cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
From colonization to “environmental soy”: A case study of environmental and socio-economic valuation in the Amazon soy frontier

This paper examines the socio-economic and environmental implications of soy development in Santarem, Para, located in the Brazilian Amazon. The settlement history of the region contributes directly to the way in which soy agriculture is currently proceeding in Santarem. Government policies and perspectives have been shaped by a history of agrarian colonization of Amazon forests, and the small farmers, or colonos, who are now being bought out by soy agribusiness are also rooted in this history. As a means of ascertaining the current state and interaction of soy actors with the burgeoning soy-based economy in the area, field research was conducted on the role of primary and secondary forests for soy production. Research also included an analysis of valuation discourses – that is, how the differing soy actors (local government, agribusiness, conservation NGOs, and small farmers) assign value to types of forests and their different interpretations of what constitutes environmental degradation. The ways in which these different actors assign such values to forests and how they structure the definition of environmental degradation is a key factor in determining who “wins” and “loses” in the realm of Amazon development. Significant environmental and socio-economic implications of soy expansion, especially for the colonos, are not taken into account because the dominant rhetoric of Amazonian development ignores their contribution to social and ecological diversity. This omission keeps colono communities living at poverty level and even exacerbates colono poverty under the soy development project. The colonos and their representatives are responding by setting forth their own, competing valuations of primary and secondary forests that contrast sharply with state soy growing schemes and NGO plans for “sustainable soy.” These have their roots in local knowledge and best practices.
Tandem Electrocyclic Ring Opening/Radical Cyclization: Application to the Total Synthesis of Cribrostatin 6.

Abstract A concise total synthesis of cribrostatin 6 (1), an antimicrobial and antineoplastic agent, was accomplished using a tandem electrocyclic ring opening/radical cyclization sequence. Specifically, intermediate 4 underwent a 4π-electrocyclic ring opening, radical cyclization, and homolytic aromatic substitution sequence followed by an oxidation to afford the natural product 1 in one pot. Owing to the rapid buildup of complexity in the key step, 1 could be synthesized from commercially available starting materials in only four linear steps. Application of this chemistry to the concise syntheses of analogs of cribrostatin 6 (1) is also reported.
Surface wave waveform anomalies at the Saudi Seismic Network

This paper describes surface wave waveforms observed at the Saudi Arabian Seismic Network. We identify records corresponding to events occuring in the Kuril Islands region as anomalous and discuss possible causes for the waveform distortions. Most likely, the waveform anomalies are caused by constructive and destructive interference of laterally refracted wave packets. Some waveform anomalies are probably of instrumental origin and we suspect a calibration error for the vertical component at station RIYD. For station AFIF, we find a significant clockwise rotation of the horizontal components with respect to geographic North by approximately 4 degrees.
A summary of observations of the earth's bow shock

The earth's bow shock can be regarded as a fast steady-state collisionless magnetohydrodynamic shock exhibiting a wide range of plasma parameter values or as an example of superalfvenic flow of a MHD fluid past a blunt body. This paper summarizes our knowledge of the bow shock. Satellite crossings of the shock have given some empirical data on the position and shape of the bow shock. Theoretical calculations on position and shape show the critical nature of the Alfven number. The main physical process to be explained with regard to the bow shock is the mechanism of thermalization of the upstream solar wind. Some of the main classes of shocks observed are quasi-parallel shocks, low Mach number laminar shocks, and high beta shocks.
Topics in Advanced Econometrics: Estimation, Testing, and Specification of Cross-Section and Time Series Models

This book, Topics in Advanced Econometrics, is written primarily as a textbook for an advanced graduate econometrics course. The topics covered include consistent model specification testing, unit roots and cointegration, and nonparametric regression estimation; they are mainly the topics in which Professor Bierens has made significant contributions to the literature over the last 15 years. This book is unusual as a textbook in the sense that it treats both cross-sectional and time series (i.e., both subscript i and t) issues in econometrics at an advanced level. Most of the results given, other than those available in standard econometrics or statistics textbooks, are drawn from the published work of the author. The book is very useful because it puts together a number of important current issues that have been treated separately in the literature and presents them systematically using a well-organized set of statistical tools. Another advantage of this book is that the materials given are almost self-contained, making this book suitable for self-tuition. This book thus ideally suits students who need tools for independent research especially in the area of nonlinear and nonparametric models and time series analysis. It will also be useful to more advanced researchers who are interested in a thorough understanding of some of the author' s original and influential work in these areas. This book is presented in a theorem-proof style, which enables the author to make a clear and rigorous presentation but also tends to make this book a bit too dry for use as a sole textbook. There is also insufficient discussion of the results
Analyses of Data with Heterogeneous Variance: A Review

Abstract Appropriate analyses are reviewed for comparisons of means and estimation of regression coefficients when variances are not uniform. Approximate t and F-statistics are illustrated for comparisons of two means, k means, multiple comparisons, and two-way classifications. Transformations and weighted regression also are discussed.
The Effect of Context on Skill Acquisition and Transfer

