cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
THE PHENOMENON OF CONGLOMERATE CRYSTALLIZATION. PART 43. THE CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF K[cis-α-Co(N-N′-Et2-Edda)(NO2)2] · 2H2O (I), {CS[cis-α-Co(Edda)(NO2)2]}2 · 3H2O (II), Rb[cis-α-Co(Edda)(NO2)2 · H2O (III) and NH4[cis-α-Co(Edda)(NO2)2] · 2H2O (IV)

Abstract K[cis-α-Co(Et2-edda)(NO2)2] · 2H2O (I), CoKO10N4C10H22, crystallizes in the space group P21/n(No. 14), with lattice constants: a = 7.339(2), b = 15.750(3), c = 15.492(4) A and β 101.65(2)°; V = 1753.86A3 and d(calc; MW = 456.34, Z = 4) = 1.728 g-cm−3. A total of 3335 data were collected over the range of 4° ≤ 2θ ≤ 50°; of these, 2553 (independent and with I > 3σ(I)) were used in the structural analysis. Data were corrected for absorption (μ = 12.688 cm−1) and the transmission coefficients ranged from 0.8860 to 0.9997. Final values of the residuals were R(F) = 0.0275 and Rw (F) = 0.0301. The anions of the racemic pairs in the unit cell have the chiroptical symbols A(δΛδ) and Δ(ΛδΛ). {Cs[cis-α-Co(edda)(NO2)2]}2 · 3H2O (II), Cs2Co2O19N8C8H18, crystallizes in the space group C2/c(No. 15), with lattice constants: a = 19.304(6), b = 10.992(4), c = 13.809 (5) A and β = 106.42(3)°; V = 2827.11 A3 and d(calc; MW = 913.95 Z = 4) = 2.147 g-cm−1. A total of 4192 data were collected over the range of 4° ≤ 2θ ...
Apolipoprotein profiles in subjects with and without peripheral artery disease

We compared plasma apolipoprotein profiles in subjects with peripheral artery disease (PAD) treated with statin medications (n = 21), subjects with PAD who are untreated with statins (n = 18), and control subjects (n = 70). Subjects were assessed on plasma apolipoproteins, medical history, physical examination, ankle/brachial index, and exercise performance using a treadmill test. The percentage of subjects with an abnormal value of ApoB (≥ 95 mg/dL) was 53% in the PAD group untreated with statins, 29% in the treated PAD group, and 13% in the controls (p<0.001). The PAD group untreated with statins had higher values for ApoB (p<0.001), triglycerides (p<0.01), LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio (p<0.05), and glucose (p<0.01) than the control group. In contrast, when the statin treated PAD group was compared with controls, none of the variables were different except that the treated PAD group had lower LDL-cholesterol (p<0.01) and higher glucose (p<0.01). Furthermore, the PAD group treated with statins had lower ApoB (p<0.01), triglycerides (p<0.001), LDL-cholesterol (p<0.05), LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio (p<0.05), and non-HDL-cholesterol (p<0.05) than the untreated PAD group. In conclusion, subjects with PAD who are untreated with statin medications have higher levels of ApoB than controls, whereas subjects treated with statins have a more favorable risk profile, characterized by lower ApoB, LDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C ratio, and non-HDL-C concentrations. Statin therapy may be efficacious for improving apolipoprotein profiles in subjects with PAD and intermittent claudication.
Generalized congruence properties of the restricted partition function p(n,m)

Ramanujan-type congruences for the unrestricted partition function p(n) are well known and have been studied in great detail. The existence of Ramanujan-type congruences are virtually unknown for p(n,m), the closely related restricted partition function that enumerates the number of partitions of n into exactly m parts. Let l be any odd prime. In this paper we establish explicit Ramanujan-type congruences for p(n,l) modulo any power of that prime lα. In addition, we establish general congruence relations for p(n,l) modulo lα for any n.
A new fine-frequency estimation algorithm based on parabolic regression

A simple fine-frequency estimation algorithm that makes use of power information only is described. The simplest methods that are currently used are based on finding the peak of the parabola that interpolates a local maximum value in the power spectrum together with the two adjacent power values. This method is based on performing a least-squares fit of a parabola with a fixed shape to the peak power value and the two adjacent values. The resulting closed-form, high-accuracy method yields estimates that are less biased than those provided by the interpolation formula, but with a simpler computation. >
An experimental and numerical investigation of the static and dynamic constitutive behaviour of aluminium alloys

A split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) set-up was used to investigate the dynamic constitutive behaviour of commercial aluminium alloys both experimentally and numerically. The study was conducted i...
Persistence of Ebola Virus in Sterilized Wastewater

