cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Habitat Suitability Under Changing Climatic Conditions for the Exotic Ambrosia Beetle, Cnestus mutilatus (Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Xyleborini) in the Southeastern United States

The camphor shot borer, Cnestus mutilatus (Blandford) is a nonnative ambrosia beetle first reported in the United States in 1999 at Oktibbeha County in Mississippi. Although, C. mutilatus is a major pest of several trees in its native habitat in Asia, it is not yet a major pest in the United States. However, the range expansion in recent years across the southeastern region indicates that C. mutilatus could be adapting quickly to the new environment, perhaps because of the availability of numerous host trees and suitable environmental conditions that support the population. As the population increases, future outbreaks of C. mutilatus may result in mortality of valuable hosts. Our objective was to identify potential suitable habitats for C. mutilatus in the southeastern United States under changing climate by 2020 and 2060 by examining C. mutilatus preferred conditions, host environmental requirements, precipitation, and temperature projections from an ensemble of general circulation model, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change future climate scenarios. Our results indicated that suitable habitat for C. mutilatus in the southeastern United States will expand slightly under the A1B emission scenarios (i.e., moderate population growth and high-energy use balanced across all sources), and significantly under B1 emission scenarios (i.e., representing moderate population growth and an emphasis on global approaches to economic and environmental stability) by 2060. Whereas the opposite may occur under the A2 scenario (i.e., representing continuously increasing population, regionally focused economic growth, and slower introduction of alternative fuels technology). Nearly half of the parishes in Louisiana and counties in Mississippi will be suitable for C. mutilatus by 2020, under the A2 emission scenarios. However, suitable habitat range could decrease and become fragmented by 2060. These results could be useful in forest management efforts in places where C. mutilatus may become established in the future.
Effect of Bracteoles on Seed Germination and Dispersal of Two Species of Atriplex.

Abstract The influence of bracteoles on the germination response of a salt marsh annual, Atriplex prostrata , and a salt desert perennial, A. griffithii , was determined. Attached bracteoles did not inhibit germination of A. prostrata but completely inhibited germination of A. griffithii seeds. Germination of seeds of A. griffithii was also somewhat inhibited in the presence of detached bracteoles. The osmotic potential of dissolved substances in water-saturated bracteoles was −4.8 ± 0.05 MPa for A. griffithii and −2.4 ± 0.15 MPa for A. prostrata . Ash content of bracteoles on a dry weight basis was 28.7 ± 0.37% for A. prostrata and 30.0 ± 0.29% for A. griffithii . The presence of relatively high concentrations of dissolved salts in bracteoles may explain the reduced germination of A. griffithii . Germination of seeds of the perennial A. griffithii may also be inhibited mechanically by the presence of persistent bracteoles, whereas the annual A. prostrata has ephemeral bracteoles that may serve to limit germination in the autumn but are not present during the normal spring germination period. Bracteoles could affect the dispersal of seeds by water since some fruiting structures of A. griffithii and A. prostrata are able to float in 1.0% NaCl solutions for 5 and >30 d, respectively, compared with a maximum of 4 and 3 d for seeds without bracteoles. Fruiting structures of A. prostrata floated for longer over a range of salinities than did those of A. griffithii ; this may play a significant role in the dispersal of this salt marsh species.
Purification and Characterization of Bacteriophage P22 Xis Protein

The temperate bacteriophages λ and P22 share similarities in their site-specific recombination reactions. Both require phage-encoded integrase (Int) proteins for integrative recombination and excisionase (Xis) proteins for excision. These proteins bind to core-type, arm-type, and Xis binding sites to facilitate the reaction. λ and P22 Xis proteins are both small proteins (λ Xis, 72 amino acids; P22 Xis, 116 amino acids) and have basic isoelectric points (for P22 Xis, 9.42; for λ Xis, 11.16). However, the P22 Xis and λ Xis primary sequences lack significant similarity at the amino acid level, and the linear organizations of the P22 phage attachment site DNA-binding sites have differences that could be important in quaternary intasome structure. We purified P22 Xis and studied the protein in vitro by means of electrophoretic mobility shift assays and footprinting, cross-linking, gel filtration stoichiometry, and DNA bending assays. We identified one protected site that is bent approximately 137 degrees when bound by P22 Xis. The protein binds cooperatively and at high protein concentrations protects secondary sites that may be important for function. Finally, we aligned the attP arms containing the major Xis binding sites from bacteriophages λ, P22, L5, HP1, and P2 and the conjugative transposon Tn916. The similarity in alignments among the sites suggests that Xis-containing bacteriophage arms may form similar structures.
Hairstylists’ Relationships and Helping Behaviors With Older Adult Clients:

The “kind ear” provided by hairstylists (stylists) can be an important source of informal social support for their clients, yet little empirical research exists that examines this resource. In this...
Combustion Emissions Modeling and Testing of Neat Biodiesel Fuels

