cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Varenicline L-tartrate Crystal Forms: Characterization Through Crystallography, Spectroscopy, and Thermodynamics

This research utilized crystallographic, spectroscopic, and thermal analysis data to assess the thermodynamic stability relationship between the three known crystal forms of Varenicline L-tartrate. Of the two anhydrous forms (Forms A and B), Form B was determined to be the stable form at 0 K based on its calculated true density, hydrogen bonding in the crystal lattice, and application of the IR rule. Form A has a higher melting point and higher solubility at room temperature as compared to Form B, indicating that these forms are enantiotropically related. Application of the eutectic-melting method enabled accurate determination of the transition temperature (63 degrees C), with Form B as the stable anhydrous form at room temperature. The stability relationships between the anhydrous polymorphs and the monohydrate (Form C) were assessed through exposure of the anhydrous forms to a range of water vapor pressures at room temperature. A phase boundary was identified, with the monohydrate being the thermodynamically stable form above critical water activity values of 0.85 and 0.94 for Forms A and B, respectively. These results provide a better understanding of the form stability as it relates to normal manufacturing and storage conditions for the active pharmaceutical ingredient and drug product.
Social activity and subjective well-being

Abstract Social activity has been identified as one of the most consistent predictors of peoples' subjective reports of happiness. Recent research has examined factors that influence this relationship, including personality moderators and distinctions among types of social activities. Two studies are reported in which undergraduates completed measures gauging their (a) extraversion, (b) need for social approval, and (c) satisfaction with and frequency of four types of social activities (with parents, relatives, friends, and groups). Subjective well-being was defined as (a) life satisfaction, (b) experience of positive affect, and (c) experience of negative affect. In addition, participants completed the measures while alone, with friends present, or with strangers present. Results revealed that satisfaction with social activities was the strongest (positive) predictor of subjective well-being, though the personality measures were significant (positive) predictors as well. Among frequency measures of social activity, the number of activities with groups was the only consistent (positive) predictor of happiness. Also, participants completing questionnaires in the presence of friends reported greater life satisfaction than participants completing questionnaires with strangers.
Experimental allergic neuritis. I. Rat strain differences in the response to bovine myelin antigens

Summary Strain differences among rats to the induction and severity of experimental allergic neuritis (EAN) in response to whole PNS myelin were observed. Lewis rats were highly susceptible and developed severe EAN without central nervous system lesions (EAE), while Brown Norway rats were most resistant. Wistar, Sprague-Dawley, and Buffalo rats were susceptible but developed less severe disease than Lewis rats. Only Lewis rats consistantly developed EAN in response to isolated P 2 with mercaptoehtanol prior to injection. None of the strains developed EAN in response to galactocerebroside and none developed the lesions of EAE in response to any of the bovine myelin antigens tested. Myelin protein profiles from these rat strains were similar which suggests that factors other than target tissue differences, such as genetically determined immune responses to bovine myelin antigens, must be involved in these differing responses.
Does increased exercise or physical activity alter ad-libitum daily energy intake or macronutrient composition in healthy adults? A systematic review.

Background The magnitude of the negative energy balance induced by exercise may be reduced due to compensatory increases in energy intake. Objective To address the question: Does increased exercise or physical activity alter ad-libitum daily energy intake or macronutrient composition in healthy adults? Data Sources PubMed and Embase were searched (January 1990–January 2013) for studies that presented data on energy and/or macronutrient intake by level of exercise, physical activity or change in response to exercise. Ninety-nine articles (103 studies) were included. Study Eligibility Criteria Primary source articles published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Articles that presented data on energy and/or macronutrient intake by level of exercise or physical activity or changes in energy or macronutrient intake in response to acute exercise or exercise training in healthy (non-athlete) adults (mean age 18–64 years). Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods Articles were grouped by study design: cross-sectional, acute/short term, non-randomized, and randomized trials. Considerable heterogeneity existed within study groups for several important study parameters, therefore a meta-analysis was considered inappropriate. Results were synthesized and presented by study design. Results No effect of physical activity, exercise or exercise training on energy intake was shown in 59% of cross-sectional studies (n = 17), 69% of acute (n = 40), 50% of short-term (n = 10), 92% of non-randomized (n = 12) and 75% of randomized trials (n = 24). Ninety-four percent of acute, 57% of short-term, 100% of non-randomized and 74% of randomized trials found no effect of exercise on macronutrient intake. Forty-six percent of cross-sectional trials found lower fat intake with increased physical activity. Limitations The literature is limited by the lack of adequately powered trials of sufficient duration, which have prescribed and measured exercise energy expenditure, or employed adequate assessment methods for energy and macronutrient intake. Conclusions We found no consistent evidence that increased physical activity or exercise effects energy or macronutrient intake.
Architectures for hierarchical and other block matching algorithms

Hierarchical block matching is an efficient motion estimation technique which provides an adaptation of the block size and the search area to the properties of the image. In this paper, we propose two novel special-purpose architectures to implement hierarchical block matching for real-time applications. The first architecture is memory-efficient, but requires a large external memory bandwidth and a large number of processors. The second architecture requires significantly fewer processors, but additional on-chip memory. We describe in details the processor architecture, the memory organization and the scheduling for both these architectures. We also show how the second architecture can be modified to handle full-search and 3-step hierarchical search block matching algorithms, with significant reduction in the hardware complexity as compared to existing architectures.
The interplay between the gut microbiota and the immune system in the mechanism of type 1 diabetes.

