cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Wax and Cutin Layers in Maize Kernels Associated with Resistance to Aflatoxin Production by Aspergillus flavus

Thirteen maize hybrids and one maize population, MAS:gk, were screened for susceptibility to aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus . Marked differences in aflatoxin B1 production were detected among the maize genotypes tested. Most commercial hybrids consistently supported high levels of aflatoxin accumulation. Aflatoxin levels did not differ between intact and wounded kernels of these genotypes. However, different results were obtained from 4 of the 13 hybrids and the maize population MAS:gk. Levels of aflatoxin accumulation in intact kernels of these genotypes were lower than in the previous susceptible group of genotypes. In addition, aflatoxin levels were higher in wounded than in intact kernels. MAS:gk not only supported the lowest levels of aflatoxin production in intact kernels, but aflatoxin levels in endosperm-wounded kernels also were significantly lower in MAS:gk than in wounded kernels of all tested hybrids. Treatment with KOH to remove cutin from intact kernels prior to inoculation with A. flavus effected substantial increases in aflatoxin accumulation in MAS:gk, but only marginal increases in the susceptible hybrid Pioneer 3154. Removing wax from the surface of MAS:gk kernels greatly increased the susceptibility of this genotype to aflatoxin accumulation. When wax removal was combined with treatment with potassium hydroxide (KOH) or purified cutinase, aflatoxin levels in kernels were equal to those in wounded control kernels in both genotypes. These results indicated that wax and cutin layers of maize kernel pericarps may play a role in resistance to aflatoxin accumulation in MAS:gk and some other genotypes. However, results suggest further that resistance in MAS:gk also may be due to other preformed compounds as well.
Lightweight and low-cost HV-testing system with power frequency

A new type of 500 kV AC voltage testing system operating at power frequency was developed by the Electric Power Research Institute and has been used for electric power apparatus for 10 years. This AC voltage testing system consists of a reactor with fixed inductances and capacitors with step-adjusted capacities. This paper provides a summary of the development of this testing system. The major features of the testing system and experience with electric power apparatus onsite tests are also described in the paper.
Perfluoroalkyl substances and fish consumption.

Abstract Background Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an emerging class of contaminants. Certain PFAS are regulated or voluntarily limited due to concern about environmental persistence and adverse health effects, including thyroid disease and dyslipidemia. The major source of PFAS exposure in the general population is thought to be consumption of seafood. Objectives In this analysis we examine PFAS levels and their determinants, as well as associations between PFAS levels and self-reported fish and shellfish consumption, using a representative sample of the U.S. population. Methods Data on PFAS levels and self-reported fish consumption over the past 30 days were collected from the 2007–2008, 2009–2010, 2011–2012, and 2013–2014 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Twelve different PFAS were measured in serum samples from participants. Ordinary least squares regression models were used to identify factors (demographic characteristics and fish consumption habits) associated with serum PFAS concentrations. Additional models were further adjusted for other potential exposures including military service and consumption of ready-to-eat and fast foods. Results Seven PFAS were detected in at least 30% of participants and were examined in subsequent analyses (PFDA, PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, MPAH, PFNA, PFUA). The PFAS with the highest concentrations were PFOS, followed by PFOA, PFHxS and PFNA (medians of 8.3, 2.7, 1.5 and 1.0 ng/mL). Fish consumption was generally low, with a median of 1.2 fish meals and 0.14 shellfish meals, reported over the past 30 days. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, total fish consumption was associated with reduced MPAH, and with elevated PFDE, PFNA and PFuDA. Shellfish consumption was associated with elevations of all PFAS examined except MPAH. Certain specific fish and shellfish types were also associated with specific PFAS. Adjustment for additional exposure variables resulted in little to no change in effect estimates for seafood variables. Conclusions PFAS are emerging contaminants with widespread exposure, persistence, and potential for adverse health effects. In the general population, fish and shellfish consumption are associated with PFAS levels, which may indicate an avenue for education and outreach.
Chasing the Latest Rabbit: High Flow Nasal Cannula and Bronchiolitis

The search for effective evidence-based management strategies for children hospitalized with acute viral bronchiolitis is filled with dark rabbit holes of potential benefit that, for the most part, have led right back to the beginning. Such has been the case for antiviral agents, bronchodilators, systemic and inhaled corticosteroids, and, most recently, nebulized hypertonic saline.1 A new tool in the ever-changing toolbox of bronchiolitis that has gathered recent enthusiasm is high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC). HFNC is an oxygen delivery strategy that uses heated and humidified air that allows for higher flows than typical oxygen delivery methods such as simple nasal cannula or a face mask.2 This enthusiasm is mostly based on retrospective data showing decreased intubation rates in the emergency department and intensive care setting, as well as some limited data that argue for its safety in the general inpatient wards.3–5 The enthusiasm regarding HFNC is tempered by the fact that the studies arguing for decreased intubation rates were retrospective and observational in nature and used historical cohorts to compare outcomes after HFNC implementation. Historical cohorts may have biased these initial studies by failing to take …
Antiviral Therapy and Local Treatment for Herpes Zoster