This paper presents emissions modeling and testing of a four-stroke single cylinder diesel engine using pure soybean, cottonseed, and algae biodiesel fuels. A system level engine simulation tool developed by Gamma Technologies, GTPower, has been used to perform predictive engine combustion simulations using direct-injection jet modeling technique. Various physical and thermodynamic properties of the biodiesel fuels in both liquid and vapor states are required by the GT-Power combustion simulations. However, many of these fuel properties either do not exist or are not available in published literatures. The properties of the individual fatty esters, that comprise a biofuel, determine the overall fuel properties of the biofuel. In this study, fatty acid profiles of the soybean, cottonseed, and algae methylester biodiesel fuels have been identified and used for fuel property calculations. The predicted thermo-physical properties of biodiesels were then provided as fuel property inputs in the biodiesel combustion simulations. Using the calculated biodiesel fuel properties and an assumed fuel injector sac pressure profile, engine emissions of the conventional diesel and biodiesel fuels have been predicted from combustion simulations to investigate emission impacts of the biodiesel fuels. Soybean biodiesel engine emissions, which include NOx, HC, CO and CO 2 , measured at various engine speeds and loads in actual combustion emissions tests performed in this study were also compared to those predicted by the combustion simulations.
Evaluation of Sentinel Lymph Nodes for Melanoma Metastases by Pathologists

The pathologic evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes for melanoma metastases is not without significant challenges. It is affected by significant variation in approaches, which may compromise the final interpretation, leading to nonrepresentative spurious results. This article discusses various approaches along with recommended dos and don'ts for optimum evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes for melanoma metastases.
3.5–0.5V input, 1.0V output multi-mode power transformer for a supercapacitor power source with a peak efficiency of 70.4%

A multi-mode 3.5–0.5V input, 1.0V output power transformer based on switched-capacitor DC-DC converters is designed to extract 98% of the energy from a 80mF supercapac-itor, to power a periodically active RFID tag. Six converter modes (3 step-up and 3 step-down) are automatically selected depending on the input voltage. The system usage time is maximized by charging the supercapacitor to 3.5V while device breakdown is avoided via novel circuit techniques. The circuit fabricated in TSMC's 65nm GP process occupies an area of 0.48mm2, supports a 3.3μA load current and operates at 2.0MHz. The gradually decreasing 3.5V to 0.5V supercapacitor voltage is transformed to a steady 1V output with a peak efficiency of 70.4%.
Postmenopausal Female Hormone Use and Estrogen Receptor–Positive and –Negative Breast Cancer in African American Women

BACKGROUND Use of estrogen with progestin (combination therapy) is associated with increased incidence of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer in observational studies and randomized trials among postmenopausal white women. Whether this is also the case among African American women is not established. METHODS Using data from the AMBER consortium collected from 1993 to 2013, we assessed use of estrogen alone and of combination therapy in relation to ER+ and ER-negative (ER-) breast cancer risk in postmenopausal African American women, based on 1132 ER+ case patients, 512 ER- case patients, and 6693 control patients. Odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using multinomial logistic regression with control for breast cancer risk factors. RESULTS Forty-seven percent of control patients had used estrogen alone, combination therapy, or both. The odds ratio for ER+ breast cancer associated with combination use, relative to never use of either estrogen alone or combination therapy, was 1.50 (95% CI = 1.25 to 1.79). The increase was greater for recent (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.21 to 1.99) and long-term use (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.73) and among nonobese women (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.29 to 2.83). Breast cancer risk was increased regardless of the interval between onset of menopause and initiation of combination use (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.11 to 1.85, for <5 year interval; OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.34 to 2.37, for ≥5 year interval). Combination use was not associated with risk of ER- breast cancer, and use of estrogen alone was not associated with risk of either ER+ or ER- breast cancer. CONCLUSION Use of estrogen with progestin increases risk of ER+ breast cancer in African American women. A decrease in use would be expected to reduce the number of ER+ cancers.
Juvenile Offending and Crime in Early Adulthood: A Large Sample Analysis

Using large sample archival data from the state of South Carolina’s juvenile justice agency and other state agencies, we examined the background, early experiential and delinquency-related variables predicting young adult (ages 17–30 years) offending among juvenile offenders. We also examined characteristics of juvenile offenders who committed only a single misdemeanor offense, compared to non-juvenile offenders. Finally, we examined the variables that accounted for group differences in persistence of juvenile offending. Early adverse experiences including family-related adversities, mental health problems, identification as having school-related disabilities and juvenile recidivism accounted for more than 20 % of the variance in adult offending. Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed several time-dependent covariates including gender, age at first offense and repeat versus one time offending. Contrary to the view that the one time, misdemeanor level juvenile offending represents only minor departure from normative adolescent behavior, we found that this group of offenders differed significantly from non-delinquents on every category of risk for adult offending and also were more likely than non-delinquents to commit felonies as adults. Finally, in comparing adolescence-limited offenders with life-course persistent offenders, we accounted for more than 50 % of the variance in criminal outcomes on the basis of measures of background, early adversity, psychological characteristics and age of first juvenile arrest or referral.
Technical and economical evaluation of reactive power service from aggregated EVs

