cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coral loss and fish guild stability on a Caribbean coral reef: 1974–2000

Data on reef substrate composition and fish guild structure was extracted from filmed underwater surveys conducted in 1974 and 2000 at a coral reef in the Florida Keys. During the course of this 26-year interval the reef underwent a dramatic (>75 %) loss of stony coral cover, particularly acroporids, accompanied by significant increases in turf algae, crustose-coralline algae, octocorals, and macroalgae. At the same time, marked changes occurred in the structure of a guild of large herbivorous reef fishes. Total abundance declined, and the relative abundance of constituent species and functional groups changed as well. In contrast, we recorded no change in any measure of structural stability in either of two carnivorous fish guilds (lutjanids, haemulids) that feed by night in off-reef habitats. These results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that coral loss differentially impacts functionally dissimilar groups of fishes, according to dependency on reef substrates for food and/or shelter. The persistence of sizeable herbivore populations along with the relatively low (<16 %) macroalgal cover seen in 2000 suggests that coral loss at our study site was most likely due to bleaching and disease, rather than a response to macroalgal overgrowth. This study represents the first (and only) known study that simultaneously quantifies both a “phase-shift” in reef substrate as well as concurrent changes in the structure of a reef fish assemblage at a single coral reef in the tropical western Atlantic region.
Educational Experiences Associated With International Students’ Learning, Development, and Positive Perceptions of Campus Climate

This research project uses the constructive-developmental tradition, in the self-authorship framework of intercultural maturity (King & Baxter Magolda, 2005), to examine the extent to which 12 spec...
Structural analysis of rapamycin and related compounds using [M + Li]+ ions generated by liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry

Cationization of the macrocyclic immunosuppressant rapamycin with lithium ion upon liquid secondary ion mass spectrometric ionization yields a number of fragment ions, which are observable in the full-scan spectrum. These are clearly assigned using B/E linked scanning (fragment ion scanning), B2/E linked scanning (precursor ion scanning) and peak matching for accurate mass measurement. Many of the fragments are produced by processes that open the macrocyclic ring, and it is possible to observe several different pieces of the molecule as fragment ions. The diversity of fragments produced facilitates the elucidation of new rapamycin-like structures through mass spectrometry. Three structurally modified rapamycin analogues have been examined by this technique, and the modifications to the molecule may be located based on the nominal masses of their fragments.
A new RING for SUMO: wrestling transcriptional responses into nuclear bodies with PIAS family E3 SUMO ligases.

Ubiquitin is known for its catabolic role in directing protein degradation when added to proteins in polyubiquitin chains, causing the targeted proteins to bind to and be degraded by the 26S proteasome. But when added as a monomer, ubiquitin can play an important role in noncatabolic processes ranging from histone regulation and endocytosis to virus budding (for review, see Hicke 2001). Recently a number of ubiquitin-like molecules (Ubls), including the protein SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier; also called sentrin), Nedd8/Rub1, and several even more exotic Ubls (Muller et al. 2001; Ohsumi 2001), have been found added to target proteins through isopeptide bonds to lysine side chains. Here, monoubiquitin and its Ubl cousins appear to function as posttranslational modifiers of protein function and likely reflect a more ancestral role for the ubiquitin structural fold in regulating protein activity. The biological roles of Ubl modification range even more broadly. Notably, modification by SUMO can play critical roles in both nuclear and cytoplasmic processes, including nuclear transport, the regulation of transcriptional processes, the targeting of transcriptional regulators to subnuclear domains, and the regulation of mitosis (Melchior and Hengst 2000; Hochstrasser 2001; Muller et al. 2001). Recently, an exciting new class of enzymes regulating the addition of SUMO to target proteins, called SUMO E3 ligases, has been described in yeast and mammals (Johnson and Gupta 2001; Kahyo et al. 2001; Takahashi et al. 2001). In this issue of Genes & Development, Sachdev and colleagues from the Grosschedl laboratory report that a member of this family of proteins, called PIASy, regulates the activity and subnuclear localization of the Wnt-responsive transcription factor LEF1 by directing SUMO addition to LEF1 (Sachdev et al. 2001). The implication is that this family of SUMO modifying enzymes may regulate a variety of transcriptional—and nontranscriptional—responses by altering protein activity and localization.
Effect of the minimal length uncertainty relation on the density of states and the cosmological constant problem

We investigate the effect of the minimal length uncertainty relation, motivated by perturbative string theory, on the density of states in momentum space. The relation is implemented through the modified commutation relation $[{x}_{i},{p}_{j}]=i\ensuremath{\Elzxh}[(1+\ensuremath{\beta}{p}^{2}){\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{ij}}+{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{\ensuremath{'}}{p}_{i}{p}_{j}].$ We point out that this relation, which is an example of a UV/IR relation, implies the finiteness of the cosmological constant. While our result does not solve the cosmological constant problem, it does shed new light on the relation between this outstanding problem and UV/IR correspondence. We also point out that the blackbody radiation spectrum will be modified at higher frequencies, but the effect is too small to be observed in the cosmic microwave background spectrum.
Biophysical characterization of gp41 aggregates suggests a model for the molecular mechanism of HIV-associated neurological damage and dementia.

