cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
K-12 School Diversity and Social Cohesion: Evidence in Support of a Compelling State Interest.

Despite existing research that demonstrates the benefits of racial diversity in education, the Court has become increasingly disinclined to allow the use of race or ethnicity in education policy ta...
Oscillations of Magnetic Fluid Column in Strong Magnetic Field

The paper considers the results of measuring the elastic parameters (ponderomotive elasticity coefficient, oscillation frequency, attenuation coefficient) of the oscillatory system with an inertial element that is a magnetic fluid column retained in a tube due to magnetic levitation in a strong magnetic field. Elasticity is provided by the ponderomotive force which affects the upper and lower thin layers of the fluid column. Measurement results of vibration parameters of the oscillatory system can be useful for the investigations of magnetophoresis and aggregation of nanoparticles in magnetic fluids.
Socioeconomic and Urban Profile of Coachella Valley

The Coachella Valley exhibits a range of levels of income, wealth, education, and age structure. Its economic strengths lie in tourism, retirement, specialized agriculture, retail, and associated services. The chapter first reviews literature of prior studies of regional renewable development. Since the Valley as a whole is not a U.S. Census designated area, population projection is done by aggregating components, indicating the Valley’s population of about a half million in 2016 is predominantly located in nine small cities with largest being Indio at 80,000 people. GIS analysis is applied to understand, at the census tract level, the spatial patterns of leading socioeconomic variables including income, wealth, education, occupation, manufacturing, professional and technical workers, internet use for business, environmental participation, and crime. Additionally, the Valley’s solar and wind energy workforces are estimated. Labor force deficits are apparent, which could be overcome by stemming out-migration or encouraging in-migration of skilled renewable workers. To reinforce this point, a case study is examined of community college renewable energy occupational training.
High-Throughput in Silico Structure Validation and Revision of Halogenated Natural Products Is Enabled by Parametric Corrections to DFT-Computed 13C NMR Chemical Shifts and Spin–Spin Coupling Constants

Halogenated natural products constitute diverse and promising feedstock for molecular pharmaceuticals. However, their solution-structure elucidation by NMR presents several challenges, including the lack of fast methods to compute 13C chemical shifts for carbons bearing heavy atoms. We show that parametric corrections to DFT-computed chemical shifts in conjunction with rff-computed spin–spin coupling constants allow for fast and reliable screening of a large number of reported halogenated natural products, resulting in expedient structure validation or revision. In this paper, we examine more than 100 structures of halogenated terpenoids and other natural products with the new parametric approach and demonstrate that the accuracy of the combined method is sufficient to identify misassignments and suggest revisions in most cases (16 structures are revised). As the 1D 1H and 13C NMR data are ubiquitous and most routinely used in solution structure elucidation, this fast and efficient two-criterion method (n...
Hypoxia Impairs Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Induced Macrophage M1 to M2 Transition.

The transition of macrophages from the pro-inflammatory M1 to the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype is crucial for the progression of normal wound healing. Persistent M1 macrophages within the injury site may lead to an uncontrolled macrophage-mediated inflammatory response and ultimately a failure of the wound healing cascade, leading to chronic wounds. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been widely reported to promote M1 to M2 macrophage transition; however, it is unclear whether MSCs can drive this transition in the hypoxic environment typically observed in chronic wounds. Here we report on the effect of hypoxia (1% O2) on MSCs’ ability to transition macrophages from the M1 to the M2 phenotype. While hypoxia had no effect on MSC secretion, it inhibited MSC-induced M1 to M2 macrophage transition, and suppressed macrophage expression and production of the anti-inflammatory mediator interleukin-10 (IL-10). These results suggest that hypoxic environments may impede the therapeutic effects of MSCs.
A joint econometric framework for modeling crash counts by severity

This paper proposes an innovative joint econometric framework for examining total crash count and crash proportion by different crash severity. In our proposed approach, irrespective of the number of crash frequency variables the dimensions to be investigated is ‘two’, offering substantial benefits in terms of parameter stability and computational time as opposed to the traditional multivariate approaches. The proposed model is demonstrated by employing a joint negative binomial-ordered logit fractional split model framework. The empirical analysis is conducted using zonal level crash count data for different crash severity levels from Florida for the year 2015. The results clearly highlight the superiority of the joint model in terms of data fit compared to independent model. The applicability of the proposed framework is demonstrated by generating spatial distribution of predicted motor vehicle crash frequency and predicted crash counts by severity levels.
The Political Morality of Convergence in Contract

