cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Morality of Human Rights: A Religious Ground

Only someone who is religious can speak seriously of the sacred, but such talk informs the thoughts of most of us whether or not we are religious, for it shapes our thoughts about the way in which human beings limit our will as does nothing else in nature. If we are not religious, we will often search for one of the inadequate expressions which are available to us to say what we hope will be a secular equivalent of it. We may say that all human beings are inestimably precious, that they are ends in themselves, that they are owed unconditional respect, that they possess inalienable rights, and, of course, that they possess inalienable dignity. In my judgment these are ways of trying to say what we feel a need to say when we are estranged from the conceptual resources we need to say it. Be that as it may: each of them is problematic and contentious. Not one of them has the simple power of the religious ways of speaking. Where does that power come from. Not, I am quite sure, from esoteric theological or philosophical elaborations of what it means for something to be sacred. It derives from the unashamedly anthropomorphic character of the claim that we are sacred because God loves us, his children. Raimond Gaita As I explained in Chapter 1, the fundamental, twofold conviction at the heart of the morality of human rights holds that each and every (born) human being – each and every member of the species homo sapiens sapiens – has inherent dignity and is inviolable: not-to-be-violated.
Testing Challenges for MEMS

Integrated sensors microactuators and microsystems are becoming essential components of integrated systems. These micromechanical devices and systems (MEMS) are becoming increasingly popular in a diverse collection of applications ranging from critical defense and healthcare systems to embedded web servers. Testing and simulating these systems presents unique challenges and risks. The complexity of MEMS designs are inherently difficult because of the many design disciplines that a MEMS design encompasses. MEMS designs used to rely primarily on electrical and mechanical principles. Today, MEMS can include fluidic, optical, chemical and biological principles as well. Integrating all these disciplines on a single chip makes MEMS a promising technology, but at what cost?
Age-Related Slowing of Behavior:

Presented is a symposium session sponsored by the Human Factors in Aging Technical Interest Group which features recent findings from research designed to quantify and explain slowing of behavior with increasing age. Highlighted are experiments and data analyses conducted in the Laboratory of Attention and Motor Behavior (University of Southern California) and the Aging and Ergonomics Laboratory (University of Hawaii), especially four master's theses: a cross-sectional laboratory experiment and three studies which analyzed data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA).
Amative orientation: the hormonal hypothesis examined

The hypothesis that human male and female amative orientation, arousal and courtship are sex-hormone dependent had as its precursor John Hunter's recorded but unpublished 18th century experiments of cross-sexed gonadal transplants in chicks. The hypothesis gained momentum in the 20th century after the discovery and eventual marketing of the sex hormones, and after the experimental demonstration by William C. Young that, in guinea-pigs, cross-sexed hormone administered prenatally influenced their subsequent male/female courtship and mating behavior. Comparatively and in review, human clinical syndromes of hypermasculinization and hypomasculinization do not disconfirm the hormonal hypothesis, but they do not adequately confirm it, either. They are compatible with the idea of a cofactor that governs whether amative orientation in practice, ideation and imagery is homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual.
The Great Recession and Compensation Practices New Rules for Compensation

This article introduces the Governance Matters essays for this issue. It discusses the Great Recession and its effects on Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining and the effects of these on compe...
Development of Strategies to Improvement Ordering and Perpendicular Alignment of Cylinder Phase Block Copolymers Used as Templates for Bit Patterned Media

Bit patterned media, including media fabricated with a gradient in composition, is being developed as a potential path to higher information storage density. The noise level in such media is significantly impacted by the precision of the ordering of the individual bits and by the narrowness of their size distribution. Block copolymers that phase separate on the appropriate length scale are one method of pattern generation that is receiving considerable attention. For cylinder forming block copolymer phases the ordering and degree of perpendicular alignment is largely determined by the matching of the substrate surface to the block copolymer. If the chemical properties of the substrate surface match the average for the block copolymer, then thin films of the block copolymer align perpendicularly on annealing. Although there are a number of examples where the substrate surface fortuitously matches the block copolymer, in general an orienting layer is necessary to provide the appropriate match. The most popular approach has been to synthesize a random copolymer with the same average composition as the block copolymer. In order to produce suitably thin orienting layers it has been necessary to chemically tether the random copolymer to the substrate. Previously used chemistry has not been suitable for noble metal substrates such as platinum. We have been developing an alternate approach using thiol functional groups which we anticipate will be more suitable for Pt capped substrates.
Bladder contracture following intravesical doxorubicin therapy: case report and a review of the literature.

