cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predator-prey interactions between the larvacean Oikopleura dioica and bacterioplankton in enclosed water columns

The larvacean Oikopleura dioica Fol was fed 3H-labeled natural assemblages of marine bacterioplankton. Grazing rates ranged from 100 ml day-1 individual-1 and were highly dependent onlarvacean body size. These rates were combined with estimates of abundance of O. dioica in large floating enclosures with semi-natural populations (Controlled Ecosystems Populations Experiment, CEPEX) to determine the impact of the larvacean on the bacterial populations and to estimate the amount of bacteria ingested by the larvaceans. Apparently, O. dioica has minimal influence on the population dynamics of the free-living bacteria, although bacteria may form a substantial portion of the larvacean's diet.
A simple schema for informed decision making about prostate cancer screening

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer is a problematic aspect of primary care. Most guidelines recommend informed decision making by the patient after a discussion with a ph...
Two types of deflationism

It is a fundamental intuition about truth that the conditions under which a sentence is true are given by what the sentence asserts. My aim in this paper is to show that this intuition captures the concept of truth completely and correctly. This is conceptual deflationism, for it does not go beyond what is asserted by a sentence in order to define the truth status of that sentence. This paper, hence, is a defense of deflationism as a conceptual account of truth. This defense is developed in four stages. In the first stage I present a distinction between two types of deflationism, conceptual and metaphysical. This is the central stage of the argument and its main conclusion is that conceptual deflationism when joined with the principle of bivalence is inconsistent with metaphysical deflationism, that is, conceptual deflationism together with bivalence entails a non-deflationary metaphysical account of truth. In the second and third stages of the argument I argue that the totality of the Tarskian biconditionals, when interpreted as definitional biconditionals, offers a description of the nature of truth. In the fourth, and final, stage of the argument I advance a positive case for conceptual deflationism. I explain how the revision theory of truth provides this sort of deflationism with its best evidence: a clear demonstration of its consistency and a compelling argument for its material adequacy.
Miniaturized rf transformer-based baluns for 802.11a/b/g WLAN modules embedded in organic package substrate

Two lumped-element baluns that utilize package- embedded symmetric differential inductors and embedded capacitors have been designed for WiFi and mobile WiMax applications. These baluns have very small form factor with an area of < 3mm2 making them ideal candidates for portable wireless communication devices such as ultra mobile personal computers. The fabricated baluns exhibit excellent electrical performance with measured phase and amplitude imbalances as low as 2 degrees and 0.15 dB, respectively in the frequency bands of interest. Insertion loss values as low as -1.5 dB was also observed.
Expression of Variant Ribosomal RNA Genes in Mouse Oocytes and Preimplantation Embryos

Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) is not composed of multiple copies of identical transcription units, as commonly believed, but rather of at least seven rDNA variant subtypes that are expressed in somatic cells. This finding raises the possibility that ribosome function may be modulated as proposed by the ribosome filter hypothesis. We report here that mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos express all the rDNA variants except variant V and that there is no marked developmental change in the qualitative pattern of variant expression. The maternal and embryonic ribosome pools are therefore quite similar, minimizing the likelihood that developmental changes in composition of the ribosome population are critical for preimplantation development.
Health & Demographic Surveillance System Profile: The Nahuche Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Northern Nigeria (Nahuche HDSS)

The Nahuche Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) study site, established in 2009 with 137 823 individuals is located in Zamfara State, north western Nigeria. North-West Nigeria is a region with one of the worst maternal and child health indicators in Nigeria. For example, the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey estimated an under-five mortality rate of 185 deaths per 1000 live births for the north-west geo-political zone compared with a national average of 128 deaths per 1000 live births. The site comprises over 100 villages under the leadership of six district heads. Virtually all the residents of the catchment population are Hausa by ethnicity. After a baseline census in 2010, regular update rounds of data collection are conducted every 6 months. Data collection on births, deaths, migration events, pregnancies, marriages and marriage termination events are routinely conducted. Verbal autopsy (VA) data are collected on all deaths reported during routine data collection. Annual update data on antenatal care and household characteristics are also collected. Opportunities for collaborations are available at Nahuche HDSS. The Director of Nahuche HDSS, M.O. Oche at [ochedr@hotmail.com] is the contact person for all forms of collaboration.
The Transfer and History of “Reduced Height Genes” (Rht) in Wheat from Japan to Europe

Wheat is the main crop and often a strategic crop in many European countries. From a historical perspective, we describe the transfer of "reduced height genes" (Rht genes) from Japanese wheat varieties to wheat varieties in Europe and their influence on the increase of the total wheat production in the last century. Historic pathways of Rht genes were influenced directly or indirectly by wheat breeders exchanging seed samples and by some governments importing large quantities of wheat during historically critical periods for their countries.
Win, Lose, or Draw: Effects of Residency, Size, Sex, and Kinship on High-Stakes Larval Contests in a Moth

