cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NMR measurements of intracellular ions in hypertension

The NMR methods for the measurement of intracellular free Na + , K + , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , and H + are introduced. The recent literature is then presented showing applications of these methods to cells and tissues from hypertensive animal model systems, and humans with essential hypertension. The results support the hypothesis of consistent derangement of the intracellular ionic environment in hypertension. The theory that this derangement may be a common link in the disease states of high blood pressure and abnormal insulin and glucose metabolism, which are often associated clinically, is discussed.
Building and Evaluating a Mobile Application for an Academic Library

In order to stay relevant to the needs of the modern users, libraries need to make their catalogs and other services easily accessible on mobile devices. Libraries face a number of unique challenges in this process related to 'mobilizing' catalog access, integration third-party information systems, and operating with very limited resources. This paper describes an effort to create a mobile application for an academic library, which includes identifying library services relevant to mobile users, minimizing development costs by utilizing a number of open-source components, and evaluating the usability of the resulting application.
Spectral studies of metal ion interaction with tetrazole and tetrazolate anion

Abstract Formation of solid tetrazolate complexes with iron (II), nickel, cadmium and cobalt are compared to the sodium and silver tetrazolates. The formation of a weak complex between nickel and tetrazole is confirmed, and overall formation constants of β 1 = 2·3 ± 1·5 and β 2 = 13·1 ± 0·9 are obtained for the system in dimethylformamide. The 1-deuterotetrazole infra-red spectrum is discussed, and implications of the infra-red spectra of the metal-tetrazolate complexes are considered.
Beyond zero-sum: game theory and national forest management

Abstract Following two decades of bitter struggle, the current debate over management of the U.S. national forests is characterized by animosity, controversy, and seemingly intractable gridlock. This view has led some to characterize the current management process a situation of pure conflict or a zero-sum game. In this article, we develop a game-theoretic model based on an argument that national forest policymaking is a game between the U.S. National Forest Service and Environmentalists and that this game is not zero-sum. The model is used to account for outcomes associated with contemporary management policy and to examine some recent changes to the game's rules and how this may affect outcomes. The analysis shows that some changes will have little to no effect on outcomes, while others have a significant potential to do so.
Metabolism of Phosphatido-Peptide and Phospholipid in the Supersensitive Submaxillary Gland of the Cat, in vivo

EARLIER work by Emmelin and Muren1,2 has shown that section of the parasympathetic nerve supply to the submaxillary glands of cats renders them supersensitive to cholinergic and adrenergic agents producing a greatly enhanced secretion from the supersensitive gland when compared with the normal gland. Hokin and Sherwin3 have suggested that the turn-over of phosphoryl units in the phospholipid fraction of acetylcholine-stimulated submaxillary gland slices may represent a carrier mechanism functioning in the secretory process. In addition Huggins4 has shown that there is an increased incorporation of radiophosphorus into the phosphatido-peptide fraction of slices of chicken pancreas when incubated in the presence of acetylcholine. These observations suggest that the increased secretory activity seen in the supersensitive submaxillary glands might be related to increased metabolic activity in the phosphatido-peptide and phospholipid fractions.
Interfacial roughening in lattice-matched GaInP/GaAs heterostructures

The microstructure of solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) lattice-matched GaInP-GaAs heterostructures has been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It is shown that atomic-scale roughening occurs in the first several (∼five) interfaces, and beyond which roughening is developed into micrometer-scale. The {113} faceted roughening occurs in the GaInP-on-GaAs interfaces, leading to the formation of V-shaped grooves. Dislocation dipoles are observed in the top, facet surface and bottom regions of the grooves, and there is no obvious difference. For GaInP layers exhibiting atomic-scale roughening, a small number of dislocations, mostly 60°-type and in a dipole configuration, are confined in a zone of approximately 5.0 nm in width along the interface, and dislocations are rare deep inside the layers. For GaInP layers, in contrast, there is a high density of dislocations in both the regions, and it has remarkable interfacial roughening. Based on their distribution and configurations, the dislocations are believed to result from the compositional modulation occurred in the GaInP layers. The interplay of roughening, dislocations and compositional modulation has been discussed in the light of the morphological features.
Invariant subspaces of L∞ of certain homogeneous spaces

It is proved that L∞(GH) does not contain any proper G-invariant closed subspaces of finite codimension, where the hypotheses are that G is a locally compact group, H a closed subgroup such that GH is compact, and such that ΔG¦H ≠ ΔH, where Δ denotes the modular function of the group involved.
Algorithm 887: CHOLMOD, Supernodal Sparse Cholesky Factorization and Update/Downdate

CHOLMOD is a set of routines for factorizing sparse symmetric positive definite matrices of the form A or AAT, updating/downdating a sparse Cholesky factorization, solving linear systems, updating/downdating the solution to the triangular system Lx = b, and many other sparse matrix functions for both symmetric and unsymmetric matrices. Its supernodal Cholesky factorization relies on LAPACK and the Level-3 BLAS, and obtains a substantial fraction of the peak performance of the BLAS. Both real and complex matrices are supported. CHOLMOD is written in ANSI/ISO C, with both C and MATLABTM interfaces. It appears in MATLAB 7.2 as x = A\b when A is sparse symmetric positive definite, as well as in several other sparse matrix functions.
Stimulus orientation and contrast constancy.