Abstract In this paper we present a novel framework to evaluate the capability and cost of providing reactive power service by electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are becoming a promising reactive power service provider because of their short response time and little or no battery degradation during this service. The presented framework is flexible enough to be easily integrated in different market structures proposed in the literature. A linear program is developed to minimize the operating cost of an EV under a range of practical constraints. These constraints include owner's desired state of charge, battery degradation, and limitation in the current ripple from the DC-link capacitor of the EV charger. The developed framework yields optimal charging/discharging schedules for EVs. We also present an algorithm to calculate the reactive power supply function (RPSF) of the EV, as a step-wise ascending function of reactive power, in real-time. The RPSF is calculated based on the price of electricity provided by the grid operator, scheduled charging/discharging activities, and constraints on the EV charger. Simulation results clearly show an opportunity to provide reactive power service by EVs with low marginal cost, especially during on-peak periods when the need of reactive power is high.
Semiconducting Polymers for Multidisciplinary Education

Cal Poly is in the process of revolutionizing how science and engineering students learn about semiconducting materials. Semiconducting polymers currently attract widespread attention as the subjects of numerous research and development projects. Semiconducting polymers are also excellent materials with which to teach structure-property relationships, polymer synthesis, polymer film preparation, optical and electronic properties, semiconductor device fabrication principles, and device testing. One key benefit of these materials is that they encourage student participation in educational activities that bridge several disciplines. Semiconducting polymers improve student learning by making normally obscure semiconductor concepts more tangible for students in several disciplines: chemistry students create electronics applications for the compounds they synthesize, materials engineering students learn about opto-electronics techniques, and electrical engineering students gain hands-on experience with core concepts in semiconductor devices. This presentation describes the interdisciplinary projects that students and faculty have participated in thus far, particularly during the phase of lab design and construction.
Two different toxic fractions extracted from Vibrio cholerae.

The toxic properties of Vibrio cholerae, the classic example of an endotoxin-producing organism, have been studied intensively. The literature on this subject has been reviewed several times, most recently by Bernard and Gallut (1945), Burrows (1951) and Pollitzer and Burrows (1955), but little general agreement has been reached concerning the production and chemical nature of this toxicity. It may be regarded as established that Vibrio cholerae produces a true, cell bound endotoxin as described by Pfeiffer (1896), even though the cells autolyze readily and thus liberate the toxic substance (Burrows, 1951). Most workers agreed that the endotoxin is of glucolipid nature (Boivin and Mesrobeanu, 1935, Burrows, 1945, Bernard and Gallut, 1945). But Gallut and Grabar (1945) found another proteinlike toxic substance in preparations several days old. While a number of workers found that the toxic glucolipid complex does not diffuse through membranes of low porosity (Hahn and Hirsch, 1929; Bernard and Gallut, 1945), others found toxic substances of apparently smaller molecular size (Metchnikoff, Roux and Salimbeni, 1896; Burrows, 1945; Gallut and Grabar, 1945). These discrepancies have been explained on the basis of degradation of the same substance due to
Inhibition of rat cholinesterase by tritolyl phosphates.

Summary1) In contrast to previous reports, TOTP was found to be an active inhibitor of true cholinesterase in erythrocytes and brain of rats. Cholinergic signs were noted when activity in either tissue fell to less than 20% of normal. Maximum inhibition occurred 24 hours after single injection and exceeded inhibition of the plasma enzyme. Repeated sublethal doses also produced greater inhibition of true than of pseudocholinesterase. 2) On the other hand, the plasma enzyme was inhibited 24 hours after a single dose of TMTP while the cholinesterase of erythrocytes and brain was not significantly affected. TPTP failed to inhibit the enzyme of any of the 3 tissues. 3) No signs of paralysis were elicited, and no histologic lesions were discovered in the peripheral or central nervous system.
Resistivity of Ba(Fe 1 − x Co x ) 2 As 2 : Evidence for a broad composition range of non-Fermi-liquid behavior

The resistivity vs temperature of annealed and unannealed single crystals of Ba(Fe${}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}$Co${}_{x}$)${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$ over a broad range of nominal compositions between $x$ $=$ 0.05 and 0.30, with special focus on compositions around that (${x}_{\mathrm{opt}}$) of the optimal superconducting transition temperature, is reported. Above any transition temperature, either superconducting (${T}_{c}$) or structural (${T}_{S}$) for $x$ ${x}_{\mathrm{opt}}$, the low temperature resistivity, \ensuremath{\rho}, behaves approximately linearly with temperature from $x$ $=$ 0.05 up to at least $x$ $=$ 0.095, with $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\propto}{T}^{2}$ starting for $x$ $=$ 0.14. The apparent constancy of the temperature dependence over a broad composition range argues strongly for the presence of a quantum critical point (QCP) underneath the superconducting dome. However, the temperature dependences measured down to ${T}_{c}$ leave the exact location of the QCP open. Interestingly, although the superconducting transition temperature rises by \ensuremath{\approx}1.5 K with annealing, the temperature dependence of \ensuremath{\rho} appears unaffected by annealing, i.e., the QCP appears insensitive to small amounts of lattice disorder.
A Multiple Regression Approach to Predict Swelling in Mudrocks

