cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tryptophan Inhibits Proteus vulgaris TnaC Leader Peptide Elongation, Activating tna Operon Expression

Expression of the tna operon of Escherichia coli and of Proteus vulgaris is induced by l-tryptophan. In E. coli, tryptophan action is dependent on the presence of several critical residues (underlined) in the newly synthesized TnaC leader peptide, WFNIDXXL/IXXXXP. These residues are conserved in TnaC of P. vulgaris and of other bacterial species. TnaC of P. vulgaris has one additional feature, distinguishing it from TnaC of E. coli; it contains two C-terminal lysine residues following the conserved proline residue. In the present study, we investigated l-tryptophan induction of the P. vulgaris tna operon, transferred on a plasmid into E. coli. Induction was shown to be l-tryptophan dependent; however, the range of induction was less than that observed for the E. coli tna operon. We compared the genetic organization of both operons and predicted similar folding patterns for their respective leader mRNA segments. However, additional analyses revealed that l-tryptophan action in the P. vulgaris tna operon involves inhibition of TnaC elongation, following addition of proline, rather than inhibition of leader peptide termination. Our findings also establish that the conserved residues in TnaC of P. vulgaris are essential for l-tryptophan induction, and for inhibition of peptide elongation. TnaC synthesis is thus an excellent model system for studies of regulation of both peptide termination and peptide elongation, and for studies of ribosome recognition of the features of a nascent peptide.
Defining pheromone-receptor signaling in Candida albicans and related asexual Candida species

Candida albicans is an important human fungal pathogen in which sexual reproduction is under the control of the novel white-opaque switch. Opaque cells are the mating-competent form, whereas white cells do not mate but can still respond to pheromones, resulting in biofilm formation. In this study, we first define the domains of the α-pheromone receptor Ste2 that are necessary for signaling in both white and opaque forms. Both cell states require the IC loop 3 (IC3) and the C-terminal tail of Ste2 for the cellular response, whereas the first IC loop (IC1) of Ste2 is dispensable for signaling. To also address pheromone-receptor interactions in related species, including apparently asexual Candida species, Ste2 orthologues were heterologously expressed in Candida albicans. Ste2 receptors from multiple Candida clade species were functional when expressed in C. albicans, whereas the Ste2 receptor of Candida lusitaniae was nonfunctional. Significantly, however, expression of a chimeric C. lusitaniae Ste2 receptor containing the C-terminal tail of Ste2 from C. albicans generated a productive response to C. lusitaniae pheromone. This system has allowed us to characterize pheromones from multiple Candida species and indicates that functional pheromone-receptor couples exist in fungal species that have yet to be shown to undergo sexual mating.
Exploring the Basic Principles of Electric Motors and Generators With a Low-Cost Sophomore-Level Experiment

In order to meet changing curricular needs, an electric motor and generator laboratory experience was designed, implemented, and assessed. The experiment is unusual in its early placement in the curriculum and in that it focuses on modeling electric motors, predicting their performance, and measuring efficiency of energy conversion. While subfractional-horsepower electric motors and a primitive, but unique, small-scale dynamometer were used, experimental results proved to be reliable, accurate, and repeatable. The change in student knowledge and confidence in the application of that knowledge was assessed and shown to have increased significantly in both cases.
Extracting contact energies from protein structures: a study using a simplified model.

In this study, we exploited an elementary 2-dimensional square lattice model of HP polymers to test the premise of extracting contact energies from protein structures. Given a set of prespecified energies for H–H, H–P, and P–P contacts, all possible sequences of various lengths were exhaustively enumerated to find sequences that have unique lowest-energy conformations. The lowest-energy structures (or native structures) of such (native) sequences were used to extract contact energies using the Miyazawa-Jernigan procedure and here-defined reference state. The relative magnitudes of the original energies were restored reasonably well, but the extracted contact energies were independent of the absolute magnitudes of the initial energies. We turned to a more detailed characterization of the energy landscapes of the native sequences in light of a new theoretical framework on protein folding. Foldability of such sequences imposes two limits on the absolute value of the prespecified energies: a lower bound entailed by the minimum requirement for thermodynamic stability and an upper bound associated with the entrapment of the chain to local minima. We found that these two limits confine the prespecified energy values to a rather narrow range which, surprisingly, also contains the extracted energies in all the cases examined. These results indicate that the quasi-chemical approximation can be used to connect quantitatively the occurrence of various residue–residue contacts in an ensemble of native structures with the energies of the contacts. More importantly, they suggest that the extracted contact energies do contain information on structural stability and can be used to estimate actual structural energetics. This study also encourages the use of structure-derived contact energies in threading. The finding that there is a rather narrow range of energies that are optimal for folding a sequence also cautions the use of arbitrary energy Hamiltonion in minimal folding models. Proteins 31:299–308, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Terrestrial wildlife exposed to agrochemicals: an ecological risk assessment perspective

