cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence for bicarbonate formation on vacuum annealed TiO2(110) resulting from a precursor-mediated interaction between CO2 and H2O

Abstract The reaction of CO 2 and H 2 O to form bicarbonate (HCO − 3 ) was examined on the nearly perfect and vacuum annealed surfaces of TiO 2 (110) with temperature programmed desorption (TPD), static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SSIMS) and high resolution electron energy loss spectrometry (HREELS). The vacuum annealed TiO 2 (110) surface possesses oxygen vacancy sites that are manifested in electronic EELS by a loss feature at 0.75 V. These oxygen vacancy sites bind CO 2 only slightly more strongly (TPD peak at 166 K) than do the five-coordinated Ti 4+ sites (TPD peak at 137 K) typical of the nearly perfect TiO 2 (110) surface. Vibrational HREELS indicates that CO 2 is linearly bound at the latter sites with a ν a (OCO) frequency similar to the gas phase value. In contrast, oxygen vacancies dissociate H 2 O to bridging OH groups which recombine to liberate H 2 O in TPD at 490 K. No evidence for a reaction between CO 2 and H 2 O is detected on the nearly perfect surface. In sequentially dosed experiments on the vacuum annealed surface at 110 K, CO 2 adsorption is blocked by the presence of preadsorbed H 2 O, adsorbed CO 2 is displaced by postdosed H 2 O, and there is little or no evidence for bicarbonate formation in either case. However, when CO 2 and H 2 O are simultaneously dosed, a new CO 2 TPD state is observed at 213 K, and the 166 K state associated with CO 2 at the vacancies is absent. SSIMS was used to tentatively assign the 213 K CO 2 TPD state to a bicarbonate species. The 213 K CO 2 TPD state is not formed if the vacancy sites are filled with OH groups prior to simultaneous CO 2 +H 2 O exposure. Sticking coefficient measurements suggest that CO 2 adsorption at 110 K is precursor-mediated, as is known to be the case for H 2 O adsorption on TiO 2 (110). A model explaining the circumstances under which the proposed bicarbonate species is formed involves the surface catalyzed conversion of a precursor-bound H 2 O–CO 2 van der Waals complex to carbonic acid, which then reacts at unoccupied oxygen vacancies to generate bicarbonate, but falls apart to CO 2 and H 2 O in the absence of these sites. This model is consistent with the conditions under which bicarbonate is formed on powdered TiO 2 , and is similar to the mechanism by which water catalyzes carbonic acid formation in aqueous solution.
Impact of Climate Change on Extreme Rainfall across the United States

AbstractChanges in climate may alter extreme rainfall intensity in most regions. In order to incorporate potential future changes, tools for planning and design should be capable of considering nonstationary climate conditions. In this study, potential changes in intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves, which are often used for assessment of extreme rainfall events, were explored using climate model historic runs, reanalysis runs, and future climate projections. The concept of the adjustment factor, which represents the general ability of climate models in representing the reanalysis data that is a reasonable estimate of actual gridded historical climate at the model grid scale, was applied to investigate potential impacts of climate change on IDF curves. For most of the study regions, future climate projections suggested an increase in the intensity of extreme storms for a given return period and duration with strong regional variations. The results also revealed the dependence of the adjustment factor...
Simplified high-efficiency silicon cell processing

Abstract We developed an emitter diffusion process that yields a near-ideal doping profile with a passivating oxide in a single furnace step. Because this process subjects the material to only one high-temperature thermal excursion, bulk lifetime is better preserved. This is especially true for lower-cost silicon materials containing a high concentration of oxygen or carbon. Using this process, we routinely obtain one-sun cell efficiencies over 19% on float-zone material and over 18% on Czochralski material. Using solar-grade Czochralski material, we have demonstrated record efficiencies of 18.3% at one sun and 20.0% under concentration. Simple processes that yield high-performance diffusion profiles are expected to become increasingly important as manufacturers adopt improved techniques for ohmic contacts.
Life history pattern, host plants, and habitat as determinants of population survival of Pieris napi oleracea interacting with an introduced braconid parasitoid