Abstract In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, the level of the HIV envelope protein gp41 in brain tissue is correlated with neurological damage and dementia. In this paper we show by biochemical methods and electron microscopy that the extracellular ectodomain of purified HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus gp41 (e-gp41) forms a mixture of soluble high molecular weight aggregate and native trimer at physiological pH. The e-gp41 aggregate is shown to be largely α-helical and relatively stable to denaturants. The high molecular weight form of e-gp41 is variable in size ranging from 7 to 70 trimers, which associate by interactions at the interior of the aggregate involving the loop that connects the N- and C-terminal helices of the e-gp41 core. The trimers are predominantly arranged with their long axes oriented radially, and the width of the high molecular weight aggregate corresponds to the length of two e-gp41 trimers (∼200 A). Using both light and electron microscopy combined with immunohistochemistry we show that HIV gp41 accumulates as an extracellular aggregate in the brains of HIV-infected patients diagnosed with dementia. We postulate that the high molecular weight aggregates of e-gp41 are responsible for HIV-associated neurological damage and dementia, consistent with known mechanisms of encephalopathy.
Extraction of monocrotaline from Crotalaria spectabilis using supercritical carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide-ethanol mixtures

Monocrotaline, a pyrrolizidine alkaloid of chemotherapeutic interest, was successfully extracted from the crushed seeds of Crotalaria spectabilis using supercritical carbon dioxide and ethanol mixtures. Overall solubilities of the plant material in the supercritical fluid phase were as high as 1.1 mass percent, and monocrotaline solubilities were as high as 0.07 mass percent. The solubility of monocrotaline in the presence of other plant material was smaller by 50 to 98% compared with the solubility of pure monocrotaline in the supercritical fluid. Also, it was found that the extraction of the complex plant material was time-dependent after approximately one percent of the original mass of the material had been extracted.
Principles and Application of Fluorescence Microscopy

This overview discusses the principle of fluorescence along with practical discussions of fluorescent molecular probes, filters and filter sets, multiband filters and multi-dye fluorescence, light sources, objective lenses, image resolution and the point-spread function, fluorescence microscopy of living cells, and immunolabeling.
A process economic assessment of hydrocarbon biofuels production using chemoautotrophic organisms

Economic analysis of an ARPA-e Electrofuels (http://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=arpa-e-programs/electrofuels) process is presented, utilizing metabolically engineered Rhodobacter capsulatus or Ralstonia eutropha to produce the C30+ hydrocarbon fuel, botryococcene, from hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and oxygen. The analysis is based on an Aspen plus® bioreactor model taking into account experimentally determined Rba. capsulatus and Rls. eutropha growth and maintenance requirements, reactor residence time, correlations for gas-liquid mass-transfer coefficient, gas composition, and specific cellular fuel productivity. Based on reactor simulation results encompassing technically relevant parameter ranges, the capital and operating costs of the process were estimated for 5000 bbl-fuel/day plant and used to predict fuel cost. Under the assumptions used in this analysis and crude oil prices, the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) required for economic feasibility must be less than 2¢/kWh. While not feasible under current market prices and costs, this work identifies key variables impacting process cost and discusses potential alternative paths toward economic feasibility.
Radioimmunossay for the Detection of the Antibody against Hepatitis-B-Core Antigen (Anti-HBc)

. In this paper we describe a new sensitive solid phase radioimmunoassay for the detection of anti-HBc. This test was shown to be more sensitive than the widely used immune adherence hemagglutination test (IAHA) and at least as sensitive as the radioimmunoassay using the blocking principle. The new test system appears to be very useful to screen larger groups of individuals (e.g. blood donors) for the presence of anti-HBc.
Some RF Characteristics of Bonding Systems

The measurement of bonding impedance has been typically limited to dc or to relatively low (<20 MHz) frequencies. However, the impedance characteristics of the bonding system should not be simply ignored at higher frequencies. To do so may be neglecting a serious source of electromagnetic interference. This paper presents techniques for the measurement and interpretation of bonding impedance characteristics through the VHF region. A measuring device based on the insertion loss technique is described. Calibration curves of typical models of this device show its usefulness for measurements up to 400 MHz. The application of this device to the measurement of bonding systems in field installations is also explored. From data obtained with the insertion loss device, an equivalent circuit of a typical bonding system is developed which incorporates the contributions of the equipment case as well as those contributions of the bonding straps to the overall impedance characteristics. It is shown that typical bonding systems exhibit regions of parallel resonance which are often at relatively low frequencies. Within these regions, the impedance of the bonding path is often very high. Because of this high impedance, the equipment case can act as a very effective antenna. Evidence is presented to show that the case voltages induced by a radiated field in the resonant frequency region may increase as much as 25 dB for a bonded system over a system that is not bonded.
Document clustering using particle swarm optimization

