cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rescuing Women and Children

Nine weeks after planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, on November 17, 2001, Laura Bush became the first First Lady to deliver the president's Saturday morning radio address to the nation. "The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists," she explained. "Women have been denied access to doctors" in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, and they "face beatings for laughing. The Taliban threaten to pull out women's fingernails for wearing nail polish," she said. The day before, the Department of State had hosted Eleanor Smeal, head of the Feminist Majority Foundation, and representatives of several other women's groups to help publicize the release of its "Report on the Taliban's War against Women," which emphasized that the U.S. war against terrorism was, in part, a war on behalf of women and children. The report detailed measures put in place by the Talibancontrolled Afghan goverment-the enforced wearing of the burka (a loose gown that drapes the entire body), the prohibitions against women's driving or even taking taxis unaccompanied by a male, the ban on educating women over the age of eight, and the heavily restricted access to health care. "With one of the world's worst human rights records, the Taliban has perpetrated egregious acts of violence against women, including rape, abduction, and forced marriage."' The First Lady's speech and the State Department's report joined a broader campaign-long waged by a diverse array of Afghan, American, and transnational women's groups-against the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan. Three weeks later, when signing the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act (a bill that had been sponsored by thirteen women senators led by the Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas), President George W Bush received standing ovations when speaking to an audience of women activists.2 Who, before September 1 1, could have imagined such a scene of common endeavor between the Bush administration and feminist leaders?
The Potential of Construction Project Benchmarking in the Vicksburg District of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers

Construction projects are becoming plagued more than ever by conflicts, claims, and disputes. To this end, performance measurement has become a commonly used tool for evaluating processes, managing human resources, and formulating corrective strategies. One of the most important aspects of performance measurement is the ability to perform benchmarking. Using case studies of projects carried out by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in its Vicksburg District, this paper investigates how benchmarking can be potentially used to evaluate and measure performance of the associated contractors. The utilized methodology encompassed three interdependent steps where the authors: (1) collected project data for 40 contractors who performed work for USACE using internal file reviews; (2) defined the associated performance measures; (3) and analyzed the results to identify areas in which contractors needed to improve in order to increase efficiency. The authors identified five performance measures including quality control, timely performance, effectiveness of management, compliance with labor standards, and compliance with safety standards. These measures were applied on a five-point rating system and categorized using three characteristic groups including use of subcontractors, contract modifications, and final contract price. This research provides an opportunity to promote changes within the Vicksburg District based on knowing strengths and weaknesses.
Healthcare needs personal doctors: a US perspective with British roots.

US healthcare is in a mess. In 2008, the US spent $7681 per person for healthcare, and annual national health spending reached $2.3 trillion.1 The US Central Intelligence Agency estimated in 2009 the value of all final goods and services produced within nations and rank-ordered nations by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP; purchasing power parity). Only China, Japan, India, and Germany had total, national GDP estimates exceeding the US estimated healthcare expenditures in 2008.2 The Commonwealth Fund's 2010 report about US healthcare performance compared to other countries again confirmed underperformance of the US on most measures.3 Meanwhile, during the last decade the largest health insurance companies have seen increases in profits of some 250%, or 10 times the rate of inflation.4 The tragedy this higher cost, lower value system produces for families is revealed in estimates that the price of an average family healthcare insurance policy is expected to be half of an average family income by 2016.5 Herein lies an operational definition of unsustainability, and as economists are known to claim, ‘an unsustainable curve will not be sustained’.
Identifying functionally similar code in complex codebases

Identifying similar code in software systems can assist many software engineering tasks such as program understanding and software refactoring. While most approaches focus on identifying code that looks alike, some techniques aim at detecting code that functions alike. Detecting these functional clones — code that functions alike — in object oriented languages remains an open question because of the difficulty in exposing and comparing programs' functionality effectively. We propose a novel technique, In-Vivo Clone Detection, that detects functional clones in arbitrary programs by identifying and mining their inputs and outputs. The key insight is to use existing workloads to execute programs and then measure functional similarities between programs based on their inputs and outputs, which mitigates the problems in object oriented languages reported by prior work. We implement such technique in our system, HitoshiIO, which is open source and freely available. Our experimental results show that HitoshiIO detects more than 800 functional clones across a corpus of 118 projects. In a random sample of the detected clones, HitoshiIO achieves 68+% true positive rate with only 15% false positive rate.
Shining a light on the shadows: Identifying robust determinants of the shadow economy