Ecological risk assessment of wildlife exposed to agrochemicals addresses hazard and exposure to at least qualify and attempt to quantify the ecological risk. To accomplish a present-day ecological risk assessment in wildlife toxicology, data must be available from several disciplines: annlytical toxicology/environmental chemistry, biochemical toxicology, and wildlife ecology/ecotoxicology. This interdisciplinary approach, essential in wildlife toxicology for the assessment of the chemical effects on the reproduction, health, and well-being of wildlife, makes it difficult to rapidly generate the data necessary for ecological risk assessments. However, as the field has evoloed, it has become clear that interdisciplinary cooperation is critical to provide the complex data sets required for the registration and reregistration of pesticide products by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The science of ecological risk assessment for terrestrial wildlife exposed to agrochemicals advanced rapidly during the decade of the 1980s and into the 1990s. The ecological risk assessment process will continue to improve as a result of improved data sets available for conduct of such assessments. Addressing the ecological risks associated with the use of an agricultural chemical involves a complex array of laboratory and field studies, in essence, a research program.
Improving the Efficiency and Efficacy of Controlled Sequential Bifurcation for Simulation Factor Screening

Controlled sequential bifurcation (CSB) is a factor-screening method for discrete-event simulations. It combines a multistage hypothesis testing procedure with the original sequential bifurcation procedure to control both the power for detecting important effects at each bifurcation step and the Type I error for each unimportant factor under heterogeneous variance conditions when a main-effects model applies. This paper improves the CSB procedure in two aspects. First, a new fully sequential hypothesis-testing procedure is introduced that greatly improves the efficiency of CSB. Moreover, this paper proposes CSB-X, a more general CSB procedure that has the same error control for screening main effects that CSB does, even when two-factor interactions are present. The performance of the new method is proven and compared with the original CSB procedure.
Decalcified tooth matrix powder induces new bone formation and hematopoietic microenvironment in the mouse.

Implants of bone and tooth matrix powder were placed subcutaneously (s.c.) on intraperitoneal (i.p.) Mitex or Polyvic membranes. Implants were removed for histology after 1-24 weeks. Macrophages, fibroblasts, and vascular sinusoids infiltrated around bone and tooth matrix particles after one week. In the s.c. tooth matrix implants, a few sites of cartilage formation and ossification developed at two weeks, and by three weeks granulocytopoiesis and megakaryocytopoiesis developed adjacent to new bone; erythropoiesis was not observed. In s.c. bone matrix implants and in the i.p. artificial membranes coated with bone or tooth matrix powder, ossification or hematopoiesis was not observed. Small numbers of CFU-s, CFU-nm, BFU-e, and CFU-e appeared 10-20 days after s.c. implantation of tooth matrix; none were detected in s.c. bone matrix implants.
The Usher N Terminus Is the Initial Targeting Site for Chaperone-Subunit Complexes and Participates in Subsequent Pilus Biogenesis Events

Pilus biogenesis on the surface of uropathogenic Escherichia coli requires the chaperone/usher pathway, a terminal branch of the general secretory pathway. In this pathway, periplasmic chaperone-subunit complexes target an outer membrane (OM) usher for subunit assembly into pili and secretion to the cell surface. The molecular mechanisms of protein secretion across the OM are not well understood. Mutagenesis of the P pilus usher PapC and the type 1 pilus usher FimD was undertaken to elucidate the initial stages of pilus biogenesis at the OM. Deletion of residues 2 to 11 of the mature PapC N terminus abolished the targeting of the usher by chaperone-subunit complexes and rendered PapC nonfunctional for pilus biogenesis. Similarly, an intact FimD N terminus was required for chaperone-subunit binding and pilus biogenesis. Analysis of PapC-FimD chimeras and N-terminal fragments of PapC localized the chaperone-subunit targeting domain to the first 124 residues of PapC. Single alanine substitution mutations were made in this domain that blocked pilus biogenesis but did not affect targeting of chaperone-subunit complexes. Thus, the usher N terminus does not function simply as a static binding site for chaperone-subunit complexes but also participates in subsequent pilus assembly events.
FROSTBELT SUCCESS STORY: Oshkosh, Wisconsin

ABSTRACT:Stimulated by the 1970 and especially the 1980 census, numerous writers have delineated the movement to suburbs and to the sunbelt of people and businesses. They have noted the deleterious consequences of that shift for the depleted central cities, especially in the frostbelt, and rarefy argue that the trend will change. This article examines the various types of efforts made by cities to improve their futures. It discusses the wide range of recent successes of one frostbelt city, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, suggests causes of those achievements, and weighs the degree to which it might serve as a model The article argues that 1980 may come to be recognized not as the beginning of the end for older cities but as the high-water mark against which a countermovement might be measured.
Comment: Five Uses of Philosophy in Scientific Theories of Emotion:

Commentary on four articles in a special issue on “theories of emotion,” comparing the theories with respect to five conceptual contrasts. The first four contrasts are essentialism versus nonessentialism, discriminative versus integrative theories, individual versus social focus, and instrumentalism versus scientific realism. Although scientific psychologists appear to have reached consensus in favor of nonessentialism and they freely use both realist and instrumentalist interpretations, there is no consensus on the other two contrasts. The final contrast explored addresses attitudes toward the use of philosophy in scientific theorizing, and whether philosophy is best kept in the background or brought into the foreground.
Nested PCR on blood and milk for the detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis DNA in clinical and subclinical bovine paratuberculosis.

Objective To determine the potential of PCR on blood and milk to detect cattle infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis. Procedure A nested PCR method probing for IS900 was developed and compared to ELISA serology in 11 clinically infected and 46 subclinically infected, lactating Holstein cows from a herd with confirmed paratuberculosis (Johne's disease). Results When compared to serum ELISA the nested blood-and milk PCRs were equal in identifying DNA from clinically infected animals. The PCR procedures also gave positive DNA results with some subclinically infected animals when these only gave suspicious or negative results in the ELISA test. Most clinically and subclinically infected animals were detected with milk PCR. Conclusion Since there may well be a haematological phase in paratuberculosis, nested PCR testing of blood and milk samples shows potential to detect animals subclinically infected with M a paratuberculosis. More subclinically infected animals need to be tested and confirmed infected before estimates of sensitivity and specificity can be made.
Foreign Central Bank Activities in U.S. Futures Markets

We analyze the daily positions of 31 foreign Central Banks in U.S. interest rate futures markets between 2003 and 2011 to investigate whether such positions reveal targeted hedging or informed profit-making decisions. Central Bank positions before the financial crisis of 2007-2009 are consistent with hedging some underlying balance sheet exposure. During and after the crisis, the pattern suggests an attempt to enhance returns on foreign reserve assets. In particular, Central Banks held and profited from directional positions in 5- and 10-year T-Note futures in a manner indicative of a non-hedging strategy. We also examine whether Central Bank position changes show synchronization as if they are affected by common shocks or reflect coordinated policy actions. We identify differences before and after the onset of the financial crisis: Euro-linked Central Banks become more synchronized while non-European Central Banks show no significant change in synchronization during the crisis. We also document that Central Bank positions generally account for a small fraction of the overall size of these markets, so it is unlikely that these institutions’ goal is to influence U.S. interest rates.
Compensation of PLL Loop Delay in Read Channels for Tape Storage Systems

This paper studies loop-delay compensation as a means to improve the robustness of timing recovery loops in tape storage systems. The delay compensation scheme is derived under fairly general assumptions and is found to match a known Kalman-filtering-based solution if a random-walk model of frequency-offset evolution is assumed. Extensions of the scheme to achieve delay compensation in multichannel tape-drive systems that employ global timing control are presented. The practical effectiveness of delay compensation is demonstrated using actual readback waveforms captured on commercial tape drives.
Shortcomings of using two jet nebulizers in tandem with an aerosol face mask for optimal oxygen therapy

Herein, a laboratory model which allows measurement of simulated distal airway oxygen percentage at different breathing patterns is described to illustrate the shortcomings of conventional O2 devices and, in particular, the aerosol face mask with two jet nebulizers (AFM-DF) in tandem. A table showing the degree of dilution which occurred during simulation of various breathing patterns while using the AFM-DF is also presented. Data revealed that when 60 percent was desired, 13 of 27 measurements were less than 55 percent. The worst-case scenario for 60 percent desired was 48 percent measured. When 80 percent was desired, less than 70 percent was delivered in 24 of the 27 breathing patterns simulated. Less than 60 percent was measured on 12 occasions, with 51 percent being the lowest measurement. When 100 percent O2 was desired, less than 80 percent was measured in 25 of 27 breathing patterns. Less than 60 percent was measured in ten of those. Fifty percent was the lowest analyzed value for the 100 percent setting. The inadequacy of AFM-DF is described in three case studies. A high-flow nonrebreathing face mask (HFM) to address the subset of patients is also discussed. A peak inspiratory flow prediction chart is also documented and may be useful in setting optimal flows when using high-flow systems. The patients in whom intubation and mechanical ventilation (or use of continuous mask CPAP) are indicated can be more clearly identified with a trial of high-flow O2 therapy (with a system that assures adequate flow to meet the patient's peak inspiratory flow demands). In the remainder of patients, those higher-risk modalities will be precluded.
The mechanisms of creep in olivine