Purpose of review Discuss recent data linking the intestinal microbiome with mechanisms of inflammation and islet destruction. Recent findings Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a proinflammatory disease that results in the loss of insulin-producing beta cells. How T1D is triggered is unclear; however, both genetic and environmental factors were implicated in disease mechanisms. Emerging evidence supports the notion that there is a complex interaction between the intestinal microbiome and the immune system and this cross-talk is involved in maintaining normal immune homeostasis in the gut and periphery. Under some circumstances the gut microbiota could lead to pathogenic immune responses resulting in inflammation in the intestine as well as other organs. Indeed, recent data from genetically susceptible individuals suggested that alterations in gut bacterial communities may be involved in the mechanism of islet destruction. Studies performed in animal models of T1D indicated that manipulating the gut microbiome can protect from islet destruction via mechanisms that may involve down-regulating both the adaptive and innate immune systems. Summary Further work is required to identify specific bacterial communities and mechanisms involved in triggering T1D. A better knowledge of the role of the gut microbiome in islet destruction could lead to new clinical interventions to restore healthy homeostasis and prevent disease development.
Role of postnatal penicillin prophylaxis in prevention of neonatal group B streptococcus infection.

This prospective study was designed to identify the role of postnatal penicillin prophylaxis in the prevention of neonatal group B streptococcus (GBS) infection. We studied 10 998 infants. Of these, 5389 were in the penicillin prophylaxis group (PP) and 5609 infants did not receive penicillin prophylaxis (NPP). Infants were allocated to treatment by month of birth, alternating 3-mo blocks or 2-mo blocks to the two groups after the first block was randomly assigned. The use of PP reduced the incidence of clinical sepsis (1.7% PP versus 2.5% NPP, p<0.01), GBS infection (0.4% PP versus 0.9% NPP, p < 0.001) and deaths from sepsis (0.1% PP versus 0.3% NPP, p < 0.05). We conclude that the routine use of postnatal penicillin prophylaxis appears to be effective in reducing the incidence of clinical sepsis and death from sepsis in neonates. □Antimicrobial prophylaxis, group B streptococcus, neonatal sepsis
PATTERNS OF RELITIGATION

Two groups of parents were tracked for 2 years following their divorce: a group of 89 who attended a mandatory divorce education class and a comparison group of 23 who did not. The two groups did not differ in any assessed demographic or family characteristics. At the follow-up assessment, the parents who attended the class had relitigated (over all issues) less than half as often than those who had not attended the class (1.61 vs. 3.74). Moreover, rate of relitigation was related to mastery of skills learned in the class. The results are discussed in terms of the needs for outcome evaluation and design of education programs for divorcing parents.
Endothelial Dysfunction in Pulmonary Hypertension

The pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) involves a complex and multifactorial process. Endothelial dysfunction seems to play an integral role in mediating the structural changes in the pulmonary vasculature. Disordered endothelial cell proliferation along with concurrent neoangiogenesis, when exuberant, results in the formation of glomeruloid structures known as the plexiform lesions, which are common pathological features of the pulmonary vessels of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In addition, an altered production of various endothelial vasoactive mediators, such as NO, prostacyclin, endothelin-1 (ET-1), serotonin, and thromboxane, has been increasingly recognized in patients with PH. Because most of these mediators affect the growth of the smooth muscle cells, an alteration in their production may facilitate the development of pulmonary vascular hypertrophy and structural remodeling characteristic of PH. It is conceivable that the beneficial effects of many of the treatments currently available for PAH, such as the use of prostacyclin, NO, and ET antagonists, result at least in part from restoring the balance between these mediators. However, the ultimate cellular and physiological targets of these treatments remain unknown. In addition to the potential consequences of an imbalance in the endothelial production of various mediators, injury to the endothelium may expose the underlying vascular tissue to diverse blood-borne factors that may further promote pathological changes. Endothelial dysfunction may also have adverse consequences on pulmonary vascular hemostasis by altering the production of anticoagulant factors. Recent reports of genetic mutations in the endothelial cells of patients with PH further underscore the role of these cells in the disease pathogenesis. The endothelium lining the normal lung is characterized by significant heterogeneity. Not only is it vastly different from systemic endothelium in ultrastructure and function, but it varies in various vessel types in the pulmonary vasculature itself.1 The main functions of the pulmonary endothelium include maintenance …
Hot Isostatic Pressing of Nuclear Waste Glasses

