cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Three Dimensional, Finite Element Model for Simulating Heavier-Than-Air Gaseous Releases over Variable Terrain

Due to an increase of activities over recent years with the transport and storage of liquefied gaseous fuels (e.g. liquefied natural gas), it has become necessary to make careful assessments of the environmental risks associated with such operations. For example, the collision of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrying tanker can conceivably release a large amount of potentially flammable methane vapor into the atmosphere. Verified numerical models capable of predicting the gravitational spread and atmospheric dispersion processes following an LNG spill can provide qualitative and quantitative estimates of the motion of such a combustible vapor cloud. Solutions from these models can also be used as initial conditions for other models which treat the deflagation and detonation processes if accidental ignition of the NG/air mixture occurs. LLNL is involved in experimental and model verification studies for the Department of Energy with programs which encompass each aspect of the potential scenarios. Some of the major unresolved questions regarding LNG research are described in Mott et al. (1981). In this paper, we focus attention on the modeling of the vapor dispersion phase only.
Quantification of Compartmented Metabolic Fluxes in Developing Soybean Embryos by Employing Biosynthetically Directed Fractional 13C Labeling, Two-Dimensional [13C, 1H] Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and Comprehensive Isotopomer Balancing

Metabolic flux quantification in plants is instrumental in the detailed understanding of metabolism but is difficult to perform on a systemic level. Toward this aim, we report the development and application of a computer-aided metabolic flux analysis tool that enables the concurrent evaluation of fluxes in several primary metabolic pathways. Labeling experiments were performed by feeding a mixture of U-(13)C Suc, naturally abundant Suc, and Gln to developing soybean (Glycine max) embryos. Two-dimensional [(13)C, (1)H] NMR spectra of seed storage protein and starch hydrolysates were acquired and yielded a labeling data set consisting of 155 (13)C isotopomer abundances. We developed a computer program to automatically calculate fluxes from this data. This program accepts a user-defined metabolic network model and incorporates recent mathematical advances toward accurate and efficient flux evaluation. Fluxes were calculated and statistical analysis was performed to obtain sds. A high flux was found through the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (19.99 +/- 4.39 micromol d(-1) cotyledon(-1), or 104.2 carbon mol +/- 23.0 carbon mol per 100 carbon mol of Suc uptake). Separate transketolase and transaldolase fluxes could be distinguished in the plastid and the cytosol, and those in the plastid were found to be at least 6-fold higher. The backflux from triose to hexose phosphate was also found to be substantial in the plastid (21.72 +/- 5.00 micromol d(-1) cotyledon(-1), or 113.2 carbon mol +/-26.0 carbon mol per 100 carbon mol of Suc uptake). Forward and backward directions of anaplerotic fluxes could be distinguished. The glyoxylate shunt flux was found to be negligible. Such a generic flux analysis tool can serve as a quantitative tool for metabolic studies and phenotype comparisons and can be extended to other plant systems.
Hypophosphatemic Rickets in an Adolescent Cured by Excision of a Nonossifying Fibroma

An adolescent girl complaining of chronic heel pain was found to have acquired hypophosphatemic rickets and a nonossifying fibroma of the femur. The hypophosphatemic rickets was completely corrected by surgical excision of the bone lesion. This case represents another example of tumor-induced osteomalacia.
Employee involvement climate and organizational effectiveness

This study empirically examines the relationship between the perceived employee involvement (EI) climate and organizational effectiveness. Using a sample of insurance companies, results indicate that organizations with high levels of perceived EI climate lead to organizational effectiveness as measured through financial performance, turnover rate, and workforce morale. Implications of the results for research and practice are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The urodynamic profile of myelodysplasia in childhood with spinal closure during gestation

Purpose: Spinal dysraphism is the most common cause of neurogenic bladder dysfunction in newborns. Urodynamic findings in these patients include uninhibited bladder contractions, bladder areflexia, decreased compliance and detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia. Early urodynamic studies are recommended for spina bifida to help identify bladder characteristics that may cause a risk of upper tract deterioration. We recently evaluated a new early type of intervention involving closure of the neural tube defect during gestation in 25 patients at our institution. We hypothesize that this procedure results in decreased exposure of the spinal cord to amniotic fluid, which may improve neurological function. To date we have evaluated 16 of the 25 patients with video urodynamics. We compared the results to those in the literature on patients with myelomeningocele and without prenatal intervention.Materials and Methods: We performed urodynamic testing in 16 patients with a mean age of 6.5 months, including cystometrography,...
Towards a Fault-Resilient Cloud Management Stack