Abstract Intravesical doxorubicin rarely has been implicated as a cause of bladder contracture. We present a case of severe bladder contracture, documented radiographically and urodynamically after 8 weekly intravesical instillations of doxorubicin. The patient subsequently underwent cystectomy because of voiding dysfunction and the specimen demonstrated marked fibrosis in the bladder wall. We postulate that a benign, recurrent bladder ulceration during doxorubicin therapy may have potentiated the fibrotic response in the bladder to the doxorubicin. Objective monitoring of bladder capacity should be considered in patients treated with intravesical chemotherapy. (J. Urol, 143: 816–818, 1990)
Calcium homeostasis and osteoporosis.

This article discusses calcium homeostasis and osteoporosis as they relate to a variety of hormones and the aging process.
Radical prostatectomy: the pros and cons of the perineal versus retropubic approach.

AbstractRadical prostatectomy is frequently recommended for the treatment of localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate. The use of the perineal versus the retropubic approach is mostly dependent upon the experience of the individual surgeon. This study was performed to evaluate the short-term differences between the 2 operations. Between 1988 and 1989, 173 patients were identified with organ confined prostate cancer (stage A or B) who were treated with radical prostatectomy. Of this total population 122 patients underwent radical perineal prostatectomy (group 1) and 51 patients underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy (group 2). The median estimated blood loss for group 1 was 565cc and for group 2 it was 2,000cc (p <0.001). Group 1 received a median of 0 units of blood during hospitalization, while group 2 received a median of 3 units of blood (p <0.001). The total operative time was slightly shorter for group 1 but the anesthesia time was similar for both patient populations. There was no difference in ...
Splitting a triangle

Let T be a triangle and let A be the area of T. Given a point p inside the triangle and a number r that satisfies 0 < r ≤ ½, we seek to count the number N (p, r) of straight lines that pass through p and cut T into two pieces so that one piece has area rA. As the point p and the ratio r vary, the value of N (p, r) ranges from 0 to 6. Given a ratio r, we want to determine the regions within T for which the function N (p, r) assumes various integer values. For example, a region inside T for which N (p, r) = 6 only exists for values of r between and ½, and we would like to quantify the area of this region (as a fraction of the total area of the triangle) as r varies.
Marine Science in an Age of Climate Change: Navigating the Future

Climate change has been called the “ultimate threat multiplier,” as rise in sea levels, more variable weather patterns, and stresses on resources exacerbate existing challenges to human welfare.
MAIS: Multiple Activity Identification System Using Channel State Information of WiFi Signals

An extensive set of papers have employed channel state information of WiFi signals to perform human activity identification. Given the satisfactory performance, WiFi signals provide a device free, low cost, and non-intrusive alternative to traditional approaches including sensor based and camera based monitoring systems. Unfortunately, most existing papers have focused on the scenario where only a single subject presents. In this paper, we propose a novel human activity identification scheme termed Multiple Activity Identification System (MAIS), targeting at identifying multiple activities of different subjects in the same environment. In designing MAIS, we identify several challenges in identifying activities of multiple subjects and present corresponding solutions, including noise filtering, two-step detection of start/end point of activities, and kNN (k-Nearest Neighbors) algorithm to predict the number of people and the exact activities they are performing. Our experiments show that MAIS achieves an accuracy of 98.04% for anomaly detection, 97.21% for predicting the number of people, and 93.12% for predicting the activities they perform. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first system that achieves high accuracy identifying multiple activities performed by multiple people.
Effect of Frost Formation on Operation of GaN Ultraviolet Photodetectors at Low Temperatures

Effects of frost growth on the sensitivity of gallium nitride (GaN) photodetectors were investigated by characterizing electrical and optical properties under dark and 365-nm ultraviolet (UV) illumination from room temperature down to −100°C. The direct wire bonding architecture was used to create aluminum/GaN interdigitated devices for the microfabrication. As the operation temperature decreased below −5°C, the frost formed from humid air was observed on the GaN surface, and photo-to-dark current ratio (sensitivity factor) showed significant reduction (6.76 at room temperature and 2.73 at −100°C under 1 V-bias). The presence of frost on the device surface significantly reduced the absorption of incident UV light into the GaN surfaces (average 85.6% reduction from room temperature to −70°C). This paper supports the characterization of the GaN for UV detection within low-temperature environments, such as cryostats, Arctic research, and space exploration applications.
The Changing Character of Twenty-First-Century Precipitation over the Western United States in the Variable-Resolution CESM

AbstractThe changing characters of precipitation frequency and intensity have been comprehensively investigated from recent historical period to the end of the 21st century over the western United States. Variable-resolution Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM) ensemble simulations are applied with a fine grid resolution of ~0.25° over the study area. Simulations are forced with prescribed sea-surface temperatures, sea-ice extent and greenhouse gas concentrations from the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario. VR-CESM is shown to be effective at accurately capturing the spatial patterns of the historical precipitation climatology. The results of VR-CESM output provide significantly regional details with crucial enhancement of precipitation representations over complex terrain. In the Intermountain West and Southwest U.S., we observe a statistically significant increase in mean precipitation and rainy days through mid-century, although this trend is tampered by end of century in respons...
John Allcock and a brief history of Allcock’s test