Many factors can affect the outcome of a competitive interaction. One such factor is the relatedness between competitors as competitive intensity may decrease between kin. Because adult females lay eggs in clusters, larvae of the moth Utetheisa ornatrix are likely to be found in high densities of their siblings. Larval U. ornatrix actively compete for access into seedpods of their host plant (Crotalaria spp.), and successful competitors will reap numerous reproductive benefits during adulthood. The objective of this study was to determine whether residency, size, sex, and relatedness affect competition over seedpods in U. ornatrix larvae. In one-on-one trials for access into artificial seedpods, we monitored occupancy and weight change of larvae varying in residency, size, sex, and relatedness. We found that larger larvae have a competitive advantage over smaller larvae. This finding has consequences for the mating system of U. ornatrix in that females, by selecting males based on pheromone levels that are correlated with body size, can rear larger offspring that will have an advantage in competition over seedpods. These data did not support our hypothesis that males would outcompete females, perhaps because the rewards of acquiring a seedpod are substantial for both sexes. Finally, our data show that resident larvae are more likely to maintain control of seedpods over sibling than non-siblings intruders, which suggests that relatedness affects competitive interactions.
Farm Foreclosures in the United States During the Interwar Period

Farm foreclosures in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s reached heights never previously or since exceeded. In this paper hypotheses are proposed and tested to account for the cross-state variation in farm foreclosures during the interwar period. Foreclosures are modeled to depend on depressed farm earnings throughout the 1920s and 1930s, optimistic agricultural expansion brought on by World War I, and cross-state variation in mortgage debt structure. The empirical results are consistent with the proposed multiple causal model.
Effect of daily noise exposure monitoring on annual rates of hearing loss in industrial workers

Objectives Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is prevalent, yet evidence on the effectiveness of preventive interventions is lacking. The effectiveness of a new technology allowing workers to monitor daily at-ear noise exposure was analysed. Methods Workers in the hearing conservation program of an aluminium smelter were recruited because of accelerated rates of hearing loss. The intervention consisted of daily monitoring of at-ear noise exposure and regular feedback on exposures from supervisors. The annual rate of change in high frequency hearing average at 2, 3 and 4 KHz before intervention (2000–2004) and 4 years after intervention (2006–2009) was determined. Annual rates of loss were compared between 78 intervention subjects and 234 controls in other company smelters matched for age, gender and high frequency hearing threshold level in 2005. Results Individuals monitoring daily noise exposure experienced on average no further worsening of high frequency hearing (average rate of hearing change at 2, 3 and 4 KHz=–0.5 dB/year). Matched controls also showed decelerating hearing loss, the difference in rates between the two groups being significant (p Conclusion Monitoring daily occupational noise exposure inside hearing protection with ongoing administrative feedback apparently reduces the risk of occupational NIHL in industrial workers. Longer follow-up of these workers will help determine the significance of the intervention effect. Intervention studies for the prevention of NIHL need to include appropriate control groups.
A Cross-Architectural Interface for Code Cache Manipulation

Software code caches help amortize the overhead of dynamic binary transformation by enabling reuse of transformed code. Since code caches contain a potentially-altered copy of every instruction that executes, run-time access to a code cache can be a very powerful opportunity. Unfortunately, current research infrastructures lack the ability to model and direct code caching, and as a result, past code cache investigations have required access to the source code of the binary transformation system. This paper presents a code cache-aware interface to the pin dynamic instrumentation system. While a program executes, our interface allows a user to inspect the code cache, receive callbacks when key events occur, and manipulate the code cache contents at will. We demonstrate the utility of this interface on four architectures (IA32, EM64T, IPF, XScale) and present several tools written using our API. These tools include a self-modifying code handler, a two-phase instrumentation analyzer, a code cache visualizer, and custom code cache replacement policies. We also show that tools written using our interface have comparable performance to direct, source-level implementations. Both our interface and sample open-source tools that utilize the interface have been incorporated into the standard distribution of the pin dynamic instrumentation engine, which has been downloaded over 5,000 times in 18 months.
Biofeedback Treatment for Functional Anorectal Disorders: A Comprehensive Efficacy Review