In the twenty-first century, there is great interest in prevention of zoster, both in healthy and immunocompromised patients. Successful prevention of clinical reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV) is obviously preferable to treatment after VZV has reactivated and caused disease. Despite the development of effective zoster vaccines [1, 2], however, there will continue to be a need for antiviral therapy for zoster in patients who have not received immunization or in whom a vaccine has not been entirely effective. Today, most individuals who develop zoster, particularly if they are immunocompromised or over 50 years old, are recommended to receive specific therapy mainly to decrease morbidity from VZV infection; death from zoster is uncommon or rare [3]. Therapy of zoster, even if given early after onset, unfortunately, probably does not prevent development of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), as discussed below. On the other hand, relief of pain and promotion of healing of the rash of zoster are obviously greatly welcomed by patients, and antiviral therapy is given to most zoster patients.
Key Features of Structural and Functional Organization of Zebrafish Facial Motor Neurons Are Resilient to Disruption of Neuronal Migration.

Summary The location of neurons early in development can be critical for their ability to differentiate and receive normal synaptic inputs. Indeed, disruptions in neuronal positioning lead to a variety of neurological disorders. Neurons have, however, shifted their positions across phylogeny, suggesting that changes in location do not always spell functional disaster. To investigate the functional consequences of abnormal positioning, we leveraged previously reported genetic perturbations to disrupt normal neuronal migration—and thus positioning—in a population of cranial motor neurons, the facial branchiomotor neurons (FBMNs). We used a combination of topographical, morphological, physiological, and behavioral analyses to determine whether key functional features of FBMNs were still established in migration mutants, in spite of a dramatic rostrocaudal repositioning of these neurons in hindbrain. We discovered that FBMNs seem remarkably resilient to a disruption in positioning, suggesting that they may not rely heavily on rostrocaudal positioning to guide their functional development. Thus, the role of positioning may vary across the developing nervous system, with some populations—like facial motor neurons—exhibiting greater resilience to abnormal positioning that permits them to shift location as a part of evolutionary change.
Characteristics of Community College Students

(1974). Characteristics of Community College Students. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Western College Reading Association: Vol. 7, Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference of the WCRA. Reading - Update: Ideals to Reality, pp. 1-5.
Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Risk Across Health Domains in Adolescents With an Evening Circadian Preference

Sleep and circadian rhythm changes during adolescence contribute to increased risk across emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, and physical health domains. This study examines if sleep and dim...
Varlam Shalamov between Tamizdat and the Soviet Writers’ Union (1966–1978)

Abstract Based on archival findings, the paper traces the itinerary of Shalamov’s manuscript from Moscow to the United States, where it was serialized, in an edited form, in the Russian emigre periodical Novyi zhurnal from 1966 until 1978. It focuses on the patterns of its reception across generations of Russian emigre writers and critics and situates Kolymskie rasskazy in the socio-political and linguistic contexts of its first tamizdat publication. The paper also analyzes the western reception of Kolymskie rasskazy vis-a-vis Solzhenitsyn’s novella Odin den’ Ivana Denisovicha, which seems to have overshadowed nearly every other text on the Gulag topic since its official publication in Novyi mir in 1962. It argues that the formal(ist) features of Shalamov’s “new prose” remained ultimately inaccessible to the older generation of Russian emigre critics, who lacked the necessary familiarity with the new Soviet language, let alone a first-hand experience of the Gulag, where much of this language and Soviet culture in general had been tempered. The example of Kolymskie rasskazy and the history of its first publication and reception abroad is used as a case study of the transnational network of tamizdat, which mediated the relationships of many Soviet authors, including Shalamov, with official state publishing (or gosizdat), on the one hand, and with the non-conformist literary underground, including samizdat, on the other.
Detection and Identification of Fungal Infections in Intact Wheat and Sorghum Grain Using a Hand-Held Raman Spectrometer

Global population growth drives increasing food demand, which is anticipated to increase by at least 20% over the next 15 years. Rapid detection and identification of plant pathogens allows for up to a 50% increase in the total agricultural yield worldwide. Current molecular methods for pathogen diagnostics, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), are costly, time-consuming, and destructive. These limitations recently catalyzed a push toward developing minimally invasive and substrate general techniques that can be used in the field for confirmatory detection and identification of plant pathogens. Raman spectroscopy (RS) is a noninvasive, nondestructive, and label-free technique that can be used to determine chemical structure of analyzed specimens. In this study, we demonstrate that by using a hand-held Raman spectrometer, we can identify whether wheat or sorghum grains are healthy or not and identify present plant pathogens. We show that RS enables diagnosis of simple diseases, such as ergot, that are ...
A Transition-State Perspective on Y-Family DNA Polymerase η Fidelity in Comparison with X-Family DNA Polymerases λ and β