The human visual system requires less contrast to detect patterns oriented vertically or horizontally than those oriented obliquely. We investigated whether this orientational anisotropy persists at suprathreshold contrasts. Using a contrast-matching technique, we found that it disappears at contrasts just above threshold, given the stimulus conditions employed. These results suggest that a neural mechanism, at suprathreshold, adjusts the gain of orientational subsystems to compensate for the lower sensitivity of the visual system to oblique patterns. A similar suprathreshold effect, referred to as contrast constancy, has been observed in studies employing grating patterns varying in spatial and temporal frequency. We argue, based on previous electrophysiological findings, that this neural compensation results from antagonism between excitatory and inhibitory processes in the visual cortex
Treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection: Time to Get a Move On?

In this issue, Stagg and colleagues' network meta-analysis compares treatment regimens for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection to identify which options provide the optimal balance of efficacy and...
Correlating Molecular Surface Coverage and Solution-Phase Nanoparticle Concentration to Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Intensities

Control over the composition, shape, size, stability, and local dielectric environment of solution-phase metallic substrates is vital to consistent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals. Because of their inherent instability, solution-phase nanoparticles can undergo uncontrolled aggregation when target molecules are added. Here, we demonstrate that both molecular surface coverage of the Raman active molecule, 2-naphthalenethiol (2-NT), and nanoparticle concentration are critical parameters for obtaining reproducible SERS signals using solution-phase gold nanoparticles. Both gold nanoparticle and 2-naphthalenethiol concentrations are varied, and the extinction of the nanoparticle substrate and the SERS intensity of the target molecule are monitored as a function of time. These results indicate that extinction and SERS spectral intensities increase predictably below full monolayer surface coverage. When excess molecules are added, uncontrolled and irreproducible nanoparticle aggregation leads to ...
Bad neighbors: Failed states and their consequences

State failure reflects the collapse of a sovereign state, and has been hypothesized to destabilize an entire region. We assess the negative effects of state collapse, focusing particularly on the spatial diffusion of these consequences. We argue that the instability, unrest, and civil war that increase the risk for state collapse are not limited to the failed/collapsed state; states neighboring—or located within close distance of—a failed state are also likely to experience subsequently higher levels of political instability, unrest, civil war, and interstate conflict. We also evaluate the likelihood of state failure itself diffusing to other states. Specifically, we test the proposition that state failure causes political turmoil in nearby states to a greater extent than in distant countries. We do so by including a distance-weighted measure of state failure and by evaluating the effect of collapse in contiguous states. We conclude that state failure/collapse itself is not contagious, but some of its mos...
(Sub)national Principals, Legislative Agents Patronage and Political Careers in Mexico

To what extent do external actors control the careers of national legislators in federal systems? Although previous research has demonstrated that multiple principals shape legislative behavior in federal systems, prior studies have been much less successful at demonstrating the relative power of each of these actors over the careers of federal legislators. Using an original data set on the career paths of Mexican federal legislators, this study seeks to determine the relative importance of governors, presidents, and other party elites in shaping the future career choices of national legislators in federal systems. I find that legislators who share partisanship with the president or their governor are more likely to obtain patronage positions, while party leaders predominantly control access to the ballot. The findings also suggest that while governors and presidents can influence a subset of legislators, the large majority of legislators pursue future positions over which party leaders control access.
Task-space/joint-space damping transformations for passive redundant manipulators

Passive mechanical wrists, capable of imparting a desired damping matrix to a grasped workpiece are discussed. The passive mechanical wrist is to be programmable-it can adopt a wide range of damping matrices-by virtue of a number of tunable dampers which interconnect the joints. The range of damping matrices that such a wrist can adopt is studied, purely by tuning its dampers. It is found that a redundant wrist has a broader range of realizable damping matrices than a non-redundant wrist. A kinematic Jacobian relates the task-space damping matrix to a similar matrix in the hydraulic space of the tunable dampers (joint-space). For redundant wrists, the transformation of damping matrices between task-space and joint-space is not straightforward. The causal directions along which the transformations are linear are identified. It is shown that the joint-space matrices which are obtained as linear transformations of desired task-space matrices are all singular. Many realizable joint-space matrices (corresponding to a desired task-space damping matrix) are shown to exist which are discovered by linear transformations. >
Design of a GPS L1 rectenna by using a metamaterial-inspired eclectically small antenna