This review aimed to critically evaluate the literature on the efficacy of biofeedback for functional anorectal disorders, rate these biofeedback applications according to established guidelines, and make recommendations for this field based on the literature. The Medline and PsychInfo databases were searched to obtain all papers published from 1975 to 2003 that included the terms “biofeedback” and either “constipation,” “pelvic floor dyssynergia,” “fecal incontinence,” or “anorectal pain.” Adult and pediatric papers in any language were screened. Prospective studies with five or more participants and a description of the treatment protocol and outcome were selected for review. Seventy-four studies qualified for review: 33 trials on fecal incontinence (FI), 38 on pelvic floor dyssynergia (PFD) or functional constipation, and 3 on anorectal pain. Only 20% of studies were controlled outcome trials. Treatment protocols, etiological subgroups studied and outcome measures varied greatly. The overall average probability of successful treatment outcome for patients treated with biofeedback was 67.2% for functional FI and 62.4% for constipation. There were insufficient data to warrant such calculation for anorectal pain. According to standard efficacy rating criteria, biofeedback treatment is efficacious for functional constipation or PFD in children and probably efficacious in adults; probably efficacious for functional FI; and possibly efficacious for anorectal pain. Utilizing data from all applicable studies, we found that success rate per subject is significantly higher for biofeedback treatment than for standard medical care for PFD/functional constipation, and FI (p < .001 for both). Biofeedback treatment may therefore be viewed as a valuable adjunct to medical management of functional PFD/constipation and incontinence. A number of recommendations for future investigations are made based on the review.
Renormalized anisotropic exchange for representing heat assisted magnetic recording media

Anisotropic exchange has been incorporated in a description of magnetic recording media near the Curie temperature, as would be found during heat assisted magnetic recording. The new parameters were found using a cost function that minimized the difference between atomistic properties and those of renormalized spin blocks. Interestingly, the anisotropic exchange description at 1.5 nm discretization yields very similar switching and magnetization behavior to that found at 1.2 nm (and below) discretization for the previous isotropic exchange. This suggests that the increased accuracy of anisotropic exchange may also reduce the computational cost during simulation.
CCM, CEA, and CSM-Based HPCMP Systems Assessment Using GAMESS, OOCORE, and RF-CTH

The High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) obtains new supercomputing hardware each year through a rigorous acquisition process known as technology insertion (TI). TI is based primarily on application benchmarks. The suite of applications used spans many disciplines and is carefully constructed to accurately reflect the high Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) computational workload. The application codes GAMESS, OOCORE, and RF-CTH were used to represent the contributions to the workload in the areas of computational chemistry and materials science (CCM), computational electromagnetics and acoustics (CEA), and computational structural mechanics (CSM), respectively. This paper will compare the performance of the application test cases GAMESS standard/large, OOCORE standard/large, and RF-CTH standard/large on major HPCMP high performance computing (HPC) architectures.
Energetics and structural properties of trapped two-component Fermi gases

Using two different numerical methods, we study the behavior of two-component Fermi gases interacting through short-range $s$-wave interactions in a harmonic trap. A correlated Gaussian basis-set expansion technique is used to determine the energies and structural properties, i.e., the radial one-body densities and pair distribution functions, for small systems with either even or odd $N$, as functions of the $s$-wave scattering length and the mass ratio $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ of the two species. Particular emphasis is put on a discussion of the angular momentum of the system in the BEC-BCS crossover regime. At unitarity, the excitation spectrum of the four-particle system with total angular momentum $L=0$ is calculated as a function of the mass ratio $\ensuremath{\kappa}$. The results are analyzed from a hyperspherical perspective, which offers unique insight into the problem. Additionally, fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo calculations are performed for equal-mass Fermi gases with up to $N=30$ atoms. We focus on the odd-even oscillations of the ground-state energy of the equal-mass unitary system having up to $N=30$ particles, which are related to the excitation gap of the system. Furthermore, we present a detailed analysis of the structural properties of these systems.
The Reliability of Using the Iterative Proportional Fitting Procedure

This paper demonstrates the utility of the iterative proportional fitting procedure (IPF) in generating disaggregated spatial data from aggregated data and evaluates the performance of the procedure. Estimates of individual level data created by IPF using data of equal-interval categories are reliable, but the performance of the estimation can be improved by increasing sample size. The improvement usually is enough to offset the increase in error created by other factors. If the two variables defining the cross-classification have a significant interaction effect and the number of categories in each variable is larger than two, then IPF is preferred over an independent model.
Nonlinear shear behavior and interlaminar shear strength of unidirectional polymer matrix composites: A numerical study

Abstract Detailed finite element implementation is presented for a recently developed technique (He et al., 2012) to characterize nonlinear shear stress–strain response and interlaminar shear strength based on short-beam shear test of unidirectional polymeric composites. The material characterization couples iterative three-dimensional finite element modeling for stress calculation with digital image correlation for strain evaluation. Extensive numerical experiments were conducted to examine the dependence of the measured shear behavior on specimen and test configurations. The numerical results demonstrate that consistent results can be achieved for specimens with various span-to-thickness ratios, supporting the accurate material properties for the carbon/epoxy composite under study.
Stochastic testing of finite state machines