Fast and high-quality document clustering algorithms play an important role in effectively navigating, summarizing, and organizing information. Recent studies have shown that partitional clustering algorithms are more suitable for clustering large datasets. However, the K-means algorithm, the most commonly used partitional clustering algorithm, can only generate a local optimal solution. In this paper, we present a particle swarm optimization (PSO) document clustering algorithm. Contrary to the localized searching of the K-means algorithm, the PSO clustering algorithm performs a globalized search in the entire solution space. In the experiments we conducted, we applied the PSO, K-means and hybrid PSO clustering algorithm on four different text document datasets. The number of documents in the datasets ranges from 204 to over 800, and the number of terms ranges from over 5000 to over 7000. The results illustrate that the hybrid PSO algorithm can generate more compact clustering results than the K-means algorithm.
Inquiry in the Extended Design Space

In this talk, I will describe the design of new expressive tools that take advantage of people's familiarity with the physical world, and studies of how these new tools expand the interaction space and the change that could be brought out in the way people perceive this extended interaction space. I will present two example systems: I/O brush and Spyn, and discuss the role technology could play in supporting people's exploration and inquiry in their physical world.
Switched-capacitor filter design using the bilinear z-transform

A general synthesis technique is described for obtaining a switched-capacitor (SC) filter from an active RC prototype. The response of the SC filter is related to that of its prototype by the bilinear z -transform. This allows the filtering and sensitivity properties of the prototype to be preserved for the SC circuit. It also enables the designer to realize such economical and low-sensitivity circuits as the FDNR and gyrator filters. Finally, it permits the processing of signals at much higher frequencies than do previously known circuit design techniques.
The future of forensic DNA analysis.

The author's thoughts and opinions on where the field of forensic DNA testing is headed for the next decade are provided in the context of where the field has come over the past 30 years. Similar t...
Early childhood behavior trajectories and the likelihood of experiencing a traumatic event and PTSD by young adulthood

This study modeled children’s trajectories of teacher rated aggressive-disruptive behavior problems assessed at six time points between the ages of 6 and 11 and explored the likelihood of being exposed to DSM-IV qualifying traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 837 urban first graders (71% African American) followed-up for 15 years. Childhood trajectories of chronic high or increasing aggressive-disruptive behavior distinguished males more likely to be exposed to an assaultive violence event as compared to males with a constant course of low behavior problems (ORchronic high = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.3, 6.1 and ORincreasing = 4.5, 95% CI = 2.3, 9.1, respectively). Among females, exposure to traumatic events and vulnerability to PTSD did not vary by behavioral trajectory. The findings illustrate that repeated assessments of disruptive classroom behavior during early school years identifies more fully males at increased risk for PTSD-level traumatic events, than a single measure at school entry does.
Evaluation of Efficacy and Nonrepellency of Indoxacarb and Fipronil-Treated Soil at Various Concentrations and Thicknesses Against Two Subterranean Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

The efficacy and nonrepellency of indoxacarb (150 SC, 150 g [AI]/liter) and fipronil (Termidor SC, 9.1% [AI]) against field-collected eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), and the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, were evaluated for mortality and penetration into treated soil in laboratory glass tube bioassays. Both insecticides were tested at five concentrations (0, 1, 10, 50, and 100 ppm) and two thicknesses (20 and 50 mm) of treated soil. Indoxacarb caused significantly greater mortality than controls at all treatment thicknesses of ≥10 ppm, but not at 1 ppm. Concentration and treatment thickness of indoxacarb significantly affected termite mortality. Eastern subterranean termites were significantly more susceptible to indoxacarb than Formosan subterranean termites, but there were no intercolony differences in either species. Termites completely penetrated through all treatment thickness of indoxacarb-treated soil at all concentrations, except one of the six Formosan subterranean termite replicates of 50 mm at 50 ppm, when all termites were killed before tunneling through the treated soil. Fipronil resulted in significantly faster and greater termite mortality than indoxacarb at corresponding concentrations. Concentration and treatment thickness of fipronil also significantly affected termite mortality. There was no intercolony difference in susceptibility to either insecticide in either termite. Both termite species completely penetrated 20-mm treatments of all tested fipronil concentrations, as well as 50-mm soil treated with fipronil at ≤10 ppm. At 50 and 100 ppm fipronil, termites tunneled only a mean of 87 ± 0.21 and 47 ± 0.18% deep into 50-mm treated soil, respectively, before death. Both insecticides demonstrated a delayed mode of activity and nonrepellency against the two termite species.
A Lake Breeze Index