Deoxynucleotide misincorporation efficiencies can span a wide 104-fold range, from ∼10-2 to ∼10-6, depending principally on polymerase (pol) identity and DNA sequence context. We have addressed DNA pol fidelity mechanisms from a transition-state (TS) perspective using our "tool-kit" of dATP- and dGTP-β,γ substrate analogues in which the pyrophosphate leaving group (p Ka4 = 8.9) has been replaced by a series of bisphosphonates covering a broad acidity range spanning p Ka4 values from 7.8 (CF2) to 12.3 [C(CH3)2]. Here, we have used a linear free energy relationship (LFER) analysis, in the form of a Bronsted plot of log( kpol) versus p Ka4, for Y-family error-prone pol η and X-family pols λ and β to determine the extent to which different electrostatic active site environments alter kpol values. The apparent chemical rate constant ( kpol) is the rate-determining step for the three pols. The pols each exhibit a distinct catalytic signature that differs for formation of right (A·T) and wrong (G·T) incorporations observed as changes in slopes and displacements of the Bronsted lines, in relation to a reference LFER. Common to this signature among all three pols is a split linear pattern in which the analogues containing two halogens show kpol values that are systematically lower than would be predicted from their p Ka4 values measured in aqueous solution. We discuss how metal ions and active site amino acids are responsible for causing "effective" p Ka4 values that differ for dihalo and non-dihalo substrates as well as for individual R and S stereoisomers for CHF and CHCl.
Vibrational theory for monatomic liquids

The construction of the vibration-transit theory of liquid dynamics is being presented in three sequential research reports. The first is on the entire condensed-matter collection of $N$-atom potential energy valleys and identification of the random valleys as the liquid domain. The present (second) report defines the vibrational Hamiltonian and describes its application to statistical mechanics. The following is a brief list of the major topics treated here. The vibrational Hamiltonian is universal, in that its potential energy is a single $3N$-dimensional harmonic valley. The anharmonic contribution is also treated. The Hamiltonian is calibrated from first-principles calculations of the structural potential and the vibrational frequencies and eigenvectors. Exact quantum-statistical-mechanical functions are expressed in universal equations and are evaluated exactly from vibrational data. Exact classical-statistical-mechanical functions are also expressed in universal equations and are evaluated exactly from a few moments of the vibrational frequency distribution. The complete condensed-matter distributions of these moments are graphically displayed, and their use in statistical mechanics is clarified. The third report will present transit theory, which treats the motion of atoms between the $N$-atom potential energy valleys.
Road safety risk factors for non-motorised vehicle users in a Chinese city: an observational study.

Objective The objective of this study is to describe and analyse the prevalence of speeding, helmet use and red-light running among riders of non-motorised vehicles (NMVs) in Shanghai, China, with a focus on electric bikes (ebikes). Methods Observational studies were conducted in eight randomly selected locations in Shanghai. Descriptive statistics and a Cox proportional hazard (PH) model were used in the analyses. Findings A total of 14 828 NMVs were observed in November 2017. At the free flow sites, the average speed was 22.5 km/hour for ebikes and 13.4 km/hour for bicycles. 95.5% of ebikes run above 15 km/hour, the legal speed limit for NMVs in China and 83.8% above 20 km/hour, the maximum design speed for ebikes. Helmet wearing rate was 13.5% for ebike drivers and 9.4% for passengers. Riders of commercial ebikes were nearly three times more likely to wear a helmet than personal ebikes. 22.4% of ebikes were observed to run a red light. The Cox PH model showed that ebikes (vs bicycles), males (vs females), clear weather (vs cloudy, rainy and snowy), helmet users (vs nonusers) are associated with a higher hazard for running a red light. Conclusion To our knowledge, this study is among the first comprehensive evaluation of road user behaviours for NMVs in China. An effective intervention package including regulating ebike production to national standards, strengthening speed enforcement and passing legislation on mandatory helmet use for ebike users may be able to help.
A data-driven analysis of flash flood hazard, fatalities, and damages over the CONUS during 1996–2017