Recently, we have read several articles referencing a commonly used test for assessing collateral circulation across the posterior communicating artery (PCoA), known as Allcock’s test. This eponymous test, described by James Allcock, a pioneering neuroradiologist, was unfortunately missspelled as ‘Alcock’s’ test in several publications.1–5 We would like to take this opportunity to briefly discuss the test itself and a brief history of Dr Allcock’s contributions. The story of Dr John Allcock and Dr Charles Drake exemplifies the strength of collaboration between neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons.6 While Drake is a household name among neurosurgeons worldwide, few are familiar with Allcock, one of his chief collaborators.7 Drake first described …
Bright Light as a Preventive Intervention for Depression in Late-Life: A Pilot Study on Feasibility, Acceptability, and Symptom Improvement.

Objectives We examined the feasibility and acceptability of a portable bright light intervention and its impact on sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms in older adults. Methods One-arm prevention intervention pilot study of the Re-Timer (Re-Timer Pty Ltd, Adelaide, Australia) bright light device (worn 30 minutes daily for 2 weeks) in 1 older adults (age 65 + years) with subsyndromal symptoms of depression and poor sleep quality. Participants were assessed on intervention acceptability and adherence, depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire- 9), and sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Insomnia Severity Index, actigraphy and daily diary reports). Results The Re-Timer device was rated positively by participants, and, on average, participants only missed 1 day of utilization. Although depressive symptoms declined and self-reported sleep improved, improvement was seen largely before the start of intervention. Conclusions An effective preventive intervention that is targeted towards a high risk group of older adults has the potential to reduce distress and costly health service use.
What could and should be done differently: failure-oriented-accelerated-testing (FOAT) and its role in making an aerospace electronics device into a product

High operational reliability of an electronic material or a device intended for aerospace applications is critical, and, in the author’s opinion, cannot be assured, if the underlying physics of failure is not well understood and the never-zero probability of failure is not predicted and made adequate for the particular material, device and application. The situation is the same in some other areas of electronics materials engineering, such as military, medical, or long-haul communications, where high level of reliability is required. The situation is different in today’s commercial electronics, where cost and time-to-market are typically more important than high reliability. Failure-oriented-accelerated-testing (FOAT) of aerospace electronics materials and products and its role in making a viable device into a reliable product is addressed and discussed vs. very popular today highly-accelerated-life-testing (HALT). The differences of the two accelerated test procedures and objectives is briefly discussed. FOAT is an essential part of the recently suggested probabilistic design for reliability (PDfR) approach in electronics engineering. It is argued that high (adequate) reliability level of aerospace electronics materials and devices cannot be achieved and assured, if their never-zero probability-of-failure is not quantified for the given (anticipated) combination of the loading conditions (stresses, stimuli) and time in operation. It is the application of the FOAT, the heart of the highly effective and highly flexible PDfR concept, that should be employed and mastered, when high reliability of a material or a device is imperative. The general concepts are illustrated by numerical examples. They are based on an analytical modeling approach, as the FOAT models are.
Molecular Classification of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Precision Medicine

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in increasing globally and malignant liver tumors now represents the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide [1–3]. In the United States, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma has tripled over the past 30 years where it has become the fastest rising cause of cancer-related deaths [4]. With this emergence has come an increased effort, largely within the preceding decade, to better appreciate the molecular pathogenesis of this disease. As with other malignancies that have been examined in this way, the eventual goal of these investigations is to identify potential targets for therapy and to correlate these molecular mechanisms with patient prognosis. Here a summary of many of the molecular mechanisms identified in hepatocellular carcinoma is provided as well as outline of the current attempts at a molecular classification system of these tumors.
Program Change Strategies

The previous chapter summarized a number of habilitation strategies based on a person-environment approach to the assessment and habilitation of adults with disabilities. The three general strategies discussed included behavior skill training, use of prosthetics, and environmental accommodation. As we stated in the previous chapter, we believe these are effective techniques for reducing important mismatches between persons and their living-work-leisure/recreation environments, and thereby contributing to the person’s growth and development. In this chapter, we shift our focus from the person to the program and suggest that the three trends we have mentioned frequently—natural environment, empowerment, and accountability—are having a significant impact on the way habilitation programs are planning for and providing services. For example, the current movement toward accessing integrated employment and living opportunities by using transitional, intermittent, and ongoing supports has clearly provided opportunities for adults with disabilities to increase their independence, productivity, and integration in the community. In the next few years, the authors believe that the movement will focus on truly generic, integrated opportunities for adults with disabilities where ongoing services are provided as needed. Thus, the distinctions that are currently made among different types of employment and residential arrangements may be considerably less dramatic as the entire service delivery system moves toward the concept of generic supports for adults with disabilities in integrated living and work settings.
Distribution of flux-pinning energies in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 − δ and Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + δ from flux noise