In the wake of the ongoing 2014/2015 Ebola virus outbreak, significant questions regarding the appropriate handling of Ebola virus-contaminated liquid waste remain, including the persistence of Ebola virus in wastewater. To address these uncertainties, we evaluated the persistence of Ebola virus spiked in sterilized domestic sewage. The viral titer decreased approximately 99% within the first test day from an initial viral titer of 106 TCID50 mL–1; however, it could not be determined if this initial rapid decrease was due to aggregation or inactivation of the viral particles. The subsequent viral titer decrease was less rapid, and infectious Ebola virus particles persisted for all 8 days of the test. The inactivation constant (k) was determined to be −1.08 (2.1 days for a 90% viral titer decrease). Due to experimental conditions, we believe these results to be an upper bound for Ebola virus persistence in wastewater. Wastewater composition is inherently heterogeneous; subsequently, we caution that interpr...
Intracellular delivery of molecules using microfabricated nanoneedle arrays

Many bioactive molecules have intracellular targets, but have difficulty crossing the cell membrane to reach those targets. To address this difficulty, we fabricated arrays of nanoneedles to gently and simultaneously puncture 10(5) cells and thereby provide transient pathways for transport of molecules into the cells. The nanoneedles were microfabricated by etching silicon to create arrays of nanoneedles measuring 12 μm in height, tapering to a sharp tip less than 30 nm wide to facilitate puncture into cells and spaced 10 μm apart in order to have at least one nanoneedle puncture each cell in a confluent monolayer. These nanoneedles were used for intracellular delivery in two ways: puncture loading, in which nanoneedle arrays were pressed into cell monolayers, and centrifuge loading, in which cells in suspension were spun down onto nanoneedle arrays. The effects on intracellular uptake and cell viability were determined as a function of nanoneedle length and sharpness, puncture force and duration, and molecular weight of the molecule delivered. Under optimal conditions, intracellular uptake was seen in approximately 50 % of cells while maintaining high cell viability. Overall, this study provides a comparative analysis of intracellular delivery using nanoneedle arrays by two different loading methods over a range of operating parameters.
A technique for measuring 3D crystal-size distributions of prismatic microlites in obsidian

We describe a technique for determining the 3D size, shape, and number density of prismatic microlites in obsidian. The procedure involves collecting a series of optical photomicrographs at successive levels in a transparent thin section with a petrographic microscope and digital camera. These images are combined to form 3D stacks with NIH Image software. The number, position, orientation, and projection length of each microlite in the stack are then determined, and these data are used to calculate the true length and number density. CSDs based on direct measurements exhibit asymptotic, lognormal, and near-lognormal profiles. These forms, in addition to broad variations in crystal aspect ratio suggest that microlites experienced a range of growth rates. Textural parameters (e.g., total crystal-number density and volume) determined from regressions of linear CSDs under the assumption of constant growth rate compare well with directly measured parameters. We compared {AU: word was missing ‐ change OK?} CSDs based on 3D measurements with those based on 2D measurements of intersection length and area number density. Stereological conversions of 2D data are necessary owing to the cut-section effect and intersection probability problem. We performed corrections with three widely used algorithms and, thus, our comparisons test the accuracy of {AU: word was missing ‐ change OK?} these correction methods as applied to prismatic microlites in obsidian. CSDs based on 3D measurements are linear over most of the size range. In contrast, conversion programs produce kinked CSDs, with large positive errors in population density at small crystal size. Errors in population density are caused by shape (aspect ratio) variability in the sample population. Conversion programs, which assume a constant shape, overestimate the number of small crystals owing to a large number of intersections along the short crystal dimension. In the real population, these intersections correspond to a wide range of true lengths. Consequently, CSDs constructed from intersection lengths are kinked rather than linear. Kinked and curved CSDs have been interpreted to result from mixing of distinct crystal populations, sharp variations in growth and/or nucleation rate, or from crystal settling. Our results suggest that nonlinear CSDs in some cases may also arise as an artifact of shape variability in the natural population.
Hunting for Hispanic-American Manuscripts in Spain

Abstract Beginning in the eighteenth century with Mufloz, historians have been searching the archives of Spain looking for Americas manuscripts. Charles Upson Clark was funded to do such a search in the early 1930's and while his findings in Spain were neither especially significant nor his investigations systematic, the reports he submitted to his sponsors tell us much about conditions and holdings in several important locations just before the Civil War that caused so much damage and loss in many repositories. This report, comparing his data with that collected more recently, summarizes his findings in Barcelona, Cordoba and Granada.
Leukotriene B4 potentiates airway muscle responsiveness in vivo and in vitro

Abstract We studied the effects of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) on guinea pig airway muscle responsiveness in vivo and in vitro . Responsiveness in vivo was assessed by measuring specific airway resistance (SRaw) upon intravenous acetylcholine infusion in 5 unanesthetized, spontaneously breathing guinea pigs. We found that aerosolized LTB4, in a concentration that itself had no effect on baseline SRaw, caused a substantial increase in bronchial reactivity to i.v. ACh within 8 min of its administration. Responsiveness in vitro was assessed by measuring isometric contraction of the guinea pig trachealis upon stimulation by either chemical or electrical field stimuli. These studies in vitro showed that a concentration of LTB4 that itself did not cause contraction, potentiated airway muscle contraction to ACh and KCl, but not to norepinephrine. This effect of LTB4 was substantially reduced by nifedinpine. Our data suggests that amounts of LTB4 that are themselves non-contractile in vivo or in in vitro , may directly potentiate the responsiveness of airway smooth muscle to other bronchoconstrictors.
Integrating Omics Data