Objective A major concern of occupational therapy is the identification of context characteristics that optimize performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of context on skill acquisition and transfer. Method Forty college students without disabilities (12 men, 28 women) were randomly assigned to the task of learning to use chopsticks in either a natural or a simulated context. Each participant practiced 60 trials in an acquisition phase on 1 day and was tested on a transfer task 24 hr after the acquisition phase. Their performances in the acquisition and transfer phases were measured with the variables of success rate and reaching kinematics. Results The natural context elicited significantly larger improvement of success rate in the acquisition phase and a significantly higher success rate in the transfer phase than the simulated context. No major difference was found in kinematic variables between the two contexts. Conclusion These results suggested the use of natural contexts to facilitate the outcome of motor skill learning.
The Scientific Measurement System of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission

The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission to the Moon utilized an integrated scientific measurement system comprised of flight, ground, mission, and data system elements in order to meet the end-to-end performance required to achieve its scientific objectives. Modeling and simulation efforts were carried out early in the mission that influenced and optimized the design, implementation, and testing of these elements. Because the two prime scientific observables, range between the two spacecraft and range rates between each spacecraft and ground stations, can be affected by the performance of any element of the mission, we treated every element as part of an extended science instrument, a science system. All simulations and modeling took into account the design and configuration of each element to compute the expected performance and error budgets. In the process, scientific requirements were converted to engineering specifications that became the primary drivers for development and testing. Extensive simulations demonstrated that the scientific objectives could in most cases be met with significant margin. Errors are grouped into dynamic or kinematic sources and the largest source of non-gravitational error comes from spacecraft thermal radiation. With all error models included, the baseline solution shows that estimation of the lunar gravity field is robust against both dynamic and kinematic errors and a nominal field of degree 300 or better could be achieved according to the scaled Kaula rule for the Moon. The core signature is more sensitive to modeling errors and can be recovered with a small margin.
Sociological and Social-Psychological Correlates of Anomia Among a Random Sample of Aged

In this investigation the distribution of responses on an anomia index (Srole's anomia scale) was examined for a national probability sample of the elderly. Step-wise multiple regression procedures were used to determine the relative importance of the independent variables in explaining the variation of anomia. Of the zero-order correlations, the "sociological" variables, e.g., education, work status, occupational prestige, and yearly income, were the strongest correlates of anomia. The social psychological variables, viz., various attitudinal and perceptual phenomena, also exhibited reasonably strong correlations. Those variables labeled "activity/organizational," e.g., various indices of social engagement, revealed the lowest correlations. In step-wise regression analysis six statistically significant explanatory variables were, in descending order: (1) a judgement of one's relative financial standing, (2) city size, (3) race, (4) work status, (5) education, and (6) occupational prestige.
“The Creative and the Resolvent”: The Origins of Poe's Analytical Method

Beginning with the influential readings by Jacques Lacan and Jacques Derrida, poststructuralist fascination with Edgar Allan Poe9s detective tales has treated them as fables of analytical method and exposed them as posing an insoluble challenge to totalizing frameworks of interpretive analysis. These studies overlook an excised paragraph from Poe9s first detective tale in which Poe displays the debt his model of analysis owes to historical sources. This essay discovers the origins of Poe9s model of analysis by recovering its discursive context and argues that the poststructuralist conclusions are anticipated in part by Poe9s deliberate attempts to translate that model into narrative. This model, inherited from scientific debates in Renaissance history, defines analysis as comprised of two reciprocal processes—the process of resolution and the process of composition. The first part of this essay addresses the original first paragraph of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and the definition of analysis that its restoration enables. The discoveries there lead to a reading of “The Man of the Crowd” (1841) as a failed first attempt to translate the dynamic processes of resolution and composition into a narrative system. By recovering a first paragraph that the poststructuralist criticism misses, this study finds “The Man of the Crowd” central to Poe9s strategies of narrative deferral and yields an important pre-history of the deconstructive critical aporia that is their legacy.
Abstract 14: Fine Mapping Study Revealed Novel Candidate Genes for Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Dominicans

