cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Na+/Ca2+exchange in neonatal rat heart cells: antisense inhibition and protein half-life

Cardiac Na+/Ca2+exchanger (NCX) protein half-life (t ½) and antisense knockdown were studied in primary cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Proteint ½ was determined using [35S]methionine with a ...
Interaction of Herpesvirus with Spleen Cell Subpopulations: Comparison of a Neurotropic and a Lymphotropic Virus

We studied the interaction of a neurotropic herpesvirus, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2), and a lymphotropic herpesvirus, guinea pig herpes-like virus (HLV), with guinea pig spleen cells. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 and HLV can attach to and penetrate into B- or T-enriched cells. Less than 1.4% of the total B- or T-enriched cell populations were susceptible to infection by HLV and to some degree to HSV-1 or HSV-2 as determined by infectious center assays. After specific antiserum treatment, higher titers of intracellular virus were detected in HLV-infected cells than in HSV-1- or HSV-2-infected cells. Both B-enriched and T-enriched cells could support HLV replication, but not that of HSV-1 or HSV-2. The replication of HSV-1 was demonstrated in guinea pig spleen cells pretreated with lipopolysaccharide but not with phytohemagglutinin. Furthermore, when cells were separated into B- and T-enriched cells, the B- enriched cells prestimulated with lipopolysaccharide were susceptible to HSV-1 replication, whereas the T-enriched cells prestimulated with phytohemagglutinin were not. The differences observed in vitro in the interactions of these two herpesviruses with guinea pig spleen cell subpopulations may provide a basis for understanding the differences observed in vivo in the pathogenesis of these two viruses; i.e., HLV is capable of infecting and persisting in guinea pig lymphocytes, whereas HSV is not.
Predictor-Model-Based Least-Squares Model-Reference Adaptive Control with Chebyshev Orthogonal Polynomial Approximation

This paper presents a model-reference adaptive control approach for systems with unstructured uncertainty based on two least-squares parameter estimation methods: gradient-based method and recursive leastsquares method. The unstructured uncertainty is approximated by Chebyshev orthogonal polynomial basis functions. The use of orthogonal basis functions improves the function approximation significantly and enables better convergence of parameter estimates. The adaptation of least-squares adaptive control is driven by the plant modeling error which manifests itself as the tracking error, but not vice versa. A predictor model is introduced to estimate the plant modeling error without the need for differentiation of the state signals which can introduce noise. The least-squares gradient adaptive control achieves superior parameter convergence as compared to the standard model-reference adaptive control. Flight control simulations were conducted with four adaptive controllers: least-squares gradient adaptive control, recursive least-squares adaptive control, standard model-reference adaptive control, and neural-network adaptive control. The results show that the recursive least-squares adaptive control achieves better robustness as measured by a time-delay margin while the least-squares gradient adaptive control achieves better tracking performance than both the standard model-reference adaptive control and neural-network adaptive control.
Patterned Biofilms for Engineering Microbial Consortia

Over the past decade, synthetic biology has developed increasingly robust gene networks within single bacterial cells, but relatively few systems have demonstrated engineered multicellular behaviour. In contrast, naturally existing terrestrial bacteria primarily live in complex surface-attached communities known as biofilms. Within these biofilms, multiple distinct microbial sub-populations form intricate spatial structures including colony co-localization and cell-cell co-aggregation. This spatial organization allows bacterial communities to achieve cooperative behaviours such as metabolic division-of-labour, and conversely, ecological interactions between different microbial subpopulations in turn influence the spatial patterning within the biofilm. Using optogenetic, metabolic, and cell-adhesion tools from synthetic biology, we are developing a biofilm culture platform that can generate optically patterned, metabolically interacting microbial communities. The platform will provide spatiotemporal control of both cell-surface and cell-cell attachment, tunable for both strength and specificity, as well as adjustable regulation of intercellular metabolic interactions. Taken together, these represent new tools to investigate how spatiotemporal patterning develops in biofilms and to engineer synthetic microbial consortia capable of complex tasks requiring biological division of labour.
Wanted and Used: Latina Bilingual Education Teachers at Public Schools

ABSTRACTIn response to the increasing number of Spanish-speaking students at public schools, Spanish-speaking teachers are in demand. In regards to this high demand, how are Latina/o bilingual education teachers treated at school? Using critical race theory's counter-stories, this study investigated the working conditions of two Latina bilingual teachers. The participants’ stories reveal that the schools found the participants’ language skills to be both financially and instructionally beneficial. However, the participants experienced heavy workloads, which did not offer them the time and opportunity to develop stronger professional networks at school. They began to feel isolated and marginalized from their colleagues. Although eagerly hired by their respective school administrators, it seems that the participants were systematically exploited by the schools for which they worked.
MiTexCube: MicroTextCluster Cube for Online Analysis of Text Cells.