A GPS L1 (1.5754 GHz) rectenna has been developed for low input power. The rectenna incorporates a high efficiency, electrically small, metamaterial-inspired near field resonant parasitic antenna, and a Schottky diode that has a low built-in voltage, and a resistor as the load. The measurement results show that the overall efficiency of the rectenna with the resistive load is 34.8% and the voltage across the resistor is 0.73 V at the GPS L1 frequency, 1.5754 GHz, when the power delivered to the antenna is 1.0 mW (0.0 dBm). Moreover, the maximum overall efficiency is 51.0%, which was achieved at 1.45 GHz.
Estimation of Cigarette Smoking-Attributable Morbidity in the United States

Importance Cigarette smoking has been found to harm nearly every bodily organ and is a leading cause of preventable disease, but current estimates of smoking-attributable morbidity by condition for the United States are generally unavailable. Objective To estimate the burden of major medical conditions attributable to cigarette smoking in the United States. Design, Setting, and Participants The disease burden of smoking was estimated using population-attributable risk calculations, taking into account the uncertainty of estimates. Population estimates came from 2009 US Census Bureau data and smoking prevalence, disease prevalence, and disease relative risk estimates came from National Health Interview Survey data for surveyed adults from 2006 through 2012. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spirometry data obtained from medical examination of surveyed adults from 2007 through 2010 was used to adjust for underreporting of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Exposures Smoking status was assessed from self-reported National Health Interview Survey data. Main Outcomes and Measures The number of adults 35 years and older who had had a major smoking-attributable disease by sex and condition and the total number of these conditions were estimated for the United States in 2009. Results Using National Health Interview Survey data, we estimated that 6.9 million (95% CI, 6.5-7.4 million) US adults had had a combined 10.9 million (95% CI, 10.3-11.5 million) self-reported smoking-attributable medical conditions. Using chronic obstructive pulmonary disease prevalence estimates obtained from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey self-reported and spirometry data, we estimated that US adults had had a combined 14.0 million (95% CI, 12.9-15.1 million) smoking-attributable conditions in 2009. Conclusions and Relevance We estimate that US adults have had approximately 14 million major medical conditions that were attributable to smoking. This figure is generally conservative owing to the existence of other diseases and medical events that were not included in these estimates. Cigarette smoking remains a leading cause of preventable disease in the United States, underscoring the need for continuing and vigorous smoking-prevention efforts.
Evaluating the Impact of Attacks in Collaborative Tagging Environments

Abstract—The proliferation of social web technologies such as collaborative tagging has led to an increasing awareness of their vulnerability to misuse. Attackers may attempt to distort the system’s adaptive behavior by inserting erroneous or misleading annotations, thus altering the way in which information is presented to legitimate users. Prior work on recommender systems has shown that studying different attack types, their properties and their impact, can help identify robust algorithms that make these systems more secure and less vulnerable to manipulation.Unlike traditional recommender systems, a tagging systemincludes multiple retrieval algorithms to facilitate browsing of resources, users and tags. The challenge is, therefore, evaluating the impact of various types of attacks across different navigation options. In this paper we develop a framework for characterizingattacks against tagging systems. We then propose a methodology for evaluating their global impact based on PageRank. Using real data from a popular tagging systems, we empirically evaluate the effectiveness of several attack types. Our results help us understand how much effort is needed from an attacker to change the behavior of a tagging system and which attack types are more successful against such systems.
Citizen Input in the Budget Process When Does It Matter Most

Citizen participation in public budgeting processes has been widely advocated by both theorists and practitioners of public administration. Yet there is less agreement on when the public should be ...
Enforcing executing-implies-verified with the integrity-aware processor

Malware often injects and executes new code to infect hypervisors, OSs and applications. Such malware infections can be prevented by checking all code against a whitelist before permitting it to execute. The eXecuting Implies Verified Enforcer (XIVE) is a distributed system in which a kernel on each target system consults a server called the approver to verify code on-demand.We propose a new hardware mechanism to isolate the XIVE kernel from the target host. The Integrity-Aware Processor (IAP) that embodies this mechanism is based on a SPARC soft-core for an FPGA and provides high performance, high compatibility with target systems and flexible invocation options to ensure visibility into the target system. This facilitates the development of a very small trusted computing base.
Semantic context effects in visual word recognition: An analysis of semantic strategies

Using a procedure that isolates the facilitatory and interfering effects of a semantic context, the present study examines two distinct patterns of context effects. One pattern shows a dominance of facilitation for target words in a related context, and the other pattern shows a dominance of interference for target words in an unrelated context. The controlling factor seems to be the overall characteristics of the stimulus list. For materials that include semantic relationships that are consistent in the strength of the relationships, facilitation dominance obtains. For materials that include a wide range of semantic relationship strengths, interference dominance results. These two patterns of facilitation and interference are attributed to two semantic strategies available to subjects for using context information. The explication of the strategies includes a theoretical treatment of the present data.
Disruption of actin impedes transmitter release in snake motor terminals.