One of the most interesting recent developments in contract law has been an academic and political effort to integrate private law. The proposed Common European Sales Law was ultimately withdrawn, and a series of setbacks, including the British referendum to exit the EU, has recast the politics of convergence. But it remains an objective for many European scholars. This essay considers the wisdom of convergence on a single law of transactions from the perspective of philosophical contract theory. The essay proceeds by disaggregating the rights at stake in contract law. It characterises the formal right to contract and describes its moral impetus as one that should underwrite contract law in all states, especially liberal states. But the essay argues that the legitimate contours of the formal right are contingent on tenets of political culture that vary across Member States. Similarly, substantive regulation of contract is morally compulsory and serves universal interests; the essay takes regulation of permissible work and remuneration for work as examples. But the rules and standards that best advance those moral interests depend on economic facts specific to individual political communities. The essay concludes by arguing that contract law is a poor tool by which to accelerate political and economic convergence.
Local Knowledge, Local Networks, and Successful Cooperative Mussel Aquaculture on Chiloé

The impact of aquaculture in southern Chile has been significant on both an ecological and a social scale. Social-ecological changes on the Chiloe Archipelago are altering relationships between humans and the natural resources that they rely on for subsistence and income. Artsisanal fisheries, in particular, have felt this change, as international, large-scale salmon farms have spread across the region, causing a disruption of ecosystem services and livelihoods. Through a case study of an aquaculture cooperative in a Chilote community, I explain how small-scale, locally managed aquaculture firms of an endemic mollusk species can serve as a model for social-ecological resilience, as well as sustainable aquaculture, communities, and ecosystems.
Whose Justice? Which Victims?

George Fletcher's With Justice for Some: Victims' Rights in Criminal Trials1 boasts an eye-catching title and a provocative introduction. Directed at a general audience, the book concentrates on a handful of cases that received broad media coverage, public attention, and, in several instances, verdicts that led to outcries of injustice, demonstrations, and even violence. These cases, Fletcher asserts, demonstrate that criminal trials in the United States need radical transformation. Fletcher evokes the literally burning image of Los Angeles as African Americans took to the streets immediately after the verdict in People v. Briseno known as the "Rodney King" case to set the stage for fear and loathing of the current criminal justice process. In the book, Fletcher summarizes a number of mostly recent, highly publicized criminal cases, such as the Rodney King case, which he believes were wrongly and unjustly decided by juries. He argues that protest and even violence are proof of the verdicts' outrageousness as well as proof of the deep flaws within the criminal trial process in the United States. To correct these flaws, Fletcher argues for procedural and evidentiary reforms modeled mainly after the Continental scheme of criminal trials, a scheme he clearly prefers to the Anglo-American one. He advocates adopting these procedural and evidentiary reforms to give "rights" to "victims." After a brief and critical overview of the book's contents, I examine what Fletcher says about "victims' rights" and the relationship of his proposals to "victims" generally. Next, I discuss Fletcher's approach to the victimization of women, with a final observation about the relevance of a defendant's prior victimization to the determination of her culpability for subsequent action. Despite
Antiretroviral Therapy: Treatment-experienced Individuals

Antiretroviral therapy (ART)-experienced individuals may choose to modify their regimens because of suboptimal virologic response, poor tolerability, convenience, or to minimize interactions with other medications or food. Constructing a new regimen for any of these reasons requires a thorough review of prior antiretroviral drug use and available drug resistance results. This article summarizes the strategies used in managing the ART-experienced individual who is considering a modification in therapy at the time of suboptimal virologic response or while virologically suppressed on a stable regimen.
Flexible OS support and applications for trusted computing

Trusted computing (e.g. TCPA and Microsoft's Next-Generation Secure Computing Base) has been one of the most talked about and least understood technologies in the computing community over the past year. The capabilities trusted computing provides have the potential to radically improve the security and robustness of distributed systems. Unfortunately, the debate over its application to digital rights management has caused its significant other applications to be largely overlooked. In this paper we present a broader vision for trusted computing. We give an intuitive model for understanding the capabilities and limitations of the mechanisms provided by trusted computing. We describe a flexible OS architecture to support trusted computing. We present a range of practical applications that illustrate how trusted computing can be used to improve security and robustness in distributed systems.
Ecological Objects for Environmental Ethics

The emergence of theoretical ecology during the twentieth century advanced our understanding of what kinds of things exist in our world, such as ecological communities and ecosystems. Accordingly ecology offered a new set of things we might care about or care for, and that development has both stimulated and challenged environmental ethics. Here, I consider how ecological objects may serve as objects of moral concern. I argue that while questions remain about ecological objects, environmental ethics does not require objects more robust than those ecology already offers.
I-Optimality Algorithm and Implementation

Exact designs of experiments are frequently sought that are optimal at producing predictive response-surface models. Until recently, however, there have not been any software systems capable of finding such designs on continuous spaces, except for very specific models. We present the algorithmic and implementation details of our software program, I-OPTTM [1], for finding exact, continuous-space designs that minimize the integrated expected variance of prediction over the region of interest (sometimes known as either the I- or IV-optimality criterion) for general quantic models.
Pipelined versus non-pipelined traffic scheduling in unidirectional WDM rings