Abstract Despite the substantial body of research studying the determinants of the shadow economy in the past few decades, consensus on a set of consistent drivers of the underground sector has failed to emerge. This paper aims to synthesize the literature by identifying robust determinants of the shadow economy and addressing related modeling uncertainty. Using three different cross-national shadow measures and employing numerous determinants over hundreds of model combinations, we find that bureaucratic complexity is more significant than monetary severity in driving the shadow economy. Further, the incentives of new shadow entrepreneurs are somewhat different from established shadow operators. A one standard deviation increase in tax complexity increases the overall shadow economy by over ten percent of the mean. In contrast, a similar increase in business startup costs increases the prevalence of new informal entrepreneurs by almost more than double. Further, shadow determinants in developed and developing nations are dissimilar.
The Effects of Financial Education on Impulsive Decision Making

Delay discounting, as a behavioral measure of impulsive choice, is strongly related to substance abuse and other risky behaviors. Therefore, effective techniques that alter delay discounting are of great interest. We explored the ability of a semester long financial education course to change delay discounting. Participants were recruited from a financial education course (n = 237) and an abnormal psychology course (n = 80). Both groups completed a delay-discounting task for $100 during the first two weeks (Time 1) of the semester as well as during the last two weeks (Time 2) of the semester. Participants also completed a personality inventory and financial risk tolerance scale both times and a delay-discounting task for $1,000 during Time 2. Delay discounting decreased in the financial education group at the end of the semester whereas there was no change in delay discounting in the abnormal psychology group. Financial education may be an effective method for reducing delay discounting.
A content analysis of research on China in top-ranked communication journals from 1995 to 2014: a comparison with other Asian countries

ABSTRACTScholars have recently turned their attention to China with its rapidly growing economic power. This present study analyzes and compares communication research on China in 14 top-ranked journals over the past 20 years. Our analysis reveals patterns, trends, and gaps in communication research on China during this period. The results indicate that China has received more scholarly attention with publication numbers increasing from 4 articles in 1995 to 13 articles in 2014. China is the most-researched East Asian country. Its research article numbers are twice that of the second-most-researched country, South Korea. China’s political system was the most-used rationale in the research articles. More China-focused studies used a critical/interpretative approach and fewer used mixed approaches compared to research on other Asian countries. As a first-of-its-kind study, our findings offer needed guidance for future research on Chinese communication.
Development of an iron quantification method using nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry

Biocompatibility has prompted a great amount of research in iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) as alternative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Iron concentration analysis is a key parameter to determine the relaxivities of IONPs as MRI contrast agents. Currently available methods for iron quantification are mainly inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ferrozine-based iron assays. ICP spectrometry may not be easily accessible for routine analysis while iron assays are highly sensitive to sample preparation. In this paper, we present an alternative method for quantifying iron concentration using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry, a technique commonly used for developing MRI contrast agents. To quantify iron concentration with NMR, a standard curve of relaxation rate versus iron concentrations was created to obtain the relaxivity of Fe3+ iron in solution. After dissolving IONPs in an acid, the iron concentration of the solution can be obtained using the relaxatio...
The separate effects of lipids and proteins on brain MRI contrast revealed through tissue clearing

Despite the widespread use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, the relative contribution of different biological components (e.g. lipids and proteins) to structural MRI contrasts (e.g., T1, T2, T2*, proton density, diffusion) remains incompletely understood. This limitation can undermine the interpretation of clinical MRI and hinder the development of new contrast mechanisms. Here, we determine the respective contribution of lipids and proteins to MRI contrast by removing lipids and preserving proteins in mouse brains using CLARITY. We monitor the temporal dynamics of tissue clearance via NMR spectroscopy, protein assays and optical emission spectroscopy. MRI of cleared brain tissue showed: 1) minimal contrast on standard MRI sequences; 2) increased relaxation times; and 3) diffusion rates close to free water. We conclude that lipids, present in myelin and membranes, are a dominant source of MRI contrast in brain tissue.
Answering the Hard Questions

We present an end-to-end system for open-domain non-factoid question-answering. To accomplish this we leverage the information on the ever-growing World Wide Web, and the capabilities of commercial search engines to find the relevant information. Our QA system is composed of three components: (i) query formulation module (QFM) (ii) candidate answer generation module (CAGM) and (iii) answer selection module (ASM). A thorough empirical evaluation using two datasets demonstrates that the proposed approach is highly competitive.
Stimulus Preferences and form Discrimination Learning in Young Chicks

Effects of age and stimulus exposure-heat reinforcement on form preferences and form discrimination learning were studied in 2 experiments with young Vantress chicks. In Experiment 1, 48 socially reared Ss of 2 ages (16- and 76-hr) were tested for 3 days on a simultaneous circle-triangle discrimination problem in a 10°C room with 15 sec. exposure to heat as reinforcement. A red circle was the S+ for one-half of the Ss of each age group and for the rest a red triangle was the S+. Ss made significantly more correct responses as testing progressed (p <.001) and the younger Ss had a significant circle preference during testing while the older Ss had no preference (p <.01). In Experiment 2, 48 dark-reared Ss, one-half exposed during the critical period of imprinting to the circle and heat and the rest exposed to the triangle and heat, were then tested for 4 days on the form discrimination problem. Both exposure groups had a significant preference for the circle during discrimination testing (p <.001). It was concluded that approaching some stimulus on the first post-hatch day is necessary for subsequent form preferences to be established.
Chemical composition and redox activity of PM0.25 near Los Angeles International Airport and comparisons to an urban traffic site