Borosilicate glass and glass-ceramic forms were prepared from simulated Savannah River Plant high-level nuclear waste by hot isostatic pressing. This process allows glass forms to be consolidated at temperatures as low as 850°C, removes viscosity constraints on frit selection, eliminates Cs volatilization, and permits waste loadings of 50 wt%. Actinide leach resistance of the glass form was improved by using redox control to induce formation of a minor uraninite crystalline phase.
Impact of dose on local failure rates after image-guided reirradiation of recurrent paraspinal metastases.

Purpose: To examine the impact of dose on local failure (LF) rates in the re-treatment of recurrent paraspinal metastases with image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IG-IMRT). Methods and Materials: The records of patients with in-field recurrence after previous spine radiation (median dose, 30 Gy) who received salvage IG-IMRT with either five 4-Gy (20-Gy group, n = 42) or five 6-Gy (30-Gy group, n = 55) daily fractions between January 2003 and August 2008 were reviewed. Institutional practice was 20 Gy before April 2006, when it changed to 30 Gy. A total of 47 cases (48%) were treated adjuvantly, after surgery to decompress epidural disease. LF after IG-IMRT was defined radiographically. Results: The median follow-up was 12.1 months (range, 0.2-63.6 months). The 1-year cumulative incidences of LF after 20 Gy and 30 Gy IG-IMRT were 45% and 26%, respectively (p = 0.04). Of all treatment characteristics examined (20-Gy vs. 30-Gy dose group, dose to 95% of the planned and gross target volume, tumor size, histology, receipt of surgery, and interval between first and second radiation), only dose group had a significant impact on actuarial LF incidence (p = 0.04; unadjusted HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.27-0.96). There was no incidence of myelopathy. Conclusions: Amore » significant decrease in LF after IG-IMRT with five 6-Gy fractions compared with five 4-Gy fractions was observed without increased risk of myelopathy. Until prospective data comparing stereotactic hypofractionated and single-fraction regimens become available, when reirradiating recurrent paraspinal metastases with IG-IMRT, administration of five 6-Gy daily fractions is reasonable.« less
Inhalant allergy due to crickets

Two employees developed allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma which was occupationally related to raising crickets. Skin tests, bronchial challenge, radioallergosorbent test (RAST), in vitro histamine release and a passive transfer test supported the presence of type I hypersensitivity to cricket allergens. Skin tests of other employees and patients of an allergy clinic suggested that cricket emanations are potent allergens.
Invited Commentary---Structural Modeling in Marketing: Some Future Possibilities

The growing interest in using structural modeling to test theories of consumer and firm behavior stems from the increased availability of market data at the individual level (both longitudinal and crosssectional) for a variety of products. The emergence of online consumer panels, where data on behavioral intentions can be collected, and the availability of retail transactional data from online stores can be expected to only accelerate the trend. Hence, the recent review article by Chintagunta et al. (2006) is a timely contribution to the structural modeling, along with other recent contributions by Wittink (2005), Franses (2005a, b), Van Heerde et al. (2005), and Bronnenberg et al. (2005). Chintagunta et al. (2006) and the other authors mentioned discuss the state of the art in the development and application of structural models in marketing. They discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using structural modeling to test marketplace theories and the cautions to be observed in the valida-
Quantitative Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy for the Measurement of Thicknesses and Volumes of Individual Nanoparticles

In Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) the High-Angle Annular Dark-Field (HAADF) signal increases with atomic number and sample thickness, while dynamic scattering effects and sample orientation have little influence on the contrast. The sensitivity of the HAADF detector for a FEI F30 transmission electron microscope has been calibrated. Additionally, a nearly linear relationship of the HAADF signal with the incident electron current is confirmed. Cross sections of multilayered samples for contrast calibration were obtained by focused ion-beam (FIB) preparation. These cross sections contained several layers with known composition. A database with several pure elements and compounds has been compiled, containing experimental data on the fraction of electrons scattered onto the HAADF detector for each nanometer of sample thickness. Contrast simulations are based on the multi-slice formalism and confirm the differences in HAADF-scattering contrast for the elements and compounds. TEM offers high lateral resolution, but contains little or no information on the thickness of samples. Thickness maps in energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy, convergent-beam electron diffraction and tilt series are so far the only methods to determine thicknesses of particles in a transmission electron microscope. We show that the calibrated HAADF contrast can be used to determine the thicknesses of individual nanoparticles deposited on carbon films. With this information the volumes of nanoparticles with known composition were determined.
A Proactive Secret Sharing Scheme in matrix projection method

