cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the Concept of Political Culture: A Theoretical Reassessment

This paper considers the basic requirements for retaining the concept of political culture as a useful theoretical category. First we examine two main pitfalls often found in current usages: reductionism and normative bias. Then we respecify the concept in terms of (1) the political activities focused on, and (2) the significance of the symbols, either institutional or legitimational. Next we offer some generalizations about the internal dynamics of political culture. Finally, we suggest that political culture be treated as a "specifying variable" in the explanation of political behavior. The concept of "political culture" has been extensively used for over a decade as a tool in cross-national political comparisons. The prime movers in this area have been Gabriel Almond and his colleagues who have applied categories from Parsonian structural-functional theory to the concerns of political science.1 Unhappily, the term has come to be employed so imprecisely that today its denotations and connotations point to differing referents and raise theoretical and methodological issues which have not been systematically explored. The general purpose of this paper is to examine the utility of the concept of political culture. Specifically we consider: the major pitfalls implicit in current usages of the term; several theoretical dimensions directly or indirectly implied in these usages and in related categories; some generalizations about links among these dimensions; and the "causal status" of political culture variables in accounting for variations in political behaviors. Our treatment centers on theoretical issues, and hence we eschew systematic consideration of how one best measures political culture. Needless to say, we do not disparage such an undertaking, but it seems practical first to focus on the theoretical standing of what will be
Survival of Caught and Released Largemouth Bass after Containment in Live Wells

Abstract Survival of angled largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides held in live wells for 3–9 h, with and without a water conditioner, was compared to largemouth bass released within 30 min (immediate release) of capture. The study was set up to simulate conditions that may occur during a largemouth bass tournament. Simulated tournaments were held in August, November, February, May, and July. Survival of prerelease and postrelease fish was higher when water temperatures were cool during fall and winter. Survival of largemouth bass released within 30 min was 98.9%, which was higher (P < 0.01) than survival of fish held in live wells without a water conditioner (90.8%). Fish held for 3–9 h in live wells with a water conditioner had a 96.5% survival, which was higher (P < 0.05) than survival for those held in unconditioned water. Largemouth bass caught in July had higher mortality than fish caught in November, February, or May. Indications are that addition of a water conditioner to live wells enhances surviv...
Identifying the Glycosylation Sites and Site‐specific Carbohydrate Heterogeneity of Glycoproteins by Matrix‐assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry

A sensitive and facile method is described to identify the glycosylation sites and site-specific heterogeneity in the carbohydrate attached to glycoproteins. In this procedure, the peptide backbone of the glycoprotein is cleaved enzymatically. The resulting peptide/glycopeptide mixture is divided into three fractions. The first is analyzed directly by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), while the other two aliquots are analyzed by MALDI-MS after enzymatic release of the N-linked chains and the N- and O-linked chains. Comparison of these MALDI mass spectra provides the molecular weight of each carbohydrate side chain and of the peptide to which it was attached. This information combined with the amino acid sequence of the protein identifies the glycosylation sites, and provides information concerning site-specific oligosaccharide heterogeneity. This approach does not require time-consuming liquid chromatographic separations and can be performed on as little as 10 pmol of glycoprotein. Thus, our approach is faster and simpler than procedures currently used for glycosylation site mapping, and may offer a slight sensitivity advantage.
Synthesis and Anticonvulsant Activity of Substituted 2-Thioquinazolin-4-ones I: Preliminary Studies

A series of 2-thioquinazolin-4-ones with varying substituents on position 2, 3, or 6 was synthesized and studied for their ability to prevent maximal electroshock and chemoshock seizures in mice within the dosage range of 10-600 mg./kg. The 2-ethylthio-3-(2-phenyl)ethylquinazolin-4-one exhibited full protection against electroshock at the 100-mg./kg. level. The compound 2-carboxy-mathylthio-3-(2-phenyl)ethylquinazolin-4-one showed full protection against electroshock at the 600-mg./kg. level and partial activity at the 100-mg./kg. level. Other than these examples of activity, there was little significant activity in the remaining members of the series, with 2-ethylthio-3-phenylquinazolin-4-one showing only partial protection at both the 600-and 100-mg./kg. levels. With one exception within the dosage range studied, none of the compounds appeared to be active in preventing pentylenetetrazole seizures, thus indicating that the compounds possibly act in an analogous manner to diphenylhydantoin and related molecules.
Effect of hypoxia and reoxygenation on the activity of transglutaminase in brain of newborn piglets