This paper discusses an approach that uses statistical observations about the steady-state behavior of a finite state machine (FSM) in order to detect and identify permanent failures in its state transition mechanism. The intended application domain is in testing/monitoring digital dynamic systems against permanent failures, such as manufacturing defects or stuck-at faults. In order to test for the correctness of the state transition function of a given FSM, we apply inputs that are chosen according to some fixed probability distribution. We show that by analyzing perturbations in the steady-state probabilities of different states, one can detect and identify permanent changes in the state transition function. The proposed technique only requires knowledge of the input probability distribution and the steady-state reached by the FSM, and can potentially be used in testing/monitoring of distributed systems (where the exact order of inputs, states and outputs may not be known) or in systems with observability constraints in their inputs, states and/or outputs.
An undulator in the spectral range 200–1000 eV for the Stanford synchrotron radiation laboratory

Abstract Design parameters of an undulator for use in SPEAR at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, in the spectral range 200–1000 eV are determined. The source size and angular properties of light that can be obtained from such a device are calculated for the vertical component from considerations in phase space. Flux comparison with a bending magnet light source is also given.
Quantitative image restoration

Even with the most extensive precautions and careful planning, space based imagers will inevitably experience problems resulting in partial data corruption and possible loss. Such a loss occurs, for example, when individual image detectors are damaged. For a scanning imager this results in missing lines in the image. Images with missing lines can wreak havoc since algorithms not typically designed to handle missing pixels. Currently the metadata stores the locations of missing data, and naive spatial interpolation is used to fill it in. Naive interpolation methods can create image artifacts and even statistically or physically implausible image values. We present a general method, which uses non-linear statistical regression to estimate the values of the missing data in a principled manner. A statistically based estimate is desirable because it will preserve the statistical structure of the uncorrupted data and avoid the artifacts of naive interpolation. It also means that the restored images are suitable as input for higher-level statistical products. Previous methods replaced the missing values with those of a single closely related band, by applying a function or lookup table. We propose to use the redundant information in multiple bands to restore the lost information. The estimator we present in this paper uses values in a neighborhood of the pixel to be estimated, and propose a value based on training data from the uncorrupted pixels. Since we use the spatial variations in other channels, we avoid the blurring inherent spatial interpolation, which have implicit smoothness priors.
Discrimination of Larval Morone Geometric Shape Differences with Landmark-Based Morphometrics

Abstract We investigated the use of geometric morphological shape differences to differentiate laboratory-reared larval (4–22 days posthatch, < 10 mm SL) Morone chrysops, Morone saxatilis, and Morone chrysops ♀ × M. saxatilis ♂ hybrids. We also examined impacts of allometry on descriptions of individual shape. For validation of a shape-based taxonomic discrimination model, we used cellulose acetate electrophoresis to establish a “known species” test group of field-collected larvae based on banding patterns for the enzyme system esterase. Geometric shape was described with Cartesian coordinates of 16 anatomical landmarks located along the midsaggital outline of laboratory-reared (n = 373) and field-collected (n = 29) larvae. Coordinate data were reoriented and rescaled to uniform centroid size and analyzed as landmark displacements from a reference form. Discriminant function analysis resulted in 100% separation of M. chrysops and M. saxatilis larvae based on geometric shape. Discrimination success dropped...
Looking Ahead in Engineering Education

The role of the prophet is precarious. Based on the expansion of knowledge in the physical sciences, and the life sciences, supported by a study of the engineering profession and engineering educat...
White Populist Opposition to the Obama Administration: The Persistence of Conservative Racialized Politics in a Supposedly Post-Racial Age

This paper analyzes how the right in the United States has utilized the politics of race to erode popular support for social rights and public provision. Work began on this project just before President Barack Obama’s election; if anything, the fervent conservative opposition to his moderate reform project demonstrates that many whites suffering from the pain of decades of global economic restructuring continue to displace their anger upon immigrants and African-Americans rather than upon the corporate elites responsible for the Great Recession. As conservative populist demagogues wail against Obama’s modest economic recovery strategy as “socialist,” the translation of this misnomer is the persistent conservative belief that activist government serves to redistribute income and wealth from “hard-working citizens” (read whites) to the “undeserving poor” (read allegedly indolent poor people of color). Obama’s national health care program, modest fiscal stimulus program, and bank bail-out and financial regulatory reform consciously did not challenge corporate prerogatives. Thus, many on the left are disappointed that Obama failed to use the deepest capitalist crisis since the 1930s to institute a “New New Deal” that would redistribute income and wealth and enable a labor movement that has suffered thirty years of government and corporate hostility to organize on a level playing field. The Employee Free Choice Act failed to make it to the floor of Congress, yet it would have enhanced opportunities for female workers and workers of color in service industries (which cannot be outsourced overseas) to improve their working conditions. But what some on the left fail to acknowledge is that the absence of mass social movements fighting foreclosures, unemployment, and painful state and local budget cutbacks means that there is no pressure (counter-veiling to the power of corporate interests) “to force the president” -- as Obama has periodically urged his base -- to “do the right thing.”
The Volatility of Real Estate Markets: A Decomposition