The spectral density of the magnetic flux noise measured in high-temperature superconductors in low magnetic fields scales approximately as the inverse of the frequency and increases with temperature. We use the temperature and frequency dependence of the noise to determine the pinning energies of individual flux vortices in thermal equilibrium. The distribution of pinning energies peaks below 0.1 eV in ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ and near 0.2 eV in ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}$${\mathrm{CaCu}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{8+\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$. The noise power is proportional to the ambient magnetic field, indicating that the vortex motion is uncorrelated.
Blood component replacement therapy

Blood component replacement therapy is required frequently for critically ill patients. Critical care nurses have a major role in monitoring patients for transfusion reactions and response to therapy. A fundamental understanding of blood components, as well as indications for and complications and hazards of component therapy, is essential for accurate assessment of the patient and evaluation of response to therapy.
Toward an Explicit Analysis of Generalization: A Stimulus Control Interpretation

Producing generality of treatment effects to new settings has been a critical concern for applied behavior analysts, but a systematic and reliable means of producing generality has yet to be provided. We argue that the principles of stimulus control and reinforcement underlie the production of most generalized effects; therefore, we suggest interpreting generalization programming in terms of stimulus control. The generalization programming procedures identified by Stokes and Baer (1977) are discussed in terms of both the stimulus control tactics explicitly identified and those that may be operating but are not explicitly identified. Our interpretation clarifies the critical components of Stokes and Baer’s procedures and places greater emphasis on planning for generalization as a part of training procedures.
Combination of alkalinity and porosity enhances formaldehyde adsorption on pig manure -derived composite adsorbents

Abstract Carbonaceous porous adsorbents of a high content of an inorganic phase (40–80%) were prepared by the zinc chloride activation of waste bio-char from the liquefication of pig manure at 900 °C. To increase both the content of the carbon phase and conductivity 10% nanographite was added to bio-char before the carbonization/activation process. Even though no strong effect of a char/activation agent ratio on the materials' porosity was found, they slightly differ in the surface areas and in the contents of the inorganic phase, which was found to be rich in calcium and magnesium. The synthesized materials were used as formaldehyde adsorbents from its low concentration of ∼2 ppm. The measured breakthrough capacity reached 0.78 mg/g and was higher than those measured on commercial carbons of high porosities. Since upon exposure to formaldehyde a marked surface acidification was found, the good performance of the composite adsorbents was linked not only to the porosity of the carbon phase but also to the effect of an alkaline environment in mesopores and to that of transition metals oxides on formaldehyde oxidation to formic acid. That acid likely formed salts with alkaline and alkaline earth metals present in our adsorbents. There was an indication that nanographite increased the extent of the formaldehyde oxidation reaction, which was demonstrated in a marked decrease in the surface pH of the spent adsorbent with the moderate amount of formaldehyde adsorbed.
Interspecific hybridization of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) with T. sarosiense Hazsl. Using in vitro embryo rescue.

Interspecific hybrid clover plants from the cross Trifolium sarosiense Hazsl. X T. pratense L. were obtained in the present investigation. Immature hybrid embryos were excised aseptically from the pistillate parent, T. sarosiense (2 n = 48), and cultured in vitro prior to in situ abortion. Agar-solidified nutrient media modified from that developed previously for tissue and cell cultures of red clover (2 n = 14) were used for embryo rescue.The heart shaped embryos obtained were cultured for 8 to 14 days on a medium containing a high level of sucrose, a moderate level of auxin, and low cytokinin activity. Viable embryos were then transferred to a standard medium with low auxin and moderate cytokinin levels for the direct germination of shoots. Some embryos produced only callus. Plants were regenerated from callus using an alternate culture scheme. Hybrid shoot numbers were increased on a low auxin, high cytokinin medium and subsequently rooted before transfer to soil in the greenhouse.About 10% of the hybrid embryos were rescued using the optimal culture sequence. Five full-sib families of the F1 hybrid were successfully grown to maturity. Root-tip cells of hybrid plants possessed the expected somatic chromosome number of 31. The genetically determined leaf-mark trait carried by the staminate parent and the rhizomatous root habit of the pistillate parent were expressed in hybrid plants.
Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) diving changes with productivity, behavioral mode, and sea surface temperature