Cloud management stacks have become a new important layer in cloud computing infrastructure, simplifying the configuration and management of cloud computing environments. As the resource manager and controller of an entire cloud, a cloud management stack has significant impact on the fault-resilience of a cloud platform. However, our preliminary study on the fault-resilience of OpenStack—an open source state-of-the-art cloud management stack—shows that such an emerging software stack needs to be better designed and tested in order to serve as a building block for fault-resilient cloud environments. We discuss the issues identified by our faultinjection tool and make suggestions on how to strengthen cloud management stacks.
Library Fires and Salvage Methods

other word in our language is quite so terrifying as "fire." Whether in a home, a place of amusement, or a public building, this warning outcry immediately inspires fear, dread, and frequently panic. For the archivist, this is doubly true. While he, like anyone else involved in a fire, naturally fears for his own safety, he must also think of the books and manuscripts in his care, materials that are frequently irreplaceable. Too often in the case of a library fire, it is impossible to remove to a safe place any of the threatened materials. Aged documents and even bound volumes burn like tinder. Once a fire has gained a foothold, the individual can do little more than pray for prompt and efficient action by firemen, realizing at the same time that whatever materials are saved will probably be severely damaged by water. He is also likely, about this time, to wonder how the catastrophe might have been prevented. Whatever the cause, human frailty is almost certain to have played a part, either through lack of foresight or through carelessness. Until recent years tragic experience was virtually the only teacher, but today it is possible, as a result of lessons emerging from several serious fires, to prescribe certain precautions that will help prevent fires and to suggest methods of salvaging damaged materials. It is absolutely essential that every conceivable effort be made to eliminate the possibility of fires in our libraries. No one in the archival profession needs to be reminded of the inestimable damage a fire could do in his institution. The loss of a building and of replaceable materials would indeed be costly and serious, but how can one evaluate manuscript collections? No amount of money can bring back or replace an original letter or other document. Unless it has been microfilmed or transcribed, it is totally and irrevocably lost.
Impact of Forecasted Land Use Change on Design Peak Discharge at Watershed and Catchment Scales: Simple Equation to Predict Changes

AbstractCommon engineering methods for the computation of peak discharge are generally based on the assumption of a stationary watershed. This assumption can potentially lead to inaccurate estimates of peak discharge when considering the lifetime of engineering structures. Future land use change is one of the possible causes of non-stationarity in watershed runoff. This study focuses on a method to integrate the readily available integrated climate and land use scenarios (ICLUS) data sets from the environmental protection agency (EPA), with geographic information system (GIS) and hydrologic modeling. This framework is applied to evaluate the impact of the forecasted land use change on the design peak discharge in the rapidly urbanizing region in Northern Virginia (US) at the watershed (Anderson formula) and catchment [calibrated storm water management model (SWMM)] scales. The results show that the impervious area in the rapidly urbanizing Difficult Run watershed is expected to increase by 99.1% (2070) fr...
Dirsac: a directed sample and consensus algorithm for localization with quasi-degenerate data

Autonomous robotic platforms are gaining interest in the scientific and military communities as well as in many industrial and commercial applications. For tractable generic autonomous operation, an autonomous system must maintain an accurate estimate of position and orientation (pose) within a local environment, commonly referred to as ego-motion estimation. Most state of the art robotic systems have some range sensing capability which can be used to perform obstacle detection and/or avoidance, do model inspection and generation, or perform system navigation. Over the last decade the robotics and automation community has started to take advantage of this underutilized sensing modality to not only perform mapping, but also localization by matching scan data during motion. Because real world sensing is noisy and models are imperfect, this typically works best if wrapped in some type of robust estimator capable of rejecting outliers such as RANSAC. While RANSAC has been shown to be a powerful and ubiquitous tool, it often suffers in practice from overwhelmingly redundant and non-constraining data. However, we can improve the robustness and convergence of the common RANSAC algorithm by replacing the purely random search with a more directed version especially when the data is highly degenerate. In this thesis, we derive, implement and evaluate an improved algorithm for point selection that analyzes the effect of each point on reducing the sensor's pose covariance. This is done by developing a simple Jacobian relating the sensor's measurements to the sensor's pose. Based on this Jacobian, we can translate uncertainties in the sensor's measurements to uncertainties of the pose and actively remove redundancies in the data. We identify redundant points by computing the Mutual Information between points and analyzing the relative information content overlap with previously selected points. We do this while keeping the flavor of the random sampling from RANSAC which maintains robustness to outlier contamination. We demonstrate increased performance with more reliable convergence by comparing our modified approach to that of common RANSAC in several quasi-degenerate cases. We also compare our approach to a similar approach which operates on quasi-degenerate data in a slightly different context of a 3D homography. We have also developed a metric by which we can score the level of degeneracy of the collected data from the perspective of constraining the pose solution.
Lumbar artery pseudoaneurysm: An unusual complication of penetrating abdominal trauma

Lumbar artery pseudoaneurysms following trauma are rare cases and are usually secondary to bullet wounds. The authors report a case resulting from a stab wound with concomitant through-and-through injuries to the duodenum and inferior vena cava and delayed presentation of the lumbar artery injury. The injury was successfully managed with coil embolization.
Newborn screening for SCID: lessons learned

