cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Removal of copper from carbon-saturated iron with an aluminum sulfide/ferrous sulfide flux

Scrap iron and steel have long been considered as resources in the steelmaking industry, and their value is largely determined by the impurity content. Copper is a particularly troublesome impurity because of its role in causing hot shortness and should be kept below ==0.1 wt pct. A method for reducing copper content in steel to <0.1 wt pct could lead to increased use of lower-quality scrap.
Osteoarthritis: New Insights Part 1: The Disease and Its Risk Factors

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people in the United States. It is a complex disease whose etiology bridges biomechanics and biochemistry. Evidence is growing for the role of systemic factors (such as genetics, dietary intake, estrogen use, and bone density) and of local biomechanical factors (such as muscle weakness, obesity, and joint laxity). These risk factors are particularly important in weightbearing joints, and modifying them may present opportunities for prevention of osteoarthritis-related pain and disability. Major advances in management to reduce pain and disability are yielding a panoply of available treatments ranging from nutriceuticals to chondrocyte transplantation, new oral anti-inflammatory medications, and health education. This article is part 1 of a two-part summary of a National Institutes of Health conference. The conference brought together experts on osteoarthritis from diverse backgrounds and provided a multidisciplinary and comprehensive summary of recent advances in the prevention of osteoarthritis onset, progression, and disability. Part 1 focuses on a new understanding of what osteoarthritis is and on risk factors that predispose to disease occurrence. It concludes with a discussion of the impact of osteoarthritis on disability. Ann Intern Med. 2000;133:635-646. www.annals.org For author affiliations and current addresses, see end of text.
Energy efficient cluster co-processors [3G wireless applications]

New 3G wireless algorithms require more performance than can be currently provided by embedded processors. ASICs provide the necessary performance but are costly to design and sacrifice generality. This paper introduces a clustered VLIW coprocessor approach that organizes the execution and storage resources differently than a traditional general-purpose processor or DSP. The execution units of the coprocessor are clustered and embedded in a rich set of communication resources. Fine grain control of these resources is imposed by a wide-word horizontal micro-code program. The advantages of this approach are quantified on a suite of six algorithms that are taken from both traditional DSP applications and from the new 3G cellular telephony domain. The result is surprising. The execution clusters retain much of the generality of a conventional processor while simultaneously improving performance by one to two orders of magnitude and by reducing energy-delay by three to four orders of magnitude when compared to a conventional embedded processor such as the Intel XScale.
Children, traditionalism in the division of family work, and marital satisfaction: “What's love got to do with it?”

This research examines several of the factors related to the frequently cited finding that the presence of children in the home is related to lower marital satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether the number of children at home and the length of marriage predicted traditionalism in the division of family work, which, in turn, was differentially associated with erotic, ludic, friendship-based, and agapic love as well as marital satisfaction for 530 married men and women. For both men and women, the greater the number of children at home and the longer the marriage, the more traditional the division of family labor. Traditionalism predicted lower levels of erotic and friendship-based love for women, which ultimately were related to lower marital satisfaction. For men, however, traditionalism was associated with stronger erotic and friendship-based love, a phenomenon linked to higher marital satisfaction. These findings clarify the connection between the number of children at home and reduced marital satisfaction for the women in the sample and suggest that, for both men and women, it is how family work is divided, rather than the presence of children per se, that has meaning for the affective quality of the marriage.
A technical writing class for computer science majors: measuring student perceptions of learning

Writing skills need to be integrated into the Computer Science (CS) curriculum, and there is little empirical evidence on how best to do so. This paper first describes a technical writing class for CS undergraduates. Then it presents the results of a statistical study that investigated student perceptions of their learning experience in three areas: skill mastery, self-efficacy, and motivation. Positive results support this approach to teaching writing to CS students. Some unexpected findings in all three areas highlight why monitoring student perceptions is important for CS educators.
On Controllability and Feasibility of Utilization Control in Distributed Real-Time Systems

Feedback control techniques have recently been applied to a variety of real-time systems. However, a fundamental issue that was left out is guaranteeing system controllability and the feasibility of applying feedback control to such systems. No control algorithms can effectively control a system which itself is uncontrollable or infeasible. In this paper, we use the multi-processor utilization control problem as a representative example to study the controllability and feasibility of distributed real-time systems. We prove that controllability and feasibility of a system depend crucially on end-to-end task allocations. We then present algorithms for deploying end-to-end tasks to ensure the system is controllable and utilization control is feasible for the system. Furthermore, we develop runtime algorithms to maintain controllability and feasibility by reallocating tasks dynamically in response to workload variations such as task terminations and migrations caused by processor failures. We implement our algorithms in a robust real-time middleware and report empirical results on an experimental test-bed. Our results demonstrate that the proposed task allocation algorithms improve the robustness of feedback control in distributed real-time systems.
Dieldrin: Degradation by Soil Microorganisms

An attempt was made to discover microorganisms that degrade dieldrin, an extremely stable chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide. Examination of more than 500 isolates from soil that had been heavily contaminated with various insecticides revealed the existence of a few microbes that are very active in degrading this compound to various metabolites.
Learning Why We Buy: An Experiential Project for the Consumer Behavior Course.