A fundamental problem for analysis of multidimensional text databases is efficient and effective support of various kinds of online applications, such as summarizing the content of text cells and comparing the contents across multiple text cells. In this paper, we propose a new infrastructure called MicroTextCluster Cube (or MiTexCube) to support efficient online text analysis on multidimensional text databases by introducing micro-clusters of text documents as a compact representation of text content. Experimental results on a real multidimensional text database show that applications based on the proposed materialized MiTexCube are more efficient than the baseline method of direct analysis based on document units in each cell, without sacrificing much quality of analysis, and MiTexCube naturally accommodates flexible tradeoff between efficiency and quality of analysis.
Epigenetic targeted anti-cancer drugs: an unfolding story.

Boumber and Issa provide a useful review of the development of agents that target the epigenome—primarily DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitors and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors.
Retaining Teachers in High-Poverty Schools: A Policy Framework

Ensuring all children have a qualified teacher is a global struggle. Although the causes and contours of the problem vary from country to country, the shortage of good teachers is of wide concern throughout the world. Policies that address this shortage typically focus on supply-side solutions such as recruitment. Yet there is increasing evidence that getting more teachers into the career pipeline only scratches the surface of a complex problem. The pipe itself leaks and it does so in ways that further disadvantage high-poverty schools where the shortage is most acute. In the United States, for example, 46% of teachers leave the profession within their first five years and more of these leavers are fleeing high-poverty schools than affluent schools (Ingersoll, 2001, 2002, 2003a, 2003b). The disproportionate impact of the teacher shortage in certain schools should make these schools “high priority” targets for teacher retention policies. These schools, often termed “urban,” or “hard-to-staff,” are predominately schools located in cities and their immediate surroundings, although there are many high-poverty rural schools that face similar challenges. These high-priority schools are under-resourced and under-funded, often situated in low-income communities of color that serve a majority of academically low-performing children whose parents have comparatively low levels of formal schooling. Each year U.S. public schools fitting this description lose and must replace approximately one-fifth of their teaching faculty
Conclusions and Next Steps

Because Twitter and other social media sites are relatively new at this point in time, their applications for education and their roles in our lives are still developing. As noted in the previous chapter, research into how students, teachers, and scholars use Twitter and other forms of social networking is of paramount importance as more teachers turn to social media outlets for professional development, including persona and identity development—even if those public selves are not developed intentionally.
The Heterogeneous Prognosis of Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and Chromosome 5 Abnormalities: How Does It Relate to the Original Lenalidomide Experience in MDS?.

Purpose. The positive lenalidomide experience in lower risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with deletion 5q and red blood cells transfusion dependence resulted in its broad use in MDS. The study aim was to define the prognosis in MDS and deletion 5q with or without other cytogenetic abnormalities. Patients and Methods. Patients with MDS ( Results. Of 2743 patients analyzed, 287 (10%) had deletion 5q, and 216 (8%) had monosomy 5 abnormalities. The median survival was 9 months with deletion 5q, 6 months with monosomy 5, and 17 months without a chromosome 5 abnormality. Considering patients with deletion 5q, the median survival was 33 months with deletion 5q alone, 17 months with deletion 5q and one additional abnormality, but only 6–12 months with deletion 5q and ≥ 2 abnormalities or chromosome 7 abnormality. Only 93 patients (3.4% of total) had lower risk MDS (International Prognostic Scoring System low or intermediate 1) and deletion 5q; their median survival 29 months (2-year survival 60%), and ranged from 13 to 41 months depending on the presence or absence of additional chromosomal abnormalities. Among 58 patients with lower risk MDS deletion 5q with identical entry criteria to the original lenalidomide study, the median survival was 44 months and the 2-year survival rate 80%. Among 198 patients with MDS with deletion 5q and Conclusions. The prognosis of MDS with chromosome 5 abnormalities is heterogeneous. This study provides baseline expectations of outcome in different MDS subsets and deletion 5q, which could be used for comparative purposes with the lenalidomide experience.
Electrochemical Nonadiabatic Electron Transfer via Tunneling to Solution Species through Thin Insulating Films

Described here is a semiquantitative theoretical treatment of the kinetics of outer sphere electrochemical reactions. The framework presented here, which is based on simple physical arguments, predicts heterogeneous rate constants consistent with previous experimental observations (k0 > 10 cm/s). This theory is applied to the analysis of voltammetry experiments involving ultramicroelectrodes modified with thin, insulating oxide films where electronic tunneling between the electrode and redox species in solution (metal–insulator–solution tunneling) is expected to play a prominent role. It is shown that analysis of the voltammetric response of an outer sphere redox couple can be used to track changes in the structure of the adsorbed insulating layer.
The Structure, Evolution, and Dynamics of a Nocturnal Convective System Simulated Using the WRF-ARW Model