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Newborn screening (NBS) for Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)/severe T cell lymphopenia (sTCL) is being increasingly used worldwide.Areas covered: In this manuscript we will discuss the following: 1) The rationale for screening newborns for SCID/sTCL; 2) The scientific basis for the use of the T cell receptor excision circle (TREC) assay in screening newborns for SCID/sTCL; 3) The published outcomes of current NBS programs.Expert commentary: 4) Some of the ethical dilemmas that occur when screening newborns for SCID. Finally, we will discuss the future directions for expanding NBS to include other primary immunodeficiencies.
Research on Series Resonant Capacitor Charging Power Supply Using PFM and PWM Strategy

Series resonant capacitor charging power supply(CCPS)circuits have two kinds of working modes,one of which is pulse frequency modulation(PFM),another is pulse width modulation(PWM).PFM CCPS circuit has the advantages of strong anti-short-circuit capability and easy control,which makes it the most popular.The PWM CCPS has attracted greatat tention.To investigate the operation process of PFM and PWM series resonant CCPS,the schematic diagram is introduced as well as the equivalent circuits of different phases.The mathematic model of the circuit is constructed.The ORCAD simulation and mathematic simulation are applied,the working state of the resonant circuit is proposed when the output voltage is varied.Besides,the main waveforms of the circuit are given.The experimental results indicate that the applied control scheme is correct and the charging system is effective.
The Impact of Age-Related Ovarian Hormone Loss on Cognitive and Neural Function

On average, women now live one-third of their lives after menopause. Because menopause has been associated with an elevated risk of dementia, an increasing body of research has studied the effects of reproductive senescence on cognitive function. Compelling evidence from humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents suggests that ovarian sex-steroid hormones can have rapid and profound effects on memory, attention, and executive function, and on regions of the brain that mediate these processes, such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. This chapter will provide an overview of studies in humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents that examine the effects of ovarian hormone loss and hormone replacement on cognitive functions mediated by the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. For humans and each animal model, we outline the effects of aging on reproductive function, describe how ovarian hormones (primarily estrogens) modulate hippocampal and prefrontal physiology, and discuss the effects of both reproductive aging and hormone treatment on cognitive function. Although this review will show that much has been learned about the effects of reproductive senescence on cognition, many critical questions remain for future investigation.
A Class of High Order Nonlocal Operators

We study a class of nonlocal operators that may be seen as high order generalizations of the well known nonlocal diffusion operators. We present properties of the associated nonlocal functionals and nonlocal function spaces including nonlocal versions of Sobolev inequalities such as the nonlocal Poincare and nonlocal Gagliardo–Nirenberg inequalities. Nonlocal characterizations of high order Sobolev spaces in the spirit of Bourgain–Brezis–Mironescu are provided. Applications of nonlocal calculus of variations to the well-posedness of linear nonlocal models of elastic beams and plates are also considered.
Effects of an Environmentally Relevant Phthalate Mixture on Cultured Mouse Antral Follicles.

Phthalates are used in building materials, medical devices, and personal care products. Most studies on phthalates have focused on single phthalates, but it is important to study mixtures of phthalates because humans are exposed to such mixtures daily. We tested the hypothesis that phthalate mixture exposure decreases antral follicle growth, compromises steroidogenic capacity, and induces atresia. Antral follicles from adult CD-1 mice were cultured with vehicle control or phthalate mixture (1-500 µg/ml) for 96 h. The mixture was made of 35% diethyl phthalate, 21% di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, 15% dibutyl phthalate, 15% diisononyl phthalate, 8% diisobutyl phthalate, and 5% benzylbutyl phthalate. During culture, antral follicle diameters were measured every 24 h to monitor growth. After culture, media were subjected to measurements of sex steroid hormones and follicles were subjected to evaluation of gene expression and atresia. The phthalate mixture (100 and 500 µg/ml) decreased antral follicle growth starting at 24 h compared to controls. The mixture at 10, 100, and 500 µg/ml also decreased androstenedione, testosterone, estrone, and estradiol levels compared to control. The mixture (10, 100, and 500 µg/ml) reduced atresia rating, but it induced more oocyte fragmentation compared to control. The phthalate mixture at different doses adversely affected cell cycle regulators, antioxidant enzymes, apoptotic factors, steroidogenic enzymes, and receptors. Collectively, these data indicate that exposure to an environmentally relevant phthalate mixture reduces antral follicle growth, induces oocyte fragmentation, and decreases hormone production by adversely affecting the expression of cell cycle regulators, apoptotic factors, steroidogenic enzymes, and receptors.
Early Identification of Vulnerable Software Components via Ensemble Learning