To investigate the relative impacts of emissions from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), as well as the impacts of traffic emissions from freeways, on the oxidative potential of particulate matter (PM), PM0.25 were collected at two urban background locations in Los Angeles. Redox activity of the PM samples was measured by means of an in vitro alveolar macrophage assay that quantifies the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells, and detailed chemical analyses were performed to determine the speciated chemical composition of collected PM. A molecular marker-based chemical mass balance (MM-CMB) model was applied to estimate the relative contributions from the following primary sources to the organic carbon (OC) component of PM: mobile sources (combined gasoline and diesel vehicles), wood smoke, vegetative detritus, road dust and ship emissions. A source profile of aircraft emissions was not included in the model; however its contribution was estimated from un-apportioned primary OC in the MM-CMB model ("other OC") after accounting for the contribution of secondary organic carbon (SOC) to OC. The contribution of mobile sources to OC was 82% and 28% at the central Los Angeles site (freeway emissions) and the LAX site, respectively. The estimated contribution of aircraft emissions to PM0.25 OC was 36% at the LAX site. ROS activity levels showed little spatial variability, with no statistically significant difference between the averages observed at LAX (24.75±4.01μgZymosan/m3) and central Los Angeles (27.77±2 0.32μgZymosan/m3), suggesting similar levels of inhalation exposure to redox active species of PM0.25. A multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the variability in ROS activity is best explained by the chemical markers of major identified sources: EC emitted by traffic, and sulfur, considered in our study as a potential tracer of aircraft emissions, with statistically significantly higher concentrations of sulfur at the LAX site (p<0.001).
Mechanistic Duality in Tertiary Amine Additions to Thermally Generated Hexadehydro-Diels–Alder Benzynes

Reported here are studies directed at understanding the mechanism of tertiary amine addition to hexadehydro-Diels–Alder (HDDA)-generated benzynes. Tertiary amines are presumed to engage benzynes by generation of a zwitterionic intermediate. Simple trialkylamines undergo intermolecular protonation by a protic nucleophile to give an aryl ammonium intermediate that is then dealkylated. Amines containing acidified β-protons undergo an intramolecular elimination to give the aniline and an alkene. Finally, amino alcohols react at either of their N- or O atoms, depending upon the extent of internal hydrogen bonding.
Genetic Dissection of End-Use Quality Traits in Adapted Soft White Winter Wheat.

Soft white wheat is used in domestic and foreign markets for various end products requiring specific quality profiles. Phenotyping for end-use quality traits can be destructive, costly and time-consuming, so it is advantageous to use molecular markers to select experimental lines with superior traits. An association mapping panel of 469 soft white winter wheat cultivars and advanced generation breeding lines was developed from regional breeding programs in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. This panel was genotyped on a wheat-specific 90K iSelect single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip. A total of 15,229 high quality SNPs were selected and combined with best linear unbiased predictions (BLUPs) from historical phenotypic data of the genotypes in the panel. Genome-wide association mapping was conducted using the Fixed and random model Circulating Probability Unification (FarmCPU). A total of 105 significant marker-trait associations were detected across 19 chromosomes. Potentially new loci for total flour yield, lactic acid solvent retention capacity, flour sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation and flour swelling volume were also detected. Better understanding of the genetic factors impacting end-use quality enable breeders to more effectively discard poor quality germplasm and increase frequencies of favorable end-use quality alleles in their breeding populations.
Enhanced Stability of Pt-Cu Single-Atom Alloy Catalysts: In Situ Characterization of the Pt/Cu(111) Surface in an Ambient Pressure of CO

The interaction between a catalyst and reactants often induces changes in the surface structure and composition of the catalyst, which, in turn, affect its reactivity. Therefore, it is important to study such changes using in situ techniques under well-controlled conditions. We have used ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to study the surface stability of a Pt/Cu(111) single-atom alloy in an ambient pressure of CO. By directly probing the Pt atoms, we found that CO causes a slight surface segregation of Pt atoms at room temperature. In addition, while the Pt/Cu(111) surface demonstrates poor thermal stability in ultrahigh vacuum conditions, where surface Pt starts to diffuse to the subsurface layer above 400 K, the presence of adsorbed CO enhances the thermal stability of surface Pt atoms. However, we also found that temperatures above 450 K cause restructuring of the subsurface layer, which consequently strengthens the CO binding to the surface Pt sites, likely because of the presence of n...
A Survey of Faculty Evaluation Practices in Journalism and Mass Communication

Although it is presumed that most schools formally and systematically evaluate faculty for purposes of salary, tenure and promotion, the literature reveals little current evidence regarding the ext...
8-Br-cAMP does not convert antagonists of the glucocorticoid receptor into agonists.

