cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Formalizing the Code

The Internal Revenue Code is notoriously complex, both substantively and structurally. This article examines one source of structural complexity in the Internal Revenue Code: dependency among sections that stems from defined terms. In particular, the article examines what it terms the problem of “definitional scope”: when the structure of the Code leaves unclear to what a term refers. The article uses the problem of definitional scope as a case study to suggest that those who draft tax legislation should formalize proposed statutory language — translate it into logical terms — prior to its enactment. Formalization could help drafters avoid unintentional ambiguity and refine the language used in the statute; it could provide helpful guidance for those wishing to interpret the statute; and, most importantly, it could help move the law closer to legibility by a computer — that is, it could help on the journey to actual legal artificial intelligence.
Breast cancer phenotype in patients with hereditary gene mutations other than BRCA1 and BRCA2.

e13121Background: Use of multi-gene panel (MGP) testing for hereditary breast cancer (BC) has increased significantly. Unlike in case of TNBC diagnosed before age 60 and ordering BRCA testing; for MGP testing, healthcare providers depend on personal and/or family history of cancer as tumor phenotype and on patient characteristics for non-BRCA hereditary BC genes which are not well described. Therefore, we planned to evaluate tumor phenotype of BCs associated with hereditary gene mutations other than BRCA 1 and BRCA2. Methods: Consecutive patients with invasive BC who are in a prospective cohort study and who underwent MGP testing based on published criteria as clinically indicated were included in the study. All patients’ breast pathology slides were reviewed by breast pathologists at our institution. For statistical analysis: Patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics were summarized using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, mean (± s.d.) and median (range). SAS version 9.4 and...
Unearthing ‘dead capital’: Heirs’ property prediction in two U.S. southern counties

Heirs’ property is a form of tenancy in common. It is typically inherited land passed to subsequent generations as intestate property, or property inherited outside of the formal probate process, without “clear title.” In economic terms, this form of property ownership can result in inefficient property uses, as owners tend to under-invest in such properties, owing to uncertainties regarding returns on investments. This, in turn, contributes to a diminution of wealth for affected families. Unclear titles also impede homeowners’ ability to apply for various forms of land and home improvement aid offered by federal agencies. As well, tenancies in common have the effect of intensifying already existing vulnerabilities of place, again, because constraints on homeowners’ access to equity make home improvements less likely. The magnitude of the heirs’ property phenomenon is not well-understood. Extant estimates are dated and often not verifiable; and no systematic means of identifying these parcels has been accepted. We present a methodology for assessing the accuracy of predictors typically used to identify heirs’ parcels using logistic models and data from a rural Appalachian county (Leslie County, KY) and a more urban Black Belt1 county (Macon-Bibb County, GA). This is the first attempt to empirically examine these predictors. Year property was last sold and financial caretaker are the strongest predictors in both counties. Using these indicators, the percent of correctly predicted heirs’ parcels is about 67 percent in Leslie County and 48 percent in Macon-Bibb County. Applications of this methodology for national forest planning are discussed.
Simulation of Left Ventricular Dynamics Using a Low-Order Mathematical Model

The eventual goal of this study is to develop methods for estimating dynamic stresses in the left ventricle (LV) that could be used on-line in clinical settings, based on routinely available measurements. Toward this goal, a low-order theoretical model is presented, in which LV shape is represented using a small number of parameters, allowing rapid computational simulations of LV dynamics. The LV is represented as a thick-walled prolate spheroid containing helical muscle fibers with nonlinear passive and time-dependent active contractile properties. The displacement field during the cardiac cycle is described by three time-dependent parameters, using a family of volume-preserving mappings based on prolate spheroidal coordinates. Stress equilibrium is imposed in weak form and the resulting force balance equations are coupled to a lumped-parameter model of the circulation, leading to a system of differential–algebraic equations, whose numerical solution yields predictions of LV pressure and volume, together with spatial distributions of stresses and strains throughout the cardiac cycle. When static loading of the passive LV is assumed, this approach yields displacement and stress fields that closely match results from a standard finite-element approach. When dynamic motion with active contraction is simulated, substantial variations of fiber stress and strain through the myocardium are predicted. This approach allows simulations of LV dynamics that run faster than real time, and could be used to determine patient-specific parameters of LV performance on-line from clinically available measurements, with the eventual goal of real-time, patient-specific analysis of cardiac parameters.
Powder metallurgy in aerospace research : a survey

The various techniques by which powders can be produced, as pure metals or as alloys, are discussed; the methods by which these powders can be formed into the final parts are explained as well as further processing that may be necessary to meet specific requirements. The NASA developments are detailed, and references are provided for those who wish to obtain further information characteristic of any methodology.
Nickel impregnated mesoporous USY zeolites for hydrodeoxygenation of anisole

