cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Improving Governance from the Outside In

The variation in the efficacy of governance-related authority structures is stunning. The focus among scholars primarily on domestic conditions, and only secondarily on the external environment, to explain patterns of political development conforms to the prevailing assumptions of comparativists, international relations scholars, and international lawyers. Over the past decade, however, some scholars have studied the possibility that political institutions within states can be influenced or determined not only by internal factors and the external environment but also by the explicit policies of foreign actors. An emerging body of scholarship examines the efficacy of different policy tools that external actors might use to change the structure of domestic institutions in target states. We review this literature and reach the following conclusions. First, contracting often works, coercion sometimes works, and imposition rarely works. Second, the motivation of initiators matters: to be effective, intervening...
A Multi-Channel Pulser for the SLC Thermionic Electron Source

A new pulser developed for the SLC thermionic gun has been operational since September 1984. It consists of two planar triode amplifiers with a common output triode driving the gun cathode to produce two independent pulses of up to 9 A with a 3 nsec FWHM pulse width. Three long-pulse amplifiers are also connected to the cathode to produce pulses with widths controllable between 100 nsec and 1.6 ?sec. Each amplifier has independent timing and amplitude control through a fiber optic link to the high voltage plane of the gun cathode-grid structure. The pulser and its operating characteristics are described.
UVA-visible photo-excitation of guanine radical cations produces sugar radicals in DNA and model structures

This work presents evidence that photo-excitation of guanine radical cations results in high yields of deoxyribose sugar radicals in DNA, guanine deoxyribonucleosides and deoxyribonucleotides. In dsDNA at low temperatures, formation of C1'* is observed from photo-excitation of G*+ in the 310-480 nm range with no C1'* formation observed > or =520 nm. Illumination of guanine radical cations in 2'dG, 3'-dGMP and 5'-dGMP in aqueous LiCl glasses at 143 K is found to result in remarkably high yields (approximately 85-95%) of sugar radicals, namely C1'*, C3'* and C5'*. The amount of each of the sugar radicals formed varies dramatically with compound structure and temperature of illumination. Radical assignments were confirmed using selective deuteration at C5' or C3' in 2'-dG and at C8 in all the guanine nucleosides/tides. Studies of the effect of temperature, pH, and wavelength of excitation provide important information about the mechanism of formation of these sugar radicals. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations verify that specific excited states in G*+ show considerable hole delocalization into the sugar structure, in accord with our proposed mechanism of action, namely deprotonation from the sugar moiety of the excited molecular radical cation.
Globin gene transfer for treatment of the β-thalassemias and sickle cell disease

The β-thalassemias and sickle cell disease are severe congenital anemias that are caused by mutations that alter the production of the β chain of hemoglobin. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is curative, but this therapeutic option is not available to the majority of patients. The transfer of a functional globin gene in autologous HCSs thus represents a highly attractive alternative treatment. This strategy, simple in principle, raises major challenges in terms of controlling the expression of the globin transgene, which ideally should be erythroid specific, differentiation-stage restricted, elevated, position independent, and sustained over time. Using lentiviral vectors, we have demonstrated that an optimised combination of proximal and distal transcriptional control elements permits lineage-specific, elevated expression of the β-globin gene, resulting in therapeutic hemoglobin production and correction of anemia in β-thalassemic mice. Several groups have now confirmed and extended these findings in various mouse models of severe hemoglobinopathies, thus generating enthusiasm for a genetic treatment based on globin gene transfer. Furthermore, globin vectors represent a general paradigm for the regulation of transgene function and the improvement of vector safety by restricting transgene expression to the differentiated progeny within a single lineage, thereby reducing the risk of activating oncogenes in hematopoietic progenitors. Here we review the principles underlying the genesis of regulated vectors for stem cell therapy
Acculturation Stress, Drinking, and Intimate Partner Violence Among Hispanic Couples in the U.S.

This article examines the cross-sectional association between acculturation, acculturation stress, drinking, and intimate partner violence (IPV) among Hispanic couples in the U.S. The data being analyzed come from a multicluster random household sample of couples interviewed as part of the second wave of a 5-year national longitudinal study. The overall survey response rate for the second wave is 72%. Participants are Hispanic couples 18 years of age or older (N = 387). Results show that, among men, lower acculturation is positively associated with higher acculturation stress, which is directly related to a greater likelihood of involvement in IPV. These associations are also present among women. However, data for women show an additional path linking higher levels of acculturation directly to IPV. Drinking is not associated with IPV, independent of gender. Acculturation, directly or through acculturation stress, increases the likelihood of IPV.
Effect of dietary and lifestyle factors on the risk of gestational diabetes: review of epidemiologic evidence