Publisher Summary The mouse glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a member of the steroid and thyroid hormone receptor superfamily. A subgroup of this family includes the glucocorticoid, progesterone (PR), androgen (AR), and mineralocorticoid (MR) receptors. This chapter presents a study to characterize the GR response to various steroids in the presence and absence of 8-Br-cAMP. 8-Br-cAMP increases the activity of both full and partial agonists but has no effect on the complete antagonists R5020 and ZK98.299. The studies explained in this chapter suggest that 8-Br-cAMP acts as a switch converting RU486 from an antagonist of the GR into a partial agonist. This is not the case in either CHO cells or COS-7 cells, as in both cell lines RU486 induces MCAT even in the absence of 8-Br-cAMP. Treatment of COS-7 cells with 8-Br-cAMP increases the agonist activity of RU486 and other partial agonists such as progesterone and to a lesser extent full agonists. R5020 and ZK98.299 bind to the GR but do not activate transcription even in the presence of 8-Br-cAMP. Therefore, instead of converting an antagonist to an agonist, 8-Br-cAMP increases the activity of all agonists. ZK98.299 binds tightly to the GR but has no transcriptional activity. ZK98.299 differs from RU486 in the substituents and conformation of the D-ring. This indicates that the 4-dimethylaminophenyl group at the 11β position of both RU486 and ZK98.299 is not the most critical factor in determining antagonistic activity.
Small Business Uniqueness and the Theory of Financial Management

Small businesses do not share the same financial management problems with large businesses. This paper shows that the source of the differences could be traced to several characteristics unique to small businesses. This uniqueness in turn creates a whole new set of financial management issues. The major implication is that, yes, there are new and interesting topics in small business financial management research.
Lernallianzen zwischen Top-Management-Consultancies, Business Schools und Corporate Universities

Wenn Sie die zwei starksten und folgenreichsten Trends der nahen Zukunft benennen mussten — welche wurden Sie nennen?
Model-Agnostic Private Learning

We design differentially private learning algorithms that are agnostic to the learning model assuming access to limited amount of unlabeled public data. First, we give a new differentially private algorithm for answering a sequence of $m$ online classification queries (given by a sequence of $m$ unlabeled public feature vectors) based on a private training set. Our private algorithm follows the paradigm of subsample-and-aggregate, in which any generic non-private learner is trained on disjoint subsets of the private training set, then for each classification query, the votes of the resulting classifiers ensemble are aggregated in a differentially private fashion. Our private aggregation is based on a novel combination of distance-to-instability framework [Smith & Thakurta 2013] and the sparse-vector technique [Dwork et al. 2009, Hardt & Talwar 2010]. We show that our algorithm makes a conservative use of the privacy budget. In particular, if the underlying non-private learner yields classification error at most $\alpha\in (0, 1)$, then our construction answers more queries, by at least a factor of $1/\alpha$ in some cases, than what is implied by a straightforward application of the advanced composition theorem for differential privacy. Next, we apply the knowledge transfer technique to construct a private learner that outputs a classifier, which can be used to answer unlimited number of queries. In the PAC model, we analyze our construction and prove upper bounds on the sample complexity for both the realizable and the non-realizable cases. As in non-private sample complexity, our bounds are completely characterized by the VC dimension of the concept class.
Contrasting effects of N and P on rhizosphere processes in two northern hardwood species

Abstract Rhizosphere soils receive a substantial input of plant carbon (rhizosphere C flux, RCF), and therefore support larger microbial populations and higher decomposing activity compared to bulk soils. The relative difference between rhizosphere and bulk soils (rhizosphere effect) may be sensitive to the effects of soil nutrient availability on plant belowground C allocation and RCF. However, it is not known whether rhizosphere effects are similarly responsive to availability of different nutrients, such as N or P, or to a combination of N and P. We tested the effects of elevated nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), alone and in combination, on microbial activity and abundance in bulk and rhizosphere soils associated with two tree species, red maple and yellow birch, in young, possibly N-limited northern hardwood forests in a long-term fertilization study in New Hampshire, USA. We found that N addition increased microbial respiration, soluble inorganic N, and potential net N mineralization and nitrification, and decreased fungal abundance and fungal:bacterial ratios in red maple soils, but decreased microbial respiration, fungal abundance and the F:B ratio in yellow birch soils. Positive rhizosphere effects were observed for microbial respiration, potential net N mineralization, and microbial abundance for both tree species. Nitrogen addition suppressed rhizosphere effects on microbial activity and abundance in red maple soils but did not alter rhizosphere effects in yellow birch soils. Our results show strong effects of N and some interactions with P on soil processes, microbial abundance and rhizosphere effects in these forests. Nitrogen effects strongly depended on tree species, suggesting the importance of differential responses to nutrients between arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal associations, and indicating the importance of belowground processes to species-specific effects on C and mineral nutrient transformations.
Allergieprävention in Schwangerschaft und Stillzeit