Abstract The transglutaminase activity in five regions of the brain of newborn piglets was measured and the effects of hypoxia and posthypoxic period on this activity evaluated. Enzyme activity was measured in homogenates from cortex, hippocampus, striatum, thalamus and midbrain. The control activities were 7.2, 6.2, 6.0, 5.7 and 4.6 pmol/mg protein/min, respectively. The activities at the end of an 18 min period of hypoxia induced by an F i O 2 of 9% were not significantly different from control activities. By 3 h after the hypoxic episode, however, the transglutaminase activities were significantly above control levels in all five regions of the brain. Measurements of the kinetic constants of tranglutaminase indicated that increases in enzyme activity were associated with an increase in Vmax with no significant change in the apparent affinity of the enzyme for the substrate, putrescine. The increased activity of transglutaminase during the posthypoxic period, with no changes immediately after hypoxia, suggest that the increases could be due to increased enzyme synthesis rather then activation of existing enzyme. The rise in transglutaminase activity subsequent to a hypoxic episode may contribute significantly to the long-term disturbances in cellular metabolism in the immature brain induced by hypoxic episodes.
Repetition blindness: Type recognition without token individuation ☆

Abstract Three experiments are described which use RSVP (rapid serial visual presentation) to demonstrate a new cognitive phenomenon called “repetition blindness”. Subjects have difficulty detecting repeated words—even when the two occurrences are nonconsecutive and differ in case (Experiment 1). In immediate verbatim recall of sentences (Experiment 2), subjects selectively omitted second instances of repeated words, sacrificing the meaning and grammaticality of the sentence. In Experiment 3, recognition threshold for the last word in a list was lowered, not elevated, when that word had also occurred earlier in the same list. Thus, repetition blindness does not result from a refractory period for recognition of second occurrences. These findings support a distinction between the perceptual processes of (i) recognizing a word as being of a certain type, and (ii) individuating a word as a particular token of that type: repetition blindness occurs when words are recognized as types but not individuated as tokens.
Dielectric Degradation and Microstructures of Heterogeneous Interfaces in Cofired Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors

The compatibility of electrodes and dielectrics in cofired MLCCs with both Ni and Ag/Pd electrodes was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using tripod polished samples. Tripod polishing procedures can reduce entire devices to a thickness of less than 1 μm. After low angle ion milling for a short time, many regions across several dielectric and electrode layers are electron transparent, which makes it possible to characterize the cofired interfacial microstructures. When analyzed by convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), NiO lamellae and P-rich intermediate layers were found in highly accelerated life tested (HALT) MLCCs with Ni electrodes. CBED confirmed that the P-rich layers had a Ba4Ti13O30 (B4T13) structures. Oxidized Ni layers containing Mn were also found in the HALT samples. It is believed that Mn ions were reduced by the Ni electrodes, as P-rich and Mn-rich segregated layers were observed in the virginal non-life tested MLCCs. Grains with stacking faults, containing dopants such as Mn, Si, and Mg, had the BaTi4O9 (BT4) structure. No silver diffusion was found in either the BaTiO3 based perovskite lattices or the flux phases in air-fired X7R type MLCCs.
Crystallographic Texture and Thermal Conductivity of Zirconia Thermal Barrier Coatings Deposited on Different Substrates

The crystallographic texture and thermal conductivity of zirconia coatings deposited by electron beam evaporation on a variety of substrates have been measured. It was found that the thermal conductivity of coatings deposited at the same temperature was independent of whether they were deposited on polycrystalline alumina, single-crystal sapphire, single-crystal zirconia, or fused silica. The room-temperature thermal conductivity of the coatings deposited at 700°C was 0.32 W/(m·K), increasing to 1.36 W/(m·K) for coatings deposited at 1150°C. Similarly, the crystallographic texture was also independent of the substrate and had a (111) fiber texture at 700° and 900°C, switching to a (200) fiber texture by 1050°C. The exception was the coating deposited at 1150°C on (111) single-crystal zirconia which was epitaxial and exhibited a thermal conductivity of 2.46 W/(m·K). It is concluded that the properties of zirconia thermal barrier coatings are determined by the growth conditions rather than those associated with nucleation on the underlying substrate.
Voting for protection: an electoral model of tariff policy

Politicians want to please their constituents and will attempt to manipulate trade policy to further this goal. This article elaborates a model of the electoral incidence, across congressional districts, of the interindustry structure of tariff protection, with an application to the McKinley Tariff of 1890. It may contribute to a neglected area of research on the domestic politics of tariffs, to the history of a period of tariff formation in which there has been little recent work, and to the debate over legislative representation of constituency interests. Models of the domestic political market for trade policy ("endogenous" tariff theory) can be divided into four categories, with classification based on whether they are formal or empirical and on whether they focus on the demand or the supply side of the political market. Many of the formal models are too abstract to produce readily testable propositions. 1 Wolfgang Mayer's model, for example, assumes that tariffs are set by a national popular referendum and deduces tariff structures from median voter results. 2 There is no government in this type of model; the demanders and suppliers of policy are the same. William Brock and Stephen Magee's model assumes a singleissue election in which politicians bid for votes by offering tariff protection up to the point at which marginal gains (votes plus campaign contributions) equal marginal costs (lost votes plus lost contributions). 3
Computer-aided small-signal analysis based on impulse response of DC/DC switching power converters