Marketing educators have long recognized the value of engendering students’ deep learning of course content via experiential pedagogies. In this article, the authors describe a semester-long, team-based retail audit project that is structured to elicit active student engagement with consumer behavior course material via concrete, hands-on, real-world experience. For the project, students form teams to organize and conduct an observational audit of a live retail setting. In the process of completing the project, students engage with course content on their own, with their team members, and importantly, within a focal store environment, thus experiencing for themselves the effects of that content on their own shopping behavior, as well as that of others. Compelled by the project’s active pedagogy to engage in discovery, students learn not only the “what” and “why” of marketing concepts, strategies, and techniques but also “how to” implement them. Anchored in conceptual perspectives relevant to the project, ...
Differentiating human stem cells into neurons and glial cells for neural repair

Research on the biology of adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, as well as cell-based strategies for treating nervous system disorders has begun to create the hope that these cells may be used for therapy in humans after injury or disease. In animal models of neurological diseases, transplantation of stem cells or their derivatives can improve function not only due to direct replacement of lost neurons or glia, but also by providing trophic support. Despite intense research efforts to translate these studies from the bench to bedside, critical problems remain at several steps in this process. Recent technological advancements in both the derivation of stem cells and their directed differentiation to lineage-committed progenitors have brought us closer to therapeutic applications. Several preclinical studies have already explored the behavior of transplanted cells with respect to proliferation, migration, differentiation and survival, especially in complex pathological disease environments. In this review, we examine the current status, progress, pitfalls, and potential of these stem cell technologies, focusing on directed differentiation of human stem cells into various neural lineages, including dopaminergic neurons, motor neurons, oligodendroglia, microglia, and astroglia, and on advancements in cell-based regenerative strategies for neural repair and criteria for successful therapeutic applications.
Relationship between meteorological measurements and flowering of index species to flowering of 53 plant species

Abstract Agriculturists and range managers need advanced knowledge of when a plant will reach a specific developmental stage to plan when to apply herbicides, to begin grazing season, to change pastures in a grazing system, and to harvest forage. Relationship between flowering dates of 53 plant species and accumulation of temperature, temperature plus solar radiation, and the flowering of index species was studied for four years near Sidney, Montana. Accumulation of thermal days (a nonlinear heat unit system which discounts mean temperatures over an optimum) was the most accurate of eleven methods tested in accounting for variation among flowering dates. It accounted for 49% of the variation for early-flowering species but only accounted for 34% of the variation for late-flowering species. However, the degree days (remainder) was simpler to calculate and resulted in only 0.3-day standard deviation (SD) loss of accuracy. The degree days (remainder) was equal with the degree hours (duration-summation) in accuracy and both were a day more accurate than the NOAA-degree days. The 20-day moving average of maximum air temperatures was the least accurate of the eleven methods in accounting for variation of flowering dates. The addition of solar-radiation with temperature did not account for any more of the variation among flowering dates. The date that a selected index species flowered was the simplest and probably the most practical method of estimating flowering dates if a 1.0 day (SD) loss of accuracy was acceptable. Knowing the time that a selected index species flowered made possible estimating within five days (SD) the flowering dates of 40 species one to three months earlier.
Early Care, Education, and Child Development

Children growing up in the United States today typically spend a substantial portion of their early childhood years in early care and education (ECE) settings. These settings are thus an essential element of any effort to understand the ecology of early development. Research aimed at identifying the short- and long-term impacts of ECE experiences has a long history, the results of which now point to three key conclusions. (a) Although parents are the most important influence on children's development, ECE experiences have both short- and long-term impacts on a wide range of developmental outcomes that are best understood in interaction with family effects. (b) The quality of adult-child interactions in ECE settings is the most potent source of variation in child outcomes, although the amount of exposure to these settings also plays a role, perhaps especially with regard to social-emotional development. (c) Some children, notably those growing up in poverty, appear to be more vulnerable to variation in the quality of ECE settings than do other children. The frontiers of ECE research are addressing individual differences in children's responses to child care and approaching these settings both as sites for intervention research and as part of a wider web of important settings in young children's lives.
Aspects of crystal structure prediction: some successes and some difficulties.

