cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contaminant mass estimation of powder contaminated surfaces

How can we determine the physical characteristics of a mixture of multiple materials within a single pixel? Intimate mixing occurs when different materials within the region encompassed by a pixel interact with each other prior to reaching the sensor. For powder contaminated surfaces, nonlinear mixing is unavoidable. The Nonconventional Exploitation Factors Data System (NEFDS) Contamination Model can make longwave hyperspectral mixture signatures, but only for a small subset of their spectral library. In addition, the model uses percent coverage as its only physical property input despite it not being informative to the contaminants physical properties. Through a complex parameter inversion, the NEFDS contamination model can be used to derive various physical properties. These physical characteristics were estimated by using empirically measured data of varying contaminant amounts using a Designs and Prototypes Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Once estimated parameters are found, the mixture spectra was recreated and compared to the measured data. The estimated areal coverage density is used to derive a total deposited mass on the surface based on the area of contaminated surface. This is compared to the known amount deposited that was measured during the experimental campaign. This paper presents some results of those measurements and model estimates.
Online disclosure of illicit information: Information behaviors in two drug forums

Although people disclose illicit activities such as drug use online, we currently know little about what information people choose to disclose and share or whether there are differences in behavior depending on the illicit activity being disclosed. This exploratory mixed-methods study examines how people discuss and disclose the use of two different drugs—marijuana and opioids—on Reddit. In this study, hermeneutic content analysis is employed to describe the type of comments people make in forums dedicated to discussions about illicit drugs. With inductive analysis, seven categories of comments were identified: disclosure, instruction and advice, culture, community norms, moralizing, legality, and banter. Our subsequent quantitative analysis indicates that although the amounts of disclosure are similar in each subreddit, there are more instances of instruction and advice in discussions about opiates, and more examples of banter in comments about marijuana use. In fact, both subreddits have high rates of banter. We argue that banter fosters disclosure in both subreddits, and that banter and disclosure are linked with information-seeking behaviors in online forums. This work has implications for future explorations of disclosure online and for public health interventions aimed at disseminating credible information about drug use to at-risk individuals.
Using Augmented Reality and Virtual Environments in Historic Places to Scaffold Historical Empathy.

The authors explore how 3D visualizations of historical sites can be used as pedagogical tools to support historical empathy. They provide three visualizations created by a team at Virginia Tech as examples. They discuss virtual environments and how the digital restoration process is applied. They also define historical empathy, explain why it is important, and discuss how it is taught.
Water Scarcity and Conservation Along the Biofuel Supply Chain in the United States: From Farm to Refinery

Abstract Biofuel production has significantly increased in the past couple of decades with the aim of protecting the environment and ensuring energy independence. Water is consumed at all stages of biofuel production: at the agricultural level water is demanded for irrigation; at the industrial level it is used in the cooling and drying processes; and water is present in the biofuel that reaches the consumer. Increased demand for biofuels may have positive and negative impacts on water use and the environment. This chapter provides a summary analysis of the various impacts of biofuel production on water usage and scarcity in the United States along the biofuel supply chain. Consideration is given to practices and policies that promote water conservation along the supply chain. The goal of the chapter is to make readers aware of how biofuels' expansion could be promoted while being conscious of its impacts on water.
Removal of accidental degeneracy in semiconductor quantum dots

We present a quantitative analysis of the energy levels and wave functions of carriers in a cubic quantum dot of GaAs embedded in ${\mathrm{Ga}}_{(1\ensuremath{-}x)}{\mathrm{Al}}_{x}\mathrm{As}$ with finite confining potential barriers at their interfaces. The energy spectrum has substantially reduced degeneracies compared to the analytically determined energy levels of the infinite-barrier quantum box of the same dimensions. The level degeneracy of states has been explained by group representations of the point group ${O}_{h}$. Projection operators for the irreducible representations provide a way to obtain the linear combinations of the degenerate wave functions which form a basis set for the representations. Energy-level splittings in the presence of externally applied electric and magnetic fields are also studied.
Bladder polyps in cloacal exstrophy: A histological series

Abstract Prior literature has documented the histological characteristics and surgical outcomes of classic bladder exstrophy (CBE) patients with polyps, but there has been no documentation about the histology of cloacal exstrophy (CE) polyps. CE is a rare entity with an incidence of 1:400,000 live births and having a CE patient with polyps is an additional rarity [1,2]. With the scarcity of research on CE patients with polyps, the goal of this study is to describe the removal of CE polyps during bladder closure and to investigate polyp histology. Five patients were included in the current case series. They were treated at the authors' institution between 1999 and 2010. All had a successful initial bladder closure and had their polyps removed at the time of closure. The average age of primary bladder closure was 20.4 months. Only one patient had recurrent polyps following initial polyp removal, and the recurrent polyps were removed during a subsequent bladder stone procedure. The histologic characteristics of polyps in this series were heterogeneous.
Sensing and Decoding Neural Signals for Closed-Loop Neuromodulation and Advanced Diagnostics in Chronic Disease and Injury