The paper describes a method for automated small-signal frequency response analysis based on transient response obtained using a general-purpose simulation tool such as simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE). The method is based on using the simulation tool to evaluate the converter impulse response. The main advantage of the proposed method as a design verification tool is that frequency responses can be generated efficiently for any converter configuration and any model complexity supported by the general-purpose simulator. Application examples are included to demonstrate very good correlation between the generated responses and experimental data, and to compare the results with predictions of approximate analytical methods. In particular, the method is applied to investigate high-frequency dynamics of pulse width modulation (PWM) converters operating in discontinuous conduction mode, and the results are used to compare and validate several existing analytical modeling approaches.
Pathology of rejection of heart and skin xenografts.

Goat hearts were transplanted to the thorax of 54 calves that had received either no treatment or had been immunosuppressed with antilymphocyte serum and prednisolone, separately and together. Sheep and goat skin was also transplanted to 17 calves, some of which were immunosuppressed. The hearts in treated calves beat for up to 40 days whereas in untreated calves they were rejected in 4-6 days. Similar results were obtained with the skin transplants, which survived up to 79 days in treated calves. In rejected hearts from immunosuppressed calves, the cellular response was mainly eosinophilic and neutrophilic, but in untreated calves it was Iymphoreticular. In rejected skin in treated and untreated calves, the response was lymphoreticular and neutrophilic. Neither antilymphocyte serum nor prednisolone alone could prevent rejection of hearts, but in combination they were very effective.
Visualization and exploration for recommender systems in enterprise organization

Recommender systems seek to predict the interest a user would find in an item, person or social element they had not yet considered, based upon the properties of the item, the user's past experience and similar users. However, recommended items are often presented to the user with no context and no ability to influence the results. We present a novel visualization technique for recommender systems in which, a user can see the items recommended for him, and understand why they were recommended. Focusing on a user, we render a planar visualization listing a set of recommended items. The items are organized such that similar items reside nearby on the screen, centered around realtime generated categories. We use a combination of iconography, text and tag clouds, with maximal use of screen real estate, and keep items from overlapping to produce our results. We apply our visualization to expert relevance maps in the enterprise and a book recommendation system for consumers. The latter is based on Shelfari, a social network for reading and books.
Clinical review: Timing and dose of continuous renal replacement therapy in acute kidney injury

The optimal management of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in acute kidney injury (AKI) remains uncertain. Although it is well accepted that initiation of RRT in patients with progressive azotemia prior to the development of overt uremic manifestations is associated with improved survival, whether there is benefit to even earlier initiation of therapy is uncertain. Although retrospective and observational studies have suggested improved survival with very early initiation of continuous RRT (CRRT), interpretation of these studies is confounded by their failure to include patients with AKI who recover renal function or die without ever receiving RRT. Several studies have suggested that more intensive delivery of CRRT during AKI is associated with improved survival, although results of trials have been inconsistent. Two large multicenter randomized clinical trials addressing this question are currently underway and should provide more definitive data within the next two years.
Importance sampling for parametric estimation

We consider a class of parametric estimation problems where the goal is efficient estimation of a quantity of interest for many instances that differ in some model or decision parameters. We have proposed an approach, called DataBase Monte Carlo (DBMC), that uses variance reduction techniques in a "constructive" way in this setting: Information is gathered through sampling at a set of parameter values and is used to construct effective variance reducing algorithms when estimating at other parameters. We have used DBMC along with the variance reduction techniques of stratification and control variates. In this paper we present results for the application of DBMC in conjunction with importance sampling. We use the optimal sampling measure at a nominal parameter as a sampling measure at neighboring parameters and analyze the variance of the resulting importance sampling estimator. Experimental results for this implementation are provided.
Lateralization of human focal epilepsy by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging.