Abstract Ni was impregnated on various mesoporous USY zeolites, which were characterized and tested for catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of anisole. Parent USY zeolite was modified using the mild surfactant-assisted method, and more severe desilication and desilication with pore directed agent techniques. Ni impregnation on the zeolites with higher micropore volume produced small, easily reduced, internal Ni crystallites, whereas the larger mesopores promoted the formation of bulky external Ni particles. Catalysts with larger external Ni particles were more effective for HDO of anisole. HDO with the optimal mesoporous USY supported catalyst proceeded at more than double the reaction rate, with greater yield to fully deoxygenated products, compared to HDO using Ni supported on the parent USY. Kinetic modeling using a simple lumped mechanism demonstrated that this improvement was a result of greater rates of initial Ni-catalyzed hydrogenation reactions, most likely due to greater access to the Ni surface. The most successful technique was further modified to produce a final mesoporous USY supported Ni zeolite with superior catalytic activity for anisole HDO.
Ultra-Rapid Crystallization of L-alanine Using Monomode Microwaves, Indium Tin Oxide and Metal-Assisted and Microwave-Accelerated Evaporative Crystallization.

The use of indium tin oxide (ITO) and focused monomode microwave heating for the ultra-rapid crystallization of L-alanine (a model amino acid) is reported. Commercially available ITO dots ( 37 crystals of 542 ± 100 μm in size with conventional microwave heating > 331 crystals of 311 ± 190 μm in size with focused monomode microwave. FTIR, optical microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the chemical composition and crystallinity of the L-alanine crystals did not change when exposed to microwave heating and ITO surfaces. In addition, theoretical simulations for the binding of L-alanine molecules to ITO and other metals showed the predicted nature of hydrogen bonds formed between L-alanine and these surfaces.
Zero-order release of poorly water-soluble drug from polymeric films made via aqueous slurry casting.

Abstract In spite of significant recent interest in polymeric films containing poorly water-soluble drugs, dissolution mechanism of thicker films has not been investigated. Consequently, release mechanisms of poorly water-soluble drugs from thicker hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) films are investigated, including assessing thickness above which they exhibit zero-order drug release. Micronized, surface modified particles of griseofulvin, a model drug of BSC class II, were incorporated into aqueous slurry-cast films of different thicknesses (100, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 μm). Films 1000 μm and thicker were formed by either stacking two or more layers of ~500 μm, or forming a monolithic thick film. Compared to monolithic thick films, stacked films required simpler manufacturing process (easier casting, short drying time) and resulted in better critical quality attributes (appearance, uniformity of thickness and drug per unit area). Both the film forming approaches exhibited similar release profiles and followed the semi-empirical power law. As thickness increased from 100 μm to 2000 μm, the release mechanism changed from Fickian diffusion to zero-order release for films ≥1000 μm. The diffusional power law exponent, n, achieved value of 1, confirming zero-order release, whereas the percentage drug release varied linearly with sample surface area, and sample thickness due to fixed sample diameter. Thus, multi-layer hydrophilic polymer aqueous slurry-cast thick films containing poorly water-soluble drug particles provide a convenient dosage form capable of zero-order drug release with release time modulated through number of layers.
Relating a small-scale shock sensitivity experiment to large-scale failure diameter in an aluminized ammonium nitrate non-ideal explosive

Abstract The detonation failure process, specifically where a transient reaction occurs in an overdriven explosive due to a sub-critical charge diameter, has remained relatively unexplored, particularly regarding its relationship to shock initiation mechanisms. Detonation failure, here defined as a weakly supported shock wave traveling with a decaying velocity, of aluminized ammonium nitrate (AN/Al) was considered to investigate the relationship between the detonation failure process and shock sensitivity. Previous work has shown that the Al additive particle size alters the failure diameter, a measure of shock sensitivity, of AN/Al. Microwave interferometry was used to measure the transient shock wave velocity in the explosive system, which was lightly confined at a diameter below its critical diameter, in response to an overdriven shock insult in a small-scale experiment. An array of mixture ratios and particle size distributions of the explosive system was used to vary the sensitivity of the explosive and to facilitate exploration of the relationship between the shock velocity decay rate, initiation mechanisms, and large-scale shock sensitivity. Resulting shock velocity profiles in AN/Al indicate that micron-sized and larger Al particles can contribute to the detonation process. It is concluded that the rate at which the transient shock velocity approaches that of a compressive wave with no supporting reaction corresponds to the relative shock sensitivity of the system; it is therefore proposed that the measured shock velocity decay rate of an overdriven sub-critical diameter charge of AN/Al reveals quantifiable information about the relative shock sensitivity of a large-scale charge.
Mining the Web for the Induction of a Dialectical Arabic Lexicon