Software components, which are vulnerable to being exploited, need to be identified and patched. Employing any prevention techniques designed for the purpose of detecting vulnerable software components in early stages can reduce the expenses associated with the software testing process significantly and thus help building a more reliable and robust software system. Although previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of adapting prediction techniques in vulnerability detection, the feasibility of those techniques is limited mainly because of insufficient training data sets. This paper proposes a prediction technique targeting at early identification of potentially vulnerable software components. In the proposed scheme, the potentially vulnerable components are viewed as mislabeled data that may contain true but not yet observed vulnerabilities. The proposed hybrid technique combines the supports vector machine algorithm and ensemble learning strategy to better identify potential vulnerable components. The proposed vulnerability detection scheme is evaluated using some Java Android applications. The results demonstrated that the proposed hybrid technique could identify potentially vulnerable classes with high precision and relatively acceptable accuracy and recall.
4.13 – Stress and Anxiety Disorders

Stress, anxiety, and fear present overlapping concepts. Anxiety disorders may involve normal anxiety pathways that are abnormally activated or failure of other brain areas to properly modulate anxiety pathways. In general, anxiety disorders show activation of the sympathetic nervous system and central noradrenergic systems with relatively normal functioning of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. The exception is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where significant controversy exists as to the HPA axis picture with low cortisol, normal cortisol, and elevated cortisol reported in various studies. Despite controversy about basal cortisol, studies suggest exaggerated stress reactivity in PTSD as well as exaggerated amygdala response to fearful stimuli. Ultimately, animal model studies and neuroimaging studies in humans may help sort the various brain systems involved in fear, anxiety, and stress in both normal individuals and in individuals with anxiety disorders.
Maternal Obesity, 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Concentration, and Bone Density in Breastfeeding Dyads.

Objective To examine the association between maternal body mass index (BMI) and serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and bone density in mother-infant pairs. Study design The study was a secondary analysis of 234 exclusively breastfeeding dyads who were recruited in the first postpartum month for a randomized controlled trial of maternal vs infant vitamin D supplementation. Mean 25(OH)D concentrations and bone mineral density (BMD) were compared by BMI group. The adjusted association between maternal BMI and 25(OH)D and bone density was examined at 1, 4, and 7 months postpartum. Results Obese breastfeeding women had lower 25(OH)D concentrations and higher BMD than lean women at all 3 time points (P Conclusions In exclusively breastfeeding dyads, maternal obesity is associated with lower maternal and infant serum 25(OH)D concentrations, which may impact infant bone density. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT00412074 .
Anesthesia for Common Nonoperating Room Procedures in the Geriatric Patient

Growth in geriatric procedures and the increasing need for sedation in elderly patients both inside the operating room and in remote locations (nonoperating room anesthesia, or NORA) has grown considerably in recent years. In addition, older patients are more sensitive to anesthetics. When compared to younger patients, older patients have more complications such as hypoxia, hypotension, cardiac events, aspiration, agitation and confusion. Because of this, sedation with short-acting agents at lower doses is often preferable. Positioning, monitoring, administration of anesthetic medications, and communication become even more challenging in an unfamiliar and often dark environment. In this chapter, perioperative anesthetic and sedation strategies are examined for gastrointestinal endoscopy, ECT treatment, and cataract surgery in the elderly. While these procedures are generally low risk, specific geriatric care considerations are required.
Interplay between local dynamics and mechanical reinforcement in glassy polymer nanocomposites

The modification of polymer dynamics in the presence of strongly interacting nanoparticles has been shown to significantly change the macroscopic properties above the glass transition temperature of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). However, much less attention has been paid to changes in the dynamics of glassy PNCs. Analysis of neutron and light scattering data presented herein reveals a surprising enhancement of local dynamics, e.g., fast picosecond and secondary relaxations, in glassy PNCs accompanied with a strengthening of mechanical modulus. We ascribe this counter-intuitive behavior to the complex interplay between chain packing and stretching within the interfacial layer formed at the polymer-nanoparticle interface.
Freedom, Autonomy, and Harm in Global Supply Chains

Responding to criticism by Gordon Sollars and Frank Englander, this paper highlights a significant tension in recent debates over the ethics of global supply chains. This tension concerns the appropriate focus and normative frame(s) for these debates. My first goal is to make sense of what at first reading seems to be a very odd set of claims: that valuing free, autonomous, and respectful markets entails a “fetish for philosophical purity” that is inconsistent with a moral theory that finds no wrong in harming workers, including the least advantaged among them. Sollars and Englander reach these conclusions, I believe, because their criticism assumes and relies upon the presumption of a global prioritarian frame, one which focuses individual welfare, and which they then apply at the level of individual political and economic actors. Much of Benjamin Powell and Matt Zwolinski’s work, I continue, including their criticism of political and economic activism and Powell’s indictment of organized labor, relies on a similar frame—while expanding the harms to include the freedom and autonomy of would-be sweatshop workers. This prioritarian frame, I argue, is particularly poorly suited to discussion of the ethical responsibilities of individual economic and political actors. We ought to reject it. To make progress on debates over global sweatshops, and the ethics of global supply chains in general, we need a better frame, and better standards of freedom and autonomy, than those invoked by many prominent defenders of sweatshops.
If Indigenous Peoples Stand with the Sciences, Will Scientists Stand with Us?