Two traffic scheduling schemes, namely, non-pipelined and pipelined scheduling, are considered for uniform traffic in unidirectional WDM rings. Their performances in terms of schedule length and through-put are compared. Optimal or near optimal schedules are obtained for a given number of wavelengths, and a given number of transceivers per node as well as their tuning time.
Regulation of B cell differentiation by T cells obtained from mucosal and systemic lymphoid tissues

Regulation of immunoglobulin (Ig) isotype has long been attributed to helper T cells and evidence is currently accumulating to suggest that different lymphokine/ cytokine combinations can directly influence the isotypes and amounts of Ig which B cells secrete. We [1,2] and others [3–5] have postulated that the differences in Ig isotypes which predominate in mucosal versus systemic immune responses are due, in part, to the combination of lymphokines produced by resident helper T cells. To address this question, we have isolated helper T cells from murine Peyer’s patches, mesenteric lymph nodes, and spleens. We have measured lymphokine production by each T cell population and quantified the Ig isotypes produced by large, low density B cells cultured with the isolated T cells.
Evaluation Based on Controllable Performance

We now extend our use of the managerial input model to examine which data in the accounting library might be used in the evaluation of a manager. The idea is to ask the model what types of data it finds useful in the evaluation exercise. Studying the model’s answer will provide important clues for understanding the selective use of accounting and nonaccounting information in the managerial evaluation process.
Targeting histone methyltransferase G9a inhibits growth and Wnt signaling pathway by epigenetically regulating HP1α and APC2 gene expression in non-small cell lung cancer

Dysregulated histone methyltransferase G9a may represent a potential cancer therapeutic target. The roles of G9a in tumorigenesis and therapeutics are not well understood in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here we investigated the impact of G9a on tumor growth and signaling pathways in NSCLC. Immunohistochemistry analyzed G9a expression in NSCLC tissues. Both siRNA and selective inhibitor were used to target G9a. The impact of targeting G9a on key genes, signaling pathways and growth were investigated in NSCLC cells by RNA sequencing analysis, rescue experiments, and xenograft models. Overexpression of G9a (≥ 5% of cancer cells showing positive staining) was found in 43.2% of 213 NSCLC tissues. Multiple tumor-associated genes including HP1α, APC2 are differentially expressed; and signaling pathways involved in cellular growth, adhesion, angiogenesis, hypoxia, apoptosis, and canonical Wnt signaling pathways are significantly altered in A549, H1299, and H1975 cells upon G9a knockdown. Additionally, targeting G9a by siRNA-mediated knockdown or by a selective G9a inhibitor UNC0638 significantly inhibited tumor growth, and dramatically suppressed Wnt signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we showed that treatment with UNC0638 restores the expression of APC2 expression in these cells through promoter demethylation. Restoring HP1α and silencing APC2 respectively attenuated the inhibitory effects on cell proliferation and Wnt signaling pathway in cancer cells in which G9a was silenced or suppressed. These findings demonstrate that overexpressed G9a represents a promising therapeutic target, and targeting G9a potentially suppresses growth and Wnt signaling pathway partially through down-regulating HP1α and epigenetically restoring these tumor suppressors such as APC2 that are silenced in NSCLC.
Parallel Multi-view Low-rank and Sparse Subspace Clustering for Unsupervised Hyperspectral Image Classification

In this paper, parallel multi-view low-rank sparse subspace clustering (MLRSSC) is investigated for unsupervised classification of remotely sensed hyperspectral imagery. A 3-dimensional (3D) hyperspectral image contains abundant spectral and spatial information. Such diverse information can be considered as multiple views during the clustering process. In this paper, multiple spectral views are generated from correlated spectral band groups, a decorrelated and denoised view from principal components, and spatial views from morphological features. To make such a computational expensive clustering technique applicable to large-scale remote sensing images, parallel MLRSSC is implemented to non-overlapping 3D blocks. Experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the MLRSSC is better than other subspace clustering based algorithms.
Drawings of energy: Evidence of the Next Generation Science Standards model of energy in diagrams

A checklist for evaluating how an energy diagram instantiates the Next Generation Science Standards model of energy.
Advances in Facial Nerve Paralysis: Surgical Innovation, Tissue Engineering, and Emerging Technology

Facial nerve paralysis profoundly impairs an individual’s quality of life, physical health, and self-image. Dynamic surgical correction of facial paralysis seeks to restore symmetry and tone, thereby achieving voluntary movement and expression. The selection of technique is dictated by anatomy and timing of the injury. Reinnervation techniques, including primary surgical repair, nerve grafts, tissue-engineered constructs, and nerve transfers, are feasible within 1–2 years, while neuromuscular junctions are viable. More chronic injuries require reanimation techniques such as free muscle transfers and regional muscle transfers or static approaches. Emerging research and technology include advances in nerve regeneration as well as bioelectrical interfaces. These innovative approaches hold promise for enhancing the existing therapeutic arsenal for rehabilitating injury and restoring facial nerve function after facial palsy.
Single-cell RNA-seq analysis of human iPSC-derived motor neurons resolves early and predictive ALS signatures