Forty-two mudrock samples from across the United States were studied to determine their clay content, clay mineralogy, microtexture, percent absorption, percent adsorption, Atterberg limits, specific gravity of solids, density, compressive strength, slake durability, 3-dimensional volumetric increase, swelling pressure, and pore size distribution. These properties were selected because other researchers have found them to be useful indicators of the engineering behavior of mudrocks. The volumetric increase for 36 of the 42 samples was correlated with the corresponding values of all other properties, using bivariate and multiple regression analyses. The purpose was to identify those engineering properties which could be used to predict volumetric increase for a large variety of mudrocks. The data for the remaining six samples were used to validate the prediction equations developed on the basis of regression analysis. The results indicate that swelling is not restricted to mudrocks containing expansive clay minerals. The texture of mudrocks also plays an important, and sometimes dominant, role in influencing their swelling potential. The results also show that a single property cannot account for the total amount of swelling in all types of mudrocks, and that different combinations of engineering properties are needed to predict the volumetric increase for different groups (shales, claystones, mudstones, siltstones, etc.) of mudrocks. The selection of properties for a given mudrock group depends upon the strength of correlation, as indicated by R2, and the residuals between measured and predicted values of volumetric increase.
Gastric Ulceration: Surgical Considerations

Divergent views exist concerning the treatment of chronic gastric ulcer. The author believes operation is the treatment of choice in most cases, as it generally produces prompt relief and eliminates the possibility of undetected carcinoma.Steps in surgical treatment include determination of the necessity of preoperative preparation; general abdominal exploration, including examination of the liver, pancreas, spleen and other organs; and accurate differential diagnosis of the gastric lesion. The type of operative procedure used depends on whether the lesion is benign or malignant.
Signaling Pathways Downstream of TLRs and IL-1 Family Receptors

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and IL-1 family receptors share similar cytoplasmic domains, referred to as TIR domains. This structural similarity underlies considerable commonality in the intracellular signaling reactions activated by ligand binding to these receptors. Most of these receptors signal through a cytoplasmic protein called MyD88, which has a TIR domain and a death domain. The former interacts either directly with receptors or indirectly with them through another TIR-domain-containing adaptor molecule called TIRAP. Receptor-induced clustering of two MyD88 molecules leads to the assembly of a death domain–mediated helical complex of MyD88 with death domain–containing protein kinases of the IRAK family, a complex called the Myddosome. The Myddosome is a signaling platform that leads via phosphorylations and TRAF6-dependent polyubiquitin chain–dependent protein–protein interactions to activation of NF-κB, IRF5, and MAP kinases, ultimately inducing cytokine gene transcription. While this signaling mechanism is responsible for most of the results of TLR and IL-1R signaling, TLR3 and TLR4 couple to another TIR-domain-containing signaling molecule, TRIF, which is dedicated to inducing production of type 1 interferons. Recent work has illuminated many important negative regulators of these signaling pathways, which may be important for preventing inflammatory disease.
Calcium transport and inner mitochondrial membrane damage in renal cortical mitochondria

Ca2+ uptake and efflux processes, as they are manifested during procedures used for isolation of renal cortical mitochondria, were characterized in order to provide a better basis for making inferences from isolated mitochondria about the in vivo state of mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis in both normal and injured tissues and to better define the mechanisms by which Ca2+ mediates injury to renal cortical mitochondria. Mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake predictably occurred when the capacity of the Ca2+ chelator added to the isolating medium to maintain free Ca2+ in the submicromolar range was exhausted unless ruthenium red was present to specifically inhibit the Ca2+ uniport. Ca2+ uptake during isolation ultimately led to loss of accumulated Ca2+ and intramitochondrial K+ as well as to deterioration of respiratory function. Extramitochondrial Ca2+ also evoked the latter two events in the absence of Ca2+ uptake but only at much higher medium Ca2+ levels than were required when Ca2+ uptake was allowed to occur. Studies using mitochondria loaded with known amounts of Ca2+ at 4 degrees C and then subjected to a reisolation procedure including all the steps of normal isolation demonstrated that phosphate markedly potentiated Ca2+-induced alterations of mitochondrial membrane permeability properties. Of several agents studied singly, fatty acid-free albumin was most effective in blocking Ca2+ + phosphate-induced alterations of mitochondrial membrane permeability. The protective effect of fatty acid-free albumin was further enhanced by combining it with Mg2+, dibucaine, or oligomycin + ADP. This study thus quantitatively defined conditions under which Ca2+ uptake can be expected to occur during mitochondrial isolation, demonstrated that the effects of this Ca2+ uptake on mitochondrial properties are similar to those previously elucidated in mitochondria studied at warmer temperatures, and defined methods suitable for blocking such Ca2+ movements and their deleterious effects.
A Quantitative Spatial Analysis of the Blood–Spinal Cord Barrier: I. Permeability Changes after Experimental Spinal Contusion Injury

