cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Stacked Graphene-Al2O3 Nanopore Architecture for DNA Detection

Nanopore based DNA sensing methods use electrophoresis to drive negatively charged molecules through nanometer sized pores and monitor the change in ionic current to examine the length or sequence of DNA molecules. It is an inexpensive and attractive alternative to traditional sequencing and analysis technologies as it is a label-free, amplification-free, single-molecule approach that can be scaled for high-throughput DNA analysis. Nanopores have been shown to be a versatile platform capable of sensing subtle changes in the structure of biomolecules.We report the development of robust multilayered graphene-Al2O3 nanopore platform for sensitive detection of DNA and DNA-protein complexes. Graphene-Al2O3 nanolaminate membranes are formed by sequentially depositing layers of graphene and Al2O3 via atomic layer deposition. Subsequently, nanopores were formed in these stacked membranes using an electron-beam sculpting process. The resulting nanopore architecture is mechanically robust and exhibits state-of-the-art low electrical noise. The platform was used for detection of both DNA and protein DNA complexes and showed the ability to differentiate structural changes like folding and protein binding. The structure can also be used for electrostatic potential control at the nanopore surface to guide ionic current and possibly translocation velocity. The combination of simplicity and versatility makes nanopores an attractive platform for medical diagnostic applications and DNA sequencing.
Examination of Bond Properties through Infrared Spectroscopy and Molecular Modeling in the General Chemistry Laboratory

A concerted effort has been made to increase the opportunities for undergraduate students to address scientific problems employing the processes used by practicing chemists. As part of this effort, an infrared (IR) spectroscopy and molecular modeling experiment was developed for the first-year general chemistry laboratory course. In the experiment, students explore the dynamic nature of the covalent bond in a hands-on, inquiry-based approach by experimenting with mass and spring systems, using molecular modeling software, and performing IR spectroscopy on a series of structurally related compounds. Students see the effect of bond order, atomic size, and molecular weight on bond strength, bond length, and vibrational frequency. As an added benefit, students are introduced to scientific instrumentation and tools that can then be expanded upon in later laboratory classes.
Readmission after bariatric surgery: a retrospective study of 1338 cases in a single bariatric surgery center

METHODS: Over 2 years, an APC was integrated into a bariatric surgery practice. Graduated responsibility was delegated to the APC to increase the number of patients a surgeon can see in clinic. Attention was paid to having practitioners function at the fullest extent of their training. Initially, the APC assisted the surgeon with data collection and documentation. Later, visits when surgeon presence was not essential and visits during the global surgical period were transitioned to the APC during clinic. To maximize access to new patient visits and visits requiring surgeon presence, separate clinics were eventually added for the APC.
Control of Brain Volume during Hypoosmolality and Hyperosmolality

Multiple studies over several decades have provided evidence that both electrolytes and organic osmolytes play crucial roles in regulating brain volume, both during increases as well as during decreases in extracellular fluid osmolality. In both situations, rapidly, and however, changes in brain electrolyte contents appear to occur more represent the first line of defense of brain volume during acute perturbations of body fluid tonicity, while organic osmolytes allow adaptation to more chronic perturbations. For both hyperosmolality and hypoosmolality, the rate of development of the disorder is an important determinant of neurological morbidity and mortality, since sufficiently rapid changes in tonicity can exceed the brain's capacity to regulate its volume leading to more severe degrees of brain edema or dehydration. Recovery from both hyper- and hypoosmolality requires reversal of the adaptive processes that enabled regulation of brain volume in response to the initial insult. However, adaptation and recovery are not symmetrical processes. Marked differences occur in the speed with which the brain is able to lose or to reaccumulate different types of solutes after recovery from chronic disturbances of body fluid tonicity. In general, accumulation, or reaccumulation, of organic solutes by brain tissue is a much slower process than volume regulatory losses of such solutes. As with the adaptation process, the rate of recovery is an important determinant of subsequent morbidity and mortality, since rapid corrections of osmolality can also exceed the capacity of the brain to readjust its solute content, and consequently its volume, back to normal levels. Whether or not transient excesses or deficiencies of either electrolytes or specific organic osmolytes in brain intracellular or extracellular fluid contribute to functional disturbances independently of changes in brain volume is an intriguing question that has not been sufficiently evaluated. Also remaining to be answered are questions regarding other physiological, pathophysiological, and pharmacological factors that either impair or enhance volume regulatory processes, and thereby modify the neurological manifestations accompanying disorders of body fluid osmolality in humans. Finally, a complete understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying adaptation to and deadaptation from acute and chronic perturbations of body osmolality will be essential to design the most enlightened, and therefore appropriate, treatments for these disorders.
Prediction of Strain Gradient Hardening During Microextrusion