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived neural cultures from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients can reflect disease phenotypes targetable by treatments. However, widely used differentiation protocols produce mixtures of progenitors, neurons, glia, and other cells at various developmental stages and rostrocaudal neural tube segments. Here we present a methodology using single-cell RNA sequencing analysis to distinguish cell type expression in C9orf72 ALS, sporadic ALS, control, and genome-edited cultures across multiple subjects, experiments, and commercial platforms. Combinations of HOX and developmental gene expression with global clustering classified rostrocaudal, progenitor, and mantle zone fates. This demonstrated that iPSC-differentiated cells recapitulate fetal hindbrain and spinal cord development and resolved early, reproducible, and motor neuron-specific signatures of familial and sporadic ALS. This includes downregulated ELAVL3 expression, which persists into disease endstages. Single-cell analysis thus yielded predictive ALS markers in other human and mouse models which were otherwise undiscovered through bulk omics assays.
Does skeletal muscle morphology or functional performance better explain variance in fast gait speed in older adults

Fast gait speed is being increasingly recognized as an important clinical tool in older adults. However, the underlying muscular and functional contributors to fast gait speed performance remain poorly understood. We sought to determine predictors of fast gait speed in older adults. We hypothesized that lower-extremity skeletal muscle size and quality would be strong predictors. Ninety community-dwelling older adults (33 men, 57 women; mean ± SD age = 74 ± 6 years) participated. B-mode ultrasonography was used to capture images of the vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, and gastrocnemius in the transverse plane. Each participant performed 30-second chair stand, heel-rise, functional reach, and grip strength tests. Fast gait speed was measured using the NIH Toolbox 4-Meter Walk Test. ImageJ software was used to quantify cross-sectional area (CSA), subcutaneous tissue thickness, and echo intensity. Two separate stepwise regression analyses were performed, one using muscle morphology variables as independent variables, and another including the functional outcomes. The ultrasound variables exhibited weak-to-moderate correlations with fast gait speed (|r| range = 0.168–0.416). The initial regression analysis indicated that the combination of medial gastrocnemius CSA and subcutaneous tissue thickness explained 22.8% of the variance in fast gait speed. The secondary analysis indicated that 30-second chair stand, heel-rise, and grip strength performance explained 45.5% of the variance. While medial gastrocnemius morphology is important, measures of upper and lower-extremity muscle function are better predictors of fast gait speed. These results highlight a dissociation between skeletal muscle morphology and fast gait speed.
The Long-Term Impact of Disability, Employment, and Marital Status Shocks: Evidence from Matched Administrative Data

People face a wide range of risks throughout their lifetime that can disrupt employment, reduce earnings, derail retirement planning, and impair economic well-being later in life. This paper measures the impact of health, employment, and marital status shocks on lifetime earnings. Using household survey data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation matched to administrative earnings records, we compared lifetime earnings for people who developed a health problem that limited the type or amount of work they could do, were laid off from their job, or became widowed, divorced, or separated with those who did not experience these shocks. The paper found that: -Employment shocks are fairly common, and disability shocks become much more common as people age. About one in five workers is laid off from their job over a four-year period, even when the job market is robust. About one in seven men and one in six women develop a work-limiting disability in their early 50s. -People who eventually develop disabilities or lose their jobs generally have lower lifetime earnings even before these shocks occur than people who do not experience these shocks. -Health and employment shocks have substantial and long-lasting impacts on earnings. Relative lifetime earnings rank falls by 5 percentile points a decade and a half after disability onset and by 3 percentile points a decade and a half after job loss. The policy implications of the findings are: -Strong safety nets are essential for people who experience health problems and job losses during their working years. -Increased investment in workforce development programs, including retraining of displaced workers, might raise lifetime earnings for workers who have experienced job layoffs.
Assessment of Deterioration of Highway Pavement using Bayesian Survival Model

The size and level of complexity of highway pavement data and its associated covariates have led to the application of different approaches in the analysis of the highway pavement data for deterior...
Hard x-ray gratings-based phase contrast imaging with a spectroscopic detector

