cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chronic anabolic androgenic steroid exposure alters corticotropin releasing factor expression and anxiety-like behaviors in the female mouse

In the past several decades, the therapeutic use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has been overshadowed by illicit use of these drugs by elite athletes and a growing number of adolescents to enhance performance and body image. As with adults, AAS use by adolescents is associated with a range of behavioral effects, including increased anxiety and altered responses to stress. It has been suggested that adolescents, especially adolescent females, may be particularly susceptible to the effects of these steroids, but few experiments in animal models have been performed to test this assertion. Here we show that chronic exposure of adolescent female mice to a mixture of three commonly abused AAS (testosterone cypionate, nandrolone decanoate and methandrostenolone; 7.5 mg/kg/day for 5 days) significantly enhanced anxiety-like behavior as assessed by the acoustic startle response (ASR), but did not augment the fear-potentiated startle response (FPS) or alter sensorimotor gating as assessed by prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response (PPI). AAS treatment also significantly increased the levels of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) mRNA and somal-associated CRF immunoreactivity in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), as well as neuropil-associated immunoreactivity in the dorsal aspect of the anterolateral division of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (dBnST). AAS treatment did not alter CRF receptor 1 or 2 mRNA in either the CeA or the dBnST; CRF immunoreactivity in the ventral BnST, the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) or the median eminence (ME); or peripheral levels of corticosterone. These results suggest that chronic AAS treatment of adolescent female mice may enhance generalized anxiety, but not sensorimotor gating or learned fear, via a mechanism that involves increased CRF-mediated signaling from CeA neurons projecting to the dBnST.
Health and agricultural intensification in the prehistoric valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

The effects of agricultural intensification on health are examined in prehistoric populations of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Agriculture was practiced in the Valley of Oaxaca by the beginning of the Early Formative period (ca. 1400 B.C.), and had intensified by the Late Formative (ca. 500 B.C.). Skeletal remains from 14 archaeological sites in the Valley are pooled by temporal affiliation into a nonintensive agriculture group (1400-500 B.C.) and an intensive agriculture group (500 B.C.-1400 A.D.). The health effects of agricultural intensification are assessed by comparing the frequency of periosteal reactions, cribra orbitalia, and enamel hypoplasia between the intensive and nonintensive agricultural groups. Overall, no significant differences (alpha = 0.05) are found between the nonintensive and intensive groups. Power analyses of the chi-square tests indicate that the tests have a high probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis. The intensification of agriculture does not appear to have had a deleterious effect on the health of the prehistoric population of the Valley. The differences between this study and previous studies of health and agricultural development may be explained by differences between the processes of intensification and development or by differences between primary and secondary centers of agricultural development.
The BaBar CsI(Tl) calorimeter

Abstract The B a B ar electromagnetic calorimeter is composed of 6600 CsI(Tl) crystals organized in a cylindrical barrel and a conical forward endcap. During the past year, the assembly of the two parts has been completed. The mechanical and optical properties of the crystals are described, together with the readout and calibration systems and the progress in the construction of the system.
Synovial dendritic cells and T cells in rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic disorder manifested locally in joints. The etiology of RA remains unknown, although at some point in time various bacteria and viral agents or their products have been implicated. None of them, however, proved to be a satisfactory explanation since no proposed agent has been consistently isolated or detected in the majority of RA cases during the course of the illness. The pathogenesis of RA is better understood. Patients with the disease have a number of aberrant humoral and cellular immune reactions and it is generally agreed that these participate in the perpetuation of chronic articular inflammation. This paper will focus primarily on the cell mediated responses observed in synovial fluid (SF) and most specifically the interaction of RA synovial fluid dendritic cells (DC) and T lymphocytes.At the outset, it should be appreciated that a variety of cells isolated from RA articular tissues have been called “dendritic” based on the morphologic appearance of long, ex...
Surface plasmon resonance imaging analysis of protein-receptor binding in supported membrane arrays on gold substrates with calcinated silicate films.

A new method to fabricate supported bilayer membrane (SBM) arrays for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging analysis is demonstrated in this work. Thin silicate films are produced on gold SPR substrates using layer-by-layer assembly, followed by calcination. Etching into the glassified substrates using photolithographic techniques generates nanowells of desirable size and depth. Atomic force microscopy and SPR imaging analysis show that the features are well-defined, and the etching process appears to have a surface smoothing effect. After the wells are oxidized with strong acid, vesicles spontaneously fuse onto them to form supported membranes with a high degree of lateral mobility. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching measurements yielded a diffusion coefficient of 1.1 μm2/s. To demonstrate the feasibility for high-throughput receptor−ligand interaction analysis, binding of cholera toxin (CT) to SBM arrays containing 5 mol % ganglioside GM1 receptor was carried out with SPR imaging. The results ...
Frequency-domain analysis of an adaptive optical system's temporal response