This paper describes the first phase of building a lexicon of Egyptian Cairene Arabic (ECA) ― one of the most widely understood dialects in the Arab World ― and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Each ECA entry is mapped to its MSA synonym, Part-of-Speech (POS) tag and top-ranked contexts based on Web queries; and thus each entry is provided with basic syntactic and semantic information for a generic lexicon compatible with multiple NLP applications. Moreover, through their MSA synonyms, ECA entries acquire access to MSA available NLP tools and resources which are considerably available. Using an associationist approach based on the correlations between word co-occurrence patterns in both dialects, we change the direction of the acquisition process from parallel to circular to overcome a bottleneck of current research on Arabic dialects, namely the lack of parallel corpora, and to alleviate accuracy rates for using unrelated Web documents which are more frequently available. Manually evaluated for 1,000 word entries by two native speakers of the ECA-MSA varieties, the proposed approach achieves a promising F-measured performance rate of 70.9%. In discussion to the proposed algorithm, different semantic issues are highlighted for upcoming phases of the induction of a more comprehensive ECA-MSA lexicon.
Retinoid Therapy for Photoaging

Photoaging is caused by the skin’s reaction to chronic sun exposure. Topical retinoids are effective in treating clinical signs of photoaging, including fine wrinkles, coarseness and laxity. Retinoid dermatitis is inherent to retinoid therapy, since it is mediated by nuclear retinoid receptors. Irritation can be minimized by reducing dose and frequency of treatment. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of action of retinoids in photoaging will provide pharmacological targets for the development of non-retinoid compounds that have the beneficial properties of retinoids, without the unwanted side effects.
Cell Cycle Regulators and Mechanisms of Growth Control Evasion in Lung Cancer

The last several years have seen an explosion in our understanding of the components and mechanisms involved in regulation of the eukaryotic cell cycle. The explosion began with the discovery of cyclins and the identification of Xenopus maturation promoting factor as a complex of cyclin B and a cdc2-related protein kinase [1]. Since then cyclins and the cyclindependent kinases (CDKs) have been identified as the key mediators of cell cycle progression, and the cast of known players has expanded to include cyclins A, B1, B2, C, D1-3, E, F, G, H, and I and CDKs 1–7, as well as inhibitors and mediators of CDK activity [2-5].
Central retinal vein occlusion: review of management.

Central retinal vein occlusion is usually a disease of the elderly and is often associated with systemic vascular disease, e.g., hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arteriosclerotic vascular disease. Younger patients, especially those less than 45 years of age, with retinal vein occlusion should be evaluated carefully for the possibility of an underlying thrombotic tendency. The authors describe the ocular manifestations, pathogenesis, associated conditions, patient evaluation, and treatment of patients with central retinal vein occlusion.
Once broken, never fixed? the impact of culture and medium on repairing trust in CMC

Communication in today's media choices of texts, tweets and posts remain influenced by who we are and our subjective context. Given globalization, distance education and diverse teams and workgroups, successful communicative interaction is facilitated by interpersonal trust, or the trust between conversational partners. When conflict erupts, as it will in relationships, in work groups and within organizations, the restoration of trust and stability is aided by one's personal analysis of internal and external factors. The objective of this study is to investigate how communication channels (IM and video) influence people from different cultures (China and the US) in trust development and trust reparation.
Sensitivity of seismic demands and fragility estimates of a typical California highway bridge to uncertainties in its soil-structure interaction modeling

Abstract This study investigates the sensitivity of seismic demands and fragility estimates of a typical highway bridge in California to variation in its soil-structure interaction (SSI) modeling parameters. A rigorous p-y spring based modeling approach is developed and validated for an instrumented highway overcrossing that provides a dependable screening of each modeling parameter. Modifications are made to benchmark the overcrossing against typical bridge designs in California, including the consideration of diaphragm and seat abutments. Plausible variation in SSI modeling parameters is established using 18 random variables that cover different soil zones. Influential SSI parameters are identified for the seismic demands of bridge components through two regression techniques such as stepwise and LASSO regressions. Concurring results from both regressions indicate that bridge demand models tend to be sensitive to the modeling parameters associated with near-ground soils. Furthermore, the relative importance of the uncertainty in SSI modeling parameters is assessed with respect to the fragility estimates in both component and system levels. The study reveals that the bridge performance and fragility curves of bridge columns and decks are dominated by the uncertainty in the ground motion. However, the propagation of the potentially variable SSI parameters plays a significant role in the fragility estimates of bridge foundations and abutment components such as span unseating, bearings and shear keys. The results offer insights to guide future uncertainty treatment in SSI modeling and investment in refined soil parameter estimates through field testing or other measures.
Evidence for a common synthetic origin for secretory and serum IgA.