Indigenous sciences are foundationally based in relationships, reciprocity, and responsibilities. These sciences constitute systems of knowledge developed through distinct perspectives on and pract...
Phenoloxidases of perennial plants: Hydroxylase activity, isolation and physiological role

Abstract The difficulties of isolation of phenoloxidases with hydroxylase activity from different plants have been discussed. Phenoloxidase with high hydroxylase activity has been isolated from tea and kivi leaves, apple (Kekhura) fruits, walnut husks and vine stems. The tea leaf phenoloxidase has been shown to be able to catalyze the hydoxylation of the natural substrate p-coumaric acid. The step in the secondary metabolism in which phenoloxidase hydroxylase activity may be included in the plant lignification process has been shown. It has been supposed that masking of hydroxylase activity of phenoloxidase might be connected with the difficulties and peculiarities of the enzyme isolation and perhaps, hydroxylase activity of perennial plant phenoloxidase is included in the process of lignin formation.
Stable olfactory sensory neuron in vivo physiology during normal aging

Abstract Normal aging is associated with a number of smell impairments that are paralleled by age-dependent changes in the peripheral olfactory system, including decreases in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and in the regenerative capacity of the epithelium. Thus, an age-dependent degradation of sensory input to the brain is one proposed mechanism for the loss of olfactory function in older populations. Here, we tested this hypothesis by performing in vivo optical neurophysiology in 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month-old mice. We visualized odor-evoked neurotransmitter release from populations of OSNs into olfactory bulb glomeruli, and found that these sensory inputs are actually quite stable during normal aging. Specifically, the magnitude and number of odor-evoked glomerular responses were comparable across all ages, and there was no effect of age on the sensitivity of OSN responses to odors or on the neural discriminability of different sensory maps. These results suggest that the brain's olfactory bulbs do not receive deteriorated input during aging and that local bulbar circuitry might adapt to maintain stable nerve input.
Effects of Non-Contact Nd: YAG Laser Photoradiation in Intra-Adominal Tissues

The Nd: YAG laser in the gastrointestinal tract produces hemostasis and tumor vaporization (1–5,7–9,12). The ability of laser as a cutting tool, without bleeding, when used in the resection of vascularized solid organs like liver, spleen and pancreas is promising. This paper studies the histological effects following non-contact Nd: YAG laser photoradiation in these intra-abdominal organs including tissue necrosis and the healing process using various laser powers and duration.
Another Side to Downsizing: Survivors' Behavior and Self-Affirmation

“Downsizing” is one of the terms used to describe the efforts of companies to gain a competitive edge. The effects of global competition, mergers, market saturation, and automation are forcing the streamlining of the American workforce. This study addresses the gap in empirical data on the effects of self-affirmation opportunities to employee survivors and victims. Specifically, the conceptual model developed in this research examines the interactive effects of self-affirmation and the perception of procedural justice, distributive justice, and job insecurity on the induced psychological states of the individuals involved with companies engaged in downsizing. The conceptual model suggests that layoffs have an impact on the induced psychological states of the individuals affected. At play in the model is the moderating variable of re-affirmation. This, in turn, will affect the attitudes and work behaviors of those same individuals and their ability to maintain their self-image. Specific recommendations to management, based on these findings, conclude the study.
Effects of clonal integration on plant plasticity in Fragaria chiloensis

The ability of clonal plants to transport substances between ramets located in different microsites also allows them to modify the plastic responses of individual ramets to local environmental conditions. By equalising concentrations of substances between ramets, physiological integration might decrease responses to local conditions. However, integration has also been observed to increase plasticity and induce novel plastic responses in ramets. To ask how integration modifies plant plasticity in the clonal herb, Fragaria chiloensis, ramets were given either low light and high nitrogen or high light and low nitrogen, simulating a pattern of resource patchiness in their native habitat. Ramets in contrasting light/nitrogen treatments were either connected or single. Effects of light/nitrogen and connection were measured at three levels of morphological organisation, the organ, the ramet, and the clonal fragment. Connection between ramets reduced or had no effect on plastic responses in leaf size at the level of the plant organ. This suggested that integration dampened certain plastic responses. Connection induced a new plastic response at the level of the clonal fragment, an increase in allocation to vegetative reproduction in patches of low light and high nitrogen. It is concluded that clonal integration can have different effects on plant plasticity at different levels of plant organisation. It appears that, at least in this species, integration can increase plasticity at the level of the clonal fragment and concentrate vegetative reproduction in particular microsite types.
The Impact of Integrated Pest Management Programs on Pesticide Use in California, USA

