cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Ultraviolet-B Radiation and Its Interactions with Climate Change Factors on Agricultural Crop Growth and Yield

Crops are often exposed to multiple factors of climate change including: (1) enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, (2) elevated carbon dioxide concentrations (CO2), and (3) episodes of elevated temperatures and water stress during critical stages of crop development. Our understanding of crop responses to individual climate change stress factors has significantly advanced in recent years. However, crop responses to a combination of stress factors are less understood and need attention. In addition to direct effects on various physiological, growth, and yield traits of plants, the interaction of plants with biotic factors (particularly insects and pathogens) will play an important role in determining crop productivity. The objective of this chapter is to provide a summary of crop responses to UV-B, CO2, temperature, drought, and a combination of multiple stresses. Exposure to above ambient UV-B radiation decreases crop productivity through negative effects on photosynthesis, growth, dry matter production, yield, and grain quality. Elevated CO2 often improves photosynthesis, growth, and yield of most crop species. Alternatively, exposure to both above optimum temperatures and water stress significantly decreases crop productivity and quality, particularly when stress occurs during sensitive stages (reproductive phase) of crop development. The positive effects of elevated (CO2) on photosynthesis and growth do not generally overcome the negative effects of UV-B radiation, elevated temperatures, or water stress on productivity and quality of grain crops. Crop species and cultivars within crop species vary in their responses to both individual and a combination of stress factors, suggesting a scope for genetic improvement. Further research should be focused on breeding for tolerance to multiple stresses of regional and local importance. An increased knowledge of crop responses to multiple stresses and genetics may also improve crop simulation models resulting in a better understanding, prediction and management of crops in a changing environment.
Inhibition of increases in ornithine decarboxylase and putrescine has no effect on rat liver regeneration

Polyamines are considered critical for cell proliferation. During liver regeneration in the rat, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) mRNA and enzyme activity and polyamines (primarily putrescine and spermidine) are known to increase substantially. We examined the effect of inhibition of polyamine synthesis with alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an irreversible inhibitor of the ODC enzyme, on regenerating liver weight and total DNA, RNA, and protein, [3H]thymidine and [14C]leucine incorporation, number of mitotic figures, and putrescine, spermidine, and spermine contents. Rats received DFMO beginning 4 days before or immediately after two-thirds partial hepatectomy. In control rats, ODC activity, putrescine, and spermidine increased significantly during regeneration, whereas spermine was unchanged. In rats receiving DFMO, ODC and putrescine changed minimally but spermidine increased as usual. Spermine levels were modestly higher in rats receiving DFMO beginning 4 days before partial hepatectomy. However, despite ODC inhibition and substantially lower levels of putrescine, the course of liver regeneration in rats treated with DFMO was not affected. Total liver mass, DNA, RNA, and protein increased over 5 days equally in rats receiving DFMO and control rats. In addition, there were no differences in [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA, [14C]leucine incorporation into protein or mitotic indexes between DFMO-treated and control rats at 24 and 48 h after partial hepatectomy. These results suggest that the well-known increases in ODC activity and polyamines that occur during regeneration are not required for liver to undergo its proliferative response to partial hepatectomy.
Neuropsychological performance in adolescent marijuana users with co-occurring alcohol use: A three-year longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of adolescent marijuana use on brain development remains unclear despite relaxing legal restrictions, decreased perceived harm, and increasing use rates among youth. The aim of this 3-year prospective study was to evaluate the long-term neurocognitive effects of adolescent marijuana use. METHOD: Adolescent marijuana users with concomitant alcohol use (MJ + ALC, n = 49) and control teens with limited substance use histories (CON, n = 59) were given neuropsychological and substance use assessments at project baseline, when they were ages 16-19. They were then reassessed 18 and 36 months later. Changes in neuropsychological measures were evaluated with repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for lifetime alcohol use, and examined the effects of group, time, and group by time interactions on cognitive functioning. RESULTS: MJ + ALC users performed significantly worse than controls, across time points, in the domains of complex attention, memory, processing speed, and visuospatial functioning (ps CONCLUSIONS: Frequent marijuana use throughout adolescence and into young adulthood appeared linked to worsened cognitive performance. Earlier age of onset appears to be associated with poorer neurocognitive outcomes that emerge by young adulthood, providing further support for the notion that the brain may be uniquely sensitive to frequent marijuana exposure during the adolescent phase of neurodevelopment. Continued follow-up of adolescent marijuana users will determine the extent of neural recovery that may occur if use abates. (PsycINFO Database Record Language: en
Identifying structural anomalies in image reconstructions of underwater ship hulls