We summarize the progress made in providing experimental verification for the deformation map of polycrystalline olivine published by Stocker & Ashby in 1973 ( Rev. Geophys . 11, 391). Porosity-free polycrystalline deformation data, applicable to the mantle, were found to be obtainable only from high-pressure deformation studies. Combination of the results of such studies with hardness measurements and single crystal deformation studies on olivine provides narrow constraints on the flow of olivine resulting from dislocation mechanisms from room temperature to the melting point along a band of experimentally accessible strain rates. A good fit is obtained combining a Dorn law above 2 kbar differential stress, e/s -1 =5.7x10 11 ex{-128kcal/mol/RT (1-cr 1 -cr 2 /85000) 2 }, with a power law below 2 kbar, e = 70(cr 1 —cr 3 ) exp{— 122(kcal/mol)/RT}, where stress is measured in bars ( l bar = 10 5 Pa). Indirect data on a mechanism phenomenologically resembling the Goble creep regime are now available from two sources. The observed strain rates are only slightly faster than those predicted by Stocker & Ashby (1973). The 9 wet’ data, previously believed to show hydrolytic weakening, are found to fall within this Coble field. The asthenosphere is still expected to deform by the dislocation mechanism summarized by the two formulae given above, but higher stress deformation within the lithosphere is almost certainly dominated by this Coble creep regime once dynamic recrystallization sets in.
A model for rapid thermal processing: achieving uniformity through lamp control

A first-principles approach to the modeling of a rapid thermal processing (RTP) system to obtain temperature uniformity is described. RTP systems are single wafer and typically have a bank of heating lamps which can be individually controlled. Temperature uniformity across a wafer is difficult to obtain in RTP systems. A temperature gradient exists outward from the center of the wafer due to cooling for a uniform heat flux density on the surface of the wafer from the lamps. Experiments have shown that the nonuniform temperature of a wafer in an RTP system can be counteracted by adjusting the relative power of the individual lamps, which alters the heat flux density at the wafer. The model is composed of two components. The first predicts a wafer's temperature profile given the individual lamp powers. The second determines the relative lamp power necessary to achieve uniform temperature everywhere but at the outermost edge of the wafer (cooling at the edge is always present). The model has been verified experimentally by rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition of polycrystalline silicon with a prototype LEISK RTP system. The wafer temperature profile is inferred from the poly-Si thickness. Results showed a temperature uniformity of +or-1%, an average absolute temperature variation of 5.5 degrees C, and a worst-case absolute temperature variation of 6.5 degrees C for several wafers processed at different temperatures. >
Self-Driven Service Learning: Community-Student-Faculty Collaboratives Outside of the Classroom.

Service learning is a community engagement pedagogy often used in the context of the undergraduate classroom to synergize course-learning objectives with community needs. We find that an effective way to catalyze student engagement in service learning is for student participation to occur outside the context of a graded course, driven by students’ own interests and initiative. In this paper, we describe the creation and implementation of a self-driven service learning program and discuss its benefits from the community, student, and faculty points of view. This experience allows students to explore careers in the sciences as well as identify skill strengths and weaknesses in an environment where mentoring is available but where student initiative and self-motivation are the driving forces behind the project’s success. Self-driven service learning introduces young scientists to the idea that their careers serve a larger community that benefits not only from their discoveries but also from effective communication about how these discoveries are relevant to everyday life.
Transforming the best care into the standard for care.

Serving the American Venous Forum (AVF) as its President is a distinct honor and one of the greatest privileges an individual can have as a professional. This position comes with responsibilities but also benefits, such as being able to deliver the presidential address. In the time of fast-paced scientific meetings, when even a 10-minute presentation seems to be too long, having 45 minutes to talk on issues that are important from your own perspective is a lifetime opportunity. The opportunity to publish this address is a mixed blessing, as this paper most likely will never be cited and will completely ruin your personal citation index. Being cited, however, is not the purpose of the address. Listening to the presidential address, one realizes that each president selects the most significant topic of the year. By discussing these topics publically, the presidents give us, the members of this Society, insight into their thought processes and decision-making. They present their views on the history of this Society, its position in the field of our specialty, and directions for the future. Such insights give each member of the Forum a chance to influence this direction by selecting our future leaders or becoming one of them. I shall follow our tradition and use this opportunity to share with you my views on the current moment, the challenges that we face, and the role of the AVF in the field of venous and lymphatic disorders today. I shall start from 1987, which was a remarkable year. A record number of papers directly related to treatment of chronic venous disease were published: 26 in total, all in
VOLUNTARY SECTOR ORGANIZING IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS

This essay introduces questions and critiques about the contemporary study of voluntary organizations in the world’s industrialized nations. In doing so it acknowledges contending models and labels, competing empirical approaches, and conflicting representations and definitions of the voluntary action at the heart of existing studies. The essay provides a brief critique of the dominant American model that stresses the demography and management of nonprofit organizations. We note the model’s potential limitations for studying voluntary organizing in developing countries and provide a cautious introduction to the civil society implications of “third way” models of governance, an approach introduced primarily from Europe. The essay concludes by introducing the four empirical studies that comprise the exploration of “third ways” from a variety of international contexts.
Glass electrode determination of blood sodium and potassium.