Abstract Since the mathematical equations describing the lake breeze phenomenon are too complex to yield exact solutions, approximation techniques are often used. To obtain the important parameters upon which the solutions depend, a dimensional analysis is then employed. The study shows that two dimensionless parameters describe the balance of forces that distinguish between lake breeze days and non-lake breeze days. A lake breeze index is established and a critical value is found. It a narrow transition zone is recognized, then the lake breeze index has an accuracy of 97 per cent.
On modeling single-cell IEEE 802.11 Ad-Hoc network with power saving mode

Energy efficiency is a significant aspect in wireless LANs due to the pervasive usage of mobile devices. The most effective way to save energy is turning off the radio, which is the key feature of the IEEE 802.11 power saving mode (PSM) protocol. Understanding the performance such as throughput and energy consumption of 802.11 PSM networks is important because they depend highly on the parameters we choose for contention window size, duty cycling ratio, etc. For this purpose, an analytical model is greatly preferred comparing to the tedious simulation because the former is fast, scalable and can be easily used to optimize performance. This paper presents a comprehensive analytical model for 802.11 IBSS PSM. We derive analytically, using Markov chains, the throughput, total delay and energy consumption, simulate the network using ns-3 simulator, and validate our results through extensive simulations. This model can be conveniently applied to accurately estimate and optimize the performance of single-cell 802.11 PSM ad-hoc networks.
Beyond Localization: A New Look at Disseminating Information via the Web

Localization of a document requires tacit knowledge of the target language and culture. Although it is promoted by many software developers and Web designers, localization is becoming increasingly inadequate as a strategy for disseminating information via the World Wide Web. The 21st century has already seen dramatic rises in the numbers of Internet users in nearly every country, making it difficult, if not impossible, for any translation effort to accommodate all of the 347 languages that claim at least 1 million speakers. The best way to expand the accessibility of Web content is to make it more explicit, not more tacit. This means producing and uploading clear English content that nonnative speakers can easily understand. Global English is written with simpler sentence structure, less jargon, and no slang�characteristics that make it a viable lingua franca for countless Web users whose native language is not considered important enough to merit a localization effort.
Energy efficiency in cognitive radio network: study of cooperative sensing using different channel sensing methods

When cognitive radio (CR) operates, it starts by sensing spectrum and looking for idle bandwidth. There are several methods for CR to make a decision on either the channel is occupied or idle, for example, energy detection scheme, cyclostationary detection scheme and matching filtering detection scheme . Among them, the most common method is energy detection scheme because of its algorithm and implementation simplicities . There are two major methods for sensing, the first one is to sense single channel slot with varying bandwidth, whereas the second one is to sense multiple channels and each with same bandwidth. After sensing periods, samples are compared with a preset detection threshold and a decision is made on either the primary user (PU) is transmitting or not. Sometimes the sensing and decision results can be erroneous, for example, false alarm error and misdetection error may occur. In order to better control error probabilities and improve CR network performance (i.e. energy efficiency), we introduce cooperative sensing; in which several CR within a certain range detect and make decisions on channel availability together. The decisions are transmitted to and analyzed by a data fusion center (DFC) to make a final decision on channel availability. After the final decision is been made, DFC sends back the decision to the CRs in order to tell them to stay idle or start to transmit data to secondary receiver (SR) within a preset transmission time. After the transmission, a new cycle starts again with sensing. In this thesis, we find methods to maximize total energy efficiency of the cognitive radio network using closed form expressions, and with the consideration on misdetection threshold on each CR or the CR network in order to protect PU. Furthermore, we derives the
Clinical observation of children with hemolytic crisis

Objective To summarize key points of diagnosis for hemolytic crisis by analyzing clinical data of children with acute hemolytic anemia(AHA),aimed to supply clinical diagnosis with evidences.Methods Causes,manifestations,laboratory findings,therapy and prognosis of 83 children with AHA were studied retrospectively.Results Clinical features varied with degree of hemolysis,fatigue,severe pallor,anhelation,vomiting,dark urine(tea colored) and blowing murmur of heart were major signs and physical findings in patients with Hb lower than 70 g/L.There were no significant differences for serum potassium,CO2CP,ALT and reticulocyte count among various degrees of hemolysis(P0.05),but WBC,BUN and LDH increased significantly as deterioration of hemolysis especially for the patients with Hb lower than 70 g/L.Conclusion Key points of diagnosis for hemolytic crisis are suggested:(1) hemolytic anemia is demonstrateded;(2) Hb was lower than 70 g/L and severe pallor,fatigue,vomiting,dark urine,anhelation,heart murmur and renal dysfunction were showed.Hb was lower than 60 g/L and at least five of above manifestations.A diagnosis of hemolytic crisis is highly suspected if a patient presents with condition(1) and(2);(3) A diagnosis of hemolytic crisis should be made if the patient has one of following characteristics such as high fever,acute abdominal pain,hypotension,unconsciousness,convulsion,heart failure or acute renal failure.(4)Any patient with Hb≤30 g/L should be diagnosis as hemolytic crisis,no matter how is the manifestations.(5) WBC 18 109 and serum LDH 800IU/L are useful for the diagnosis of hemolytic crisis.
Cervical carcinoma. Metastases to the solar region.