This paper reports on an algorithm enabling an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to localize into a 3D computer aided design (CAD) model of a ship hull in situ using an optical camera and Doppler velocity log (DVL). The precision of our localization algorithm allows the identification of structural deviations between 3D structure inferred from bundle-adjusted camera imagery and the CAD model. These structural deviations are clustered into shapes, which allow us to fuse camera-derived structure into a CAD-derived 3D mesh. This augmented CAD model can be used within a 3D photomosaicing pipeline, providing a visually intuitive 3D reconstruction of the ship hull. We evaluate our algorithm on the Bluefin Robotics Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV) surveying the SS Curtiss, and provide a 3D reconstruction that fuses the CAD mesh with 3D information corresponding to underwater structure, such as biofouling.
Defying (Dis)Empowerment in a Battered Women's Shelter: Moral Rhetorics, Intersectionality, and Processes of Control and Resistance

Power has been fruitfully conceptualized as a relationship between two or more actors or groups (Janeway 1980; Lukes 2005). Much of this work has treated power relations in generic terms (e.g., Foucault 1978; Scott 1990), paying little attention to how actors' positions in structures of inequality shape the interactional resources available to them as they devise strategies of control and resistance in interaction with one another. Here, I argue that we can better understand processes of control and resistance by examining how actors leverage their positions in structures of inequality and employ strategies likely to most deeply resonate with their (raced, classed, and gendered) target audiences. I explore these issues by analyzing how power struggles unfolded at a battered women's shelter. Using ethnographic data gathered over a ten-month period, I show how staff developed a gendered structure of control designed to obliquely manage shelter residents, while residents developed strategies of resistance that drew on resources available to them as poor and working-class women, and were directly responsive to the particular actors and structures of control they encountered in this context. The locally valued moral rhetoric of women's “empowerment” functioned as a key resource in this struggle. I aim here to broaden current discussions of control and resistance by highlighting the locally dependent, audience-specific, and profoundly intersectional nature of these interactions.
The Savannah River Plant, South Carolina Earthquake of June 9, 1985 and its Tectonic Setting

On June 9, 1985, a magnitude 2.6 (M D ) earthquake occurred within the Savannah River Plant (SRP), South Carolina. The event was felt in an area of about 130 sq. km within the plant, with a maximum intensity III–IV (M.M.). Using stations of the SRP and South Carolina networks the event was located at 33° 13.38′N; 81° 41.73W with a depth of 0.96 km, and had an origin time of 00:38:42.93 UTC. The earthquake was located at the intersection of an inferred shallow northwest trending feature, and the northwest border fault of the Dunbarton Triassic basin. The fault plane solution suggests left lateral strike slip motion on the border fault.
Recent Advances on Bulk Tantalum Carbide Produced by Solvothermal Synthesis and Spark Plasma Sintering

The sintering of tantalum carbide nanopowders by spark plasma sintering (SPS) is investigated. The washing procedure for the powders is modified from previous work to eliminate excess lithium in the powders that is left over from the synthesis process. The sintering behavior of the nanopowders is investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy by studying specimens that were sintered to different temperatures. To improve the homogeneity of the microstructure of the specimens, milling procedures were implemented. Vaporization during sintering is observed, and the usefulness of carbon additions and systematic decreases in temperature to curb this behavior was explored. Future experiments to achieve full density and to maintain a nanostructure of the specimens include sintering with higher pressures, lower temperatures, and longer dwell times. Additives for maintaining a nanostructure and developing suitable high-temperature properties are also discussed.
Biochemical and Spectroscopic Characterization of a Radical S-Adenosyl-L-methionine Enzyme Involved in the Formation of a Peptide Thioether Cross-Link.

Peptide-derived natural products are a class of metabolites that afford the producing organism a selective advantage over other organisms in their biological niche. While the polypeptide antibiotics produced by the nonribosomal polypeptide synthetases (NRPS) are the most widely recognized, the ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are an emerging group of natural products with diverse structures and biological functions. Both the NRPS derived peptides and the RiPPs undergo extensive post-translational modifications to produce structural diversity. Here we report the first characterization of the six cysteines in forty-five (SCIFF) [Haft, D. H. and Basu M. K. (2011) J. Bacteriol. 193, 2745–2755] peptide maturase Tte1186, which is a member of the radical S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) superfamily. Tte1186 catalyzes the formation of a thioether cross-link in the peptide Tte1186a encoded by an orf located upstream of the maturase, under reducing conditions in the presence o...
Bayesian graphical models, intention-to-treat, and the rubin causal Model.

In clinical trials with significant noncompliance the standard intention-to-treat analyses sometimes mislead. Rubin’s causal model provides an alternative method of analysis that can shed extra light on clinical trial data. Formulating the Rubin Causal Model as a graphical model facilitates model communication and computation.
Revamping “Family Chronicles”: Ivan Bunin's The Life of Arsen'ev

(1996). Revamping “Family Chronicles”: Ivan Bunin's The Life of Arsen'ev. a/b: Auto/Biography Studies: Vol. 11, RETHINKING RUSSIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, pp. 8-23.
Patient perceptions of a comprehensive telemedicine intervention to address persistent poorly controlled diabetes.