Abstract Flash floods are among the most disastrous natural hazards worldwide because of their rapid onset that limits effective emergency response and management. Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of flash floods can help emergency managers and stakeholders in devising solutions to mitigate the associated risks and damages. In this study, a data-driven approach is employed to characterize flash flood hazard across the contiguous United States (CONUS). The National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Events database is utilized, and a total of 74,814 flash flood events are assessed during 1996–2017. The frequency, duration, property damages, and fatalities of flash floods are investigated across spatial domains (i.e. county, state, regional, and entire CONUS) and multiple temporal scales (i.e. annual, seasonal, monthly, and diurnal). Results indicate that flash flood frequency has slightly increased over the CONUS in the past 22 years, and the property damages have substantially raised. Flash floods are found to be more frequent in summer and less frequent but longer in winter. Our analyses indicate distinct regional patterns for duration of median versus extreme flash floods. In addition, the diurnal distribution of flash floods indicate that they are more likely to initiate in the evening and terminate around midnight. The average duration of flash floods in the past 22 years has been about 3.5 h, yet in some rare cases, they persisted for about two days. The findings of this study can shed light on flash flood hazard across the CONUS, which can be useful for mitigating flash flood risks.
Measuring spatial and temporal shifts in forest structure and composition in high elevation beech forests in response to beech bark disease in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Abstract Exotic forest pests and pathogens are among the most serious environmental threats to millions of hectares of forested land worldwide. Beech Bark Disease (BBD) is a non-native, pathogenic complex consisting of associations between scale insects and fungi. First confirmed in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) in 1986, this complex has since threatened local high elevation beech forests, which are G-1 ranked (critically imperiled) forest communities where American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) is a foundational tree species. In 1994, GRSM initiated the BBD Monitoring Protocol at 10 high elevation beech forest plots in the Park. The plots were sampled biennially from 1994 to 2012 and again in 2017 to investigate infestation patterns and host mortality. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) techniques were used to investigate shifts in forest structure and composition over the 23-year study period. Species-specific changes were analyzed using repeated measures linear mixed effects models (RMLMM). High elevation beech forest communities are changing through time with trajectories becoming more influenced by Acer and Betula species. Despite great variability in plot location, aspect, slope, and beginning species composition, time was a significant factor, explaining ~10% of the variation in relative basal area. Species-specific shifts were highly variable. While overstory Fagus grandifolia basal area declined significantly over the 23-year study period, no significant change in total basal area was observed, indicating that the loss of these mature trees was compensated by co-occurring species. Understory sapling and woody seedling abundance of F. grandifolia increased relative to most other species in the study. The loss of the foundational species, F. grandifolia (the dominant tree species which defines high elevation beech forests), will have broad consequences for associated biota, ecosystem function, and potentially, the long-term persistence of high elevation beech forests in GRSM.
Developing Robust Crop Plants for Sustaining Growth and Yield Under Adverse Climatic Changes

Agriculture production and quality are expected to suffer from adverse changes in climatic conditions, including global warming, and this will affect worldwide human and animal food security. Global warming is a major threat to sustainable agriculture since instances of negative impact on crop yield have been confirmed. Crops exposed to higher than optimum temperatures and/or facing drought during reproductive stages result in lower grain yield, and if this exposure is longer then global crop production will ultimately decline drastically. Although increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, associated with transpiration, the overall negative effects of higher temperatures and drought conditions together could be lethal. To sustain crop growth and protection there is an urgent need to develop stress-tolerant crops. Breeding strategies assisted by molecular markers could identify resilient germplasm for developing stress-tolerant crops, but this approach may not be a timely solution because of limited germplasm resources and the slow nature of the process. Genetic manipulation to improve stress tolerance in crops against heat, drought, and salinity is a relatively more effective technology since a number of critical genes, particularly transcription factors, that regulate gene expression in response to environmental stress have been identified and validated to provide tolerance against multiple abiotic stressors in a wide variety of crops, including rice, wheat and maize. In this chapter, we bring together selective examples that highlight the recent developments in engineering transcription factors, other proteins, osmolytes, and molecules, such as polyamines, which are shown to empower plants with tolerance to adverse climatic extremes.
Know the Unknowns: Addressing Disturbances and Uncertainties in Autonomous Systems : Invited Paper

Future autonomous systems will employ complex sensing, computation, and communication components for their perception, planning, control, and coordination, and could operate in highly dynamic and uncertain environment with safety and security assurance. To realize this vision, we have to better understand and address the challenges from the “unknowns” - the unexpected disturbances from component faults, environmental interference, and malicious attacks, as well as the inherent uncertainties in system inputs, model inaccuracies, and machine learning techniques (particularly those based on neural networks). In this work, we will discuss these challenges, propose our approaches in addressing them, and present some of the initial results. In particular, we will introduce a cross-layer framework for modeling and mitigating execution uncertainties (e.g., timing violations, soft errors) with weakly-hard paradigm, quantitative and formal methods for ensuring safe and time-predictable application of neural networks in both perception and decision making, and safety-assured adaptation strategies in dynamic environment.
Call Us by Our Names: A Kitchen-Table Dialogue on Doin’ It for the Culture