In 1957, Eisenman and associates demonstrated that certain sodium aluminum silicate glasses had a high affinity for sodium and potassium ions and could be used for the measurement of these ions in solutions. Moore and Wilson and Friedman and associates have demonstrated that these sodium and potassium selective glasses can be used for the determination of sodium and potassium in various body fluids, including blood. With some recent improvements in electrode construction, we have made simple capillary electrodes capable of measuring sodium and potassium in small samples of whole blood, plasma, serum, or cerebrospinal fluid.' This paper presents a comparison of the glass electrode and flame photometer methods for determining the sodium and potassium content of whole blood, plasma, and serum. Comparison is made between whole blood and plasma at body and at room temperature, and between plasma and serum.
Optimization Of Spacecraft Pursuit-Evasion Game Trajectories In The Euler-Hill Reference Frame

Spacecraft pursuit-evasion game is formulated as a two-player zero-sum differential game. The Euler-Hill reference frame is used to describe the dynamics of the game. The goal is to derive feedback control law which forms a saddle point solution to the game. Both spacecraft use continuous thrust engines. The standard linear-quadratic differential game theory is applied to obtain linear control law. The state-dependent Riccati equation method is applied to extend the standard linear-quadratic differential game theory to obtain nonlinear control law. The efficacy of the nonlinear control law is found to be superior to that of the linear control law.
Chemotherapy of advanced non-small cell lung cancer A review

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Since the majori ty of patients present with advanced disease that is incurable with surgery and /o r radiotherapy, there is a need for effective systemic treatment. Chemotherapy has improved survival for patients with small cell lung cancer (1). However, for patients with the more frequent non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) controversy exists over the efficacy of chemotherapy (2, 3). Less than half of the patients have a clinical response and most studies have lacked randomization with untreated or placebo treated controls. Since survival and response rates with chemotherapy are markedly influenced by such clinical features as performance status, stage, histology, prior treatment, weight loss and age, appropriate controls are needed to accurately evaluate treatment of advanced lung cancer (2). H o f f m a n and colleagues have recently presented a comprehensive summary of chemotherapy in NSCLC (3). Our intent is to briefly review several widely utilized drug combinations based on adriamycin + cyclophosphamide and CIS-platinum + vinca, and to discuss the lack of evidence for improved overall survival despite response rates of approximately 3 0 5 0 % . During the 1960's the VA Lung Study Group conducted randomized studies of inoperable lung cancer treated with nitrogen mustard or cyclophosphamide versus supportive care alone and found no significant increase in median survival times (approximately 12 weeks) for the chemotherapy arms (4). However, the two alkylating agents used were relatively inactive. Only a few drugs show consistent single agent activity in NSCLC (Table 1), and none of these have been compared in a randomized study to placebo or supportive care with regards to survival.
Occipitocervical fusion via occipital condylar fixation: a clinical case series.

Study Design:Retrospective review/case series.Objective:This study aims to present the clinical feasibility of condylar fixation in occipitocervical (OC) fusion. Here, we present the largest clinical series to date of patients who underwent OC fusion via cervicocondylar fixation using a polyaxial sc
Exploring Compatibility with Words and Pictures

A group of 92 male engineers, with comparison groups of 80 women and 55 human factors specialists, responded to an 18-item questionnaire covering various problems of potentially ambiguous display-c...
Free radical theory of aging: Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis

Senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (SDAT) is the major cause of dementia. SDAT cases can be categorized into two groups: 1) late onset, after about age 60, 90–95 percent of cases; largely nonfamilial, i.e., sporadic, 2) early onset, before about age 60; 5–10 percent of cases, most — if not all — are familial. It is a systemic disorder whose major manifestations are in the brain. The brain lesions in both early and late-onset SDAT are the same as those seen in smaller numbers in normal older individuals. It is hypothesized that SDAT is caused by increased free radical reaction levels in brain neurons that advance in time patterns of neuronal dysfunction and cell loss. Measures to this end include: 1) mutations in mitochondrial (mt) DNA and/or nuclear (nuc) DNA in a somatic cell early in development that adversely effect mitochondrial function, 2) mutations in maternal mtDNA and/or nucDNA that impair mitochondria in offspring, 3) mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP), and 4) increased formation of both normal APP and superoxide dismutase (SOD). The incidence of SDAT may be decreased by efforts to minimize free radical reactions involved in initiation. The clinical decline of SDAT patients may be slowed by measures which lower the level of more-or-less random deleterious free radical reactions.
7. Jacobi Forms