Umweltfaktoren, fruhkindliche Sensibilisierung oder genetische Disposition — die Theorien zur Entstehung von Allergien sind vielfaltig. Auch deswegen sollte Allergiepravention nicht blos auf Vermeidungsansatzen basieren.
Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return

The incidence of partial anomalous pulmonary venous return is estimated to be at least 7 per 1000 individuals. The number and size of the anomalous vessels will define the size of the left-to-right shunt, and the severity of presentation can vary from mild disease identified incidentanlly to right-sided volume overload, severe pulmonary hypertension, and right ventricular failure. This chapter covers the anatomy and physiology of the disease, options and indications for surgical repair, and the management of adult survivors. Total anomalous pulmonary venous return is a rare but severe manifestation of anomalous pulmonary venous return generally presenting in infancy, but also receives mention in this chapter.
Intelligent Multi-Microgrid Energy Management Based on Deep Neural Network and Model-Free Reinforcement Learning

In this paper, an intelligent multi-microgrid (MMG) energy management method is proposed based on deep neural network (DNN) and model-free reinforcement learning (RL) techniques. In the studied problem, multiple microgrids are connected to a main distribution system and they purchase power from the distribution system to maintain local consumption. From the perspective of the distribution system operator (DSO), the target is to decrease the demand-side peak-to-average ratio (PAR), and to maximize the profit from selling energy. To protect user privacy, DSO learns the MMG response by implementing a DNN without direct access to user’s information. Further, the DSO selects its retail pricing strategy via a Monte Carlo method from RL, which optimizes the decision based on prediction. The simulation results from the proposed data-driven deep learning method, as well as comparisons with conventional model-based methods, substantiate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in solving power system problems with partial or uncertain information.
Anisotropic Terahertz Microscopy of Protein Collective Vibrations: Crystal Symmetry and Hydration Dependence

A stationary sample anisotropic terahertz microscopy technique is used to characterize the intramolecular vibrations for lysozyme. Tetragonal and triclinic crystals are compared. We find excellent reproducibility within a single crystal symmetry group. Several resonant bands are present for both symmetry groups, indicating they originate with the intramolecular vibrations and not crystal lattice phonons. Bands become more pronounced and higher frequency resonant bands begin to emerge with slight dehydration.
Suppression of LIM Kinase 1 and LIM Kinase 2 Limits Glioblastoma Invasion

The aggressive brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) is characterized by rapid cellular infiltration of brain tissue, raising the possibility that disease progression could potentially be slowed by disrupting the machinery of cell migration. The LIM kinase isoforms LIMK1 and LIMK2 (LIMK1/2) play important roles in cell polarization, migration, and invasion and are markedly upregulated in GBM and many other infiltrative cancers. Yet, it remains unclear whether LIMK suppression could serve as a viable basis for combating GBM infiltration. In this study, we investigated effects of LIMK1/2 suppression on GBM invasion by combining GBM culture models, engineered invasion paradigms, and mouse xenograft models. While knockdown of either LIMK1 or LIMK2 only minimally influenced invasion in culture, simultaneous knockdown of both isoforms strongly reduced the invasive motility of continuous culture models and human GBM tumor-initiating cells (TIC) in both Boyden chamber and 3D hyaluronic acid spheroid invasion assays. Furthermore, LIMK1/2 functionally regulated cell invasiveness, in part, by disrupting polarized cell motility under confinement and cell chemotaxis. In an orthotopic xenograft model, TICs stably transduced with LIMK1/2 shRNA were implanted intracranially in immunocompromised mice. Tumors derived from LIMK1/2 knockdown TICs were substantially smaller and showed delayed growth kinetics and more distinct margins than tumors derived from control TICs. Overall, LIMK1/2 suppression increased mean survival time by 30%. These findings indicate that LIMK1/2 strongly regulate GBM invasive motility and tumor progression and support further exploration of LIMK1/2 as druggable targets. SIGNIFICANCE: Targeting the actin-binding proteins LIMK1 and LIMK2 significantly diminishes glioblastoma invasion and spread, suggesting the potential value of these proteins as therapeutic targets.
Modeling of Phosphorus Dynamics in Dryland Ecosystems