Abstract Many neuromodulation devices used to treat disease and injury are “open-loop” in nature and lack sensing and the algorithms required to automatically adjust or provide stimulation based on a measured input. This chapter describes new sensing, neural decoding, and closed-loop technologies that can provide responsive or adaptive stimulation. Furthermore, neural signals in the human brain, and in the peripheral nervous system, carry a tremendous amount of information regarding current health status and can be used for diagnostic purposes. Current and potential neural sensing/decoding methods that could be used for advanced and real-time diagnostics are also discussed.
Inpatient Trauma Mortality after Implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Illinois.

Introduction: Illinois hospitals have experienced a marked decrease in the number of uninsured patients after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, the full impact of health insurance expansion on trauma mortality is still unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of ACA insurance expansion on trauma patients hospitalized in Illinois.Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 87,001 trauma inpatients from third quarter 2010 through second quarter 2015, which spans the implementation of the ACA in Illinois. We examined the effects of insurance expansion on trauma mortality using multivariable Poisson regression.Results: There was no significant difference in mortality comparing the post-ACA period to the pre-ACA period incident rate ratio (IRR)=1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.93-1.17]). However, mortality was significantly higher among the uninsured in the post-ACA period when compared with the pre-ACA uninsured population IRR=1.46 (95% CI [1.14-1.88]).Conclusion: While the ACA has reduced the number of uninsured trauma patients in Illinois, we found no significant decrease in inpatient trauma mortality. However, the group that remains uninsured after ACA implementation appears to be particularly vulnerable. This group should be studied in order to reduce disparate outcomes after trauma.
TCM visualizes trajectories and cell populations from single cell data

Profiling single cell gene expression data over specified time periods are increasingly applied to the study of complex developmental processes. Here, we describe a novel prototype-based dimension reduction method to visualize high throughput temporal expression data for single cell analyses. Our software preserves the global developmental trajectories over a specified time course, and it also identifies subpopulations of cells within each time point demonstrating superior visualization performance over six commonly used methods.
Speeding Up UNIX Login by Caching the Initial Environment

A package scheme helps users manage the environment variables needed by the applications that they use, but imposes a long delay during login while the environment is incrementally constructed. This paper describes an approach to caching the incrementally constructed environment. The mechanism caches different environments for different operating systems and is robust in the face of users' changes to their .login files. For the typical PARC user who enables 11 packages at login, caching reduces the time to login from about 30 seconds to about 5 seconds.
Uniform Approximation by General Multivariate Singular Integral Operators

In this chapter, we present the uniform approximation properties of general multivariate singular integral operators over \({\mathbb{R}}^{N}\), N ≥ 1. We give their convergence to the unit operator with rates. The estimates are pointwise and uniform. The established inequalities involve the multivariate higher order modulus of smoothness. We list the multivariate Picard, Gauss-Weierstrass, Poisson Cauchy and trigonometric singular integral operators where this theory can be applied directly. This chapter relies on [2].
Chapter 8 – Triaging Mobile Evidence

Mobile evidence that is encountered in criminal and civil cases will be in two states: powered “on” or “off.” Specific steps are required, which will depend on the power status of the target evidence. Other factors such as sleep mode, user enabled security, processing of DNA, latent prints, blood, or any other forensic artifacts located on the outside of the device may play a role in how the device may be triaged. In some cases the importance of DNA or other similar processing may precede Faraday steps and will, generally, always be case specific. Standard operating procedures should be in place and outline specifically how to deal with mobile evidence. First responders should carry “field kits” to assist with proper collecting, Faradaying, charging, and preserving digital mobile evidence. Regardless of the forensic tool or utility used, the examination must be validated each time. Examiners must also validate their laboratory tools prior to working on an actual case.
A comprehensive review of chronic heart failure pharmacotherapy treatment approaches in African Americans.

Background:Our aim was to review the published literature evaluating treatment approaches for chronic heart failure (HF), notably as it relates to African American patients.Method:We undertook a co...
Shortened Taper Duration after Implementation of a Standardized Protocol for Iatrogenic Benzodiazepine and Opioid Withdrawal in Pediatric Patients: Results of a Cohort Study.