We attempted to lateralize the epileptogenic focus (seven temporal lobe hippocampal foci, one frontal lobe focus) in medically refractory unilateral complex partial seizures, using noninvasive 31 P magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) blindly and interictally to compare hippocampal or frontal regions. The seizure foci were more alkaline (intracellular pH = 7.17 ± 0.03) compared with the contralateral region (7.06 ± 0.02, p p p 31 P MRSI correctly lateralized the seizure focus in all eight cases. By comparison, imaging correctly lateralized four cases and SPECT, two cases. In conclusion, 31 P MRSI is a useful tool for the noninvasive clinical assessment of focal epilepsy and can accurately lateralize the epileptogenic focus.
The analysis of gain selection in adaptive backstepping motion control

Traditionally controller and estimator gains are chosen ad hoc in adaptive control designs as long as the control objectives are achieved. This paper considers motor position and velocity control problems and provides some analysis and guidelines for gain selection. Specifically, the authors focus on an adaptive nonlinear backstepping motion control algorithm for motor position and velocity command tracking. They reformulate the nonlinear motion control system as a linear time-invariant system plus a nonlinear element in the feedback loop. By this novel reformulation some of the gains appear in the linear system. Stability and convergence rate requirements for the linear system naturally lead to the selection of these gains. By this analysis, they also make the connection between the gain selection and the overall motion control system convergence rate both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Pharmacology for Physical Therapists

Gladson B. St Louis, MO 63146, Elsevier, 2006, paperback, 503 pp, illus, ISBN: 0-7216-0929-5, $44.95. The purpose of this book is to provide basic pharmacology information for both practicing physical therapists and physical therapist students. The text is clear, concise, and includes important concepts related to therapeutic concerns for specific drug classifications. This book is well organized. Twenty-four chapters are divided into 10 sections, either by a specific topic, system, or drug classification. The author …
fRMA ST

Summary: Frozen robust multiarray analysis (fRMA) is a single-array preprocessing algorithm that retains the advantages of multiarray algorithms and removes certain batch effects by downweighting probes that have high between-batch residual variance. Here, we extend the fRMA algorithm to two new microarray platforms—Affymetrix Human Exon and Gene 1.0 ST—by modifying the fRMA probe-level model and extending the frma package to work with oligo ExonFeatureSet and GeneFeatureSet objects. Availability and implementation: All packages are implemented in R. Source code and binaries are freely available through the Bioconductor project. Convenient links to all software and data packages can be found at http://mnmccall.com/software Contact: [email protected]
Peripheral blood MicroRNAs distinguish active ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) result from pathophysiologically distinct dysregulated immune responses, as evidenced by the preponderance of differing immune cell mediators and circulating cytokine expression profiles. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNAs that act as negative regulators of gene expression and have an increasingly recognized role in immune regulation. We hypothesized that differences in circulating immune cells in CD and UC patients are reflected by altered miRNA expression and that miRNA expression patterns can distinguish CD and UC from normal healthy individuals. Methods: Peripheral blood was obtained from patients with active CD, inactive CD, active UC, inactive UC, and normal healthy adults. Total RNA was isolated and miRNA expression assessed using miRNA microarray and validated by mature miRNA quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: Five miRNAs were significantly increased and two miRNAs (149* and miRplus-F1065) were significantly decreased in the blood of active CD patients as compared to healthy controls. Twelve miRNAs were significantly increased and miRNA-505* was significantly decreased in the blood of active UC patients as compared to healthy controls. Ten miRNAs were significantly increased and one miRNA was significantly decreased in the blood of active UC patients as compared to active CD patients. Conclusions: Peripheral blood miRNAs can be used to distinguish active CD and UC from healthy controls. The data support the evidence that CD and UC are associated with different circulating immune cells types and that the differential expression of peripheral blood miRNAs may form the basis of future diagnostic tests for inflammatory bowel disease. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2011;)
Analysis of Bacillus cereus toxicity using PCR, ELISA and a lateral flow device

Aims The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of immunodetection methods and PCR analysis of enterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus strains. Methods and Results Eighty-eight enterotoxigenic B. cereus group strains linked to food-borne outbreaks and illnesses were studied with 30 exclusivity nonenterotoxigenic strains including Bacillus amyoliquifaciens, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella and Escherichia coli for this assessment. The PCR results showed 80% agreement with immunoassays for the Nhe target and 84% for the Hbl product. All exclusivity strains were PCR and serologically negative. Conclusions PCR has proven to be a valuable tool when used in conjunction with immunoassays to quickly identify enterotoxigenic B. cereus group strains. Significance and Impact of the Study This study assessed the utility of rapid methods to characterize enterotoxigenic profiles of B. cereus group strains. The identification of enterotoxigenic bacteria and any associated toxins detected from food products is essential in food defense programs as public health officials search for methods to rapidly and accurately screen a global food supply.
Phytophthora-ID.org: A Sequence-Based Phytophthora Identification Tool