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), defined as glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition in pregnancy, is a common pregnancy complication and a growing health concern. GDM has been related to significant short-term and long-term adverse health outcomes for both mothers and offspring. Importantly, this number is increasing with the increasing burden of obesity among women of reproductive age. Collectively, these data highlight the significance of understanding risk factors, in particular modifiable factors, for GDM and of preventing GDM among high-risk populations. Research in the past decade has identified a few diet and lifestyle factors that are associated with GDM risk. This review provides an overview of emerging diet and lifestyle factors that may contribute to the prevention of GDM. It also discusses major methodologic concerns about the available epidemiologic studies of GDM risk factors.
Modal Codon Usage: Assessing the Typical Codon Usage of a Genome

Most genomes are heterogeneous in codon usage, so a codon usage study should start by defining the codon usage that is typical to the genome. Although this is commonly taken to be the genomewide average, we propose that the mode—the codon usage that matches the most genes—provides a more useful approximation of the typical codon usage of a genome. We provide a method for estimating the modal codon usage, which utilizes a continuous approximation to the number of matching genes and a simplex optimization. In a survey of bacterial and archaeal genomes, as many as 20% more of the genes in a given genome match the modal codon usage than the average codon usage. We use the mode to examine the evolution of the multireplicon genomes of Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 and Borrelia burgdorferi B31. In A. tumefaciens, the circular and linear chromosomes are characterized by a common “chromosome-like” codon usage, whereas both plasmids share a distinct “plasmid-like” codon usage. In B. burgdorferi, in addition to different codon-usage biases on the leading and lagging strands of DNA replication found by McInerney (McInerney JO. 1998. Replicational and transcriptional selection on codon usage in Borrelia burgdorferi. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 95:10698–10703), we also detect a codon-usage similarity between linear plasmid lp38 and the leading strand of the chromosome and a high similarity among the cp32 family of plasmids.
SDU: A Semidefinite Programming-Based Underestimation Method for Stochastic Global Optimization in Protein Docking

This paper introduces a new stochastic global optimization method targeting protein-protein docking problems, an important class of problems in computational structural biology. The method is based on finding general convex quadratic underestimators to the binding energy function that is funnel-like. Finding the optimum underestimator requires solving a semidefinite programming problem, hence the name semidefinite programming-based underestimation (SDU). The underestimator is used to bias sampling in the search region. It is established that under appropriate conditions SDU locates the global energy minimum with probability approaching one as the sample size grows. A detailed comparison of SDU with a related method of convex global underestimator (CGU), and computational results for protein-protein docking problems are provided
Application of the nonuniform FDTD technique to analysis of coaxial discontinuity structures

In this paper, we employ the nonuniform finite-difference time-domain (NUFDTD) technique to accurately model discontinues in complex coaxial configurations. We take advantage of the azimuthal symmetry of the structure to reduce the original problem into an equivalent two-dimensional one, and we do this by projecting the three-dimensional Yee cell onto two-dimensional planes. Numerical results are presented for various discontinuities to illustrate the application of the method. We show that the NUFDTD technique yields results that are in excellent agreement with the mode-matching method.
Physiorack: An integrated MRI safe/conditional, Gas delivery, respiratory gating, and subject monitoring solution for structural and functional assessments of pulmonary function

Purpose To evaluate the use of a modular MRI conditional respiratory monitoring and gating solution, designed to facilitate proper monitoring of subjects' vital signals and their respiratory efforts, during free-breathing and breathheld 19F, oxygen-enhanced, and Fourier-decomposition MRI-based acquisitions. Materials and Methods All Imaging was performed on a Siemens TIM Trio 3 Tesla MRI scanner, following Institutional Review Board approval. Gas delivery is accomplished through the use of an MR compatible pneumotachometer, in conjunction with two three-way pneumatically controlled Hans Rudolph Valves. The pneumatic valves are connected to Douglas bags used as the gas source. A mouthpiece (+nose clip) or an oro-nasal Hans Rudolph disposable mask is connected following the pneumatic valve to minimize dead-space and provide an airtight seal. Continuous monitoring/sampling of inspiratory and expiratory oxygen and carbon dioxide levels at the mouthpiece/mask is achieved through the use of an Oxigraf gas analyzer. Results Forty-four imaging sessions were successfully monitored, during Fourier-decomposition (n = 3), fluorine-enhanced (n = 29), oxygen-enhanced, and ultra short echo (n = 12) acquisitions. The collected waveforms, facilitated proper monitoring and coaching of the subjects. Conclusion We demonstrate an inexpensive, off-the-shelf solution for monitoring these signals, facilitating assessments of lung function. Monitoring of respiratory efforts and exhaled gas concentrations assists in understanding the heterogeneity of lung function visualized by gas imaging. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2014;39:735–741. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Liquid crystal television spatial light modulators

The spatial light modulation characteristics and capabilities of the liquid crystal television (LCTV) spatial light modulators (SLMs) are discussed. A comparison of Radio Shack, Epson, and Citizen LCTV SLMs is made.
High speed quantum communication testbed