The research reported in this article examines how the volatility of real estate markets can be exactly decomposed into supply-side and demand-side factors that add up. What allows this is measuring volatility with vacancy, rather than examining rents, income, or investment return. In this decomposition, the role of supply depends keenly on its timing relative to demand side shocks. When the correlation between the two sides of the market is sufficiently positive, supply can help to reduce market volatility. Negative correlations imply that supply always contributes to market volatility. Empirically, the author compares the overall volatility of 50 metropolitan markets, across several property types (offices, apartments, industrial, and hotels) and finds very different decompositions across the types. With these decompositions, the author tries to characterize those kinds of markets (geographically within each type of property) whose volatility is driven more by demand rather than by supply factors.
User Profiling for University Recommender System Using Automatic Information Retrieval

User Profiling is the process of Extracting, Integrating and Identifying the keyword based information to generate a structured Profile and then visualizing the knowledge out of these findings. User profiling helps personalizing a system to work according to user. Therefore user profiling or personalization is one of the major concepts used for accessing the user relevant information, which can be used to solve the difficult problems of recommender system like classification and ranking of items in accordance with an individual's interest.In this paper we focus on the problem of user profiling in which we aim at finding, extracting and integrating keyword based information from various web sources to generate a structured profile. Further we do some experiments on the profiled information to generate knowledge out of it.
Diffusion of Fluorine-Silicon Interstitial Complex in Crystalline Silicon

Based on first principles density functional theory calculations, we identify the structure and diffusion pathway for a fluorine-silicon interstitial complex (F-Sii). We find the F-Sii complex to be most stable in the singly positive charge state at all Fermi leVels. At mid-gap, the complex is found to have a binding energy of 1.08 eV relative to bond-centered F+ and (110)-split Sii. We find the F-Sii complex has an overall migration barrier of 0.76 eV, which suggests that this complex may play an important role in fluorine diffusion. Our results should lead to more accurate models that describe the behavior of fluorine co-implants crystalline silicon.
Analysis and Simulation for Anti-jamming Principle of Four-element Infrared Detector

For multi-element detecting system of the third generation infrared seeker,error-checking principle is introduced and basic anti-jamming principle with improved method called wave-gate is analyzed.Then a signal-processing system of four-element detecting system is built under the MATLAB simulation environment,and it is proved that four-element infrared detecting system has good capacity under multi-jamming environment.Finally,against the shortage of the proposed system shown in the simulation,an improved algorithm is proposed which is proved to be efficient.
Role of purinergic receptors in chloride secretion in Caco-2 cells

Purinergic receptors play an important role in regulating Cl- secretion in epithelial cells. To explore further the role of these receptors in the intestine, we utilized the human intestinal epithe...
Services for Youth in Closed Settings: Gaps in Services

Nearly 4% of all youth 8–18 years old are involved in the justice system (Taxman et al. 2007a). In 2008, 2.11 million juveniles were arrested (Puzzanchera 2009). However, over 101,000 youth are detained in a myriad of facilities: detention (26,590 youth), correctional facilities (32,260 youth), camps (9,770 youth), community-based (18,360 youth), and residential treatment (14,070 youth) (Sedlak and McPherson 2010). Detained youth in closed settings rely upon the facility for their basic needs. Youth detained in facilities tend to have a compilation of biosocial needs including higher rates of substance use disorders, mental health issues, physical disorders, and educational needs (see Sedlak and McPherson 2010). The challenge is to address these needs to better prepare the youth to be part of the community. In this chapter, we provide a brief overview of the juvenile justice system and juvenile offender populations, we describe the residential facilities, we examine the unique needs of detained youth, and we indentify the services provided in these facilities, including (a) health, (b) mental health, (c) substance abuse, and (d) education. The final section is devoted to a discussion of the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBP) as it relates to juvenile justice facilities.
Characteristics of airflow over and around mountain ranges according to “ALPEX”

The influence of mountain ranges on the atmosphere covers practically all scales from local effects to global circulation pattern. The main effort so far has been on the two ends of these scales, namely on the gravity scale of about 10 km and on the planetary scale of about 10,000 km. It is, however, in the intermediate range (synoptic and subsynoptic) that orography produces the most weather-effective processes and it is here that scale interactions are least understood and most difficult to model.
Class II malocclusion: mandibular retrusion or maxillary protrusion?