Experimental evidence has been obtained which demonstrates that the synthesis of the IgA moiety of the secretory IgA molecule occurs in cells separate from those in which the secretory piece component is synthesized. The data supporting this have been described in excellent reviews and will not be reiterated here (1,2). Immunochemical evidence which establishes that the secretory and serum IgA portions may be derived from the same source in humans is lacking.
Application effects of continuity of care in reducing domestic symptomatic hypoglycemia of children with type 1 diabetes

Objective To explore the effect of continuity of care in reducing domestic symptomatic hypoglycemia of children with type 1 diabetes. Methods A total of 50 first diagnosed type 1 diabetic children who were admitted in a classⅢgrade A hospital from May 2014 to December 2015 were selected and divided into observation group and control group randomly with 25 cases in each. The two groups were given the same clinical nursing, while the observation group was given continuity of care after discharge. The observation period last for 12 months from the time of discharge. Observed the average weekly incidence of symptomatic hypoglycemia, admission, HbA1c. Results A total of 45 cases completed the research, 21 of which were from the control group, and the last were from the observation group. Compared with the control group, the occurrence of domestic symptomatic hypoglycemia in observation group was significantly reduced (P<0.05) . Meanwhile, the number of readmission in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05) . Conclusions Continuity of nursing can effectively reduce the symptomatic hypoglycemia occurrence of type 1 diabetic children who were first diagnosed within 12 months. It can also reduce readmission rate, medical expenses and family financial burden. Key words: Child; Diabetes mellitus, type 1; Hypoglycemia; Continuity of care
Goal Summarization for Human-Human Health Coaching Dialogues

Lack of physical activity has been linked to several chronic diseases. Health coaching is successful to help patients engage in healthier behaviors, but is resource intensive. Our goal is to develop a virtual health coach. In this paper, we discuss one component of our work, automatically summarizing goals set by patients during health coaching conversations that we collected and annotated. In turn, our goal summarization pipeline consists of a slot-value prediction model followed by a model that captures the higher-level conversation flow of the dialogues. We report a detailed evaluation that shows measures used for summarization such as BLEU and ROUGE, do not work well for our task.
Diagnostic Investigations in GERD

GERD presents with a large diversity of different symptoms. Despite typical symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation, GERD may cause also a variety of different symptoms such as chest pain, chronic cough, hoarseness, epigastric pain, and/or nausea. The Montreal classification of GERD has described the presence of symptoms in GERD. Other functional and somatoform disorders may also present with “reflux-like” symptoms, creating an overlap with the clinical presentation of GERD. Therefore, symptoms may be in some cases misleading regarding a sufficient diagnosis for therapeutic decision making. As a consequence, diagnostic investigations in GERD are very important. Current technology allows for a very comprehensive assessment and understanding of the morphologic, anatomical, and functional alterations that emerge with the development of GERD. High Resolution Manometry and Dynamic Barium Sandwich videography are very helpful. Endoscopy is especially important in exclusion of malignant disease and in the presence of alarm symptoms such as dysphagia, retrosternal pain, and bleeding. With endoscopy, it is possible to establish the diagnosis of GERD and its grade of severity. For diagnostic workup prior to surgery endoscopy, 24-h-pH-monitoring and manometry are important for the optimal selection for patients.
In-band Secret-Free Pairing for COTS Wireless Devices

Many IoT devices lack the necessary interfaces (keyboards, screens) for entering passwords or changing default ones. For these devices, bootstrapping trust can be challenging. We address the problem of device pairing in the absence of any shared secrets. Pairing is a two-phase process that requires the mutual authentication between the two parties and the agreement to a common key that can be used to further bootstrap essential cryptographic mechanisms. We propose a secret-free and in-band trust establishment protocol that achieves the secure pairing of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) wireless devices with a hub. As compared to the state-of-the-art, our protocol does not require any hardware/firmware modification to the devices, or any out-of-band channels, but can be applied to any COTS device. Furthermore, our protocol is resistant to active signal manipulations attacks that include recently demonstrated signal nullification at an intended receiver. These security properties are achieved in-band with the assistance of a helper device such as a smartphone and by exploiting hard-to-forge signal propagation laws. We perform extensive theoretical analysis to verify the security of the proposed protocol. In addition, we validate our theoretical results with experiments using COTS devices and USRP radios.
Promoting Physician Diversity through Medical Student Led Outreach and Pipeline Programs.