Blood-spinal cord barrier (BSB) permeability was measured using quantitative autoradiography following contusion injury to the rat spinal cord. Permeability was assessed by calculating blood-to-tissue transfer constants (Ki values) for the vascular tracer [14C]-alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) in injured (3, 7, 14, and 28 days postinjury), laminectomy control, and uninjured control animals. Permeability was quantitated using four separate imaging techniques in gray and white matter throughout the rostro-caudal extents of the forming lesion. Away from the epicenter, gray matter permeability was further differentiated within discrete spinal lamina using computerized templates. Regardless of the type of analysis used, increased AIB permeability (Ki values) was noted at all survival times in all tissue regions with respect to both uninjured and laminectomy control groups. The data indicate a large increase in individual Ki values throughout the dorsoventral axis of the spinal cord at 3 days postinjury (approximately 6-9 ml/kg/min). By 7 days, Ki values were quantitatively smaller (approximately 4-5 ml/kg/min) in all regions compared with 3-day tissues. Despite further attenuation of AIB uptake in the gray matter at 14 and 28 days postinjury, circumferential white matter tracts showed a secondary increase in permeability compared to 7-day tissue. Permeability in the white matter at 14-28 days postinjury (approximately 5-6 ml/kg/min) was comparable to that at 3 days postinjury (6-7 ml/kg/min). Measurements of the axial distribution of AIB permeability indicate increased BSB permeability over several segments rostral and caudal to the lesion epicenter (approximately 3 cm in both directions). Secondary elevations of AIB transfer in the spinal white matter between 14 and 28 days were colocalized with zones of immunohistochemically defined microglial clusters. The known plasticity of this cell type in response to changes in the extracellular microenvironment suggests that the spinal white matter at later survival times (14-28 days postinjury) is an area of dynamic vascular and/or axonal reconstruction. The implications of increased permeability to both tissue injury and neural regeneration are discussed.
Institutionalizing Ethical Reasoning: Integrating the ASA’s Ethical Guidelines for Professional Practice into Course, Program, and Curriculum

An emphasis on the application of data mining and other “big data” techniques has raised concerns about ethical use, analysis, and interpretation of large amounts of data obtained from a variety of sources. In 2014, the Committee on Professional Ethics of the American Statistical Association (ASA) initiated a revision of their Ethical Guidelines for Professional Practice, which was completed in 2015. Although interest in these new Guidelines is keen across the ASA membership and leadership, as of the 2013–2014 academic year, only 35 % of universities in the United States required any ethics content for “at least some” of their students in statistics and biostatistics programs. There are two main barriers to increasing this to 100 % of universities and 100 % of students. First is time and effort: either a new (additional) course is needed or time within existing courses must be carved out to accommodate new material. Similarly, teaching and learning about ethics, or professional practice, is qualitatively different— particularly in terms of assessment—than it is around statistics and biostatistics/data analysis. A second barrier is content: it can sometimes seem that “ethics training” is only required for those who violate norms for ethical practice (or the law—by falsifying data, plagiarising, or committing fraud in scientific research). Moreover, most faculty, if they have received training in ethics or in the “responsible conduct of research”, have experienced a major focus on memorization of rules or guidelines and possibly an emphasis on the protection of human subjects and their privacy. However, “statistical practice” involves a great deal more than just the consideration of the human (or animal) subjects in a research study—as does responsible conduct in research. The Guideline principles interact, and sometimes must be prioritized due to their potentially conflicting applicability in any given situation. Therefore, memorization of the Guidelines—or their simple distribution to students or faculty—is unlikely to promote the awareness of their use and importance that is desired by the ASA and the Committee on Professional Ethics that has maintained and revised them. This article outlines elements of the 2015 revision of the ASA Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice that are suitable—and important—components of training all undergraduates and graduates whether or not they are statistics majors. It also contains recommendations reflecting current research on how best to promote adult learning—using a constructivist approach consistent with principles of andragogy, and supporting the promotion of the development of expertise, or at least its initiation. Methods for assessment of student work across level (undergrad/grad/post doc/faculty) and context (within major/non-stats majors) are also discussed.
Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program: Safety-Net Hospitals Show Improvement, Modifications To Penalty Formula Still Needed

Many observers are calling for modification of Medicare’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) to relieve an unfair burden on safety-net hospitals, which serve low-income populations and ...
Serum Sodium and Febrile Convulsions

Serum sodium determinations were studied prospectively in 69 children with febrile convulsions followed in the Department of Paediatrics, Zuiderziekenhuis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Elusive justice: tribal police officers’ perception of justice in an American Indian community