Attention is called to some little-discussed aspects of crystal structure prediction. It is pointed out that the structures of metal–organic frameworks can often be correctly predicted. This allows designed synthesis of materials with targeted pore size and functionality. For more-conventional inorganic materials, predicting the lowest energy state can be made difficult by two problems. First, the difference in energy between competing structures can be very small. Second, the unit cells of materials with simple compositions may be very large. Examples are given for both cases.
Enhanced performance in prediction of protein active sites with THEMATICS and support vector machines.

Theoretical microscopic titration curves (THEMATICS) is a computational method for the identification of active sites in proteins through deviations in computed titration behavior of ionizable residues. While the sensitivity to catalytic sites is high, the previously reported sensitivity to catalytic residues was not as high, about 50%. Here THEMATICS is combined with support vector machines (SVM) to improve sensitivity for catalytic residue prediction from protein 3D structure alone. For a test set of 64 proteins taken from the Catalytic Site Atlas (CSA), the average recall rate for annotated catalytic residues is 61%; good precision is maintained selecting only 4% of all residues. The average false positive rate, using the CSA annotations is only 3.2%, far lower than other 3D-structure-based methods. THEMATICS–SVM returns higher precision, lower false positive rate, and better overall performance, compared with other 3D-structure-based methods. Comparison is also made with the latest machine learning methods that are based on both sequence alignments and 3D structures. For annotated sets of well-characterized enzymes, THEMATICS–SVM performance compares very favorably with methods that utilize sequence homology. However, since THEMATICS depends only on the 3D structure of the query protein, no decline in performance is expected when applied to novel folds, proteins with few sequence homologues, or even orphan sequences. An extension of the method to predict non-ionizable catalytic residues is also presented. THEMATICS–SVM predicts a local network of ionizable residues with strong interactions between protonation events; this appears to be a special feature of enzyme active sites.
Relative Policy Support and Coincidental Representation

The finding that the preferences of middle-income Americans are ignored when they diverge from the preferences of the rich is one of the most widely accepted and influential conclusions in political science research today. I offer a cautionary note regarding this conclusion. I demonstrate that even on those issues for which the preferences of the wealthy and those in the middle diverge, policy ends up about where we would expect if policymakers represented the middle class and ignored the affluent. This result emerges because even when middle- and high-income groups express different levels of support for a policy (i.e., a preference gap exists), the policies that receive the most (least) support among the middle typically receive the most (least) support among the affluent (i.e., relative policy support is often equivalent). As a result, the opportunity of unequal representation of the “average citizen” is much less than previously thought. The analysis also shows, however, that substantial opportunity exists for unequal representation of strong partisan preferences. Together, these results reinforce the importance of party identification for understanding policy outcomes and who gets represented.
miR-31 and miR-17-5p levels change during transformation of follicular lymphoma

The 30% of patients whose indolent follicular lymphoma transforms to aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have poor survival. Reliable predictors of follicular B-cell lymphoma transformation to DLBCL are lacking, and diagnosis of those that will progress is challenging. MicroRNA, which regulates gene expression, has critical functions in the growth and progression of many cancers and contributes to the pathogenesis of lymphoma. Using 5 paired samples from patients who presented with follicular lymphoma and progressed to DLBCL, we identified specific microRNA differentially expressed between the two. Specifically, miR-17-5p levels were low in follicular lymphoma and increased as the disease transformed. In contrast, miR-31 expression was high in follicular lymphoma and decreased as the lymphoma progressed. These results were confirmed in additional unpaired cases of low-grade follicular lymphoma (n = 13) and high-grade follicular lymphoma grade 3 or DLBCL (n = 17). Loss of miR-31 expression in DLBCL was not due to deletion of the locus. Changes in miR-17-5p and miR-31 were not correlated with immunophenotype, genetics, or status of the MYC oncogene. However, increased miR-17-5p expression did significantly correlate with increased expression of p53 protein, which is indicative of mutant TP53. Two pro-proliferative genes, E2F2 and PI3KC2A, were identified as direct messenger RNA targets of miR-31, suggesting that these may contribute to follicular lymphoma transformation. Our results indicate that changes in miR-31 and miR-17-5p reflect the transformation of follicular lymphoma to an aggressive large B-cell lymphoma and may, along with their targets, be viable markers for this process.
Piccolo paralogs and orthologs display conserved patterns of alternative splicing within the C2A and C2B domains