We describe the status of the NIST Quantum Communication Testbed (QCT) facility. QCT is a facility for exploring quantum communication in an environment similar to that projected for early commercial implementations: quantum cryptographic key exchange on a gigabit/second free-space optical (FSO) channel. Its purpose is to provide an open platform for testing and validating performance in the application, network, and physical layers of quantum communications systems. The channel uses modified commercial FSO equipment to link two buildings on the Gaithersburg, MD campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), separated by approximately 600 meters. At the time of writing, QCT is under construction; it will eventually be made available to the research community as a user facility. This paper presents the basic design considerations underlying QCT, and reports the status of the project.
SEASONAL PHOTOSENSITIVITY OF BLEPHARISMA: THE ROLE OF TEMPERATURE

— Red blepharismas (B. japonicum) in Pyrex test tubes exposed near noon to clear summer daylight are killed. If similarly exposed at dawn, they turn blue as the red pigment blepharismin is oxidized to oxyblepharismin. and they resist further exposure to daylight. Red blepharismas similarly exposed to sunlight at dawn in winter are killed. The experiments reported seek the reasons for the seasonal difference in photosensitivity and the way in which blepherismas survive winter. Red blepharismas (B. japonicum) exposed to visible and near ultraviolet (UV) radiation from two 4W coolwhite fluorescent lamps (5 Wm-2; 2151ux) resist an 8h exposure between 15° and 34°C. turning blue. Blue and colorless blepharismas also resist 8h exposures to the light at 15° and 34°C. At 8°C both red and blue populations are killed, death appearing to result from deranged water regulation; colorless ones are not affected. Red blepharismas are killed by fluorescent light at 8° C even when the near-UV radiation is largely excluded by a Corning glass filter; blue and colorless ones are not. The reds are also killed at all temperatures by sunlight filtered through Pyrex glass if exposed near noon on a sunny day. At temperatures above 8° C they are not killed by direct sunlight passed through glass if exposed at dawn, but they turn blue. Blepharismas in fluorescent light divide at the same rate as controls in the dark, but they get smaller. When exposed to sunlight at dawn, at temperatures above 8°C. blepharismas in Pyrex test tubes containing stones or fruiting spikes of grass, hid in the shade of these objects, apparently by random movements. If exposed under similar conditions near noontime, the majority failed to find cover and were killed. Blepharismas survive in summer by avoiding sunlight, in winter by encystment. Colorless protozoans Paraineciurn multimicronucleatum, Colpidium colpoda and Spirostomum teres resisted killing in summer sunlight and with fluorescent light at all temperatures tested.
Variability in human sensitivity to 1,3-butadiene : Influence of polymorphisms in the 5'-flanking region of the microsomal epoxide hydrolase gene (EPHX1)

The carcinogenic effects of 1,3-butadiene (BD), a mutagenic chemical widely used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber, are likely initiated through its epoxide metabolites. In humans, these epoxides are detoxified predominantly by hydrolysis, a reaction mediated by the microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH; EPHX1) enzyme. It appears reasonable to hypothesize that BD-exposed individuals possessing lower mEH detoxification capacity may have elevated risk of adverse health effects. The interindividual levels of mEH enzymatic activity vary considerably, and polymorphisms in the mEH gene may contribute to this variability. In addition to the well-studied coding region polymorphisms encoding Tyr113His and His139Arg substitutions, seven other polymorphic sites in the 5'-flanking region of the mEH gene have been reported. These polymorphisms appear to differentially affect mEH gene transcriptional activities. The 5'-flanking region polymorphisms exist in two linkages, the -200 linkage (-200C/T, -259C/T, -290T/G) and the -600 linkage (-362A/G, -613T/C, -699T/C), whereas the -399T/C polymorphism exists as an independent site. Because these polymorphisms may affect total mEH enzymatic activity, we hypothesized that they influence the mutagenic response associated with occupational exposure to BD. We genotyped the 5'-region of the mEH gene in 49 non-smoking workers from two styrene-butadiene rubber facilities in southeast Texas and evaluated the linkage patterns against results obtained from an autoradiographic HPRT mutant lymphocyte assay, used as a biomarker of genotoxic effect. In the study population, 67% were exposed to low BD levels, 150 ppb. We used the observed HPRT mutant (variant) frequency (VF) in the studied population and a 4-way first-order interaction statistical model to estimate parameters that describe the influence of exposure, genotypes and the interaction between the two on the HPRT VF in the target population. The background (baseline) VF, defined as the VF (x 10(-6)) +/- S.E.M. at low levels of BD exposure ( 150 ppb of BD alone resulted in an estimated increase in VF of 3.42 +/- 2.47 above the baseline level. Inheritance of the variant ATT allele in the -600 linkages resulted in an estimated increase in VF of 3.39 +/- 1.67 above the baseline level. When the interaction between BD exposure and the ATT allele in the -600 linkage group was considered, a statistically significant positive interaction was observed, with an estimated increase in the VF of 10.89 +/- 2.16 (95% CI = 6.56-15.20; p = 0.0027) above baseline. These new data confirm and extend our previous findings that sensitivity to the genotoxic effects of BD is inversely correlated with predicted mEH activity.
Relationship Between the para-Homologous Sodium Channel Point Mutation (g → c at Nucleotide 2979) and Knockdown Resistance in the German Cockroach Using Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction to Discern Genotype