The relationship between dive behavior and oceanographic conditions is not well understood for marine predators, especially sea turtles. We tagged loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) with satellite-linked depth loggers in the Gulf of Mexico, where there is a minimal amount of dive data for this species. We tested for associations between four measurements of dive behavior (total daily dive frequency, frequency of dives to the bottom, frequency of long dives and time-at-depth) and both oceanographic conditions (sea surface temperature [SST], net primary productivity [NPP]) and behavioral mode (inter-nesting, migration, or foraging). From 2011–2013 we obtained 26 tracks from 25 adult female loggerheads tagged after nesting in the Gulf of Mexico. All turtles remained in the Gulf of Mexico and spent about 10% of their time at the surface (10% during inter-nesting, 14% during migration, 9% during foraging). Mean total dive frequency was 41.9 times per day. Most dives were ≤ 25 m and between 30–40 min. During inter-nesting and foraging, turtles dived to the bottom 95% of days. SST was an important explanatory variable for all dive patterns; higher SST was associated with more dives per day, more long dives and more dives to the seafloor. Increases in NPP were associated with more long dives and more dives to the bottom, while lower NPP resulted in an increased frequency of overall diving. Longer dives occurred more frequently during migration and a higher proportion of dives reached the seafloor during foraging when SST and NPP were higher. Our study stresses the importance of the interplay between SST and foraging resources for influencing dive behavior.
Ensemble deep learning for breast cancer segmentation in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images

An ensemble deep learning technique was developed for segmenting breast cancer in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images from two imaging systems and is trained on B-scan and en-face images to yield improved predictions.
Who Might Support a Tyrant? An Exploration of Links Between Adolescent Family Conflict and Endorsement of Tyrannical Implicit Leadership Theories:

This research takes an exploratory approach to shed light on the paradox that negative leader characteristics, such as pushy, obnoxious, and manipulative, appeal to some individuals. We employ soci...
Degenerate quasi-normal mode theory for near-field radiation between plasmonic structures

Near-field radiation can exceed the blackbody radiation limit due to the contributions from evanescent waves. One promising approach to further enhance near-field radiation beyond existing bulk materials is to utilize metamaterials or metasurfaces made from subwavelength plasmonic structures. In this work, we investigate the near-field thermal radiation between complex plasmonic structures with higher-order symmetry and degeneracy, which is crucial for understanding the radiative heat exchange between metamaterials or metasurfaces at extremely small gaps. We demonstrate that the introduction of degeneracy can drastically boost near-field thermal radiation between plasmonic structures. The enhancement of near-field thermal radiation originates from the emergence of degenerate resonance modes and the secondary emission of thermal photons due to the nonzero coupling between the degenerate modes. Our study provides new pathways for designing high-intensity near-field thermal emitters and absorbers for thermophotovoltaics, thermal management, and infrared spectroscopy.
Long-term care service mix in the Veterans Health Administration after home care expansion.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) efforts to expand access to home- and community-based services (HCBS) after the 2001 Millennium Act significantly changed Veterans' utilization of institutional, paid home, and unpaid home care relative to a non-VHA user Medicare population that was not exposed to HCBS expansion efforts. DATA SOURCES We used linkages between the Health and Retirement Study and VHA administrative data from 1998 until 2012. STUDY DESIGN We conducted a retrospective-matched cohort study using coarsened exact matching to ensure balance on observable characteristics for VHA users (n = 943) and nonusers (n = 6106). We used a difference-in-differences approach with a person fixed-effects estimator. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS Individuals were eligible for inclusion in the analysis if they were age 65 or older and indicated that they were covered by Medicare insurance in 1998. Individuals were excluded if they were covered by Medicaid insurance at baseline. Individuals were considered exposed to VHA HCBS expansion efforts if they were enrolled in the VHA and used VHA services. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Theory predicts that an increase in the public allocation of HCBS will decrease the utilization of its substitutes (e.g., institutional care and unpaid caregiving). We found that after the Millennium Act was passed, there were no observed differences between VHA users and nonusers in the probability of using institutional long-term care (0.7% points, 95% CI: -0.009, 0.022) or in receiving paid help with activities of daily living (0.06% points, 95% CI: -0.011, 0.0125). VHA users received more hours of unpaid care post-Millennium Act (1.48, 95% CI: -0.232, 3.187), though this effect was not significant once we introduced controls for mental health. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that mandating access to HCBS services does not necessarily imply that access to these services will follow suit.
VBET: Vesselness and Blob Enhancement Technique for 2d and 3d microscopy images of microglia

Microglia play significant roles in normal and pathologic brains. Microscopy images or videos of the mouse brain are the primary source for studying these cells in vivo. Due to low image contrast, enhancement is necessary before higher-level analysis. Existing techniques are not suitable for enhancing the complex structure of microglia. This paper proposes a novel technique (VBET) to enhance the blob and vessel-like structures of these cells. Experiments on 3D and 2D microglial images show that VBET preserves more structures than existing enhancement methods, and subsequent analyses, such as segmentation and microglial ramification, have higher accuracy than before (25% improvement in 3D Dice index, and 50% improvement in ramification index).
Deletion of mFICD AMPylase alters cytokine secretion and affects visual short-term learning in vivo.