OBJECTIVE We studied a telemedicine intervention for persistent poorly controlled diabetes mellitus (PPDM) that combined telemonitoring, self-management support, and medication management. The intervention was designed for practical delivery using existing Veterans Affairs (VA) telemedicine infrastructure. To refine the intervention and inform the delivery of the intervention in other settings, we examined participants' experiences. METHODS We conducted semistructured interviews with 18 Veterans who completed the intervention. We analyzed interview text using directed content analysis and categorized themes by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) improvement (<1% or ≥1%). RESULTS Participants generally reported greater awareness of their blood glucose levels; however, they described dissatisfaction with the telemonitoring interface and competing demands during the intervention. Participants with <1% HbA1c improvement reported that these challenges interfered with their engagement. Participants with ≥1% HbA1c improvement reported new self-management routines despite challenges. CONCLUSION Despite competing demands and frustration with the telemonitoring interface, many participants demonstrated intervention engagement and substantial improvement in HbA1c ($1%). Differences in engagement may reflect differing capacity to manage treatment burden. Because it relies on existing infrastructure, this intervention is a promising model for addressing PPDM within VA. Future work should focus on optimizing systems' telemedicine infrastructure; while reliance on existing infrastructure may facilitate practical delivery, and it may also limit intervention engagement by excessively contributing to treatment burden.
Estimating human metabolic energy expenditure using a bootstrap particle filter

Metabolic energy expenditure is a physiological measure of importance to multiple scientific fields including nutrition, athletic performance, and thermoregulatory modeling. However, measuring metabolic rate in non-laboratory settings is difficult due to the restrictions imposed by laboratory grade measurement methods. The use of probabilistic graphical models, a type of machine learning model, may provide a means to estimate hidden variables such as metabolic rate from more easily observed variables such as heart rate and core body temperature. Using a probabilistic graphical model approach, a particle filter was applied to estimate metabolic rate from continuous heart rate and core body temperature observations. This paper examines which set of observations allows the particle filter to make more accurate estimations of metabolic rate and whether or not the addition of change in metabolic rate as a state variable improves accuracy. Observation and state parameters were learned by linear regression from continuous heart rate, core temperature, and metabolic rate collected from 15 volunteers (age: 23 ± 3 yr, ± SD) over N = 24, 3-hour periods during which 1 hour was spent running up to 8 km distance. State segmentations were learned using k-means clustering with up to 10 states. Observations of heart rate alone and with core temperature were used to predict metabolic rate with a root mean square error ± standard deviation of 166 ± 27 W and 133 ± 26 W.
Socioeconomic inequality in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands: modernization and buffering

Este documento analiza diferentes desigualdades socioeconomicas -la marginalidad en particular- entre las fronteras de Mexico y Estados Unidos. El analisis esta basado en un modelo teorico de desigualdad fronteriza binacional. Los indicadores de marginalidad, basados en estudios de COPLAMAR, reflejan los escasos beneficios debido a la falta de crecimiento nacional, desarrollo socioeconomico y riqueza para la mayor parte de los mexicanos. Los analisis de variaciones revelan diferencias en los indicadores de marginalidad entre regiones fronterizas, no fronterizas y la zona metropolitana en la Ciudad de Mexico. Los resultados muestran que la marginalidad varia, en gran forma dentro de Mexico, ligeramente dentro de Estados Unidos. Los resultados confirman a las regiones fronteras de Mexico como zonas de conflicto en niveles de desigualdad entre las dos naciones. ABSTRACT This paper analyzes differences in socioeconomic inequality -in particular, marginality- between the Mexican and U.S. borderlands. The analysis is based on a theoretical model of binational border inequality. Marginality indicators, based on the COPLAMAR studies, reflect lack of benefits from national growth, socioeconomic development, and wealth for much of Mexico. Analysis of variance reveals differences for marginality indicators between border regions, non-border regions, and the Mexico City metropolitan zone. Results show that marginality varies greatly within Mexico, varies slightly within the United States, and varies most substantially between Mexican and U.S. regions. The results confirm the postulated role of the Mexican borderlands as a buffer region in inequality levels between the two nations.
Seeking simplicity for the understanding of multiphase flows

Professor Stone discusses some aspects of his research group's recent studies related to multiphase flows and the flows of complex fluids for which he received the APS Fluid Dynamics Prize.
Analyzing the financial condition of the city of Corona, California: using a case to teach the gasb 34 government-wide financial statements

A financial statement analysis case uses the government-wide financial statements of Corona, CA to teach students about the financial overview provided in the new governmental financial reporting model. Educators are struggling to incorporate the new model in their governmental accounting curricula. The case analysis is beneficial to students in three ways. First, the active, case learning approach of using a real world example complements existing pedagogical materials for better mastery of the new reporting model. Second, the case approach of using ambiguity and alternative solutions promotes the development of analytical skills. Third, the written requirement and class discussion promotes the development of communication skills.
Association of Delivery System Integration and Outcomes for Major Cancer Surgery.