7.1 Jacobi Forms on Symmetric Domains 7.2 Fock Representations 7.3 Theta Functions 7.4 Vector-Valued Jacobi Forms
The world Turned Upside Down

GERMANY WINS IN THE WEST Early in the morning of May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Holland and Belgium, having infiltrated troops into Luxembourg the night before. These neutrals would be rewarded for their prior shielding of Germany in the West by the swift destruction of their independence. But that destruction was incidental to a broader aim. The purpose of the German invasion was to crush the French and British forces on the continent so that Germany would have quiet in the West while conquering living space from the Soviet Union in the East. The three neutrals in the West were to provide the avenue for victory over France and a coastal base for defeating England, while the great neutral in the East, the Soviet Union, both enabled Germany to concentrate her forces on one major front and helped supply these forces with the materials Germany needed in taking this preliminary step for the subsequent campaign in the East. As already described, the German plan had changed from an initial one for a limited offensive in the north to a subsequent one for an attack toward the Channel coast through Luxembourg, Belgium and northern France. Disagreements over strategy and weather problems had led to twenty-nine postponements. These postponements, however, had some major advantages for the Germans. They utilized the seven months' lull in the fighting to make good the losses and take into account the lessons of the Polish campaign.
Study on nanophase iron oxyhydroxides in freshwater ferromanganese nodules from Green Bay, Lake Michigan, with implications for the adsorption of As and heavy metals

Nanophase Fe-oxyhydroxides in freshwater ferromanganese nodules (FFN) from Green Bay, Lake Michigan, and adsorbed arsenate have been investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Z-contrast imaging, and ab initio calculations using the density functional theory (DFT). The samples from northern Green Bay can be divided into two types: Fe-Mn nodules and Fe-rich nodules. The manganese-bearing phases are todorokite, birnessite, and buserite. The iron-bearing phases are feroxyhyte, nanophase goethite, two-line ferrihydrite, and nanophase FeOOH with guyanaite structure. Z-contrast images of the Fe-oxyhydroxides show ordered FeOOH nano-domains with guyanaite structure intergrown with nanophase goethite. The FeOOH nanophase is a precursor to the goethite. Henceforth, we will refer to it as “proto-goethite.” DFT calculations indicate that goethite is more stable than proto-goethite. Our results suggest that ordering between Fe and vacancies in octahedral sites result in the transformation from feroxyhyte to goethite through a proto-goethite intermediate phase. Combining Z-contrast images and TEM-EDS reveals that arsenate ( ![Formula][1] ) tetrahedra are preferentially adsorbed on the proto-goethite (001) surface via tridentate adsorption. Our study directly shows the atomic positions of Fe-oxyhydroxides with associated trace elements. The methods can be applied for identifying structures of nanophases and adsorbed trace elements and heavy metals. [1]: /embed/mml-math-1.gif
Microbial Persistence on Inoculated Beef Plates Sprayed with Hypochlorite Solutions.

Exterior surfaces of beef plates were inoculated with aerobic mesophilic, psychrotrophic, coliform, fecal coliform and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria before spraying with city water (7.03 kg/cm2) or with 100, 150 or 200 ppm hypochlorite solutions applied at 3.75, 5.25 or 7.03 kg/cm2) for 12 sec. Surface strips excised from the inoculated carcass regions were analyzed for bacterial persistence at 2 hand 2,4,8,16 and 20 days after spray treatment. A one log. or greater, reduction incoliforms, fecal coliforms and S. aureus counts occurred within 4 days for each spray treatment. Initial aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic counts were reduced by 3.5 logs higher than inoculated levels after 16 days at 4-6 C. Spray pressure (P < .01) was more effective in reducing mesophilic, psychrotrophic and S. aureus counts than was hypochlorite concentration (P < .05) while both variables were about equally effective against coliforms (P < .01) and fecal coliforms (P < .05). Surprisingly, reductions of psychrotrophic, coliform and S. aureus counts on the beef carcass surface sprayed with hypochlorite solutions were not significantly (P < .05) different from those observed on carcasses sprayed with city water. However, a significantly (P < .05) greater reduction in aerobic mesophile and fecal coliform counts at 2 days after treatment was obtained when using the intermediate spray pressure of 5.25 kg/cm2 containing 200 ppm hypochlorite, rather than city water. No undesirable change in beef grade, muscle shear or color property was observed for carcasses treated with the hypochlorite solutions.
Facilitating the transition from bright to dim environments