The availability of phosphorus (P) in soils can be one of the primary factors limiting growth for ecosystems located in both humid and arid climates (Chadwick et al. 1999; Wardle et al. 2004; Crews et al. 1995; Vitousek et al. 2010; He et al. 2014). While P and nitrogen (N ) can be co-limiting nutrients in some terrestrial ecosystems, P can be equally as limiting or more limiting in dryland areas especially those that have calcareous soils or soils with a high pH (Belnap 2011). Over the next century, the extent of P limitation will likely increase globally due to the projected increase in inputs of anthropogenic N (by ~120%) over the next 50 years. These changes could cause a shift from some ecosystems being primarily N limited to being limited by nutrients such as P (Galloway et al. 2004; Mahowald et al. 2008; Vitousek et al. 2010). However, it is not clear how an increase in global aridity over the twenty-first century will affect dryland areas (Chap. 21). For instance, Delgado-Baquerizo et al. (2013) examined how aridity affects the balance between C, N, and P in soils collected from 224 dryland sites across all continents except Antarctica. They found a negative effect of aridity on the concentration of soil organic C and total N but a positive effect on the concentration of inorganic P. They suggest that this is due to aridity being negatively related to plant cover, which may favor physical processes such as rock weathering, and oftentimes a major source of P to ecosystems, over biological processes such as litter decomposition that provide more C and N. It has been estimated that 42% of the world’s croplands are located within drylands (see Chap. 19). About 30–40% of global cropland is primarily P limited with large regions being located in semiarid Africa and Asian steppes (Runge-Metzger 1995; Von Uexkull and Mutert 1998; MacDonald et al. 2011; Fig. 12.1). In agricultural systems, P limitations can be overcome in the short term by utilizing fertilizer to stimulate crop yields; yet despite this, MacDonald et al. (2011) found that global agronomic inputs of P fertilizer (14.2 Tg of Py−1) and manure (9.6 Tg of Py−1) collectively exceed P removal by harvested crops (12.3 Tg of Py−1). Moreover, the supply of rock phosphate needed to create P fertilizer is not limitless and could be depleted in as few as 50 years (Vance et al. 2003; Cordell et al. 2009). Thus, it is important to understand the controls on P availability in dryland ecosystems because of both the potentially expanding extent of P-limited systems and the finite supply of P for fertilizer, which is many times needed during the agricultural production process.
User-centered design for a customized mobile dialysis device for patients with ESRD: an interview study:

Dialysis is performed mostly in-center for patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) who lose normal functionality of their kidneys. The Center for Dialysis Innovation (CDI) at the University of...
Kaplansky’s “infinite abelian groups” and its two test problems

Kaplansky’s Infinite Abelian Groups, originally published in 1954, has recently been republished. In recognition of its continuing significance after 65 years, the authors illustrate some important...
Effects of Sinusoidal Excitation on Transverse Jet Dynamics, Structure, and Mixing

This experimental study explored the effects of axisymmetric sinusoidal excitation on structural and mixing characteristics in the equidensity jet in crossflow (JICF). Planar laser-induced fluoresc...
A vicious cycle of bisretinoid formation and oxidation relevant to recessive Stargardt disease.

The ability of iron to transfer electrons enables the contribution of this metal to a variety of cellular activities even as the redox properties of iron are also responsible for the generation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH), the most destructive of the reactive oxygen species. We previously showed that iron can promote the oxidation of bisretinoid by generating highly reactive hydroxyl radical (•OH). Now we report that preservation of iron regulation in the retina is not sufficient to prevent iron-induced bisretinoid oxidative degradation when blood iron levels are elevated in liver-specific hepcidin knockout mice. We obtained evidence for the perpetuation of Fenton reactions in the presence of the bisretinoid A2E and visible light. On the other hand, iron chelation by deferiprone was not associated with changes in postbleaching recovery of 11-cis-retinal or dark-adapted ERG b-wave amplitudes indicating that the activity of Rpe65, a rate-determining visual cycle protein that carries an iron-binding domain, is not affected. Notably, iron levels were elevated in the neural retina and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells of Abca4−/− mice. Consistent with higher iron content, ferritin-L immunostaining was elevated in RPE of a patient diagnosed with ABCA4-associated disease and in RPE and photoreceptor cells of Abca4−/− mice. In neural retina of the mutant mice, reduced Tfrc mRNA was also an indicator of retinal iron overload. Thus iron chelation may defend retina when bisretinoid toxicity is implicated in disease processes.
Shape Dimension and Approximation from Samples

Abstract. There are many scientific and engineering applications where an automatic detection of shape dimension from sample data is necessary. Topological dimensions of shapes constitute an important global feature of them. We present a Voronoi-based dimension detection algorithm that assigns a dimension to a sample point which is the topological dimension of the manifold it belongs to. Based on this dimension detection, we also present an algorithm to approximate shapes of arbitrary dimension from their samples. Our empirical results with data sets in three dimensions support our theory.
Promoting Generalization of Social Skills to Inclusive Play Settings for Children With Autism and Their Peers

Children on the autism spectrum often experience difficulty generalizing social skills across environments and contexts, which can make developing friendships challenging in early childhood. This m...
What controls the orientation of TADF emitters