Extensive use of pyrethroid insecticides for urban pest control has led to widespread pyrethroid resistance in the German cockroach. A mutation at nucleotide position 2979 (G to C, causing a leucine to phenylalanine change) in the S6 transmembrane segment of domain II of the para-homologous voltage-gated sodium channel has been previously identified in knockdown-resistant cockroaches and demonstrated by site-directed mutagenesis to reduce channel sensitivity to pyrethroids. In a recent survey, 83% of pyrethroid-resistant German cockroach populations were found to possess this mutation. A German cockroach strain with a low incidence of the L993F mutation was subjected to selection pressure with cypermethrin and subsequently evaluated over several generations for the knockdown resistance phenotype. Correspondingly, we determined the genotype of individual cockroaches of each population at the 2979 position of the para-homologous gene. Genotype was discerned by development of a polymerase chain reaction method that employed a mismatched primer-template set. A direct relationship was observed between mean knockdown time and the presence of the kdr mutation. Furthermore, individuals homozygous for the kdr mutation exhibited a significantly higher mean knockdown time than heterozygotes or wildtype cockroaches. This is the first report demonstrating the progressive expression of the kdr allele in response to insecticide selection pressure.
Antinomy: the use, rights and regulation of laboratory animals

'In recent years, the problem, plight, and philosophy behind the usenof animals in laboratories, schools, and industries has caused many tonformulate an opinion on animal experimentation. It is simple to postulatena Monday morning quarterback philosophy - merely weighnthe value of a nameless, faceless, unfeeling animal against the value of medical research which may eventually lead to a cure for cancer,nAIDS, or some other dreaded disease. The choice seems...
Effects of thyroid hormones on cardiac development in oculo

Embryonic rat myocardium was grafted into the anterior eye chamber (in oculo) of adult host rats in a series of two experiments that studied the effects of thyroid hormones [triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4)] on heart tissue developing without hemodynamic load. In each experiment, surgical sympathectomy of one eye chamber was used to define possible interactions between thyroid hormones and sympathetic innervation to the graft. In the first experiment, propylthiouracil (PTU, 20 mg/kg sc) greatly suppressed growth and beating rate of whole heart grafts, while excess T4 (0.1 mg/kg sc) transiently increased beating rate but not growth. In the second experiment, T3 (5 mg/21 days, slow-release pellet) failed to promote growth in ventricular grafts. However, the size of atrial grafts in surgically sympathectomized eye chambers was larger in T3-treated compared with control rats. T3 administration increased beating rate in ventricular grafts. In both experiments, thyroid hormone treatments were effective in increasing heart weight-to-body weight ratios in the host rats. The data suggest that exposure to normal levels of thyroid hormones may be necessary for optimal cardiac growth. The data also support the hypothesis that a hemodynamic load is required for thyroid hormone-induced cardiac growth.
The Inhibitive Action of Bile Upon B. Coli

Media containing bile or bile salts have come to be widely used for the isolation of B. coli from sewage and polluted water. Bile media have also been used extensively for the presumptive test. In the second edition of Standard Methods oj Water Analysis,' lactose bile medium is recommended for the quantitative estimation of the B. coli group. There is no doubt that the use of a bile medium offers certain advantages. Gas formation in a lactose bile fermentation tube is more likely to denote the presence of B. coli than gas formation in a dextrose broth fermentation tube. It is also true that in comparative series, lactose bile tubes are not so likely to show gas formation as plain lactose broth. These facts lessen the labor of plating as well as the thankless task of establishing the relation of gas-producing organisms to the B. coli group. On the other side is a disadvantage not so generally recognized. This is the circumstance that B. coli itself is inhibited in a marked degree in media containing bile. It is true that Prescott and Winslow," Longley and Baton,3 and others have found that with some waters dextrose broth yields a larger proportion of positive results than lactose bile, but the use of different carbohydrates, lactose in one medium, dextrose in another, introduces a disturbing factor into such comparisons, and furthermore, the number of B. coli actually present in the water tested was an unknown factor. Ruediger,4 working with polluted river water in North Dakota, has also noted inhibition in bile media as appears from the statement:
A Novel Flame Retardant in the Great Lakes Atmosphere: 3,3′,5,5′-Tetrabromobisphenol A Bis(2,3-dibromopropyl) Ether