1To investigate the role of actin in vertebrate nerve terminals, nerve-muscle preparations from garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) were treated with the actin-depolymerizing agent latrunculin A. Immunostaining revealed that actin filaments within presynaptic motor terminal boutons were disrupted by the drug. 2In preparations loaded with the optical probe FM1-43, destaining was reduced by latrunculin treatment, suggesting that transmitter release was partially blocked. 3Latrunculin treatment did not influence the amplitude or time course of spontaneous miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs). Similarly, endplate potentials (EPPs) evoked at low frequency were comparable in control and latrunculin-treated curarized preparations. 4Brief tetanic stimulation of the muscle nerve (25 Hz, 90 s) depressed EPP amplitudes in both control and latrunculin-treated preparations. After tetanus, EPPs elicited at 0.2 Hz in control preparations recovered rapidly (0–5 min) and completely (usually potentiating to above pre-tetanus levels; 130 ± 11%, mean ±s.e.m.). In contrast, EPPs evoked in latrunculin-treated preparations recovered slowly (8–10 min) and incompletely (84 ± 8%). 5The influence of latrunculin on post-tetanic EPPs depended on its concentration in the bath (KD= 3.1 μm) and on time of incubation. 6These observations argue that actin filaments facilitate transmitter release rather than impede it. Specifically, actin may facilitate mobilization of vesicles towards the releasable pools.
Initiative Campaigns: Direct Democracy and Voter Mobilization

Previous research has found that the campaigns of candidates running for office provide information to voters and can increase turnout. Scholarly research has also found that states with initiatives and referendums appearing on the ballot have higher voter turnout, especially in midterm elections. However, actual initiative campaigns are rarely measured. Drawing on national survey data and state contextual factors, we use a multilevel modeling strategy to test whether Americans are more likely to vote in recent midterm and presidential elections when there is increased spending in initiative and candidate campaigns, as well as more frequent use of direct democracy. The research includes a number of methodological advancements from earlier work on turnout and direct democracy (including a control for endogeneity) by restricting the analysis to initiative states only. The analysis suggests initiative campaigns not only increase individual level turnout but also especially benefit the lower educated.
Fads and Fashions in the Policy Response To Financial Market Crises

After financial crises in Mexico and Asia, economic growth has rebounded and international capital has returned. But while private capital flows have risen rapidly over time, they remain small relative to development needs and are concentrated on only a handful of relatively wealthy countries. Investors have shied away from emerging economies partly as a result of an international financial system that has been enveloped in contagious crisis in four out of the past ten years. The traditional response to these crises implies that individual governments and banks are at fault. However, the contagion has not spread along the avenues of shared trade, but of shared investors as events have reduced investors’ appetite for risk everywhere. In a world in which investors’ appetite for risk shifts dramatically, the ‘good’ countries pursuing more liberal policies could suffer more during crises and the recent emphasis on transparency could make matters worse.
Evolution of zinc oxide nanostructures through kinetics control

In-depth understanding of the kinetics of the vapor deposition process is substantial for advancing this capable bottom-up nanostructure synthesis approach into a versatile large-scale nanomanufacturing technology. In this paper, we report a systematic study of the vapor deposition kinetics of ZnO nanomaterials under controlled atmosphere and properly refined deposition conditions. The experiments clearly evidenced the self-catalyzed growth of ZnO NWs via the formation of ZnO nanoflowers. This result illustrated how ZnO morphologies were associated with the discrepancy between oxidation rate and condensation rate of Zn. The capability of switching the NW morphologies and possibly mechanisms was demonstrated by kinetically controlling the deposition system. The high Zn composition during the deposition resulted in strongly luminescent NWs, which can be used for optical imaging applications. This research discovered a fundamental kinetics that governs the mechanisms and morphology selection of nanostructures in a non-catalyst growth system.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model: CCM3*