AbstractThis paper explores justice-related perceptions among tribal police officers providing service within a southeastern Indian Reservation in the United States. Interviews with 27 tribal police officers were conducted to understand the manner of the administration of tribal justice. Almost half of the participants interviewed felt that their tribal justice system was dysfunctional due to inter-tribal politics, federal government restrictions, and lenient tribal judges. Additionally, tribal police officers also described the failure of the federal government in prosecuting felony crimes on the reservation. As a result, they believed that both the tribal and federal criminal justice systems did not adequately address crime on the reservation.
Water vapor electron scattering cross-section measurements using a hydrophobic ionic liquid

Abstract The interface of ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-imide, [EMIM][Tf 2 N], was examined in the presence of water vapor using lab-based ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) with a monochromatic Al Kα X-ray source. Room temperature water vapor exposures to [EMIM][Tf 2 N] ranged from 10 −6 to 2.0 Torr with no evidence of water uptake at the IL-vapor interface. The hydrophobic nature of [EMIM][Tf 2 N] allowed for measuring the attenuation of F 1s, O 1s, N 1s, C 1 s and S 2p APXPS peaks as a function of pressure, allowing for the determination of the electron scattering cross-section (σ e ) of gas phase water. The elemental diversity of [EMIM][Tf 2 N] allowed for the extraction of σ e over a 520 eV kinetic energy range in the absence of a variable energy X-ray source. Herein we show that lab-based APXPS in combination with an elementally diverse, unreactive substrate is an effective tool for the determination of electron scattering cross sections for gas phase species.
Abstract 1787: miR-150 as a predictor of hematopoietic reconstitution after myeloablation

The identification of biomarkers that allow evaluation of myeloablation and hematopoietic reconstitution time frame is important for tailoring the radiation or chemo therapy in cancer patients. The fate of hematopoietic cells is regulated at multiple stages by various genes and regulatory microRNAs. In this context, miR-150 has been demonstrated as a major regulator of lymphoid lineage differentiation and development. Our mouse model studies shows a novel role of miR-150 in imparting radiation resistance. We observed a prolonged survival benefit in mice where both the copies of miR-150 genes are deleted in comparison to that of wildtype mice in the same C57BL/6 background (p Citation Format: Marshleen Yadav, Arnab Chakravarti, Naduparambil K. Jacob. miR-150 as a predictor of hematopoietic reconstitution after myeloablation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1787. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1787
Object comparison in the lateral intraparietal area

Studies in object recognition have focused on the ventral stream, in which neurons respond as a function of how similar a stimulus is to their preferred stimulus, and on prefrontal cortex, where ne...
Cloning and pharmacological characterization of a rat μ opioid receptor

Abstract We have isolated a rat cDNA clone that displays 75% amino acid homology with the mouse δ and rat κ opioid receptors. The cDNA (designated pRMuR-12) encodes a protein of 398 amino acids comprising, in part, seven hydrophobic domains similar to those described for other G protein-linked receptors. Data from binding assays conducted with COS-1 cells transiently transfected with a CMV mammalian expression vector containing the full coding region of pRMuR-12 demonstrated μ receptor selectivity. In situ hybridization mRNA analysis revealed an mRNA distribution in rat brain that corresponds well to the distribution of binding sites labeled with μ-selective ligands. Based upon these observations, we conclude that pRMuR-12 encodes a μ opioid receptor.
The ‘mobile proletariat’: the production of proletariat labor on a Soviet construction site

AbstractThis article discusses the Soviet conceptualization of labor and its importance for state building and modernization in the USSR. The article helps to explicate the ways in which labor migration was an integral part of the socialist development project in regions such as Tajikistan. Through the case study of the Nurek Dam, it considers the processes by which the Soviet proletariat was produced through work, mobility, and socialization. It ultimately presents an argument about the mutual constitution of the Soviet state and Soviet citizens, whose labor embodied the state’s idealized ‘mobile proletariat.’ Finally, it also outlines what the development of the ‘mobile proletariat’ and other ideals of labor came to mean for groups of peripheral subjects in the USSR – as well as what such boundaries may say about the limits of the Soviet modernization project in practice.
RosettaLigandEnsemble: A Small-Molecule Ensemble-Driven Docking Approach

RosettaLigand is a protein-small-molecule (ligand) docking software capable of predicting binding poses and is used for virtual screening of medium-sized ligand libraries. Structurally similar small molecules are generally found to bind in the same pose to one binding pocket, despite some prominent exceptions. To make use of this information, we have developed RosettaLigandEnsemble (RLE). RLE docks a superimposed ensemble of congeneric ligands simultaneously. The program determines a well-scoring overall pose for this superimposed ensemble before independently optimizing individual protein-small-molecule interfaces. In a cross-docking benchmark of 89 protein-small-molecule co-crystal structures across 20 biological systems, we found that RLE improved sampling efficiency in 62 cases, with an average change of 18%. In addition, RLE generated more consistent docking results within a congeneric series and was capable of rescuing the unsuccessful docking of individual ligands, identifying a nativelike top-scoring model in 10 additional cases. The improvement in RLE is driven by a balance between having a sizable common chemical scaffold and meaningful modifications to distal groups. The new ensemble docking algorithm will work well in conjunction with medicinal chemistry structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies to more accurately recapitulate protein-ligand interfaces. We also tested whether optimizing the rank correlation of RLE-binding scores to SAR data in the refinement step helps the high-resolution positioning of the ligand. However, no significant improvement was observed.
Quality and Outcome Measures