Gratings-based phase contrast X-ray imaging provides additional materials signatures in textured media based on the deflection of the X-ray beam. Using this technique with a hard (~160 kVp) X-ray spectrum has shown potential for improved materials discrimination in applications such as explosives detection. Typical phase contrast measurements rely on relatively broad bremsstrahlung spectra, resulting in measurement responses averaged across wide energy ranges. Here, we present results for gratings-based phase contrast measurements using a spectroscopic imaging detector. This allows for direct observation of phase-contrast material cross sections as a function of energy, without the need for a mono-energetic X-ray source. Further, the measurements provide a direct understanding of spectral variations and a technical basis for application of hard X-ray gratings-based phase contrast measurements in the presence of attenuating materials.
Candidates for Long Term Anticoagulation Among Hospitalized Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in United States (5108)

Objective: To provide national estimate of eligible hospitalized patients with AFib who could benefit from long-term anticoagulation. Background: Long-term anticoagulation has been consistently shown to reduce the rate of ischemic stroke among selected patients with AFib. There is paucity of data regarding number of eligible patients with AFib in US who could benefit from long-term anticoagulation. Design/Methods: We analyzed data from Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the year 2016. We identified patients with primary or secondary diagnosis of AFib who were aged 75 years or greater, women aged 65–74 years, men aged 65–74 years with history of(h/o) ischemic stroke/transient cerebral ischemia(TIAs), and patients aged 18–64 years with AFib and ischemic stroke/TIAs (CHA2DS2-VASc score of 2 or greater) who were hospitalized and discharged alive to provide national estimates. Results: A total of 871,391 patients (163,236 aged between 18–64 years, 216,645 aged between 65–74 years, and 491,107 aged 75 years or greater) were admitted with a diagnosis of AFib in 2016. The number of patients with AFib who also had h/o ischemic stroke/TIAs was 38,051 (4.37%). Of the AFib patients, aged 75 years or greater, 25,050 (2.87 %) had a h/o ischemic stroke/TIAs. Of the patients aged 65–74 years, 3,534 women (0.41%) and 4,341 men (0.50%) had h/o ischemic stroke/TIAs. Also, there were 91,364 (10.48%) women between age 65–74 years who had AFib but did not have stroke.5,117 (=n,0.59%) patients between age 18–64 years had AFib and h/o stroke/TIAs. The total number of potentially eligible patients with AFib who could benefit from the anticoagulation (based on CHA2DS2- VASc) was 564,030(65% of all patients admitted with AFib). Conclusions: Over half a million hospitalized patients with AFib who are under medical care can benefit from long-term anticoagulation. Most are stroke free at time of hospitalization in United States and thus associated death and disability from new strokes can be prevented by timely initiation of long-term anticoagulation. Disclosure: Dr. Kumar has nothing to disclose. Dr. Balasetti has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lobanova has nothing to disclose. Dr. Huang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bhagavan has nothing to disclose. Dr. French has nothing to disclose. Dr. Siddiq has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gomez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Qureshi has nothing to disclose.
Wide-Range Cryostat Temperature Control

Cryostatic arrangements range from simple, thermally rather isolated objects, through immersion baths, to those for precision calorimetry. Electric controls range from manual through simple proportional, to combinations of proportional, rate and reset, employing thermocouples or resistance thermometers.
Primary Resonance Behaviour of a Nonlinear, Viscoelastic Model of Expanded Polymer Cushion Material

This manuscript highlights an analytical solution to a nonlinear, viscoelastic model of expanded polymer foam. The governing partial differential equation is discretized into a single-mode nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE). Solution of the nonlinear ODE is analytically approximated using the method of multiple scales. Comparison to experimental data reveals that the single-mode analytical solution is capable of capturing the nonlinear bending behaviour missed by a previously solved linearized model. It is also shown that limitations due to the system-identification data-collection method affect the ability of the model to capture the degree of nonlinearity present at lower strain levels. While this limitation has no observable effect on the previously studied linearized system response, nonlinear modelling can benefit from further work performed in the low strain characterization of expanded polymer foam. Lastly, the nonlinear solution is used to study the effect of varying excitation acceleration and static stress on the frequency response of expanded polymer foam. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Functions on n-Space

Before considering the general case of a differentiable map of a vector space into another, we shall consider the special case of a function, i.e. a real valued map.
Federal Rule of Evidence 703: The Back Door and the Confrontation Clause, Ten Years Later