Piccolo is an organizational component of the presynaptic active zone, a specialized region of nerve terminals where synaptic vesicles fuse and release their neurotransmitter contents. Alternative splicing (AS) of the mouse Piccolo gene (PCLO) produces two primary splice isoforms: isoform-1 that includes two C2 domains (C2A and C2B) and isoform-2 with only C2A. Genome-wide association studies have identified variations located in or near the C2A domain of human Piccolo that predispose individuals to affective disorders and in rare cases leads to altered brain development. In zebrafish a genome duplication event led to the generation of PCLO-a and PCLO-b: gene paralogs that display strikingly similar genomic organization with other PCLO orthologs. Given this conservation in genomic structure, it is likely that AS patterns of zebrafish PCLO paralogs are similar to mammalian PCLO. We used a RT-PCR strategy to identify four zebrafish isoforms generated from zebrafish PCLO-a and PCLO-b that are equivalent to mouse Piccolo isoform-1 and isoform-2. Additionally, we identified an exon skipping event that leads to exclusion of a 27 nucleotide exon in both zebrafish Piccolo-a and Piccolo-b. Elimination of this exon in mammalian Piccolo alters the calcium binding property of the C2A domain. We also measured transcriptional levels of mouse and zebrafish Piccolo splice variants and demonstrate that despite similarities in AS, there are quantitative differences in gene expression. Our results indicate that AS of Piccolo is similar across diverse taxa and further support the use of zebrafish to study the role of Piccolo in neurodevelopment and synaptic signaling.
On the edge: Balancing health, participation, and autonomy to maintain active independent living in two retirement facilities

Abstract This study examines how independent living residents in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) work to maintain a healthy, active community. Specifically, this paper elucidates how independent living residents, who have high status in CCRCs but also face transitions to more advanced care, manage their daily lives to build a positive sense of community against the backdrop of potential health and social declines. The researcher supplemented four years of observation in one CCRC and two years of observation in another with qualitative interviews with thirty residents from both facilities. Results indicated that shared sentiments contrasting the active social world in independent living with other living units, norms of mutual support balanced with autonomy, social participation as a source of belonging (or isolation), and definitions of deviance surrounding functional health and manners framed residents' understandings of daily life by reaffirming independent living residents' privileged status in each facility.
Individuals and Passthrough Entities, Proposed Regulations Would Alter the Rules Concerning the Tax Consequences of the Transfer of a Partnership Interest for Services

In May 2005, the IRS and the Treasury Department issued proposed regulations and a proposed revenue procedure concerning the tax consequences of a transfer of a partnership interest to a person who provides services to the partnership (sometimes referred to as a compensatory partnership interest). The proposed regulations define the term compensatory partnership interest as: an interest in the transferring partnership that is transferred in connection with the performance of services for that partnership (either before or after the formation of the partnership), including an interest that is transferred on the exercise of a compensatory partnership option. A compensatory partnership option is an option acquired to acquire an interest in the issuing partnership that is granted in connection with the performance of services for that partnership (either before or after the formation of the partnership). Thus, the proposed regulations would apply to both the transfer of a partnership interest for services and the exercise of an option to acquire a partnership interest where the option was acquired for services provided to the partnership. The proposed regulations would alter some of the existing rules concerning the transfer of an interest in the future profits (a profits interest) in a partnership for services and would provide much-needed guidance concerning the tax consequences of a transfer of an interest in partnership capital and profits (a capital interest) in a partnership for services. This column is Part II of a two-part column that discusses the proposed regulations and revenue procedure and how they would affect the taxation of both the service provider and the partnership where a partnership transfers a compensatory partnership interest. Part I, appearing in the September issue of TAXES, discussed the current rules under Code Sec. 83 and the modifications that would be made under the proposed regulations and revenue procedure concerning the tax consequences to the service partner and the partnership such transactions. This column, Part II, discusses the treatment of a transfer of a compensatory partnership interest as a guaranteed payment, the vesting of a service partner's interest in the partnership, allocations of partnership income upon the vesting of a service partner's interest in the partnership or after a Code Sec. 83(b) election, and allocations after the forfeiture of a partnership interest for which a Code Sec. 83(b) election is made.
Institutions for the Common Good: The nation-state and the protection of refugees

Refugees, Jacques Vernant laments, are symbols of instability, the curse weighing upon those whose homeland is nowhere. They do not enjoy the legal guarantees accorded by every state to its own nationals. They come to earn their daily bread in places where no one invited them and which they cannot leave at will. “Once they leave their homeland,” Hannah Arendt adds, “they remain homeless. Once they leave their state, they become stateless. Once they have been deprived of their human rights, they are rightless, the scum of the earth.” Refugees can only leave their country if they have somewhere to go; however, the availability of such a place is determined by the willingness of a foreign state to accept them. Yet unlike the other vulnerable population groups discussed in the previous three chapters, refugees do not have co-ethnics, fellow citizens, or kin states to advocate on their behalf. In a world in which one's international status is tied to one's citizenship, they are nomads without an identity. Compounding this problem, the international system is not equipped to deal with individuals or groups who are not under the authority or protection of a state. Refugees are not recognized under customary international law and lack travel documents that would enable them to move freely between countries. They have no embassies to represent them and no government from which they can demand security protection. Refugees are therefore an anomaly in a world of sovereign states. They are not, however, a passive anomaly.
Interactive Statistical Graphics: Breaking Away