Although analyses general enough to account for both the temporal and spatial characteristics of the adaptive optical system exist, they are complex and require detailed information regarding the wavefront sensor, the deformable mirror, and the control algorithm. This investigation develops a frequency-domain analysis that predicts the performance of an adaptive optical system having an arbitrary temporal response. The analysis takes into account aperture piston and tilt removal and spatial bandwidth limitations due to the wavefront sensor's finite subaperture size and the deformable mirror's finite actuator spacing. The unique aspect of this model is the relative ease with which performance characteristics of different spatial and temporal system response functions can be investigated.
Urban land use allocation and environmental pollution control: An intertemporal optimization approach

Abstract This paper deals with long-run, multiperiod strategies of environmental pollution control and allocation of urban land uses. Air pollution generated by the industrial, residential and transportation sectors is taken as representative of the urban environmental quality problem. A comprehensive urban development optimization model is presented, integrating three submodel components for industrial, residential and transportation activities. The analysis focuses on the intertemporal linkages between technological and locational decisions, accounting for land availability, air pollution generation, control and impact, technological change, relocation of activities, land development and redevelopment, and transportation flows and network expansion. The modeling approach is of the cost-effectiveness type: the efficiency criterion is the total intertemporal cost of urban development and operation, and the objectives of the environmental policy are expressed in terms of standards to be respected. The methodology is illustrated by an empirical application to the Haifa metropolitan area.
Structural model studies for the peroxo intermediate P and the reaction pathway from P-->Q of methane monooxygenase using broken-symmetry density functional calculations.

Several structural models for the active site of the peroxo intermediate state “P” of the hydroxylase component of soluble methane monooxygenase (MMOH) have been studied, using two DFT functionals OPBE and PW91 with broken-symmetry methodology and the conductor-like screening (COSMO) solvation model. These active site models have different O2 binding modes to the diiron center, such as the μ-η2,η2, trans-μ−1,2 and cis-μ−1,2 conformations. The calculated properties, including optimized geometries, electronic energies, Fe net spin populations, and Mossbauer isomer shift and quadrupole splitting values, have been reported and compared with available experimental results. The high-spin antiferromagnetically (AF) coupled Fe3+ sites are correctly predicted by both OPBE and PW91 methods for all active site models. Our data analysis and comparisons favor a cis-μ−1,2 structure (model cis-μ−1,2a shown in Figure 9) likely to represent the active site of MMOH-P. Feasible structural changes from MMOH-P to another inte...
Resistance to amino acid inhibition in Caulobacter crescentus

Growth of Caulobacter crescentus CB15 in minimal glucose-ammonium media is inhibited by nine L-amino acids: cysteine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, serine, threonine, and valine. Addition of 10 mM L-alanine prevents the inhibitory response. Several other amino acids also prevented the inhibitory response but to a lesser extent. Mutants resistant to amino acid inhibition designated Aar-, were isolated and characterized. All mutants exhibited a phenotype of cross-resistance to all amino acids and most analogues, regardless of the selective agent. Representative mutations were linked 80% to cysB by RP4-mediated conjugation, and all mutations were linked 10–25% to cysB by transduction. Although the mechanism of amino acid inhibition is not known, the alanine protection and the Aar- phenotype seem to be due to a reduced rate of uptake of inhibitory amino acids.
The simultaneous determination of 20 trace elements in terrestrial, lunar and meteoritic material by radiochemical neutron activation analysis

A radiochemical neutron activation method has been developed and applied to determine the content of 20 trace elements (Ag, Au, Bi, Br, Cd, Co, Cs, Cu, Ga, Ge, In, Ir, Ni, Rb, Re, Sb, Te, Tl, and Zn) in 45 terrestrial, 230 lunar, and 70 meteoritic samples. Results obtained for the U.S.G.S. standard basalt BCR-1 indicate that the inherent precision for most elements is 10% or better. The values obtained for the trace elements investigated are compared to those previously reported in the literature. Data for Type I carbonaceous chondrites show their compositions to be far more uniform than previously supposed. The values obtained for several elements represent significant revisions in the accepted cosmic abundances. These new values include: Zn, 1250; Cd, 1.51; and Ir, 0.72 atoms/million Si atoms. Further results have provided insight into the meteoritic material and accretion of the moon, and give evidence of lunar highland vulcanism.
Wind-Induced Barotropic Motions in Long Lakes

Abstract Water motion in the barotropic mode, directly forced by suddenly imposed wind stress, is investigated in basins with arbitrary topography, but paying special attention to long basins, in which the depth contours run parallel to the shores over a “trunk” region. In the initial period the depth-integrated transport is found to increase linearly in time; later, friction slows down this increase. Where the water is shallower than the average depth of the lake, transport is with the wind; it is against the wind in the deeper portion. Over the entire basin, a transport-streamline pattern may be calculated numerically, which is identical in appearance with the steady-state flow pattern calculated on the basis of assuming bottom friction to be linearly related to transport. A more realistic frictional force (quadratic in the velocity) modifies this pattern somewhat, but does not change it qualitatively. An analysis of IFYGL coastal chain observations in Lake Ontario shows that the observed nearshore tran...
Arctic Sea Ice Variability and Trends, 1979-2006