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is often promoted to farmers as a method that can provide the most economical, sustained disease and pest control, but promoted to the public as a method to reduce agricultural pesticide use. California has a public infrastructure for supporting IPM research and implementation, largely through the University of California IPM program. California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Pesticide Use Reports provide a system to track pesticide use state-wide. In practice, IPM in California is extremely pesticide-dependent, particularly in weed control and in agricultural production systems that rely on soil fumigation, such as strawberries. During our study period between 1993 and 2010, California had a decrease in use of 88 % of the highly-used pesticides listed for regulatory concern for human health. However, most of these pesticides were replaced with other chemicals rather than with non-chemical methods. We feature several case studies that illustrate key issues in California IPM: the limited progress in meeting Montreal Protocol guidelines for methyl bromide phase-out due to critical use exemptions for strawberry producers; a successful IPM program to decrease use of dormant-season organophosphates that are important water pollutants; the increase in use of neonicotinoid insecticides, which might have a role in the current bee colony collapse disorder; and the limited use of all of the commercialized microbial biocontrol agents except for Bacillus thuringiensis.
Supramolecular Regulation of Anions Enhances Conductivity and Transference Number of Lithium in Liquid Electrolytes.

Achieving high ionic conductivity in lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrolytes requires dissociation of Li-salts; however, though the generation of free Li+ from salt dissociation is advantageous, the presence of freely diffusing anions may reduce the Li+ transference number. The use of supramolecular anion recognition to regulate and modify ion-pairing and diffusion of anions in battery electrolytes is yet to be deeply understood. Herein, we demonstrate that addition of a selective and strong PF6–-binding macrocycle to a solution of LiPF6 in low dielectric media leads to enhanced ion pair dissociation and an increased Li+ transference number. This work provides a well-defined model system to study the effects of anion binding in battery electrolytes.
A Cartographic Approach Toward the Study of Academics’ of Science Teaching and Learning Research Practices and Values

The research practices of academics of science teaching and learning (academics-of-st&l) may be considered a connected, constructed landscape, the peaks of which are shaped by accumulation of like practices. Entangling interviews with twenty-seven academics-of-st&l and document analyses, in this paper I map the presence of two landscape peaks—scientific and theoretical practice—in addition to their material-communal effects. This mapping renders our research landscape as an ongoing production in need of ethical attunement. Invoking ethics of Deleuzeguattarian thinking and flow in my mappings, I conceptualize cartography as a mode of inquiry disruptive to normative research methodology used in science teaching and learning, capable of enabling landscape reconfiguration.
Stable carbon isotopes from paleosol carbonate and herbivore enamel document differing paleovegetation signals in the eastern African Plio-Pleistocene

Abstract Analyses of stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) from herbivore dental enamel and paleosol carbonates are important tools for Plio-Pleistocene paleovegetation reconstructions. A single herbivore tooth documents an isotopic record of vegetation on the order of 10–1–1 years and in proportion to that individual's foraging range. Paleosol carbonates, conversely, record environmental information on longer time scales (102–3 years) but smaller spatial scales (101 m2). Given that these two proxies document paleoenvironments at different spatiotemporal scales, it is worth comparing them to see if they offer redundant or complementary paleovegetation information. Here, we compare δ13C patterns from herbivore enamel and paleosol carbonates from geological (sub)members in the Awash Valley, Ethiopia, and Turkana Basin, Kenya, from ~ 4.4–1 million years ago. We find that median herbivore enamel δ13C is typically ~ 5–7 per mil (‰) higher than that from paleosol carbonates within a given (sub)member. The distributions of paleosol carbonate δ13C values usually have less spread (variation) than herbivore enamel. The bias in median and spread between these two data types likely reflects the different spatial and temporal scales at which these proxies record paleoenvironmental information. Most Plio-Pleistocene fossiliferous deposits are formed in fluvial settings in which paleosol carbonates sample the immediate habitat of floodplain woodlands and shrubs, resulting in a lower δ13C (i.e., more C3) signal. On the other hand, fossil teeth of wide-ranging herbivores could generate a higher (i.e., more C4) and more variable δ13C signal if some taxa fed in floodplain woodlands while others fed on open grasslands distal to the floodplain. We conclude that δ13C values from herbivore enamel and paleosol carbonates offer paleovegetation data at different spatiotemporal scales, both of which are informative for hominin habitat reconstructions. Careful consideration of the spatial and temporal signals inherent in these and other proxies should be applied in future studies.
Evaluation of two unmanned aircraft systems as tools for protecting crops from blackbird damage

Abstract In response to a need for mitigating blackbird damage to crops, we evaluated the effectiveness of two unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drones) to protect crops from blackbird damage. UAS are known to elicit behavioral and physiological responses in wildlife and have been proposed as a means to protect row crop agriculture from avian pest depredation. We evaluated the behavioral responses of captive and free-ranging red-winged blackbirds to a fixed-wing and a rotary-wing (multi-rotor, quadcopter) UAS by comparing preflight behaviors to behaviors during UAS approach. Due to the flight limitations of the respective UAS, the fixed-wing and rotary-wing were evaluated at different altitudes. Behavioral responses of captive and free-ranging blackbirds to approaching UAS were categorized as no response, alertness, or attempted escape/flight. Neither captive nor free-ranging flocks of red-winged blackbirds displayed behavioral responses to approaches by the fixed-wing UAS when flown at or above 52 m above ground level (AGL). However, both captive and free-ranging flocks exhibited behavioral responses to the rotary-wing UAS when flown within 30 m AGL. Behavioral responses of blackbirds to the rotary-wing UAS were more pronounced with lower altitude approaches. Our findings suggest that UAS have the potential to modify blackbird behavior in a way that may reduce sunflower crop depredation.
Influence of Triplet Diffusion on Lead Halide Perovskite-Sensitized Solid-State Upconversion