Our greatest opportunity to enhance value in US healthcare is improving quality of care for older adults with serious illness. Patients with serious illness and their families value care which promotes function, comfort, and shared decision-making. Interdisciplinary palliative care and hospice teams are the experts, but quality standards need to extend to other providers and settings. Researchers, clinicians, and policy-makers are working to design quality measures matched to serious illness. Strategies for meaningful use in the future include identifying patients with serious illness in all settings, measuring what matters to patients, and making measures responsive to preferences.
Pulmonary hypertension: a woman's disease.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by an increase in mean pulmonary artery pressure due to pulmonary vascular remodeling, resulting in right ventricular failure.1 Pulmonary arterial hypertension is defined hemodynamically by the presence of a mean pulmonary artery pressure of ≥25 mmHg with a pulmonary capillary wedge pressure or left ventricular end-diastolic pressure of ≤15 mmHg. The pathophysiology of PAH is complex and originates from an imbalance between mediators of vasodilation (such as prostacyclin or nitric oxide) and vasoconstriction (such as endothelin-1) in favor of vasoconstrictive forces and the promotion of vascular remodeling in small pulmonary arteries.2,3 Before the availability of specific therapies, PAH was considered to be a rapidly fatal illness with a median survival time of 2.8 years.1 Despite recent advances in the treatment of PAH, the prognosis remains poor. It has been recognized since the early 1980s that PAH predominantly affects women of childbearing age. During the 1980s, a National Institutes of Health registry was instrumental in defining PAH as a predominantly (64%) female disease, and the mean age was 36 years among the enrolled patients. Data from the recent Registry to Evaluate Early And Long-term PAH Disease Management (REVEAL) suggest that almost 80% of enrolled patients were female, with a mean age of 47 years.4 The female predominance has actually increased over time, and this could be because men have a higher mortality rate from PAH, and it is possible that men do not survive to be enrolled in these registries. In fact, the risk calculator created from the REVEAL registry data suggests that being male carries a worse prognosis. French registry data indicate that 65% of the enrolled PAH subjects were female, and the Scottish registry showed that 66% of those enrolled were female. It can be argued that the enrollment criteria were not uniform across these registries; nevertheless, it seems that PAH predominantly affects women, the worse prognosis among men notwithstanding.
TWO DISTINCT HUMAN T-CELL SUBPOPULATIONS: SUPPRESSOR ACTIVITY ON PWM-INDUCED B-CELL DIFFERENTIATION IS RESTRICTED TO T CELLS BEARING Fc-IgG RECEPTORS

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights two distinct human T-cell subpopulations that is suppressor activity on PWM-induced B-cell differentiation is restricted to T cells bearing Fc-IgG receptors. Up to 75% of human T lymphocytes from peripheral blood express receptors for IgM. T cells bearing receptors for IgG or IgM have been shown to belong to distinct cell populations with different responsiveness to PHA. In an earlier study described in the chapter, the T-cell dependency of pokeweed mitogen (PWM) induced B-cell proliferation and differentiation resides in the Tμ fraction, while Tγ cells can proliferate but do not help B-cell differentiation. Evidence has accumulated in a number of experimental systems for a regulatory role of suppressor T cells in antibody responses.
Purification and Characterization of a Phthalate Ester Hydrolyzing Enzyme from Artemia

Previous studies have established the embryotoxicity of various dialkyl phthalate esters on developing Artemia, most notably di-n-butylphthalate (DBP). Hudson and coworkers [1] have reported the partial purification of an enzyme (DBPase) responsible for the hydrolysis of DBP and suggested that the observed embryotoxicity might be the result of DBP preventing DBPase from performing its normal biological function. We now report on the purification of this enzyme to near homogeneity and its partial biochemical characterization. The assay for DBPase involves incubation of appropriate samples with radiolabeled 14C-carbonyl-DBP and quantifying the amount of monobutyl ester found during a 2 hr incubation period. Free swimming nauplii were collected and homogenized in 50 mM Tris, 0.2 mM EDTA, 0.1 mM DTT, pH 7.5 (TED). Cytosol was made 50% (w/v) in ammonium sulfate and stored at −20°C to precipitate the enzyme. The pellet was dissolved in TED, desalted, and fractionated on Bio-Gel P-100, Mr=51,000. Peak fractions were pooled, applied to Bio-Gel DEAE, and eluted with a linear salt gradient (0.0–1.2 M KCl) in TED. Subsequently the eluted DBPase activity was fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a TSK-GW 3000 gel permeation column. Electrophoretic analysis on a 12% sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel of the preparation revealed two polypeptides, Mr=51,000 and 98,000, respectively. The enzyme has a neutral pH optimum. In addition, the enzyme is unaffected by soybean trypsin inhibitor but its activity is almost completely inhibited by phenylmethyl sulfonylfluoride. Furthermore, when either EDTA or dithiothreitol are excluded from the purification protocol, DBPase activity is significantly diminished.
Grading Aortic Valve Stenosis With Dimensionless Index During Pre-cardiopulmonary Bypass Transesophageal Echocardiography: A Comparison With Transthoracic Echocardiography.