AbstractPrevious studies have documented a nocturnal maximum in thunderstorm frequency during the summer across the central United States. Forecast skill for these systems remains relatively low and the explanation for this nocturnal maximum is still an area of active debate. This study utilized the WRF-ARW Model to simulate a nocturnal mesoscale convective system that occurred over the southern Great Plains on 3–4 June 2013. A low-level jet transported a narrow corridor of air above the nocturnal boundary layer with convective instability that exceeded what was observed in the daytime boundary layer. The storm was elevated and associated with bores that assisted in the maintenance of the system. Three-dimensional variations in the system’s structure were found along the cold pool, which were examined using convective system dynamics and wave theory. Shallow lifting occurred on the southern flank of the storm. Conversely, the southeastern flank had deep lifting, with favorable integrated vertical shear ov...
Aspects of a Unifying Approach for the Design of Linear Systems

Abstract The unifying theory for the design of linear feedback systems presented recently by the author is complemented with a discussion of the uniqueness of the finite sequence of constant matrices S, which constitutes the main tool of this new theory.
Overview The First International Conference on Burns and Fire Disasters

The first International Conference on Burns and Fire Disasters was held September 25–28, 1990, in Palermo, Italy. The meeting was organized and conducted by the Mediterranean Burns Club and the Division of Plastic Surgery and burn therapy of the Palermo City Hospital, under the aegis of the Parliament.
Job satisfaction, school rule enforcement, and teacher victimization

ABSTRACTJob satisfaction is an essential component of teacher motivation, performance, and retention. Teacher job satisfaction is primarily affected by workplace conditions. This paper analyzes data from over 37,000 public school teachers from the 2011–2012 Schools and Staffing Survey. Hierarchical ordinal logistic regression was utilized to analyze effects of school rule enforcement and teacher victimization on job satisfaction. Findings indicated that teachers who perceived higher enforcement of school rules had higher job satisfaction. In particular, consistent enforcement of rules by school administrators had a significantly greater effect on satisfaction than collegial enforcement of rules. Findings also indicated that teacher victimization has a significantly negative effect on job satisfaction. Consistent enforcement of school rules may reduce instances of student misbehavior and teacher victimization, helping reduce teacher stress and anxiety, leading to greater job satisfaction. Implications for ...
The influence of mate value on women's desire for long and short-term mates: Implicit responses

Abstract This study examined the effects of mate-value on women's implicit desire for long and short-term mates. It was hypothesized that when social desirability effects were minimized that low mate-value women would have more positive associations with men available for short-term relationships compared to high mate-value women. To test this hypothesis, 144 women were presented with men available for either a long or a short-term relationship. The participants were asked to state their explicit response to the men, complete a procedure designed to measure their implicit responses to the men, and a measure of mate-value. As expected, high mate-value women had fewer positive implicit responses to men only available for short-term relations compared to low mate-value women. This effect disappeared when explicit responses were examined.
theseus - An R package for the analysis and visualization of microbial community data

theseus is a collection of functions within the R programming framework to assist microbiologists and molecular biologists in the interpretation of microbial community composition data.
Anisotropy of Graphite Intercalation Compounds

Graphite intercalation compounds consist of an alternating sequence of one or more hexagonal carbon layers separated by monolayers of intercalated atoms or molecules (1). The resulting compounds invariably exhibit metallic behavior parallel to the layers, with σa of order 105Ω-1cm-1 at the saturated limit of one intercalant layer per carbon layer. This behavior is essentially independent of intercalant species, although metallic intercalants such as Li, K, Rb, etc. give n-type conductivity whereas electron acceptor intercalants (Br2, HNO3, AsF5, etc.) lead to p-type conduction. A much greater variability is observed in properties perpendicular to the layers. Metallic intercalants lead to large σc, suggesting relatively mild overall anisotropy, while acceptor intercalation causes a strong reduction in σc and anisotropics (measured by σa/σc) as large as 106 at 300 K. This unusual and highly variable anisotropy is manifested not only in the crystallographic, electronic and mechanical properties, but also more subtly in the variation of critical phenomena among different compounds (2).
Radiographic Evaluation of the Patient with Chest Pain of Suspected Myocardial Origin

The evaluation of the patient with suspected angina pectoris is discussed and an approach presented which makes use of radiologic tests in conjunction with exercise testing to quickly and efficiently determine the likelihood and severity of coronary artery disease. The relative merits and limitations of chest radiography, cardiac fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine, and coronary arteriography are discussed.
Abstract 2804: Identifying an optimal site for linker conjugation of the taccalonolides, novel microtubule stabilizing drugs