Proactive Secret Sharing (PSS) scheme is a method to periodically renew n secret shares in a (k, n) threshold-based Secret Sharing Scheme (SSS) without modifying the secret, or reconstructing the secret to reproduce new shares. Traditionally, PSS schemes are developed for the Shamir's SSS which is a single SSS. Bai (2006) developed a multiple-secret sharing scheme using matrix projection. This paper presents a distributed PSS method for the matrix projection SSS. Once the new shares are updated, adversaries cannot discover the secrets from k shares which are mixed with past and present shares.
Ferroelectric Properties of Individual Barium Titanate Nanowires Investigated by Scanned Probe Microscopy

We report scanned probe investigations on the ferroelectric properties of individual single-crystalline barium titanate nanowires. We show that nonvolatile electric polarization can be reproducibly induced and manipulated on these nanowires, thereby demonstrating that nanowires as small as 10 nm in diameter retain ferroelectricity. The coercive field for polarization reversal is determined to be ∼7 kV/cm, and the retention time for the induced polarization exceeds 5 days. These nanowires should provide promising materials for fundamental investigations on nanoscale ferroelectricity, and they may also be useful in nanoscale nonvolatile memory applications.
The role of apterous in the control of dorsoventral compartmentalization and PS integrin gene expression in the developing wing of Drosophila

During the development of Drosophila appendages from imaginal discs lineage restrictions appear that prevent dividing cells from crossing between regionally distinct compartments. These compartments correspond not only to regions of cell lineage restrictions but also to regions of specific gene expression. When compartments were first discovered, it was proposed that their formation relied on compartment-specific 'selector' gene activity; engrailed is thought to play such a role for the early-arising anterior-posterior restriction. Recent results suggest that the dorsally expressed transcription factor encoded by apterous may control dorsoventral identity in the wing. In this study we use mosaic analysis to show that apterous maintains the late-arising dorsoventral lineage restriction in a manner that strongly supports the selector gene hypothesis: loss of apterous function from dorsal cells after the formation of the boundary causes them to cross into the ventral compartment. Moreover, we show that apterous plays a role controlling patterns of gene expression in the developing wing disc. The PS1 and PS2 integrins are normally expressed in primarily dorsal-specific and ventral-specific patterns, respectively. We show that ectopic expression of apterous induces ectopic ventral expression of PS1 integrin and alpha PS1 mRNA, while loss of apterous can induce the ectopic dorsal expression of PS2 integrin. Thus, apterous plays a selector-like role both in terms of the control of lineage restrictions and the regulation of downstream gene expression.
Anatomy of Aborted Stock Repurchases

The motivation and characteristics of firms that announce stock repurchase programs but do not carry them out are poorly understood. We conjecture that the long-term earnings quality of such firms is low, which makes them poor candidates for subsequent stock purchase. Their announcement is just a bluff, possibly to get a short-term bounce in their stock price. We find evidence of poor long-term earnings quality in these firms in the pre-purchase period with further deterioration in the post-purchase period. A probit model confirms that poor long-term quality of accruals, a proxy for earnings quality, increases the chance of not carrying through on the repurchase announcement. We find a significant relationship between long-term earnings quality and subsequent performance for firms that carry through on their purchase plans but no such evidence for firms that do not.
Why do Similar Countries Choose Different Policies? Endogenous Comparative Advantage and Welfare Gains

Similar countries often choose very different policies and specialize in very distinct industries. This paper proposes a mechanism to explain policy diversity among similar countries from an open economy perspective. I study optimal policies in a two country model when policies affect determinants of trade patterns. I show that welfare gains from trade can provide sufficient incentive for asymmetric equilibrium policies, even if the two countries have identical economic fundamentals. Any asymmetric equilibrium exhibits greater production specialization than the common autarky optimum; this is the source of welfare gains. For this same reason, a more asymmetric Nash equilibrium Pareto dominates a less asymmetric one. I characterize necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of such asymmetric equilibrium. All equilibria are asymmetric if income is sufficiently convex in policy, and production technologies and consumer preferences are not strongly biased in favor of one of the factors of production. As an application, I consider a model where skill distribution is the determinant of trade patterns and the policy in question is education policy. When heterogeneous agents choose their skill levels optimally, optimal skill function is convex in government policy. In this application, the general sufficient condition requires that the education cost of agents is relatively inelastic with respect to skill.
Toward a Configurational Perspective on the CEO A Review and Synthesis of the Management Literature