Integrated delivery systems (IDSs) are postulated to reduce spending and improve outcomes through successful coordination of care across multiple providers. Nonetheless, the actual impact of IDSs on outcomes for complex multidisciplinary care such as major cancer surgery is largely unknown. Using 2011–2013 Medicare data, this study identified patients who underwent surgical resection for prostate, bladder, esophageal, pancreatic, lung, liver, kidney, colorectal, or ovarian cancer. Rates of readmission, 30-day mortality, surgical complications, failure to rescue, and prolonged hospital stay for cancer surgery were compared between patients receiving care at IDS hospitals and those receiving care at non-IDS hospitals. Generalized estimating equations were used to adjust results by cancer type and patient- and hospital-level characteristics while accounting for clustering of patients within hospitals. The study identified 380,053 patients who underwent major resection of cancer, with 38% receiving care at an IDS. Outcomes did not differ between IDS and non-IDS hospitals regarding readmission and surgical complication rates, whereas only minor differences were observed for 30-day mortality (3.5% vs 3.2% for IDS; p < 0.001) and prolonged hospital stay (9.9% vs 9.2% for IDS; p < 0.001). However, after adjustment for patient and hospital characteristics, the frequencies of adverse perioperative outcomes were not significantly associated with IDS status. The collective findings suggest that local delivery system integration alone does not necessarily have an impact on perioperative outcomes in surgical oncology. Moving forward, stakeholders may need to focus on surgical and oncology-specific methods of care coordination and quality improvement initiatives to improve outcomes for patients undergoing cancer surgery.
Republication of “NCLB and the Demand for Highly Qualified Teachers: Challenges and Solutions for Rural Schools”:

Teacher shortages in special education have been a source of long-standing concern for professionals and parents involved in the education of students with disabilities. Because of their geographic...
Local variation in primary treatment of localized prostate cancer

5126 Background: We aimed to characterize and quantify variation in the primary management of localized prostate cancer at the level of clinical practice sites. Methods: Data were abstracted from p...
Nuclear magnetic resonance microscopic ocular imaging for the detection of early-stage cataract.

A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microscopic ocular imaging was performed at 7.0 Tesla to investigate its usefulness in the detection of early-stage cataracts. For this study, galactose cataracts were generated in experimental rabbits through diet (35% galactose), and enucleated eyes were imaged at various times after initiation of the diet. In previous studies using a 0.6 Tesla conventional magnetic resonance imager (MRI), the contrast between normal and cataractous tissues in the lens was not well defined, mainly due to the partial volume effect coming from the limitation of resolution and signalto-noise ratio (SNR). With resolution of 60 X 60 X 80 nm, early localized precataractous tissue changes were clearly observed after 5 days diet. Precataractous tissue changes were seen histologically but no visible evidence of lens change was detected by the conventional slit lamp biomicroscope at this time. Substantially elongated spin-spin relaxation times (T2) in localized cataractous tissues (72.4 ± 8.8 msec) were consistently observed compared with those in normal lens region (16.1 ± 3.2 msec); however, the changes of the spin-lattice relaxation time (Ti) were not significant: Some ocular NMR microscopic images with corresponding histological photographs are demonstrated to show the potential of NMR microscopy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 30:1612-1617,1989
Raman Spectroscopy of Si-Ge Atomic Layer Superlattices

Raman spectroscopy has proved to be a valuable technique for investigating the dynamical and structural properties of thin layer heterostructures. We review here the application of the technique to (GemSin)p atomic layer superlattices with m,n ≤ 12 and p < 100. A series of strong broad peaks are seen in the low frequency spectra of these structures that are due to resonant acoustic-phonon modes. The positions and widths of the peaks are sensitive to the superstructure total thickness and the surface boundary condition. The superlattice foldedacoustic and optic phonon peak parameters vary considerably with m,n and the substrate/buffer layer material. Modeling of the spectra reveals the differences between the actual and target structures.
Comparative effect of advanced soy products or corn protein concentrate with porcine meal on growth, body composition, and distal intestine histology of Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of diets containing advanced soy products (enzyme‐treated soy and fermented soy) or corn protein concentrate (CPC) in combination with porcine meal (PM) to completely replace poultry byproduct meal (PBM) on growth performance, body composition, and distal intestine histology of Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus. Four experimental diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isolipidic, to contain 400 g/kg crude protein and 80 g/kg lipid. A reference diet (PBM diet [PBMD]) contained 150 g/kg PBM and 495 g/kg soybean meal (SBM), and three test diets were formulated replacing PBM with 15 g/kg of CPC (CPC diet [CPCD]) or replacing all SBM and PBM with 535 g/kg fermented soy (fermented soybean meal diet [FSBMD]) or 451.3 g/kg enzyme‐treated soy (enzyme‐treated soybean meal diet [ESBMD]). All three test diets were supplemented with 38 g/kg of PM. Diets were fed based on a percentage of bodyweight adjusted after sampling the fish every 2 weeks to triplicate groups of Florida pompano juveniles (mean weight 8.06 ± 0.22 g). After 8 weeks of feeding, fish fed CPCD and ESBMD performed equally well in terms of final body weight, thermal growth coefficient, and percentage weight gain in comparison to fish fed PBMD. In all cases, feeding FSBMD resulted in poor feed conversion and lower feed intake compared to other treatments. Protein retention efficiency, whole‐body proximate composition, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, and zinc contents were not significantly influenced by the dietary treatments. The results obtained in the present histological study showed no significant differences in the thickness of serous layer, muscular layer, and submucosal layer of the intestine among treatments. Fish fed CPCD showed a significant widening of the lamina propria with an increase of cellular infiltration and higher presence of goblet cells compared to other dietary treatment. Based on these results, 451 g/kg ESBM or combination of 150 g/kg of CPC and 495 g/kg SBM supplemented with 38 g/kg PM can be utilized to develop a practical diet for juvenile Florida pompano without impacting growth, nutritive parameters, and several distal intestine health parameters.
Pattern Matching: Methodology