The symptomatology, anatomic route of spread, disturbance in gastrointestinal physiology, pathology of the metastasis, and diagnostic problems presented by solar metastases arising from primary invasive cervical carcinoma are discussed. Thirteen of 742 women suffered this fatal complication. Since the complication predominated in women previously untreated and with relatively early lesions, the question is raised whether or not cervical dilatation at the time of intracavitary application of radium predisposed to the process.
Federalism and the Eighth Amendment

INTRODUCTION 70 I. IS THE PROPORTIONALITY JURISPRUDENCE FEDERALISM-DRIVEN? 70 II. IS THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT A STATE SOVEREIGNTY PROTECTING PROVISION? 76 III. HOW SHOULD WE THINK ABOUT FEDERALISM AND THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT? 79
Free Radical Metabolism and DNA Damage by Organic Peroxide Tumor Promoters

A number of organic peroxides and hydroperoxides mediate tumor promotion and malignant conversion in mouse skin and are useful probes for defining the role of free radicals in multistage carcinogenesis. Benzoyl peroxide undergoes copper-dependent activation to benzoyloxyl and alkyl radicals in keratinocytes. The benzoyloxyl radical is thought to mediate DNA damage by benzoyl peroxide. Mutations induced by benzoyl peroxide occur at guanine and cytidine bases, particularly in polyguanosines, and may result from site-specific binding of copper to DNA.
Relationship between polyamines, actin distribution, and gastric healing in rats

ntragastric administration of 3.4 M NaCl damages the gastric mucosa and increases the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine synthesis. Polyamines are esse...
12 – The Global Cycles of Nitrogen and Phosphorus

Nitrogen often limits the rate of net primary production on land and in the sea. The most abundant form of nitrogen at the surface of the Earth, N 2 , is the least reactive species. Nitrogen fixation converts atmospheric N 2 to one of the forms of reactive nitrogen that can be used by biota. Denitrifying bacteria return N 2 to the atmosphere, lowering the overall stock of nitrogen available for life on Earth. Rocks of the continental crust hold the reservoir of phosphorus that becomes available to the biosphere through rock weathering. In most habitats, the availability of P is controlled by the degradation of organic forms of P. The global P cycle is complete only when sedimentary rocks are lifted above sea level and the weathering begins again. Because supplies of nitrogen and phosphorus often define soil fertility, humans have added enormous quantities of these elements to soils to enhance crop production, leading to inadvertent enrichments of ecosystems downwind or downstream of the point of application. In this chapter, we attempt to balance N and P budgets for the world's land area and the sea. The balance between N fixation and denitrification through geologic time determines the nitrogen available to biota and the global nitrogen cycle. One of the byproducts of nitrification and denitrification is N 2 O (nitrous oxide), which is both a greenhouse gas and a cause of ozone destruction in the stratosphere.
Electrospinning of natural proteins for tissue engineering scaffolding

Publisher Summary Tissue Engineering (TE) is an emerging multidisciplinary field involving biology, medicine, and engineering that aims at restoring, maintaining, or enhancing tissue and organ function. In the past, much of TE revolved around the biomaterials-centered approaches toward engineering ‘biocompatible scaffolds'. For the most part porous scaffolds were made of degradable synthetic biomaterials such as polyglycolides, on/in which cells were seeded and cultured in vitro . The expectation was that this combination of biodegradable scaffolds and cells would yield functional tissue constructs, which, upon implantation by surgeons, would eventually fulfill the aim of replacing or augmenting the functions of the damaged or diseased tissues in situ . Biological scaffolds can truly be ‘engineered', in terms of their constituent (bio) materials, their intrinsic morphology, as well as their capability to support important functional design requirements, such as tissue-specific 3-D assembly of cells into glandular structures, vascularization and innervation. Thus, since TE scaffolds aim at mimicking the multiple functions of the ECM, this area of research is a prime translational target for the biomedical application of natural-based polymers.
Self-Healing Properties of Lignin-Containing Nanocomposite: Synthesis of Lignin-graft-poly(5-acetylaminopentyl acrylate) via RAFT and Click Chemistry