Introduction Methadone and lorazepam prescribing discrepancies for the use of iatrogenic withdrawal were observed among providers. A standardized pharmacist-managed methadone and lorazepam taper protocol was implemented at a pediatric tertiary care facility with the aim to reduce the length of taper for patients with iatrogenic withdrawal. Methods A multidisciplinary team of nurses, pharmacists, and physicians reviewed the current literature, then developed and implemented a standardized withdrawal taper protocol. Outcomes were compared with a retrospective control group using past prescribing practices. The primary endpoint was the length of methadone and/or lorazepam taper. Secondary endpoints included evaluation for significant differences between the control and standardized protocol groups regarding additional breakthrough withdrawal medications, pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and hospital length of stay. We also evaluated provider satisfaction with the protocol. Results The standardized protocol group included 25 patients who received methadone and/or lorazepam taper. A retrospective control group contained 24 patients. Median methadone taper length before protocol implementation was 9.5 days with an interquartile range (IQR) of 5.5-14.5 days; after protocol implementation, it was 6.0 (IQR, 3.0-9.0) days (P = 0.0145). Median lorazepam taper length before protocol implementation was 13.0 (IQR, 8.0-18.0) days; after protocol implementation, it was 6.0 (4.0-7.0) days (P = 0.0006). A statistical difference between PICU length of stay, hospital length of stay, or the number of additional medications for breakthrough withdrawal was not found. Conclusions The use of a standardized withdrawal protocol resulted in shorter taper duration for both the methadone and lorazepam groups. There was no difference in PICU or hospital length of stay.
Learning to Sense and Reconstruct A Class of Signals

In this paper, we propose a deep learning structure to jointly learn both how to sense and reconstruct a class of signals. In contrast to classical compressive sensing (CS) framework that utilizes pre-determined linear projections as measurements and convex optimization with a known sparsity basis to reconstruct the signal, instead we develop a data driven approach and learn both the measurement matrix and the inverse reconstruction scheme. To achieve this, an end to end deep neural network with fully connected and convolutional layers are designed and trained over an image dataset. Our initial results show that the measurement matrix learned through the proposed technique provides higher peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) levels compared to both randomly selected matrices or designed measurement matrices for an assumed sparsity basis for the dataset. Learned measurement matrices are tested in both $\ell_{1}$ minimization based sparse recovery and deep neural network structures and for both recovery schemes highest PSNR values are obtained with the learned measurement matrix. The $\ell_{1}$ based recovery achieves higher PSNR results compared to inversion with deep neural network, their results are comparable.
Lessons from the NIST micronutrients quality assurance program for vitamin C, 1993 to 2015: sample stability, assay reproducibility, and use of controls to improve comparability

Vitamin C is a necessary micronutrient that is involved in many biological processes. In preserved human plasma and serum, vitamin C is most meaningfully analyzed as total ascorbic acid (TAA). From 1993 through 2015, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) coordinated 40 interlaboratory studies (ILS) devoted to improving the between-participant comparability of TAA measurements. The results from these ILS demonstrate that the concentration of TAA ([TAA]) is stable for at least 20 years in serum diluted 1 + 1 (volume fraction) with 10% mass concentration aqueous metaphosphoric acid (MPA) and stored at −80 °C. The between-participant relative reproducibility precision, expressed as a coefficient of variation (CV), improved from over 16% to under 9% over the course of the studies. Normalization of test samples (i.e., ex post-facto recalibrating the as-submitted results) using participant-prepared serum-free calibration solutions did not improve reproducibility. Normalization to one control sample having a similar serum-based matrix as the test samples improved the CV to 7%; normalization to two such controls reduced the CV to 4%. Multicenter studies that require the highest degree of measurement comparability among the participants should consider calibrating with materials that have a serum-based matrix as similar as possible to that of the samples of interest.
Does Opening Adoption Records Have an Adverse Social Impact? Some Lessons from the U.S., Great Britain, and Australia, 1953–2007

ABSTRACT This study provides an international history of the adoption reform movement in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia from 1953 to 2007. It empirically tests how safe birth parents and adopted adults are in countries that have opened their adoption records, usually birth registration records, using contact preference forms and contact vetoes. The results of this investigation reveal that a vast gap exists between the fear by birth parents and adopted adults that their privacy will be invaded and their family disrupted and the reality that few or no offenses are committed. It follows that opening adoption records with contact preference forms or contact vetoes provides a balanced adoption disclosure system and is a viable alternative to the sealed adoption policies currently used in the vast majority of American states and Canadian provinces.
What should government do