Pattern matching is essential for achieving knowledge of external actions, events, and objects, knowledge of causal regularities that have been repeatedly recognized as the same, knowledge of the contextual meanings of discrete empirical observations, knowledge of the fit between a curve and a set of data points, knowledge of the extent to which two or more theories cohere, and knowledge of the extent to which theories correspond to data. Underlying all pattern matching methodologies is a shared recognition that ‘knowing in science is profoundly indirect, vicarious, and distal.’ Variants of pattern matching include (a) the use of formal rules of correspondence to map objects in a domain on objects in a range; (b) the use of correspondence theories of truth to argue that theories are true if and only if they correspond with ‘facts’; (c) the use of coherence theories of truth to argue that a theory is true if it coheres both with other theories and with observations, if it has been tested by means of pragmatic applications of appropriate methods, or if it is coherent from the standpoint of social epistemology; (d) the use of statistical principles, rules, or criteria to achieve an optimal match between a curve and a set of observations; and (e) the interpretation of observations in the context in which they have been made and visually displayed. The latter [(d) and (e)] fall within the field of visual methods of statistical analysis and explanation established by E. R. Tufte.
Trends in Eye Care Use and Eyeglasses Affordability: The US National Health Interview Survey, 2008-2016

Importance Understanding eye care use over time is essential to estimate continued unmet health care needs and help guide future public health priorities. Objective To update trends in using eye care and affording eyeglasses in the United States. Design, Setting, and Participants This analysis of data from the US National Health Interview Survey included adults 18 years and older from 9 annual cross-sectional population-based samples ranging in size from 21 781 to 36 697 participants from 2008 to 2016. Data were analyzed from August 2017 to February 2018. Exposures Visual impairment, defined as self-reported difficulty seeing despite wearing eyeglasses. Main Outcomes and Measures Outcome measures included visits to an eye care professional and inability to afford eyeglasses when needed in the past year. Survey logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, visual impairment status, education, employment, general health, poverty-income ratio, and vision insurance, was used to examine associations between survey year and eye care outcomes. Results Analyses included 9 annual cross-sectional population-based samples pooled from 2008 to 2016, ranging in size from 21 781 to 36 697 participants aged 18 years or older. Compared with 2008, greater proportions of the US population were 65 years or older, Hispanic, or Asian in 2016. There was a significant trend for eye care use and difficulty affording eyeglasses from 2008 to 2016. In fully adjusted models, Americans were less likely to use eye care in 2014 compared with 2008 (odds ratio [OR], 0.90; 99.9% CI, 0.82-0.98;P Conclusions and Relevance These data indicate decreased difficulty affording eyeglasses among Americans from 2014 to 2016, possibly related to economic recovery and health care reform. However, the findings suggest women and racial/ethnic minorities are more likely to have lower use of eye care or inability to afford eyeglasses.
Creating restorative schools: setting schools up to succeed

With topics such as school violence and student suspensions being discussed in faculty lounges and scholarly circles alike, this timely book offers empirically based findings and suggestions in fur...
ORAL BOVINE TRANSFER FACTOR (OTF) USE IN THE HYPER-IgE SYNDROME

Publisher Summary This chapter describes a study involving the examination of the specific immune status of two children with the hyper-IgE syndrome and the treatment of one of them with oral transfer factor (OTF). Both children (DO and DE) demonstrated remarkably similar physical features such as coarse facies; hairline, scalp, neck and foot dermatitis; short stature; knock-knees; hyperactivity; and above-average intelligence. DO was the first female child born to healthy parents on 3/15/74. DE was the first male child born to healthy parents on 9/2/74. The preliminary study neither provides conclusive evidence to identify the fundamental defect in the hyper-IgE syndrome nor does it support the use of OTF for all patients with this disease. These observations, however, suggest that an abnormality in host T-cell function, which is manifested by diminished to absent responses to specific antigens along with apparent exaggerated immediate hypersensitivity to the same antigen that is responsive to OTF, is present.
Events and the Structure of Doing