Thermally-activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters can in principle allow for 100% internal quantum efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), because the initially formed electron-hole pairs in the non-emissive triplet state can be efficiently converted into emissive singlets by reverse intersystem crossing. Moreover, TADF emitters offer the advantage to align them such that their optical transition dipole moments (TDMs) lie preferentially in the film plane. In this talk, we address the question which factors control the orientation of TADF emitters. Specifically, we discuss how guest-host interactions may be used to influence this parameter and propose an interplay of different factors being responsible. We infer that emitter orientation is mainly governed by the molecular shape of the TADF molecule itself and by the physical properties of the host. Ref: B.A. Naqvi et al., Frontiers in Chemistry 8, 750 (2020)
Enhancing safety and rehabilitation in intimate violence treatments : New perspectives

Linda G. Mills, PhD, JD, LCSWa Peggy Grauwiler, LCSWa Nicole Pezold, MAa Over the last 30 years, safety has been the driving concern in developing treatments for intimate violence and has significantly shaped systematic responses to this problem. One approach has been to develop coordinated community response models that encourage close collaboration among system and service providers to offer more comprehensive, wrap-around services to better guarantee safety.1 Yet another approach has been to legally or physically separate batterers from victims. Pro-arrest policies, which were first introduced in the 1980s, address the safety of female victims by ensuring male batterers are held legally accountable for their offenses and are separated, at least briefly, from their victims.2 Restraining or no-contact orders are also designed to legally separate batterers from victims, while the shelter system seeks to provide women victims a safe place away from home, should they need it. In time, women victims expressed their desire for treatment programs for their partners rather than arrest and incarceration.3 Courts began referring offenders to Batterer Intervention Programs (BIPs) such as the Duluth Model, where male batterers were treated in groups in isolation from their victims.3 This rehabilitation strategy has reinforced the trend to separate female victims from abusive male partners to address each party’s legal and treatment needs individually. Such strategies have been designed almost exclusively to address male violence perpetrated against females and ensure female victims’ safety, while ignoring the fact that intimate violence afflicts both women and men.4,5 As a result, much of the relevant theory and research has been similarly focused on a gendered conception of intimate violence. While this article reviews and answers the concerns of this literature, it underscores as well that new, more inclusive treatments may be applied to the complex range of intimate violence cases. It is also important to acknowledge that criminal justice strategies often overlook the fact that many couples remain inextricably bound for a variety of reasons, regardless of intervention or divorce.4,5 Despite no-contact orders or the threat of future violence, offenders and victims often have continued contact during or after state interventions.4,6 Although no consistent evidence exists on how many women stay or leave, perhaps as many as half of victims persist in their relationships—and if they do leave, research shows that this process
Gene expression during outgrowth of Bacillus subtilis spores. The relationship between gene order on the chromosome and temporal sequence of enzyme synthesis.

Abstract During outgrowth of Bacillus subtilis W23 spores in a defined medium, the activities of five enzymes studied—sucrase, trehalase, ornithine transcarbamylase, aspartate transcarbamylase and threonine dehydratase—appear in a sequential manner. With one exception (ornithine transcarbamylase), before DNA synthesis begins, the enzyme activities appear in the order in which the corresponding genetic loci have been located on the genetic map. Ornithine transcarbamylase activity does not appear in the first round, but in the second series of increases in enzyme activity after DNA synthesis commences. Moreover, the appearance of this enzyme activity occurs at a time that would be expected from its relative position on the genetic map.
ON THE ETHICS AND POETICS OF HOW WE MAKE OUR LIVES: ESMERALDA SANTIAGO AND THE IMPROVISATION OF IDENTITY

Resumen en: This interpretive essay explores the early memoirs of Esmeralda Santiago, When I was Puerto Rican and Almost a Woman, to show how narrative literature co...
Behavior of PCM/PM/NRZ receivers in non-ideal channels-the separate effects of imperfect data streams and bandlimiting channels on performance

The performance of the residual carrier communication system that employs the PCM/PM modulation technique with imperfect NRZ data format and band-limited channels are investigated, with particular emphasis on space telemetry receivers. Only the effects of imperfect carrier tracking induced by an imperfect data stream are considered. The symbol error rate (SER) performance degradation due to the presence of imperfect data stream is evaluated and compared with the results obtained by computer simulation. Furthermore, the SER performance is analyzed in the presence of band-limited channel. The effect of the intersymbol interference (ISI) created by a band-limited channel on the system performance is evaluated and compared with the computer simulation results for an ideal low-pass filter.
A Review of “The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations”

Over the years, The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations has become one of the most popular textbooks for undergraduate political science and international re...
Chromospheric activity in open clusters

Spectra of Ca II H and K are being taken for stars of similar mass in the Hyades, the Pleiades, and NGC 752. These spectra will be used to create indices of chromospheric activity on these stars. The dispersion in these indices will then be compared to model dispersions which take into account stellar inclination, position of active regions, and filling factor. Only a few observations have been made to date. These show that a high signal to noise is achievable over reasonable exposure times. Modelling has only just begun.
1,2-Bis{2-[2-(trimethyl-sil-yl)ethyn-yl]phen-yl}ethane-1,2-dione.