The proper role of the computer in data analysis is one of increasing the ability of the analyst to extract information. This requires a high degree of user control within an interactive environment, not only over data manipulation and computations but also over graphical display. An interactive statistical graphics system such as that described in this paper allows the user to break away from constraints imposed by most statistical packages.
Justifying the War of 1812: Toward a Model of Congressional Behavior in Early War Crises

A decade ago, Richard Hofstadter wrote that historians were approaching consensus on the political origins of the War of 1812. Blending elements of the work during the early 1960s of Norman K. Risjord, Bradford Perkins, and Roger H. Brown, Hofstadter (1969: 181) concluded that Republicans were convinced “the Republic itself and the fate of republican government had come to rest on the ability of the Republican party to take a forceful stand against foreign incursions on American rights.” Republicans, in other words, melded national with partisan goals and pursued war to save national honor and the Republican party. Today, however, one would have to conclude that Hofstadter’s prediction was premature, based upon the spate of articles published since 1972 addressing the partisan nature of the vote for war in the House of Representatives, the role of the War Hawks in the debates and legislation of the war session, and the leadership (or lack thereof) supplied by James Madison (Hatzenbuehler, 1972b, 1976; Egan, 1974; Stagg, 1976; Hickey, 1976; Fritz, 1977; Bell, 1979).
Seed production in a prairie legume (Astragalus canadensis L.) : Interactions between pollination, predispersal seed predation, and plant density.

The effects of pollination, predispersal seed predation, and plant density upon seed production of Astragalus canadensis L. in a tall-grass prairie were studied by experimental manipulation of plant density. Seed production was greater at high than low plant densities; this was inferred to result from differences in pollination success. Predispersal seed predation was lower at high than low plant densities. The relative seed production of different densities of A. canadensis was predicted based upon pollination success and the host detection ability of the predator. Increased seed production and modification of the environment by high densities of A. canadensis appears to maintain a clumped distribution of this species, while also producing new clumps at a low rate.
Constitution of Bile Proteins.

Summary1. Proteins detectable by paper electrophoresis of concentrated bile were classified into A-, B-, C-, D- and E-fractions. 2. The A-fraction migrated more rapidly than any protein fractions in serum. 3. The Bfraction was similar to serum albumin as evidenced by its similar mobility to serum albumin and affinity for bile pigments and bromphenol blue. 4. C- and D-fractions had mobilities similar to serum globulins. 5. The E-fraction was probably a denatured A-fraction. and became prominent only after concentration of bile, associated with a decrease in the A-fraction. 6. Normal and pathological human bile, the bile of sheep and dog contain all these protein fractions. 7. Values of bile protein fractions varied considerably according to species and type of bile.
A unified perspective on the nature of bonding in pairwise interatomic interactions.

Different classes of ground electronic state pairwise interatomic interactions are referenced to a single canonical potential using explicit transformations. These approaches have been applied to d...
Application of Mid-Frequency Ventilation in an Animal Model of Lung Injury: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: Mid-frequency ventilation (MFV) is a mode of pressure control ventilation based on an optimal targeting scheme that maximizes alveolar ventilation and minimizes tidal volume (VT). This study was designed to compare the effects of conventional mechanical ventilation using a lung-protective strategy with MFV in a porcine model of lung injury. Our hypothesis was that MFV can maximize ventilation at higher frequencies without adverse consequences. We compared ventilation and hemodynamic outcomes between conventional ventilation and MFV. METHODS: This was a prospective study of 6 live Yorkshire pigs (10 ± 0.5 kg). The animals were subjected to lung injury induced by saline lavage and injurious conventional mechanical ventilation. Baseline conventional pressure control continuous mandatory ventilation was applied with VT = 6 mL/kg and PEEP determined using a decremental PEEP trial. A manual decision support algorithm was used to implement MFV using the same conventional ventilator. We measured PaCO2, PaO2, end-tidal carbon dioxide, cardiac output, arterial and venous blood oxygen saturation, pulmonary and systemic vascular pressures, and lactic acid. RESULTS: The MFV algorithm produced the same minute ventilation as conventional ventilation but with lower VT (−1 ± 0.7 mL/kg) and higher frequency (32.1 ± 6.8 vs 55.7 ± 15.8 breaths/min, P < .002). There were no differences between conventional ventilation and MFV for mean airway pressures (16.1 ± 1.3 vs 16.4 ± 2 cm H2O, P = .75) even when auto-PEEP was higher (0.6 ± 0.9 vs 2.4 ± 1.1 cm H2O, P = .02). There were no significant differences in any hemodynamic measurements, although heart rate was higher during MFV. CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, we demonstrate that MFV allows the use of higher breathing frequencies and lower VT than conventional ventilation to maximize alveolar ventilation. We describe the ventilatory or hemodynamic effects of MFV. We also demonstrate that the application of a decision support algorithm to manage MFV is feasible.
Molecular Theories of Rubberlike Elasticity and Polymer Viscoelasticity