In most modern biomedical research projects, application of high-throughput genomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic experiments has gradually become an inevitable component. Popular technologies include microarray, next generation sequencing, mass spectrometry and proteomics assays. As the technologies have become mature and the price affordable, omics data are rapidly generated, and the problem of information integration and modeling of multi-lab and/or multi-omics data is becoming a growing one in the bioinformatics field. This book provides comprehensive coverage of these topics and will have a long-lasting impact on this evolving subject. Each chapter, written by a leader in the field, introduces state-of-the-art methods to handle information integration, experimental data, and database problems of omics data.
Off-axis holographic lens spectrum-splitting photovoltaic system for direct and diffuse solar energy conversion

This paper describes a high-efficiency, spectrum-splitting photovoltaic module that uses an off-axis volume holographic lens to focus and disperse incident solar illumination to a rectangular shaped high-bandgap indium gallium phosphide cell surrounded by strips of silicon cells. The holographic lens design allows efficient collection of both direct and diffuse illumination to maximize energy yield. We modeled the volume diffraction characteristics using rigorous coupled-wave analysis, and simulated system performance using nonsequential ray tracing and PV cell data from the literature. Under AM 1.5 illumination conditions the simulated module obtained a 30.6% conversion efficiency. This efficiency is a 19.7% relative improvement compared to the more efficient cell in the system (silicon). The module was also simulated under a typical meteorological year of direct and diffuse irradiance in Tucson, Arizona, and Seattle, Washington. Compared to a flat panel silicon module, the holographic spectrum splitting module obtained a relative improvement in energy yield of 17.1% in Tucson and 14.0% in Seattle. An experimental proof-of-concept volume holographic lens was also fabricated in dichromated gelatin to verify the main characteristics of the system. The lens obtained an average first-order diffraction efficiency of 85.4% across the aperture at 532 nm.
Targeting Hepcidin with Antisense Oligonucletides Improves Anemia Endpoints in Mice.

Anemia is one of the more common blood disorders and is associated with a number of diseases, including chronic kidney disease, chronic inflammation, and certain types of cancer. Under these conditions iron is essential as it is required for erythroid progenitor cell proliferation and red cell function. Hepcidin is a liver-derived growth factor that regulates iron absorption in the GI tract and iron absorption and release in tissues. Furthermore, hepcidin overexpression has been strongly linked mechanistically as a mediator of decreased iron availability and anemia. We have utilized an antisense approach to investigate the role of hepcidin in animal models of anemia and as a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of this disorder in humans. Second-generation 2′-O-methoxyethyl chimeric antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) were screened in isolated primary mouse hepatocytes, followed by in vivo screening in mice, for the ability to reduce hepcidin mRNA levels. ASO treatment resulted in a reduction of hepcidin mRNA in liver which was associated with a significant increase in serum iron levels. The best hepcidin ASO was then tested in a mouse model of turpentine induced hypoferremia and anemia to determine the role of hepcidin in regulating serum iron and anemia endpoints. Mice were treated (I.P. twice/weekly) with hepcidin or control ASO for two weeks at varying doses prior to a single subcutaneous injection of turpentine. Turpentine treatment 16 hours post-injection produced a significant reduction in serum iron levels and at two weeks resulted in reduced RBC numbers, hematocrit and hemoglobin levels. Treatment with the hepcidin ASO resulted in a dose dependent improvement in all of these endpoints while the control oligonucleotide had no effect. Studies are in progress to further characterize the pharmacological activity of hepcidin ASO in additional models of anemia and results from these on-going studies will also be presented.
When Lightning Strikes: Fulminant Myocarditis in the Realm of Inflammatory Cardiomyopathies

Article, see p 529 Before the advent of endomyocardial biopsy in the 1960s, myocarditis was known as an uncommon cause of acute and fatal heart failure. Biopsy and later cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed that myocarditis was both more common and less lethal than originally described. With greater use of imaging and biopsy, the clinical spectrum of myocarditis broadened to include milder presentations such as pericarditis with elevated troponin values, nonsustained ventricular arrhythmias, and occasionally heart block.1 Patients who present with severe heart failure of <2-week symptom duration requiring parenteral inotropic or mechanical circulatory support are defined as having fulminant myocarditis. These relatively uncommon patients have a high risk in the near term of heart transplantation and death.2 The cause of fulminant myocarditis historically was often an enteroviral (eg, Coxsackie virus) infection. As enterovirus prevalence has waned, new causes of fulminant myocarditis, including H1N1 influenza,3 and drug-related eosinophilic myocarditis4,5 have emerged. Fulminant myocarditis, as described by Lieberman et al6 in 1991, was a clinical and a pathological entity. Clinically, all subjects had a distinct viral prodrome and severe hemodynamic compromise. Pathologically, all cases had an active inflammatory infiltrate of lymphocytes and macrophages with myocyte necrosis. No subjects with fulminant myocarditis in the original description had giant cell myocarditis. Lymphocytic myocarditis that presents with a distinct viral …
Running bamboo species pose a greater invasion risk than clumping bamboo species in the continental United States