Background: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a subclinical measure for atherosclerosis, the major underlying cause for stroke and other cardiovascular events. Previously, we have mapped quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for CIMT to chromosomes 7p (MLOD=3.1) and 14q (MLOD=2.3) in 100 extended Dominican Republican (DR) families. Methods and Results: To identify the genetic variations accounting for CIMT variability at those QTLs, we surveyed the one-LOD-unit-down linkage regions using >2,000 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Family-based association tests were performed in the 100 DR families (N=1372) used in the original linkage study, adjusting for significant covariants. Promising SNPs were further examined in the population-based NOMAS subcohort comprised of DR subjects only (N=553). Evidence for association (P ANLN , AOAH, FOXN3, CCDC88C, PRiMA1, and an intergenic SNP rs1667498 near FLRT2) with the strongest association at PRiMA1 (P=0.00007, which remained significant after adjusting for multiple testing). The association at these genes, except for PRiMA1, was driven by families with evidence for linkage (53 and 51 families for the 7p and 14q QTL, respectively; P= 0.00004∼0.00092 and 0.13∼0.80 in families with and without evidence for linkage, respectively), suggesting that these genes might collectively account for the QTLs delimited in our family data set. On the other hand, the association at PRiMA1 is significant in both family subsets (P=0.002 and 0.019 in families with and without evidence for linkage, respectively). The association at PRiMA1, but not at other genes, was replicated in the NOMAS DR subcohort (P=0.047), supporting a robust association at PRiMA1 . Conclusions: We identified several candidate genes for CIMT in Dominican Republicans. Some of the genes manifest genetic effects within a specific subset of families and others can be generalized in additional samples. Future studies are needed to further elucidate the contribution of these genes to atherosclerosis.
The Effect of Imagery Instruction on Vocabulary Development

(1987). The Effect of Imagery Instruction on Vocabulary Development. Journal of College Reading and Learning: Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 131-137.
Capillary Blood Glucose Monitoring for Clinical Decision Making

Capillary blood glucose monitoring (BGM) has become an integral part of therapy for many persons with diabetes. The BGM data generated by patients and clinicians is used in the daily management of diabetes and in the clinical decisions involved in its treatment. This article provides a clinician’s overview of the evolution and clinical use of BGM technology. In addition, the different types of diabetes are described, providing rationales for the various uses of BGM. Clinical decision making in acute-care and chronic-care settings is also described, with an emphasis on the maximal use of data and on quality assurance issues.
Maryland's nurse practitioner full practice authority act of 2015.

Achieving full practice authority may require an incremental approach. This is the case in Maryland where the requirement for nurse practitioners (NPs) to collaborate with a physician was eliminated in 2010. Another achievement that year was revising regulatory control so that NPs are now regulated
Motivating Construction Workers

The paper opens with a review of previous construction motivational studies and an examination of their dated theoretical basis which demonstrate their limited usefulness. The contemporary approaches to motivation are then presented. The massive experience that has accumulated regarding the application of motivational programs in other industries is discriminately used to develop a new approach to motivate construction workers. The proposed guidelines are developed along the three variables that affect motivation: the individual, the job, and the work environment. The major implications for construction managers included in the findings are: (1) Management should play an active and continuous role in managing on-site motivational processes; (2) employees' desired outcomes should be tied to performance; and (3) on large projects, management should focus on eliminating performance obstacles. The paper also examines various managerial approaches to motivate construction workers and concludes that construction management would benefit from a general move toward a more participative decision-making style of leadership.
Silicon Carbide IGBT

In the previous chapter, it has been demonstrated that the silicon carbide planar-shielded inversion-mode power MOSFET structure has excellent on-state resistance for devices with breakdown voltage of up to 10,000 V. However, the specific on-resistance for these devices becomes relatively large when their blocking voltage is scaled to 20,000 V. Consequently, there has been interest in the development of silicon carbide-based high voltage IGBT structures. Due to the high resistivity of P-type substrates in silicon carbide, most of the development work has been focused on p-channel silicon carbide IGBT structures that can utilize heavily doped N-type substrates.
Measuring vapor intrusion: from source science politics to a transdisciplinary approach

Investigation of indoor air quality has been on the upswing in recent years. In this article, we focus on how the transport of subsurface vapors into indoor air spaces, a process known as ‘vapor intrusion’, (VI) is defined and addressed. For environmental engineers and physical scientists who specialize in this emerging indoor environmental exposure science, VI is notoriously difficult to characterize, leading the regulatory community to seek improved science-based understandings of VI pathways and exposures. Yet despite the recent growth in VI science and competition between environmental consulting companies, VI studies have largely overlooked the social and political field in which VI problems emerge and are experienced by those at risk. To balance and inform current VI studies, this article explores VI science and policy and develops a critique of what we call ‘source science politics’. Drawing inspiration from the creative synthesis of social and environmental science/engineering perspectives, the ar...
Dialogue. Conquest of reality: Response to Paul Bowman's 'Instituting reality in Martial Arts practice'

In this Dialogue, Kyle Barrowman responds to Paul Bowman’s article ‘Instituting Reality in Martial Arts Practice ' and poses questions pertinent to future development of martial arts studies .
Church or state? Reassessing how religion shapes impressions of candidate positions

The literature largely assumes that a candidate’s religious affiliation sends signals about his or her ideological leanings and policy preferences. We contend that prior works have not sufficiently...
Executive Branches and Trees: Environmental Politics at the National Level