Abstract Pieris napi oleracea Harris is a native pierid butterfly whose range in New England has decreased since the 1869 invasion of an exotic congener, Pieris rapae (L.). Populations have disappeared from all but a few locations in western Massachusetts, but persist more widely in northern Vermont. Parasitism by the introduced braconid wasp Cotesia glomerata (L.) has been postulated as responsible for this decline. Field exposures of cohorts of P. napi larvae in 2002 showed that, on the summer host plant Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scoop., parasitism rates of second generation butterfly larvae were very high (100% in Massachsusetts and 66% in Vermont). Direct observations of host plant and habitat use patterns by P. napi females in northern Vermont in 2000 showed that this species changes habitats between the first and second generation, with over 95% of eggs of the first generation of P. napi being laid in wooded habitats on the crucifer Cardamine (formerly Dentaria) diphylla (Michx.) Wood. Second generation butterflies fly in meadows and oviposit on S. officinale and other crucifers in full-sun habitats. The second flight of P. napi is, however, only a partial generation, with many first generation pupae entering diapause. The proportion of butterflies entering diapause increases if eggs are laid on C. diphylla plants at or past the flower bud stage. Of first instar P. napi reared outdoors on pre-flower-bud C. diphylla, 63% (n=64) entered diapause in Massachusetts, but 86% (n=119) did so in northern Vermont. Higher rates of diapause in early larval groups in northern Vermont, plus lower rates of parasitism of second generation larvae in meadows, as compared to Massachusetts, indicate that the impact of C. glomerata on total population survival is lower in Vermont and is likely the reason P. napi has persisted in northern Vermont, but not in western Massachusetts. This case illustrates how non-target effects of parasitoids may be mediated by habitat and life history features of populations of affected insects, which may differ geographically.
SYNOPTIC WEATHER‐MAP CLASSIFICATION: CORRELATION VERSUS SUMS‐OF‐SQUARES*

A sums-of-squares similarity measure (S), attributed to Kirchhofer, has been characterized by a number of synoptic climatologists as superior to correlation for quantifying the similarity between two gridded weather maps. The sums-of-squares metric and product-moment correlation, however, are virtually identical so S cannot be regarded as better. It is also suggested that correlation, in any form, is not generally a satisfactory measure of the similarity between weather maps of comparable units.
Cavity formation and early growth in a superplastic Al–Mg alloy

Knowledge of the exact physical mechanism of cavity formation and early growth is important for the prediction of the extent of internal damage following superplastic deformation. To this end, the early stages of cavitation in a superplastic Al–Mg–Mn–Cu alloy have been experimentally studied and reported here. Small cavities (<0.5 μm) were detected by scanning electron microscopy and the number of cavities per unit volume was monitored by image analysis through optical microscopy. Before deformation, some cavities were seen at the particle–matrix interfaces. However, during tensile deformation in the temperature range of 450–550°C (and strain rates ∼10−4 to 10−2 s−1), additional cavities emerge and grow. Most cavities are observed at the interface between particles and the matrix from submicrometer size range, and grow initially along the interface. This suggests that early cavity growth is by matrix/particle decohesion, possibly starting from interfacial defects, and this growth has rapid kinetics. The density of observable cavities increases with strain, i.e. “nucleation” is continuous. The number of cavities increases at higher strain rates and at lower test temperatures. This is due to the higher flow stresses, reduced strain-rate sensitivity and poorer diffusional accommodation process, which assist in the initial growth of the submicrometer and nanoscale interface defects. But the evidence for diffusional cavity growth in the initial stages was not found.
Experimental Evidence for Orbital Electron Emission Accompanying Beta-Decay

Experiments are described which indicate the existence of a mode of beta-disintegration in which the energy emitted is shared by three particles: beta-particle, neutrino, and ejected orbital electron. The energy spectrum of the orbital electrons ("IB electrons") from ${\mathrm{Sc}}^{44}$ has been measured over the range 30 to 150 kev. The "IB internal conversion coefficient"---that is, the ratio of the measured number of IB electrons to the number of internal bremsstrahlung (IB) predicted by the theory of Knipp and Uhlenbeck, and Bloch---is found to be essentially constant over the measured energy range, and equal to 4.3. The frequency with which the three-particle disintegration takes place is about 0.04 times that of ordinary decay into a beta-particle and a neutrino. The measurements have an estimated accuracy of +3 percent, -20 percent.
How many color metrics do we need? Evaluating how different color-scoring procedures explain carotenoid pigment content in avian bare-part and plumage ornaments

For a variety of technical and conceptual reasons, biologists have come to use several different methods to quantify the colors of animals. However, the relative abilities of these different color-scoring procedures to capture variation in the actual color-generating mechanisms—pigment or structural composition of the integument—have never been tested systematically. Here, we examined which commonly employed color metrics predict carotenoid content of ornaments in three avian species (house finch Carpodacus mexicanus, mallard duck Anas platyrhynchos, and zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata). We used spectrophotometry to measure reflectance spectra from beak and feather tissue, calculated numerous color metrics (e.g., hue, chroma, brightness, principal components, and tetrahedral color space position) from these spectra, and determined carotenoid content at the site of color measurement with high-performance liquid chromatography. We found that several principal component, tristimulus, and avian visual model metrics significantly correlated with carotenoid content of house finch feathers and duck beaks. Carotenoid content of mallard beaks was most closely correlated with brightness and saturation metrics, whereas in house finch feathers, carotenoid concentration was best captured by hue and saturation metrics. According to tristimulus scores and visual models, we found that the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum was not an essential predictor of variation in carotenoid content. Also, visual model chromatic contrasts generally were not significant predictors of carotenoid content, although some achromatic contrasts and tetrahedral color space vector parameters were. Our results indicate that numerous methods, especially tristimulus scores, are suitable for capturing pigment-based color variation in two carotenoid-containing ornaments, and we discuss the merits and shortcomings of these different approaches. In contrast, there were no significant relationships between any color metrics and the carotenoid content of zebra finch beaks, suggesting that other color-generating mechanisms besides carotenoids may contribute to color variability in this species.
Critical behavior of a strain percolation model for metals with unstable locks