Abstract Bamboo species have been promoted for utility in both biomass and pulp production because of their high productivity. However, some bamboo species are known to be problematic invaders. Our goal was to use a weed risk assessment (WRA) tool to evaluate and compare invasion risk of non-native running and clumping bamboo species, many of which are under consideration as paper pulp and bioenergy crops in the continental United States. WRAs were conducted for 18 running and 29 clumping bamboo species using a version of the Australian WRA modified for the U.S. We tested for differences in scores and the number of questions answered for clumping and running species, the relationship between the WRA score and the number of questions answered, and the questions that differentiated low and high-risk species. Overall, we found that running bamboo species present a significantly higher invasion risk than clumping species. Only one running bamboo species (Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda) was identified as low risk and one clumping species (Bambusa bambos) was high risk for invasion. History of invasiveness elsewhere, the ability to form dense thickets, and unintentional dispersal of viable rhizome pieces were associated with significantly greater predicted risk. Commercial applications of bamboo should focus on the use of low invasion risk clumping bamboo species to reduce the risk of escape and colonization of nearby natural areas. Further, bamboo-specific best management practices (BMPs) should be implemented to reduce the probability of invasion for species used in commercial production.
Numerical Differential Equation Solution to Circuit Problems

Numerical methods are very powerful and can deal with just about any circuit configuration. They are based on finite difference method as a byproduct of discretizing the various differential equations resulting from doing KVL/KCL around the circuit. The key element here is Δt which is the time discretization step. Once that is defined we observe that each of the RLC circuit elements contributes its way towards voltage, given a current through it: the R scales directly; the C furnishes a voltage of the form \(\frac {\varDelta t}{C}\); and lastly the inductor contributes a voltage of the form \(\frac {L}{\varDelta t}\). Numerical methods calculate voltage/current at the next time step knowing those at the prior time step. Generally the smaller Δt, the more accurate the resulting solution. We use various example ranging from a 9-branch RLC circuit, coupling between two RC lines, miniature power plane, simple power delivery problem, and even wave propagation down a transmission line. We also touch on matrix solution to circuits for larger sizes. Throughout the chapter we compare to SPICE and observe excellent match.
Bending the Rules: Flexible Regulation and Constraints on Agency Discretion

This paper responds to calls for regulatory reform that propose increasing agency discretion as a means of permitting officials to use common sense when implementing regulatory programs. The article begins by discussing the need for ex-ante constraints on agency decisionmaking in order to ensure that regulation is predictable and democratically accountable. It first looks at the role of legally binding rules to guide agency discretion, and the ability of regulators to deviate from such rules to avoid perverse outcomes. It describes the tension between efficacy and officials' discretion to deviate from politically prescribed rules and suggests that agencies already have significant leeway to deviate. The article next discusses the role that institutional norms play in discouraging agencies from using this leeway to regulate reasonably. My analysis of how agencies use decisionmaking norms identifies some unique problems such use imposes for permitting constrained flexibility. In particular, I conclude that ex-ante specification of decisionmaking norms are not a feasible means for ensuring that such norms do not lead to inflexible or unreasonable decisionmaking. The article next addresses the need for ex-post review to ensure against several pathologies of agency decisionmaking. It evaluates the potential for bottom-line outcome review of agency decisions, as opposed to review of the process by which agencies reach decisions, to provide workable constraints on agency discretion without forfeiting agency flexibility. This evaluation suggests that such bottom-line review plays a role in preventing agency decisions that are at the extremes of what the polity will accept and that such review is best implemented by the political branches. Finally the article considers the potential for ex-post review of agency reasoning to provide constraints on agency decisionmaking without unduly hampering agency discretion to react to the particulars of the situation facing it. In this final section, I conclude that such ex-post review can channel agency discretion without inflexibly binding the agency by forcing the agency to restructure its decisionmaking process to take into account the concerns of potential reviewing bodies. I further conclude that the courts are better suited to such reasons-review than are the political branches.
The Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope for Gamma-Ray Polarimetry

The Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope (AdEPT), a future NASA/GSFC MIDEX mission, is being developed to perform high-sensitivity medium-energy (5-200 MeV) astronomy and revolutionary gamma-ray polarization measurements. The enabling technology for AdEPT is the Three- Dimensional Track Imager (3-DTI), a large volume gaseous time projection chamber with 2- dimentional micro-well detector (MWD) readout. The low density and high spatial resolution of the 3-DTI allows AdEPT to achieve high angular resolution (~0.5 at 67.5 MeV) and, for the first time, exceptional gamma-ray polarization sensitivity. These capabilities enable a wide range of scientific discovery potential for AdEPT. The key science goals of the AdEPT mission include: 1) Explore fundamental processes of particle acceleration in active astrophysical objects, 2) Reveal the magnetic field configuration of the most energetic accelerators in the Universe, 3) Explore the origins and acceleration of cosmic rays and the Galactic MeV diffuse emission, 4) Search for dark matter in the Galactic center, and 5) Test relativity with polarization measurements. We report on the latest developments of the MWDs for the 3-DTI.
Emergence of the Green's Functions from Noise and Passive Acoustic Remote Sensing of Ocean Dynamics

Abstract : To evaluate feasibility and determine physical limits of performance of a passive acoustic system for characterization of a time-varying ocean where ambient acoustic noise is utilized as a probing signal. To develop a passive remote sensing technique for acoustic characterization of oceanic currents.
Tunisia’s Economic Health

This chapter examines the “economic” side of the political-economy equation. Tunisia’s post-revolution economy is facing some difficulties. The economy is not growing and developing as fast as people want and expect it to since the 2011 Jasmine Revolution. The economic hardships are straining people, especially the lower economic classes which mainly reside in the interior region. The outlying coastal areas are more upscale and cater most to the tourism industry. Endless grand resorts line the coast stretching across 1148 km. The south consists of mostly desert terrain and climate, and thus is less populated compared to the north, which enjoys a more temperate and accommodating climate. This is the backdrop to the analysis of Tunisia’s economic health. While Chap. 4 examined the political side of the political-economy interdependence equation, this chapter focuses on the economy side. Tunisia has desperately needed foreign direct investments (FDIs) and economic strengthening since the revolution. Bureaucratic obstacles tend to slow down economic progress, and terrorist attacks have strategically targeted the tourism industry. However, the Tunisian people have not given up. They continue to work hard to resuscitate the economy, despite the daunting challenges.
Twenty-first century starflight

By the end of the twenty-first century we will have imaged Earth-like planets (if these worlds exist) orbiting nearby stars, and our probes will have reached the heliosphere at, at least, the inner fringes of the Oort Cloud. Fission propulsion will probably be incapable of carrying humans to these beckoning new worlds; fusion-pulse may remain politically and socially unacceptable, solar-sailing is too slow, and antimatter is too expensive. This will be a time of vast change on Earth as our population peaks and nation states begin to give way to a true global civilization. Is there any hope, then, for a propulsion system that could take at least a few humans to habitable worlds orbiting nearby stars, on missions that begin late in the twenty-first century?
Immigration Policy and Education in Lived Reality: A Framework for Researchers and Educators:

The urgency of immigration policy in the lives of immigrant students and families and educators is more evident than ever; however, education theories and educators’ practices are not keeping pace ...
Immunohistochemical Staining of CD8α in Diabetic Mouse Kidney

Immune cell infiltration, particularly cytotoxic CD8α lymphocyte infiltration, plays an important role in development of diabetic nephropathy. Although CD8α infiltration can be evaluated by its production of cytokines, its localization in the kidney is of particular importance. The current protocol describes CD8α immunostaining using a Vectastain ABC kit. This protocol works well with most commercially available antibodies, including CD8α antibodies in kidneys of diabetic mice.
Stormquakes: Tracing the path of ocean storms through the solid earth

We have discovered a new geophysical phenomenon involving the coupling of the atmosphere-ocean and solid Earth using a novel array method. An analysis of ten years of seismic data recorded in the continental United States, mainly at the USArray, shows that large storms such as hurricanes and Nor’easters can excite transient seismic surface waves in the 20–50 s band with amplitudes equivalent to those excited by M3.5 earthquakes. These sources, which we label stormquakes, can produce transcontinental coherent Rayleigh wave packets observable in the time domain and are thus fundamentally different from previously reported atmosphere-ocean solid Earth couplings that produce incoherent seismic noise. We present unique observations and methods to pinpoint the source locations and timing, which clearly shows that these seismic waves are from interactions of seafloor bathymetry and ocean waves that are energized by large storms. Stormquakes migrate along continental shelfbreak, tracking the leading edge of large storms. We have documented features and identified a possible physical mechanism explaining the stormquake excitation. Stormquakes have potential use in oceanography and meteorology as a remote monitoring tool with high spatial and temporal resolution with which to investigate ocean wave dynamics during large storms.
Concluding Observations: Some Critical Issues