Grunwald, N. J., Martin, F. N., Larsen, M. M., Sullivan, C. M., Press, C. M., Coffey, M. D., Hansen, E. M., and Parke, J. L. 2011. PhytophthoraID.org: A sequence-based Phytophthora identification tool. Plant Dis. 95:337-342. Contemporary species identification relies strongly on sequence-based identification, yet resources for identification of many fungal and oomycete pathogens are rare. We developed two web-based, searchable databases for rapid identification of Phytophthora spp. based on sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) or the cytochrome oxidase (cox) 1 and 2 spacer region, followed by BLAST searching the databases. Both databases are highly selective. For ITS, only sequences associated with published Phytophthora spp. descriptions or classic Phytophthora phylogenetics references are included. For the cox spacer region, only data obtained by resequencing select isolates reported in published work were included. Novel taxa tentatively named are selectively included in the database and labeled as Phytophthora taxon “X”; as in, for example, P. taxon “asparagi”. The database was validated with 700 Phytophthora isolates collected from nursery environments during 2006 to 2009. This resource, found at www. Phytophthora-ID.org, is a robust and validated tool for molecular identification of Phytophthora spp. and is regularly being updated. Contemporary species identification relies strongly on sequencebased identification, yet resources for identifying many fungal and oomycete pathogens are rare. The genus Phytophthora houses some of the most destructive plant pathogens known, including, for example, the potato late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans (10,11); the sudden oak death pathogen P. ramorum (17,31); and P. cinnamomi, a pathogen affecting in excess of 3,000 species of plants, including over 2,500 Australian native species and crops such as avocado, pineapple, peach, chestnut, and macadamia (19). Since the discovery of P. ramorum in the late 1990s, renewed interest in Phytophthora biology has led to the discovery of many new Phytophthora spp. In 1996, approximately 60 species of Phytophthora were known to science (7). By 2008, around 90 species of Phytophthora were described or proposed. In fact, Brasier (3) estimated that we might expect two to four times that number of Phytophthora spp. to be described. Given the rapid discovery of novel species, an increase in the number of species of regulatory concern, and the prevalence of encountering Phytophthora spp. in diagnostic labs, a contemporary tool for identification of Phytophthora isolates to a species level is urgently needed. A tool for rapid and easy identification of Phytophthora spp. would have to fulfill several requirements. Ideally, this tool should be sequence based because classical morphology is unable to dis
Thymopharyngeal duct cyst: MR imaging of a third branchial arch anomaly in a neonate

Third branchial arch anomalies are rare. The authors present a case report of a neonate with a rapidly growing neck mass due to cystic dilation of a persistent thymopharyngeal duct, which is a derivative of the third branchial arch. The presence of thyroid and thymic tissue in the cyst wall, the communication of the cyst with the piriform sinus, and the relationship of the cyst to carotid vessels and the sternomastoid muscle were consistent with the features of a thymopharyngeal duct cyst embedded in the thyroid gland.
Hearing impairment associated with depression in US adults, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2010.

Importance Depression among hearing impaired US adults has not been studied previously. Objective To estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for depression among adults with hearing loss. Design, Setting, and Participants Adults aged 18 years or older (N = 18 318) who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2005-2010, a nationally representative sample. Interventions Multistage probability sampling of US population. Main Outcomes and Measures Depression, assessed by the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale, and hearing impairment (HI), assessed by self-report and audiometric examination for adults aged 70 years or older. Results The prevalence of moderate to severe depression (PHQ-9 score, ≥10) was 4.9% for individuals reporting excellent hearing, 7.1% for those with good hearing, and 11.4% for participants who reported a little trouble or greater HI. Using excellent hearing as the reference, after adjusting for all covariates, multivariate odds ratios (ORs) for depression were 1.4 (95% CI, 1.1-1.8) for good hearing, 1.7 (1.3-2.2) for a little trouble, 2.4 (1.7-3.2) for moderate trouble, 1.5 (0.9-2.6) for a lot of trouble, and 0.6 (0.1-2.6) for deaf. Moderate HI (defined by better ear pure-tone average of hearing thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz within the range 35- to 49-dB hearing level) was significantly associated with depression among older women (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.3-11.3), after adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, lifestyle characteristics, and selected health conditions. Conclusions and Relevance After accounting for health conditions and other factors, including trouble seeing, self-reported HI and audiometrically determined HI were significantly associated with depression, particularly in women. Health care professionals should be aware of an increased risk for depression among adults with hearing loss.
Interactional Justice and Emotional Abuse: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

The present paper attempts to reconcile two separate lines of research in organizational behavior. Specifically, it provides an examination of the dimensionality of organizational justice and emotional abuse in the workplace. It is proposed that the organizational justice facet known as interactional justice and the construct of emotional abuse actually constitute opposing ends of the same conceptual continuum. Further, it is argued that emotional abuse should be conceptually subsumed by broader measures of interactional justice. It is argued that research on the proposed overlap of these important constructs would do much to coalesce and bring clarity to both lines of research.
Metal−Ligand Cooperativity in O2 Activation: Observation of a “Pt−O−O−C” Peroxo Intermediate§