The emerging field of lead halide perovskite-sensitized triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA) in rubrene shows great promise in upconversion applications. By rapidly transferring single charge carrier...
Interrelation of morphological indices and 2-D generalized regularity for coarse aggregate in cement-based materials

Abstract A variety of indices are available to characterize the aggregate morphology, yet the resulting values are often considerably different, which can mislead the interpretation. This study aims to better understand the difference and interrelation of the five commonly accepted sphericities (global-form) and the roundness (local-angularity) for coarse aggregates. Several statistical methods including Principal Component Analysis are employed to quantify the degrees of correlation among the indices. In addition, Confirmatory Factor Analysis incorporated into the generalized regularity concept was proposed, demonstrating better discriminatory results than the conventional regularity concept. Furthermore, coarse aggregates of mixed sizes are utilized to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed framework and the new regularity concept.
Krig-Detect: Exploring Alternative Kriging Methods for Real-Time Seizure Detection from EEG Signals

Epileptic seizures are dangerous. They render patients unconscious and can lead to death within seconds of onset. There is, therefore, the need for a very fast and accurate seizure detection mechanism. Kriging methods have been used extensively in geostatistics for spatial prediction and are known for very high accuracy. By modeling the brain as a spatial map, we demonstrate the effectiveness of Kriging Methods for efficient seizure detection in an edge computing paradigm. We explore three different types of Kriging - Simple Kriging, Ordinary Kriging and Universal Kriging. Results from various experiments with electroencephalogram (EEG) signals of both healthy and diseased patients show that all three Kriging methods have good performance in terms of accuracy, sensitivity and detection latency. However, Simple Kriging emerged as the slight favorite for seizure detection with a mean detection latency of 0.81 sec, an accuracy of 97.50%, a sensitivity of 94.74% and a perfect specificity. Simple Kriging is at least 5% better than Ordinary Kriging and Universal Kriging when evaluated at 68.2% confidence interval. The results obtained in this paper compare favorably with other seizure detection models in the literature.
Site-specific study of jetting, bonding, and local deformation during high-velocity metallic microparticle impact

Abstract In the cold-spray process, jetting is often considered a precursor to particle-substrate adhesion, but the conditions under which these phenomena occur remain unclear. This paper presents a systematic site-specific study of single-particle impact across a wide range of impact velocities for Cu particles impacting a Cu substrate. A high degree of velocity control enables identification of new behaviors that emerge in distinct velocity ranges. At the lowest velocities, we observe a fully plastic impact regime with rebound of the incident particle. As velocity increases, substrate jetting emerges even while the particle still rebounds. At the critical adhesion velocity, vcr, jetting only occurs on the substrate, leading to poor metallurgical bonding. Bonding improves as velocity increases and the particles also begin to jet, but there is an apparent maximum in bonding extent at ~1.3 vcr. This is followed by a drop in metallurgical bonding due to the ‘backward’ jetting of the particle that is associated with peeling forces on the interface. At ~1.6 vcr and above, we observe hydrodynamic penetration of the particle and possible erosion, as indicated by petalling of the substrate and burial of the particle below the substrate impact plane. Taken together, this catalog of phenomena, correlated to specific velocities, points to an impact-structure-based approach to establishing processing windows for cold spray.
Psychosis in the family

Peter Chadwick discusses how psychosis affected the people he lived with in a psychiatric aftercare hostel.
Dancing around the Subject: Memory Work of Museum Landscapes at the Welsh National Waterfront Museum

As the newest of the seven national museums in Wales, the National Waterfront Museum tells the story of Welsh industry and innovation. This article traces the construction and engagement of the mus...
Medication selection, health services outcomes, and cost trajectories for Medicaid beneficiaries with infantile spasms