Budgeting is a dynamic field; it is involved and expanding, with interests that overlap multiple disciplines—economics, politics, finance, accounting, and administration. It is also practical in that the knowledge and tools acquired have direct implications for those who carry out the budgetary activities of a government on a daily basis. On the other hand, there are issues and challenges, existing as well as new, that are constantly shaping the dynamics of the field. This chapter provides an overview of some those challenges. Of particular significance is the deficit and debt problem with a history that goes back to the revolutionary period, battles between those who favor an expanded government and those who do not, and balancing the federal budget by constitutional means and, in the process, separating the operating budget from the capital budget. At the subnational level, there are serious challenges that state and local governments need to address, such as the looming pension crisis that can financially cripple many of these governments, if not addressed properly. In addition, there are issues that may appear mundane on the surface, but have practical implications for the government and the public, that will need serious attention—sooner or later. The chapter concludes with a broad overview of some of those issues.
The Survival Imperative: Commentary on “Whither the University? Universities of Technology and the Problem of Institutional Purpose”

Humans are powerful and clever, and also more ignorant than they know. As a result, they too often fail to acknowledge or even recognize their limitations, and are more arrogant than humble regarding their capabilities. Education that explicitly recognizes and addresses the context of science and technology, their inherent values and ethical implications and concerns, and their problematic as well as beneficial impacts can potentially rescue the human species from itself.
Two Wordsworths: Mountain-climbing, Letter-writing

On 21 October 1818, at age 47, in a letter that was published only in part, in the 1840s, in her brother’s A Guide through the District of the Lakes, Dorothy Wordsworth wrote to Reverend William Johnson, a former curate and schoolmaster in Grasmere, of her adventure with ‘a female Friend, an unmarried Lady, who, bewitched with the charms of the rocks, & streams, & Mountains’ of the Vale of Borrowdale, proposed hiking ‘up a mountain called at the top Ash Course’, with a promise of ‘a most magnificent prospect.’ As is usual with Dorothy Wordsworth, her account of the adventure takes the form of a journal-letter to a friend, rather than any more polished essay. But as is also clear from her brother’s reading and admiration of the letter, such letters were privately circulated, and so written with an awareness of an audience beyond the addressee. At the same time, Dorothy Wordsworth, as one of the fair-copiers of The Prelude, and of course intimate with her brother in any event, would have in mind William Wordsworth’s iconic mountain ascents, the ‘missed crossing’ of the Alps, with his friend Robert Jones, in 1790, and the ascent of Mount Snowdon, also with Jones, in 1791. So, Dorothy Wordsworth’s letter is tacitly intertextual, comparing the women’s adventure with the lads’, comparing the middle-age ascent, at more than twice the age, to the lads’, and with descriptions that pose alternatives to the heroic-minded narratives of her brother.
Automatic Car Braking System using Fuzzy Logic Controller with Environmental Factors

Driving a car is a complex task, it requires vigilance and experience. When the breaks are applied to a car at the right time and with the right amount of force it can prevent many accidents. A slow moving car or any stationary object on the road is an obstacle for the moving vehicle. It can be avoided by braking/lane change so that the car does not crash. Many factors are involved that effect the braking in cars. Several solutions have been implemented in cars to assist the driver by warning about the incoming obstacle. A device that helps the driver to break automatically is called Automatic Braking system (AUBS). It helps to reduce the accidents due to human error. The AUBS system is designed using a fuzzy logic controller. Apart from the obvious inputs such as speed of the car and the distance from the obstacle, several other important factors such as external conditions on road and the tires condition are considered in the proposed approach. The results showed that the Automatic braking system designed showed a reliable and efficient performance.
Chapter Eight – Biomarkers in Kidney Transplantation

The use of biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognostication of specific diseases is an area of intense research. Simple methods to noninvasively diagnose and monitor diseases hold obvious clinical appeal. In transplantation, the ability to noninvasively diagnose and monitor the various causes of allograft dysfunction might result in improved graft and patient outcomes.
Information Sharing Enforcement: Does It Come to Fruition in the Marketplace?

Online retailers are aggressively expanding own-brand businesses, directly competing with sellers settling in their online marketplaces. Regulators show great concern of how the giant retailer allegedly is quashing its smaller rivals and unveil plans to oblige it to share data with the rivals. The data considered in this enforcement is essential for demand estimation, of which the small sellers often suffer from a lack. In this paper, we investigate the data-sharing legislation from a policy maker's standpoint. This study shows whether and when the data-sharing enforcement is effective, to help small sellers and alleviate antitrust issues. In our model, a retailer sells its own-brand product in its online marketplace, where a seller competes with the retailer's product. We consider data sharing that can be enforced by the regulator (i.e., sharing enforcement) if the enforcement improves the total profit of the participants or the seller's profit in the marketplace. Surprisingly, sharing-enforcement is not always the best decision. We find that the decision hinges on the value of the shared information and how the seller perceives it. A ban on sharing, rather than sharing, should be enforced if the retailer's information is not of high quality and the seller thinks too highly of its value. We urge the regulators to monitor the quality of information and to provide in-depth education to cultivate the seller's expertise; otherwise, sharing-enforcement never carries out the regulator's mission. Furthermore, we confirm that the intervention for sharing is not valid in many circumstances; rather, we suggest it would be better to encourage, with no intervention, for the seller and the retailer to come to a mutual agreement for their own profit gain (i.e., sharing agreement). Our results provide the requisites for the successful intervention of the regulators and conditions for the effective data-sharing for the marketplace participants.
Political Philosophy and Political Persuasion

Avner de Shalit argues that political philosophy centrally involves political persuasion, defined as a process of mutual empathy that involves more than just providing rationales or normative argum...
Semantic and syntactic specialization during auditory sentence processing in 7-8-year-old children.