This chapter explores how environmental policies are negotiated, enacted, and executed in the three African contexts. In so doing, it questions the validity of the second most widespread assumption that foreign aid encourages conservation at the national level. The chapter highlights the central role that foreign aid plays in the making of development policies, some more conservation-friendly than others. It also underscores the executive branch’s predominance and foreign donors’ role in environmental policymaking. At the national level, where the primary actors driving environmental policy are African governments, dominated by the executive office, and foreign donors who use aid to sway governments’ development policies, donors’ ability to persuade African governments to commit to conservation-friendly development policies rests on a specific and limited condition: The executive’s and foreign interests must align and be consistent with conservation norms. When this is the case, institutional investments, manifest in institutional proliferation, raise the prospect of forest conservation considerably. When interests do not align, however, institutional proliferation reflects not so much conservation commitments on the part of African leaders as it does their eagerness to convert foreign aid into patronage opportunities that serve them politically. This reality explains the gap between institutional investments and environmental outcomes.
Apache Airavata Resource Allocation System: A Tool for Allocating Resources in Science Gateways

Science Gateways provide user environments and a set of supporting services that help researchers make effective and enhanced use of a diverse set of computing, storage, and related resources. In a software framework like Airavata, the distributed computing resources such as local clusters, supercomputers, computational grids, and computing clouds are shared among multiple researchers. Hence it requires an allocations process to track the demand for their resources, understand the scientific objectives of their users, and decide among competing needs when faced with user demand that is greater than the available resources can supply. We describe the design and a prototype implementation in this presentation.
Hentai Kambun Perspective on Short Scrambling

This paper undertakes an analysis of the word order characteristics of hentai kambun, the archaic Japanese writing style employed for recording Japanese in a way that outwardly resembles Chinese. As amethod of writing Japanese, however, hentai kambun differs conspicuously from standard classical Chinese. Traditional accounts of these deviations tend to treat them as random mistakes in Chinese grammar due to influence from the writer's native Japanese. In contrast to this, the current paper views hentai kambun as a systematic representation of Japanese, rather than as an imitation of Chinese. Specifically, I propose that hentai kambun word order can receive a systematic account by assuming that Japanese has underlying head-initial word order, as proposed by Kayne (1994) and Whitman (2000), and that hentai kambun is a representation of this underlying order. This paper further investigates word order in ditransitive clauses and finds that the hentai kambun representation of dative-accusative and accusative-dative word order alternation provides evidence that what is traditionally referred to as "short scrambling" can in fact be analyzed as base-generation, as proposed in Miyagawa (1997).
A deterministic approach for approximating the diurnal cycle of precipitation for use in large-scale hydrological modeling.

AbstractAccurate characterization of precipitation P at subdaily temporal resolution is important for a wide range of hydrological applications, yet large-scale gridded observational datasets prima...
Sigmund Had a Monkey

Evaluating the males of different species side by side can be enlightening. And it is often entertaining. But we need to be especially careful when we make these comparisons today, because they can...
Avian T Cell Ontogeny

Publisher Summary This chapter focusses on avian T cell development. A renewed interest in avian T cell development has emerged with the use of monoclonal and functional antibodies to elucidate T cell differentiation antigens and molecular and functional definitions of mammalian T cell receptors (TCRs). Thousands of avian species have been identified; the domestic chicken has served as the avian representative in most studies of the immune system. Chick-quail chimeras have also proved to be an especially informative model. The chapter focuses on information gained in studies of these model systems. Monoclonal antibodies are produced against a variety of functionally important molecules expressed on the surface of chicken T cells and most of these have well-defined mammalian counterparts. The chicken T cell receptors can be divided into three groups, each of which is recognized by a different monoclonal antibody. Direct evidence for thymus-directed chemotaxis of hematopoietic precursors is obtained by observing migration of cells toward the thymic epithelium in an in vitro model. Comparative analysis of avian T cell development and function reveals striking conservation of the major features defined for the mammalian T cell system. In both mammals and birds, the T cells utilize either γ/δTCR or α/βTCR together with a CD3 protein complex as signal-transducing receptors for antigen presented in the context of major histocompatibility complex restriction elements.
Bringing humor theory into practice: An interdisciplinary approach to online humor training