A new formulation is presented to predict the strain distribution through the thickness of the workpiece during forward extrusion. By using shear components, a new model is established to estimate the geometrically necessary dislocation density, which is found to increase with a decrease in the initial and final specimen diameters and an increase in the die angle. Also, strain gradient hardening during forward microextrusion is predicted according to the calculated geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density. It is found that to experience a significant amount of strain gradient hardening, the diameter of the material should be on the order of 400 µm or less.
Eye cancer: unique insights into oncogenesis: the Cogan Lecture.

The major objective of this lecture is to illustrate how eye cancer research has dramatically affected not only patients with these ocular tumors, but also our fundamental understanding of cancer biology and many other aspects of biomedical research. Retinoblastoma and uveal melanoma, the two most common eye cancers in children and adults, respectively, are very different clinically and biologically. Retinoblastoma is a rare childhood eye cancer that usually occurs before 5 years of age, is often hereditary and bilateral, is caused by the mutation of a single rate-limiting gene, and is rarely fatal if treatment of the eye cancer is successful. Uveal melanoma occurs mostly in older adults, is rarely hereditary or bilateral, is caused by an accumulation of multiple genetic lesions with no single disease-causing gene mutation, and is fatal in up to 50% of patients, even when the eye cancer is successfully treated. Despite these profound differences, retinoblastoma and uveal melanoma have provided unique and complementary insights into the cell cycle, differentiation, development, neoplasia, and other fundamental biological processes. Herein, we will consider some of the highlights in ocular oncology research over the past two decades, starting with the identification of the retinoblastoma gene in 1986. We will examine how the molecular genetics of retinoblastoma has fundamentally altered our view of development, cell cycle and cancer biology. We will then explore the role of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor pathway in uveal melanoma. Finally, we will review recent exciting research in uveal melanoma that may lead to a significant change in our understanding of that cancer, and we will consider the far-reaching implications of this breakthrough in future research, clinical trials, and patient care.
Cultural representations in Walt Disney films: Implications for social work education

SummaryThis article investigates images of race, sex, ethnicity, and consumerism in contemporary Walt Disney productions. The purpose is to discuss the reinforcement of critical thinking skills in social work students through mutual examination of multicultural images presented in Disney movies. The films selected for close critical examination – The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Princess and the Frog – are those with multicultural themes and characters. In recognition of the fact that the one who controls the arts controls the message, this article is informed by bell hooks’ methods of critique of racialized and sexualized representations in children’s film.FindingsThe hidden messages in the popular Disney films should not be overlooked. The methods of critique applied to these earlier films also have resonance for the newer films, such as Frozen.ApplicationsThe case is made in this article that social work educators can enhance the critical thinking of students concerning culturally offensive, stereotypica...
Simulations Suggest Information Processing Roles for the Diverse Currents in Hippocampal Neurons

A computer model of the hippocampal pyramidal cell (HPC) is described which integrates data from a variety of sources in order to develop a consistent description for this cell type. The model presently includes descriptions of eleven non-linear somatic currents of the HPC, and the electrotonic structure of the neuron is modelled with a soma/short-cable approximation. Model simulations qualitatively or quantitatively reproduce a wide range of somatic electrical behavior in HPCs, and demonstrate possible roles for the various currents in information processing.
Analysis of flow-correlation attacks in anonymity network