Abstract Previous studies indicate that adults show specialized syntactic and semantic processes in both the temporal and frontal lobes during language comprehension. Neuro-cognitive models of language development argue that this specialization appears earlier in the temporal than the frontal lobe. However, there is little evidence supporting this proposed progression. Our recently published study ( Wang, Rice, & Booth, 2020 ), using multivoxel pattern analyses, detected that children as young as 5 to 6 years old exhibit specialization and integration in the temporal lobe, but not the frontal lobe. In the current study, we used the same approach to examine semantic and syntactic specialization in children ages 7 to 8 years old. We found support for semantic specialization in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) for correct sentences and in the triangular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for incorrect sentences. We also found that the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) played an integration role and was sensitive to both semantic and syntactic processing during both correct and incorrect sentence processing. However, there was no support for syntactic specialization in 7- to 8-year-old children. As compared to our previous study on 5- to 6-year-old children, which only showed semantic specialization in the temporal lobe, the current study suggests a developmental progression to semantic specialization in the frontal lobe. This project represents an important step forward in testing neuro-cognitive models of language processing in children.
Article II and the Pardon Power: Did the Framers Drop the Ball?

In light of the unprecedented pardoning practices of President Trump, we should consider curbing some of the most questionable instances of presidential pardoning by amending Article II of the Constitution to provide that the president may grant pardons only “after conviction,” as a majority of state constitutions already provide.
The Effects and Counter-Effects of Unemployment and Stringency Responses to COVID-19: An International Analysis Using Simultaneous Equations Models

By applying the data from 59 countries to simultaneous equations models with 3SLS and GMM estimations, we analyze the effects and counter-effects of stringency of movement restrictions and unemployment rate in responses to COVID-19 infection cases. On the one hand, our results show that the unemployment rate rises when the governments impose more stringent movement restrictions. On the other hand, a higher unemployment rate leads the government to lower stringency of movement restrictions. Our findings provide evidence on the tradeoff between stringent movement restrictions and unemployment rates. This allows the policymakers to find a balance between public health emergencies and the economy. We also find that the stringency is affected positively by infection cases, negatively by the number of hospital beds per capita and healthcare spending per capita; the number of infection cases is affected positively by urban population density and negatively by an individualism index; and the unemployment rate is affected negatively by GDP.
The Role of Schedule in Antibiotic Therapy of the Neutropenic Patient

Since the neutropenic patient is unable to mount an adequate inflammatory response, he is dependent upon antibiotics to control his infection. The administration schedule of the drugs may be important since gram-negative bacilli recover rapidly from the effects of antibiotics once they are withdrawn. Thus continuous or intermittent therapy may play an important role in the outcome of chemotherapy in neutropenic patients. When ticarcillin was administered to patients in doses of 5 gm over two hours every six hours only two of five patients were cured. Thereafter the dose was changed to 3.5 gm over two hours every four hours and 74% of the patients who hadPseudomonas infections were cured. Two dosage schedules were evaluated for amikacin: an intermittent schedule in patients with adequate neutrophils and a continuous schedule for neutropenic patients. The cure rates were comparably high in both groups. The response to amikacin was related to the in vitro sensitivity of the infecting organism. A prospective randomized study with sisomicin was conducted and patients who received the continuous infusion schedule had a higher cure rate than the patients receiving the intermittent schedule. The importance of dosage schedule can be appreciated more fully if the results with gentamicin and tobramycin are compared to those with amikacin and netilmicin. The cure rate was 23% for those patients who received intermittent gentamicin or tobramycin, compared to 71% for the patients who received continuous amikacin or netilmicin (p<0.001). The continuous infusion schedule may also be associated with lower frequency of nephrotoxicity, even when higher doses of aminoglycosides are administered. Clear evidence of the superiority of continuous infusion antibiotic therapy has been obtained in studies of cephalosporins. Patients were randomized to receive either carbenicillin plus intermittent cefamandole or carbenicillin plus continuous cefamandole; 57% of the patients who received intermittent cefamandole compared to 65% of those who received continuous cefamandole were cured. These data suggest that the schedule of drug administration may play an important role in the outcome of chemotherapy in these patients.
Resource Economics: The Economics of Fisheries