Using a strain percolation model proposed for the transport of mobile dislocations through a dislocation cell structure in a deforming metal, we have further explored the critical behavior of the model when there are some unstable locks present in the system that may be broken by the stress field of incident dislocations. The presence of such locks changes dramatically some of the characteristic features of the system. One such change is a fractal distribution of broken locks within a strained cluster leading to a model parameter-dependent critical point. In the critical regime, growth of a strained cluster as well as the distribution of broken locks within the cluster exhibits universal power-law behavior well explained by ordinary two-dimensional percolation theory. This random aspect of the model at large scales appears to arise from a self-organizing critical behavior of cells that evolve into a state of a minimum stable strain.
An evaluation of the endurance of chromized and plated chromium coatings in a hot gas erosion atmosphere

Abstract A comparison was made of the endurance of plated chromium and chromized coatings in a high temperature erosion atmosphere, produced by burning propellants in an erosion test apparatus. The substrate materials used for these coatings were a nickel-base alloy (Inconel 718), an FeNi-base alloy (CG-27), H11 tool steel and CrMoV steel. The erosivity was obtained from weight loss determinations. Chromizing provides a better erosion-resistant surface for Inconel 718 than chromium plating does, whereas chromium plating provides a better resistance to erosion for CG-27, H11 and CrMoV steels than chromizing does. Optical metallography, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive analysis with X-rays confirm these findings.
Gas Phase Study of C+ Reactions of Interstellar Relevance

The current uncertainty in many reaction rate constants causes difficulties in providing satisfactory models of interstellar chemistry. Here we present new measurements of the rate constants and product branching ratios for the gas phase reactions of C+ with NH3, CH4, O2, H2O, and C2H2, using the flowing afterglow-selected ion flow tube (FASIFT) technique. Results were obtained using two instruments that were separately calibrated and optimized; in addition, low ionization energies were used to ensure formation of ground-state C+, the purities of the neutral reactants were verified, and mass discrimination was minimized.
Brillouin scattering observation of phonon renormalization in KC1:CN−

Abstract The phonon-defect interaction in KC1:CN − has been studied in the 16 GHz frequency range using the Brillouin scattering technique. Brillouin spectra of KC1:CN − at 4.2 K show a defect induced phonon velocity renormalization. The measurements are consistent with a 〈111〉 oriented CN − dipole in KC1 with a tunneling level of T 2 g symmetry at 2.6 cm −1 and a coupling constant of 1.5 × 10 −21 cm 3 .
Whole-Genome Analysis of Cancer

With the completion of the human genome project, a multitude of techniques have been invented to evaluate large portions of the human genome simultaneously. Investigations are typically focused on the genome, transcriptome or proteome to identify unique characteristics that may explain the origin of human disease and potentially predict future outcomes. The goal of these investigative pursuits is to eventually individualize treatment for each patient based on their unique gene expression patterns.
Technical initiatives on early sufficiency in energy

A case is presented for three different approaches to solving the shortage of oil in the United States of America; conservation, solar energy and nuclear energy. the politics involved in the three approaches are reviewed.
Femtosecond laser meets field emission tip - a sensor for the carrier envelope phase

We investigate the possibility of a simple stand-alone sensor for the carrier envelope phase of ultrashort laser pulses. We focus the laser beam onto a field emission tip and observe electron emission in the optical field emission regime. In this regime the emission is quasi-static and highly non-linear in the laser electric field. We observe both experimentally and numerically that for three cycle pulses the modulation of the emission current due to the carrier envelope phase is below 0.1% and thus too small to serve as a means to self-reference the laser. However, for shorter pulses our simulation yields a steep increase in modulation depth. We also show measurements of interferometric autocorrelation traces with the tip as non-linear detector and compare these results to two different theoretical models, thereby backing the choice of our numerical models.
Modulation of early and late event-related potentials by emotion