Fic domain-containing AMP transferases (fic AMPylases) are conserved enzymes that catalyze the covalent transfer of AMP to proteins. This posttranslational modification regulates the function of several proteins, including the ER-resident chaperone Grp78/BiP. Here we introduce a mouse FICD (mFICD) AMPylase knockout mouse model to study fic AMPylase function in vertebrates. We find that mFICD deficiency is well tolerated in unstressed mice. We also show that mFICD-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts are depleted of AMPylated proteins. mFICD deletion alters protein synthesis and secretion in splenocytes, including that of IgM, an antibody secreted early during infections, and the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β, without affecting the unfolded protein response. Finally, we demonstrate that visual nonspatial short-term learning is stronger in old mFICD−/− mice than in wild-type controls while other measures of cognition, memory, and learning are unaffected. Together, our results suggest a role for mFICD in adaptive immunity and neuronal plasticity in vivo.
Medicine as seen by Washington in 1973

Abstract PSRO, HMO, regionalization, and NHI are acronyms and terms that tend to sensitize physicians and to cause reaction. Although there are several reasons for these legislative proposals—political exposure, political pressure, and personal experiences—the common goal is to provide comprehensive health care to the entire population. This is a time of change in the health care delivery system. These changes can benefit both patient and physician if we as physicians become involved in planning and changes. Congress is a responsible body and the changes will be evolutionary, not revolutionary. Whatever programs are established in the next three years will be the pattern of practice for the remainder of the century. Obstetricians and gynecologists must become actively involved in shaping programs to meet national goals. Reaction is not a sustitute for positive action.
Adaptive Parameter Passing

Control over parameter passing is a key issue in distributed object-oriented applications. The two simplest solutions — passing objects by global reference and passing objects by deep copy — both have significant drawbacks. Instead, an intermediate amount of copying is often best. However, achieving the right amount of copying is difficult for two reasons: (i) compilers and operating systems cannot automatically make the best decision on how much to copy; (ii) there hasn't been a good mechanism for the programmer to express the intermediate amount of copying that should be done.
The USA 5MW solar thermal test facility

ABSTRACT The worlds largest solar experimental facility will be fully operational in the spring of 1978. The Solar Thermal Test Facility is capable of delivering 5 million Watts of thermal power to experimental equipment. Two hundred twenty-two mirror assemblies (called heliostats) are used to concentrate the sun's energy to an experiment located on the 61 meter tall concrete tower. Operation at partial power of about 1.8 MWt was achieved in May of 1977. The primary STTF testing programs will involve prototype components for central receiver solar power plants.
Residual effects of herbicide-treated Eichhornia crassipes used as a soil amendment

The use of Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms (water hyacinth) as a soil amendment in fruit and vegetable production has been proposed in several areas of the world. To assess possible residual effects, E. crassipes was treated with maximum label rates of diquat, glyphosate, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) herbicides. Placement Experiment: E. crassipes was shredded into a fine mulch 1/2 hour, and 1, 2, and 7 days after herbicide or water (control) treatment (DAT) and added to soil in pots as a top mulch, a layered mulch, or a mixture, with seedling Lycopersicon esculentum (Mill; tomato) as assay species. Negative effects of glyphosate and 2,4-D were noted for L. esculentum growth only for the mixed treatment, and only at 2 DAT. Duration Experiment: coarsely chopped herbicide-treated E. crassipes was thoroughly mixed with soil. Reductions in L. esculentum plant biomass, including mortality, persisted for 1 DAT with diquat, 7 DAT with 2,4-D, and 14 DAT with glyphosate. Ratio/Soil Type Experiment: one day after herbicide application to E. crassipes, L. esculentum seedlings were planted into ratios (4:0, 3:1, 2:2, 1:3, 0:4) of herbicide-treated to untreated E. crassipes,and mixed with clay, loam, or sand. Glyphosate and 2,4-D reduced L. esculentum growth in proportion to the ratio of treated to untreated E. crassipes. Soil type did not influence herbicide effects on L. esculentum growth.
A small-scale land-sparing approach to conserving biological diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes

Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land-sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native ecosystems into the production system itself. Although the conservation value of these systems has been extensively debated, empirical studies are lacking. We compared bird communities in shade coffee, a widely practiced land-sharing system in which shade trees are maintained within the coffee plantation, with bird communities in a novel, small-scale, land-sparing coffee-production system (integrated open canopy or IOC coffee) in which farmers obtain higher yields under little or no shade while conserving an area of forest equal to the area under cultivation. Species richness and diversity of forest-dependent birds were higher in the IOC coffee farms than in the shade coffee farms, and community composition was more similar between IOC coffee and primary forest than between shade coffee and primary forest. Our study represents the first empirical comparison of well-defined land sparing and land sharing production systems. Because IOC coffee farms can be established by allowing forest to regenerate on degraded land, widespread adoption of this system could lead to substantial increases in forest cover and carbon sequestration without compromising agricultural yield or threatening the livelihoods of traditional small farmers. However, we studied small farms (<5 ha); thus, our results may not generalize to large-scale land-sharing systems. Furthermore, rather than concluding that land sparing is generally superior to land sharing, we suggest that the optimal approach depends on the crop, local climate, and existing land-use patterns.
Privacy Preserving Data Mining within Anonymous Credential Systems

Regular (non-private) data mining can be applied to manage and utilize accumulated transaction data. For example, the accumulated relative service time per user per month can be calculated given individual transaction data from which the user compliance with a service agreement can be determined and possibly billing can be processed. Nevertheless, due to user privacy concerns, cryptographic research developed transactions based on unlinkable anonymous credentials. Given the nature of anonymous credentials the ease of managing accumulated data (e.g., per user) is lost. To restore the possibility of management and accumulation of data it seems that a suitable form of privacy preserving data mining is needed. Indeed, privacy preserving data mining methods have been suggested for various protocols and interactions where individual data can be contributed in an encrypted form, but not within the context of anonymous credentials. Given our motivation we suggest a new notion of performing "privacy preserving data mining within the context of anonymous cryptographic credential systems," so as to protect both the privacy of individually contributed data and the identity of their sources while revealing only what is needed. To instantiate our approach we focus on a primitive we call "data mining group signatures" (DMGS), where it is possible for a set of authorities to employ distributed quorum control for conducting privacy preserving data mining operations on a batch of transactions while preserving maximum possible anonymity. We define and model the new primitive and its security goals, we then present a construction and finally show its privacy and security properties. Along the way we build a methodology that safely combines multi-server protocols as sub-procedures in a more general setting.
CCR5-Δ32 Heterozygosity, HIV-1 Reservoir Size, and Lymphocyte Activation in Individuals Receiving Long-term Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy

We conducted a case-controlled study of the associations of CCR5-Δ32 heterozygosity with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reservoir size, lymphocyte activation, and CCR5 expression in 114 CCR5(Δ32/WT) and 177 wild-type CCR5 AIDS Clinical Trials Group participants receiving suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Overall, no significant differences were found between groups for any of these parameters. However, higher levels of CCR5 expression correlated with lower amounts of cell-associated HIV-1 RNA. The relationship between CCR5-Δ32 heterozygosity, CCR5 expression, and markers of HIV-1 persistence is likely to be complex and may be influenced by factors such as the duration of ART.
The death penalty, in other words, philosophy

In response to Thomas Dutoit's ambitious summary of the two years of Derrida's Death Penalty Seminars, I take up the following themes: the deconstruction of death, Hugo's “advance,” and “the principle of substitution” in Freud.
Cloning and characterization of a conserved region of human and rhesus macaque Pneumocystis carinii gpA.

Abstract Although the genes encoding Pneumocystis carinii (Pc) glycoprotein A (gpA) display a high degree of host species-specific genotypic diversity, the Pc gpA derived from different host species share defined regions of significant homology in their primary amino acid (aa) structure. Using two degenerate oligodeoxyribonucleotide (oligo) primers corresponding to a conserved Cys region (Cys-primers) of the ferret ( F ), rat ( R ) and mouse ( M ) PcgpA , a 306-bp portion of the human ( H ) PcgpA was amplified from only one of three known HPc -infected lung samples using PCR. The deduced aa sequence of the HPc PCR product was 72% similar to the corresponding region of a published HPc gpA aa sequence. Because the conserved Cys-primers amplified only one of three samples of HPcgpA , a primer-pair was designed from sequences internal to the Cys-primer sequences of the HPcgpA PCR product ( hPc ). The hPc primers amplified the expected 254-bp product from each of the three HPc -infected lung DNA samples, suggesting that the Cys-primers may have either amplified a HPcgpA present in fewer copies in the genome of HPc or, alternatively, amplified a gene from an uncommon strain of Pc encoding an isoform variant of gpA not present in the other human isolates analyzed in this report. Restriction analysis of the amplified products demonstrated heterogeneity in the internal sequence, confirming that more than one gpA exists in HPc as well. To determine the relationship of HPcgpA to the gpA of Pc from another primate, the hPc primers were used successfully to amplify a 261-bp product from Pc -infected Rhesus macaque ( Rm ) with Pc organisms encoding similar gpA, suggesting that the evolutionary divergence of Pc followed that of the mammalian host species.
On domination and reinforcement numbers in trees