Introduction and Overview In this chapter we will explore in greater detail the general renewable resource model used to introduce the method of Lagrange multipliers in Chapter 1. This model will serve as a vehicle to examine traditional and “bioeconomic” management policies. Before embarking on this more detailed excursion we will construct some models that provide insight into why fisheries are chronically overfished. Overfishing results in depleted stocks that can support only a fraction of what might be harvested if stocks were maintained at higher levels. These models are referred to as open access models , and they show, graphically, what happens when there are unregulated access and harvesting of a common property resource. By a common property resource we mean a resource that is not recognized as “private property” until it is captured. The inability of traditional management policies to avert the tragedy of overfishing has recently led to a willingness among coastal nations to experiment with bioeconomic or “incentive-based” policies, such as Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs). Although the jury is still out on the effectiveness of ITQs the initial results seem promising. A discussion of the experience with these policies in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States will close out this chapter. Net Growth In equation (1.1) we introduced a difference equation to describe the change in a renewable resource from period t to period t + 1.
Adaptive Template Moderated Brain Tumor Segmentation in MRI

This paper describes a new method for the automated segmentation of MRI images of brain tumors. The algorithm is an iterative, hierarchical approach that integrates a statistical classification scheme and anatomical knowledge from an aligned digital atlas. For validation, the method was applied to 10 tumor cases in different locations in the brain including meningiomas and astrocytomas (grade 1-3). The brain and tumor segmentation results were compared to manual segmentations carried out by 4 independent medical experts. It is demonstrated that the algorithm produces results of comparable accuracy to those of the manual segmentations in a shorter time.
Utility of the RENAL nephrometry scoring system in the real world: predicting surgeon operative preference and complication risk.

Study Type – Prognosis (individual cohort) Level of Evidence 2b What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? RENAL nephrometry is a quantitative, reproducible scoring system that characterizes RENAL masses and standardizes reporting. Previous work has suggested that the system may be useful in predicting outcomes after partial nephrectomy. This study is the first to correlate RENAL nephrometry score with operative approach or risk of complication in patients undergoing either partial or radical nephrectomy. OBJECTIVE • To evaluate the utility of the RENAL scoring system in predicting operative approach and risk of complications. The RENAL nephrometry scoring system is designed to allow comparison of renal masses based on the radiological features of (R)adius, (E)xophytic/endophytic, (N)earness to collecting system, (A)nterior/posterior and (L)ocation relative to polar lines. METHODS • A retrospective review of all patients at a single institution undergoing radical nephrectomy (RN) or partial nephrectomy (PN) for a renal mass between July 2007 and May 2010 was carried out. • Preoperative RENAL score was calculated for each patient. Surgical approach and operative outcomes were then compared with the RENAL score. RESULTS • In all, 249 patients underwent either RN (158) or PN (91) with average RENAL scores of 8.9 and 6.3, respectively (P < 0.001). • Patients who underwent RN were more likely to have hilar tumours (64% vs 10%, P < 0.001) than patients who underwent PN, but were no more likely to have posteriorly located tumours (50% each). • There were more complications among patients with RN (58%) vs patients with PN (42%, P= 0.02). • RENAL scores were higher in patients with PN who developed complications than in patients with PN who did not develop complications (6.9 vs 6.0, P= 0.02), with no difference noted among patients with RN developing complications (8.9 vs 8.9, P= 0.99). CONCLUSION • The RENAL system accurately predicted surgeon operative preference and risk of complications for patients undergoing PN.
A course in web programming

The paper discusses a senior-level course in web programming, emphasizing server-side programming that interacts with a database. The course revolves around a single project divided into six assignments. Additionally, the course includes lab assignments.
Sowing Seeds and Knowledge: Agricultural Development in Taiwan and the World, 1925–1975

This article traces the rise of agricultural development in Taiwan and its interactions with the rest of the world, emphasizing the agency and transformations of the Global South. In the 1920s, Ame...
Methoxylated flavonoids from Artemisia

Abstract One new and six known flavonoid methyl ethers were isolated variously from seven Artemisia taxa. The new natural product, dihydroquercetin 7,3′-dimethyl ether, was obtained from A. pygmaea . The known compounds were apigenin 4′-methyl ether, kaempferol 6-methyl and 3,6,7-trimethyl ethers, quercetin 7,3′-dimethyl ether and the 3,6-dimethyl and 3,6,7-trimethyl ethers of quercetagetin.
Morphology and crystallography of nano-particulates revealed by electron holography

Electron holography permits the precise determination of aspects of the morphology of nanometer-sized particulates, because the pure phase information in the image wave can be reconstructed and displayed. Profiles of intensity over the phase image are, in particularly advantageous cases, directly related to particle morphology, since the phase intensity for materials that are essentially kinematic scatterers and are of homogeneous composition is directly related to thickness. Holograms at high resolution can also be used for many other analyses of a material's structure; they provide, for example, a method for precise calibration of lattice spacings in nanometer-sized areas, that allows for the correlation of structure to processing parameters. Examples of the use of holography for studies of nanoparticles of oxides and model catalysts are given.