The Pt(IV) complex (tBuMe2nacnac)PtMe3 (1, tBuMe2nacnac = [((4-tBu-2,6-Me2C6H2)NC(CH3))2CH]) reacts with molecular oxygen to form a peroxo complex, 2, in which one oxygen atom is bound to the platinum center and the other to the central carbon of the nacnac ligand backbone. Over time, 2 converts to a new Pt(IV) species (3) wherein the oxygen−oxygen bond has been cleaved.
Life History of Oligonychus subnudus and O. milleri (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Influence of Temperature on Development, Survival, and Oviposition

Females of Oligonychus subnudus (McGregor) developed from eggs to adults in 20.2 days at 22°C. Between 10 and 30°C, there was a linear relationship between the developmental rate and temperature. Only 6% survived to become adults at 30°C, whereas the lower threshold for development was calculated to be 6.4°C. Females are arrhenotokous and lay an average of one to three eggs per day. The ovipositional rate was significantly affected by temperature, and the age of Pinus radiata D. Don and its needle fascicles. Above 20°C, Oligonychus milleri (McGregor) developed faster and laid more eggs per day than O. subnudus, and at 30°C appeared to have less mortality than O. subnudus. These differences help to explain why O. subnudus occurs in the coastal areas of California, where mean summer temperatures are often below 20°C, and O. milleri inhabits the interior of California, where the average summer temperature is higher than 20°C and temperatures frequently exceed 30°C.
A Dimethyl Ketal-Protected Benzoin-Based Linker Suitable for Photolytic Release of Unprotected Peptides

Photolabile 3′,5′-dimethoxybenzoin-based linkers are advantageous for a variety of solid-phase synthetic procedures and manipulations of biomolecules because UV irradiation in aqueous media provides fast and essentially quantitative release of tethered molecules, while generating unreactive side products. Practical applications of previously reported linkers are compromised to some extent by the 1,3-dithiane protection of the benzoin carbonyl group and the lengthy synthesis. We have extended the group of photocleavable 3′,5′-dimethoxybenzoin-based linkers by designing and synthesizing a linker in which the carbonyl group is protected as a dimethyl ketal. This protection is compatible with commonly used esterification and amide bond formation techniques, including the Fmoc/tBu strategy for solid phase peptide synthesis, is stable under mild acidic conditions, and can be quantitatively removed in <5 min by 3% TFA in dichloromethane. Irradiation of beads carrying peptides attached to the linker at 350 nm in ...
The breeding of a new rice vatiety Yuan-feng-zhan with high yield,diseases resistance and high grain quality

Yuan-feng-zhan was a new photoperiod-insensitive Indica rice variety breeding by crossing the Feng-si-zhan with a strain(xiang-si-miao126/xiang-ya-ruan-zhan) and after seven generations selecting in Rice Research Institute,Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences.In two years different site field test of Guangdong province,the result showed that Yuan-feng-zhan ’s average yield was 424.85 kg and 434.32 kg per 667m2 respectively,it was increased by 4.7% and 6.03% over check variety You-you-122,it was not significant and significant.Its grain quality reached third and second scales of high quality paddy in national and province standard,and it had the high-resistance to the blast and mid-resistance to the bacterial leaf blight disease.It was permitted to release by crop examine and approve committee of Guangdong province in May 2010.
Silver Dissolution and Release from Ceramic Water Filters

Application of silver nanoparticles (nAg) or silver nitrate (AgNO3) has been shown to improve the microbiological efficacy of ceramic water filters used for household water treatment. Silver release, however, can lead to undesirable health effects and reduced filter effectiveness over time. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the contribution of nanoparticle detachment, dissolution, and cation exchange to silver elution, and to estimate silver retention under different influent water chemistries. Dissolved silver (Ag+) and nAg release from filter disks painted with 0.03 mg/g casein-coated nAg or AgNO3 were measured as a function of pH (5–9), ionic strength (1–50 mM), and cation species (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+). Silver elution was controlled by dissolution as Ag+ and subsequent cation exchange reactions regardless of the applied silver form. Effluent silver levels fell below the drinking water standard (0.1 mg/L) after flushing with 30–42 pore volumes of pH 7, 10 mM NaNO3 at pH 7. When the influent wate...
Penetration depth of photons in biological tissues from hyperspectral imaging in shortwave infrared in transmission and reflection geometries