Mix networks are designed to provide anonymity for users in a variety of applications, including privacy-preserving WWW browsing and numerous e-commerce systems. Such networks have been shown to be susceptible to a number of statistical traffic analysis attacks. Among these are flow correlation attacks, where an adversary may disclose the communication relationship between a sender and a receiver by measuring the similarity between the sender's outbound flow and the receiver's inbound flow. The effectiveness of the attacks is measured in terms of the probability that an adversary correctly recognises the receiver. This paper describes a model for the flow correlation attack effectiveness. Our results illustrate the quantitative relationship among system parameters such as sample size, noise level, payload flow rate and attack effectiveness. Our analysis quantitatively reveals how, under certain situations, existing flow-based anonymous systems would fail under flow-correlation attacks, thus providing useful guidelines for the design of future anonymous systems.
Neutron and alpha particle-induced transients in 90 nm technology

Combinational logic soft errors are a major environment-related reliability issue in advanced CMOS processes. The key to determining logic soft error rates (SER) is detailed knowledge of neutron and alpha particle-induced single event transient (SET) pulse widths, but these pulse widths have not been measured previously. experimental results obtained using a novel test chip fabricated in a 90 -nm CMOS technology indicate the SET widths are similar to those of legitimate logic signals.
Cactus Alkaloids IV. Macromerine from Coryphantha runyonii

Macromerine, a β -phenethylamine alkaloid previously isolated from Coryphantha macromeris , has been isolated from Coryphantha runyonti .
“I Just Can’t Do It Anymore” Patterns of Physical Activity and Cardiac Rehabilitation in African Americans with Heart Failure: A Mixed Method Study

Physical activity and cardiac rehabilitation (CR) are components of heart failure (HF) self-care. The aims of this study were to describe patterns of physical activity in African Americans (n = 30) with HF and to explore experience in CR. This was a mixed method, concurrent nested, predominantly qualitative study. Qualitative data were collected via interviews exploring typical physical activity, and CR experience. It was augmented by quantitative data measuring HF severity, self-care, functional capacity and depressive symptoms. Mean age was 60 ± 15 years; 65% were New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III HF. Forty-three percent reported that they did less than 30 min of exercise in the past week; 23% were told "nothing" about exercise by their provider, and 53% were told to do "minimal exercise". A measure of functional capacity indicated the ability to do moderate activity. Two related themes stemmed from the narratives describing current physical activity: "given up" and "still trying". Six participants recalled referral to CR with one person participating. There was high concordance between qualitative and quantitative data, and evidence that depression may play a role in low levels of physical activity. Findings highlight the need for strategies to increase adherence to current physical activity guidelines in this older minority population with HF.
The Turbulent Sixties At Rutgers: An Interview With Richard P. Mccormick

Richard P. McCormick's professional life has been so intertwined with Rutgers University's history that it is difficult to imagine anyone who knows more about Rutgers or who has put a greater imprint on the institution. Except for half a dozen years living in Philadelphia and Newark, Delaware, during the era of the Second World War, McCormick has been a significant presence at Rutgers for six decades. He arrived as a freshman at Rutgers College in 1934 and, after graduating in 1938, worked for the Department of History as a factotum while completing a master's degree in history. Recruited to join the department as a junior faculty member in 1945 while still completing his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, McCormick has never left. He worked his way up the ranks of the faculty, served on virtually every major college committee during a thirty-seven-year teaching career at Rutgers, including a tumultuous term as department chair in the 1960s, and a three-year tenure as dean of Rutgers College in the 1970s. Although he formally retired from teaching at age sixty-five in 1982, McCormick has maintained an office on campus and since then has published a steady stream of articles, pamphlets, essays, and books, some on Rutgers University history. During his years teaching at Rutgers, McCormick was frequently invited to chair history departments at other institutions, assume deanships, and in one case, be seriously considered for a small college presidency. Always he declined, not because the offers were not flattering or were unattractive, but because, as he later told an interviewer, "I never wanted to leave Rutgers. . . . I was happy—and appreciated—here."
Macromodeling methodology for continuous and discrete time transfer functions