Abstract To bring humor into practice, we conducted a thorough review of humor literature and integrated known therapeutic techniques which have found empirical support over the past decades. There are many common elements to humor theories, despite debates in the field. The theoretical debates are less relevant to the practice of humor, which necessarily should be consistent with all valid theories. We constructed a workshop as a method to explore, integrate, and resolve inconsistencies to bring the theories into practice. Decades of research suggest the way people use humor relates to health. However, few studies target humor to improve health. Existing applications do not incorporate recent humor research or other disciplines, and focus on clinical recovery, rather than general wellbeing. This workshop combined research areas of humor, psychotherapy, health behavior change, and education. We then subjected the workshop to evaluation by a diverse group of humor experts and a diverse group of general participants during a qualitative usability phase. Our ultimate aim was to develop a workshop that was useable and acceptable to people of many ages and backgrounds, as humor and laughter exists in babies through elders and across languages. After revisions made during the usability phase, we broadly disseminated the workshop to assess interest, satisfaction, and partial validity in the final version. Humor experts supported the use of the workshop and integration of humor concepts. General participants provided critical (e.g., time-consuming) and positive feedback (e.g., specific concepts). For the revised workshop, completion rate was comparable to other online platforms (36%; n = 44/122 started). Self-reported satisfaction was statistically positive, and on a pre-post measure, participants’ understanding of humor improved, but motivation and self-efficacy were unchanged. Preliminary data supports the validity and feasibility of the workshop as a working humor training model. Future studies need to assess health outcomes of humor training.
Adsorption and Thermal Decomposition of Electrolytes on Nanometer Magnesium Oxide: An in Situ 13C MAS NMR Study

Mg batteries have been proposed as potential alternatives to lithium-ion batteries because of their lower cost, higher safety, and enhanced charge density. However, the Mg metal readily oxidizes when exposed to an oxidizer to form a thin MgO passivation surface layer that blocks the transport of Mg2+ across the solid electrode-electrolyte interface (SEI). In this work, the adsorption and thermal decomposition of diglyme (G2) and electrolytes containing Mg(TFSI)2 in G2 on 10 nm-sized MgO particles are evaluated by a combination of in situ 13C single-pulse, surface-sensitive 1H-13C cross-polarization (CP) magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance, and quantum chemistry calculations. At 180 °C, neat G2 decomposes on MgO to form surface-adsorbed -OCH3 groups that are captured as a distinctive peak located at about 50 ppm in the CP/MAS spectrum. At low Mg(TFSI)2 salt concentration, the main solvation structure in this electrolyte is solvent-separated ion pairs without extensive Mg-TFSI contact ion pairs. G2, likely including a small amount of G2-solvated Mg2+, adsorbs onto the MgO surface. At high Mg(TFSI)2 salt concentrations, contact ion pairs between Mg and TFSI are formed extensively in the solution with the first solvation shell containing one pair of Mg-TFSI and two G2 molecules and the second solvation shell containing up to six G2 molecules, namely, MgTFSI(G2)2(G2)6+. In the presence of MgO, MgTFSI(G2)2(G2)6+ adsorbs onto the MgO surface. At 180 °C, the MgO surface stimulates a desolvation process converting MgTFSI(G2)2(G2)6+ to MgTFSI(G2)2+ and releasing G2 molecules from the second solvation shell of the MgTFSI(G2)2(G2)6+ cluster into the solution. MgTFSI(G2)2+ and MgTFSI(G2)2(G2)6+ tightly adsorb onto the MgO surface and are observed by 1H-13C CP/MAS experiments. The results contained herein show that electrolyte composition has a directing role in the species present on the electrode surface, which has implications on the structures and constituents of the solid-electrolyte interface on working electrodes and can be used to better understand its formation and the failure modes of batteries.
Lie Sphere Transformations

In this chapter, we study the sphere geometries of Lie, Moebius and Laguerre from the point of view of Klein’s Erlangen Program. In each case, we determine the group of transformations which preserve the fundamental geometric properties of the space. All of these groups are quotient groups or subgroups of some orthogonal group determined by an indefinite scalar product on a real vector space. As a result, the theorem of Cartan and Dieudonne, proven in Section 2.2, implies that each of these groups is generated by inversions. In Section 2.3, we give a geometric description of Moebius inversions. This is followed by a treatment of Laguerre geometry in Section 2.4. Finally, in Section 2.5, we show that the Lie sphere group is generated by the union of the groups of Moebius and Laguerre. There we also describe the place of Euclidean, spherical and hyperbolic metric geometries within the context of these more general geometries.
Landscape–lake interactions in the Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming: a 350-year fire history reconstruction

Wildfire is the dominant natural disturbance agent in forests of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and can have long-lasting impacts on local landscapes and limnologic processes. We applied a multi-proxy paleolimnological approach to infer the impact of forest fires on the catchment of Island Lake, Wyoming (USA), over the last ~ 350 years. Specifically, we examined whether fossil diatom assemblages recorded indirect, limnological impacts from fire, including changes in water clarity, nutrient input, and lake mixing. The objective of this study was to determine if post-fire lake changes could be reconstructed effectively using fossil diatom assemblages from Island Lake, Wyoming, by comparing the diatom record to dendrochronological and macroscopic charcoal records. Local and regional fire years AD 1747 and 1900 were determined from tree-ring records, which were corroborated with sediment accumulation rates and magnetic susceptibility in Island Lake sediments. Inferred lacustrine conditions that were associated with fire events, particularly regional, mixed-severity fire year 1900, included increased turbidity, greater water column mixing, and possible augmented influx of total phosphorus to the system. Thus, the fossil diatom assemblage in Island Lake appears to have recorded forest fire activity indirectly, particularly when fire activity was severe or widespread within the catchment. An increase in small colonial Fragilaria (sensu lato) species since 1975, in association with the rise in abundance of Asterionella formosa and Tetracyclus glans, suggests recent changes in thermal stratification patterns, epilimnion temperatures, and available nutrients.
Functional Marker Development and Effect Analysis of Grain Size Gene GW2 in Extreme Grain Size Germplasm in Rice