3,3′,5,5′-Tetrabromobisphenol A bis(2,3-dibromopropyl) ether (TBBPA-BDBPE) is a derivative of tetrabromobisphenol A and a widely used brominated flame retardant. TBBPA-BDBPE has been found in the environment in Asia and Europe, but this is the first report of its presence in the North American ambient environment. Here we report the concentrations of TBBPA-BDBPE in air samples collected from five sites around the Great Lakes as part of the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network in 2013. The geometric mean concentrations of TBBPA-BDBPE ranged from 0.19 pg/m3 at Sleeping Bear Dunes to 1.3 pg/m3 at Chicago. The levels of TBBPA-BDBPE were significantly correlated with the number of people living and working within a 25 km radius of each sampling site, with the exception of Eagle Harbor, which is our most remote site. Positive correlations were observed between the levels of TBBPA-BDBPE and those of other halogenated flame retardants, such as BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-209, Dechlorane Plus (DP), pentabromobenzene ...
Analysis on Information Release Regulation of State-owned Listed Enterprises

A series of law and regulations have been issued to regulate false information release of listed enterprises in China.But some of the law and regulations have not been executed effectively in the real regulation operation.Regulators often intended and initiatively choose loose or over regulation and even motive regulation according to different situation.In the beginning of the development of the security market in China,the security regulators should not only protect the investors' legal rights and interests,but bear the responsibility of helping finance for state-owned enterprises to relieve their difficulties.But the two objectives are of shift relations so that the regulators could only emphasize on one objective in a period of time to enforce selective regulation according to different circumstances.With the difficulty relief of state-owned enterprises,the security regulation objective shifts to protect the investors' legal rights and interests.In this essay,the author will make research on the special background of the form and development of China's security market and set the security regulators' given target function.The author will analyze the change of the regulation behavior according to the above mentioned target function.The aim of the analysis is to explain why there is selective regulation and what the consequence is when the security regulators regulate the information release of state-owned enterprises.
Professionalization, Policy, Performance Assessment, and Privatization in Social Studies

This chapter reviews the particular affordances and constraints of the intersection of privatization, performance assessment, policy, and professionalization in a secondary social studies teacher education program during the initial implementation of the secondary social studies edTPA and its impact on our adolescent (grades 7–12) teacher education program in New York. We begin with the content challenges that have confounded social studies from its origins, and how this intersected with the standards movement described in Chap. 2. We discuss how a concern for the transmission of a common national heritage, orderly classrooms, and more recently high-stakes testing in social studies have led to classroom practice emphasizing lower order recall of events. We then describe how the edTPA, with its emphasis on a central social science focus and analysis, supports teacher professionalism and troubles current classroom practice. In this context, we discuss the affordances and constraints of mandated, high-stakes performance assessment in social studies teacher education as they become explicit in the first year of implementation in an urban teacher preparation program, where state policy mandated the edTPA performance assessment as a requirement for initial certification. Initial results, including pass rates, are reported, along with anecdotal data about students’ reactions to the program and its implementation of the edTPA, and their reactions to the edTPA itself.
FESTR: Finite-Element Spectral Transfer of Radiation spectroscopic modeling and analysis code

Abstract We report on the development of a new spectral postprocessor of hydrodynamic simulations of hot, dense plasmas. Based on given time histories of one-, two-, and three-dimensional spatial distributions of materials, and their local temperature and density conditions, spectroscopically-resolved signals are computed. The effects of radiation emission and absorption by the plasma on the emergent spectra are simultaneously taken into account. This program can also be used independently of hydrodynamic calculations to analyze available experimental data with the goal of inferring plasma conditions. Program summary Program title: FESTR Catalogue identifier: AFAR_v1_0 Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AFAR_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: BSD 3-Clause license No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1237516 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 17542918 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: C++. Computer: HPC, PC. Operating system: Linux, MacOS. RAM: Problem dependent (based on size of input) Classification: 1.3, 2.2, 20.2. Nature of problem: Calculation of spectral signals by postprocessing hydrodynamics simulations. Analysis of experimental spectroscopic data to infer plasma temperature and density conditions, and its chemical composition. Simultaneous treatment of spatial non-uniformity (on 3D unstructured meshes) along with spectroscopic-quality radiation transport. Solution method: Rays are cast across a 3D unstructured mesh that characterizes local temperature, density, and chemical composition of the material. Analytic solution to the 1D (along the ray) steady-state, local radiation transport equation is repeatedly used to gradually build a synthetic spectrum for each ray. Restrictions: Steady-state approximation of the radiation transport equation is used. Scattering as a radiation source is not included. Given plasma conditions are considered fixed; potential feedback of computed radiation back into plasma temperature and equation-of-state is neglected. Doppler shifts are not modeled at this time. The quality of the computed results critically depends on the accuracy of external atomic databases used as input by FESTR. Polygon objects are assumed to be convex at present. Running time: Problem dependent (based on size of input)—the suite of 1190 enclosed unit tests runs in less than a minute on most tested platforms.
Formation of Ultra-Shallow Junctions