Management literature offers substantial insight about many aspects of CEO-related phenomena. Whether it involves aspects of the position of CEO, personal characteristics of the CEO, or the environment in which the CEO operates, research about the CEO has yielded a number of important findings. Despite the proliferation of research regarding the CEO, we find that the literature as a whole is fragmented. By this, we mean that the CEO is often used as a context to test discrete theories. In this article, we contend that the fragmentation in the literature is a result of scholarship existing within theoretical fault lines and rarely venturing to incorporate theories beyond a given domain. This fragmentation results in inconsistent and inconclusive findings in the CEO-related literature. We propose an integrative framework, which we call the configurational perspective on the CEO, to help resolve this fragmentation problem. The configurational perspective on the CEO highlights three separate CEO-related resea...
The flavour makers

Hacking our smell receptors will allow us to create delicious, tailored food flavours. Jessica Wapner reports
Room temperature quantum memories: operation and cascading

We present the implementation of single-photon level polarization qubit memories using warm rubidium vapor. We will discuss how their fidelity is influenced by intrinsic noise processes and show results on the cascading of two of these systems. Article not available.
Abstract LB-47: Resveratrol induces Apaf-1 dependent but apoptosome-independent apoptosis in cancer cells

Resveratrol (Resv) selectively kills cancer cells, whereas the molecular mechanisms of Resv-induced cancer cell death are not defined. Here we show that Resv induces mitochondria-dependent but apoptosome-independent apoptosis in cancer cells. Resv inhibits cancer cell growth and proliferation, mitochondrial membrane potential, and ROS production. In contrast, Resv induces dose and time dependent caspase activation, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, and thus caspase-dependent apoptosis. Mechanistic analysis reveals that recruitment and oligomerization of Bax on the mitochondria is associated with release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria. Surprisingly, the released cytochrome c fails to induce apoptosome assembly as evidenced by the lack of Apaf-1 oligomerization upon Resv treatment. Interestingly, Apaf-1 was up regulated both at transcriptional and protein levels upon Resv treatment suggesting that the levels of Apaf-1 was not a limiting factor for apoptosome assembly. Subcellular analysis reveals that catalytically active caspase-9 was mostly associated with the mitochondria in Resv-induced apoptotic cells. Reconstitution experiment using recombinant proteins and purified cytosols demonstrates that Resv inhibits apoptosome functions in a dose dependent manner. MALDI-TOF analysis indicates that inhibition of apoptosome formation was not mediated by sequestration of cytochrome c as Resv fails to interact with cytochrome c. Furthermore, Resv also induces autophagy as evidenced by the increase in the levels of LC3-II upon Resv treatment. Inhibition of autophagy either by autophagy inhibitors or by silencing of autophagy related genes (ATG-5 or Beclin-1) further increase caspase activation. Gel filtration and subcellular fractionation analyses demonstrate that caspase-independent apoptosis does not seem to be involved as AIF and endonuclease G was not released from the mitochondrial compartment upon Resv treatment. These findings indicate that Resv targets mitochondria to induce caspase-9 mediated cancer cell death and that induction of autophagy during apoptosis is an adaptive response. Therefore, inhibition of autophagy along with induction of apoptosis could represent a novel strategy for cancer therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-47.
Unstructured Mixed Element Mesh Renement Using Templates Generated by Metaprogramming

Unstructured mesh h-re nement replaces an existing element with a set of smaller child elements to improve the local resolution. A template can be used to create the child elements from the original nodes of the parent element and any new nodes that are introduced at edge, face, or element centers. Homogeneous re nement results when all the edges of the element are split and the child elements are typically of the same type as the parent. A transition re nement element is required to interface the homogeneously re ned element with the surrounding unre ned elements. The number of possible transition re nement templates is very large and typically only a fraction of the possible templates are implemented. The present e ort automates the process of generating the transition element templates through the use of metaprogramming: one program will generate the templates and write out software to be compiled into the actual mesh re nement code. The current approach is described in detail and demonstrated on three di erent test cases. The rst is re nement of all elements within a bounding box as might be used to improve local solution accuracy. The second case is re nement to eliminate orphans in an overset mesh system when the overlap between the meshes is insu cient to provide quality interpolation sources. The nal test case combines re nement to eliminate orphans with re nement to improve local solution accuracy. The current procedure generates over 900 unique templates that expands to over 12,000 possible combinations of transition re nement templates.
Limited Irrigation of Corn-Based No-Till Crop Rotations in West Central Great Plains