The taccalonolides are a structurally distinct class of microtubule stabilizers purified from the roots and rhizomes of plants of the genus Tacca. The covalent binding of taccalonolides bearing a C-22,23 epoxide to β-tubulin generates a distinct profile of microtubule stabilization that results in a high level of cellular persistence and the ability to circumvent multiple mechanisms of clinically relevant drug resistance, including expression of P-glycoprotein. The biological effects of 121 structurally distinct taccalonolides, including 23 isolated natural products and 98 semi-synthetic derivatives have been evaluated. These compounds range in potency from 0.6 nM to over 50 µM, allowing for detailed structure activity relationship studies. Some of the most potent taccalonolide derivatives include semi-synthetic modifications at C-6, C-7, or C-15 in combination with C-22,23 epoxidation. While these compounds did not have an acceptable therapeutic window for in vivo antitumor activity by systemic administration, they demonstrated highly effective and exquisitely persistent antitumor activity in a drug-resistant tumor model when delivered directly into the tumor. Additional studies were undertaken to see whether large chemical moieties could be added at these sites to facilitate targeted delivery of these compounds. In contrast to C-7 and C-15 derivatives, which are cleaved, C-6 modifications are stable and retain microtubule stabilizing and cytotoxic activities. In particular, fluorescent C-6 taccalonolide conjugates allowed, for the first time, direct visualization of these compounds in live cells, which co-localized with bundled microtubules. Further probing of the functionality at taccalonolide C-6 will allow for more detailed mechanistic studies of drug transport and distribution as well as optimization of a linker that could be used for antibody-based drug delivery. Citation Format: April L. Risinger, Lin Du, Antonius Ola, Robert H. Cichewicz, Susan L. Mooberry. Identifying an optimal site for linker conjugation of the taccalonolides, novel microtubule stabilizing drugs [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2804.
Has the Emperor Met His Match

In the 2015 Ken Burns documentary, Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, based on Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies, the 2011 nonfiction award-winning biography about cancer, we are introduced to the first pediatric patient who received an experimental cellular therapy at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The outcomes for that patient, initially treated in 2012 and now almost seven years into survivorship, led to the development of clinical trials with commercially developed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell products.
ParLoT: Efficient Whole-Program Call Tracing for HPC Applications

The complexity of HPC software and hardware is quickly increasing. As a consequence, the need for efficient execution tracing to gain insight into HPC application behavior is steadily growing. Unfortunately, available tools either do not produce traces with enough detail or incur large overheads. An efficient tracing method that overcomes the tradeoff between maximum information and minimum overhead is therefore urgently needed. This paper presents such a method and tool, called ParLoT, with the following key features. (1) It describes a technique that makes low-overhead on-the-fly compression of whole-program call traces feasible. (2) It presents a new, efficient, incremental trace-compression approach that reduces the trace volume dynamically, which lowers not only the needed bandwidth but also the tracing overhead. (3) It collects all caller/callee relations, call frequencies, call stacks, as well as the full trace of all calls and returns executed by each thread, including in library code. (4) It works on top of existing dynamic binary instrumentation tools, thus requiring neither source-code modifications nor recompilation. (5) It supports program analysis and debugging at the thread, thread-group, and program level. This paper establishes that comparable capabilities are currently unavailable. Our experiments with the NAS parallel benchmarks running on the Comet supercomputer with up to 1,024 cores show that ParLoT can collect whole-program function-call traces at an average tracing bandwidth of just 56 kB/s per core.
Small plot identification from video streams for high-throughput phenotyping of large breeding populations with unmanned aerial systems

In breeding and genetics programs, thousands of small plots in the size of a few square meters each having a unique genetic entry, are used to evaluate huge numbers of candidates and large mapping populations. Low-altitude remote sensing with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can generate high geospatial resolution measurements of plants and enable high temporal resolution measurements through multiple crop growth stages. However, to identify individual plot from aerial images robustly and automatically becomes a key challenge in high throughput phenotyping (HTP) using UAS. In this case study, we captured super high-resolution video clips of wheat canopies by a UAS at low altitude. We proposed an image processing pipeline for identifying individual plot from video frames. Preliminary results indicate the methods can highly accelerate the process of linking genotypes to individual plot images and can be fully automated. This research provides a proof-of-concept and has broad implications of novel phenomics application of UAS that is scalable to tens-of-thousands of plots in crop breeding and genetic studies.
Reliability Differences Between SiGe HBTs Optimized for High-Performance and Medium-Breakdown

This paper presents an overview of the reliability differences of devices optimized for high-performance (HP) and medium-breakdown (MB) in SiGe HBT technologies. To explore the physics of failure, a MB variant in a fourth-generation SiGe HBT technology is described from a processing standpoint to understand any subtle distinctions between its HP counterpart. Reliability stress measurement data is shown to provide insight into the differences between HP and MB SiGe HBTs when biased under high-current and mixed-mode stress conditions. TCAD simulations are presented to aid in the physical understanding of Auger generation/recombination rates, impact ionization rates, and power density across a wide range of conditions where these devices are typically biased and used.
Stuck on a phishing lure: differential use of base rates in self and social judgments of susceptibility to cyber risk