Lignin can be an important source of synthetic commodity materials owing to its abundance in nature and low production cost. The current use of lignin as a raw material, however, is very limited and focused only on cheap and poorly defined nonfunctional materials. Herein we report a new lignin-containing functional polymer, lignin-graft-poly(5-acetylaminopentyl acrylate) (lignin-graft-PAA), which has been prepared by the covalent linkage of chemically modified lignin with PAA, which is an end-group functionalized polymer. This work makes two significant advances in the study of lignin-containing polymers: (1) lignin-graft-PAA is the first example of lignin being modified by a polymer with sophisticated structure, and (2) lignin-graft-PAA shows a special performance, autonomic self-healing properties, which have not yet been seen in lignin-containing polymers. The key synthetic step in this process utilizes a copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition or “click” reaction in order to join together the lign...
MadMAC: Building a Reconfiguration Radio Testbed using Commodity 802.11 Hardware

Essential to adaptive devices is the ability to reconfigure Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols to environment conditions and application requirements. We propose MadMAC, a platform for building reconfigurable MAC protocols on commodity 802.11x hardware. Programming on top of MadWiFi, MadMAC transmits packets at configurable time and frame format. In this paper, we build a TDMA-based MAC protocol using MadMAC, and examine the impact of various design parameters. Experimental results show that MadMAC allows flexible control of protocol settings with small processing overhead. We also observe that the TDMA MAC protocol provides 20% throughput improvement over the CSMA protocol in a simple two-node network.
Multi-layered silk film coculture system for human corneal epithelial and stromal stem cells.

With insufficient options to meet the clinical demand for cornea transplants, one emerging area of emphasis is on cornea tissue engineering. In the present study, the goal was to combine the corneal stroma and epithelium into one co-culture system, in order to monitor both human corneal stromal stem cell (hCSSC) and human corneal epithelial cell (hCE) growth and differentiation into keratocytes and differentiated epithelium in these 3D tissue systems in vitro. Co-culture conditions were first optimized, including the medium, air/liquid interface culture, and surface topography and chemistry of biomaterial scaffold films based on silk protein. The silk was used as scaffolding for both stromal and epithelial tissue layers because it is cell compatible, can be surface patterned, and is optically clear. Next, the effects of proliferating and differentiating hCEs and hCSSCs in this in vitro system were studied, including the effects on cell proliferation, matrix formation by immunochemistry, and gene expression by RT-qPCR. The incorporation of both cell types into the co-culture system demonstrated more complete differentiation and growth for both cell types compared to the corneal stromal cells and corneal epithelial cells alone. Silk films for corneal epithelial culture were optimized to combine a 4.0 micron-scale surface pattern with bulk-loaded collagen type IV. Differentiation of each cell type was in evidence based on increased expression of corneal stroma and epithelial proteins and transcript levels after 6 weeks in co-culture on the optimized silk scaffolds. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Frequency Domain Identification of a Linear System Using Maximum Likelihood Estimation

Abstract A frequency-domain algorithm for the maximum likelihood estimation of a dynamic system is developed. The model of a multivariable linear system is represented by a discrete-type steady-state Kalman filter. The measured data are assumed in the form of Fourier series expansion. The loglikelihood function of the complex innovations is formulated and the expressions for the first and second-order gradient of this function given. Then the maximum likelihood algorithm is simplified to the output error method considering the measured data either as the transformed input and output variables or as frequency response curves. The advantages and limitations of the frequency domain approach are briefly discussed. The paper is completed by examples using the flight data measured in still and turbulent air or the computer-generated data.
Mass Spectrometry for the Study of Microbial Communities in Environmental Waters

Abstract Microorganisms and their activities are of extreme importance to human health and the environment. They play an essential role in biogeochemical cycles and can literally degrade all organic compounds. Microbial communities are diverse and versatile as they can fluctuate and adapt along with environmental changes. For example, microorganisms can change the expression of their protein profiles as a strategy to overcome environmental challenges. As such, mass spectrometry has been shown to be an important tool in environmental microbiology and has previously been utilized for the identification of microorganisms, their constituents, metabolites, and biomarkers. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has evolved to become a workhorse for the identification and dereplication of microorganisms, and to study the protein profiles of microbial communities and their changes when subject to environmental stressors such as pollution. In this chapter, a description of the MALDI-TOF MS technique and its applications in the study of aquatic microbial communities are reviewed and discussed.
Vehicular Clouds Research: What is Missing?

Vehicular Clouds (VCs) have become an active research topic. However, even a cursory look reveals that the VC literature of recent years is full of papers discussing fanciful VC architectures and services that often seem too good to be true. And many of them are. It seems to us that promoting VC models without any regard to their practical feasibility is apt to discredit the VC concept altogether. Part of the problem stems from the fact that some authors do not seem to be concerned with the obvious fact that moving vehicles' residency times in the VC may, indeed, be very short and, therefore, so is their contribution to the amount of useful work performed. Should a vehicle running a user job leave the VC prematurely, the amount of work performed by that vehicle may be lost, unless special precautions are taken. Such precautionary measures involve either some flavor of checkpointing or some form of redundant job assignment. Both approaches have consequences in terms of overhead and impact job completion time. The success of conventional cloud computing (CC) is attributable to the ability to provide quantifiable functional characteristics such as scalability, reliability and availability. By the same token, if the VCs are to see a widespread adoption, the same quantitative aspects have to be addressed here, too. Feasibility issues in terms of sufficient compute power, communication bandwidth, reliability, availability, and job duration time are all fundamental quantitative aspects of VCs that need to be studied and understood before one can claim with any degree of certainty that they can support the workload for which they are intended. The first contribution of this paper is to make a case for the stringent need to address quantitatively the performance characteristics of VC architectures and proposed services. Our second contribution is to point out directions and challenges facing the VC community.
Sustainability education: how evolving STEM benefits underserved populations