In sharp contrast to the decreasing sea ice coverage of the Arctic, in the Antarctic the sea ice cover has, on average, expanded since the late 1970s. More specifically, satellite passive-microwave data for the period November 1978 - December 2010 reveal an overall positive trend in ice extents of 17,100 +/- 2,300 square km/yr. Much of the increase, at 13,700 +/- 1,500 square km/yr, has occurred in the region of the Ross Sea, with lesser contributions from the Weddell Sea and Indian Ocean. One region, that of the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas, has, like the Arctic, instead experienced significant sea ice decreases, with an overall ice extent trend of -8,200 +/- 1,200 square km/yr. When examined through the annual cycle over the 32-year period 1979-2010, the Southern Hemisphere sea ice cover as a whole experienced positive ice extent trends in every month, ranging in magnitude from a low of 9,100 +/- 6,300 square km/yr in February to a high of 24,700 +/- 10,000 square km/yr in May. The Ross Sea and Indian Ocean also had positive trends in each month, while the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas had negative trends in each month, and the Weddell Sea and Western Pacific Ocean had a mixture of positive and negative trends. Comparing ice-area results to ice-extent results, in each case the ice-area trend has the same sign as the ice-extent trend, but differences in the magnitudes of the two trends identify regions with overall increasing ice concentrations and others with overall decreasing ice concentrations. The strong pattern of decreasing ice coverage in the Bellingshausen/Amundsen Seas region and increasing ice coverage in the Ross Sea region is suggestive of changes in atmospheric circulation. This is a key topic for future research.
On the Capacity and Programming of Flash Memories

Flash memories are currently the most widely used type of nonvolatile memories. A flash memory consists of floating-gate cells as its storage elements, where the charge level stored in a cell is used to represent data. Compared to magnetic recording and optical recording, flash memories have the unique property that the cells are programmed using an iterative procedure that monotonically shifts each cell's charge level upward toward its target value. In this paper, we model the cell as a monotonic storage channel, and explore its capacity and optimal programming. We present two optimal programming algorithms based on a few different noise models and optimization objectives.
Trellis coded beamforming vector quantization with fractional bits per antenna

We study the problem of quantizing an M dimensional beamforming vector with M relatively large. Using a conventional beamforming vector codebook to quantize beamforming vectors incurs a complexity that scales exponentially with M, making it unsuitable when M is large. In [1], we proposed to use a trells-based quantization scheme to tackle the complexity problem, and we present two enhancements in this paper. First, we let each trellis stage process multiple channel dimensions, resulting in a quantization improvement at the cost of increasing the quantization complexity to O(M22BL). Second, we permute the trellis state transitions and outputs to map neighboring beamforming vectors to neighboring channel coded vectors. The second enhancement is benefecial when implementing feedback, as feedback information is time-sensitive and retransmission may not be worthwhile. Simulations show the improvements of our proposed techniques.
Nonlinear light scattering by laser- and dc-field-induced molecular reorientations in nematic-liquid-crystal films

We present here a detailed experimental study of nonlinear optical scattering in nematic liquid crystals using low-power cw lasers. The scattering is effected by the phase grating created by two intersecting same-frequency lasers. These lasers interfere spatially to create an index modulation via their reorientation effects on the molecules. When aided by a dc magnetic field, the reorientation and nonlinear responses of the medium are enhanced. We have quantitatively measured the dependence of the diffraction efficiency as a function of the optical intensity and the magnetic field ranging from well below to far above the critical orientation threshold values. The scattering is also analyzed in terms of its dependence on the temperature, sample thickness, and the scattering geometry. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical expectations. We also point out some high-intensity effects and applications of this phase grating, e.g., in wave-front conjugation and holographic imaging.
Primary malignant hemangioendothelioma of the liver: survival following nonoperative treatment

A case of primary hemangioendothelioma is presented. Following autodearterialization, the patient received 5-fluorouracil orally and total hepatic radiation. To date, 30 months later, he remains alive and active with residual hepatic defect on liver scan, but no indication of progression of disease. Primary malignant hemangioendothelioma is discussed briefly in terms of etiology, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment, and a treatment plan is presented. This case also presented an unusual side effect of 5-fluorouracil therapy -- mononeuritis multiplex -- and is presented out of interest.
Impact of privacy and security on users' trust in ubiquitous commerce