Measurement of photon penetration in biological tissues is a central theme in optical imaging. A great number of endogenous tissue factors such as absorption, scattering, and anisotropy affect the path of photons in tissue, making it difficult to predict the penetration depth at different wavelengths. Traditional studies evaluating photon penetration at different wavelengths are focused on tissue spectroscopy that does not take into account the heterogeneity within the sample. This is especially critical in shortwave infrared where the individual vibration-based absorption properties of the tissue molecules are affected by nearby tissue components. We have explored the depth penetration in biological tissues from 900 to 1650 nm using Monte–Carlo simulation and a hyperspectral imaging system with Michelson spatial contrast as a metric of light penetration. Chromatic aberration-free hyperspectral images in transmission and reflection geometries were collected with a spectral resolution of 5.27 nm and a total acquisition time of 3 min. Relatively short recording time minimized artifacts from sample drying. Results from both transmission and reflection geometries consistently revealed that the highest spatial contrast in the wavelength range for deep tissue lies within 1300 to 1375 nm; however, in heavily pigmented tissue such as the liver, the range 1550 to 1600 nm is also prominent.
Keep dropping the chalk

When I was an undergraduate, some friends in the rugby club took a conceptual "physics for poets" class.
Position and torque control via rehabilitation robot and functional electrical stimulation

Two common rehabilitation therapies for individuals possessing neurological conditions are functional electrical stimulation (FES) and robotic assistance. This paper focuses on combining the two rehabilitation strategies for use on the biceps brachii muscle group. FES is used to elicit muscle contractions to actuate the forearm and a rehabilitation robot is used to challenge the muscle group in its efforts. Two controllers were developed and implemented to accomplish the multifaceted objective, both of which achieve global exponential stability for position and torque tracking as proven through a Lyapunov stability analysis. Experiments performed on one able bodied individual demonstrate an average RMS error of 5.8 degrees for position tracking and 0.40 Newton-meters for torque tracking.
Distributed Algorithms for Event Reporting in Mobile-Sink WSNs for Internet of Things

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have many applications, such as climate monitoring systems, fire detection, smart homes, and smart cities. It is expected that WSNs will be integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT) and participate in various tasks. WSNs play an important role monitoring and reporting environment information and collecting surrounding context. In this paper we consider a WSN deployed for an application such as environment monitoring, and a mobile sink which acts as the gateway between the Internet and the WSN. Data gathering is a challenging problem in WSNs and in the IoT because the information has to be available quickly and effectively without delays and redundancies. In this paper we propose several distributed algorithms for composite event detection and reporting to a mobile sink. Once data is collected by the sink, it can be shared using the IoT infrastructure. We analyze the performance of our algorithms using WSNet simulator, which is specially designed for event-based WSNs. We measure various metrics such as average residual energy, percentage of composite events processed successfully at the sink, and the average number of hops to reach the sink.
Biological Citizenship and the Children of Same-Sex Marriage

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not, consistent with the Due Process Clause, deny same-sex couples the right to marry. To allow otherwise, said the Court, would “harm and humiliate the children of same sex marriage.” Thus, it was hoped that marriage equality would provide greater security for the children of same-sex couples. And the need for such protections are increasingly important given that, with advances in assisted reproduction techniques, it is easier than ever for same-sex couples to become parents. Indeed, when it comes to procreation, same-sex marriages and opposite-sex marriages are becoming much more alike. But there remains an obvious difference between the two. Namely, same-sex couples are unable to procreate without the assistance of a third-party, meaning that although both parents in a same-sex marriage may qualify as legal parents, only one (at most) will qualify as a biological parent. But from a constitutional perspective, should that distinction matter? The Supreme Court, in both Obergefell and its recent decision in Pavan v. Smith has indicated that, when it comes to the governmental benefits associated with marriage, the answer is “no.” Nonetheless, within the realm of immigration law, the State Department is using the absence of biological ties against the children of same-sex marriage, and on that basis, denying them United States citizenship. Although nothing in the Immigration and Naturalization Act requires that citizens, in order to transmit citizenship, possess a biological relationship with their children born abroad, the State Department has begun denying citizenship petitions on behalf of children from same-sex couples simply because the citizen parent, despite being the child’s legal parent, is not the biological parent. This Article argues that the State Department’s approach is not only unreasonable and, thus, not entitled to Chevron deference, but more importantly, is an unconstitutional infringement of both the right to marry and the right to parent, as those rights have developed by the Supreme Court. In sum, the State Department’s practice provides a poignant example of both the ongoing discrimination and the challenging questions that remain, post-Obergefell, in the quest for true marriage equality.
DEVA: sensing emotions in the valence arousal space in software engineering text