Although emotionally salient stimuli influence higher order information processing, the relative vulnerability of specific stages of cognitive processing to modulation by emotional input remains elusive. To test the temporal dynamics of emotional interference during executive function, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) while participants performed an effortful anticipation task with aversive emotional and neutral distracters. Participants were presented with a modified delayed Stroop task that dissociated the anticipation of an easier or more difficult task (instructional cues to attend to word vs. color) from the response to the Stroop stimulus, while aversive and neutral pictures were displayed during the delay period. Our results indicated a relative decrease in the amplitude of the contingent negative variation (CNV) during aversive trials that was greater during the early anticipatory phase than during the later response preparation phase, and greater during (the more difficult) color than word trials. During the initial stage of cue processing, there was also significant interaction between emotion and anticipatory difficulty on N1 amplitude, where emotional stimuli led to significantly enhanced negativity during color cues relative to word cues. These results suggest that earlier processes of orientation and effortful anticipation may reflect executive engagement that is influenced by emotional interference while later phases of response preparation may be modulated by emotional interference regardless of anticipatory difficulty.
A study on the coaxial aperture electromagnetic sensor and its application in material characterization

An open-ended coaxial line has been studied by many researchers in order to use it as an electromagnetic sensor for the characterization of materials. These studies include static as well as quasi-static formulations under various simplifying assumptions. In this paper, we use a full-wave formulation of the problem and solve an integral equation to evaluate the aperture field distribution. The electromagnetic field distributions in the material medium as well as the aperture admittance are evaluated subsequently. The effects of a conducting flange over the coaxial opening and the finite sample size are also studied. The results are compared with the experimental data as well as the data obtained by other approaches. An application of this coaxial sensor for the characterization of materials up to 40 GHz is demonstrated. >
Signal recognition as influenced by information feedback

Loud and soft signal recognition task under information feedback of presentation schedules and sequence probabilities
Site fertility affects seasonal carbon reserves in loblolly pine

Summary Concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and total non-structural carbohydrates were examined in loblolly pine foliage from control stands and stands fertilized with sludge containing 450 kg N ha-‘. Needles from the fertilized sites had higher N concentrations regardless of needle age. Fertilization increased P concentration in needles relative to the control sites. Seasonal patterns of change in sugar concentrations were similar among sites for both current-year and one-year-old needles, the highest concentration (126 mg g-l) occurring in February. Sugar concentrations were lowest in June and were generally lower in current needles than year-old needles. Starch concentrations and the amount of starch per fascicle varied both seasonally and among sites. Fertilization increased starch reserves in current needles at the end of the growing season (7 mg g-r and 14 mg g-r for the control and fertilized sites, respectively), and increased the rate of starch mobilization during the initiation of needle growth. In the growing season, starch concentrations were lower in current foliage from high fertility sites than low fertility sites. Carbon reserves accumulated during the growing season in mature oneyear-old needles from control sites indicating a lower sink strength for carbon under low nutrient conditions. There was a positive relationship between starch and nitrogen concentrations during the dormant season whereas the relationship was negative during the growing season. The magnitude and direction of change in starch reserves with the onset of growth following the dormant season may indicate nutrient limitation and potential growth response to fertilization.
Identification of a growth factor that rejuvenates the heart.

> 1. Loffredo FS, Steinhauser ML, Jay SM, Gannon J, Pancoast JR, Yalamanchi P, Sinha M, Dall’Osso C, Khong D, Shadrach JL, Miller CM, Singer BS, Stewart A, Psychogios N, Gerszten RE, Hartigan AJ, Kim MJ, Serwold T, Wagers AJ, Lee RT. Growth differentiation factor 11 is a circulating factor that reverses age-related cardiac hypertrophy. Cell . 2013;153:828–839. With improvements in healthcare resulting in the population increasingly skewing toward the elderly, heart failure is becoming an increasingly prevalent pathological condition worldwide.1 Aging of the heart frequently manifests as left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction, for which there are limited therapies.2 To address whether this condition is reversible, Loffredo et al3 hypothesized that cardiac hypertrophy in the elderly is the result of the loss of factors in the blood that preserve myocardial structure and function, and that replacement of those factors can reverse the hypertrophic condition. The authors began by performing parabiosis experiments, in which the circulatory systems of 2 animals are surgically joined. They used mice of the strain C57BL/6, which develop a human-like, age-related cardiac hypertrophy as they grow older. They tested a variety of combinations …
A hierarchical approach to assembly planning

This paper describes a fundamentally new approach to assembly sequence planning which views an assembly as a hierarchy of standard structures and uses a strategy of merging partial plans for structures to derive a plan for the whole assembly. Such a planner has been implemented on a Sun Sparc Station 1. It generates a plan in which there are no subassemblies, if such a plan exists, given as a partial order in terms of the sequence of part insertion and their trajectories. The planning algorithm is shown to be correct and complete and the methodology is shown to lessen considerably the combinatorial problems encountered by current planners working on large real world problems. >
Translating natural language utterances to search queries for SLU domain detection using query click logs

Logs of user queries from a search engine (such as Bing or Google) together with the links clicked provide valuable implicit feedback to improve statistical spoken language understanding (SLU) models. However, the form of natural language utterances occurring in spoken interactions with a computer differs stylistically from that of keyword search queries. In this paper, we propose a machine translation approach to learn a mapping from natural language utterances to search queries. We train statistical translation models, using task and domain independent semantically equivalent natural language and keyword search query pairs mined from the search query click logs. We then extend our previous work on enriching the existing classification feature sets for input utterance domain detection with features computed using the click distribution over a set of clicked URLs from search engine query click logs of user utterances with automatically translated queries. This approach results in significant improvements for domain detection, especially when detecting the domains of user utterances that are formulated as natural language queries and effectively complements to the earlier work using syntactic transformations.
Successive synovial Mycoplasma hominis isolates exhibit apparent antigenic variation.