This paper investigates the factors that influencing the adoption of ubiquitous commerce (u-commerce) focusing on users' trust in privacy and security. Specifically, a framework is developed to show the interrelationships among users' trust, privacy and security on the adoption of u-commerce. The precedent factors that affecting privacy and security are also analyzed, including technology familiarity, social presence, and legislation and policy. A survey method is developed in order to quantitatively measure these factors. A pilot study shows that the majority of these measurements are important to the adoption of ubiquitous commerce. The results will be beneficial to managers and ubiquitous commerce developers when make decisions on the development of the system; and thereby, accelerate the adoption of ubiquitous commerce.
Training First Graders of High-Activity Level to Improve Performance through Verbal Self-direction

Several previous lines of theory and research have suggested that language development plays an important role in control of impulsive responding and that training in verbal self-regulation can be effective in reducing impulsive responding among hyperactive children. The body of research on “conceptual tempo” further suggests that multiple-choice formats found in educational materials may be specifically eliciting impulsive responses from children who are disposed to make hasty (and incorrect) choices. In this study impulsive, high-active first graders were trained to verbally mediate responses on a multiple-choice task. Then on a standardized, multiple-choice test of perceptual-matching ability, this group showed a significant pretest to posttest gain in comparison with an untrained control group of impulsive, high-active children and with both trained and untrained control groups of nonimpulsive, low-active children. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the questionable validity of...
Evidence for an Important Role of Changes in rather than Absolute Concentrations of Glucagon in the Regulation of Glucose Production in Humans

To evaluate the responsiveness of the liver to various levels of plasma glucagon, we infused glucagon into normal humans at sequentially increasing or decreasing dose levels. In the first series of experiments, glucagon was initially infused at 6 ng⁄kg-min for 150 min and was then reduced to 3 ng⁄kg-min for an additional 150 min. In a second series of studies, the order of the infusions was reversed (3 ng⁄kg-min, followed by 6 ng⁄kg-min). When the 6 ng⁄kg-min infusion was given as the initial dose, plasma glucagon rose 5-fold (to 600–700 pg) and glucose production increased 2-fold, returning to baseline by 75 min. When the glucagon infusion was reduced to 3 ng⁄kgmin, plasma glucagon fell to 300–400 pg⁄ml and glucose production fell 35% below basal, returning to basal rates by 45 min.Discontinuation of the glucagon infusion resulted in a second transient decline in glucose production to 30% below basal despite normal basal plasma glucagon (120 pg⁄ml). Plasma insulin remained at basal levels at each decreas...
What Matters for Marginalized Girls and Boys in Bangladesh: a capabilities approach for understanding educational well-being and empowerment

Ensuring the education of marginalized children has become an important agenda in order to reach the goals of universal primary education and gender equality. Education policies and projects aiming to target marginalized children often do so on the basis of demographic variables, such as sex, ethnicity, poverty and geography. We argue that this approach to defining marginality does not sufficiently address underlying discriminatory conditions and norms that perpetuate inequalities. In this article, we employed a capabilities approach as an analytical frame to understand what girls and boys in a rural district in Bangladesh reason affects their educational well-being and empowerment. We draw on critical feminist perspectives of empowerment to illustrate how gendered inequalities are perpetuated in the structures and norms in communities and schools. We argue that specific conditions can differentially marginalize or empower, and these conditions have persistent gendered patterns. Conditions of a safe, supportive, and quality educational environment foster possibilities for empowerment and well-being, and conversely, a lack of these conditions can marginalize children from achieving well-being through education.
Performance analysis of RAIDS disk arrays with a vacationing server model for rebuild mode operation

We analyze the performance of RAIDS disk arrays in normal, degraded, and rebuild modes. The analysis, which is shown to be highly accurate through validation against simulation results, achieves its accuracy by (1) modeling detailed disk characteristics; (2) developing a simple approximation to compute the mean response time for fork-join requests arising in degraded mode operation; and (3) using a vacationing server model with multiple vacation types for rebuild mode analysis. According to this model vacations (rebuild reads) are started when the server (disk) becomes idle and are repeated until the arrival of an external disk request. Type one (two) vacations correspond to the reading of the first track which requires a seek (successive tracks requiring no seeks). The analytic solution is used to quantify the effect of different rebuild options, such as read redirection and the split-seek option. >
Starch‐Powered Biofuel Cell Activated by Logically Processed Biomolecular Signals

An overview of the application of signal-switchable electrodes in biofuel cells is provided, concentrating on sophisticated systems where logically processed biomolecular signals can activate power production by switchable biofuel cells. The discussion is directed to the formulation of a new concept of physiologically controlled biofuel cells with the power production on demand, particularly in the case of implantable biofuel cells operating in vivo under physiological conditions. The practical realization of the novel concept may be in separating the signal-processing and power-producing sub-systems which communicate electronically. The general conceptual discussion is exemplified with a system where a biomolecular logic system represented by a single Boolean OR logic gate is used to activate enzyme-release to produce glucose-biofuel from starch to activate power generation by a biofuel cell. The presented example is aiming at the concept demonstration rather than immediate practical application. Further sophistication of the given example is possible based on the rapidly developing biocomputing approach and integration of signal-processing systems with switchable materials, electrodes and biofuel cells.
Detecting feature interactions from accuracies of random feature subsets