Abstract The foundation for nearly all the molecular theories of the physical properties of polymers was laid in 1934 when Guth and Mark and Kuhn first recognized the role of configurational entropy of polymer chains. By virtue of ability of their segments to rotate with respect to each other along the chain backbone, macromolecules are capable of assuming a myriad of conformations. It is this long, flexible chain nature of polymer molecules that provides us a link in interpreting the macroscopic physical properties in terms of microscopic molecular dynamics. In this review we shall demonstrate the utilization of conformational statistics in the formulation of molecular theories for two important aspects of the mechanical properties of polymers. The first part deals with the equilibrium elastic response of a crosslinked rubberlike network. A simplified derivation will be given on the basis of the entropic approach. Some of the underlying assumptions will then be examined, and the contribution of internal ...
Transient Thermal Analysis for Rapid Thermal Processing of GaAs

A thermal analysis is performed to simulate the rapid heating process for ion implanted GaAs with consideration of the doping effect. The results are for cases with various concentrations and thicknesses of doping layer. Also studied are the heating processes for silicon dioxide capped GaAs. The effects of the thickness of the oxide layer are discussed. The magnitude of the temperature differences across the wafer is addressed. The present analysis considers xenon-arc lamps and tungsten-halogen lamps as the light sources.
This May Be the Last Time

This is a film review of This May Be the Last Time (2014), directed by Sterlin Harjo. Author Notes William Blizek is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Religion and Film, and is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is also the editor of the Continuum Companion to Religion and Film (2009). This sundance film festival review is available in Journal of Religion & Film: http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol18/iss1/15 This May Be the Last Time (2014) Directed by Sterlin Harjo Documentary Premieres Sterlin Harjo’s This May Be the Last Time is a movie about the importance of songs in Indian culture. Songs bring comfort, express grief, connect us to those who have gone before us. Many of the songs are Christian hymns, but translated into a Native language. Some of the songs are seen as an effort to wake up God. Native people sing their theology, their faith, their hope. Songs provide their own truth. The title of the film is taken from a native song that became the Rolling Stones’ hit, This May Be the Last Time. The song indicates the fragility of life, the preciousness of the time we have here on earth.
Energy Harvesting in RFID Systems

Energy harvesting for wireless sensors and RFID smart tags is a critical design feature on the path to the grand vision of ubiquitous computing. An important subset of energy harvesting solutions is the use of the RF reader signal to deliver energy and power up smart RFID tag circuitry. This paper focuses on the design of multi-stage voltage rectifiers and the power management strategies needed to power the large loads associated with sensors and microcontrollers integrated into the RFID tag
RINGS: A Web Resource of Tools for Analyzing Glycomics Data

This chapter introduces the web resource called RINGS which can be accessed at http://www.rings.t.soka.ac.jp/ and provides freely available tools for analyzing and data mining glycomics data. These include DrawRINGS, an applet to draw glycan structures and obtain the KCF (KEGG Chemical Function)-formatted representation of the structure; ProfilePSTMM, a tool based on a probabilistic model which can extract patterns within groups of glycan structures; Glycan Miner, a tool for finding the common glycan substructures within a group of glycan structures; MCAW, a multiple alignment tool for glycans; Kernel Tool, a tool to find glycan substructures that are particular to one glycan structure data set compared to another; GPP, glycan pathway predictor for generating N-glycan biosynthesis pathways; and utilities for converting between various glycan structure representations. Each tool will be described in its usage and application, along with tips for using the tools most effectively. Moreover, RINGS provides a data management system as well as a feedback system to allow users to store their data on the RINGS server as well as to interact with developers to improve RINGS functionality.
The Complexity of Differential Privacy