A generalized macromodeling methodology for continuous (s-domain) and discrete (z-domain) transfer functions is presented. Simple pictorial descriptions of s- and z-domain transfer functions are converted to equivalent circuit models which are valid for general-purpose circuit simulators such as SPICE and its extensions. This macromodeling technique is appropriate for linear s- and z-domain transfer functions. >
Optimal CD8 T-Cell Response against Encephalitozoon cuniculi Is Mediated by Toll-Like Receptor 4 Upregulation by Dendritic Cells

CD8+ T-cell immunity has been shown to play an important role in the protective immune response against Encephalitozoon cuniculi. Although earlier studies suggest that dendritic cells (DC) are important for the induction of this response, the factors responsible for initiation of the dendritic cell response against this pathogen have not been evaluated. In the current study, we demonstrate that E. cuniculi infection causes strong Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-dependent dendritic cell activation and a blockade of this molecule reduces the ability of DC to prime an antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell response. Pretreatment of DC with anti-TLR4 antibody causes a defect in both in vitro and in vivo CD8+ T-cell priming. These findings, for the first time, emphasize the contribution of TLR4 in the induction of CD8+ T-cell immunity against E. cuniculi infection.
Maternal Resources, Parenting, and Dietary Patterns Among Rural African American Children in Single-Parent Families

A correlation study was designed to test the hypothesis that maternal education, perceived family resources, and the importance of family routines would be related to children's dietary patterns. Additionally, the study examined the hypothesis that dietary patterns would be associated with children's cognitive and physical abilities. The sample for this study included 159 African American single-mother families with a 6- to 9-year-old child living in rural areas, most of whom lived in poverty. Children's eating patterns were assessed using a self-report questionnaire administered to the mother in an interview format. Children's cognitive ability was measured by several subscales from the Woodcock Johnson Psycho-Educational Instrument and the Harter Perceived Competence Scale for children. For male children, the mother's higher education was related to more adequate eating patterns at home, and more perceived family resources were related to the likelihood of taking vitamin supplements. For female children, greater milk intake was positively related to cognitive outcomes, including applied problem, passage comprehension, calculation, synonym identification, antonym identification, and quantitative concept scores. Milk intake was clearly related to more optimal cognitive development. The results of this study support the literature related to the importance of nutrition for cognitive and physical abilities in children.
Effects of Learner-Centered Activities in Preparation of Music Educators: Finding the Teacher Within

The authors followed the progress of 43 undergraduate music education majors through three semesters of peer teaching, field-based teaching of school-age students, and student teaching. Each semester, students followed a reflective practice model that included plan/teach/archive/reflect procedures following every teaching experience. The reflective practice model, as explained in this study, is a learner-centered model that emphasizes self-evaluation and professional responsibility rather than traditional instructor grading and feedback.The report includes student responses to three semesters of surveys requiring Likert-type scale responses, recall of self-reported skill levels during previous semesters, and responses to open-ended questions.
Dividing oil fields into regions with similar characteristic behavior using neural network and fuzzy logic approaches

Presents the next generation of "intelligent" oil field surveillance and prediction software based on neural networks and fuzzy logic. We treat the entire oil field as a coupled, highly nonlinear system of water injectors and oil/water/gas producers. The oil field is divided into regions with similar characteristic behavior using neural network and fuzzy logic. Wells in each region are then modeled with specialized neural networks trained to recognize their particular behavior. The model helps to improve waterflood management, avoid reservoir damage, and increase oil recovery per unit volume of injected water. Finally, the model visualizes the global trajectory of an entire field project and allow engineers to recognize patterns of incipient reservoir damage and poor performance.
Spelling Our Proper Name: Reconceptualizing the Order of Africana/Black Studies

This article examines internal and external intellectual discourses that have developed around Africana Studies as an academic discipline within the United States from its inception to the present....
Multiple sectors, multi function, multi radar dwell time management using particle swarm optimization (M3RTM)