The roles of government and the other institutions of society are analyzed with respect to the provision of goods and services. Goods and services are classified, according to the principles of political economy, using the two defined variables: consumption and exclusion. This leads to four kinds of goods: individual goods, toll goods, common-pool goods, and collective goods. The goods can be provided by four different institutions: government, the family, civil society, and the market. Each of these institutions has shortcomings and is subject to failures. Moreover, not all of the four kinds of goods can be supplied by each of the four institutions. The characteristics of the goods and of the supplying institutions result in a table showing which types of goods can be provided by which of the four institutions. So, who should do what? How should the responsibility for providing goods and services be allocated between government and the three private institutions of society? What kinds of collaboration—including privatization—can be applied to achieve a better functioning society? The discussion is summarized in a decision tree that shows how one can consider the different kinds of goods, the different institutions, and the collaboration needed for a better allocation of these necessary societal activities.
Outcomes of digital libraries’ first decade

This is a preprint of a chapter whose final and definitive form was co-published in Exploring Digital Libraries: Foundations, Practice, Prospects by Facet Publishing (2014) and ALA Neal-Schuman (2014).
Basketmaker Food Plants from the Cimarron District, Northeastern New Mexico

ABSTRACTUse of wild food plants during the Basketmaker period is not well known. For this reason, carbonized plant macro remains were collected from two Basket maker sites near Cimarron, New Mexico. Corn, beans, and 11 other food plants were identified. New additions to the Basket maker food plant inventory include marsh elder, wild plum, squawbush, and chokecherries. The paleobotanical evidence is interpreted to indicate that pigweed, lambsquarters, sunflowers, and marsh elder were probably permitted to grow among the corn and beans. If so, this practice would have maximized production, insuring additional food in years of crop failure and adding variety in years of plenty.
Vertical Deceleration Trauma: Principles of Management

A highly complex interaction of several physical and biomechanical factors determines the patterns of injury and probability of survival in free falls. Falls from extreme heights result in massive visceral and vascular injuries, which are usually lethal. Urban falls tend to result in severe lower extremity, spinal, and pelvic fractures. Retroperitoneal hemorrhage is a significant cause of death and is best managed by emergency angiography and embolization. Early fixation of fractures reduces morbidity.
Social Security and the Low-Income Worker

Social Security is important to all Americans, but, particularly, to low-income workers and their families. Financing the program partly through earmarked deductions from employees’ wages is an integral and vital part of Social Security’s design, and has been an important reason for Social Security’s success and broad public support over the program’s seventy-year life. At the same time, these contributions are harder to bear for those with lower wages. Just as the EITC has eased the burden of these contributions without undermining the basic structure and philosophy of Social Security, so the program’s long-range deficit, if eliminated properly, can help strengthen Social Security while remaining sensitive to the burdens of the lowwage worker. If that is done, Social Security will continue, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, “to provide sound and adequate protection against the vicissitudes of modern life” for all workers and their families, now and in the future.
Mosquitoes and People: Environmental Ethics Concerns

Everyday activities, like putting flowers on a grave or traveling across country, can lead to the spread of mosquitoes, some of which may transmit disease-causing viruses or parasites. This paper discusses deforestation, wetland restoration, travel and trade from the perspective of the effects these activities have on mosquito population.
Efficiency and selectivity of RNA packaging by Rous sarcoma virus Gag deletion mutants.

Abstract In all retrovirus systems studied, the leader region of the RNA contains a cis-acting sequence called psi that is required for packaging the viral RNA genome. Since the pol and env genes are dispensable for formation of RNA-containing particles, the gag gene product must have an RNA binding domain(s) capable of recognizing psi. To gain information about which portion(s) of Gag is required for RNA packaging in the avian sarcoma and leukemia virus system, we utilized a series of gag deletion mutants that retain the ability to assemble virus-like particles. COS cells were cotransfected with these mutant DNAs plus a tester DNA containing psi, and incorporation of RNA into particles were measured by RNase protection. The efficiency of packaging was determined by normalization of the amount of psi+ RNA to the amount of Gag protein released in virus-like particles. Specificity of packaging was determined by comparisons of psi+ and psi- RNA in particles and in cells. The results indicate that much of the MA domain, much of the p10 domain, half of the CA domain, and the entire PR domain of Gag are unnecessary for efficient packaging. In addition, none of these deleted regions is needed for specific selection of the psi RNA. Deletions within the NC domain, as expected, reduce or eliminate both the efficiency and the specificity of packaging. Among mutants that retain the ability to package, a deletion within the CA domain (which includes the major homology region) is the least efficient. We also examined particles of the well-known packaging mutant SE21Q1b. The data suggest that the random RNA packaging behavior of this mutant is not due to a specific defect but rather is the result of the cumulative effect of many point mutations throughout the gag gene.
Inferred controls on tree/grass composition in a savanna ecosystem: Combining 16-year normalized difference vegetation index data with a dynamic soil moisture model