Differential privacy is a theoretical framework for ensuring the privacy of individual-level data when performing statistical analysis of privacy-sensitive datasets. This tutorial provides an introduction to and overview of differential privacy, with the goal of conveying its deep connections to a variety of other topics in computational complexity, cryptography, and theoretical computer science at large. This tutorial is written in celebration of Oded Goldreich’s 60th birthday, starting from notes taken during a minicourse given by the author and Kunal Talwar at the 26th McGill Invitational Workshop on Computational Complexity [1].
FACTORS AFFECTING THE MEASUREMENT AND INTERPRETATION OF IN VITRO LYMPHOCYTE REACTIVITY

Publisher Summary This chapter explores factors affecting the measurement and interpretation of in vitro lymphocyte reactivity. In a study described in the chapter, human peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated using the Ficol–Hypaque procedure. After a wash in 50 ml of medium, the cells were appropriately adjusted and cultured in 13 × 100 mm glass tubes with or without 8 μg PHA (DIFCO P)/ml. Cultures were incubated in a humidified 10% CO 2 in air atmosphere at 37°C. Culture medium was α MEM supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, 100 units penicillin, and 100 μg streptomycin/ml. Culture cellularity was determined daily for 11 days by the pronase–cetrimide technique. Lymphocytes were cultured at a variable concentration in 1 ml ranging from 2.5 to 200 × 10 4 cells/ml. When lymphocytes were cultured at an initial concentration of less than 2 × 10 5 cells/ml, they proliferated exponentially, with a doubling time of 20 h after an initial 48 h lag period during which about half the cells died. The length of time cells maintained this constant doubling time increased from day 5 for 10 5 cells/ml to day 7 for 25,000 cells/ml. The results obtained in this study suggest that medium becomes a limiting factor in cell proliferation when the cell concentration is increased.
Felid Personality and Its Implications

Animal personality is becoming more of a focus in a variety of fields, and whereas there is still a bias toward primates, it is important to assess personality in other species. There is little work done with felids, yet felids represent a population of animals that could benefit from such research. Most of the 37 species of felids are endangered, with as few as 60﻿ of some species left in the wild (e.g., the Amur leopard). In addition, due to their large home range sizes, they face distinct challenges in zoos. Although steps are being taken to address both conservation and welfare of these animals, understanding the causes and consequences of felid personality has the potential to aid in these efforts, with the goal of improving the lives of individual animals, and ensuring the future of each species. This chapter considers the measurement of felid personality, its relationship to health and life outcomes, and its potential role in conservation and welfare. Much more research focused on felids is needed, and personality research can add greatly to the field.
Workers in the 'Gig' Economy: The Case for Extending the Antitrust Labor Exemption

Consumers are the clear winners in the fast-growing sharing economy (and, more specifically, the “gig” economy), as are the technology companies that conceived and developed the digital platform models and that serve as the intermediaries. Though workers on the platforms have also benefited, particularly those who value flexibility, there is a sense that they are not receiving an appropriate share of the joint surplus that their “partnership” with the platforms is producing. For those troubled by this disparity, the challenge is to find a principled solution that would allow the benefits to be distributed more equitably, but would not upend the innovative business model and thereby lose the associated efficiencies and other benefits. In this Essay, I argue for the extension of the antitrust labor exemption, currently limited to labor activities of employees, to encompass gig-economy workers. That would allow them to negotiate collectively with the platform/intermediary over compensation and benefits issues without exposure to antitrust liability. Gig-economy workers straddle the line between employee and independent contractor and do not currently receive the benefits and protections that are tied to employment. I explain why it would be consistent with the philosophies underlying the antitrust law and the exemption to extend the exemption to gig-economy workers, and why that can be reconciled with more recent refusals to apply the exemption to non-employee professionals—mostly independent physicians. The Essay additionally addresses the drawbacks of different solutions proposed by others also concerned about the precarious circumstances of gig-economy workers, focusing in particular on a proposal to legislatively redefine “employment” broadly to cover gig-economy workers. My concern with this proposal is that it risks jeopardizing the very business model that has facilitated online intermediated work, and could also have the unintended effect of diminishing platform competition, which is troubling from a competition policy perspective. Given the uncertainties and risks, the simpler approach of extending the antitrust labor exemption to permit collective action by gig-economy workers, proposed in this Essay, seems to be the better path. The exemption is not a perfect solution, and I address its weaknesses. But it is a means to advance the workers’ interests in securing an appropriate share of the surplus that has been jointly created by the platform and the workers, without as much risk of dismantling the business model in the process.
From the Beginning: The 40 Year History of NOAA’s Emergency Response Division

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Emergency Response Division’s success over 40 years draws on the nascent and sustained vision of its founders and the people that dedicate...
Modelling droplet sliding angle on hydrophobic wire screens