Abstract Introduction Current projections anticipate a dramatic shift from historical population demographics in the United States. Racial and ethnic minorities are expected to constitute the majority of the population by 2050. However, racial minorities continue to be underrepresented in medical school admissions and the physician workforce. Creating a medical student and physician workforce that reflects population demographics of their patients will be an important determinant in promoting public health and health equity. Methods Medical student led educational outreach programming targeting middle and high school students is one way by which current medical students can actively work to systematically address barriers to aspiring URiM medical students. Results Opportunities for medical students to implement meaningful educational outreach programming are limited only by personal motivation and institutional support. Implementation of these programs would provide college and medical school candidacy support for aspiring medical students while providing personal development and education benefits to medical students implementing the program. Conclusion The authors call on medical students across the country to join in pursuit of health equity and a diverse physician workforce that reflects the evolving demographics of the United States. Medical students can impact the health of local communities through implementation of educational outreach programming to facilitate access to medical education for middle and high school students.
Design and Implementation

Having done an analysis of the requirements, we proceed to the design stage. In this step, we use the class structure produced by the analysis to design a system that behaves in the manner specified by the model. The main UML tool that we employ here is the sequence diagram. In a sequence diagram, the designer specifies the details of how the behaviour specified in the model will be realised. This process requires the system’s actions to be broken down into specific tasks, and the responsibility for these tasks to be assigned to the various players in the system.
Relaxing Symmetry Rules for Nonlinear Optical Interactions via Strong-Coupling in Bulk Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

We report enhanced second harmonic generation (SHG) from centrosymmetric bulk WSe 2 . This enhancement arises due to pumping in resonance with the Exciton-Polariton modes formed in self-hybridized bulk WSe 2 .
Fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts in ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests of the western United States

Increased wildfire activity combined with warm and dry post-fire conditions may undermine the mechanisms maintaining forest resilience to wildfires, potentially causing ecosystem transitions, or fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts. Stand-replacing fire is especially likely to catalyze vegetation shifts expected from climate change, by killing mature trees that are less sensitive to climate than juveniles. To understand the vulnerability of forests to fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts it is critical to identify both where fires will burn with stand-replacing severity and where climate conditions limit seedling recruitment. We used an extensive dendrochronological dataset to model the influence of seasonal climate on post-fire recruitment probability for ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir. We applied this model to project annual recruitment probability in the US intermountain west under contemporary and future climate conditions, which we compared to modeled probability of stand-replacing fire. We categorized areas as "vulnerable to fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts," if they were likely to burn at stand-replacing severity, if a fire were to occur, and had post-fire climate conditions unsuitable for tree recruitment. Climate suitability for recruitment declined over time in all ecoregions: 21% and 15% of the range of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir, respectively, had climate conditions unsuitable for recruitment in the 1980s, whereas these values increased to 61% (ponderosa pine) and 34% (Douglas-fir) for the future climate scenario. Less area was vulnerable to fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts, but these values also increased over time, from 6% and 4% of the range of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir in the 1980s, to 16% (ponderosa pine) and 10% (Douglas-fir) under the future climate scenario. Southern ecoregions had considerably higher vulnerability to fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts than northern ecoregions. Overall, our results suggest that the combination of climate warming and an increase in wildfire activity may substantially impact species distributions through fire-catalyzed vegetation shifts.
Building a compassionate workplace using information technology: Considerations for information systems research

Abstract This opinion paper presents the need for IS research on compassion in the organizational workplace. Given the current challenges caused by COVID-19, we argue that organizations need to be resilient to counter the adverse effects of this pandemic. Developing a compassionate organizational workplace is an effective way to build resilient organizations. The paper draws attention to the fact that a focus on compassion can be a valuable scope of inquiry within IS research. It proposes an integrative framework mapping the scope of compassion in IS research and develops a research agenda that can aid future inquiry into this phenomenon.
The Commodification of Public Land Records

The United States deed recording system alters the “first in time, first in right” doctrine to enable good faith purchasers to record their deeds to protect themselves against prior unrecorded conveyances, and to provide constructive notice of their interests to potential subsequent purchasers. Constructive notice, however, works only when land records are available for public inspection, a practice that had long proved uncontroversial. For centuries, deed archives were almost exclusively patronized by land-transacting parties because the difficulty and cost of title examination deterred nearly everyone else. The modern information economy, however, propelled this staid corner of property law into a computer age in which land records are electronically maintained and instantaneously accessible over the internet. That development transformed public land records into a marketable commodity independent of the deed recording system’s notice-giving function. In response to booming demand for big data, content extracted from public land records (name, home address, marital status, among other personal information) is now actively traded on the internet and routinely purchased by commercial firms for targeted marketing and customer prospecting. Data from public land records are now more accessible than ever before, representing a win for transparency, but, as tragically illustrated by the recent high-profile attack against a federal judge, an erosion of privacy that can dangerously equip wrongdoers with on-demand entree to personal information. This Article provides the first scholarly account of the deed recording system’s transformation from a notice-giving mechanism of property law to a primary supplier of commodified data for sale in the modern information economy. The Article surveys the traditional functions of deed recording, describes the recent migration of deeds from paper to electronic form as the predicate for commodification, and considers the implications of electronic disclosure for privacy, transparency, and the regulation of anonymous entity ownership. The Article concludes by appraising the efficacy of recent privacy reforms under consideration by Congress and state legislatures, and by outlining voluntary precautions that homeowners can implement under existing law.
Inflammation-relevant microbiome signature of the stroke brain, gut, spleen, and thymus and the impact of exercise:

Stroke remains a significant unmet need in the clinic with few therapeutic options. We, and others, have implicated the role of inflammatory microbiota in stroke secondary cell death. Elucidating t...
Designer proteins that competitively inhibit Gαq by targeting its effector site.