This study was undertaken to evaluate whether the majority of Class II skeletal patterns are mandibular retrusive or maxillary protrusive and also to compare four maxillary sagittal cephalometric indicators and four mandibular sagittal cephalometric indicators in a skeletal Class II sample. The Fishman SMA method was used to stratify the subjects into 11 maturity levels. Computerized cephalometric programs selected the subjects and compared the different indicators for each subject. The results indicate a wide diversity in the evaluation of maxillary protrusion and mandibular retrusion in these subjects. The Downs facial angle indicated that only 27.0% of the sample had mandibular retrusion. The angle NA-FH indicates that 56.3% of the sample had maxillary protrusion. These findings are in marked contrast to those evaluated by some of the other indicators. Preliminary data from this study was presented at a combined meeting of the Orthodontic Society of the Cote D'Azur and the North Atlantic Component of the E.H. Angle Society of Orthodontists, Nice, France, October 1990 and at the annual meeting of the North Atlantic Component of the E.H. Angle Society of Orthodontists, Philadelphia, April 1991.
3 + 2 photoionization of Xe in a pulsed, stochastic field

We have developed a computational framework for the study of the effects of field fluctuations on strongly driven nonlinear transitions. Nonlinearity may stem from cither the strong coupling (saturation) of a resonant transition or its multiphoton character, or it may stem from both in the most general case. Our approach is based on a Monte Carlo simulation of stochastic field fluctuations, which allows maximum flexibility in the stochastic nature of the field and in the type of process that is studied. Here, we report on a more general problem than has previously been considered in the interaction of atoms with stochastic fields, namely, the three-photon resonant five- photon ionization of xenon, 3 + 2 photoionization of xenon has been the subject of a fair number of experimental investigations. It involves nonlinearity in with a bound-bound and a bound-free transition as well as an ac-Stark shift. Consequently, there are correlations among three fluctuating parameters: the three-photon Rabi frequency, the two-photon ionization rate, and the intensity-dependent ac-Stark shift, and it is these correlations that make the stochastic-field problem almost intractable to traditional methods of analysis.
Valproate-Induced Hyperammonemic Encephalopathy

Valproate-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy (VHE), predisposing causes, clinical, laboratory, and EEG findings, and therapy are reviewed from the Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
Epidermal vitamin D metabolism, function, and regulation.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the autocrine role of vitamin D in the epidermis, that is, production of the hormonally active form of vitamin D in the epidermis, and its modulation of epidermal cell differentiation. The vitamin D endocrine system is important not only in the regulation of calcium homeostasis but also in the growth and differentiation of cells of the immune system and skin. The effect of 1,25-(OH)2 D3 on epidermal cell differentiation may be mediated by the Cai levels of these cells. A better understanding of the basic mechanism of action of 1,25-(OH)2 D3 on the differentiation of keratinocytes may have important pharmacological and therapeutic implications. Manipulation of epidermal 1,25-(OH)2 D3 production could provide a novel approach to the therapy of certain skin diseases characterized by aberrant proliferation and differentiation, such as psoriasis or carcinomas.
Comparing an Atomic Model or Structure to a Corresponding Cryo-electron Microscopy Image at the Central Axis of a Helix.

Abstract Three-dimensional density maps of biological specimens from cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can be interpreted in the form of atomic models that are modeled into the density, or they can be compared to known atomic structures. When the central axis of a helix is detectable in a cryo-EM density map, it is possible to quantify the agreement between this central axis and a central axis calculated from the atomic model or structure. We propose a novel arc-length association method to compare the two axes reliably. This method was applied to 79 helices in simulated density maps and six case studies using cryo-EM maps at 6.4–7.7 A resolution. The arc-length association method is then compared to three existing measures that evaluate the separation of two helical axes: a two-way distance between point sets, the length difference between two axes, and the individual amino acid detection accuracy. The results show that our proposed method sensitively distinguishes lateral and longitudinal discrepancies...
Novel DNA Binding and Regulatory Activities for σ 54 (RpoN) in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium 14028s

The variable sigma (σ) subunit of the bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) holoenzyme, which is responsible for promoter specificity and open complex formation, plays a strategic role in the response to environmental changes. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium utilizes the housekeeping σ70 and five alternative sigma factors, including σ54 The σ54-RNAP differs from other σ-RNAP holoenzymes in that it forms a stable closed complex with the promoter and requires ATP hydrolysis by an activated cognate bacterial enhancer binding protein (bEBP) to transition to an open complex and initiate transcription. In S. Typhimurium, σ54-dependent promoters normally respond to one of 13 different bEBPs, each of which is activated under a specific growth condition. Here, we utilized a constitutively active, promiscuous bEBP to perform a genome-wide identification of σ54-RNAP DNA binding sites and the transcriptome of the σ54 regulon of S. Typhimurium. The position and context of many of the identified σ54 RNAP DNA binding sites suggest regulatory roles for σ54-RNAP that connect the σ54 regulon to regulons of other σ factors to provide a dynamic response to rapidly changing environmental conditions.IMPORTANCE The alternative sigma factor σ54 (RpoN) is required for expression of genes involved in processes with significance in agriculture, bioenergy production, bioremediation, and host-microbe interactions. The characterization of the σ54 regulon of the versatile pathogen S. Typhimurium has expanded our understanding of the scope of the σ54 regulon and how it links to other σ regulons within the complex regulatory network for gene expression in bacteria.
A Note on the Kirwan’s Conjecture