Abstract Objective There are three recommended first-line treatments for infantile spasms, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), oral corticosteroids, and vigabatrin, though non-standard treatments such as topiramate are sometimes selected. Is it uncertain how treatment selection influences health services outcomes. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of Medicaid beneficiaries newly diagnosed with infantile spasms from 2009–2010. We included infants with a new diagnosis of infantile spasms between age 2–9 months who filled ACTH (reference), prednisolone, vigabatrin, or topiramate prescriptions. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression compared time to first emergency department (ED) visit or hospitalization across treatment groups during 2 years of follow-up. Monthly costs for each treatment were examined in 6-month intervals and compared in a multivariable generalized linear model. Results Among 256 children with infantile spasms, 116 received ACTH, 62 prednisolone, 15 vigabatrin, and 63 topiramate. The rate of ED visit or hospitalization per person-year did not differ significantly for prednisolone (0.9 [95 % CI 0.7–1.2]; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.84, 95 % CI 0.57–1.24), vigabatrin (0.8 [95 % CI 0.4–1.5]; aHR 0.91, 95% CI 0.45–1.84), or topiramate (1.7 [95 % CI 1.3–2.3]; aHR 1.15, 95 % CI 0.80–1.65), when compared to ACTH (1.1 [95 % CI 0.9–1.3]). The median payment for ACTH was $96,406 (interquartile range 70,742–138,476) during the first 6 months. The adjusted mean total payment in the first 6 months was 73% lower for prednisolone (95% CI −82, −61), 69% lower for vigabatrin (95% CI −84, −40), and 73% lower for topiramate (95% CI −82, −59). However, in subsequent 6-month intervals, costs associated with ACTH were not significantly different compared to other treatments. Significance Compared to other treatments for infantile spasms, use of ACTH was associated with greater cost in the first 6 months of treatment, but not with reduced ED visits or hospitalizations. The cost effectiveness of ACTH depends on its relative clinical efficacy, and merits additional research.
Simplified method for genetic slaughter yields improvement in common carp under European pond conditions

Abstract Demand for edible part yields, usually offered as headless carcass or fillets, is continuously increasing in all fish species. Therefore, slaughter yields are interesting traits for genetic improvement. However, phenotyping of slaughter yields cannot be done on live breeding candidates and the suitable alternative seems to be utilization of simple yield predictors in indirect selection recorded by ultrasound tomography. In this study, we evaluated the possibility of using ratio of abdominal fillet thickness (E8) either to the abdominal depth (E23) or as alternative to E23 – 2D_d abdominal depth (length between lateral line and abdominal part vertical to the dorsal fin) as predictors for genetic improvement of slaughter yields in common carp. The predictors were recorded on each fish at age of two years (E8/E23_2, E8/2D_d_2) and three years (market size) (E8/E23_3, E8/2D_d_3). An experimental stock was established from a partial factorial mating design of 27 dams and 29 sires. Phenotyping of simple yield predictors, headless carcass and fillet with skin yields (only market size), and other performance traits was done on 987 (second year) and 773 (market size) individuals, uniquely assigned to their parental pair. The predictors recorded on market sized fish showed slightly better heritability (0.41, 0.44), genetic correlations to the slaughter yields (0.78–0.86) and expected genetic gains (1.29–1.54%) of the slaughter yields. However, predictors recorded on two-year old fish showed a solid genetic potential for slaughter yields improvement (h2 = 0.27–0.40; rg = 0.64–0.72, expected genetic gain = 0.93–1.35%). These data suggest that the indirect selection for improved slaughter yields could be performed using simple and quickly-to-measure yield predictors, also applicable in two-year old fish that are much easier for handling and manipulation. These newest results could significantly simplify carp breeding program focused on genetic improvement of slaughter yields.
An Organic Laboratory Experience: Synthesis and Antimicrobial Screening of Brominated Parabens

A broadly applicable semester-long course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE)-inspired organic II laboratory course was developed from an engaging story supported by the current literatu...
R-loop mapping and characterization during Drosophila embryogenesis reveals developmental plasticity in R-loop signatures

R-loops are involved in transcriptional regulation, DNA and histone post-translational modifications, genome replication and genome stability. To what extent R-loop abundance and genome-wide localization is actively regulated during metazoan embryogenesis is unknown. The developmental program of Drosophila embryogenesis provides a powerful system to study address these questions due to its well-characterized developmental program, the sudden onset of zygotic transcription and available genome-wide ChIP and transcription data sets. Here, we measure the overall abundance and genome localization of R-loops in early and late-stage embryos relative to Drosophila cultured cells. We demonstrate that proper absolute R-loop levels change during embryogenesis and that resolution of R-loops is critical for embryonic development. R-loop mapping by strand-specific DRIP-seq revealed that R-loop localization is plastic across development, both in the genes which form R-loops and where they localize relative to gene bodies. Importantly, these changes are not driven by changes in the transcriptional program. Rather, negative GC skew and absolute changes in AT skew are associated with R-loop formation in Drosophila. Furthermore, we demonstrate that while some chromatin binding proteins and histone modification such as H3K27me3 are associated with R-loops throughout development, other chromatin factors associated with R-loops in a developmental specific manner. Our findings highlight the importance and developmental plasticity of R-loops during Drosophila development.
Responding to Homelessness

Popular conceptions of homeless persons are often vivid, usually poignant, but rarely adequate. An outstretched hand at a subway entrance, an elderly woman pushing an overloaded cart, a bottle gang of disheveled alcoholics, a young family despairing in a motel room—all are images that represent part of the homelessness problem, but none captures fully the experiences or feelings of those who become homeless.