The expression of surface proteins by 14 successive Mycoplasma hominis isolates obtained from the synovial fluid of a chronically infected septic arthritis patient was examined. Marked differences in the expression of surface proteins, as determined by monoclonal antibodies raised against the first isolate, were observed. However, identical restriction patterns and virtually identical hybridization patterns with probes containing the conserved genes of the Mycoplasma capricolum rRNA operon and the Escherichia coli elongation factor Tu suggest that the protein differences might reflect antigenic variation by M. hominis during infection. Images
The Genome Portal of the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute

The Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) is a national user facility with massive-scale DNA sequencing and analysis capabilities dedicated to advancing genomics for bioenergy and environmental applications. Beyond generating tens of trillions of DNA bases annually, the Institute develops and maintains data management systems and specialized analytical capabilities to manage and interpret complex genomic data sets, and to enable an expanding community of users around the world to analyze these data in different contexts over the web. The JGI Genome Portal (http://genome.jgi.doe.gov) provides a unified access point to all JGI genomic databases and analytical tools. A user can find all DOE JGI sequencing projects and their status, search for and download assemblies and annotations of sequenced genomes, and interactively explore those genomes and compare them with other sequenced microbes, fungi, plants or metagenomes using specialized systems tailored to each particular class of organisms. We describe here the general organization of the Genome Portal and the most recent addition, MycoCosm (http://jgi.doe.gov/fungi), a new integrated fungal genomics resource.
Simulation Analysis of the Controllability of a Tandem Ducted Fan Aircraft

A generic simulation model was developed for stability / control analysis and real-time simulation of ducted fan aircraft. The generic simulation model features a modified inflow model for ducted rotors, a basic model of control vane forces and moments, and empirical correction factors to account for duct thrust augmentation, duct pitching moment, and flow turning effects. Two empirical flow turning efficiency factors, one applied before the plane of the rotor and the other from freestream to far-wake flow, were investigated. A model of duct pitching moment was developed in which the duct thrust offset normalized by the rotor radius is given as a function of airspeed. Wind tunnel data and literature from several sources have been analyzed and compared in order to refine the pitching moment model and tune the empirical factors. Validation of the simulation model is provided through correlation studies with experimental data of a 29-inch ducted fan UAV. Steady-state and trim results obtained using the generic simulation model are presented and discussed.
Reproductive Experience Reduces Circulating 17β-Estradiol and Prolactin Levels during Proestrus and Alters Estrogen Sensitivity in Female Rats

The reproductive experiences of pregnancy, parturition, and lactation affect a range of neural and endocrine processes after the end of lactation. In women, previous parity results in reduced circulating prolactin (PRL) and androgen levels years after giving birth. Reductions in PRL secretion also occur in reproductively experienced, female rats. In the present study we examined the status and regulation of estradiol (E2) and PRL during the reproductive cycle after reproductive experience. These hormones regulate one another and have been implicated in a number of disease and aging processes. Using a rat model, the patterns of E2 and PRL secretion, pituitary PRL content, and estrogen receptor α expression were characterized from 1200–1800 h on proestrus in age-matched, primiparous and nulliparous animals. The possible effect of parity on estrogen sensitivity was then examined by challenging nonlactating, ovariectomized, age-matched, multiparous and nulliparous rats with estradiol benzoate (EB; 0, 1, 5, 25...
Evidence of under-investment in energy R&D in the United States and the impact of Federal policy

Investments in energy technology research and development (R&D), and in associated human and institutional capacity, are fundamental to our ability to respond to changing economic and environmental needs. This paper uses data on R&D investments and patent records to examine the relationship between expenditures on R&D and innovation, with a particular focus on the energy sector. We observe that R&D spending and patents, both overall and in the energy sector, have been highly correlated over the past two decades in the US. In addition, we observe that the R&D intensity of the US energy sector is extremely low when compared to other sectors. We argue that the data illustrates the critical role of public policy, as evidenced by the impact of recent technology transfer related legislation on the total number and on the ownership of innovations resulting from federally sponsored R&D. We conclude that there has been a significant and sustained pattern of under-investment in the US energy sector, and that recent declines in energy R&D exacerbate this situation. Innovation for the US energy infrastructure is also a significant driver of the international energy economy. Thus, the spillover from US under-investment detracts from the global capacity to respond to emerging risks such as global warming.
The Corporation's Cost of Capital and the Weighted-Average Cost of Capital