[1] A two-layer soil moisture model was developed to infer the controls on the tree/grass coexistence in a savanna ecosystem. The model was applied along a mean annual precipitation gradient in southern Africa, known as the Kalahari Transect (KT), which follows a north-south decline in mean annual rainfall from � 1600 mm/yr to � 250 mm/yr between the latitudes 12� –26� S. Satellite-derived fractional covers for trees, grass, and bare soil were used as input to the model, with the fractional grass cover responsive to interannual variability in rainfall, as defined by observed statistics. Other inputs to the model included satellite-based radiation budget measurements and interpolated, groundbased rainfall measurements. The soil moisture model structure allows both trees and grass to have access to the upper zone, while trees alone can extract water from the lower zone. We focus our analysis on the wet season months of November–March, in which 87% of the annual rainfall is received along the KT. Simulations were performed on daily time steps for 16 years, representing a range of interannual rainfall variability, at 196 equally spaced positions along the transect. The results indicate that two distinct areas of the KT exist in terms of vegetation-rainfall relationships. North of 18� S, the trees and grass are rarely water stressed during the wet season and a large portion of the water balance is accounted for by leakage through the bottom of the root zone in sandy soils. The vegetation cover in the northern end of the transect does not reach its potential in terms of water exploitation and is most likely nutrient limited. In the southern portion of the KT, tree fractional cover is such that trees become water stressed in drier than average wet seasons and suffer no water stress during wetter than average wet seasons. The extent of the fractional grass cover for individual years is controlled by the water demand stress. We find that observed tree/grass fractional cover in the waterlimited region of the transect is best explained by considering, on an individual basis, an allowable range of stress for trees and grass, while minimizing the amount of water that is unexploited by the vegetation and lost as leakage from the root zone. INDEX TERMS: 1655 Global Change: Water cycles (1836); 1818 Hydrology: Evapotranspiration; 1866 Hydrology: Soil moisture; 1878 Hydrology: Water/energy interactions; KEYWORDS: savanna, soil moisture, satellite, Africa
INAM - a scalable infiniband network analysis and monitoring tool

As InfiniBand (IB) clusters grow in size and scale, predicting the behavior of the IB network in terms of link usage and performance becomes an increasingly challenging task. There currently exists no open source tool that allows users to dynamically analyze and visualize the communication pattern and link usage in the IB network. In this context, we design and develop a scalable InfiniBand Network Analysis and Monitoring tool - INAM. INAM monitors IB clusters in real time and queries the various subnet management entities in the IB network to gather the various performance counters specified by the IB standard. We provide an easy to use web-based interface to visualize performance counters and subnet management attributes of a cluster in an on-demand basis. It is also capable of capturing the communication characteristics of a subset of links in the network. Our experimental results show that INAM is able to accurately visualize the link utilization as well as the communication pattern of target applications.
7 – Writing Fire Protection Specifications

Publisher Summary This chapter deals with writing fire protection specifications that covers all the disciplines on a project. Most specifications have standard divisions for site work, building structural elements, and mechanical and electrical systems. Fire protection features covered by project specifications include the following: building construction, building layout, special fire/explosion hazards, detection/alarm systems, fire protection water supplies, sprinkler systems, special extinguishing systems, exposure protection, and fire prevention features. The most frequently used specifications format is that of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). For particular system, the fire protection is spread throughout many divisions and the particular division addresses several fire protection features. The Construction Specifications Institute is in the process of expanding the MasterFormatTM specifications. There is no specific section assigned for smoke control systems. These could be handled under HVAC sections for a particular project.
Abstract 277: Approaches to Missing Data Due to Illness Severity in Health-related Quality of Life Assessment

Objectives: Measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is challenging if data are missing. We sought to compare different methods for handling missing HRQOL data due to illness severity in heart failure patients (pts) before left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Methods: Adult pts from 123 institutions participating in the Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) had HRQOL measured with the EQ-5D-3L survey visual analog scale (VAS, 0=worst-100=best). Methods for handling missing VAS data were multiple imputation (MI) and inverse probability weighting (IPW), as well as “worst case” (WC) imputation of a score of 0 for missing data due to illness. We simulated missing data due to illness severity and compared estimated vs. actual VAS scores. All methods were then applied to the actual data and compared to observed scores. Results: Between 5/3/12-3/31/14, 2116 pts with INTERMACS profile 1 or 2 underwent implantation of a continuous flow LVAD implant. Before surgery, 51% (n=1085) completed the EQ-5D-3L VAS, and 21% (n=446) did not complete it due to illness severity (28% did not complete it due to other pt/administrative reasons and were excluded). Among completers simulated to have missing data due to illness severity, both MI- and IPW-estimated VAS closely matched actual VAS scores (MI: 41.4±25.9, IPW: 41.3±25.7, actual: 41.4±25.9). MI and IPW yielded approximately 1.5-point lower mean VAS scores than observed data (table). With WC imputation, the mean VAS was lower. Conclusions: MI and IPW are acceptable methods for generating imputed scores for pts with data missing at random and may be acceptable for generating imputed scores for pts with missing data due to illness severity, although unmeasured biases may still exist. WC imputation may underestimate the true HRQOL for a given pt, but accounts for higher levels of acuity. Sensitivity analyses on mechanisms of missing data may further elucidate this vexing issue. ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Examining Diet- and Exercise-Related Communication in Romantic Relationships: Associations With Health Behaviors

