuscular volume of sickle trait subjects with four, three, or two α-globin genes allowed distinguishing the group of α-thalassemia trait (two α-globin genes) from the nonthalassemic group (four α-globin genes) and the silent carrier group (three α-globin genes). Comparing the mean percentages of Hb S it was possible to distinguish among all three groups.
P57: HbE/β-thalassemia associated pathophysiology: Mechanisms originating from reduced HbE nitrite reactivity

HbE/β-thalassemia (HbE/β-thal) is probably the most common severe hemoglobinopathy world-wide: a heterogenous clinical spectrum presents with variations in anemia, growth, development, hepatosplenomegaly, and transfusion requirements. Hence, HbE/β-thal is a serious cause of chronic disease resulting in high morbidity with often fatal consequences from cardiac failure. It is most prevalent in Southeast Asia but is now a national health issue, encountered with increasing frequency in immigrants living in the United States, as well as Canada, Europe, and Australia. Mutant HbE exhibits normal oxygen affinity and cooperativity, and an enhanced redox potential. Homozygous individuals (HbEE) manifest only a mild, chronic anemia and individuals with β-thal trait usually exhibit a benign clinical picture. Thus, it remains an enigma as to why HbE/β-thal individuals exhibit high morbidity that often results in death by cardiac failure. The pathology has been attributed to the mild thalassemic-like nature of the HbE mutation at the α1β1 interface and coupling with β-thal that causes significant oxidative stress. While HbE in vitro is highly unstable, no in vivo evidence for HbE instability has been demonstrated. A plausible mechanism directly related to the functional properties of HbE has yet to emerge. We have uncovered in vitro a surprising functional difference of purified HbE compared to normal HbA: despite very similar oxygen binding properties, HbE exhibits reduced efficacy as a nitrite-mediated generator of nitric oxide [i.e., minimized nitrite reductase (NR) activity] [Roche et al., J. Biol. Chem., 2011]; and recently, demonstrated that HbE is inefficient in the nitrite anhydrase (NA) reaction, while enhanced in the reductive nitrosylation (RN) reaction]. Sol–gel studies support a mechanism whereby the R/T dependent redox potential is the primary factor controlling the partitioning between the RN and NA reactions of Hb. These observations have led to a hypothesis that provides a novel explanation for HbE/β-thal pathophysiology: since HbE in vitro exhibits decreased NR and NA activity, and is enhanced in the RN reaction compared to normal HbA, the pathology associated with HbE/β-thal disease arises from the decreased bioavailability of nitric oxide that in turn exacerbates a mild oxidative stress arising from β-thal trait, that in sum, engenders deleterious consequences, both at the level of the RBC and vasculature. These novel findings and model will be presented in an overview of this grave disease. Disclosure Nothing to disclose.
ION Channels and Membrane Receptors in Follicle-Enclosed Xenopus Oocytes

The follicle-enclosed Xenopus oocyte (follicle) is a well-studied system that has been utilized in investigations of cell division, ion channels, membrane receptors, second messenger systems, protein synthesis, cell-to-cell interactions and development, cellular polarity, fertilization, etc. (Masui and Markert, 1971; Gurdon et al., 1971; Kusano et al., 1977, 1982; Robinson, 1979; Kado et al., 1981; Miledi, 1982; Miledi and Parker, 1984; Parker and Miledi, 1986; Browne and Werner, 1984; Webb and Nuccitelli, 1985). Much of this knowledge helped to develop the oocyte as a system for expressing exogenous mRNA or cRNA and studying the transcribed proteins (Gurdon et al., 1971; Barnard et al., 1982; Miledi et al., 1982; Gundersen et al., 1983,1984; Colman, 1984a,b). Because of all the background knowledge accumulated, and because Xenopus oocytes offer many advantages, they are now commonly used in laboratories interested in diverse areas of the biomedicai sciences.
An Investigation of Sheet-stiffener Panels Subjected to Compression Loads with Particular Reference to Torsionally Weak Stiffeners

A total of 183 panel specimens of 24ST aluminum alloy with nominal thickness of 0.020, and 0.040 inch with extruded bulb-angle sections of 12 shapes spaced 4 and 5 inches as stiffeners were tested to obtain the buckling stress and the amplitude of the maximum wave when buckled. Bulb angles from 3 to 27 1/2 inches long were tested as pin-end columns. The experimental data are presented as stress-strain and column curves and in tabular form. Some comparisons with theoretical results are presented. Analytical methods are developed that make it possible for the designer to predict with reasonable accuracy the buckling stress and the maximum-wave amplitude of the sheet in stiffened-panel combinations. The scope of the tests was insufficient to formulate general design criteria but the results are presented as a guide for design and an indication of the type of theoretical and experimental work that is needed.
Three applications of ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy of semiconductor thin films: spectroelectrochemistry, microscopy, and identification of thermal contributions

This review describes three recent developments in ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy that have revealed new insights into the dynamics of photogenerated charge carriers in solution-processed semiconductor thin films. Transient absorption spectroelectrochemistry, in which transient absorption spectra are collected on a semiconductor film immersed in electrolyte solution under an applied potential, provides information about the dependence of transport of photogenerated charges on interfacial electronic structure. Ultrafast transient absorption microscopy enables measurement of excited state dynamics with sub-micron spatial resolution, which has been used to investigate the influence of film morphology on local excited state dynamics and image directly charge transport in solution-processed organic and hybrid organic–inorganic lead-halide perovskite semiconducting films. Finally, the recent identification of significant thermal contributions to the transient absorption spectra of organic and metal oxide semiconductor films is discussed, along with its potential implications for future measurements.
The Flags of Time: Temporal Decoloniality in Casa de areia and O ano em que meus pais saíram de férias

In the films Casa de areia (2005) and O ano em que meus pais sairam de ferias (2006), time serves as an avatar of the larger colonial matrix. Though both films explore other expressions of coloniality, such as race, ethnicity, gender, assimilation, and politics, what sets them apart is that their disobedience against colonial forces takes place on a temporal plane. Both protagonists, Aurea and Mauro, find themselves on geographic or social islands, wrestling against the power of time. Aurea’s story highlights many of the scientific issues of time reckoning. Mauro’s involves rejecting the fusion of a political and temporal colonial project during the 1970 World Cup. In crucial instances of disorientation for each character, they "delink" from colonial paradigms of time, revealing that neither coloniality nor time itself is absolute.
UNIT 4.9 GrailEXP and Genome Analysis Pipeline for Genome Annotation

The Basic Protocol describes the use of GrailEXP, the latest version of the gene finding system from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. GrailEXP provides gene models, by making use of sequence similarity with Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) and known genes. GrailEXP also provides alternatively spliced constructs for each gene based on the available EST evidence. The Support Protocol describes the use of the Genome Analysis Pipeline, a web application which allows users to perform comprehensive sequence analysis by offering a selection from a wide choice of supported gene finders, other biological feature finders, and database searches.