The ever-growing demand for miniaturized electronic devices leads to the development of ultra-shallow p–n junctions (USJs). This article discusses various driving forces, challenges, and the technology involved in the fabrication of ultra-shallow junctions. Evolving technological processes and future trend toward the fabrication of 3D USJs devices are also outlined.
Linear systems over the perspective field as a class of nonlinear systems for which a “Laplace” transform can be defined

A class of fields, the perspective fields, of which the field of the reals is a special case, is introduced. The linear algebra over this field and the theory of linear systems over the field has some remarkable properties: when coordinized by the real field, a class of nonlinear systems appears. The underlying linear structure leads to simple characterizations of stability, reachability, observability and realization. The feasibility of defining a useful extension of the Laplace transform is explored. Finally we show that many more nonlinear systems can possess an inherent linear structure based on formal group laws.
Emotions in Neorealism

This chapter points out that although scholars recognize the significance of studying neorealism through an examination of emotions, they only concisely refer to them and how emotions in neorealist texts were understood in shaping life experience, moral codes, and pre- and post-Fascist society in general. Until now, scholars have not provided a systematic examination of this relationship. This section offers a concise overview of these accounts in Italian cinema and literature that are significant in helping to comprehend the neorealist productions that will be examined in this study.
The effect of lance geometry and carbon coating of silicon lances on propidium iodide uptake in lance array nanoinjection of HeLa 229 cells

Connecting technology to biologic discovery is a core focus of non-viral gene therapy biotechnologies. One approach that leverages both the physical and electrical function of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in cellular engineering is a technology previously described as lance array nanoinjection (LAN). In brief, LAN consists of a silicon chip measuring 2 cm by 2 cm that has been etched to contain an array of 10 μm tall, solid lances that are spaced every 10 μm in a grid pattern. This array of lances is used to physically penetrate hundreds of thousands of cells simultaneously and to then electrically deliver molecular loads into cells. In this present work, two variables related to the microfabrication of the silicon lances, namely lance geometry and coating, are investigated. The purpose of both experimental variables is to assess these parameters' effect on propidium iodide (PI), a cell membrane impermeable dye, uptake to injected HeLa 229 cells. For the lance geometry experimentation, three different microfabricated lance geometries were used which include a flat/narrow (FN, 1 μm diameter), flat/wide (FW, 2–2.5 μm diameter), and pointed (P, 1 μm diameter) lance geometries. From these tests, it was shown that the FN lances had a slightly better cell viability rate of 91.73% and that the P lances had the best PI uptake rate of 75.08%. For the lance coating experimentation, two different lances were fabricated, both silicon etched lances with some being carbon coated (CC) in a <100 nm layer of carbon and the other lances being non-coated (Si). Results from this experiment showed no significant difference between lance types at three different nanoinjection protocols (0V, +1.5V DC, and +5V Pulsed) for both cell viability and PI uptake rates. One exception to this is the comparison of CC/5V Pul and Si/5V Pul samples, where the CC/5V Pul samples had a cell viability rate 5% higher. Both outcomes were unexpected and reveal how to better optimize LAN parameters for future transfection experimentation.
Molybdenum and Tungsten Alkylidene Complexes That Contain a 2-Pyridyl-Substituted Phenoxide Ligand

In the interest of preparing molybdenum and tungsten alkylidene complexes for olefin metathesis that are longer-lived at high temperatures (∼150 °C or above), we synthesized complexes that contain a phenoxide ligand with a 2-pyridyl in one ortho position and a mesityl (Mes) or 2,4,6-i-Pr3C6H2 (Trip) in the other ortho position ([MesON]− or [TripON]−, respectively). The alkylidene (neophylidene) complexes that were prepared include W(O)(CHCMe2Ph)(Me2Pyr)(RON) (R = Mes or Trip), Mo(NC6F5)(CHCMe2Ph)(RON)Cl, Mo(N-2,6-Me2C6H3)(CHCMe2Ph)(RON)Cl, Mo(N-t-Bu)(CHCMe2Ph)(RON)Cl, and M(N-2,6-i-Pr2C6H3)(CHCMe2Ph)(TripON)(OTf) (M = Mo or W). The reaction between Mo(NAr)(CHCMe2Ph)(TripON)(OTf) and ethylene yielded an ethylene complex, Mo(NAr)(C2H4)(TripON)(OTf)(ether). All neophylidene complexes were essentially unreactive toward terminal olefins at 22 °C and showed modest homocoupling activity (at 80 or 100 °C) and alkane metathesis activity (at 150 and 200 °C). W(O)(CHCMe2Ph)(Me2Pyr)(MesON) also stereoselectively poly...
Scattering by a metallic wedge cylindrically capped with penetrable materials

A metallic wedge cylindrically coated by two coaxial penetrable materials is considered. The inner cylinder coating the edge is made of either a DPS material or a DNG metamaterial, and is in turn coated by a layer of DPS material. The primary field is a plane wave incident normally to the edge of the wedge. An exact analytical solution is obtained, and numerical results are presented and discussed.
Prognostic value of post-Yttrium 90 radioembolization therapy 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in patients with liver tumors