High on the list of desired capabilities for warfighters noted at the 2008 Fort Benning “Lab Day” was the development of combat protective eyewear with lenses that would instantly change the amount of light they transmit, based on incident lighting conditions. We reviewed the investigation regarding the effect of four different protective spectacle lens designs [clear, standard sunglass, step filter (SF), and electro-optical (EO)] on a soldier’s ability to rapidly transition from bright to dim environments. The dependent measures were selected to specifically permit the findings to be evaluated in both clinical and operational terms. A multifactorial analysis of variance revealed global statistically significant interactive effects regarding the viewing lenses, subject marksmanship, and subject visual acuity. The subjective preference ratings indicated a clear preference for the SF and the EO eyewear over no eyewear, the Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL) clear eyewear, and the APEL sun eyewear. Operational performance results while wearing either of these two optical devices (the SF eyewear and the electronic eyewear) are equally effective. Consequently, the fielding of either transition strategy provides equal acceptance and utility by the soldiers using this transitional gear.
An anisotropic multiphysics damage model with application to annulus fibrosus

Abstract An anisotropic multiphysics damage model is developed to characterize the couplings among multiple physical fields within soft tissues and the tissue damage based on thermodynamic principles. This anisotropic multiphysics damage model integrates the continuum mixture theory and a continuum damage model, and the anisotropic damage is considered by evolution of internal damage variables governing the anisotropic mechanical behaviors of tissues. The energy dissipation associated with the transport of fluid and ions is generally related to tissue damage. The anisotropic multiphysics damage model is applied to simulate a case of annulus fibrosus (AF) damage in an isolated intervertebral disc under compression, to understand the damage initiation and propagation. It is found that, for this case (with 1000 N/s of compression rate and neglected ground matrix damage), the damage initiated in the outer and middle posterior regions of AF at about 700 N of axial compression. The region-dependent yield stretch ratio predicted by this model is consistent with experimental findings. A sensitive study on the damage parameters is also presented. This study provides an additional insight into AF damage in the isolated disc under mechanical compression.
Money Makes the World Go 'Round

Have you ever heard that phrase? I know I have. In fact, there aren't many activities directly or indirectly that we do that don't involve places, spaces, and money. More formally it's called “econ...
Effects of Employee Satisfaction on the Relationship between IT Capability and Firm Performance

It has been widely accepted that Information Technology (IT) within an organization plays a determinant role of positively influencing the firm’s market performance. As technology becomes cheaper and more standardized, entry barriers to adopting advanced technology have been reduced. The adoption of such standardized and homogenous IT systems has lowered expectations of the competitive benefits resulting from the adopted IT. Thus, previous studies have shown mixed results in assessing the relationship between the adoption of IT and a firm’s market performance. Regarding the process of the adoption and use of IT, the skill level of employees has been argued as one of the key inputs to determine the relationship between IT and a firm’s market performance. Employees may resist the changes resulting from modification of current IT or the adoption of new IT. In order to lower such resistance, firms should provide organizational environments which allow associated employees to be comfortable when changing IT systems. Regarding the relationship between the IT resource and employees, previous studies have primarily focused on IT users. However, non-IT users are often affected by the use of IT. In this present study, we argue that all employees including both IT-users and non-IT users must be simultaneously considered in order to fully understand the relationship between IT capability and a firm’s performance. Such a relationship is the result of a comfortable and cooperative environment, which is linked to employee satisfaction. Thus, we propose in this study that employee satisfaction including non-IT-users within the firm’s environment positively affects the relationship between IT capability and firm market performance.
On Poetic Violence: W.B. Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan” and César Vallejo’s “Vusco volvvver de golpe el golpe”

This article begins by exploring the relationship of the production and dissolution of meaning in lyric and the analogous production and dissolution of law in the moment of violence, typically the coup [el golpe] or, as Yeats put it in the poem “Leda and the Swan,” “the sudden blow” that inaugurates history’s regimes. Yeats’s “Leda,” published in 1923, is notoriously a poem that addresses the violence out of which a civilization —that of the modern West— traces its origins or foundations. This essay focuses, by way of contrast, on the Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo’s contemporaneous poem “Vusco volvvver de golpe el golpe,” the ninth lyric in Vallejo’s highly experimental volume Trilce of 1922. The poem is profoundly enigmatic in every regard, but seems to operate as a meditation on the intersection of sexual and political violence and to engage in a continuous proliferation and dissolution of meaning through strategies of multiplication of meaning and of neologism, distortion and pun. The poem thus seems to challenge any limit on reading (the sort of “tact” of knowing where to stop that William Empson famously counselled at the end of Seven Types of Ambiguity) and to constitute a kind of counter-violence to the violence of the law that seeks to put a limit or determination on interpretation. Potentially, the article opens onto what Frantz Fanon once referred to as “social psychosis” and opens a further potential discussion of psychosis as a model for generative poetic meaning. In contrast with “Leda and the Swan,” Trilce IX does not sublimate the violence of the sexual or of the political into the figure of a power/knowledge relation that founds a new law or a new state, but diffuses the violence into a state of exhaustion that supposes a reiteration rather than a reproduction of foundation. Nonetheless, both poems in their similarities as in their differences, raise the question of the profound intimacy of poetry to violence and to the law alike and offers the sketch of a counter-principle to the common conception of the literary work as an institutional practice within a nationalist or anti-colonial context.
Promoting Children's Physical Activity in Low-Income Communities in Colorado: What Are the Barriers and Opportunities?