We continue our investigation on a second variation formula of the Koebe function in the class $$\Sigma $$ of functions analytic and univalent in the exterior of the unit disk. Our aim is to give some supporting evidence of a conjecture raised by William Kirwan on the coefficients of functions in this class.
Ideal Reasoners don’t Believe in Zombies

The negative zombie argument states that p&~q is ideally negatively conceivable and, therefore, possible, what would entail that physicalism is false (Chalmers, 2002, 2010}. In the argument, p is the conjunction of the fundamental physical truths and laws and $q$ is a phenomenal truth. A sentence phi is ideally negatively conceivable iff phi cannot be ruled out a priori on ideal rational reflection. In this paper, I argue that if its premises are true, the negative zombie argument is neither conclusive (valid) nor a priori. First, I argue that the argument is sound iff there exists a finite ideal reasoner R for a logic x with the relevant properties which believes (p&~q) on the basis of not believing p->q on a priori basis. A finite reasoner is a reasoner with finite memory and finite computational power. I argue that if x has the relevant properties and R is finite, then x must be nonmonotonic and R may only approach ideallity at the limit of a reasoning sequence. This would render the argument nonconclusive. Finally, I argue that, for some q, R does not believe (p&~q) on the basis of not believing p->q on a priori basis. For example, for q=`someone is conscious'. I conclude that the negative zombie argument (and, maybe, all zombie arguments) is neither conclusive nor a priori (the choice of q relies on empirical information).
Hyperpyrexia as the Presenting Symptom of Intracranial Hypotension.

Hyperpyrexia is a severely elevated core body temperature secondary to an elevated hypothalamic set thermo-regulatory threshold. Hyperthermia is an elevated core body temperature beyond the normal hypothalamic set thermo-regulatory threshold. Intracranial hypotension can present with a wide variety of symptoms ranging from orthostatic headache up to coma. We report a rare case of hyperpyrexia associated with intracranial hypotension. A case report of a 55-year-old female patient with a history of angiogram-negative subarachnoid hemorrhage status post-ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement six years prior to admission who suddenly developed encephalopathy and high fever. Conventional management of the fever was unsuccessful. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed signs of significant intracranial hypotension. When the VP shunt was tapped, no cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could be obtained. Once the VP shunt settings were adjusted, the patient’s encephalopathy and hyperpyrexia resolved. Hyperpyrexia might be a presenting symptom of intracranial hypotension, likely, secondary to hypothalamic dysfunction and compression. In our case, hyperpyrexia was reversible as the intracranial hypotension was emergently treated. Spontaneous intracranial hypotension might be difficult to diagnose, especially if it presented with non-classical symptoms like fever; thus, physicians should be aware of such association.
Identifying the Most Critical Transportation Intersections using Social Network Analysis

ABSTRACTTraffic congestion negatively impacts our society. Most of the traditional transportation planning techniques – though effective – require rigorous amounts of data and analysis which consumes time and resources. This paper uses social network analysis (SNA) to analyze transportation networks, and consequently corroborate the effectiveness of SNA as a complementary tool for improved transportation planning. After creating the connection between the language and concepts of SNA and those of transportation systems – as well as developing a model that utilizes different SNA centrality measures within the transportation context – the authors utilize SNA to investigate traffic networks in three case studies in the state of Louisiana, analyze the results and draw conclusions. To this effect, with minimal cost and time, the model identifies the most critical intersections that should be further investigated using traditional techniques. These results are in agreement with the findings of Louisiana’s Depar...
Ectonucleotidase-Mediated Suppression of Lupus Autoimmunity and Vascular Dysfunction.

Objectives: CD39 and CD73 are surface enzymes that jut into the extracellular space where they mediate the step-wise phosphohydrolysis of the autocrine and paracrine danger signals ATP and ADP into anti-inflammatory adenosine. Given the role of vascular and immune cells’ “purinergic halo” in maintaining homeostasis, we hypothesized that the ectonucleotidases CD39 and CD73 might play a protective role in lupus. Methods: Lupus was modeled by intraperitoneal administration of pristane to three groups of mice: wild-type (WT), CD39-/-, and CD73-/-. After 36 weeks, autoantibodies, endothelial function, kidney disease, splenocyte activation/polarization, and neutrophil activation were characterized. Results: As compared with WT mice, CD39-/- mice developed exaggerated splenomegaly in response to pristane, while both groups of ectonucleotidase-deficient mice demonstrated heightened anti-ribonucleoprotein production. The administration of pristane to WT mice triggered only subtle dysfunction of the arterial endothelium; however, both CD39-/- and CD73-/- mice demonstrated striking endothelial dysfunction following induction of lupus, which could be reversed by superoxide dismutase. Activated B cells and plasma cells were expanded in CD73-/- mice, while deficiency of either ectonucleotidase led to expansion of TH17 cells. CD39-/- and CD73-/- mice demonstrated exaggerated neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) release, while CD73-/- mice additionally had higher levels of plasma cell-free DNA. Conclusions: These data are the first to link ectonucleotidases with lupus autoimmunity and vascular disease. New therapeutic strategies may harness purinergic nucleotide dissipation or signaling to limit the damage inflicted upon organs and blood vessels by lupus.
Getting Normative: The Role of Natural Rights in Constitutional Adjudication.