Interaction among features notoriously causes difficulty for machine learning algorithms because the relevance of one feature for predicting the target class can depend on the values of other features. In this paper, we introduce a new method for detecting feature interactions by evaluating the accuracies of a learning algorithm on random subsets of features. We give an operational definition for feature interactions based on when a set of features allows a learning algorithm to achieve higher than expected accuracy, assuming independence. Then we show how to adjust the sampling of random subsets in a way that is fair and balanced, given a limited amount of time. Finally, we show how decision trees built from sets of interacting features can be converted into DNF expressions to form constructed features. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method empirically by showing that it can improve the accuracy of the C4.5 decision-tree algorithm on several benchmark databases.
Longitudinal associations among depression, obesity and alcohol use disorders in young adulthood.

Objective: This study examined concurrent and prospective relations between clinical depression, obesity and alcohol use disorders during young adulthood to better understand common etiology and the progression of co-occurrence. Method: Participants were 776 young adults (393 males and 383 females) who were interviewed at ages 24, 27 and 30 years with assessment of past-year major depressive episode, past-year alcohol abuse or dependence disorder, and obesity. Longitudinal path analyses were conducted separately for women and men, controlling for income and including stability of each of these outcomes. Results: Among women, depression was positively associated with later alcohol use disorders (ages 27 to 30: OR=3.11), and alcohol use disorders prospectively predicted obesity (ages 24 to 27: OR=3.84). Obesity predicted depression from ages 27 to 30 among women (OR=2.14), but was protective against depression for males (OR=0.31). Conclusions: Results show that depression, obesity and alcohol use disorders are interrelated conditions for women. A greater understanding of reasons underlying the co-occurrence of these conditions would benefit prevention and intervention efforts.
Internet dependency: Its impact on online behavioral patterns in E-commerce

Delivering the right Internet service to the right person has been a major challenge to E-commerce strategies. Develop- ers of E-commerce and online services have constantly faced the issue of scarce design guidelines to model their customers' on- line behavioral patterns. This has called for new research on the characteristics of Internet users so that appropriate E-commerce website design strategies can be developed. This study attempts to investigate the possibility of the non-detrimental effects of Internet dependency and proposes an instrument to measure both positive and negative Internet dependency. The authors fur- ther assess the effects of these two types of dependency on several online activities to delineate the characteristics of Internet users. This article is concluded with the managerial implications of the findings and the suggested E-commerce website design guidelines.
18O isotopic separation of stream nitrate sources in mid-Appalachian forested watersheds

Abstract The δ 18 O values of atmospheric nitrate deposition, microbe-produced nitrate, and stream nitrate were measured to determine the dominant source of stream nitrate in 27 mid-Appalachian headwater forested watersheds (12–771 ha) with varying bedrock geologies, land disturbance histories, and stand ages. The 12 monthly composite nitrate δ 18 O values of wet deposition and throughfall exhibited similar pronounced seasonal trends, with relatively depleted δ 18 O values during the summer. Wet deposition and throughfall nitrate δ 18 O values were not significantly different between northern (Leading Ridge, PA) and southern (Fernow, WV) regional sampling sites, indicating that δ 18 O values were spatially similar across the study area. Atmospheric nitrate δ 18 O values were significantly greater than microbe-produced nitrate δ 18 O values, allowing the two sources of stream nitrate to be separated. During four baseflow and three stormflow sampling periods, microbe-produced nitrate was the dominant (>70%) source of nitrate in the study streams. This result does not mean atmospheric nitrogen deposition should be discounted as a source of forested stream nitrate, because atmospheric deposition is the primary external contributor to the long-term soil nitrogen pool that ultimately drives soil nitrate production rates. Stream nitrate δ 18 O values were greater during stormflow periods compared to baseflow periods, indicating greater contributions of atmospheric nitrate during storm events. Neither microbe-produced nitrate δ 18 O values from incubated forest soil samples nor stream nitrate δ 18 O values showed strong relationships with land disturbance history or stand age. However, watersheds dominated by Pottsville/Allegheny bedrock and associated extremely acid soils had greater summer stream nitrate δ 18 O values than watersheds containing predominantly Catskill/Chemung/Pocono and Mauch Chunk/Greenbrier bedrock. Inhibited microbial nitrate production by low soil pH could account for the greater proportions of atmospheric nitrate deposition in streams draining Pottsville/Allegheny bedrock.
Technology, Criminology and Crime Science

Developments in technology have changed the environment of crime, which, in some of its new forms, poses a serious threat to society. At the same time the technologies of crime control are being transformed. If criminology is to respond adequately to this changed environment, it must make radical changes in its mission, its theories and its methodologies, the collective result of which would be to make the discipline more directly relevant to crime control and prevention. This would enhance the effectiveness of these activities and would also open up new and exciting career opportunities for criminologists. If criminology does not change, it will become eclipsed by crime science and will find it increasingly hard to survive – even in the protected environment of universities.
Aortic stenosis: two steps forward, one step back.

Severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) is a lethal disease, the only effective therapy for which is mechanical relief of the obstruction to outflow, ie, aortic valve replacement (AVR). Generally held tenets about AS include the following. (1) Patients with preserved systolic function have an excellent outcome after AVR.1 (2) Patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF) and high afterload also have an excellent response to AVR because AVR reduces afterload and allows ejection performance to return toward normal.2,3 (3) Patients with low flow, reduced EF, and pseudo-AS would not benefit from AVR. Pseudo-AS has been defined as a condition in which calculated aortic valve area falsely overestimates the severity of AS when aortic valve area is calculated at low flow.4,5 Because in such cases the AS is in fact not severe, it has been reasoned that AVR would not be of benefit. (4) Patients with truly severe AS, low EF, and low gradient benefit from AVR when such patients demonstrate inotropic reserve.6 (5) Even some low-EF, low-gradient patients without inotropic reserve benefit from AVR.7 However, 2 studies of AS published in this issue of Circulation raise many interesting questions about our management of patients with AS.8,9 These studies help to confirm some of our concepts of managing this disease while raising questions about others. Articles pp 2848 and 2856 The study by Hachicha et al8 seems to confirm at least 1 of the aforementioned concepts: that AS patients with only mild left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction have an excellent outcome after AVR. Their group of patients with impaired mid-wall shortening and reduced forward stroke volume, …
In situ environmental transmission electron microscopy study of oxidation of two-dimensional Ti3C2 and formation of carbon-supported TiO2

Two-dimensional Ti3C2, also known as “MXene”, was oxidized in air under two different oxidizing regimes in order to produce carbon-supported TiO2. In situ TEM analysis coupled with Raman spectroscopy revealed the formation of either anatase nanoparticles or planar rutile nanocrystals, which were controlled by the time, temperature and heating rate.
The Regulation and Supervision of Banks Around the World: A New Database

This new and comprehensive database on the regulation and supervision of banks in 107 countries should better inform advice about bank regulation and supervision and lower the marginal cost of empirical research.International consultants on bank regulation and supervision for developing countries often base their advice on how their home country does things, for lack of information on practice in other countries. Recommendations for reform have tended to be shaped by bias rather than facts.To better inform advice about bank regulation and supervision and to lower the marginal cost of empirical research, Barth, Caprio, and Levine present and discuss a new and comprehensive database on the regulation and supervision of banks in 107 countries. The data, based on surveys sent to national bank regulatory and supervisory authorities, are now available to researchers and policymakers around the world.The data cover such aspects of banking as entry requirements, ownership restrictions, capital requirements, activity restrictions, external auditing requirements, characteristics of deposit insurance schemes, loan classification and provisioning requirements, accounting and disclosure requirements, troubled bank resolution actions, and (uniquely) the quality of supervisory personnel and their actions.The database permits users to learn how banks are currently regulated and supervised, and about bank structures and deposit insurance schemes, for a broad cross-section of countries.In addition to describing the data, Barth, Caprio, and Levine show how variables may be grouped and aggregated. They also show some simple correlations among selected variables.In a companion paper ("Bank Regulation and Supervision: What Works Best") studying the relationship between differences in bank regulation and supervision and bank performance and stability, they conclude that:- Countries with policies that promote private monitoring of banks have better bank performance and more stability. Countries with more generous deposit insurance schemes tend to have poorer bank performance and more bank fragility.- Diversification of income streams and loan portfolios - by not restricting bank activities - also tends to improve performance and stability. (This works best when an active securities market exists.) Countries in which banks are encouraged to diversify their portfolios domestically and internationally suffer fewer crises.This paper - a product of Finance, Development Research Group, and the Financial Sector Strategy and Policy Department - is part of a larger effort in the Bank to compile data on financial regulation and supervision and the advise countries on what works best. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project "Bank Regulation and Supervision: What Works and What Does Not."
CsiA is a bacterial cell wall synthesis inhibitor contributing to DNA translocation through the cell envelope.