Abstract During signal transduction, the G protein, Gαq, binds and activates phospholipase C-β isozymes. Several diseases have been shown to manifest upon constitutively activating mutation of Gαq, such as uveal melanoma. Therefore, methods are needed to directly inhibit Gαq. Previously, we demonstrated that a peptide derived from a helix-turn-helix (HTH) region of PLC-β3 (residues 852-878) binds Gαq with low micromolar affinity and inhibits Gαq by competing with full-length PLC-β isozymes for binding. Since the HTH peptide is unstructured in the absence of Gαq, we hypothesized that embedding the HTH in a folded protein might stabilize the binding-competent conformation and further improve the potency of inhibition. Using the molecular modeling software Rosetta, we searched the Protein Data Bank for proteins with similar HTH structures near their surface. The candidate proteins were computationally docked against Gαq and their surfaces were redesigned to stabilize this interaction. We then used yeast surface display to affinity mature the designs. The most potent design bound Gαq/i with high affinity in vitro (KD = 18 nM) and inhibited activation of PLC-β isozymes in HEK293 cells. We anticipate that our genetically encoded inhibitor will help interrogate the role of Gαq in healthy and disease model systems. Our work demonstrates that grafting interaction motifs into folded proteins is a powerful approach for generating inhibitors of protein-protein interactions.
Tree/wood quality in slash pine following longterm cattle grazing

Tree height, diameter, and grade were measured on 14 cattle grazing trial plots located on the Palustris Experimental Forest in Louisiana's Kisatchie National Forest. These plots had been established in the early 1960s. Mensurational data was gathered on 28 trees from grazed sites and another 28 from ungrazed plots. Increment cores were also taken from these trees. Statistical analyses showed no effect attributable to grazing on any of the variables measured: tree height, tree diameter at breast height, tree grade, growth rate, amount of latewood, unextracted specific gravity, or tracheid length.
Über eine bisher noch nicht benützte erweiterung Des finiten standpunktes

Zusammenfassung P. Bernays hat darauf hingewiesen, dass man, um die Widerspruchs freiheit der klassischen Zahlentheorie zu beweisen, den Hilbertschen flniter Standpunkt dadurch erweitern muss, dass man neben den auf Symbole sich beziehenden kombinatorischen Begriffen gewisse abstrakte Begriffe zulasst, Die abstrakten Begriffe, die bisher fur diesen Zweck verwendet wurden, sinc die der konstruktiven Ordinalzahltheorie und die der intuitionistischer. Logik. Es wird gezeigt, dass man statt deesen den Begriff einer berechenbaren Funktion endlichen einfachen Typs uber den naturlichen Zahler benutzen kann, wobei keine anderen Konstruktionsverfahren fur solche Funktionen notig sind, als einfache Rekursion nach einer Zahlvariablen und Einsetzung von Funktionen ineinander (mit trivialen Funktionen als Ausgangspunkt). Abstract P. Bernays has pointed out that, in order to prove the consistency of classical number theory, it is necessary to extend Hilbert's finitary stand-point by admitting certain abstract concepts in addition to the combinatorial concepts referring to symbols. The abstract concepts that so far have been used for this purpose are those of the constructive theory of ordinals and those of intuitionistic logic. It is shown that the concept of a computable function of finite simple type over the integers can be used instead, where no other procedures of constructing such functions are necessary except simple recursion by an integral variable and substitution of functions in each other (starting with trivial functions).
Attempting to reduce uncertainty: lobbying in a competitive communications environment

In an effort to reduce regulatory uncertainty, this study examines if the broadcast and wireless industries have changed, or are changing, lobbying practices. Using resource dependence theory, the topic is examined through in-person interviews with lobbyists employed by broadcast and wireless organisations and trade associations. The study argues that the industries are attempting to reduce uncertainty through specific lobbying behaviours, specifically policy selection, intra-industry cooperation and trade association involvement.
Race, Prediction & Discretion