Abstract GW2 is an important gene that regulates grain width and weight. We used cDNA clone to obtain the sequences of GW2 from large- and small-grained rice varieties, TD70 and Kasalath, respectively. Then, we developed a dCAPS (derived cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence) marker on the basis of the sequence difference between functional and nonfunctional GW2 genes to analyze the genotypes and phenotypes of recombinant inbred lines. Results showed that the sequence of GW2TD70 had a single nucleotide deletion at site 316 that generates a termination codon. This codon terminated the GW2 protein in advance. By contrast, the sequence of GW2Kasalath encoded an intact protein. A novel dCAPS marker was designed in accordance with a base A deletion at site 316 of the sequence. After the PCR product was digested by ApoI, TD70 showed 21 and 30 bp fragments, and Kasalath showed a 51 bp fragment. Up to 82 lines contained GW2TD70, and 158 lines contained GW2Kasalath. The lines that contained TD70 alleles displayed substantial increases in width and 1000-grain weight. This result suggested that GW2 played a critical role in rice breeding.
Effect of Ionothermal Conditions on the Crystallization of Organically Templated Uranyl Sulfate Compounds

Seven novel uranyl sulfate compounds were crystallized by ionothermal synthesis methods through systematic changes in experimental conditions. The parameters explored were temperature, soak time, c...
Neural Code Summarization.

Code summarization is the task of generating readable summaries that are semantically meaningful and can accurately describe the presumed task of a software. Program comprehension has become one of the most tedious tasks for knowledge transfer. As the codebase evolves over time, the description needs to be manually updated each time with the changes made. An automatic approach is proposed to infer such captions based on benchmarked and custom datasets with comparison between the original and generated results.
Sequencing chemotherapy before radiotherapy for women with stage IIIC endometrial cancer.

Objective It is unclear how to best sequence adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy for advanced endometrial cancer. We studied the outcomes for women treated with chemotherapy before radiotherapy in a chemotherapy-first (chemotherapy for 6 cycles followed radiotherapy) or ‘sandwich’ approach (chemotherapy for 3 cycles followed by radiotherapy and subsequently chemotherapy for 3 cycles). Methods Women with stage IIIC endometrial cancer and no gross residual disease treated with chemotherapy before radiotherapy between April 2003 and April 2016 were included. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate recurrence and survival. We performed a meta-analysis of endometrial cancer trials comparing chemotherapy and radiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone. Results A total of 102 patients were included. The mean (SD) age was 63.8 (10.6) years; 84 patients received the chemotherapy-first approach and 18 patients received the ‘sandwich’ approach. Pelvic and para-aortic nodes were removed in 99% and 88.2%, respectively. Among all the patients, we observed 1 pelvic (1%), 1 para-aortic (1%), and 5 vaginal (4.9%) recurrences. At 3 years, for the ‘sandwich’ and chemotherapy-first approaches, the vaginal recurrence was 11.8% and 4.2%, pelvic recurrence was 0% and 1.5%, para-aortic recurrence was 0% and 1.2%, distant recurrence was 42.9% and 24.4%, and overall survival was 70.3% and 81.7%, respectively. With ‘chemotherapy before radiotherapy’ 94.9% completed 4+ chemotherapy cycles (vs 71–90% reported in the literature for ‘radiotherapy before chemotherapy’). In a meta-analysis of endometrial cancer trials, distant recurrence rates were reduced with 4+ chemotherapy cycles but not with 3 cycles (p=0.01). Conclusion Chemotherapy before radiation sequencing for stage IIIC endometrial cancer was associated with a high proportion of patients completing 4+ chemotherapy cycles and low locoregional lymphatic recurrence rate, despite delaying radiotherapy until after 3–6 cycles of chemotherapy and not administering concurrent cisplatin.
To Pool or Not to Pool? Understanding opportunities, challenges, and equity considerations to expanding the market for pooling