This study examined the association between diet- and exercise-related social influence and support among romantic partners, as well as whether these variables were associated with their health behaviors. An Actor-Partner Mediator Model was used to examine these associations at the couple level (n = 192). Results indicated that individuals who felt their partners used more positive influence strategies also reported feeling more supported by their partners. Further, men who reported feeling more supported by their partners also engaged in healthier diet and exercise behaviors. Overall, the results suggested that people's perceptions of positive communication (i.e., influence and support) from their partners were generally more likely to be associated with their enactment of healthier behaviors. Implications for intrapersonal as well as interpersonal effects of influence, support, and health behaviors are discussed.
Human Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4G (eIF4G) Protein Binds to eIF3c, -d, and -e to Promote mRNA Recruitment to the Ribosome

Recruitment of mRNA to the 40S ribosomal subunit requires the coordinated interaction of a large number of translation initiation factors. In mammals, the direct interaction between eukaryotic initiation factor 4G (eIF4G) and eIF3 is thought to act as the molecular bridge between the mRNA cap-binding complex and the 40S subunit. A discrete ∼90 amino acid domain in eIF4G is responsible for binding to eIF3, but the identity of the eIF3 subunit(s) involved is less clear. The eIF3e subunit has been shown to directly bind eIF4G, but the potential role of other eIF3 subunits in stabilizing this interaction has not been investigated. It is also not clear if the eIF4A helicase plays a role in stabilizing the interaction between eIF4G and eIF3. Here, we have used a fluorescence anisotropy assay to demonstrate that eIF4G binds to eIF3 independently of eIF4A binding to the middle region of eIF4G. By using a site-specific cross-linking approach, we unexpectedly show that the eIF4G-binding surface in eIF3 is comprised of the -c, -d and -e subunits. Screening multiple cross-linker positions reveals that eIF4G contains two distinct eIF3-binding subdomains within the previously identified eIF3-binding domain. Finally, by employing an eIF4G-dependent translation assay, we establish that both of these subdomains are required for efficient mRNA recruitment to the ribosome and stimulate translation. Our study reveals unexpected complexity to the eIF3-eIF4G interaction that provides new insight into the regulation of mRNA recruitment to the human ribosome.
Influenza pharmacotherapy: present situation, strategies and hopes.

Introduction: Influenza is a serious health threat for people of all ages. The causative virus is evolving continuously and the risk of an unexpected mutant, which cannot be controlled by seasonal vaccination, is real. New and more effective antiviral drugs are needed. Areas covered: This review examines the antiviral drugs with confirmed efficacy in combating influenza, as well as newer compounds that are currently undergoing testing and will hopefully be marketed in the near future. A comprehensive, state-of-the-art picture of drug therapy for influenza is presented, including novel solutions and effective strategies for prescribing currently available antiviral drugs, with emphasis on the importance of updated local epidemiological data, clinical assessment and laboratory testing. Expert opinion: Current anti-influenza drug research is no longer tied solely to viral envelope protein targets like haemagglutinin and neuraminidase. New drugs act on the viral RNA polymerase complex, which is involved in tr...
Methodological issues in marital violence research

Recent interest in all aspects of domestic violence has stimulated rapid proliferation of research and literature. Although the knowledge base has grown, what we don't know still far exceeds what we do know. Starting from nothing, initial research tended to “sweep with a wide broom” in an effort to develop direction. The absence of an accepted methodology produced wide sample and design variations and inconsistent findings. The urgent press for information promoted a desire to disseminate “facts” that may have been less than factually derived from research that may have originally been seen as pilot in nature. This paper discusses the methodological issues that may have contributed to some of the inconsistencies in the marital violence literature and makes suggestions for the design and interpretation of research.
Investigation of the three-dimensional turbulent flow downstream of swept slot injection in hypersonic flow