In Part I of this book we carried out a thorough investigation of the basic structure of the contents of practical thinking, and in Part II we studied practical thinking as a psychological phenomenon characterized by a peculiar form of internal causality. In Part III we take our inquiries further into the world and consider the involvement of practical thinking with reality. In Chapter 12 we examine the structure of the effects wrought out by practical thinking, and in Chapter 13 we consider the degree of reality, i.e., the place in the whole fabric of reality, of practical noemata and their elements.
Low-Frequency Scattering from Heterogeneous Elastic Sea Beds

Abstract : The long term scientific objective of this research is to improve our understanding the physics and mechanisms of acoustic bottom interaction and reverberation, including acoustic penetration, propagation, attenuation and scattering in elastic sea beds at low and mid frequencies. The specific goal of this research is to develop a model of acoustic scattering due to volume heterogeneity consistent with existing propagation models in elastic layered sea beds and therefore to provide a self-consistent theoretical basis for improving and upgrading current bottom interaction codes (such as GABIM).
Empirical patterns of environmental variation favor the evolution of adaptive transgenerational plasticity

Abstract Effects of parental environment on offspring traits have been well known for decades. Interest in this transgenerational form of phenotypic plasticity has recently surged due to advances in our understanding of its mechanistic basis. Theoretical research has simultaneously advanced by predicting the environmental conditions that should favor the adaptive evolution of transgenerational plasticity. Yet whether such conditions actually exist in nature remains largely unexplored. Here, using long-term climate data, we modeled optimal levels of transgenerational plasticity for an organism with a one-year life cycle at a spatial resolution of 4km2 across the continental US. Both annual temperature and precipitation levels were often autocorrelated, but the strength and direction of these autocorrelations varied considerably across the continental US and even among nearby sites. When present, such environmental autocorrelations render offspring environments statistically predictable based on the parental environment, a key condition for the adaptive evolution of transgenerational plasticity. Results of our optimality models were consistent with this prediction: high levels of transgenerational plasticity were favored at sites with strong environmental autocorrelations, and little-to-no transgenerational plasticity was favored at sites with weak or non-existent autocorrelations. These results are among the first to show that natural patterns of environmental variation favor the evolution of adaptive transgenerational plasticity. Furthermore, these findings suggest that transgenerational plasticity is highly variable in nature, depending on site-specific patterns of environmental variation.
Bayesian Survival Tree Ensembles with Submodel Shrinkage

We consider Bayesian nonparametric estimation of a survival time subject to right-censoring in the presence of potentially high-dimensional predictors. We argue that several approaches, such as random survival forests and existing Bayesian nonparametric approaches, possess several drawbacks, including: computational difficulties; lack of known theoretical properties; and ineffectiveness at filtering out irrelevant predictors. We propose two models based on the Bayesian additive regression trees (BART) framework. The first, Modulated BART (MBART), is fully-nonparametric and models the failure time as the first occurrence of a non-homogeneous Poisson process. The second, CoxBART, uses a Bayesian implementation of Cox’s partial likelihood. These models are adapted to high-dimensional predictors, have default prior specifications, and require simple modifications of existing BART methods to implement. We show the effectiveness of these methods on simulated and benchmark datasets. We also establish that, for a simplified variant of MBART, the posterior distribution contracts at a near-minimax optimal rate in a high-dimensional sparse asymptotic regime.
HIV Care Coordination promotes care re-engagement and viral suppression among people who have been out of HIV medical care: an observational effectiveness study using a surveillance-based contemporaneous comparison group.

BACKGROUND Medical care re-engagement is critical to suppressing viral load and preventing HIV transmission, morbidity and mortality, yet few rigorous intervention studies address this outcome. We assessed the effectiveness of a Ryan White Part A-funded HIV Care Coordination Program relative to 'usual care,' for short-term care re-engagement and viral suppression among people without recent HIV medical care. METHODS The Care Coordination Program was launched in 2009 at 28 hospitals, health centers, and community-based organizations in New York City. Designed for people with HIV (PWH) experiencing or at risk for poor HIV outcomes, the Care Coordination Program provides long-term, comprehensive medical case management utilizing interdisciplinary teams, structured health education and patient navigation. The intervention was implemented as a safety-net services program, without a designated comparison group. To evaluate it retrospectively, we created an observational, matched cohort of clients and controls. Using the HIV surveillance registry, we identified individuals meeting program eligibility criteria from December 1, 2009 to March 31, 2013 and excluded those dying prior to 12 months of follow-up. We then matched clients to controls on baseline status (lacking evidence of viral suppression, consistently suppressed, inconsistently suppressed, or newly diagnosed in the past 12 months), start of follow-up and propensity score. For this analysis, we limited to those out of care at baseline (defined as having no viral load test in the 12 months pre-enrollment) and still residing within jurisdiction (defined as having a viral load or CD4 test reported to local surveillance and dated within the 12-month follow-up period). Using a GEE model with binary error distribution and logit link, we compared odds of care re-engagement (defined as having ≥ 2 laboratory events ≥ 90 days apart) and viral suppression (defined as having HIV RNA ≤ 200 copies/mL on the most recent viral load test) at 12-month follow-up. RESULTS Among 326 individuals out of care at baseline, 87.2% of clients and 48.2% of controls achieved care re-engagement (Odds Ratio: 4.53; 95%CI 2.66, 7.71); 58.3% of clients and 49.3% of controls achieved viral suppression (Odds Ratio: 2.05; 95%CI 1.30, 3.23). CONCLUSIONS HIV Care Coordination shows evidence of effectiveness for care and treatment re-engagement.
Popular Culture, Legal Films, and Legal Film Critics