This research explores ways in which sustainability education efforts can create an advantageous learning environment for women and underrepresented minority students in STEM. By drawing on key literature that discusses how to increase socioeconomic, ethnic, gender, and racial diversity in STEM fields, this work examines strategies to promote the retention of diverse learners by means of implementing a sustainability education (SE) model. Findings emphasise the importance of community-based learning, practical and applicable knowledge, and interdisciplinary studies in creating a positive learning environment for underrepresented students. This paper also highlights upcoming case studies focusing on two populations typically excluded from science and sustainability: 1) a science and sustainability lecture series for incarcerated students; 2) an integrated STEM curriculum at a tribal college. These programs and their curricula showcase aspects of environmental, social and cultural sustainability in higher education, targeted at diverse learners.
Effects of maternal obstructive sleep apnea on fetal growth: a case-control study.

To investigate whether maternal obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with changes in fetal growth trajectory. Retrospective review of pregnant women who underwent overnight polysomnography. Fetal growth was estimated using sonographic biometric measurements obtained during routine prenatal care. Customized estimated fetal weight and birth weight centiles were calculated and impaired fetal growth was defined as birth weight 33% during the last trimester. Logistic regression models were used to determine the relationship between maternal OSA and altered fetal growth after adjusting for potential covariates. There were 48 women without and 31 women with OSA. There were no differences in the proportion of infants with birth weight <10th centile between women with and without OSA (23 vs. 25%, p = 1.0), However, the presence of maternal OSA was predictive of impaired fetal growth (aOR 3.9, 95% CI 1.2–12.6). Logistic regression models were repeated using only a slowing of fetal growth in the 3rd trimester (excluding birth weight <10th centile) and OSA predicted a slowing in fetal growth across the 3rd trimester (aOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.4–9.4). Fourteen additional women were treated with positive airway pressure during pregnancy; fetal growth was not significantly different in these women compared to controls. Obstructive sleep apnea is independently associated with altered fetal growth, which appears to be ameliorated with use of positive airway pressure.
Phenol Neurolysis for the Management of Shoulder Spasticity in Early Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Report.

Abstract This case describes a 16-year-old boy who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. The patient gradually recovered but developed debilitating spasticity mainly in left triceps muscle, abnormal positioning of shoulder girdle complex, and shoulder pain. Phenol (6%) was injected to axillary and radial nerves under the guidance of electrical stimulation and ultrasound imaging at 10 weeks after the initial injury. After injection, triceps spasticity and shoulder pain were immediately reduced, and abnormal positions of shoulder girdle complex and elbow joint gradually returned to functional limits over 2 weeks. This case suggests that phenol neurolysis for spasticity management in early recovery could yield functional recovery.
Government and State Agencies: Who Administrates Healthcare on Federal and State Levels?

Healthcare in the United States is offered by a multitude of unique agencies. Administration of the many healthcare programs available to Americans is extremely complex and involves regulation at the state and federal level. Although each level of the government has specific and separate responsibilities, there is significant interplay and interaction during the administration of healthcare. In addition, the separation of responsibilities and level of interplay vary significantly between the different forms of healthcare available in the United States. This chapter will identify many of the key players at both the state and federal level in healthcare administration, outline the responsibilities of each government level with regards to regulating specific healthcare programs, and highlight the significant interplay between state and federal governments during healthcare administration.
Der Konflikt zwischen Bundesverfassungsgericht und Europäischem Gerichtshof über die richterliche Kontrolle der Verbandskompetenz der Gemeinschaft

Das Bundesverfassungsgericht beansprucht im Maastricht-Urteil fur sich eine Befugnis zur Kontrolle aller Gemeinschaftsorgane einschlieslich des Europaischen Gerichtshofs daraufhin, ob sich deren Handeln im Rahmen der Grenzen des durch das nationale Zustimmungsgesetz gern. Art. 23 Abs. I, S. 2 GG bestimmten Integrationsprogramms halt.
AoA Estimation Using an Array of Diversely Polarized Microstrip Antenna