In this autotheoretical editorial, we (the journal co-editors) operate in the Black radical tradition of disruption by employing kitchen-table dialogue as an improvisational exegetical method to in...
Associations between everyday discrimination and sleep quality and duration among African Americans over time in the Jackson Heart Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES African-Americans have a high burden of poor sleep, yet, psychosocial determinants (e.g., discrimination) are understudied. We investigated longitudinal associations between everyday discrimination and sleep quality and duration among African-Americans (N=3404) in the Jackson Heart Study. METHODS At Exam 1 (2000-2004) and Exam 3 (2008-2013), participants completed the Everyday Discrimination Scale, rated their sleep quality (1=poor to 5=excellent), and self-reported hours of sleep. A subset of participants (N=762) underwent 7-day actigraphy to objectively assess sleep duration (Sleep Exam 2012-2016). Changes in discrimination were defined as low stable (reference), increasing, decreasing, and stable high. Within-person changes in sleep from Exam 1-to-3 were regressed on change in discrimination from Exam 1-to-3 while adjusting for age, sex, education, income, employment, physical activity, smoking, body mass index, social support and stress. RESULTS At Exam 1, the mean age was 54.1 (12.0) years; 64% were female, mean sleep quality was 3.0 (1.1) and 54% were short sleepers. The distribution of the discrimination change trajectories, were 54.1% low stable, 13.5% increasing, 14.6% decreasing, and 17.7% were high stable. Participants who were in the increasing (vs. stable low) discrimination group had greater decrease in sleep quality. There was no association between change in discrimination and change in sleep duration. Among Sleep Exam participants, higher discrimination was cross-sectionally associated with shorter self-reported sleep duration, independent of stress. CONCLUSION Discrimination is a unique stressor for African-Americans; thus, future research should identify interventions to reduce the burden of discrimination on sleep quality.
Infection preventionists' experiences during the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from focus groups conducted with Association of Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (APIC) members.

Introduction A novel human Coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) was identified in January, 2020 and developed into a pandemic by March, 2020. This rapid, enormous, and unanticipated event had major implications for healthcare. Infection preventionists (IP) have a critical role in worker and patient safety. IPs’ lessons learned can guide future pandemic response. Methods Seven focus groups were conducted with APIC members in September and October, 2020 via Zoom to elicit IPs’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sessions were recorded then transcribed verbatim. Major themes were identified through content analysis. Results In total, 73 IPs participated (average of 10 IPs per focus group) and represented all geographical areas and work settings. Participating IPs described multiple challenges they have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including rapidly changing and conflicting guidance, a lack of infection prevention recommendations for nonacute care settings, insufficient personal protective equipment, healthcare personnel complacency with personal protective equipment and infection prevention protocols, and increases in healthcare associated infections and workload. Conclusions The identified gaps in pandemic response need to be addressed in order to minimize healthcare associated infections and occupational illness. In addition, the educational topics identified by the participating IPs should be developed into new educational programs and resources.
Comparison of Leakage Loss in Silica, Chalcogenide, Tellurite, and ZBLAN Negative Curvature Fibers

We computationally study leakage loss in negative curvature fibers made with silica, chalcogenide, tellurite, and ZBLAN glasses. Fibers with different glasses should be adopted for applications in different wavelengths.
Dialogical Theology as Politics in Mongo Beti, Wewere Liking, and Chinua Achebe

The postcolonial literature of sub-Saharan Africa has produced a powerful critique of Western discourses of domination by offering Francophone and Anglophone readers an analysis of religious discourse and its connection to political power. In such texts, hitherto silenced speakersâ€”the voices of the colonized peopleâ€”speak loudly through the technique first called dialogism by the Russian formalist M. M. Bakhtin. This essay will frame its analysis with work by two Cameroonian writers, Mongo Beti and Werewere Liking. The Bakhtinian theoretical framework will then expand into a more detailed examination of several novels by Chinua Achebe. My argument will reveal the ways in which religious discourse invariably takes on a political dimension in postcolonial settings. At the same time, the essay will show how African fiction often reveals the tensions inherent in any attempt to unite traditional, Moslem, and Christian ways of thinking. These conflicts most often fail to unify the culture in question, yet the dialogue thus produced can succeed in limited ways by exposing complex interactions between language and human experience.
ECOLOGY OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