The reinforcement number of a graph is the smallest number of edges that have to be added to a graph to reduce the domination number. We introduce the k-reinforcement number of a graph as the smallest number of edges that have to be added to a graph to reduce the domination number by k. We present an O(k^2n) dynamic programming algorithm for computing the maximum number of vertices that can be dominated using @c(G)-k dominators for trees. A corollary of this is a linear-time algorithm for computing the k-reinforcement number of a tree. We also discuss extensions and related problems.
IS THE REEXPERIENCE OF PAINFUL EMOTION THERAPEUTIC

Recently, a great deal of attention has been focused on the health promoting benefits that can accrue from revisiting painful emotion. The rationales for revisiting painful emotions include those that assume reexperiencing emotion per se can be health-promoting. Another view stipulates that revisiting painful emotion will only yield benefit if there is some recasting/restructuring of the emotional memory. Research pertinent to the various rationales is discussed. Then research on the impact of emotional expression and outcomes studies of therapies designed to enhance emotional experience are reviewed. Good supporting evidence is found for the effectiveness of behavioral exposure therapies where the duration of emotional exposure is carefully controlled, as well as for the salutary impact of talking or writing about trauma by normally functioning individuals. On the other hand, studies evaluating the impact of experiencing and expressing painful emotion in an unstructured fashion with clinical samples suggest that the process can be harmful. Incorporating findings from the behavioral exposure literature and from the Pennebaker writing-about-trauma studies, the case for evoking emotional memories for the purpose of developing new responses is advanced. The dangers of encouraging emotional experience in absence of acquisition of a new response to the emotion-evoking material are discussed.
Insulation aging measured by shearing modulus

A NEW METHOD is described for determining the effect of thermal aging on the shearing modulus of flexible sheet insulations by nondestructive tests using a torsion pendulum technique. The test sample consists of a 12-inch length of the material under test, clamped between two pairs of inertia bars of different weight and inertia.
A Dual Approach to Modeling Corner Solutions in Recreation Demand

Abstract The dual approach of Lee and Pitt to estimating demand systems for which individuals often choose not to consume one or more of the available goods provides a utility-consistent framework for estimating preferences over visits to recreation sites. Because of the complexity of the model, however, this approach has not been applied in the recreation demand literature. This paper provides the first application of the model to recreation demand and develops a methodology for conducting welfare analysis, relying on Monte Carlo integration to derive estimates of compensating variation. The methods are applied to the demand for fishing in the Wisconsin Great Lakes region.
One-Pot Etherification of Purine Nucleosides and Pyrimidines

A one-pot synthesis of ethers derived from inosine, guanosine, 2′-deoxyguanosine, and pyrimidinones is described. Exposure of the heterocycle to 1H-benzotriazol-1-yloxy-tris(dimethylamino)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate (BOP) and Cs2CO3 produces a reactive intermediate, which is converted to the desired ether by subsequent addition of an appropriate alcohol or phenol and Cs2CO3. Although rapid formation of HMPA from BOP can occur in the presence of an alcohol and base, as demonstrated by the reaction with methanol, under appropriate conditions these heteroaryl ethers can be efficiently synthesized.
Constraint on the photino mass from cosmology

A lower bound for the photino mass ${m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}}$ as a function of the spin-0 fermion superpartner mass ${m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{f}}$ is derived as an extension of the calculation of Lee and Weinberg. The Majorana nature of the photino induces a $p$-wave threshold for annihilation $\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}f\overline{f}$ into light fermions, and leads to a rather unexpected form for the bound: for $25 \mathrm{GeV}\ensuremath{\lesssim}{m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{f}}\ensuremath{\lesssim}45 \mathrm{GeV}$, ${({m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}})}_{min}\ensuremath{\simeq}{m}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}=1.8$ GeV; for ${m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{f}}g45$ GeV, ${({m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}})}_{min}$ increases approximately linearly with ${m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{f}}$ to a value of 20 GeV when ${m}_{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{f}}=100$ GeV.
Cascade Flow Calculations by a Multigrid Euler Method

An explicit finite-volume method for the Euler equations with multigrid is presented for calculating cascade flows. The method is validated against theoretical test cases of the Hobson shock-free impulse cascade and a supersonic wedge cascade. Results for a VKI turbine cascade and a low-pressure turbine cascade are presented and compared with experimental data. Isentropic Mach number distributions on blade surfaces show good agreement with experiments at design conditions, whereas, discrepancy exists at off-design conditions due to flow separation. With equal efficiency the method is also able to capture qualitative features of secondary flow due to inlet side-wall boundary layers.