This paper addresses the problem of Angle of Arrival (AoA) estimation of incident signals upon an array of diversely polarized, and widely spaced, circular microstrip antenna. The expression of far-field radiation pattern of this antenna array is derived using the Euler method and applied to the optimized Min-Norm AoA estimation method. The optimized MinNorm AoA estimator is combined with the linear phase interferometer to handle the fluctuations of the incident signals and resolve the ambiguities. Simulations verify that the optimized Min-Norm AoA estimator performs well over a range of incident signal directions and different SNR values.
A Low Power IoT Medium Access Control for Receiver-Assigned CDMA

Low power, low cost, and security-conscious wireless sensor networks are becoming increasingly pervasive in the internet of things (IoT). In these networks, receiver-assigned code division multiple access (RA-CDMA) offers benefits over existing multiple access techniques. RA-CDMA networks are asynchronous, robust against multipath interference, and offer resilience against collision. A lightweight medium access control (MAC) protocol is needed to facilitate communication in RA-CDMA networks between low power sensor nodes and access points. This article provides an overview of RA-CDMA and proposes elements of a new MAC protocol that could improve performance of certain wireless sensor networks. Key features of the proposed MAC design are introduced and compared to those of existing protocols, highlighting its simple and lightweight design. Through its compatibility with RA-CDMA, the MAC design eliminates significant overhead and complexity while meeting requirements for low power networks, which enables the implementation of dense IoT sensor networks.
Energy-efficient and high-performance NoC architecture and mapping solution for deep neural networks

With the advancement and miniaturization of transistor technology, hundreds of cores can be integrated on a single chip. Network-on-Chips (NoCs) are the de facto on-chip communication fabrics for multi/many core systems because of their benefits over the traditional bus in terms of scalability, parallelism, and power efficiency [20]. Because of these properties of NoC, communication architecture for different layers of a deep neural network can be developed using NoC. However, traditional NoC architectures and strategies may not be suitable for running deep neural networks because of the different types of communication patterns (e.g. one-to-many and many-to-one communication between layers and zero communication within a single layer) in neural networks. Furthermore, because of the different communication patterns, computations of the different layers of a neural network need to be mapped in a way that reduces communication bottleneck in NoC. Therefore, we explore different NoC architectures and mapping solutions for deep neural networks, and then propose an efficient concentrated mesh NoC architecture and a load-balanced mapping solution (including mathematical model) for accelerating deep neural networks. We also present preliminary results to show the effectiveness of our proposed approaches to accelerate deep neural networks while achieving energy-efficient and high-performance NoC.
An Indigenous Insight into the Opiod Crisis and the Rehabilitation of the Soul

Bornof orality, Native American shamanic traditions and healing practices are exclusively organic in manifestation...
Unpacking Particularized Relational Identity Development Among Boundary Spanners

Despite the importance of relationships for achieving organizational objectives, we know little about how boundary spanners establish particularized relational identities with targets. Particulariz...
Race and Sex-Specific Population Attributable Fractions for Incident Heart Failure: Lifetime Risk Pooling Project

Objective Despite race- and sex-specific differences in risk of heart failure (HF), there are limited data comparing the contribution of major modifiable risk factors to the population burden of HF in each race-sex group. In addition, studies have not used a competing risk framework to account for death in the absence of HF, to provide a more accurate risk estimate for each risk factor. We determined the contribution of modifiable risk factors, specifically hypertension, diabetes, obesity, current smoking, and hyperlipidemia, to the population burden of HF, as measured by population attributable fraction (PAF), stratified by race and sex. Methods A pooled cohort was created using harmonized data from six longitudinal US-based cohorts (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study, Cardiovascular Health Study, Framingham Heart Study starting from 1970, Framingham Offspring Study, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis). Baseline measurements of the risk factors were used to determine prevalence. Relative risk of incident HF for each risk factor was determined using a piecewise constant hazards model adjusted for age, education, other modifiable risk factors, and the competing risk of non-HF death. PAF for HF was then calculated for each risk factor in each race-sex group. Results Hypertension had the highest adjusted PAF in black men (28.3%, 95% CI 18.7, 36.7%) and black women (25.8%, 95% CI 16.3, 34.2%). In contrast, obesity had the highest adjusted PAF in white men (21.0%, 95% CI 14.6, 27.0%) and white women (17.9%, 95% CI 12.8, 22.6%). Diabetes disproportionately contributed to HF in black women (PAF 16.4%, 95% CI 12.7, 19.9%). Current smoking made a modest contribution and hyperlipidemia contributed minimally to HF risk. The cumulative PAF for all risk factors was highest in black women (51.9%, 95% CI 39.3, 61.8%) and lowest in white women (39.3%, 95% CI 33.9, 44.4%). Conclusions Our findings extend insights into the contribution of modifiable risk factors to population HF burden by using a competing risk model and providing race and sex-specific contemporary PAF estimates (Figure 1). Our results highlight the growing impact of hypertension and diabetes on HF burden, especially in black women. These results can guide public health policies aimed at reducing the population burden of HF.