In this paper a particle swarm optimization algorithm based approach is presented for dwell time management of multiple multi function radars monitoring multiple sectors. Each radar can perform two functions, which are normal surveillance (NS) or search and track targets. Multiple radars are used to perform these functions for multiple sectors. A particle swarm optimization based algorithm evolves the optimal dwell time management. The dwell management affects the probability of detection of targets, as well as the surveillance coverage range. The first objective of the paper is to optimally allocate the dwell time of multiple radars to surveillance and track tasks to achieve the maximum coverage of the sector while achieving the required probability of detection for all the targets. In the second case, beams from multiple radars are used to track targets and improve the probability of detection. The objective is to optimize the coverage of each region as well maximize the probability of detection of different targets. The decisions of using radar resources, which are its dwell time and energy, have to be made in real time and arriving at optimal configuration is non trivial. The particle swarm optimization algorithm covers the targets by varying the range which each of the radar will cover in each sector. Particle swarm optimization is proposed to intelligently search and find the optimal time management. The ability of particle swarm to achieve and quickly converge to an optimal solution, which is a pattern of assigning functions to dwells and simultaneously setting the sector's instrumented range for the multiple radars, is presented.
Measuring broadband access network performance in Pakistan: A comparative study

Although broadband Internet relishes wide penetration in Pakistan, performance of fixed and wireless broadband networks have not been thoroughly investigated from perspective of end-users. To the best of our knowledge, no independent study exists to date documenting home user broadband experience in Pakistan. This dearth of information is troubling as benchmarking broadband performance is fundamentally important for consumers in Pakistan due to its big Internet market. To address this gap, we conducted a pilot study of both fixed landline and fixed wireless broadband connections in Pakistan through deployment of programmable wireless routers for home users. Our work is inspired by (and compares to) a previous study of fixed and wireless broadband performance in South Africa that was published in 2013, drawing comparisons to previous work where appropriate. We measure the performance of both fixed landline and fixed wireless ISPs. Our findings agree with the findings of this previous work, suggesting that (1) consumers in Pakistan are not getting advertised speeds; (2) wireless broadband satisfies the advertised performance bounds better than wired broadband in a majority of cases under consideration; (3) network latency often contributes to performance bottlenecks more than throughput; and (4) ISPs in Pakistan shapes internet traffic in order to bring in compliance with desired traffic shape. Limiting factors such as latency mean that investing in local server infrastructure and rich peering between different ISPs will also make a significant difference in improving the Internet experience for users in Pakistan.
Shifted Personhood: Technology, Organizations, and Law on the Path to Citizens United and Hobby Lobby

This article tells a nuanced story about law, technology, and social change as they interacted in the evolution of corporations in the United States over two centuries. Most prominently, it is the first to illuminate how the Supreme Court’s view of the relationship between television and the provision of information to people in a mass society shaped its decision to extend the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of expression to corporations in Citizens United. It adds new complexity to the “antidistortion interest,” reveals how judges can easily put their norms in place of legislatures’ when they reason about technology, and suggests how the legal regulation of technology can become an instrumental part of social order. Most broadly, the article provides a model for explaining technology-influenced legal change and brings forward legal aspects of the study of corporations from the Industrial to the Information Age. Its farthest-reaching implication is to explain how personhood has “shifted” between corporations and individuals within the constitutional order, bringing their rights into conflict in new ways, as in the recent Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores.
Diameter dependent electron transfer kinetics in semiconductor-enzyme complexes.