Many scholars and political leaders denounce racism as the cause of disproportionate incarceration of black Americans. All players in this system have been blamed including the legislators who enact laws that disproportionately harm blacks, police who unevenly arrest blacks, prosecutors who overcharge blacks, and judges that fail to release and oversentence black Americans. Some scholars have blamed the police and judges who make arrest and release decisions based on predictions of whether defendants will commit future crimes. They claim that prediction leads to minorities being treated unfairly. Others complain that racism results from misused discretion. This article explores where racial bias enters the criminal justice system through an empirical analysis that considers the impact of discretion and prediction. With a close look at the numbers and consideration of factors ignored by others, this article confirms some conventional wisdom but also makes several surprising findings. This article confirms what many commentators have suspected — that police arrest black defendants more often for drug crimes than white defendants. It also finds, contrary to popular belief, that there is little evidence to support the belief that drugs are linked to violent crime. Also, judges actually detain white defendants more than similarly-situated black defendants for all types of crimes. The important and surprising findings in this article challenge long-held conventions of race and help mitigate racial disparity in criminal justice.
Citizenship Education in Post-Revolutionary Egypt: Examining the Curriculum of a Civic Organization

The purpose of this paper is to explore how civic organizations in Egypt after the revolution prepare students to be active citizens with a solid understanding of what their roles and duties are in an emergent democratic system. Through examining the curriculum of the summer school of one of the civic organizations in Cairo, I first look at the kind of themes or issues that are presented to the students. I then align the activities used at the school with research-based practices in citizenship education. I also try to look at the kind of democratic values that students develop through participation in the summer school.
Univariate Box–Jenkins forecasts of water discharge in Missouri river

The Missouri river is one of the major rivers in the USA and is used for various purposes such as irrigation, electricity generation, fishing and other recreational activities. Predicting the flow of water would help to plan all activities that are dependent on this river. The results of Univariate Box‐Jenkins forecasts show that the Seasonal AutoRegressive Moving Average (SARIMA) model with logarithmic transformation of the form SARIMA (0, 1, 1) (0, 1, 1)12 is a fairly good parsimonious representation of the underlying process.
A note on equivalence in ranking investments

Present net worth, benefit/cost, and internal rate of return are considered for ranking investments. In some cases, rankings can be contradictory, and the investment criterion can influence inter‐project allocations. There are situations, however, when ranking equivalence is assured. In this article, conditions for equivalence in ranking investments are presented using simple graphics and algebra. The conditions are restrictive, and can be effective in demonstrating the need for discretion in selecting an economic criterion for evaluating investments.
High Affinity Transport of 2-Deoxyglucose in Isolated Synaptic Nerve Endings

RESULTS of studies of transport in the nervous system using whole brain and slice preparations suffer from the disadvantage that it is not certain whether they apply to capillary, glial, and/or neuronal cells. Isolation of intact synaptic nerve endings (synaptosomes) has made it possible to investigate transport across synaptic membranes which are free of significant glial contamination1. Synaptosomes can respire and generate ATP and phosphocreatine with glucose as substrate, and glucose metabolism is largely abolished when synaptosomes are ruptured2. The data reported here suggest that carrier mediated sugar transport across synaptic membranes has different characteristics from that seen in brain and brain slices.
Pancreatic beta-cells expressing the Arg64 variant of the beta(3)-adrenergic receptor exhibit abnormal insulin secretory activity.

The Arg64 beta(3)-adrenergic receptor (beta(3)AR) variant is associated with an earlier age of onset of diabetes and lower levels of insulin secretion in humans. The aims of this study were to investigate whether beta(3)AR is expressed by islet cells, if receptor binding affects insulin secretion and, finally, if the beta(3)AR Arg64 variant induces abnormal insulin secretory activity. Human pancreas extracts were subjected to RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunostaining analyses. DNA sequencing and Western blotting demonstrated that the beta(3)AR gene is transcribed and translated in the human pancreas; immunostaining showed that it is expressed by the islets of Langerhans. Cultured rat beta-cells responded to human beta(3)AR agonists in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Transfection of cultured rat beta-cells with the wild-type human beta(3)AR produced an increased baseline and ligand-dependent insulin secretion compared with parental cells. On the other hand, cells transfected with the Arg64 variant of the beta(3)AR secreted less insulin, both spontaneously and after exposure to human beta(3)AR agonists. Furthermore, while transfection with the wild-type beta(3)AR preserved the glucose-dependent secretion of insulin, expression of the variant receptor rendered the host cells significantly less responsive to glucose. In summary, cells express the beta(3)AR, and its activation contributes to the regulation of insulin secretion. These findings may help explain the low levels of insulin secretion in response to an i.v. glucose tolerance test observed in humans carrying the Arg64 polymorphism.
TRANSITIONAL CELL CARCINOMA IN SITU OF THE SEMINAL VESICLES: 8 CASES WITH DISCUSSION OF PATHOGENESIS, AND CLINICAL AND BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