Existing tools for automated sentiment analysis in software engineering text suffer from either or both of two limitations. First, they are developed for non-technical domain and perform poorly when operated on software engineering text. Second, those tools attempt to detect valence only, and cannot capture arousal or individual emotional states such as excitement, stress, depression, and relaxation. In this paper, we present the first sentiment analysis tool, DEVA, which is especially designed for software engineering text and also capable of capturing the aforementioned emotional states through the detection of both arousal and valence. We also create a ground-truth dataset containing 1,795 JIRA issue comments. From a quantitative evaluation using this dataset, DEVA is found to have more than 82% precision and more than 78% recall.
Young Tableaux (NEXYTB/RANYTB)

This chapter presents an algorithm to generate Young Tableaux. It describes the general formula that gives the number of tableaux of shape π. Associated with each of the n squares in a tableau is an integer called the hook length at that square. The algorithm that is given in the chapter for selecting a Young tableau uniformly at random from among those of a given shape also provides a proof of the counting theorem, in which the role of the hooks is a natural one. The algorithm and the proof of the counting theorem were given by Greene, Nijenhuis, and Wilf. In the analysis presented in the chapter, the family of Young tableaux is identified as a family of walks on a graph, in which the shape plays the part of the order. The chapter describes separate algorithms for sequencing and random selection of Young tableaux. It also discusses the selection uniformly at random of a Young tableau of given shape.
ACTIVATION OF THE DROSOPHILA EMBRYO DNA POLYMERASE BY PROTEOLYTIC CLEAVAGE

ABSTRACT Studies suggest that multiple forms of the Drosophila melanogaster embryo DNA polymerase arise from a common precursor as a result of proteolytic events. In vitro trypsinization of the largest (9.OS) enzyme form results in the production of smaller (7.3S and 5.5S) enzyme forms, similar in structure and activity to those produced by endogenous proteases. When trypsin treated preparations are fractionated by sedimentation, chromatography, or electrophoresis, 2 to 5 times more enzyme activity is recovered than in untreated preparations; whereas when activity is tested after treatment but prior to fractionation, 50–100% of the activity is lost. If trypsinization is carried out in the presence of appropriate template-primers, the initial rate as well as the extent of polymerization are increased. These results suggest that portions of the enzyme modulate the polymerizing activity and that the proteolytic conversion may have significance in the regulation of DNA replication in vivo .
Yet Another Curse of Aid

Previous literature has established the importance of media in the arena of economic development. Further, the negative effects of foreign aid are well documented in the literature. Recently, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have been established as one of the determinants of the levels of press freedom in a country. This paper argues that in the presence of substantial amounts of foreign aid, the positive spillover impacts of FDI inflows on media freedom are dampened to a great extent. The results show that high amount of foreign aid can actually dampen the positive impacts to the extent that they can actually turn negative.
Atomistic approach of chemical diffusion phenomena

Abstract The application of the atomistic treatment of diffusion by means of the Cluster Variation method-Path Probability method formalism to chemical diffusion processes is briefly reviewed. The descriptions are intended to clarify relations among measurable quantities and underlying assumptions involved in traditional phenomenological approach.
Learning from Failure: The Making of Successful Entrepreneurs

Businesses fail. Despite the folklore wisdom that failure is instrumental to success, entrepreneurship scholars have not paid sufficient attention to explore the transformational process of learnin...
Milton Friedman: How Responsible Is He? A Required Preamble to Understanding His Influence on the Chilean Educational System 1950–2010

ABSTRACTThe Chilean education system, it is often argued, radically changed in the years after 1980 because of the influence of the economic thought of Milton Friedman. Here, I explore Friedman’s n...
Gas-assisted thermal bonding of thermoplastics for the fabrication of microfluidic devices

The challenges for high-strength adhesive-free sealing of thermoplastic microfluidics have impeded commercialization. We present the technique of gas-assisted thermal bonding (GATB) for joining thermoplastic surfaces at elevated temperatures to produce microfluidic devices with low distortion. In this technique a pressurized gas is used to supply the force to bond the two substrates rather than relying on direct contact of thermoplastics with a rigid press. Mechanical characterization tests were performed to analyze and optimize the effect of GATB pressure and temperature on the bonding strength of laminated polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) membranes. Tensile tests on PMMA membranes subjected to GATB process conditions examined the effects of these conditions on the single membrane’s characteristics. Adhesive strength was assessed on thin PMMA strips bonded together by GATB in lap shear and T-peel test configurations. The maximum lap shear and peel strength were found to occur at the lowest tested pressure of 1.17 MPa based on bonding experiments at 160 °C and 180 °C, respectively. Thereafter, the GATB is compared with the conventional plate-to-plate method to bond a capping sheet on pre-fabricated microchannels. Channel deformation is quantified by cross-section imaging before and after the sealing experiments. It was found that GATB enables low-distortion microchannels with higher uniformity at elevated temperatures, providing a solution for adhesive-free manufacturing of thermoplastic-based microfluidic systems.