Excited state electron transfer (ET) is a fundamental step for the catalytic conversion of solar energy into chemical energy. To understand the properties controlling ET between photoexcited nanopa...
Extensions to the Water Rights Analysis Package Modeling System

The Water Rights Analysis Package (WRAP) simulates management of the water resources of a river basin or multiple-basin region under a priority-based water allocation system. The model facilitates assessments of hydrologic and institutional water availability and reliability in satisfying requirements for instream flows, water supply diversions, hydroelectric energy generation, and reservoir storage. Basin-wide impacts of water resources development projects and management practices are modeled. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), its partner agencies, and contractors implemented a statewide Water Availability Modeling (WAM) System based on WRAP during 1997-2003 pursuant to comprehensive water management legislation enacted by the Texas Legislature in 1997. Expanded modeling capabilities developed since implementation of the Texas WAM System are designed to support a broader range of decision support needs as well as better address issues identified during implementation of the WAM System. Recent extensions to WRAP involve adding (1) conditional reliability modeling capabilities, (2) daily time step features including flow forecasting and routing, (3) features for simulating flood control operations, and (4) a salinity simulation component. WRAP Modeling System The WRAP model simulates capabilities of river/reservoir systems in meeting specified water management/regulation/use requirements for given sequences of naturalized streamflows and reservoir net evaporation rates. Water management is combined with natural hydrology. Water managers are concerned with future not past hydrologic conditions. However, since the future is unknown, historical hydrology is typically used to capture the hydrologic characteristics of a river basin. In WRAP terminology, water use requirements and reservoir and river system operating strategies are called water rights. The water management/use scenario might be actual current water use, projected future conditions, the premise that all permit holders use their full authorized amounts, or some other scenario of interest.
Rejoinder: On Professor McCutcheon's (Un)Critical Caretaking

NOT EVERYTHING THAT Russell McCutcheon wrote about my article is inaccurate or simply false, but much of it is. Bolstered by his mis-reading of broad swaths of the article, Professor McCutcheon has done little more than insist, “No, this is not what I meant at all!” Alas, as Michel Foucault (and so many others) has pointed out, an author is typically the last to dictate the meaning of his or her words. Despite what McCutcheon may think, however, my JAAR article (2011) was neither about carrying forward his tradition nor his authorial intent. Professor McCutcheon’s caricature of my argument begins with the suggestion that I fail to recognize his positing of the critic and the caretaker as mutually exclusive. Yet I offer an account of this bifurcation, highlighting its (limited) deconstructive utility as well as its reductionist tendency. Indeed, my article exposes the effectiveness and limitations of critique concretely by offering a core sample of a project that I fully develop in my forthcoming book When Peace Is Not Enough: How the
Establishment of lines from normal human blood leukocytes by co-cultivation with a leukocyte line derived from a leukemic child.

SummaryWhite blood cells from a normal adult male regularly became established as continuous lines when cultured in the presence of X-irradiated cells of an EBV-infected line of leukocytes derived from a leukemic girl and a monolayer of human placental cells. Seven of the 9 lines thus established became infected with EBV. The possible role of the various components of the culture system in the observed transformation is discussed.Note added in proof: The TNL line in Expt. 1, which did not demonstrate EBV antigen at the time the manuscript was submitted, showed approximately 0.4% cells with antigen when it was subsequently examined.We are grateful to the Children's Cancer Research Foundation for clinical specimens and to Mrs. A. von Zweck, Miss A. Holloway, Miss E. Grogan, Mrs. I. Irwin and Mrs. E. Lisco for valuable assistance.
Ground Cover Influence on Microclimate and Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Augmentation in Seed Corn Production

As pest management practices include more biological control implementation, the effect of different cropping systems on microclimate and efficacy of natural enemies should be considered. In a 1993 experiment, physical and microolimatic differences between hybrid field corn, Zea mays L., and inbred seed corn were assessed. Seed corn fields had 4.2-fold less leaf surface area and higher maximum temperature at the soil surface than field corn fields. Emergence of Trichogramma brassicae Bezdenko from cardboard capsules was significantly lower in seed corn when capsules were placed at the soil surface, but was not significantly different when capsules were at canopy level. In 1994, a rye grass Lolium multiflorum Lambert intercrop planted with seed corn significantly reduced maximum soil surface temperature compared with seed corn plots in which soil was bare or was covered (62%) with corn residue. Soil surface temperature was significantly higher in corn residue plots than in bare soil plots. Minimum temperatures were not significantly affected by ground cover. The mean number of hours per day that temperatures were 35°C or higher (lethal to T. brassicae) was significantly higher in residue and bare soil microhabitats than in rye grass plots or the corn canopy. When T. brassicae inside cardboard capsules were put into plots in the same manner as an augmentative release (i.e., 2 developmentally staggered cohorts), emergence from both cohorts was not significantly different in rye grass than in the corn canopy, but was significantly reduced in bare soil and corn residue plots.
Pediatric Bladder Reconstruction