Introduction Colorado has the highest rate of adult physical activity in the United States. However, children in Colorado have a lower rate of physical activity relative to other states, and the rate is lowest among children in low-income households. We conducted focus groups, surveys, and interviews with parents, youth, and stakeholders to understand barriers to physical activity among children in low-income households in Colorado and to identify opportunities to increase physical activity. Methods From April to July 2016, we recruited participants from 5 communities in Colorado with high rates of poverty, inactivity, and obesity; conducted 20 focus groups with 128 parents and 42 youth; and interviewed 8 stakeholders. All focus group participants completed intake surveys. We analyzed focus group and interviews by using constant comparison. Results We identified 12 themes that reflect barriers to children's physical activity. Within the family context, barriers included parents' work schedules, lack of interest, and competing commitments. At the community level, barriers included affordability, traffic safety, illicit activity in public spaces, access to high-quality facilities, transportation, neighborhood inequities, program availability, lack of information, and low community engagement. Survey respondents most commonly cited lack of affordable options and traffic safety as barriers. Study participants also identified recommendations for addressing these barriers. Providing subsidized transportation, improving parks and recreation centers, and making better use of existing facilities were all proposed as opportunities to improve children's physical activity levels. Conclusion In this formative study of Colorado families, participants confirmed barriers to physical activity that previous research on low-income communities has documented, and these varied by geographic location. Participants proposed a set of solutions for addressing barriers and endorsed community input as an essential first step for planning community-level health initiatives.
THE TROPHIC EFFECT OF THE SYMPATHETIC NEURON ON THE ARTERY WALL IN GROWING RABBITS

ABSTRACT Changes in characteristics of one ear artery of the growing rabbit eight weeks after ipsilateral sympathetic denervation at 3–4 weeks of age were compared to the contralateral vessel. Weight, medial thickness, cross sectional area of media and contractility were reduced and the artery was stiffer. Sensitivity to 1-norepinephrine was increased. Similar results were obtained following decentralization of the superior cervical ganglion indicating that in the absence of adrenergic transmission, arterial wall development is impaired and both structural and functional changes occur.
Testosterone Therapy in the Male Cancer Patient

One of the more controversial issues over the last several years has been the use of testosterone (T) therapy (TTh) in men with prostate cancer (PCa). Many men 50 years or older suffer from ­symptoms of testosterone deficiency, including symptoms of erectile dysfunction, diminished libido, fatigue, depression, and sense of decreased vitality. TTh effectively treats these symptoms in many men, and may provide additional benefits such as increased strength, muscle mass, and bone mineral density (Table 47.1). Yet there has been a long-standing and widely held concern that higher serum T causes more rapid PCa growth. For this reason, any history of PCa has been considered an absolute contraindication to TTh, even in men with apparent cure.
Adjuvant Systemic Therapy: Overview

Seeing the results of a meta-analysis or overview for the first time is somewhat like a first peep through a microscope. One’s initial reaction is likely to be awe, disorientation, or a combination of these. Because of the large number of patients studied in many trials addressing an identical or nearly identical question, an overview that includes all of these patients allows us to detect small or modest effects of therapy that are not always apparent when the data from a single study are evaluated. The increased statistical power resulting from so many events means that differences between the treated and control groups that might not have been apparent at all in a single study of ordinary size, or which would not have been statistically significant in a very large study are not only easily seen but are associated with a p value preceded by many zeros. This level of statistical significance provides assurance that these differences are unlikely to have occurred by chance alone. However, this level of statistical significance may also lead us erroneously to conclude that the differences are much larger than they really are. Confusion arises not only because the process is new to most of us, but because such a large data set allows multiple analyses of the effects of therapy in subsets of patients. To the physician accustomed to absorbing a few major conclusions from a single clinical trial, this enormous buffet of data is often difficult to digest and, at the very least, requires a substantial expenditure of time.