ECOLOGY OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. Jonathan Leather and Jet van Dam (Eds.). Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2003. Pp xiv + 225. $88.00 cloth.This volume contains 11 papers on various aspects of language acquisition both in first language (L1) and second language (L2) from an ecological perspective. This approach departs from generative grammar by rejecting both its theoretical and methodological axioms. It first questions the generative assumption that language is a mental state determined by human biology and experience. In its stead, proponents of the ecological view treat language as an entity inseparable from the speakers and their social network (Leather & van Dam, chapter 1). Methodologically, they dismiss generative grammar's essential tenet that competence should be investigated independently of performance; along with this, they also reject idealization in the study of language and language acquisition. Leather and van Dam also presume a priori the nonexistence of context-free meanings (cf. Higginbotham, 1988). As for language acquisition, they claim that the notion of primary linguistic data is too narrow; rather, data in other forms such as gestures and deictic motion are equally relevant in language acquisition. Although both the generative and ecological approaches emphasize individual language learners, for the former, language development constitutes the normal human biology, triggered by sensory input (Chomsky, 1995), whereas for the latter, it results from the interaction of the individuals and their cultural environment.
The Psychiatric Patient-Physician Relationship

It is generally appreciated by those who examine social institutions carefully that the function of legal punishment is quite obscure: it actually seems to contribute to dramatic forms of recidivism; it has a rather poor record of rehabilitation; it seems to have almost no significant deterrent force; it may aggravate the tendency toward even more serious crime; and it is characteristically managed in a brutal, unproductive, or mindless way. No one would claim that psychiatric treatment deserves to be similarly criticized, although Thomas Szasz of course, quite some time ago, brought charges against the profession that were at least well on their way toward blander versions of a similar complaint [26].1 And the worries about the political use of psychiatry, notably focused by the case of Zhores Medvedev, in the Soviet Union,2 oblige us to speak more directly of the function of psychiatry — hence, of reasonable constraints and directives regarding the patient-physician relationship. Of course, no one would deny that provision for a system of institutionalized punishment is conceptually entailed by a system of criminal law; correspondingly, no one would deny that, conceding the reality of psychiatric needs and disorders, provision for a system of institutionalized care and delivery is entailed by the life of a society committed to the individual and aggregated care and well-being of its members. We need not labor the analogy further.
Cord blood lymphocytes show higher ATP production compared to peripheral blood lymphocytes from children and adults

Background: Data on the developmental maturation of the neonatal immune system remains sparse. This study com- pared the immune response of cord blood (CB) to that of healthy children and adults in response to mitogens, Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and Concanavalin-A (Con-A). Methods: De-identified CB samples were obtained from healthy women > 36 weeks gestation. Blood was obtained from children attending routine healthcare visits and healthy adults. The Cylex assay was used to measure ATP production by CD4+ and CD3+ cells in response to PHA and Con-A, respectively. Results: Samples from 17 CB, 16 children and 14 adults were evaluated. After PHA stimulation, ATP production by CB was significantly higher (median 863 ng/mL, 95% CI 735.3-978.6) than children (median 370 ng/mL, 95% CI 225.1-603.1; p< 0.001) and adults (median 522 ng/mL, 95% CI 431.3-609.8; p< 0.001). Similarly, CB showed increased ATP production following Con-A stimulation (median 662 ng/mL, 95% CI 506.4-944.1) compared to children (median 93.4 ng/mL, 95% CI 31.8-163.9; p< 0.001) and adults (median 290 ng/mL, 95% CI 231.8-406.6; p< 0.001). Conclusions: This pilot study shows that CB lymphocytes have a robust in vitro response to mitogen stimulation. Further studies to validate these findings and elucidate their significance in neonatal immune function are warranted.
Health information resource provision in the public library setting

Abstract Public libraries have a long history as trusted information sources within communities throughout the United States. As such, public library staff are often tasked with responding to a wide variety of patron needs and adapting service provision to fulfill those needs. More than half of all public libraries in the US are managed by non-Master of Library and Information Science degree (MLIS) directors, however, and research has shown that public library staff are not always aware or informed of and/or responsive to training opportunities. Additionally, there is little to no standardization nationwide in terms of training requirements and provision for public library staff when it comes to new skills and initiatives. There are some public library managers, who state that health queries are not within their or their staffs' purview, and so refer patrons with health reference needs to other resources within and outside of their communities. How, then, can we address this dichotomy? If we do have cultural and societal expectations of public library staff as purveyors of authoritative information, how can we assure they have the skill sets, tools, and resources necessary to perform the service? How can we, and moreover, should we, motivate public library staff to embrace health information provision as a standard service for their patron communities? This chapter will explore these issues and make recommendations for overcoming obstacles to authoritative health information provision in the public library setting.
Robust finite field arithmetic for fault-tolerant public-key cryptography

We present a new approach to fault tolerant public key cryptography based on redundant arithmetic in finite rings. Redundancy is achieved by embedding non-redundant field or ring elements into larger rings via suitable homomorphisms obtained from modulus scaling. Our approach is closely related to, but not limited by the exact definition of cyclic binary and arithmetic codes. We present a framework for system-designers that allows flexible trade-offs between circuit area and desired level of fault tolerance. Our method applies to arithmetic in prime fields and extension fields of characteristic 2 where it serves two mutually beneficial purposes: The redundancy of the larger ring can be used for error detection, while its modulus has a special low Hamming-weight form, lending itself particularly well to efficient modular reduction.
Neural networks for feedback control of robots and dynamical systems