Agronomy Journa l • Volume 108 , I s sue 3 • 2016 Crop rotation is one of the earliest recognized crop management practices for its benefi cial infl uence on soil structure improvement and weed management, which ultimately improve crop yield (Liebman and Dyck, 1993; Baldwin, 2006; Stanger and Lauer, 2008; Davis et al., 2012). Crop rotation research in the past has mainly focused on the impact of diff erent cropping sequences on yield in dryland conditions, but little information is available on full and limited irrigation conditions (Schneekloth et al., 1991; Halvorson and Schlegel, 2012; Klocke et al., 2014). A decline in water levels of the Ogallala aquifer and the need for effi cient use of water resources in the Great Plains (Stone et al., 2002; Peterson and Bernardo, 2003; Scanlon et al., 2012) require investigation of best crop rotation systems that reduce the amount of irrigation water required while maintaining or improving crop yield and profi tability. More than 80% of the total crop harvested area (~19 million ha) in the central Great Plains region (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska) in 2014 was corn, Gs, Sb, and W (USDA, 2014). Corn and Sb are commonly grown under irrigation while sorghum and wheat grow mainly under rainfed conditions. Improvements in fertilizer, pesticide, and tillage technologies has enabled rotation of summer crops such as sorghum, corn, and Sb with W in the region. Th e rotation of a summer crop with W comes with many advantages that lead to more effi cient land and seasonal soil water usage (Peterson et al., 1993; Anderson et al., 1999; Norwood, 2000; Hansen et al., 2012; Assefa et al., 2014;). Th e positive impacts of a more diverse crop rotation on weed seedbank reduction, reduction in N fertilizer requirement, sustainable yield increase, and profi tability were reported by many researchers (Teasdale et al., 2004; Tarkalson et al., 2006; Stanger and Lauer, 2008; Coulter et al., 2011; Davis et al., 2012). Crop rotations can aff ect many aspects of crop production such as grain yield, production cost, net return, available water use, crop water productivity, weed control, soil quality, and others. Davis et al. (2012) found that a 4-yr diverse corn-based rotation was similar or greater than 2or 3-yr diverse corn-based Limited Irrigation of Corn-Based No-Till Crop Rotations in West Central Great Plains
Investigation on the cockroach's infestation situation in Kaifeng city

Objective To understand and grasp the infestation situation of cockroach in Kaifeng city and provide scientific basis for cockroach.Methods Unified stick-trap was applied in the surveillance.Results Blattella germanica was the absolutely dominant species in Kaifeng city,which accounted for 100%.In different places,there was the highest density index at restaurant,the following were hotel and supermarket.Conclusion Blattella germanica is the dominant species.Hotel and supermarket are the focus of the industry where cockroach breeds and does harm.And it is necessary to monitor and control cockroach in these places.
Morality’s Centrality to Liking, Respecting, and Understanding Others:

We examine morality’s relationship to three distinct dimensions of social perception: liking, respecting, and knowing a person. Participants completed two independent tasks. First, they rated acqua...
Stimuli-sensitive thiolated hyaluronic acid based nanofibers: synthesis, preclinical safety and in vitro anti-HIV activity.

Aim: To develop a seminal enzyme bioresponsive, mucoadhesive nanofibers (NFs) as safe and effective nanocarriers for the prevention of HIV vaginal transmission. Methods: A novel thiolated hyaluronic acid (HA-SH) polymer was synthesized to fabricate tenofovir (TFV)-loaded electrospun NFs (HA-SH-NFs) and characterized in vitro/in vivo. Results: A triggered drug release (87% w/w) from the engineered HA-SH-NFs (mean diameter ∼75 nm) occured within 1 h under the influence of seminal hyaluronidase enzyme. HA-SH-NFs were noncytotoxic, induced no damage on the C57BL/6 mice genital-tract and other organs. No significant CD45 cell-infiltration and changes in cytokines level in cervicovaginal tissues were observed. HA-SH-NFs significantly enhanced both TFV retention and bioavailability in vaginal tissue compared with the 1% TFV-gel. The anti-HIV activity of TFV (on pseudotyped virus followed by luciferase assay) was not adversely affected by the electrospinning process. Conclusion: HA-SH-NFs developed in this study ...
Strategies and behaviors of end-user programmers with interactive fault localization

End-user programmers are writing an unprecedented number of programs, due in large part to the significant effort put forth to bring programming power to end users. Unfortunately, this effort has not been supplemented by a comparable effort to increase the correctness of these often faulty programs. To address this need, we have been working towards bringing fault localization techniques to end users. In order to understand how end users are affected by and interact with such techniques, we conducted a think-aloud study, examining the interactive, human-centric ties between end-user debugging and a fault localization technique. Our results provide insights into the contributions such techniques can make to an interactive end-user debugging process.
Relationships between adult emotional states and indicators of health care utilization: Findings from the National Health Interview Survey 2006–2014