AbstractPurpose: Mucosal migration of transitional cell carcinoma in situ is a potential mechanism for multifocal lower tract disease.Materials and Methods: The clinical course and pathological studies of 8 cases of carcinoma in situ are reviewed in detail.Results: The pattern of disease of carcinoma in situ of seminal vesicle provides circumstantial evidence for mucosal migration of cancer from a bladder or prostatic urethral origin.Conclusions: A monoclonal origin of bladder cancer combined with mucosal spread of carcinoma in situ suggests that incomplete destruction of carcinoma in situ may adversely affect long-term results by permitting extension into the distal ureters, prostatic duct or seminal vesicles. Protracted intravesical treatment of carcinoma in situ without complete elimination of the disease allows the natural history of mucosal spread to become evident.
Transtension in Arcs and Orogens

Transtension is the oblique divergence between bounding plates or blocks that combines a coaxial orthogonal extension with a deformation zone boundary-parallel, noncoaxial, component, which generates a bulk constrictional strain. The coaxial component determines the rate and amount of crustal/lithospheric thinning and part of the horizontal extension. The non-coaxial component controls the vorticity, the horizontal shortening, and part of the horizontal extension. The instantaneous stretching direction bisects the angle between the direction of divergence (transport direction) and the zone boundary orthogonal. In the brittle regime, normal fault arrays accommodate vertical shortening and horizontal extension whereas simultaneous wrench fault arrays allow horizontal shortening. All faults, except those that are vertical and parallel with the zone boundary, rotate either with or against vorticity, depending on their orientation with respect to the transport direction and the zone boundary. Block rotation co...
Helium, iron, and electron particle transport and energy transport studies on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor

Results from helium, iron, and electron transport studies on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [Plasma Phys. Controlled Nucl. Fusion Res. 26, 11 (1984)] in L‐mode and supershot deuterium plasmas with the same toroidal field, plasma current, and neutral beam heating power are presented. They are compared to results from thermal transport analysis based on power balance. Particle diffusivities and thermal conductivities are radially hollow and larger than neoclassical values, except possibly near the magnetic axis. The ion channel dominates over the electron channel in both particle and thermal diffusion. A peaked helium profile, supported by inward convection that is stronger than predicted by neoclassical theory, is measured in the supershot. The helium profile shape is consistent with predictions from quasilinear electrostatic drift‐wave theory. While the perturbative particle diffusion coefficients of all three species are similar in the supershot, differences are found in the L mode. Quasilinear theory calculations of the ratios of impurity diffusivities are in good accord with measurements. Theory estimates indicate that the ion heat flux should be larger than the electron heat flux, consistent with power balance analysis. However, theoretical values of the ratio of the ion to electron heat flux can be more than a factor of 3 larger than experimental values. A correlation between helium diffusion and ion thermal transport is observed and has favorable implications for sustained ignition of a tokamak fusion reactor.
SU‐E‐I‐82: Image Signal‐To‐Noise Equalization in Whole Body PET Using Variable Acquisition Times

Purpose: Whole Body PET scans are acquired at multiple axial positions, where the acquisition time at each position is constant. Although the acquisition time is adjusted for patient weight, the varying amount of attenuation and activity distribution for different sections, the image S/N can vary significantly. The aim of this work is to investigate the use of variable bed position scan times in WB‐PET to equalize the Signal‐to‐Noise ratio in the axial direction. Methods: Simulations of activity and attenuation distributions based on whole body CT scans were performed. Phantoms of different cross sections were also simulated and imaged.Imagenoise was estimated by generating multiple noise replicates by adding Poissonnoise to the emission sinograms for the simulated images, and using a bootstrap method for the phantom patient measurements. By comparing the square of imagenoise (SD/Mean) for all the image slices, the acquisition time for each section could be adjusted to yield uniform imagenoise for all slices. The imagenoise was also compared to the average AC factors through the center of each body slice. Results: A polynomial function was found for both simulations and the measurements to accurately describe imagenoise as a function of AC factors. Using this relationship, the acquisition time at each axial position can be adjusted to produce images of relatively uniform S/N, independent of cross sectional thickness. This was confirmed in phantom and patient data. Conclusions: The noise properties of WB‐PET images can be equalized axially by adjusting the acquisition time according to the amount of attenuation. The acquisition time can be reduced in areas of lower attenuation and increased in more absorbing sections Since there is a correlation of the imagenoise and the CT‐derived AC factors, the acquisition times can quickly calculated using a simple functional relationship.
Myotonia induced by diazacholesterol: increased (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity of erythrocyte ghosts and development of cataracts.

Abstract An inhibitor of desmosterol reductase, 20,25-diazacholesterol, causes myotonia but the biochemical correlates of the disease are poorly defined. After 5–6 months desmosterol constitutes 95% of the plasma sterols and 92% of erythrocyte membrane sterols in treated rats; the activity of (Na + + K + )-ATPase is increased in the erythrocyte membranes (and sarcolemma). At least 6 out of 16 treated rats developed severe cataracts. These data show that the enzymic changes are not restricted to innervated tissues; desmosterol accumulation might in itself cause cataracts; and this drug-induced disease is a particularly relevant model of myotonic dystrophy.