Abstract This work presents a detailed investigation of the droplet lower and upper contact angles on hydrophobic wire screens with different properties such as wire diameter, wire spacing, or Young–Laplace contact angle. Numerical simulation and experiment were considered to better our understanding of the factors impacting droplet sliding on a hydrophobic screen, and to quantify their importance. To conduct the numerical simulations, the screens’ geometry was programed in the Surface Evolver code, and the droplet shape was obtained by minimizing the total energy of the droplet–screen system iteratively using the code’s finite element solver. Good general agreement was observed between the results of our numerical simulations and experimental data. Most interestingly, it was observed that droplet sliding angle increases with increasing the wire spacing in screens with a given wire diameter. To explain this counterintuitive observation, detailed quantitative information is presented in terms of the three-phase contact line on the droplet’s receding side as well as the penetration of the air–water interface into the void space between the wires. The results of our study are discussed in the context of the contemporary literature.
Dose-Duration Reciprocity for G protein activation: Modulation of kinase to substrate ratio alters cell signaling.

In animal cells, activation of heterotrimeric G protein signaling generally occurs when the system’s cognate signal exceeds a threshold, whereas in plant cells, both the amount and the exposure time of at least one signal, D-glucose, are used toward activation. This unusual signaling property called Dose-Duration Reciprocity, first elucidated in the genetic model Arabidopsis thaliana, is achieved by a complex that is comprised of a 7-transmembrane REGULATOR OF G SIGNALING (RGS) protein (AtRGS1), a Gα subunit that binds and hydrolyzes nucleotide, a Gβγ dimer, and three WITH NO LYSINE (WNK) kinases. D-glucose is one of several signals such as salt and pathogen-derived molecular patterns that operates through this protein complex to activate G protein signaling by WNK kinase transphosphorylation of AtRGS1. Because WNK kinases compete for the same substrate, AtRGS1, we hypothesize that activation is sensitive to the AtRGS1 amount and that modulation of the AtRGS1 pool affects the response to the stimulant. Mathematical simulation revealed that the ratio of AtRGS1 to the kinase affects system sensitivity to D-glucose, and therefore illustrates how modulation of the cellular AtRGS1 level is a means to change signal-induced activation. AtRGS1 levels change under tested conditions that mimic physiological conditions therefore, we propose a previously-unknown mechanism by which plants react to changes in their environment.
Comparative Effectiveness of Transarterial Embolization and Sorafenib for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Population-Based Study.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical effectiveness of embolization with that of sorafenib in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma as practiced in real-world settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This population-based observational study was conducted with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare linked database. Patients 65 years old and older with a diagnosis of primary liver cancer between 2007 and 2011 who underwent embolization or sorafenib treatment were identified. Patients were excluded if they had insufficient claims records, a diagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, or other primary cancer or had undergone liver transplant or combination therapy. The primary outcome of interest was overall survival. Inverse probability of treatment weighting models were used to control for selection bias. RESULTS. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were met by 1017 patients. Models showed good balance between treatment groups. Compared with those who underwent ...
A Social Learning Approach to Intimacy

At first glance, it may appear incongruous that behavior therapy, with its emphasis on the application of learning principles derived from general experimental psychology, would make a contribution to the understanding of intimacy. Yet, in the past dozen years, a major thrust in behavior therapy, or more accurately, the clinical application of social learning theory, has been the study and enhancement of intimate adult relationships. This chapter aims to convey the social learning perspective of intimacy by delineating the behavioral formulation of intimate dyadic relationships and by reviewing procedures for the assessment and the amelioration of relationship difficulties that evolved from this model. A review of the social learning literature points out that marital relationships have been the target for the exploration of intimacy. The material presented in this chapter continues within the focus, albeit limited, of viewing intimacy as a goal between marital partners.
Signal Transduction Mechanisms: Peptide Hormone — Receptor Cross Linking, Internalization, and Lysosomal Processing

ABSTRACT Binding of peptide hormones to specific cell surface receptors rapidly induces their aggregation into specialized coated regions of the plasma membrane. Receptor “clusters” are endocytosed and delivered to lysosomes where they are subsequently degraded. The microaggregation of many peptide hormone receptors plays an important role in the biochemical sequelae that leads to biological activity; however, aggregation of surface receptors is not always a sufficient signal to evoke a response. For epidermal growth factor (EGF), internalization and targeting of the growth factor-receptor complex to lysosomes may be a prerequisite for mitogenic activation of quiescent cells.
Oil Recovery from Micropatterned Triangular Troughs during a Surfactant Flood.

We study the recovery of oil trapped inside micropatterned triangular troughs after injecting a surfactant solution. In our experiments, we track the trapped oil volume with duration of surfactant ...