This note is an introduction to the concept of cost of capital as an opportunity cost and how to compute weighted-average cost of capital for a corporation.
Data markets in the cloud: an opportunity for the database community

Cloud-computing is transforming many aspects of data management. Most recently, the cloud is seeing the emergence of digital markets for data and associated services. We observe that our community has a lot to offer in building successful cloud-based data markets. We outline some of the key challenges that such markets face and discuss the associated research problems that our community can help solve.
Provocative stimulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–testicular axis in men with spinal cord injury

Provocative stimulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–testicular axis in men with spinal cord injury
Pleasure in Ancient Greek Philosophy: Epicurus and the Cyrenaics on katastematic and kinetic pleasures

This chapter discusses Epicurean and Cyrenaic conceptions of pleasure in relation to one another. The reason for juxtaposing their contributions will be clear shortly. For now, let it suffice to say that the Epicureans and Cyrenaics contend over the relation between and the very existence of what they call “katastematic” and “kinetic” pleasures. These terms will be explained in due course. To begin, let us introduce the antagonists. Epicurus was born in 341 bce and raised on the island of Samos. His father was an Athenian citizen, and at this time Samos was subject to Athenian control. Epicurus left Samos for Athens for a brief stint of mandatory military service in 323. This service happened to coincide with the death of Alexander the Great, upon which the Athenians revolted from Macedonia. Among the ramifications of this revolt was that Alexander’s general Perdiccas expelled the Athenian settlers on Samos. Epicurus’ family emigrated across the water to Colophon on the Ionian coast. This is where Epicurus presumably joined them upon his return from Athens in 322/321. He remained in the east for the next fifteen odd years.
Surgery: Surgical Quality

Optimizing the care of surgical patients involves preoperative planning, intraoperative decision making, and coordinating perioperative care among a team of providers. It is important to identify and mitigate risk factors that may increase complications such as malnutrition, infection, and other medical comorbidities. Patients should receive preoperative oral and parenteral antibiotics and perioperative venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. There is strong evidence to support standardized perioperative care plans that aim to maintain normal physiology. These enhanced recovery protocols include early resumption of oral nutrition, minimizing opiate analgesia, and encouragement of early ambulation. Common postoperative complications include bowel obstruction, infection, and wound complications. Patient-centered care requires thoughtful education and counseling for the patient before and after surgery.
Mosaicism in chorionic villus sampling

Although chromosomal mosaicism is encountered frequently in CVS, it is most often restricted to the extraembryonic tissues. Counseling before CVS should include a discussion of the frequency and significance of placental mosaicism. Patients seeking information about the procedure need to be aware of the slight but not negligible possibility of the need for additional follow-up studies. Additional studies may involve additional risks with emotional and psychological sequelae. Ultimately, no prenatal procedure or combination of procedures can provide 100% accuracy in excluding mosaicism once the issue has been raised. When the mosaicism is felt to be confined to the placenta, counseling should probably address the potential increased risk for pregnancy complication, such as miscarriage and IUGR, with appropriate follow-up of the pregnancy, especially in the third trimester. Excluding the issue of mosaicism, the predictive value of cytogenetic diagnosis after CVS is equivalent to that of amniocentesis. In addition, CVS provides this information at an earlier time in the pregnancy than does amniocentesis. The majority of patients electing CVS (98% or more) will not have to deal with these complicated issues. It is hoped that an increasing cumulative experience with CVS mosaicism will help differentiate low- from high-risk situations. At the present time, however, there are insufficient and inconsistent data with which to accurately assess the risks associated with placental mosaicism. Most of the available literature concludes that additional, more focused studies, including long-term follow-up, are needed to help elucidate a better understanding of these issues.
Ability of human plasma to lyse homologous erythrocytes pretreated with fatty acid.

SummaryAddition of human plasma to washed homologous erythrocytes pretreated with sodium oleate results in hemolysis. Whole plasma is a less efficient lytic agent than is the homologous albumin or globulin moieties prepared by ammonium sulfate fractionation. Saturation of fatty acid binding capacity of plasma or plasma protein fractions, by addition of exogenous oleate inhibits lytic activity. Hemolysis appears related to acceleration of lytic activity of oleate molecules fixed to the surface of the red blood cell following binding by plasma constituents. Similar results were obtained with other fatty acids and with erythrocyte-plasma systems from other mammalian species.
Targeting watersheds for enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program in Whatcom County, Washington