Results of an experimental and numerical investigation of tangential swept slot injection (sweep angles of 22.5 and 45 deg) into a thick turbulent boundary layer at Mach 6 are presented. Film cooling effectiveness, skin friction, and flow structure downstream of the swept slot injection are investigated. The data are compared to that for unswept slots, and it is found that cooling effectiveness and skin-friction reductions are not significantly affected by sweeping the slot. Predictions of cooling effectiveness and skin friction obtained by a numerical finite-difference technique agree reasonably well with experimental surface variables. As in previous supersonic two-dimensional slot research, reduced mixing was found downstream of the slot lip in the present three-dimensional case.
Numerical Solutions to Nozzle Flows with Vibrational Nonequilibrium

In many applications of reacting flows including the modeling of gas lasers, there is a great need to couple finite rate kinetics with the governing conservation equations for the flow. This problem is particularly acute in the case of multidimensional reacting flows due to the additional stringent demands of computational speed, efficiency, and accuracy. In this article, numerical solutions to quasi-one-dimensional supersonic flows in nozzles with large area variation and state-specific vibrational rate kinetics are presented. The present formulation, unlike previous formulations is more general and the numerical method used here extends easily to two and three dimensions. Boundary and initial conditions are discussed and these extend to multidimensio ns easily as well. Results obtained using the present method are compared with those reported in Chiroux de Gavelle de Nomenclature A = cross-sectional area of the nozzle, m2 Eiv = energy of vibrational level v of species /, J e = internal energy per unit volume, J/m3 k = Boltzmann's constant, J/K M,,, = molecular mass of the diatomic species, kg M,;J = atomic or molecular mass of the diluent species, kg Nd = number of vibrationally active species Nltl = number of diluent species n,Y = number density of vibrationally active species / in level v where v is the vibrational quantum number, m 3 nm = number density of diluent species m, m~ 3 p = pressure, N/m2 p(} = reservoir pressure, N/m2 T = temperature, K T() = reservoir temperature, K r = time, s u = velocity, m/s Vmax = highest vibrational level considered in the diatomic species x = axial or streamwise coordinate, m p = mass density, kg/m3
The stability of cyclopropyllithium in diethyl ether and in tetrahydrofuran

The half-life of cyclopropyllithium in diethyl ether is ca. 138 h at room temperature, which roughly equals the stability of n-butyllithium in this solvent and which is far greater than the stability of other secondary organolithium reagents in ether. In tetrahydrofuran cyclopropyllithium is more stable than is n-butyllithium. The NMR spectrum of cyclopropyllithium in tetrahydrofuran solution is reported. The preparation of cyclopropyllithium in high yield by the reaction of cyclopropyl bromide with lithium in diethyl ether is described.
Chicken growth hormone, triiodothyronine and thyrotropin releasing hormone modulation of the levels of chicken natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity

Newly hatched White Leghorn male chicks received dietary supplements of either Triiodothyronine (T3) or Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH) until 8 weeks of age. Chicken growth hormone (cGH) (10 micrograms/kg BW) was injected into different chicks twice daily for 1 week starting at 7 weeks of age. Separate groups received both T3 and cGH. Natural cell-mediated cytotoxic (NCMC) activity against different target cells was tested. It was found that cytotoxic activity in cells involved in NCMC against P815 mouse mastocytoma was stimulated by cGH alone or in combination with T3 (1 ppm). These findings indicate that cGH and T3 stimulate NCMC activity; and that the cells responsible for this activity may be Natural Killer (NK) cells.
BRIDGING THE INFORMATION GAP IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE: CABI's AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL LITERATURE SERVICE

Responding to the need expressed by agricultural researchers in Africa for improved access to the research literature, and the original documents, CAB International initiated a two‐year pilot project in 1987 to provide a literature service to researchers in its member countries in Africa. The paper describes the background to the project, its conception, implementation and progress to date, and some of the problems identified in trying to provide such a service. The objective has been very much to minimize cost and administrative procedures at both ends, to provide a timely, cost‐effective and useful service to as many researchers as possible. Although overall response has been patchy, the enthusiastic participation from some countries has indicated the value of the service, although it obviously needs some refinement if it is to be extended over a longer period or to more users.
Mouse histone H2A and H2B genes: four functional genes and a pseudogene undergoing gene conversion with a closely Linked functional gene

The sequence of five mouse histone genes, two H2a and three H2b genes on chromosome 13 has been determined. The three H2b genes all code for different proteins, each differing in two amino acids from the others. The H2b specific elements present 5' to H2b genes from other species are present in all three mouse H2b genes. All three H2b genes are expressed in the same relative amounts in three different mouse cell lines and fetal mice. The H2b gene with the H2b specific sequence closest to the TATAA sequence is expressed in the highest amount. One of the H2a genes lacks the first 9 amino acids, the promoter region, the last 3 amino acids and contains an altered 3' end sequence. Despite these multiple defects, there is only one nucleotide change between the two H2a genes from codon 9 to 126. This indicates that a recent gene conversion has occurred between these two genes. The similarity of the nucleotide sequences in the coding regions of mouse histone genes is probably due to gene conversion events targeted precisely at the coding region.
Dielectric properties of organosilicons from first principles