Abstract Objective This study assessed the benefit of post-therapy 18 F-FDG PET/CT versus CT alone in identifying malignant liver tumor progression following radioembolization with Y-90 microspheres. Methods 24 patients with 44 liver tumors underwent CT imaging pre-radioembolization and PET/CT post-radioembolization. Predictive value of Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST 1.1), The World Health Organization (WHO), mRECIST and European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) with PET/CT versus CT alone was assessed. Results Prediction of liver malignancy progression was improved (p Conclusions The addition of post-therapy PET to routine CT in patients with hepatic tumors undergoing radioembolization may improve identification of non-responding tumors.
QUARC: An Array Programming Approach to High Performance Computing

We present QUARC, a framework for the optimized compilation of domain-specific extensions to C++. Driven by needs for programmer productivity and portable performance for lattice QCD, the framework focuses on stencil-like computations on arrays with an arbitrary number of dimensions. QUARC uses a template meta-programming front end to define a high-level array language. Unlike approaches that generate scalarized loop nests in the front end, the instantiation of QUARC templates retains high-level abstraction suitable for optimization at the object (array) level. The back end compiler (CLANG/LLVM) is extended to implement array transformations such as transposition, reshaping, and partitioning for parallelism and for memory locality prior to scalarization. We present the design and implementation.
Temperature Impacts on Soil Microbial Communities and Potential Implications for the Biodegradation of Turfgrass Pesticides

Maintaining healthy turfgrass often results in the use of pesticides to manage weed, insect, and disease pests. To identify and understand potential nontarget impacts of pesticide usage while still maintaining attractive and functional turfgrass sites, it is important to improve our understanding of how pesticides degrade in various environments throughout the growing season. Temperature heavily influences microbial community composition and activity, and the microbial community often heavily influences pesticide degradation in soil ecosystems. Pesticide transformation products generated through the action of soil microbial degradation networks can vary in their toxicity, with the potential result that a pesticide applied in the spring at 10°C could produce different transformation products with different toxicological impacts than the sample pesticide applied to the same site at 22°C. The objective of this review is to examine past research surrounding soil microbial activity related to pesticide degradation and provide a foundation for how the soil microbiome interacts with pesticides and how seasonal temperature variations may influence those interactions.
Non-Traditional (Adult) Business Students and Their Perceptions of Accounting in an Introductory Accounting Course

This study examined non-traditional undergraduate student’s perception of accounting in an introductory accounting course at five campuses of a Christian University in the southeast region of the U.S. The consensuses of the student’s perceptions were positive over the perceptional items measured. However, three of the items FORWARD (I am looking forward this course), DIFFICULT (This course will be difficult), and INSTRUCTOR (The instructor will affect my opinion of the usefulness of this course) indicated a change between the groups. In the pre-survey response, non-traditional students perceived FORWARD and INSTRUCTOR higher than traditional students while both groups have an almost identical mean response for DIFFICULT. However, at end of the semester (post-survey) traditional students now perceived both FORWARD and INSTRUCTOR higher while non-traditional students now perceived the course to be more difficult. The findings in this study support the ideas and premise that non-traditional students are quite different from traditional students, not just because of the obvious age differences but also because of the differences in job, related experiences, and their needs as relate to educational institutions.
Microcomputers and the Elderly

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses age-related changes in physiological and psychological functions that are relevant to the design of computers and computer work places. There is a substantive body of knowledge that suggests that there are age-related decrements in abilities such as visual information processing, memory, and learning. However, only a limited amount of research has been conducted that has assessed the relevance of these changes to real-world tasks. More research is needed to determine the extent to which age affects the performance of computer interactive tasks. Also, the data indicates that observed age differences are modifiable through changes in system design and the provision of adequate training. For example, larger characters, maximized character resolution, highlighting critical screen information, providing for slower processing rates, and minimizing design inconsistencies should facilitate the performance of persons. Designing for an older population would increase the employment opportunities for the elderly and also enhance the functional independence of this population. Accommodating for the needs of the elderly in the design process facilitates the performance of all user groups.
Tibial and Fibular Fracture

The tibia is one of the most commonly fractured long bone in the body. It is typically injured by low-energy trauma in the elderly and high-energy trauma in the young. Tibial shaft fractures can be treated by a number of different methods including casts, external fixators, plates, and intramedullary nails. Due to poor soft tissue coverage and blood supply, tibial shaft fractures are prone to complications such as open fractures, compartment syndrome, infection, and nonunion. This chapter will cover the anatomy of the leg, the classification of tibial shaft fractures, patient evaluation, treatment modalities, common complications, and isolated fibular fractures.
Perspectives on affordances, or the anthropologically real: The 2018 Daryll Forde Lecture

Anthropology is defined by the vast scope of its concerns. We often forget to ask, however, what makes something a matter of concern, and for whom. A matter of concern is contingent on its relationship to some “we” for whom it is relevant. But that “we,” and those concerns, are neither given in advance nor are they pure creations. The perspective of affordances offers an alternative to reductive determinism, on the one hand, and the stronger versions of social constructivism, on the other. This perspective is an argument for possibilities: people are perpetually discovering new things about themselves (including who “we” might be) and about their worlds (including what matters for “us”) that they didn’t put in there in the first place. These points are developed through discussions of American feminist consciousness-raising and Melanesian theories of mind.
Emergency care practitioners' barriers to mental health assessment, treatment, and referral of post-injury patients.