How do people assess the likelihood of personal risk in online activity? In three pilot experiments and one preregistered experiment, we tested the motivational and cognitive mechanisms that shape ...
Disease Salience Effects on Desire for Affiliation With In-Group and Out-Group Members: Cognitive and Affective Mediators:

This study tested the hypothesis that threats related to infectious diseases would make persons less willing to affiliate with out-groups and that feelings of disgust and beliefs about the out-grou...
Data-Driven Development of a Small-Area COVID-19 Vulnerability Index for the United States

ABSTRACT As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge in the United States, it has become clear that infection risk is higher in certain populations, particularly socially and economically marginalized groups. Social risk factors, together with other demographic and community characteristics, may reveal local variations and inequities in COVID risk that could be useful for targeting testing and interventions. Yet to date, rates of infection and estimations of COVID risk are typically reported at the county and state level. In this study we develop a small area vulnerability index based on publicly-available sociodemographic data and 668,428 COVID diagnoses reported in 4,803 ZIP codes in the United States (15% of all ZIP codes). The outcome was COVID-19 diagnosis rates per 100,000 people by ZIP code. Explanatory variables included sociodemographic characteristics obtained from the 2018 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Bayesian multivariable techniques were used to capture complexities of spatial data and spatial autocorrelation and identify individual risk factors and derive their respective weights in the index. COVID-19 diagnosis rates varied from zero to 29,508 per 100,000 people. The final vulnerability index showed that higher population density, higher percentage of noninsured, nonwhite race and Hispanic ethnicity were positively associated with COVID-19 diagnosis rates. Our findings indicate disproportionate risk of COVID-19 infection among some populations and validate and expand understanding of these inequities, integrating several risk factors into a summary index reflecting composite vulnerability to infection. This index can provide local public health and other agencies with evidence-based metrics of COVID risk at a geographical scale that has not been previously available to most US communities.
Timing and Patterns of Size, Reproduction, and Seed Germination in Florida Endemic Euphorbia telephioides (Euphorbiaceae): Management and Conservation Implications

To protect and manage species listed under the US Endangered Species Act requires knowledge of the species' biology. Biological information was lacking for Euphorbia telephioides, a threatened species endemic to pine flatwoods in the Florida Panhandle. Decline of this species is due largely to habitat loss and degradation. To understand the conservation requirements for the recovery of E. telephioides, we established three permanent plots, marked 150 plants, and investigated size and reproduction, response to fire, and in situ seed germination and seedling survival from 2010 to 2014. Plants are long-lived and survived fire by resprouting. Populations are composed of vegetatives, males, females, and monoecious individuals with labile sex expression, including fire-induced sex change. Both adults and seedlings exhibited obligate winter dormancy and facultative non-synchronized summer dormancy, and some adults had prolonged (>1 y) vegetative dormancy, which minimize exposure to stressful conditions. Reproductive plants tended to be larger than vegetatives, but did not differ significantly in most size parameters. Seeds possess a deep physiological dormancy, tolerate fire, and persist in the field less than 1 y; thus, soil seed bank is unlikely to maintain populations in the face of environmental stochasticity. Once established, seedlings resprout after fire, which likely contributes to population persistence. Overall, E. telephioides displays life history traits that are adaptive in the fire-prone habitats where this species occurs. For specific management recommendations in the field, knowledge of gender expression and lability, seed ecology, and the effects of disturbances such as fire on plants and habitat are imperative.
Giant Resonance and Anomalous Quality Factor Scaling in Degenerate Band Edge Coupled Resonator Optical Waveguides

We propose a novel scheme for enhancing the quality factor ( Q factor) of coupled resonators optical waveguides (CROWs) side coupled to a straight waveguide when operating near a degenerate band edge (DBE). The DBE is an exceptional point of degeneracy occurring without the need of loss or gain when four Bloch eigenwaves coalesce, providing a resonance condition with field enhancement and other unique properties associated with such frozen mode. We derive an analytic expression that describes the flatness of the dispersion diagram at the DBE and show how this is related to engineering the quality factor. We report an anomalous scaling law of the quality factor for a cavity made of the DBE-CROW with the fifth power of the number of rings when operating at the resonance frequency closest to the DBE frequency, even in the presence of losses and structural perturbations. Remarkably, the Q factor of the proposed DBE-CROW can be engineered to exceed that of a single ring resonator having a diameter equal to the total DBE-CROW length; hence, the DBE leads to an overall huge area reduction. We also demonstrate the robustness of the DBE-CROW's Q factor scaling near the DBE against perturbations and disorders that could arise from tolerances in fabrication. The findings reported in this paper are critical for enhancing field's amplitudes to giant levels and the Q factor of ring resonators, and are very beneficial for various applications including four-wave mixing, Q switching, lasers, and highly sensitive sensors.
Slope and Aspect Effects on Seedbed Microclimate and Germination Timing of Fall-Planted Seeds