Abstract Objective Adults with serious psychological distress have a high likelihood of mental health problems severe enough to cause serious impairment in social and occupational functioning requiring treatment. These adults visit doctors frequently yet have poor health compared to adults without serious psychological distress. This study examined associations between emotional states of serious psychological distress in relationship to healthcare utilization indicators. A guiding hypothesis was that somatization underlying emotional states contributes to excessive healthcare seeking among adults with serious psychological distress. Methods Using 2006–2014 National Health Interview Survey, in adults with serious psychological distress (n = 9271), the six states: unable to make efforts, nervousness, hopelessness, sadness, worthlessness and restlessness were assessed in multivariate models in relation to four healthcare utilization indicators: change in the usual place of healthcare, change due to insurance, having seen a healthcare provider in the last 6 months and having 10 or more doctor visits in the last 12 months. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic variables, having seen a mental health provider, and health conditions. Results Adults feeling unable to make efforts were more likely to seek healthcare in the last 6 months and at least ten times in the last twelve months. Adults feeling hopeless were less likely to be heavy healthcare utilizers. Conclusions Predisposing medical conditions do not fully explain healthcare utilization in adults with serious psychological distress. Educating healthcare providers about the emotional states motivating healthcare seeking, and integrating mental healthcare into primary care, may improve the health of adults with serious psychological distress.
Imagining Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11: conflicting literary chronographies of one invasion

ABSTRACTAfter the end of the Cold War, the second world disappeared, and the post-socialist space became a silent non-region. A close look at representations of pre-war Afghanistan and more specifically representations of its socialist period in contemporary global Anglophone literature reveals a cartography of silences and evasions related to the difficulty of depicting socialism outside of the discourses of its historical failure. At the same time, examining and explicitly addressing these impasses presents a wealth of new possibilities for representation and articulation. In this paper, I discuss representations of the Soviet invasion in three Anglophone novels – Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, M.E. Hirsh’s Kabul, and Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil. These three texts, I argue, exemplify three divergent strategies of imagining Afghanistan’s past, and consequently offer a path towards imagining its future as well as the future of the globe. I argue that representations of the Soviet invasion of 1979 ...
Urban Computing: Tackling Urban Challenges Using Big Data

Urban computing is a process of acquisition, integration, and analysis of big and heterogeneous data generated by a diversity of sources in cities to tackle urban challenges, e.g. air pollution, energy consumption and traffic congestion. Urban computing connects unobtrusive and ubiquitous sensing technologies, advanced data management and analytics models, and novel visualization methods, to create win-win-win solutions that improve urban environment, human life quality, and city operation systems. Urban computing is an inter-disciplinary field where computer science meets urban planning, transportation, economy, the environment, sociology, and energy, etc., in the context of urban spaces. In this talk, I will overview the framework of urban computing, discussing its key challenges and methodologies from computer science's perspective. This talk will also present a diversity of urban computing applications, ranging from big data-driven environmental protection to transportation, from urban planning to urban economy. The research has been not only published at prestigious conferences but also deployed in the real world. More details can be found on the homepage of urban computing1.
Flipping the classroom: Case-based learning, accountability, assessment, and feedback leads to a favorable change in culture

Abstract Objective The 88-week Thoracic Surgery Curriculum is challenging to implement because of the large content in a traditional lecture format. This study investigates flipping the classroom by using a case-based format designed to stimulate resident preparation and engagement. Methods The didactic conference format was altered. Curricular reading assignments, case review, and conference participation prepared residents for novel formative assessment quizzes. Ten residents participated, and faculty served as controls. Scores were compared with the use of linear regression adjusted for clustering of responses for each person. A survey was administered to determine impressions of this educational technique. Results A majority of residents completed curricular readings (82%) and reviewed case presentations (79%). Resident performance initially lagged behind faculty but exceeded faculty performance by the conclusion (interaction P = .047). Junior resident overall performance was superior to senior residents over the entire analysis ( P = .026); however, both groups improved over time similarly ( P = .34) Increased reading from the curriculum (5% increase per level, P = .001) and case presentation review (6% increase per level, P P = .38). The majority of residents viewed this method favorably. Conclusions This method stimulated increased resident participation and engagement in this pilot study. Assessment scores increased at both resident levels, and resident performance exceeded faculty performance with time. By using experiential learning principles, flipping the classroom in this manner may improve educational culture by enhancing accountability, assessment, and feedback.
Agility maneuvers to mitigate inference attacks on sensed location data

Sensed location data is subject to inference attacks by cybercriminals that aim to obtain the exact position of sensitive locations, such as the victim's home and work locations, to launch a variety of different attacks. Various Location-Privacy Preserving Mechanisms (LPPMs) exist to reduce the probability of success of inference attacks on location data. However, such mechanisms have been shown to be less effective when the adversary is informed of the protection mechanism adopted, also known as white-box attacks. We propose a novel approach that makes use of targeted agility maneuvers as a more robust defense against white-box attacks. Agility maneuvers are systematically activated in response to specific system events to rapidly and continuously control the rate of change in system configurations and increase diversity in the space of readings, which would decrease the probability of success of inference attacks by an adversary. Experimental results, performed on a real data set, show that the adoption of agility maneuvers reduces the probability of success of white-box attacks to 2.68% on average, compared to 56.92% when using state-of-the-art LPPMs.
Structural studies on the inactivation of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase by the disulphide analogues of radioprotective cysteamine derivatives. Effects of aminoalkyl and hydroxyalkyl chain length and ββ-bis-dimethylation