Density functional perturbation theory calculations have been performed to determine the dielectric constant of Si “doped” polyethylene (PE). Substitution of C atoms in PE by Si ranging from 0 to 100% has been considered. Both the electronic and ionic contributions to the dielectric constant increase with increasing Si content. These increases are attributed, respectively, to enhanced σ conjugation and increased IR vibrational intensity of modes involving Si containing bonds (owing to their softness and polarity).
Childhood Trauma, Avoidance Coping, and Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among Women in Residential and Outpatient Treatment Programs

Abstract This study evaluates the different types of childhood trauma, avoidance coping, and patterns of drug and alcohol use among 112 alcohol and drug abusing females in outpatient and residential treatment. A passive research design with self-report surveys was administered to female participants during treatment to assess the relationship between childhood trauma, coping methods, and alcohol and drug use. A multiple regression analysis demonstrated that women with a history of emotional abuse were more likely to engage in avoidance coping skills than those without a history of emotional abuse, which provides some support for the theory that alcohol and drug abuse may be an avoidance coping method for childhood trauma.
Story content: it's not just for writers... anymore

When animation studios say "it is about the story!" everyone nods in agreement. But story creation remains a mystery for many in computer animation, VFX, and games because their focus has not been on screenwriting. This course covers the universal elements of story: plot, characters, and narrative structure. It analyzes conflict (internal, external, environmental), turning points, cause and effect, archetypes vs. stereotypes, inciting incidents, and how choice defines character. Included are many visual examples from the CG industry to illustrate the concepts and keep the course interesting. This course has been designed for technical directors, programmers, technical artists, animators, modelers, programmers, and designers who's work is essential in making "the story" come to life in movies, animation, VFX, and games. This information is particularly useful when communicating with screenwriters, directors, producers, and supervisors. This course answers the question "what is the story?" for non-writers.Course Structure includes:• Introduction, "It's About Story", What is a Dramatic Story?• Story Structure versus Plot Structure (Acts); Setup, Inciting Incident (Survival, Safety, Love etc.), Rising Action/Turning Points, Climax, Resolution. Shorts versus Feature Film structure• Story Elements - Character, Setting, Theme, Goal (What Character Wants), and Conflict (Internal, External, Environmental). Connections Through Cause & Effect• Character Backstory vs. Character Profile, Archetype vs. Stereotype, Point-of-View, What's at Stake?, Character Arc & Change, Choices reveals Character• Audience Expectations: Genres, Types, and Goals, Using Character Gaps, Creating Identification With Character• Generating Ideas, Developing Story (Pre-Vis & Post-Vis), Character Identification, Summary, Questions and Answers
Utility of screening for hepatocellular carcinoma among cirrhotics

Background Screening known cirrhotics for hepatocellular cancer (HCC) has long been a contentious topic. Studies to date have failed to conclusively prove or disprove the validity of α-fetoprotein (AFP) and hepatic ultrasound as screening mechanisms for HCC among cirrhotics, particularly in the American population. It is not clear whether these screening mechanisms provide any benefit in terms of reduced morbidity and mortality. Methods The study examined all patients with liver cirrhosis who developed HCC at the Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center between 1999 and 2005. Those who were screened with AFP and/or imaging (either ultrasound, triphasic liver protocol CT or MRI) were compared with those patients who were not screened at all. The screened and unscreened patients were compared in terms of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage at the time of diagnosis. Results Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between the screened and unscreened groups in terms of BCLC stage at diagnosis, with the unscreened group being diagnosed at later stages than the screened group. Of the 155 patients observed, 26 were appropriately screened, and 129 were not. The BCLC stages at diagnosis for the two groups were as follows: screened patients: 34.6%, 38.5%, 7.7% and 19.2% for BCLC stages A, B, C and D, respectively; unscreened patients: 12.4%, 24.8%, 27.1% and 35.7% for BCLC stages A, B, C and D, respectively. The different trend in the two groups was found to be statistically significant, with a p value of 0.004. Furthermore, among the screened group, no particular method of screening (AFP vs imaging vs combination) was shown to be superior to another. Conclusions Screening for HCC among cirrhotics using AFP and/or imaging every 6 months does correlate with HCC diagnosis at an earlier BCLC stage, thus portending better treatment options and improved prognosis. Therefore, screening all known cirrhotics for HCC may lead to decreased mortality.