Summary form only given. Over the past years we have developed a family of feedback controllers that can confront these systems using neural networks as the basic control block structure. The learning abilities of neural networks considered as intelligent systems allow these controllers to learn online and improve their performance through tuning of the weights. We present a catalog of neural network controllers designed based on feedback linearization, backstepping, singular perturbations, and dynamic inversion techniques. These neural network controllers are all tuned online in real time based on the system errors. Then, we present some recent results on H-infinity feedback control for constrained input nonlinear systems. The constraints on the input to the system are encoded via a quasi-norm that allows nonquadratic supply rates along with dissipativity theory to formulate the robust output feedback control problem using Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaac (HJI) equations. An iterative solution technique based on a game theoretic interpretation is presented. To provide a computationally tractable controller design method, the solution is approximated at each iteration with a neural network. The result is a closed loop control based on a neural net that has been tuned a priori offline.
US resources policy: The 1982 report to congress

Abstract This paper analyses the extent to which the new Reagan mineral policy will encourage increased US production, substitution, recycling and conservation, domestic stock-piling and diversification of foreign supplies. Major inadequacies of the mineral policy are the transfer of responsibility for research and development from the government to the unprepared private sector, the lack of emphasis on short-term research and development in mineral processing technology, and the lack of coordination between minerals policy and national security and foreign policy. However, overall the policy is a positive step towards reducing the current US minerals supply vulnerability.
The UML family: profiles, prefaces and packages

This paper overviews the status of UML (Unified Modeling Language) considered as a family of languages, and reviews critically various approaches to defining variants of UML within this family.
Vasoactive intestinal contractor: Localization in the opossum esophagus and effects on motor functions

Abstract Background/Aims: Vasoactive intestinal contractor (VIC), an endothelinlike peptide and a putative gastrointestinal hormone, contracts gastrointestinal smooth muscle. The aim was to study VIC in relation to esophageal function. Methods: Intramural nerves in opossum esophageal smooth muscle strips were stimulated in the presence of various concentrations of VIC and were stained for VIC immunoreactivity. Results: VIC caused an atropine-resistant increase in the amplitude of nerve-induced contractions of the circular muscle. VIC alone contracted longitudinal muscle, and this effect was nearly eliminated by 1 mmol/L atropine. VIC caused an atropine-resistant increase in the resting tone of the lower esophageal sphincter muscle, but it did not affect nerve-induced relaxation of that muscle. VIC-immunoreactive nerve fibers occurred in the longitudinal muscle layer, in the muscularis mucosae, and around the ducts of esophageal glands. A few such fibers were found in the circular muscle layer. Nerve fibers and cell bodies of the myenteric plexus showed VIC immunoreactivity. In the stomach, immunoreactive nerve fibers occurred in muscularis mucosae and circular muscle but not in longitudinal muscle. Conclusions: VIC is localized in neuronal elements of the opossum esophagus and excites contractions in esophageal smooth muscle.
Ambivalences about Nature and Naturalism

As a die-hard supernaturalist, someone “at two with nature” (Woody Allen) who would be at one with God, the author has mixed feelings about Theodore Nunez's defense of “naturalism.” Unlike neopragmatists, the author is not troubled by Nunez's general realism about value; he takes exception not to Nunez's theoretical account of truth, but to his specific axiology. He does not share Nunez's confidence that “projective nature” can provide reliable moral inspiration, suggesting instead that such inspiration can arise only from trust in the holiness of God.
Postlaunch corrections for Thematic Mapper 5 (TM-5) radiometry in the Thematic Mapper Image Processing System (TIPS)

The paper discusses postlaunch corrections made to the calibration lamp radiance values for band 3 of TM-5 (Thematic Mapper instrument on Landsat-5). It is hypothesized that the low in-orbit temperatures have caused the shutter arm to contract slightly, causing the detectors to view the lamps through different parts of the lens system. Owing to unevenness in the lenses this is introducing an odd-even channel discrepancy in the computed gains, resulting in striped imagery. The process used to compute the new values is presented along with supporting data and the old and new radiance numbers. The new values solve the relative radiometric correction problem of striping. However, the effect on the absolute radiometric correction performance is not quantitatively known.
Cutting Edge: The Direct Action of Type I IFN on CD4 T Cells Is Critical for Sustaining Clonal Expansion in Response to a Viral but Not a Bacterial Infection