We are in the midst of a natural law revival. Not since the Hart-Fuller debate2 in the wake of Nuremberg has legal academia witnessed such interest in the topics of natural law and natural rights.3 While this development may be only the most recent aspect of the now several decades old revival of normative legal philosophy that I chronicled some ten years ago,4 the immediate cause of this interest was, of course, the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States. The
The Development of Nuclear Explosives

The development of nuclear explosives by the United States and their embedding in nuclear weapons systems has proceeded through several basic phases, most of which in turn have several well-defined sub-epochs. We review these to the extent possible under present circumstances from the perspective of Edward Teller’s impact on mid-twentieth century history.
Sleep and alcohol use

Abstract Alcohol is one of the most commonly used psychoactive substances in the community, with 56% of individuals 18 years or older reporting alcohol use in the past month [120]. Its use has been linked to a wide range of sleep-related disorders and their associated daytime consequences such as daytime sedation and tiredness. These daytime ramifications may affect the individual’s ability to function satisfactorily.
Unpacking Prevalence and Dichotomy in qSOFA Parameters: A Step towards Multi-parameter Intelligent Sepsis Prediction in ICU

Considering the severity and annual treatment costs, the rising incidents of sepsis and septic shock in the United States among ICU admissions is an increasing concern. The purpose of this research is to unpack the most prevalent criterion for sepsis based on the qSOFA predictors, the most prevalent sepsis scenario in the ICU; and investigate the dichotomy among qSOFA parameters. This study is conducted using critical care database of MIT: MIMIC-III; and takes the qSOFA parameters - altered mental status in Glasgow Coma Scale, respiratory rate, and systolic arterial blood pressure - for patients admitted to the critical care units from 2001 to 2012 into account to understand the prevalence and relation between these parameters among the patients underwent sepsis screening. This study reveals tachypnea (high respiratory rate) as the most prevalent sepsis criterion, and two-factored sepsis comprising of tachypnea and altered mental status as the most prevalent scenario experienced among the sepsis patients in ICU. Besides, Pearson correlation coefficients from our analysis affirm the dichotomy among the sepsis parameters. This data-driven insight offers design implication for multi-parameter intelligent sepsis prediction in ICU.
Risk-Aversion Adjusted Portfolio Optimization with Predictive Modeling

We propose a multi-period portfolio optimization method rooted on the mean-risk framework, in which the risk-aversion coefficient is adjusted in response to the market trend movement predicted by machine learning models. We use the Gini's Mean Difference to characterize the risk of the portfolio, and employ a series of technical indicators as the features to feed the predictive machine learning models. A set of comprehensive computational tests are carried out within a rolling-horizon approach to evaluate the performance of the generated portfolios. The empirical results show that the regularized logistic regression model provides the best prediction of market trend movement, while the proposed dynamic risk-aversion adjusted portfolio rebalancing strategy generates portfolios with higher time-series cumulative returns than a static strategy with fixed risk-aversion coefficient.
Advances in Inner Ear Therapeutics for Hearing Loss in Children

Hearing loss is a common congenital sensory disorder with various underlying causes. Here, we review and focus on genetic, infectious, and ototoxic causes and recent advances in inner ear therapeutics. While hearing aids and cochlear implantation are the mainstay of treatment for pediatric hearing loss, novel biological therapeutics are being explored. Recent preclinical studies report positive results in viral-mediated gene transfer techniques and surgical approaches to the inner ear for genetic hearing loss. Novel pharmacologic agents, on the other hand, show promising results in reducing aminoglycoside and cisplatin ototoxicity. Clinical trials are underway to evaluate the efficacy of antivirals for cytomegalovirus-related hearing loss, and its pathogenesis and other potential therapeutics are currently under investigation. Individualized therapies for genetic and infectious causes of sensorineural hearing loss in animal models as well as pediatric patients show promising results, with their potential efficacy being active areas of research.
Untangling the ties that bind different systemic signals in plants

Systemic signaling in plants is orchestrated by a complex network of interconnected systemic signals and cell types. In this issue of Science Signaling, Shao et al unveil how different wound-induced signals integrate into a well-regulated systemic response.
Drought in the U.S. Caribbean: Impacts on Crops

This fact sheet is part of a series examining what we know about the impacts of drought on ecosystems and agriculture in the U.S. Caribbean.