The title compound, C24H26O2Si2, has C2 crystallographic symmetry. The dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 84.5 (2)°. The acetyl­ene group is slightly non-linear, with angles at the acetyl­ene C atoms of 175.7 (2) and 177.0 (2)°. In the crystal structure, only van de Waals interactions occur.
Speculations on Bose-Einstein Condensation and Quantum Crystals

It is shown, by almost rigorous arguments, that there exist many-body states of a system of interacting bosons which exhibit both crystalline order and Bose-Einstein condensation into the zero-momentum eigenstate of the single-particle density matrix. The implications of this result are discussed in relation to theories of superfluidity and the nature of quantum crystals.
Turning transcription on or off with STAT5: when more is less

The transcription factor STAT5 can activate or repress gene expression depending on whether binding of dimer or tetrameric STAT5 occurs. Tetrameric STAT5 recruits the chromatin modifier Ezh2 to silence gene expression.
The Use of Stimulant Medication to Treat Neurocognitive Deficits in Patients with Pediatric Cancer, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Sickle Cell Disease: A Review

AbstractSeveral chronic health conditions of childhood, including pediatric cancers, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and sickle cell disease (SCD) are associated with significant neurocognitive impairments that can compromise educational attainment and future vocational opportunities. The prominence of attentional deficits as part of the neurocognitive sequelae associated with each of these conditions has led some researchers to draw parallels with another chronic condition that manifests in childhood, specifically the inattentive subtype of attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Because ADHD shares similar neurocognitive and symptomatological features with pediatric cancer, TBI, and SCD, stimulant medications may be indicated to treat associated deficits in each condition. However, relatively few studies have investigated the safety and effectiveness of stimulant medications in treating neurocognitive sequelae in children with cancer, TBI, or SCD. Thus, clinicians have received little guidance re...
Expansions in Laguerre Polynomials of Negative Order

Abstract We discuss pointwise convergence for expansions of Laguerre polynomials of order α ≤ −1.
THE ROARING SILENCE: FEMINIST REVISIONS IN THE EDUCATIONAL POLICY LITERATURE

Absent from assessments of feminism's influence on the academy and the disciplines is an evaluation of the impact of feminist thought on policy research. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate feminist scholarship's presence in the core policy and higher education journals. The first section of the paper explains why it is important to consider the influence of feminism on the policy literature. This is followed by a discussion of what is meant by feminism in the context of this paper. The third section presents the methodology used in evaluating the literature. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications
The Role of the String Project in Teacher Training and Community Music Education.

The National String Project Consortium was designed to encourage string education majors to become string teachers and to stimulate growth of new school orchestra programs. The purpose of this stud...
Biophysics of Molecular Gastronomy

Chefs and scientists exploring biophysical processes have given rise to molecular gastronomy. In this Commentary, we describe how a scientific understanding of recipes and techniques facilitates the development of new textures and expands the flavor palette. The new dishes that result engage our senses in unexpected ways. PAPERCLIP.
Cardioactive Protein-Hormonal Complexes of Brain and Heart

New cardioactive protein-hormone complexes (PHC) are identified in magnocellular nuclei of hypothalamus. It was proved that they are specific for nervous tissues and are involved in the regulation of metabolic processes of brain and visceral organs, including the heart. PHC dissociate into high-molecular forms which are new specific glycoproteins and the low-molecular cardioactive neurohormones. Results of our own studies on the functional activities of PHC as well as cardioactive peptides in the precardiac and auricular regions of the heart with respect to the parameters of haemostasis system are reviewed.
High strain fatigue fracture mechanisms in two phase alloys

Cyclic response and fatigue damage have been studied on precipitation-hardened Al-4 pet Cu alloy as a function of particle type and spacing by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Specimens strain cycled in tension-compression under controlledplastic-strain tests formed intense intragranular slip bands by a disordering mechanism when the microstructures contained precipitates penetrable by dislocations. These bands were the sites of crack nucleation and Stage I propagation. With the addition of impenetrable particles, slip was dispersed homogeneously; consequently, crack nucleation and Stage I propagation shifted to the grain boundaries. The cyclic response results were then applied to Tomkins’ model of fatigue life prediction. It was found that his equations were a conservative estimate of the actual results.
The Genomic Basis of Myocardial Infarction

The evidence for heritability of myocardial infarction (MI) is striking, with a positive family history being one of the most important risk factors for this complex trait ([1][1]). The term “complex trait” implies both gene-environment and gene-gene interaction, along with the complexity of