Objective The authors hypothesized that grading valvular aortic stenosis (AS) with dimensionless index (DI) during intraoperative pre-cardiopulmonary bypass (pre-CPB) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) would match the grade of AS during preoperative transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for the same patients more often than when using peak velocity (Vp), mean pressure gradient (PGm), or aortic valve area (AVA). Design Retrospective, observational. Setting Single university hospital. Participants The participants in this study included 123 cardiac surgical patients with any degree of AS, who underwent open cardiac surgery between 2010 and 2016 at the Medical University of South Carolina and had Vp, PGm, AVA, and DI values available from reporting databases or archived imaging. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results When using DI, pre-CPB TEE grading of AS severity was 1 grade higher 21.1% of the time and 1 grade lower 13.0% of the time compared with TTE, for an overall disagreement rate of 34.1%. The overall disagreement rates between pre-CPB TEE and TTE for Vp, PGm, and AVA were 39.8%, 33.3%, and 33.3%, respectively. Conclusions The authors could not demonstrate that DI was better than Vp, PGm, or AVA at matching AS grades between intraoperative pre-CPB TEE and preoperative TTE. When DI was used, pre-CPB TEE was more likely to overestimate than underestimate the severity of AS compared with TTE. However, when Vp or PGm was used, pre-CPB TEE was more likely to underestimate the severity of AS compared with TTE. A comprehensive approach without overemphasis on 1 parameter should be used for AS assessment by intraoperative TEE.
Introduction to microwaves

The purpose of this short introduction is to discuss in general terms and with a minimum of theory the concepts involved in microwave gauging and to identify issues that will be addressed later, including frequency ranges, measurements and properties of electromagnetic fields in the microwave region.
A scalable and reconfigurable in-memory architecture for ternary deep spiking neural network with ReRAM based neurons

Abstract Neuromorphic computing using post-CMOS technologies is gaining increasing popularity due to its promising potential to resolve the power constraints in Von-Neumann machine and its similarity to the operation of the real human brain. In this work, we propose a scalable and reconfigurable architecture that exploits the ReRAM-based neurons for deep Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs). In prior publications, neurons were implemented using dedicated analog or digital circuits that are not area and energy efficient. In our work, for the first time, we address the scaling and power bottlenecks of neuromorphic architecture by utilizing a single one-transistor-one-ReRAM (1T1R) cell to emulate the neuron. We show that the ReRAM-based neurons can be integrated within the synaptic crossbar to build extremely dense Process Element (PE)–spiking neural network in memory array–with high throughput. We provide microarchitecture and circuit designs to enable the deep spiking neural network computing in memory with an insignificant area overhead. Simulation results on MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets with spiking Resnet (SResnet) and spiking Squeezenet (SSqueez) show that compared to the baseline CPU only solution, our proposed architecture achieves energy saving between 1222 × and 1853 × and speed improvement between 791 × to 1120 ×.
Genotype-specific effects of ericoid mycorrhizae on floral traits and reproduction in Vaccinium corymbosum.

Premise Most plants interact with mycorrhizal fungi and animal pollinators simultaneously. Yet, whether mycorrhizae affect traits important to pollination remains poorly understood and may depend on the match between host and fungal genotypes. Here, we examined how ericoid mycorrhizal fungi affected flowering phenology, floral traits, and reproductive success, among eight genotypes of highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum (Ericaceae). We asked three overarching questions: (1) Do genotypes differ in response to inoculation? (2) How does inoculation affect floral and flowering traits? (3) Are inoculated plants more attractive to pollinators and less pollen limited than non-inoculated plants of the same genotype? Methods To examine these questions, we experimentally inoculated plants with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, grew the plants in the field, and measured flowering and floral traits over 2 years. In year 2, we conducted a hand-pollination experiment to test whether plants differed in pollen limitation. Results Inoculated plants had significantly higher levels of colonization for some genotypes, and there were significant floral trait changes in inoculated plants for some genotypes as well. On average, inoculated plants produced significantly larger floral displays, more fruits per inflorescence, and heavier fruits with lower sugar content, than non-inoculated, control plants. Hand pollination enhanced the production of fruits, and fruit mass, for non-inoculated plants but not for those that were inoculated. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that inoculation with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi enhanced flowering and altered investment in reproduction in genotype-specific ways. These findings underscore the importance of examining belowground symbionts and genotype-specific responses in their hosts to fully understand the drivers of aboveground interactions.