Abstract Rangeland vegetation in the Great Basin, United States, is frequently disturbed by natural- and human-caused wildfires that facilitate the establishment and dominance of introduced annual weeds such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and medusahead wildrye (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski). Ecological resilience and resistance of native and seeded-non-native plant communities in this region, however, appear to follow topographic patterns associated with slope, aspect, and elevation. Currently, resistance and resilience concepts are being used to prioritize rangeland restoration efforts based on soil-climate classification. We hypothesized that probabilistic patterns of shorter-term weather effects on seedbed microclimate might also be correlated with these perceived spatial patterns of resistance and resilience over space. We used a 39-yr gridded weather dataset to estimate seedbed temperature and water potential at seeding depth as a function of slope and aspect using the Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) model. Seedbed temperature and water potential were then used as input to hydrothermal germination response models to generate indices of seedbed favorability for initial germination and emergence and to estimate cumulative germination response as a function of topography and planting date for the very-fast-germinating cheatgrass, fast-germinating bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus elymoides [Raf] Swezey), and slower-germinating Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis Elmer). Topographic mapping of seedbed favorability showed distinct seasonal patterns associated with both slope and aspect. Southern exposures are likely to facilitate both prewinter germination for early-fall-planted seeds and relatively more midwinter germination for seeds planted later in the fall, but these exposures are also less subject to midwinter frost effects. Northern exposures were likely to delay germination into later winter and early spring and thus avoid potential exposure to a higher probability of winter frost mortality. Microclimatic simulations of this type may provide new metrics for improving our understanding of the mechanistic causes of observed patterns of ecological resistance and resilience over space.
Widespread mortality of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) throughout interior Alaskan boreal forests resulting from a novel canker disease.

Over the past several decades, growth declines and mortality of trembling aspen throughout western Canada and the United States have been linked to drought, often interacting with outbreaks of insects and fungal pathogens, resulting in a “sudden aspen decline” throughout much of aspen’s range. In 2015, we noticed an aggressive fungal canker causing widespread mortality of aspen throughout interior Alaska and initiated a study to quantify potential drivers for the incidence, virulence, and distribution of the disease. Stand-level infection rates among 88 study sites distributed across 6 Alaska ecoregions ranged from <1 to 69%, with the proportion of trees with canker that were dead averaging 70% across all sites. The disease is most prevalent north of the Alaska Range within the Tanana Kuskokwim ecoregion. Modeling canker probability as a function of ecoregion, stand structure, landscape position, and climate revealed that smaller-diameter trees in older stands with greater aspen basal area have the highest canker incidence and mortality, while younger trees in younger stands appear virtually immune to the disease. Sites with higher summer vapor pressure deficits had significantly higher levels of canker infection and mortality. We believe the combined effects of this novel fungal canker pathogen, drought, and the persistent aspen leaf miner outbreak are triggering feedbacks between carbon starvation and hydraulic failure that are ultimately driving widespread mortality. Warmer early-season temperatures and prolonged late summer drought are leading to larger and more severe wildfires throughout interior Alaska that are favoring a shift from black spruce to forests dominated by Alaska paper birch and aspen. Widespread aspen mortality fostered by this rapidly spreading pathogen has significant implications for successional dynamics, ecosystem function, and feedbacks to disturbance regimes, particularly on sites too dry for Alaska paper birch.
[Clinical effect of an additional maintenance dose of caffeine before ventilator weaning in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome: a prospective randomized controlled trial]

Objective To study the clinical effect of an additional maintenance dose (5 mg/kg) of caffeine citrate injection at 1 hour before ventilator weaning in improving the success rate of ventilator weaning in preterm infants (gestational age ≤32 weeks) with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) on mechanical ventilation. Methods A total of 338 preterm infants with RDS (gestational age of ≤32 weeks) who were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Xiamen Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2017 to December 2019 and treated with mechanical ventilation were enrolled. They were randomly divided into an observation group and a routine group, with 169 infants in each group. Both groups received early routine treatment with caffeine. The infants in the observation group received an additional maintenance dose of caffeine citrate injection at 1 hour before ventilator weaning. The two groups were compared in terms of reintubation rate and number of apnea episodes within 48 hours after ventilator weaning, changes in blood gas parameters, blood glucose, heart rate, and mean blood pressure at 2 hours after ventilator weaning, and incidence rates of major complications during hospitalization. Results Compared with the routine group, the observation group had significantly lower reintubation rate (P=0.034) and number of apnea episodes (≥2 times/day) (P=0.015) within 48 hours after ventilator weaning. Compared with the routine group at 2 hours after ventilator weaning, the observation group had a significantly higher pH value and a significantly lower arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (P 0.05). During hospitalization, the observation group had a significantly lower incidence rate of intraventricular hemorrhage than the routine group (P=0.048), but there were no significant differences between the two groups in the incidence rates of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy of prematurity, and periventricular leukomalacia and mortality rate (P > 0.05). Conclusions An additional maintenance dose of caffeine citrate injection at 1 hour before ventilator weaning is safe and effective in improving the success rate of ventilator weaning in preterm infants with RDS and thus holds promise for clinical application.
Growth and reproduction by young urban and rural black bears