* Professor of Law, West Virginia University; Editor, Legal Studies Forum. 1. For my efforts to explain (and yes, justify) the “Lawyers and Film” course, see James R. Elkins, Reading/Teaching Lawyer Films, 28 VT. L. REV. 813 (2004). 2. A few years before his death, Wayne Booth, a literary critic, began an essay published in College Literature with this observation: “Since this is only the second time I’ve ever tried to do film criticism, I decided that I must read up on it. And . . . I read painstakingly, page by page, through all seven hundred and thirty books on my library’s list . . . .” Wayne Booth, Is There an “Implied” Author in Every Film?, C. LITERATURE, Spring 2002, at 124, 124. It’s hard to know whether Booth, who does not typically write in a humorous vein, means for the reader to take his claim seriously. I cannot assure the reader I have actually tried to survey (and reread) every essay and article on law and popular culture, although I have dutifully and diligently plowed my way through the books on legal films and most of the work of legal film scholars. For those who might venture still further afield, I recommend a new anthology of film criticism: AMERICAN MOVIE CRITICS: AN ANTHOLOGY FROM THE SILENTS UNTIL NOW (Phillip Lopate ed., 2006). At this point, I’d ally myself with Booth, who made still another rather striking statement in his College Literature essay:
Time-domain simulation of quantum nanostructures

Summary form only given. Along with the growing body of experimental work on semiconductor quantum dots, there have been efforts to characterize these interactions through approximation techniques. This paper presents a formulation of the Hartree-Fock approximation using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to simulate two particles in a quantum dot. The FDTD method is one of the most widely used methods in electromagnetic simulation and it has recently been applied to the simulation of the Schroedinger equation. The computational intensity of the Coulomb and exchange terms are partly circumvented by using signal-processing techniques and a two-dimensional fast Fourier transform. While the resulting simulation is computationally intense, it is well within the realm of state-of-the-art computing platforms. This technique allows for the simulation of two-electron wavepacket dynamics as well as the determination of energy eigenstates.
Slot-based vs. global event-based vs. unit-specific event-based models in scheduling of batch plants

Abstract During the last two decades, the problem of short-term scheduling of multiporuct and multipurpose batch plants has gianed increasing attention in the academic, research and manufacturing communities, predominantly because of the challenges and the high economic incentives involved. In the last ten years, numerous formulations have been proposed in the literature based on continuous representations of time. These continuous-time formulations have proliferated due to their established advantages over discrete-time representations and are often compared with one another in terms of computational complexity. the various continuous-time models can be broadly classified into three distinct categories: slot based, global-event based, and unit-specific-event based formulations. In this paper, we compare and evaluate the performance of these models, based on our implementations, using a benchmark example problem from the literature. Two different objective functions: maximization of profit and minimization of makespan are considered.
The Amino Acid Sequence around the Reactive Thiol Group of Chymopapain B

The yellow colored sulfhydryl reagent, N-(4-dimethylamino-3,5-dinitrophenyl)maleimide, was used in the isolation of the peptide containing the reactive sulfhydryl group of chymopapain. Titration of cyanide-activated chymopapain B with p-chloromercuribenzoate at pH 4.6 indicated that there is a maximum of 1.4 moles of sulfhydryl per mole of the enzyme. Alkylation of half of the p-chloromercuribenzoate-titratable sulfhydryl groups led to the total inactivation of chymopapain. Pepsin digestion of the N-(4-dimethylamino-3,5-dinitrophenyl)maleimide-treated enzyme and the subsequent isolation of the labeled peptide showed that the label was predominantly in one peptide with the sequence, Lys-Arg-Val-Pro-Asp-Ser-Gly-Glu-Cys-Tyr. This sequence differed from those of the peptides containing the reactive sulfhydryl groups of papain and ficin, although all three enzymes are sulfhydryl proteases.
Modular, Adaptive, Reconfigurable Systems: Technology for Sustainable, Reliable, Effective, and Affordable Space Exploration