IV LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VII CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 WRIA 1 HABITAT LIMITING FACTOR RESEARCH 3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 8 THESIS ORGANIZATION 9 CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW 11 LAND USE 12 RIPARIAN AREAS 14 U.S. FARM BILLS 18 THE CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM 21 CHAPTER III – METHODS 33 STUDY AREA 33 DATA 40 METHODS 41 WATERSHED WATER QUALITY 47 FISH HABITAT CONSERVATION AREAS 49 SOIL EROSION VULNERABILITY SCREENING 51 HABITAT CONNECTIVITY 54 PRIME AGRICULTURAL LAND 56 FINAL RANKING 57 CHAPTER IV RESULTS 59 WATERSHED WATER QUALITY 59 FISH HABITAT CONSERVATION AREA 60 SOIL EROSION VULNERABILITY SCREENING 60 HABITAT CONNECTIVITY 63 PRIME AGRICULTURAL LAND 64 FINAL RANKING 64 DISCUSSION 78 DATA LIMITATIONS 80 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES 84 CONCLUSION 86 BIBLIOGRAPHY 89
Manipulating inflammation to improve healing

Efficient healing requires a timely resolution of inflammation characterized by cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic pathways as well as the phenotypic transition of leukocyte populations in wounds. A well-regulated inflammatory response appears to be required for the induction of the resolution response. The dysregulation of inflammation, often associated with a preexisting increased inflammatory tone of the host, leads to a poor healing response. Basic research has revealed a number of potential targets for manipulating inflammation to improve healing, including both cellular and soluble factor targets. Biomaterials are currently used in clinical practice for wound care and are being modified for better outcomes in basic and preclinical research. These materials inherently modify the inflammatory response in healing wounds, interacting with the host inflammatory response. In this chapter, we discuss advances in our understanding of these issues with the main focus on myeloid-mediated inflammatory responses. Further work on multilevel strategies to manipulate inflammation and augment healing is needed.
Marine angler characteristics and attitudes toward stock enhancement in Florida

Abstract Fisheries stock enhancement, the release of hatchery-reared fish into wild fish populations with the aim of improving fisheries, is a common management strategy of variable success that also involves substantial tradeoffs between fisheries management objectives. We conducted an internet-based survey to assess attitudes towards fisheries stock enhancement and other management measures among marine inshore anglers in Florida. A random sample of 200,000 fishing license holders was selected from Florida’s recreational saltwater license holders. The survey received a response rate of 5.2%. The survey was designed to collect information on angler participation, fishing experience, catch preferences and motivations in addition to attitudes toward management options including fisheries stock enhancement. The concepts of recreation specialization and consumptive orientation were used to explore diversity in management perspectives and attitudes towards fish stocking. Hierarchical cluster analysis of five specialization variables was used to identify three groups of inshore anglers. Angler groups had different levels of participation, skill, fishing-related expenditures and management preferences including support for fisheries stock enhancement. Inshore anglers were generally supportive of fisheries stock enhancement, but less so than many alternative management strategies including habitat restoration and traditional bag and minimum size limits. The most specialized anglers showed significantly higher levels of support for stock enhancement and most other management measures than less specialized anglers. Regardless of specialization, anglers were largely unaware of the risks and tradeoffs inherent to stock enhancement.
Sharing contracted resources for fire suppression: engine dispatch in the Northwestern United States

As demand for wildfire response resources grows across the globe, a central challenge is developing new and flexible systems and capacity to ensure that resources needed for fire response arrive when and where they are needed. Private contractors have become increasingly important in providing equipment and services to support agency wildfire suppression needs in the USA. Understanding the capacity of contracted resources for federal agency fire suppression needs is critical for preseason fire planning and response. Using National Resource Ordering and Status System data, we examined Northwest region engine dispatches from 2008 to 2015. The number of times and days engines were out on assignments increased over the study period, and dispatch centres routinely shared engines within and outside their geographic area. However, in 2015, not all of the available engines were recorded as utilised at peak demand during one of the largest fire seasons in the Northwest. This study provides insight into the ways in which fire managers share important resources such as engines and the information they have available to make decisions during an incident, and raises questions about what the right amount of capacity is to be able to respond in extreme fire years.
Tissue Factor Mediated Activation of Prothrombin Complex Concentrates and its Inhibition by Antithrombin Drugs.