Abstract On-demand mobility services such as bikesharing, scooter sharing, and transportation network companies (TNCs, also known as ridesourcing and ridehailing) are changing the way that people travel by providing dynamic, on-demand mobility that can supplement public transit and personal-vehicle use. Adoption of on-demand mobility has soared across the United States and abroad, driven by the flexibility and affordability that these services offer, particularly in urban areas where population density and land use patterns facilitate a reliable balance of supply and demand. The growth of app-based ridesharing, microtransit, and TNCs presents a unique opportunity to reduce congestion, energy use, and emissions through reduced personal vehicle ownership and increased vehicle occupancy, the latter of which is largely dependent on the decisions of individual travelers to pool or not to pool. This research provides key insights into the policy levers that could be employed to reduce vehicle miles traveled and emissions by incentivizing the use of pooled on-demand ride services and public transit. We employ a general population stated preference survey of four California metropolitan regions (Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area) to examine the opportunities and challenges for drastically expanding the market for pooling, taking into account the nuances in emergent travel behavior and demand sensitivity across on-demand mobility options. Although high-frequency TNC users – those that use TNCs once a week or more - are more likely to consider pooling than less frequent users and reflect more multimodal travel behavior than other travelers, we find that the most captive and price sensitive TNC users are often the most vulnerable. Heavy TNC users – those using TNCs more than three days per week - are disproportionately low income, more likely not to own or lease a car and more likely to use TNCs for essential trip purposes than are less frequent users. Pooling demand sensitivity varies significantly across trip contexts, metropolitan regions, socio-demographics, travel behavior, and attitudes and perceptions toward sharing. We estimate the time and price tradeoffs in choosing between ride alone and shared on-demand service options, finding significant differences across values that travelers place on each component of travel time (wait time, access/egress walking time, and in-vehicle time) by geography and income level. We discuss the potential to leverage these insights to develop policies that combine pricing, curb management, and promotional strategies to increase the pooling market share.
Aktuelle Therapiekonzepte bei Keimzelltumoren des Mannes

Keimzelltumoren des Hodens sind die haufigste bosartige solide Tumorerkrankung bei Mannern bis zu 40 Jahren. Mit cisplatinbasierten Kombinationschemotherapien werden selbst bei metastasierter Erkrankung hohe Heilungsraten erreicht. Verbesserte Therapieoptionen im Rezidivfall haben die Heilungsaussichten weiter verbessert. Eine leitlinienkonforme, stadienadaptierte Therapiedurchfuhrung ist Grundvoraussetzung, um die exzellenten Heilungsaussichten zu wahren und Spatfolgen bei Keimzelltumoruberlebenden zu minimieren. Langzeitfolgen der Chemotherapie, insbesondere Sekundarmalignome, das metabolische Syndrom, Polyneuropathie, Nierenfunktionseinschrankungen, Hypogonadismus und psychosoziale Aspekte, mussen in der Nachsorge unbedingt beachtet werden. Zielgerichtete Therapiestrategien spielen bisher keine Rolle bei Hodentumoren. Insbesondere fortgeschrittene Erkrankungsstadien und Erkrankungsruckfalle sollten an Zentren mit Erfahrung im Management von Keimzelltumoren behandelt werden.
Parole Board Decision Making and Constitutional Rights

Parole board decision making has changed dramatically over the last century, mirroring broader trends in criminal punishment. Even though parole decisions affect the length of prison sentences and ...
Ultraviolet-C Light Evaluation as Adjunct Disinfection to Remove Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms.

BACKGROUND Our objective was to determine if the addition of UV-C light to daily and discharge patient room cleaning reduces healthcare-associated infection rates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) in immunocompromised adults. METHODS We performed a cluster randomized crossover control trial in four cancer and one solid organ transplant in-patient units at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. For study year one, each unit was randomized to intervention of UV-C light plus standard environmental cleaning or control of standard environmental cleaning, followed by a 5-week washout period. In study year two, units switched assignments. The outcomes were healthcare-associated rates of VRE or C. difficile. Statistical inference used a two-stage approach recommended for cluster-randomized trials with <15 clusters/arm. RESULTS 302 new VRE infections were observed during 45,787 at risk patient-days. The incidence in control and intervention groups was 6.68 and 6.52 per 1,000 patient-days respectively; the unadjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) was 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78 - 1.22; P=0.54). There were 84 new C. difficile infections observed during 26,118 at risk patient-days. The incidence in control and intervention periods was 2.64 and 3.78 per 1000 patient-days respectively; the unadjusted IRR was 1.43 (95% CI, 0.93 - 2.21; P=0.98). CONCLUSIONS When used daily and at post discharge in addition to standard environmental cleaning, UV-C disinfection did not reduce VRE or C. difficile infection rates in cancer and solid organ transplant units.
The Verification of Image Interpretations

One of the central arguments for the importance of perceptual organization is that it reduces the otherwise enormous task of searching for spatial correspondence between image features and prior knowledge of objects. However, this argument is based on the assumption that the final verification of the correctness of a set of correspondences can be carried out quickly and reliably as part of the search process. In this chapter, some practical methods will be described for performing this verification process, in particular for determining the viewpoint and unknown parameters of a three-dimensional object as accurately as possible and measuring the degree to which the spatial information in the image agrees with the predictions of the model.
In Vitro Fertilization and its Uses in Animals and Man