In order to execute the Vision for Space Exploration, we must find ways to reduce cost, system complexity, design, build, and test times, and at the same time increase flexibility to satisfy multiple functions. Modular, Adaptive, Reconfigurable System (MARS) technologies promise to set the stage for the delivery of system elements that form the building blocks of increasingly ambitious missions involving humans and robots. Today, space systems are largely specialized and built on a case‐by‐case basis. The notion of modularity however, is nothing new to NASA. The 1970’s saw the development of the Multi‐Mission Modular spacecraft (MMS). From 1980 to 1992 at least six satellites were built under this paradigm, and included such Goddard Space Flight Center missions as SSM, EUVE, UARS, and Landsat 4 and 5. Earlier versions consisted of standard subsystem “module” or “box” components that could be replaced within a structure based on predefined form factors. Although the primary motivation for MMS was faster/cheaper integration and test, standardization of interfaces, and ease of incorporating new subsystem technology, it lacked the technology maturity and programmatic “upgrade infrastructure” needed to satisfy varied mission requirements, and ultimately it lacked user buy‐in. Consequently, it never evolved and was phased out. Such concepts as the Rapid Spacecraft Development Office (RSDO) with its regularly updated catalogue of pre‐qualified busses became the preferred method for acquiring satellites. Notwithstanding, over the past 30 years since MMS inception, technology has advanced considerably and now modularity can be extended beyond the traditional MMS module or box to cover levels of integration, from the chip, card, box, subsystem, to the space system and to the system‐of‐systems. This paper will present the MARS architecture, cast within the historical context of MMS. Its application will be highlighted by comparing a state‐of‐the‐art point design vs. a MARS‐enabled lunar mission, as a representative robotic case design.
Lettrt To The Editor

Dr. McCarl has raised 19 objections to our findings of a vacuolar encephalopathy related to hexachlorophene exposure. We reject each of them. Dr. McCarl begins by challenging the degree to which our sample was representative of the whole pediatric population. He notes that 70% of the second of our three samples in Table I had to be omitted because the brainstem had been discarded in the five years between the autopsy and our study. He ignores the fact that the first sample had the same prevalence of the vacuolar encephalopathy (11% and 9%, as reported on page 692) and no cases were omitted because the specimens were being brought directly to our neuropathology lab two weeks post-mortem and saved thereafter.
Desirable attributes of public educational websites.

Certain attributes are particularly desirable for public educational websites, and websites for ethics education in particular. Among the most important of these attributes is wide accessibility through adherence to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards for HTML code. Adherence to this standard produces webpages that can be rendered by a full range of web browsers, including Braille and speech browsers. Although almost no academic websites, including ethics websites, and even fewer commercial websites are accessible by W3C standards, as illustrated by the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science 〈http://onlineethics.org〉, even websites created on limited budgets and with an undergraduate student staff can fulfill these standards. Other desirable attributes, such as provision of annotation for all links and the use of annotated links to give the user alternate ways of ordering and organizing content, are important for making full use of the educational possibilities of hypermedia for websites.
Modulation of sporulation of Alternaria tagetica by carbon dioxide

A mutant ofAlternaria tagetica with altered regulation of sporulation was obtained. Wildtype strains require light to sporulate whereas the mutant sporulated in the absence of light. Sporulation of the mutant was unaffected by culture plate sealing which inhibited the wildtype 99-100%. Absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere within the plates via KOH counteracted wildtype inhibition by plate sealing and induced light-independent sporulation in wildtype strains of A. tagetica, as well as in A. carthami, A. macrospora, A. porri, and A. cucumerina, species which typically require light for sporulation. Continuous fluorescent light inhibited sporulation for all wildtype Alternaria species tested at both 28 C and 20 C, but sporulation was induced under the same light regime when fungi were grown 3 days at 28 C followed by 3 days at 20 C. The identical temperature drop induced sporulation in the dark in A. tagetica, A. cucumerina, A. macrospora, and A. carthami. Both mutant and wildtype strains of A. tagetica produced 7-8 times more CO2 on potato dextrose agar (PDA) than on V-8 agar. However, the mutant produced more conidia on PDA than on V-8 whereas the wildtype produced fewer conidia on PDA. Many aspects of in vitro sporulation may be attributable to the influence of CO2.
Inventory Management in Humanitarian Operations: Impact of Amount, Schedule, and Uncertainty in Funding

Funding for humanitarian operations in the global health sector is highly variable and unpredictable. We study the problem of managing inventory in the presence of funding constraints over a finite planning period. Our goal is to determine the optimal procurement policy given the complexities associated with funding and also to analyze the impact of funding amount, funding schedule, and uncertainty around the funding timing on operations. We use a multiperiod stochastic inventory model with financial constraints and demonstrate that despite the funding complexities, the optimal replenishment policy is a state-independent policy that can be easily implemented. We also provide analytical results and several insights based on our computational study regarding the effect of funding timing uncertainty and variability on the operating costs and fill rates. Among other results, we find that receiving funding early is beneficial in underfinanced systems while avoiding funding delays is critical in fully financed systems. Our analysis also indicates that receiving less overall funding in a timely manner might actually be better than delayed full funding.