Summary Conjugation is a widely spread mechanism allowing bacteria to adapt and evolve by acquiring foreign DNA. The chromosome of Lactococcus lactis MG 1363 contains a 60 kb conjugative element called the sex factor capable of high-frequency DNA transfer. Yet, little is known about the proteins involved in this process. Comparative genomics revealed a close relationship between the sex factor and elements found in Gram-positive pathogenic cocci. Among the conserved gene products, CsiA is a large protein that contains a highly conserved domain (HCD) and a C-terminal cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolases/peptidases (CHAP) domain in its C-terminal moiety. Here, we show that CsiA is required for DNA transfer. Surprisingly, increased expression of CsiA affects cell viability and the cells become susceptible to lysis. Point mutagenesis of HCD reveals that this domain is responsible for the observed phenotypes. Growth studies and electron microscope observations suggest that CsiA is acting as a cell wall synthesis inhibitor. In vitro experiments reveal the capacity of CsiA to bind D-Ala-D-Ala ana- logues and to prevent the action of penicillin binding proteins. Our results strongly suggest that CsiA sequesters the peptidoglycan precursor and prevents the final stage of cell wall biosynthesis to enable the localized assembly of the DNA transfer machinery through the cell wall.
Electrical Stimulation to Restore Vestibular Function Development of a 3-D Vestibular Prosthesis

Patients who fail to compensate for bilateral loss of vestibular sensory function are disabled by disequilibrium and illusory movement of the visual field during head movement. An implantable prosthesis that restores vestibular sensation could significantly improve quality of life for these patients. To be effective, such a device should encode head rotation in all 3 dimensions. We describe the 3-dimensional angular vestibulo-ocular reflex of normal chinchillas and vestibular-deficient chinchillas undergoing functional electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve. We also describe the design and fabrication of a head-mounted, 8 electrode vestibular prosthesis that encodes head movement in 3 dimensions
Impact of nano-scale through-silicon vias on the quality of today and future 3D IC designs

One of the most effective ways to deal with the area and capacitance overhead issues with through-silicon vias (TSVs) in 3D ICs is to reduce the size of TSVs themselves. Today, the diameter of the smallest TSV available is around 1 μm, and this is expected to reach sub-micron dimensions in a few years. This downscaling of TSVs requires research on the impact of nano-scale TSVs on the quality of 3D IC designs to provide academia and industry with the quantified effects. In this paper, we investigate, for the first time, the impact of nano-scale TSVs on the area, wirelength, delay, and power quality of today and future 3D IC designs. For our future process technology, we develop a 22nm standard cell and interconnect library. We also use four sets of TSV-related dimensions in our GDSII-level 3D IC layouts. Based on these resources, we present a thorough study on the impact of nano-scale TSVs on the design quality of today and future 3D ICs.
Liquidity Timing in Commodity Markets and the Impact of Financialization

We study the returns to a simple trend following strategy in commodity futures markets and their drivers. Returns correlate positively to calendar spread liquidity and constraints on intermediation capital. The strategy delivers low annualized excess returns in the period from 1990 to 2004 of -0.02% that increase significantly from 2005 to 2015 to 3.65% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.1. This increase in returns coincides with increased participation in commodity markets by financial investors who use futures to maintain constant commodity market exposure but must periodically rebalance their futures maturity risk. This rebalancing creates predictable demand for liquidity. We also apply the strategy to a group of commodities not strongly affected by financialization and a set of financial futures and document no different behavior in these groups over the two parts of our sample.
Foreign Aid, Foreign Direct Investment and Governance in Africa

In Africa, good governance has been preached as a panacea to reverse economic plight, to attract inflow of capital, and, in some cases, to reverse capital outflows. The flow of capital, however, has side effects on host economies' governance, among other things. Given the highly expected economic impacts, it has also becoming clear that the increased inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Official Development Aid (ODA) may have impacts on governance institutions of a host country. But the direction of the impact is not obvious. Knack and Rehman (2007) as well as Brautigam and Knack (2004) report negative association between foreign aid and governance indicators whereas Goldsmith (2001) indicates positive relationship between the two variable in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using data on governance indicators, FDI and ODA, the present study explores further whether FDI and ODA promote good governance in Africa during 1975-2002 to explain these conflicting results. The results of the study confirm that ODA has had positive and significant effects on governance, whereas for the case of FDI, although contemporaneous effects could not be detected, significant effects from FDI come only a year or two after FDI firms commit themselves to start actual operation in a host country.
POSTOPERATIVE ATRIAL FIBRILLATION AND STROKE FOLLOWING LEFT ATRIAL APPENDAGE CLOSURE DURING ROUTINE CARDIAC SURGERY

The left atrial appendage (LAA) is the most common source of thrombus resulting in stroke. Several percutaneous techniques for LAA occlusion have been recently proposed; including intracardiac plugs and external ligation. Only one device, WATCHMAN, has been compared to the standard therapy in
Teaching Social Work in an Online Environment

This article discusses the current debate surrounding online instruction (also known as distance) versus in-class social work instruction and reviews the relevant literature associated with those instructional models. The discussion specifically focuses on key issues, including the definition and growth of online education and the Blackboard revolution, and it addresses concerns about the effectiveness of teaching online compared to in-class social work instruction in areas related to students’ learning outcomes and satisfaction. Literature references also suggest that factors such as demographics may be related to outcome differences between distance and traditional students, while others found no significant differences between both student populations and their learning outcomes in particular courses such as research methods courses. Even today, however, the comparisons between online and traditional courses are unsettled, and many questions remain about the appropriateness or usefulness of these model...
Bioassay for Diluents of Honey Bee Semen