The latest version of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model (CCM3) is described. The changes in both physical and dynamical formulation from CCM2 to CCM3 are presented. The major differences in CCM3 compared to CCM2 include changes to the parameterization of cloud properties, clear sky longwave radiation, deep convection, boundary layer processes, and land surface processes. A brief description of each of these parameterization changes is provided. These modifications to model physics have led to dramatic improvements in the simulated climate of the CCM. In particular, the top of atmosphere cloud radiative forcing is now in good agreement with observations, the Northern Hemisphere winter dynamical simulation has significantly improved, biases in surface land temperatures and precipitation have been substantially reduced, and the implied ocean heat transport is in very good agreement with recent observational estimates. The improvement in implied ocean heat transport is among the more important attributes of the CCM3 since it is used as the atmospheric component of the NCAR Climate System Model. Future improvements to the CCM3 are also discussed.
Metric Learning to Rank

We study metric learning as a problem of information retrieval. We present a general metric learning algorithm, based on the structural SVM framework, to learn a metric such that rankings of data induced by distance from a query can be optimized against various ranking measures, such as AUC, Precision-at-k, MRR, MAP or NDCG. We demonstrate experimental results on standard classification data sets, and a large-scale online dating recommendation problem.
Transport Properties of the Binary Type I Clathrate K8Ge44□2

We report the synthesis and low-temperature electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity of the binary type I clathrate K8Ge44□2 (□=Ge framework vacancy). Electrical resistivity measurements indicated metallic or heavily doped semiconductor behavior, while the Seebeck was relatively high at −77 μV/K at room temperature. The thermal conductivity was very low, on the order of 1 W/m K at room temperature. This work is part of a continuing effort to investigate new compositions in open-structured and guest-framework materials for potential thermoelectric applications.
Self-Realization in Work and Politics: The Marxist Conception of the Good Life

In arguments in support of capitalism, the following propositions are sometimes advanced or presupposed: (i) the best life for the individual is one of consumption, understood in a broad sense that includes aesthetic pleasures and entertainment as well as consumption of goods in the ordinary sense; (ii) consumption is to be valued because it promotes happiness or welfare, which is the ultimate good; (iii) since there are not enough opportunities for consumption to provide satiation for everybody, some principles of distributive justice must be chosen to decide who gets what; (iv) the total to be distributed has first to be produced. What is produced depends, among other things, on the motivation and information of the producers. The theory of justice must take account of the fact that different principles of distribution have different effects on motivation and information; (v) economic theory tells us that the motivational and informational consequences of private ownership of the means of production are superior to those of the various forms of collective ownerships.In the traditional controversy over the relative merits of capitalism and economic systems, the focus has been on proposition (v). In this paper, I consider instead propositions (i) and (ii). Before one can even begin to discuss how values are to be allocated, one must consider what they are – what it is that ought to be valued. I shall argue that at the center of Marxism is a specific conception of the good life as one of active self-realization, rather than passive consumption.
Detecting and using critical paths at runtime in message driven parallel programs

Detecting critical paths in traditional message passing parallel programs can be useful for post-mortem performance analysis. This paper presents an efficient online algorithm for detecting critical paths for message-driven parallel programs. Initial implementations of the algorithm have been created in three message-driven parallel languages: Charm++, Charisma, and Structured Dagger. Not only does this work describe a novel implementation of critical path detection for the message-driven programs, but also the resulting critical paths are successfully used as the program runs for automatic performance tuning. The actionable information provided by the critical path is shown to be useful for online performance tuning within the context of the message driven parallel model, whereas it has never been used for online purposes within the traditional message passing model.
Subfertility increases risk of testicular cancer: evidence from population-based semen samples.

Objective To further understand the association between semen quality and cancer risk by means of well defined semen parameters. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Not applicable. Patient(s) A total of 20,433 men who underwent semen analysis (SA) and a sample of 20,433 fertile control subjects matched by age and birth year. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Risk of all cancers as well as site-specific results for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and melanoma. Result(s) Compared with fertile men, men with SA had an increased risk of testicular cancer (hazard rate [HR] 3.3). When the characterization of infertility was refined using individual semen parameters, we found that oligozoospermic men had an increased risk of cancer compared with fertile control subjects. This association was particularly strong for testicular cancer, with increased risk in men with oligozoospermia based on concentration (HR 11.9) and on sperm count (HR 10.3). Men in the in the lowest quartile of motility (HR 4.1), viability (HR 6.6), morphology (HR 4.2), or total motile count (HR 6.9) had higher risk of testicular cancer compared with fertile men. Men with sperm concentration and count in the 90th percentiles of the distribution (≥178 and ≥579 × 10 6 /mL, respectively), as well as total motile count, had an increased risk of melanoma (HRs 2.1, 2.7, and 2.0, respectively). We found no differences in cancer risk between azoospermic and fertile men. Conclusion(s) Men with SA had an increased risk of testicular cancer which varied by semen quality. Unlike earlier work, we did not find an association between azoospermia and increased cancer risk.
Factors Affecting the Thermal Insulation and Abrasion Resistance of Heat Resistant Hydro-Entangled Nonwoven Batting Materials for Use in Firefighter Turnout Suit Thermal Liner Systems:

This paper describes a study on heat resistant nonwoven batting materials used as components in the construction of thermal liners systems in firefighter turnout suits. It examines relationships between the fiber composition and construction of hydroentangled nonwoven battings and properties that can affect their performance when used in this application. Relationships between batting porosity, weight, thermal insulation, bulk and abrasion resistance are examined in hydroentangled constructions made with oxidized PAN, para-aramid and meta-aramid fibers. Correlations observed between the insulation of batting materials components and the thermal protective performance of integrated multilayered fabric systems used in firefighter turnout suits are described.
The Aesthetic Toll of Nudging

Nudging operates by shaping the so-called architecture of our choices. This can happen in many ways, but often it involves altering how we perceive our choices by providing us with information or cues. For example, cleverly engineered road signs, financial disclosure statements, and nutrition labeling can prompt people to drive more safely, save more money, and eat healthier. These nudges operate by inserting themselves into our perceptual experience. We see — and consequently think about — information that we otherwise wouldn’t. In this paper, I argue that this form of nudging can create significant impact on aesthetics. Appreciating aesthetic value, whether it be beautiful natural scenery or an enticing meal, often depends on experience uninterrupted by other thoughts. And, even in less obviously aesthetic contexts, nudges can clutter or skew our experience. The irony here is that nudging — which purports to eschew coercion — ends up forcing us to think in certain ways and preventing us from experiencing the world as we might otherwise. I conclude that, at the very least, considerations of aesthetics and freedom of thought should figure more in our decisions about when to nudge and when not to nudge.
Proton Solvation and Transport in Realistic Proton Exchange Membrane Morphologies

Understanding the role of morphology of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes in defining their proton transport behavior is crucial for the development of the next generation of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this study, we build large-scale simulation models of three of the most realistic PFSAs morphologies proposed from the results of SAXS experiments and then examine the cation solvation and transport properties of these models. Upon equilibration with molecular dynamics, we find that the bundle morphology immediately flattens into ribbons, in agreement with the locally flat model. The lamellar model, the extreme version of the locally flat model, shows much too fast dynamical properties and too low density. The random model shows acceptable agreement with experiment; however, the bundle model shows the best overall agreement. The addition of sodium as a co-ion to the system makes the water less structured, and while this does not affect water transport it does slows all ionic transport.
Effect of Vitamin E Deficient and Muscular Dystrophy-Producing Diet on Metabolism of Guinea Pigs:

SummaryGuinea pigs reared on a vitamin E deficient diet and exhibiting typical experimental muscular dystrophy show normal metabolic rates as determined by oxygen consumption measurements.
Rethinking Recruitment to High-Risk/Cost Activism: The Case of Nicaragua Exchange

We report the findings of our research on differing levels of movement involvement by focusing on participation in a high-risk/cost campaign mobilized by Nicaragua Exchange, a solidarity organization in the U.S.-Central America peace movement of the 1980s. Our data confirm the importance of relational ties in high-risk activism, yet raise questions about the relevance of biographical availability and the unique functions of organizational ties. We argue that McAdam's model is an important advance in our understanding of the factors that facilitate high-risk/cost activism, yet its micro-structural approach does not sufficiently account for human agency and individual abilities to negotiate and overcome barriers to activism.
Identifying Subcellular Protein Localization with Fluorescent Protein Fusions After Transient Expression in Onion Epidermal Cells

Most biochemical functions of plant cells are carried out by proteins which act at very specific places within these cells, for example, within different organelles. Identifying the subcellular localization of proteins is therefore a useful tool to narrow down the possible functions that a novel or unknown protein may carry out. The discovery of genetically encoded fluorescent markers has made it possible to tag specific proteins and visualize them in vivo under a variety of conditions. This chapter describes a simple method to use transient expression of such fluorescently tagged proteins in onion epidermal cells to determine their subcellular localization relative to known markers.
Finding new information via robust entity detection

Journalists and editors work under pressure to collect relevant details and background information about specific events. They spend a significant amount of time sifting through documents and finding new information such as facts, opinions or stakeholders (i.e. people, places and organizations that have a stake in the news). Spotting them is a tedious and cognitively intense process. One task, essential to this process, is to find and keep track of stakeholders. This task is taxing cognitively and in terms of memory. Tell Me More offers an automatic aid to this task. Tell Me More is a system that, given a seed story, mines the web for similar stories reported by different sources and selects only those stories which offer new information with respect to that original seed story. Much like a journalist, the task of detecting named entities is central to its success. In this paper we briefly describe Tell Me More and, in particular, we focus on Tell Me More’s entity detection component. We describe an approach that combines off-the-shelf named entity recognizers (NERs) with WPED, a publicly available NER that uses Wikipedia as its knowledge base. We show significant increase in precision scores with respect to traditional NERs. Lastly, we present an overall evaluation of Tell Me More using this approach.
DAEDAC—A National Archive Service Assisting Social Scientists in Drug Abuse Research