Abstract Disulphide compounds have been shown to inactivate gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, the rate-limiting enzyme for GSH synthesis. Such compounds bind to a cysteine residue at or near the glutamate-binding site of the enzyme. This phenomenon is thought to be responsible for the synergistic toxicity of the thiophosphate radio- and chemo-protective agent WR2721 and the oxygen-radical generator 6-hydroxydopamine (2,4,6-trihydroxyphenethylamine). 6-Hydroxy-dopamine enhances conversion of WR2721 into its disulphide metabolite NN'-bis-(3-aminopropyl)cystamine, which, in turn, paralyses the synthetase. In an effort to identify radio- and chemo-protective thiols and thiol derivatives that do not have this toxicity, we have begun to define the structure-activity relationship that governs inactivation of the enzyme by analogues of WR2721 disulphide. NN'-Bis(aminoalkyl)cystamines and bis(hydroxyalkyl)cystamines with an alkyl chain length of C5 or greater are not inactivators of the synthetase. That this is not due solely to the size of these compounds is shown by the potent inactivation of the enzyme by SAPH3 disulphide, an extremely bulky cystamine analogue. beta beta-Bis-dimethylation of the cystamine portion of the molecule also obviates inactivation. This is almost certainly due to steric interference with disulphide interchange. These findings may facilitate the safe adjunctive use of the thiol counterparts of such compounds with oxygen-radical-generating chemotherapeutic agents, and may shed light on the structure of the region of the synthetase adjacent to the glutamate-binding site.
Autism Goes to College: Understanding the Needs of a Student Population on the Rise

Understanding the needs of adolescents and emerging adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with respect to transition to postsecondary education is critical to development of user-informed transition programming. Parents of adolescents and emerging adults with ASD (n = 52) and ADHD (n = 47) completed an online survey. Social interaction training and independent living training were services frequently requested by parents in the ASD group. Additionally, parents of postsecondary students with ASD endorsed distinct challenges with self-advocacy, managing emotions, and managing personal/adaptive skills relative to postsecondary students with ADHD. The profile of parent-reported difficulties and needed services compared to transition to postsecondary education for students with ASD is distinguishable from that for ADHD, suggesting individualized transition planning and in-college supports.
Optimal control of UAVs using the sparse grid characteristic method

Real-time optimal maneuvering of unmanned vehicles using feedback control requires efficient computational algorithms. Stability and tracking controls of UAVs have been widely used. However, the optimal control of UAVs that requires minimizing a cost functional is challenging. The approach in this paper is based on a sparse grid characteristic method. Sparse grids are used to mitigate the curse of dimensionality in solving the HJB equation. At each grid point, the optimal control is computed using the characteristic method based on the Pontryagin Maximum (or Minimum) Principle. The algorithm consists of two parts, the off-line computational algorithm to solve the HJB equation for the design of a feedback control-law and the on-line algorithm for real-time receding horizon control using interpolation. The method is applied to a UAV model to test the closed-loop control.
An Unbiased High-Throughput Screen to Identify Novel Effectors That Impact on Cardiomyocyte Aggregate Levels.

Rationale: Postmitotic cells, such as cardiomyocytes, seem to be particularly susceptible to proteotoxic stimuli, and large, proteinaceous deposits are characteristic of the desmin-related cardiomyopathies and crystallin cardiomyopathic diseases. Increased activity of protein clearance pathways in the cardiomyocyte, such as proteasomal degradation and autophagy, has proven to be beneficial in maintaining cellular and cardiac function in the face of multiple proteotoxic insults, holding open the possibility of targeting these processes for the development of effective therapeutics. Objective: Here, we undertake an unbiased, total genome screen for RNA transcripts and their protein products that affect aggregate accumulations in the cardiomyocytes. Methods and Results: Primary mouse cardiomyocytes that accumulate aggregates as a result of a mutant CryAB (αB-crystallin) causative for human desmin-related cardiomyopathy were used for a total genome-wide screen to identify gene products that affected aggregate formation. We infected cardiomyocytes using a short hairpin RNA lentivirus library in which the mouse genome was represented. The screen identified multiple candidates in many cell signaling pathways that were able to mediate significant decreases in aggregate levels. Conclusions: Subsequent validation of one of these candidates, Jak1 (Janus kinase 1), a tyrosine kinase of the nonreceptor type, confirmed the usefulness of this approach in identifying previously unsuspected players in proteotoxic processes.