Federal Rule of Evidence 703 allows experts to form opinions using information that is not admitted at trial, and even on evidence that is inadmissible. In 2000, Rule 703 was amended to emphasize that it did not serve as an exception to the other rules of evidence. When experts rely on inadmissible evidence, the evidence can only be disclosed for the limited purpose of assisting the jury to evaluate the expert’s opinion, and only if the probative value of the evidence substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect. This Note reviews the application of Rule 703 before and after the 2000 amendment. It finds that disclosure of inadmissible evidence should still be expected in a substantial number of cases, but nevertheless concludes that the compromise approach struck by amended Rule 703 is largely correct. Courts should, however, weigh the strong possibility that limiting instructions under Rule 703 will often be ineffective (and logically impossible), and reduce disclosure accordingly. This Note also considers Rule 703’s intersection with recent changes in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Confrontation Clause jurisprudence. It argues that, although Rule 703 allows expert reliance on inadmissible evidence, the compromises struck by Rule 703 should not be allowed to mask Confrontation Clause violations. Expert disclosure of testimonial hearsay basis evidence should be understood as a Confrontation Clause violation. Evaluating the expert’s testimony to see if it includes an independent opinion, as suggested in some recent opinions, does not solve the problem. An expert can both provide an independent opinion and convey testimonial hearsay in violation of the Confrontation Clause.
Molecular orbital theory of the hydrogen bond: XXXII. The effect of H+ and Li+ association on the AT and GC pairs

Abstract Ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been performed to determine the structures and stabilization energies of the AT and GC base pairs and their complexes with H + and Li + , H + and Li + association stabilizes the AT pair except for Li + association at O 4 in thymine. Protonation of thymine stabilizes the AT pair to a greater extent than protonation of adenine. The association of H + and Li + with guanine stabilizes the GC pair, but protonation of cytosine destabilizes GC. Changes in the structures of the hydrogen bonds in the AT and GC pairs reflect changes in hydrogen bond strengths.
Tight Hardness of the Non-commutative Grothendieck Problem

We prove that it is NP-hard to approximate the non-commutative Grothendieck problem to within any constant factor larger than one-half, which matches the approximation ratio of the algorithm of Naor, Regev, and Vidick (STOC'13). Our proof uses an embedding of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces into the space of matrices endowed with the trace norm with the property that the image of standard basis vectors is longer than that of unit vectors with no large coordinates.
Review of Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering by James R. Mihelcic

The book is not new but was recently brought to my attention. As the field of environmental hydraulics becomes increasingly popular, how can we educate our hydraulic engineers to gain basic knowledge in environmental engineering? Can we combine knowledge from various sciences like chemistry and biology with the knowledge of physics and mathematics that is also required in the traditional civil engineering curriculum? This book provides a reasonable answer to these questions. It is the outgrowth of team teaching for a course required of all civil and environmental engineering students at Michigan Technological University. Several coauthors share partial credit for this text besides the primary author. The faculty members from MTU include M. T. Auer, D. W. Hand, R. E. Honrath, J. A. Perlinger, and N. R. Urban. M. R. Penn at the University of WisconsinPlatteville also contributed to the biology chapter. The course is intended to provide a bridge between basic sciences and math courses and upper-level engineering courses. The material is divided into four main chapters: concentrations in air, water, and soils; chemistry; physical processes; and biology. The brief preface uses practical examples to illustrate the need for a strong command of the fundamentals in chemistry, biology, and physical processes. The examples of municipal wastewater treatment, acid rain, and fate of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons in groundwater clearly state the need for an integrated multidisciplinary approach to environmental problems. Chapter 2 delves into the nitty-gritty details of unit conversions and sets the tone for the quantitative approach of the authors. The reader is exposed to all possible units used in measuring contaminant levels in soils, water, and the atmosphere. Chapter 3 covers about 100 pages and explains the chemistry of pollutants in a variety of engineered and natural systems. This chapter includes a nice and detailed presentation of chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, equilibrium processes, oxidation/reduction processes, and photochemistry. Chapter 4 provides a 60-page discussion of mass and energy balances. There is also a brief presentation of advection and dispersion, along with a review of the movement of particles in fluids
Modeling Metabolic Variability in Methanosarcina Acetivorans

Anaerobic archaea M. acetivorans, a versatile salt-water adapted methanogen, is capable of converting seven different organic molecules into methane. Utilization of these substrates involves three main reaction pathways that are differentially regulated by the organism depending on growth conditions. We have developed a kinetic model for methanogenesis using RNA-seq data, single molecule enumeration of protein abundance (SiMPull) and kinetic parameters from literature the. RNA-seq data generated on different growth conditions was also used to create a transcriptional regulatory model. Stochasticity in gene expression is known to create heterogeneity in an isogenic population. Such heterogeneity in transcriptional regulators, which are known to be present in small copy numbers, can effect formation of different cell phenotypes allowing cells in a colony to utilize different energy sources. Integrating the kinetic model of methanogenesis with a transcriptional regulation model results in a most comprehensive model for methanogenesis to date. We simulate this model using reaction-diffusion master equation (RDME) based Lattice Microbes software package to simulate monoclonal cells and study the variability in pathway and substrate usage under environmental and industrial conditions. Simulated behaviors allow identification and analysis of phenotypes that arise and the resulting sensitivity of methanogenesis to protein copy number, substrate availability and transcriptional regulation noise. These results lay the groundwork necessary for studying the individual behaviors to ultimately simulate a colony of methanogens sharing space and resources.
Relating Molecular Interactions with N-BAR Domains to the Mesoscopic Nature of Membrane Remodeling