The action of type I IFN (IFN-I) on APCs is well studied, but their direct effect on CD4 T cells is unclear. To address this, we transferred IFN-I receptor-deficient (IFN-IR(0)) and -sufficient (wild-type, WT) TCR-transgenic CD4 T cells into WT mice and analyzed their response to immunization. In response to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus immunization, WT CD4 T cells expanded approximately 100-fold, whereas IFN-IR(0) CD4 T cells expanded <10-fold. However, both WT and IFN-IR(0) CD4 T cells expanded approximately 10-fold after Listeria monocytogenes immunization. Poor expansion of IFN-IR(0) CD4 T cells after lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus immunization was not due to a defect in proliferation or initial activation but to poor survival of the daughter cells. Thus, direct IFN-I signals can play either a critical or minimal role in CD4 T cell clonal expansion depending on the specific pathogen.
Reemergence of Policy Practice: A Journey Back to our Roots

Many people and events have contributed to a renewed focus on policy practice in social work and social work education, culminating in the inclusion of policy practice as one of the ten core social work competencies in the 2008 Council on Social Work Education EPAS. Robert Schneider, founder of Influencing State Policy, was a key player in elevating policy practice, particularly at the state level, in light of the increasing devolution of social policy decision-making to the states. Other social workers and educators created opportunities for policy scholars and practitioners to collaborate, including Leon Ginsberg and the Policy Conference that he and others initiated. Now a new generation of policy practitioners will continue to educate social workers in policy practice skills in the pursuit of social justice
Investment Cash Flow Sensitivities Really Reflect Related Investment Decisions

An important, unresolved issue in finance is whether the sensitivity of capital investment to internally generated cash flows reflects the impact of binding financing constraints on firms’ investment decisions. We contribute new insight to this debate by providing systematic evidence that investment-cash flow sensitivity (ICFS) primarily reflects the fundamental connection between capital investment and working capital investment as interrelated manifestations of firm growth. We decompose the cash flow measure used in the literature, earnings before depreciation (EBD), into cash flow from operations (CFO), and working capital accruals (WCACC) which reflects net investment in working capital items like inventory and accounts receivable. We demonstrate that ICFS is driven by the natural co-movement between fixed investment and the working capital investment aspect of WCACC as complementary factors of production. In contrast, investment-CFO sensitivity is often negative and tends to decrease as financing constraints increase, inconsistent with CFO serving as a source of investment financing for constrained firms. What does this growth interpretation imply about the connection between ICFS and financing constraints? We argue that the nature of ICFS depends directly on the underlying catalyst of firm growth. If investment is driven solely by a reduction in the cost wedge between external and internal financing, ICFS reflects the investment consequences of this reduction in financing constraints. However, if capacity expansion is instead driven by macro shifts in the opportunity cost of firms’ internal funds, shocks in investment opportunities, empire building behavior, or managerial irrationality, ICFS will not reflect financing frictions but rather the natural consequence of capacity expansion on the co-movement of fixed and working capital investment.
Plasma process control with optical emission spectroscopy

Plasma processes for etching and desmear of electronic components and printed wiring boards (PWB) are difficult to predict and control. Non-uniformity of most plasma processes and sensitivity to environmental changes make it difficult to maintain process stability from day to day. To assure plasma process performance, weight loss coupons or post-plasma destructive testing must be used. The problem with these techniques is that they are not real-time methods and do not allow for immediate diagnosis and process correction. These tests often require scrapping some fraction of a batch to insure the integrity of the rest. Since these tests verify a successful cycle with post-plasma diagnostics, poor test results often determine that a batch is substandard and the resulting parts unusable. These tests are a costly part of the overall fabrication cost. A more efficient method of testing would allow for constant monitoring of plasma conditions and process control. Process anomalies should be detected and corrected before the parts being treated are damaged. Real time monitoring would allow for instantaneous corrections. Multiple site monitoring would allow for process mapping within one system or simultaneous monitoring of multiple systems. Optical emission spectroscopy conducted external to the plasma apparatus would allow for this sort of multifunctional analysis without perturbing the glow discharge. In this paper, optical emission spectroscopy for non-intrusive, in situ process control is explored along with applications of this technique towards process control, failure analysis and endpoint determination.
Cognitive interference or skills deficit: An empirical test of two competing theories of test anxiety

Abstract Two competing explanations of the role of test anxiety, cognitive interference or poor academic skills, are examined empirically using structural equation models of reading comprehension and mathematics. We examined the performance of 211 participants (96 males and 115 females) on two standardized achievement tests. Prior achievement (a proxy for academic skill), test anxiety, and their interaction were represented in the structural equation models as causal influences on performance. Results suggest that the cognitive component of test anxiety (worry) and prior academic achievement contribute independently, not interactively, to performance on both measures. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for test anxiety theory and achievement testing.