Human-dominated landscapes contain fragmented natural land cover interspersed throughout an urban matrix. Animals that occupy human-dominated landscapes often grow and reproduce differently than conspecifics. Female American black bears (Ursus americanus) produce litters for the first time usually at age 4 years; 2-year-olds rarely give birth. We visited winter bear dens and trapped bears in spring and summer to compare the reproductive output and weight of female black bears within the city limits of Asheville, North Carolina, and three forested rural sites in North Carolina and Virginia representative of the undeveloped habitat of Asheville. Urban yearling females weighed nearly double (45.0 kg ± 8.1 [± SD]; n = 36) that of yearling females from the three rural study sites (23.2 ± 8.5 [Pisgah], 23.6 ± 8.3 [Virginia SW], and 23.9 ± 9.7 [Virginia NW]; n = 95). Across all sites, hard mast production during the autumn, when females were cubs, did not affect their weights as yearlings. Seven of 12 (58%) 2-year-old urban bears produced 11 cubs (mean litter size = 1.6 ± 0.8), but no 2-year-old rural females produced cubs. Production of hard mast in the autumn, when females were yearlings, did not influence cub production by 2-year-old female bears at the urban site. We hypothesize that reproduction by 2-year-old bears is linked to the availability of anthropogenic food sources associated with urban environments. To inform population level management decisions, managers and researchers should quantify urban food sources and the effects on black bear life history. If high fecundity allows urban populations to sustain relatively high mortality rates, then urban bear populations may be source populations for surrounding, rural areas. Alternately, if reproduction in urban populations cannot match high time-specific or age-specific urban mortality rates, then urban populations may be sinks for the surrounding areas.
The Effect of Pituitary Administration onGrowing Dogs

Excerpt The following investigations were instituted for a study of the relationship between the glands of internal secretion and the development of the dental mechanism. While the dental phase was...
Foreign Exchange Exposure and Short-term Cash Flow Sensitivity

In this paper we hypothesize that because of firms' ability to adjust to exchange rate movements over the longer term, stock prices are unlikely to reflect foreign exchange exposure unless a firm is particularly sensitive to short-term cash flow variability. Controlling for firms' ability to adjust their cost structures, we find that the magnitude of exchange rate exposure of U.S. manufacturing firms is related to firms' short-term leverage, availability of internal funds, size, costs of underinvestment and product specialization. Further, during large, unexpected movements of the dollar, firms with higher expected costs of financial distress show larger exposures as measured by their larger abnormal returns and abnormal volatilities in response to exchange rate shocks.
Dissolution Kinetics of Kaolin in Caustic Liquors

Kaolin is the most common form of reactive silica in bauxite. To better understand the behaviour of kaolin in the Bayer process, the dissolution kinetics of kaolin in caustic liquors were studied. The kaolin samples used were two forms of pure kaolin, clay samples from bauxite mining areas and the reactive silica in bauxite. Dissolution in both synthetic and plant caustic liquors was investigated at temperatures from 65 to 150°C. Particle size had little effect on dissolution rate; the kaolin particles were porous and reacted both internally and externally. Kaolins which contained halloysite dissolved faster. The activation energy obtained was 93kJmol−1 for the pure kaolins and a similar value for the reactive silica in bauxite. The dissolution rate increased proportionally to the free caustic concentration, and decreased with increasing alumina and silica concentrations. Sodium carbonate did not affect the dissolution rate. The precipitation of desilication product from the liquor did not affect the rate of kaolin dissolution. The dissolution rate of kaolin is sufficiently slow that it can affect the level of desilication achieved in low temperature digest Bayer refineries.
Combining imaging and ureteroscopy variables in a preoperative multivariable model for prediction of muscle‐invasive and non‐organ confined disease in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma

Study Type – Diagnostic (exploratory cohort) Level of Evidence 2b What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add? Improved patient selection for conservative management, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and/or extended lymphadenectomy is urgently needed. We developed a highly accurate preoperative model to predict muscle-invasive and non-organ-confined upper tract urothelial carcinoma based on standard imaging and ureteroscopy features. OBJECTIVE • To create a preoperative multivariable model to identify patients at risk of muscle-invasive (pT2+) upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) and/or non-organ confined (pT3+ or N+) UTUC (NOC-UTUC) who potentially could benefit from radical nephroureterectomy (RNU), neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or an extended lymph node dissection. PATIENTS AND METHODS • We retrospectively analysed data from 324 consecutive patients treated with RNU between 1995 and 2008 at a tertiary cancer centre. • Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer were excluded, resulting in 274 patients for analysis. • Logistic regression models were used to predict pT2+ and NOC-UTUC. Pre-specified predictors included local invasion (i.e. parenchymal, renal sinus fat, or periureteric) on imaging, hydronephrosis on imaging, high-grade tumours on ureteroscopy, and tumour location on ureteroscopy. • Predictive accuracy was measured by the area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS • The median follow-up for patients without disease recurrence or death was 4.2 years. • Overall, 49% of the patients had pT2+, and 30% had NOC-UTUC at the time of RNU. • In the multivariable analysis, only local invasion on imaging and ureteroscopy high grade were significantly associated with pathological stage. • AUC to predict pT2+ and NOC-UTUC were 0.71 and 0.70, respectively. CONCLUSIONS • We designed a preoperative prediction model for pT2+ and NOC-UTUC, based on readily available imaging and ureteroscopic grade. • Further research is needed to determine whether use of this prediction model to select patients for conservative management vs RNU, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and/or extended lymphadenectomy will improve patient outcomes.
Chiral perturbation theory for φ → ϱγγ and φ → ωγγ

Abstract We predict differential decay distributions for φ → ϱγγ and φ → ωγγ using chiral perturbation theory. We also consider the isospin violating decay φ → ωπ 0 . Experimental information on these decays can be used to determine couplings in the heavy vector meson chiral Lagrangian.
Foreign Object and Internal Disorder Detection in Food Materials Using Noncontact Ultrasound Imaging

: A new noncontact air instability compensation ultrasound imaging technique was used for foreign object and defect detection in cheese and poultry. Air instability compensation transducers were used to obtain noncontact ultrasound images of boneless chicken breast with metal and glass fragments and cheese with holes, cracks, and foreign objects. The size of the glass and metal fragments used varied from 2 × 2 to 7 × 7 mm2. Results demonstrated that the noncontact ultrasound imaging technique has a good potential for nondestructive and rapid detection of foreign objects and defects in food materials and could provide yet another alternative to conventional x-ray methods.
The Comparison of Flooded, Gelled and Immobilized Lead-Acid Batteries

The maintenance free battery has received wide acceptance in a number of applications in recent years. Very recently, large power, maintenance-free batteries have been developed which can be employed in telecommunications applications. Maintenance-free batteries offer advantages in reduction of maintenance and venting requirements and avoid spillage during transit with minimal loss in electric performance. Life performance data on the large power batteries is not yet available although this product has been designed with the same lead components used in 20-year flooded batteries.
Effect of DC Excitation on Instrument Transformers

Experimental results are presented and evaluated showing the effects of DC excitation on a current transformer and a potential transformer. Parameters measured are phase angle, current and voltage ratios, and frequency spectra of important voltages and currents.
CIA‐FBI Non‐cooperation: Cultural trait or bureaucratic inertia?

(1995). CIA‐FBI Non‐cooperation: Cultural trait or bureaucratic inertia? International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence: Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 259-273.
Differences in the Shape of the Normal, Cardiomyopathic, and Volume Overloaded Human Left Ventricle

Abstract A transformation from the normal elliptical shape of the left ventricle that may accompany various disease states and that may be indicative of myocardial remodeling, has not been completely addressed in part because of the need for a descriptor of shape that is independent of chamber size. Accordingly, the goal of this study was twofold: to derive dimensionless echocardiographic descriptors of left ventricle chamber shape that are independent of chamber volume and to use these descriptors to quantitatively compare the shape of left ventricles that were either of normal size (81 ± 17 ml, 19 patients) or were enlarged secondary to idiopathic caridomyopathy, (194 ± 61 ml, 46 patients) or chronic aortic or mitral valve incompetence (196 ± 67 ml, 14 patients). Two-dimensional and M-mode determined descriptors, of left ventricle shape based on its width, length, and area were found to be independent of left ventricle volume. These descriptors were significantly greater in cardiomyopathy compared with the normal or dilated left ventricle secondary to valvular incompetence, indicating that the left ventricle had become nearly spherical. A spherical shape of the left ventricle was not observed with valvular incompetence. The ability to classify a patient as hawing either a normal or a cardiomyopathic left ventricle by discriminant function analysis was enhanced when both left ventricle size and shape were considered. In a prospective study using discriminant function and fractional shortening, we found that patients with valvular incompetence could be classified as having either a normal discriminant function and fractional shortening, an abnormal discriminant function and normal fractional shortening, or an abnormal discriminant function and fractional shortening. The clinical utility of this discriminant function analysis with descriptors of left ventricle shape and size in the prediction of myocardial remodeling needs to be determined.