Objective Nearly half of all severely injured patients suffer some form of post-trauma mental stress, but little is known about factors that influence emergency care practitioners' decisions to refer injured patients to mental health care services. This study aimed to: (1) advance our understanding of the practice barriers that hinder mental health assessment, treatment, and referral of injured patients in emergency care settings, and (2) determine the preferred learning format of emergency care practitioners who desire to gain knowledge about mental health problems after injury. Methods Using a mail survey research design, data were collected from a random sample of emergency medicine physicians and nurses in Wisconsin and New York. Results Data was provided by 108 respondents with an average of 16 years of emergency care experience. More than half indicated they never refer trauma patients for mental health follow-up. Primary reasons for not dealing with trauma-related mental health issues were insufficient time and lack of symptoms. Providers who were most satisfied with their hospital's capacity to support mental health care were significantly more likely to refer patients. The top preference for receiving additional training related to mental health needs of trauma patients was on-site lectures. Conclusion Injured patients rely on emergency care practitioners to provide multidimensional care. However, few practitioners facilitate mental health referrals for post-trauma victims, despite their known value.
Closed mitral commissurotomy

Abstract Early and late results for 291 patients undergoing closed mitral commissurotomy, usually with transventricular dilator, between July 1, 1960, and July 1, 1964, are presented. The over-all hospital mortality rate was 3.4 per cent (1.5% for patients with no previous mitral valve surgery). Over-all incidence of operative or postoperative arterial embolism was 2.4 per cent (5% in patients with a history of arterial embolism). Causes of hospital deaths are listed. Within the period of follow-up, results of surgery were good in 86 per cent of patients traced. When the valve was immobile or significantly incompetent or when an optimal initial opening was not obtained at operation, the results were less good. In proper circumstances, good palliation at a low risk usually can be achieved by a closed operation.
Security framework for Mobile App Development in daily life

The Constitution guarantees every person the right to an environment that is not harmful to their Security. But recently our daily life society it is other story. To reduce the incidence of security accidents, however, little attention has been paid to issue warning for violence and barbarism that dominate in our daily life, lack of security everywhere in environment. In this paper, we focus on a recommendation system emergency device app based on mobile application development is proposed for helping user in emergency situation. This app is simple to use when user automatically make a click on the application icon and call declaring an emergency service central if a user activates it. The device automatically transmits its current position, derived from one GPS or another, through a alarm voice. This app will reduce definitely the crime, the damage caused by the crime and helps considerable an economic gain. Technology application system and design or an approach implementation app to prevent security by reported criminals. And be arrested by Police sector, focusing on scalable, automatic with little. It should be modified at the unit level and UML model for design. The component model of this app is given by UML model which composed of Class-Sequence and Use Case diagrams. Experimental results on a real goods user interface show that our algorithm can achieve high accuracy in recommending similar goods de sign with high speed.
Clinicopathological features, treatment approaches, and outcomes in Rosai-Dorfman disease

Rosai-Dorfman disease is a rare subtype of non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis. With the last major report published in 1990, there is a paucity of contemporary data on this disease. Our objective was to report the clinicopathological features, treatments and outcomes of patients seen at a tertiary referral center. Sixty-four patients with histopathological diagnosis of Rosai-Dorfman disease were identified from 1994 to 2017 (median age 50 years; range, 2-79). The median duration from symptom onset to diagnosis was seven months (range, 0-128), which was also reflected in the number of biopsies required to establish the diagnosis (median 2; range, 1-6). The most common presentation was subcutaneous masses (40%). Of the 64 patients, 8% had classical (nodal only) and 92% had extra-nodal disease (67% extra-nodal only). The most common organs involved were skin and subcutaneous tissue (52%), followed by lymph nodes (33%). Three patients had an overlap with Erdheim-Chester disease, which had not been described before. Two of these were found to have MAP2K1 mutations. Commonly utilized first line treatments were surgical excision (38%) and systemic corticosteroids (27%). Corticosteroids led to a response in 56% of the cases. Of those treated initially, 15 (30%) patients developed recurrent disease. The most commonly used systemic agent was cladribine (n=6), with 67% overall response rate. Our study demonstrates that Rosai-Dorfman disease has diverse clinical manifestations and outcomes. While this disease has been historically considered a benign entity, a subset of patients endures an aggressive course necessitating the use of systemic therapies.