Fertilization is the process in which spermatozoon and ovum come together and unite to form a zygote. Initially, the sperm cell penetrates through the surrounding cellular investments, the zona pellucida, and into the vitellus of the ovum. Fertilization proceeds as the sperm head enlarges to form the male pronucleus and, following activation of the ovum, the female chromatin condenses to form the female pronucleus. Ovum activation denotes the resumption of meiosis which proceeds from metaphase II to completion. Male and female pronuclei develop and come into apposition, pronuclear membranes break down, and the chromosomes from male and female gametes intermix. Mitosis begins and fertilization is concluded with the first mitotic metaphase which is rapidly followed by cleavage into a two-cell embryo. Fertilization takes approximately 12 hours in the rabbit and roughly twice that in large domestic animals including (wo)man.
ANALYSIS OF ACTIVITY NETWORKS UNDER UNCERTAINTY.

A practical probabilistic technique is presented for evaluating the distribution of project completion time. Upper and lower bounds on the completion-time probability are established and form the basis for the probabilistic network evaluation technique (PNET) algorithm. The mean durations and the correlations among the network paths are the main parameters used to generate a set of representative paths from which the probability distribution of completion time is evaluated. This technique overcomes the shortcomings implicit in PERT, although its application is almost as simple as the traditional PERT method. Several construction projects are presented as examples to illustrate the algorithm. The results obtained by PNET are shown to be in very good agreement with simulation runs, thus verifying its validity; computation times, however, are several order-of-magnitude less than those required by simulation.
Effect of marriage on outcomes for elderly patients with head and neck cancer.

Background Beneficial effects of marriage on cancer outcomes have been observed for many cancers, but oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers have never been examined. Methods We used the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program linked with Medicare records to identify 9403 elderly patients (age ≥66 years) with oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers. We used a propensity score analysis to estimate differences in proportions (pd) between married and unmarried patients on stage, treatment, and survival. Results For oral cavity cancers, a larger proportion of married patients presented with earlier stage (pd = 0.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02–0.08), were treated with surgery (pd = 0.06; 95% CI, 0.03–0.08), and survived 1 year (pd = 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01–0.06). Similar results were found for pharyngeal cancers for stage (pd = 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01–0.06), treatment with chemotherapy and radiation (pd = 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01–0.07), and 1-year survival (pd = 0.01; 95% CI, 0.08–0.16). Conclusion Marriage is associated with earlier stage, aggressive treatment, and superior survival for patients with oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 37: 735–742, 2015
Pyridine, isocyanide, carbodiimide and allene adducts of hexakis (trifluoromethyl t-botoxy) ditungsten. A comparison of ligand binding to W2(OtBu)6 and W2(OCMe2CF3)6

Abstract W2(OR)6 compounds where RtBu and CMe2CF3, both reversibly bind pyridine in hydrocarbon solvents to form adducts W2(OR)6L2. Pyridine binds more strongly to the fluoroalkoxide but the structural parameters of the compounds W2(OCMe2CF3)6(C6H5N)2 and W2(OtBu)6(4-CH3C6H4N)2 reveal an essentially identical W2O6N2 core with W  W = 2.39(1) A ,, W  O = 1.92–1.95 A and W  N = 2.26(1) A . Both compounds were crystallographically characterized in the space group C2/c and each molecule has rigorous C2 symmetry. Allene and 1,3-di-p-tolycarbodiimide form 1:1 adducts with W2(OCMe2CF3)6 in which the substrate is bound parallel to the M-M axis, i.e. μ-η2,η2-C3H4 and μ-η2,η2-ArNCNAr-W2(OCMe2CF3)6. Also W2(OCMe2CF3)6 and W2(OSitBuMe2)6 bind two equivalents of xylylisocyanide to afford W2(OR)6(η1-CNAr)2. For W2(OCMe2CF3)6(η1-CNAr)2, the molecular structure has been determined by X-ray crystallography and shows a nearly eclipsed central W2O6C2 skeleton with W  W = 2.44(1) A , W  O = 1.94(1) A (av.) and W  C = 2.14(1) A , whereas the WWO angles span the range of 105–114°, the WWC angles are 83(1)°. Similarly, W2(OCMe(CF3)2)4(NMe2)2 forms a bis adduct upon reaction with the isocyanide. However, the molecular structure of W2(OCMe(CF3)2)4(NMe2)2(η1-CNAr)2 shows a staggered arrangement of the two ligands about the ditungsten center where W  W = 2.382(1) A , W  O = 2.00(1) A (av.), W  N = 1.93(1) A (av.) and W  C = 2.14(1) A (av.) with a CWWC dihedral angle of 41.9°. These reactions and their products are compared for W2(OR)6 compounds where R  t Bu , t BuMe 2 Si and Cme 2 CF 3 .