Theoretical approaches to studying biological problems have seen appreciable advancements in the past decade, allowing detailed structural and thermodynamic description of fundamental cellular processes, such as protein folding, lipid self-assembly, large-scale structural rearrangements of macromolecules, etc. Nevertheless, a full atomic description of even simple microscopic biological systems requires billions of atoms, beyond the reach of current computational methods. Membrane remodeling induced by members of the BAR domain protein family, is an innately multiscale problem, in which molecular interactions between the BAR protein and the lipids induces local curvature, and ultimately leads to large-scale reticulations of liposomes. In our study, we start with a discretized field-theoretical description of a liposome and carry out continuum mechanics simulations that generate reticulated topologies, quite similar to the ones seen in experiments. The obtained configurations are used as templates for mapping coarse-grained lipids and BARs over the continuum model. Subsequently, we use the coarse-grained representation of the liposome to run massive molecular dynamics simulations, with the aim of capturing the underlying molecular mechanisms that direct the liposome to undergo such large-scale biological restructuring and detecting the preferred localization of BARs at high resolution.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
The role of norepiinephrine in mediating luteinizing hormone release in response to blockade of κ-opioid receptors in the medial preoptic area

Our previous study [32] indicated that blockade of kappa-opioid receptors with nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI) in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) produced two different LH responses during midpregnancy in the rat: an increase in basal pulsatile LH secretion, followed in many cases by a larger and/or sustained increase in LH release. In the present study, two experiments were conducted to examine the role of norepinephrine (NE) in mediating these different LH responses. In experiment 1, the effects of NE synthesis inhibition with FLA-63 on nor-BNI induced LH secretion were examined. In 5 of 9 vehicle pretreated rats, nor-BNI perfusion in the MPOA produced only an increase in basal pulsatile LH secretion. In the remaining 4 animals blockade of MPOA kappa-receptors produced not only an increase in basal LH secretion, but also a large/sustained release of LH. Pretreatment with FLA-63 had no effect on the nor-BNI induced increase in basal pulsatile LH secretion, but completely prevented the occurrence of the large/sustained release of LH. The objective of experiment 2 was to determine whether any change in NE release occurred at the site of nor-BNI perfusion in rats showing this large/sustained increase in plasma LH levels, by measuring in vivo NE release at that site. No significant change in perfusate NE levels was observed during perfusion of the MPOA with nor-BNI alone or in combination with desipramine, a NE reuptake blocker, in rats that showed this type of LH response. These results demonstrate that while NE does not mediate the increase in basal pulsatile LH release produced by nor-BNI perfusion in the MPOA, it is essential for the large/sustained elevation in LH secretion seen in response to blockade of kappa-opioid receptors at this site. This latter type of LH secretory response is not, however, associated with an increase in NE release directly at the site of kappa-opioid receptor blockade in the MPOA in pregnant rats.
Second-order probabilities and belief functions

A second-order probability Q(P) may be understood as the probability that the true probability of something has the value P. “True” may be interpreted as the value that would be assigned if certain information were available, including information from reflection, calculation, other people, or ordinary evidence. A rule for combining evidence from two independent sources may be derived, if each source i provides a function Q i (P). Belief functions of the sort proposed by Shafer (1976) also provide a formula for combining independent evidence, Dempster's rule, and a way of representing ignorance of the sort that makes us unsure about the value of P. Dempster's rule is shown to be at best a special case of the rule derived in connection with second-order probabilities. Belief functions thus represent a restriction of a full Bayesian analysis.
Activation and regulation of Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs) by helminth parasites

Helminth (worm) infections are major public health problems that have important socioeconomic consequences for the more than 2 billion infected individuals. Chronicity (their hallmark) can lead to anemia (in hookworm infection), river blindness (onchcerciasis), cirrhosis (schistosomiasis), and elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis). Although there have been many studies examining innate immune responses (including TLR expression and function) in response to intracellular pathogens, fewer have examined the interaction of the multicellular helminth parasites and the innate immune system. This review will focus on two “systemic” helminth parasitic infections (lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis) and the regulation of TLRs that may contribute to infection outcome.
Community and self : Concepts for rural physician integration and retention

Low physician availability in rural areas of the United States is a long-standing issue. While most research has focused upon the locational decisions of physicians to understand the causes of the problem, a relatively new and neglected research focus is the retention of rural physicians. This paper takes the perspective that integration of physicians within rural communities is the basis for retention. It introduces concepts of self and community as a basis for understanding "domains" of rural physician integration. From data collected during in-depth qualitative research in rural Kentucky, a framework of integration domains is developed. The three domains of physician self, medical community, and community-at-large are elaborated with examples from the data. To further explain the relationships among the integration domains and their value, the findings are combined with three concepts from social theory. Social capital, core participation, and community reconstruction add dynamic and meaningful aspects to the context in which integration and retention occur, and they provide a conceptual basis to use when investigating or devising actions to facilitate integration.
Use of a submental-vertex analysis for producing quality temporomandibular joint laminagraphs