Abstract Surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization (SELDI) is a new technique used to investigate proteins, their up/down regulation during pathogenesis (biomarkers), cleavage products and protein/protein interactions. SELDI has been used to profile biomarkers in such diseases as cancer and AIDS. More recently this technique has also been used to investigate drug protein, receptor ligand and other interactions. SELDI can be used to monitor the activation and/or inhibition of enzymes that regulate important processes, such as coagulation and fibrinolysis. This application can be important in the development of new drugs used to treat thrombosis. Plasma samples obtained from patients treated with activated and non-activated forms of prothrombin complexes have provided specific biomarker profiles which can be further analyzed to understand the sites and the mechanism of the prohemostatic and activation profiles of the factor concentrates. This study was designed to determine if prothrombin complex (konyne) could be activated using tissue factor (TF) and if this activation could be differentially inhibited by anti-IIa drugs. This was accomplished by setting up the following reactions mixtures: TF alone; konyne alone; TF and konyne; TF, konyne and one of the anti-IIa drugs (argatroban, hirudin or angiomax). Saline was used to maintain the proteins at the same concentration in all reaction mixtures. TF was consistently added first followed by the test drug or saline and finally by konyne. The mixtures were incubated at 37°C for 15 minutes and then spotted on a strong anion exchange chip (SAX2). The chips were read using a PBSII system (Ciphergen, Freemont, CA). When konyne was added to TF a high intensity peak at 50 kDa was evident showing that konyne was activated by TF. It is speculated that the peak at 50 kDa may represent factor Xa. When argatroban was added to the reaction mixture at concentrations of 10 and 1 μg/ml, the peak at 50 kDa was not present. This indicates that argatroban is capable of inhibiting the formation of factor Xa thus it may interfere in the TF/VIIa mediated conversion of factor X to Xa. However, the addition of angiomax at the same concentrations did not cause the elimination of this peak suggesting that the mechanism of action of angiomax is somewhat different from argatroban. Hirudin showed some inhibition of the 50 kDa peak at 10 μg/ml. This suggests that hirudin is not as efficient in preventing the formation of the peak at 50 kDa. The inhibition of this peak may prove to be a specific mechanism of action of argatroban and to a lesser extent hirudin in the control of thrombogensis. Since prothrombin complex concentrates such as konyne are composed of purified factor II, VII, IX and X these provide a novel experimental setting to understand the TF mediated activation of prothrombin complexes and can be used in the understanding of the TF mediated activation process and thus inhibition by antithrombin/anti-Xa drugs. Other prothrombin complex concentrates such as proplex and FEIBA can also be used.
Heartbeat:Blood urea nitrogen to creatinine ratio predicts outcome in acute heart failure.

In patients with acute heart failure (AHF), renal dysfunction is common and associated with a poor prognosis. Although both serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) are markers for renal dysfunction, BUN levels are also affected by reabsorption in the renal tubules, a process modulated by renin-angiotensin-aldosterone activity, sympathetic nervous activity and arginine-vasopressin activity. Thus, neurohormonal activity is reflected in the BUN/creatinine ratio which effectively ‘normalizes’ BUN for the degree of renal dysfunction, as measured by the creatinine level. To investigate the prognostic value of the BUN/creatinine ratio in AHF, Matsue and colleagues1 first defined age and sex specific normal ranges. Even in normal individuals, there is wide variation in the BUN/creatinine ratio, an increase with age, and higher levels in women compared to men. Then, in a cohort of about 2000 AHF patients, they showed that the BUN/creatinine ratio was elevated in about 25% and was a predictor of all cause death at 180 days (HR: 1.86, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.66) and of death or cardiovascular or renal rehospitalisation at 60 days (HR: 1.37, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.82) after adjustment for other variables, including creatinine and BUN. Figure 1 Figure 1 Kaplan-Meier survival curves for all-cause mortality within 180 days for the three different groups in patients with acute heart failure in the PROTECT study cohort. In the accompanying editorial (heartjnl-2016-310536), Nunez concludes: ‘Despite the encouraging results presented by Matsue et al, further studies are needed to confirm the normal/abnormal threshold for defining high/normal values of this ratio especially in older subjects, to define the clinical utility role of trajectories of BUN/Creatinine over a single measurement, …
Loperamide metabolite-induced cardiomyopathy and QTc prolongation.

AbstractLoperamide is an over-the-counter, peripherally acting, μ-opioid receptor agonist used for the treatment of diarrhea. In recent times users have found that at higher doses, loperamide crosses the blood–brain barrier and reaches central μ-receptors in the brain, leading to central opiate effects including euphoria and respiratory depression. We report a case of a 37-year-old female who attempted suicide with over 200 loperamide tablets. During her overdose, her QTc was significantly prolonged at >600 ms. Our case aims to add to the growing body of literature describing life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias associated with loperamide toxicity and further suggests that a metabolite of loperamide, desmethylloperamide, may play a role in the pathogenesis.
SOFWERX’s Return on Collision: Measuring Open Collaborative Innovation

Special Operations Command has engaged a number of different strategies intended to improve the agility and performance of its technology acquisitions process. Among these efforts is its newly opened idea space known as SOFWERX. This article examines SOFWERX’s structure and function and argues that while SOFWERX exists as a traditional bureaucratic bypass for technology sourcing and development, its greater contribution to innovation will be in harnessing its knowledge returns on collision; the knowledge created and managed by that entity will be its most important asset. As such, proponents of the space would do well to establish metrics that measure collision as well as systems that can manage that knowledge.