The Drug Abuse Epidemiology Data Center (DAEDAC) is a NIDA-supported, non-profit research archive established in 1973 as a central depository for the collection, preservation, and dissemination of data relevant to drug abuse epidemiology. DAEDAC has two comprehensive data bases which can be used to support the efforts of researchers in their studies of drug use and abuse, and to assist policymakers in establishing drug policies. The Aggregate File currently contains over 4200 titles representing sets of aggregate and summary data reported in the literature since 1960. Searches of this computerized file conducted to investigators’ specifications produce printouts containing not only bibliographical citations, descriptors and abstracts, but also tabular data from original drug reports. The Original Data File has over 75 computer tapes containing raw data from notable major drug studies which are available for secondary analysis.
Describing the problem-solving strategies of expert image interpreters using graphical knowledge elicitation methods

Developing insights from remote sensing data requires a human-in-the-loop. The earliest examples are of air photo interpretation experts working with minimal tools. Today, experts in image interpretation rely heavily on the use of computer displays to assist them in insight generation. The goal of this current research is to develop a method for systematically describing the problem-solving tasks completed by experts when faced with the challenge of mapping land cover changes from remote sensing imagery. Knowledge elicitation (KE) methods are used to derive the interpretation processes of experts. Two KE methods, self-constructed external representation (SER) and think-aloud protocol (TAP), are used to develop a descriptive model of expert image analysis. A set of cognitive tasks are identified using qualitative coding of the SER, TAP, and reflection interviews. From these codes, a generalized interpretation model is generated to reflect the use of TimeSync, a visual interpretation tool, for land cover ch...
Generalized Similarity Analysis of Partial Differential Equations

Publisher Summary The term similarity transformation of a partial differential equation is defined to be a transformation of independent and dependent variables occurring in the equation such that the number of independent variables appearing in the transformed equation is at least one less than in the original equation. If a partial differential equation has two independent variables, a similarity transformation would transform the equation into an ordinary differential equation. In fact, the major application of similarity transformations has been the reduction of certain classes of nonlinear partial differential equations to ordinarydifferential equations. This chapter describes the methods of similarity analysis, which include free parameter, separation of variables, group theoretic, and dimensional analysis. It discusses the relative merits of these methods and, in particular, advantages and disadvantages. The so-called free parameter analysis is a method of finding similarity solutions of partial differential equations by assuming that the dependent variables occurring in the partial differential equation can be expressed as similarity parameters, the number of which is one less than the total number of independent variables that occur in the original partial differential equation.
Comprehensive In Vivo Analysis of p300 Hematopoietic Tumor Suppressor Functions.

Characterization of chromosomal translocations in leukemias has led to a better understanding of the causes of disease, as well as to new cures. The transcriptional co-activators p300 and CBP are not only targets of translocations, but perturbation of their normal function is central to the transforming effects of most translocation oncogenes in acute myelogenous leukemia. In our prior studies, we demonstrated that genetic inactivation of p300 or CBP function resulted in perturbed hematopoietic differentiation, and the development of hematologic malignancies. However, given the large size and many functional domains of p300/CBP, it has been difficult to determine which specific domains and activities are necessary for them to suppress hematologic tumor formation. We have now developed a novel forward-genetic mouse model that allows us to systematically evaluate p300 structure-function and determine which functional domain mediates hematologic tumor suppression in vivo. By systematically mutating functional domains within p300 and expressing the mutants in embryonic stem (ES) cells, we have been able to generate a series of chimeric mice lines, each expressing a particular mutation in p300. Our current work entails the careful examination of the peripheral blood and bone marrow for each mouse line in order to determine the importance of specific p300 domains for the suppression of hematologic malignancies that arise in the absence of p300. Moreover, this study is helping us gain insight into the mechanisms responsible for the establishment and maintenance of normal, functional stem and progenitor cell populations. This information will be important for elucidating the transcriptional programs that are likely disrupted in leukemias, thus revealing molecular mechanisms that can be used to direct the development of new cures.
Diamond color measurement instrument based on image processing

Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has developed a diamond color measurement instrument that can provide accurate and reproducible color measurement results. The instrument uses uniform illumination by a daylight-approximating light source; observations from a high-resolution color-camera with nearly zero-distortion bi-telecentric lens, and image processing to calculate color parameters of diamonds. Experiments show the instrument can provide reproducible color measurement results and also identify subtle color differences in diamonds with high sensitivity. The experimental setup of the prototype instrument and the image processing method for calculating diamond color parameters are presented in this report.
User knowledge, multimedia dialogue, and the missing axiom theory

The missing axiom theory of dialogue (Smith and Hipp, 1994; Smith et al., 1995) asserts that an interaction takes place in order to achieve a goal, and it employs theorem proving mechanisms to try to prove that the goal has been achieved. If the system proves the goal assertion, no significant dialogue will take place. However, if it fails, then it attempts to isolate key assertions, “missing axioms,” which, if they could be proven, would enable the proof of the target goal. Then the system opens dialogue with other participants, humans or machines, to try to achieve these necessary subgoals. If these subgoals can be achieved, the complete proof of the dialogue goal will be possible and the interaction can terminate successfully.
Parish of the Dead: Memory, History, and Eternity in the Poetry of Peter Scupham

This essay offers an introduction to the poetry of Peter Scupham. Through close readings of individual poems, I demonstrate the beauty and formal accomplishment of his work, and I argue that his poetry embodies his sense of a living Christian tradition, one that also inheres in the English landscape. I further argue that this tradition connects the dead to the living, and the remote in time to more recent English history. The particular Christian ethos of Scupham’s poetry is one in which tradition, order, design, meaning, and essence are paramount.
Mechanistic Insight into Nanoparticle Surface Adsorption by Solution NMR Spectroscopy in an Aqueous Gel

Engineering nanoparticle (NP) functions at molecular level requires a detailed understanding of the dynamic processes occurring at the NP surface. Here we show that the combined analysis of Dark state Exchange Saturation Transfer (DEST) and Relaxation Dispersion (RD) NMR experiments acquired on gel-stabilized samples of NP allows for accurate determination of the kinetics and thermodynamics of adsorption. We used the former approach to describe the interaction of cholic acid (CA) and phenol (PhOH) with ~200 nm ceria NP. We show that, while CA forms weak interactions with the NP, PhOH is tightly bound to the NP surface. Interestingly, we found that adsorption of PhOH proceeds through an intermediate, weakly bound state in which the small molecule has residual degrees of rotational diffusion. We believe the use of aqueous gels for stabilizing NP samples will increase the applicability of solution NMR methods to characterization of nanomaterials.
Intracardiac light catheter for rapid scanning transmural absorbance spectroscopy of perfused myocardium: measurement of myoglobin oxygenation and mitochondria redox state.

Here, a novel nondestructive real-time approach for monitoring intrinsic indicators of cardiac metabolism and oxygenation is described using a catheter-based transillumination of the left ventricul...
Predicting five-year overall survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer by reliefF algorithm and random forests

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is a leading death disease in many countries. Many studies are focusing on exact surgical approaches to treat the disease. The five-year overall survival rate for NSCLC patients is typically predicted by traditional regression models with small samples and data size. In this paper, we introduce machine learning tools with feature selection algorithms and random forests classifier to predict the five-year overall survival rate based on a large database. The results of this experiment show that our proposed framework is better than other machine learning approaches to predict the five-year overall survival rate.
Anthropocenes: A Fractured Picture

The book’s introductory chapter, “Anthropocenes: A Fractured Picture” offers a brief history of the “Anthropocene” both as an historical concept and as an empirically measurable phenomenon. It suggests that scholars should reject any easy notions about what defines the Anthropocene. Instead, they should embrace its complexities and inconsistencies. Doing so as part of a larger effort to pursue transdisciplinary research and policy will help us create more robust solutions to the problems facing humanity in the 21st century.
A polynomial particle-in-cell method

Recently the Affine Particle-In-Cell (APIC) Method was proposed by Jiang et al.[2015; 2017b] to improve the accuracy of the transfers in Particle-In-Cell (PIC) [Harlow 1964] techniques by augmenting each particle with a locally affine, rather than locally constant description of the velocity. This reduced the dissipation of the original PIC without suffering from the noise present in the historic alternative, Fluid-Implicit-Particle (FLIP) [Brackbill and Ruppel 1986]. We present a generalization of APIC by augmenting each particle with a more general local function. By viewing the grid-to-particle transfer as a linear and angular momentum conserving projection of the particle-wise local grid velocities onto a reduced basis, we greatly improve the energy and vorticity conservation over the original APIC. Furthermore, we show that the cost of the generalized projection is negligible over APIC when using a particular class of local polynomial functions. Lastly, we note that our method retains the filtering property of APIC and PIC and thus has similar robustness to noise.