A bioassay was developed to evaluate diluents of honey bee ( Apis mellifera L.) semen. Using a simple diluent (1.1% NaCl, 0.1% glucose, 0.01% each L-arginine HCl, L-glutamic acid, L-lysine, 0.02% dihydrostreptomycin sulfate, and 0.012% penicillin G sodium in 0.05 M Tris buffer at pH 8.7), 100-fold dilution, incubation at 35 ± 1°C for 10 min. and reconcentration did not reduce the number of spermatozoa that reached the spermathecae of instrumentally inseminated queens. Undiluted control semen had a 10.9% transfer efficiency when 15 × 106 spermatozoa were injected into the oviducts of each queen. Treated groups of semen incubated for 0.17, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, and 19.5 h had transfer efficiencies of 10.7, 8.8, 9.8, 5.1, 2.1, 4.3, and 2.4%, respectively.
Elucidating the relative roles of ammonia oxidizing and heterotrophic bacteria during the biotransformation of 17α-Ethinylestradiol and Trimethoprim.

The biological fate of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2; 500 ng/L to 1 mg/L) and trimethoprim (TMP; 1 μg/L to 1 mg/L) was evaluated with flow through reactors containing an ammonia oxidizing bacterial (AOB) culture, two enriched heterotrophic cultures devoid of nitrifier activity, and nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) cultures. AOBs biotransformed EE2 but not TMP, whereas heterotrophs mineralized EE2, biotransformed TMP, and mineralized EE2-derived metabolites generated by AOBs. Kinetic bioassays showed that AOBs biotransformed EE2 five times faster than heterotrophs. The basal expression of heterotrophic dioxygenase enzymes was sufficient to achieve the high degree of transformation observed at EE2 and TMP concentrations ≤ 1 mg/L, and enhanced enzyme expression was not necessary. The importance of AOBs in removing EE2 and TMP was evaluated further by performing NAS experiments at lower feed concentrations (500−1000 ng/L). EE2 removal slowed markedly after AOBs were inhibited, while TMP removal was not affected ...
Determination of Al~(3+) in fried bread stick by microwave digestion and spectrophotometry with DBC-arsenazo

In the (CH2)6N-HCl buffer solution at pH 5.1,the fuchsia complex was produced by Al3+ and DBC-arsenazo whose maximum absorption wavelength was 620 nm. It was followed to Lambert-Beer’s law within the range of 0 to 25.0 μg/25mL of Al3+.The optimal trial conditions were obtained by single-factor experiments and were as follows: (CH2)6N-HCl was used as a buffer solution whose pH was adjusted to 5.10 and its amount to each experiment was 4mL. The amount of DBC-arsenazo to each experiment was 4mL. The reaction system was stable at room temperature for 120 min. The amounts of 22 coexisting ions or reagents were analyzed without interference to the determination of Al3+ in the optimal conditions under the circumstances of ethylene glycol or thiourea-sodium sulfite. The method was used to determine Al3+ in fried bread stick with satisfactory results after digestion with microwave.
Chaos and chaotic control in a new fractional-order system

In this paper,we numerically investigate the chaotic behaviours of a new fractional-order system.We find that chaotic behaviours exist in the fractional-order system with an order less than 3.The lowest order we find to have chaos is 2.4 in such system.In addition,a simple,but effective,linear state feedback controller is proposed for controlling the fractional-order chaotic system based on an inverse optimal control approach.Numerical simulations show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed controller.
Vaginitis emphysematosa: A case report

Abstract A case of vaginitis emphysematosa is described. The gas in the cystic lesions was found to be carbon dioxide. The cause of the condition is unknown. The lesions regressed spontaneously.
Parallel Execution Profiles

Observing the relative behavior of an application's threads is critical to identifying performance bottlenecks and understanding their root causes. We present parallel execution profiles (PEPs), which capture the relative behavior of parallel threads in terms of the user selected code regions they execute. The user annotates the program to identify code regions of interest. The PEP divides the execution time of a multithreaded application into time intervals or a sequence of frames during which the code regions being executed in parallel by application threads remain the same. PEPs can be easily analyzed to compute execution times spent by the application in interesting behavior states. This helps user understand the severity of common performance problems such as excessive waiting on events by threads, threads contending for locks, and the presence of straggler threads.
Quantum phase magnification

Quantum metrology exploits entangled states of particles to improve sensing precision beyond the limit achievable with uncorrelated particles. All previous methods required detection noise levels below this standard quantum limit to realize the benefits of the intrinsic sensitivity provided by these states. We experimentally demonstrate a widely applicable method for entanglement-enhanced measurements without low-noise detection. The method involves an intermediate quantum phase magnification step that eases implementation complexity. We used it to perform squeezed-state metrology 8 decibels below the standard quantum limit with a detection system that has a noise floor 10 decibels above the standard quantum limit.