A radiographic analysis which can be used to produce high-quality laminagraphs of the temporomandibular joint has been presented. Submental-vertex radiographs of twenty-six dry skulls and fifty vital subjects were used as the sample. Statistical examination demonstrated a wide range of condylar angulations and midline-to-condyle distances. These two measurements are critical to the production of laminagraphs used for pathologic diagnosis of TMJ dysfunction. The results of this study seem to verify the need for an accurate method of determining these two influential quantities.
Mechanism of Chlorine Dioxide and Chlorate Ion Formation from the Reaction of Hypobromous Acid and Chlorite Ion.

The rate of oxidation of ClO(2)(-) by HOBr is first-order in each reactant and is general-acid-assisted in the presence of phosphate or carbonate buffers. The products are ClO(2) and ClO(3)(-), where the relative yield depends on the concentration ratio of ClO(2)(-)/OH(-). The kinetic dependence indicates the presence of a steady-state intermediate, HOBrOClO(-) (or HOBrClO(2)(-)), that undergoes general-acid-assisted reactions to generate a metastable intermediate, BrOClO (or BrClO(2)). This intermediate reacts very rapidly by two competing pathways: in one path ClO(2)(-) reacts to form 2ClO(2) and Br(-), and in the other path OH(-) (or H(2)O) reacts to form ClO(3)(-) and Br(-). Competition between these pathways determines the yield of ClO(2) but does not affect the rate of loss of HOBr. The reactions are followed by the formation of ClO(2) in the presence of excess ClO(2)(-). The rate expression for the loss of HOBr is k(1)[ClO(2)(-)][HOBr] summation operator(k(HA)[HA])/(k(-)(1) + summation operator(k(HA)[HA])), where k(1) (for the formation of the intermediate) is 97 M(-)(1) s(-)(1) and k(HA)/k(-)(1) (M(-)(1)) values, which depend on the acid (HA) strength, are 3.1 x 10(5) for H(3)O(+), 8.3 for H(2)PO(4)(-), and 0.064 for HCO(3)(-) (25.0 degrees C, m = 1.0 M). Reactions between HOBr and ClO(2)(-) are much faster than those between HOCl and ClO(2)(-).
Decision support models for the selection of internet access technologies in rural communities

Recent developments in Internet technologies have resulted in a wide range of high-speed internet choices to rural communities. In this paper, we present decision support models to select the high-speed access technologies with different characteristics under a multiple number of performance criteria (cost quality and speed). Specifically, we first construct an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model, which provides the overall priority weights for each access technology under the multiple criteria. Next, we examine the cases of communities pooling their budget resources for additional mutual benefit. This examination leads to a couple of mixed integer programming models to determine the optimal technology selections of the pooled communities, taking the economies of scale, homogeneity/heterogeneity of communities into consideration. Throughout this paper, the main features are illustrated via numerical examples.
Worldwide variations in atmospheric transmission. I - Baseline results from Smithsonian observations.

Abstract Analysis is made of atmospheric transmission measurements taken during the first half of the twentieth century at thirteen widely separated sites by the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution. Long and short period variations in the atmospheric transmission have been examined for the individual sites. Significant variations from one day to the next are not unusual. Seasonal variations are found for all sites, with characteristic summer maxima. The variations appear to be due almost entirely to variations in the aerosol component above the observing sites. The observed phases of these variations, the derived characteristic size distributions of the particles which cause them, and the correlations between atmospheric moisture and transmission lead to the conclusion that differences in the nature and sources of aerosols above arid and vegetated regions are detectable. Including the results of more recent studies, our best estimate is that, except for sporadic perturbations due to v...
Robust Maneuver Based Design of Passive-Assist Devices for Augmenting Robotic Manipulator Joints

A methodology for designing a parallel, passive-assist device to augment an active system using energy minimization based on a known maneuver is presented. Implementation of the passive-assist device can result in an improvement in system performance with respect to efficiency, reliability, and/or utility. In previous work we demonstrated this concept experimentally on a single link robot arm augmented with a torsional spring. Here we show that the concept can effectively be applied to more complicated machines performing known periodic motions by simulating a 3-link manipulator arm. The arm can be decoupled prior to optimization using inverse dynamics — greatly simplifying the optimization problem. The addition of optimized springs results in a system-wide decrease in energy consumption of 70.9%. Finally, we consider a distribution of possible maneuvers and use the concepts of robust design to find springs that increase the guaranteed energy savings at a 90% confidence level.