When medications and neuromodulation have failed to adequately treat pediatric bladders that are abnormal functionally or structurally, bladder reconstruction offers renal protection and the opportunity to achieve continence in carefully selected patients. Several surgical options, including incontinent and continent urinary diversion, bladder augmentation, and orthotopic neobladder, are available, using various bowel segments. Each has its own advantages, disadvantages, and complications based on the bowel segment’s physiologic properties. While there is no consensus regarding the optimal age for bladder augmentation, the key to ensuring better outcomes and patient compliance is extensive preoperative counseling and close monitoring for compliance with catheterization and bladder irrigation. Additionally, long-term follow up is necessary to monitor for metabolic and nutritional issues and, rarely, malignancy. New techniques, including bladder tissue engineering and robot-assisted laparoscopic ileocystoplasty, are being explored.
Enhancing mud supply from the Lower Missouri River to the Mississippi River Delta USA: Dam bypassing and coastal restoration

Abstract Sand transport to the Mississippi River Delta (MRD) remains sufficient to build wetlands in shallow, sheltered coastal bays fed by engineered diversions on the Mississippi River (MR) and its Atchafalaya River (AR) distributary. But suspended mud (silt & clay) flux to the coast has dropped from a mean of 390 Mt y −1 in the early 1950s, to 100 Mt y −1 since 1970. This fine-grained sediment travels deeper into receiving estuarine basins and plays a critical role in sustaining existing marshes. Virtually all of the 300 Mt y −1 of missing mud once flowed from the Missouri River (MOR) Basin before nearly 100 dams were built as part of the Pick-Sloan water development project. About 100 Mt y −1 is now intercepted by main-stem Upper MOR dams closed in 1953. But the remaining 200 Mt y −1 is trapped by impoundments built on tributaries to the Lower MOR in the 1950s and 1960s. Sediment flux during the post-dam high MOR discharge years of 1973, 1993 and 2011 approached pre-dam levels when tributaries to the Lower MOR, including the Platte and Kansas Rivers, contributed to flood flows. West bank tributaries drain a vast, arid part of the Great Plains, while those entering from the east bank traverse the lowlands of the MOR floodplain. Both provinces are dominated by highly erodible loess soils. Staunching the continued decline in MR fine-grained sediment flux has assumed greater importance now that engineered diversions are being built to reconnect the Lowermost MR to the MRD. Tributary dam bypassing in the Lower MOR basin could increase mud supply to the MRD by 100–200 Mt y −1 within 1–2 decades. Such emergency measures to save the MRD are compatible with objectives of the Missouri River Restoration and Platte River Recovery Programs to restore MOR riparian habitat for endangered species. Rapid mobilization to shunt fine-grained sediments past as many as 50 Lower MOR tributary dams in several U.S. states will undoubtedly require as much regional coordination and funding in the 21st century as the monumental effort it took to build the dams in the last century.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing in minority populations enrolled in the Breast Cancer Family Registry

CN06-01 Background: Although the BRCA1 and BRCA2 tumor suppressor genes were identified in the mid 1990s, information on deleterious mutations in these genesamong racial/ethnic minority populations remains limited. We report on BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in a population-based series of African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and non-Hispanic white breast cancer patients from the San Francisco Bay area that are enrolled in the Breast Cancer Family Registry (BCFR), an NCI-funded international consortium established in 1995 at six collaborating sites in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Methods: The California site of the BCFR has enrolled over 3,100 breast cancer families, 73% of whom are from racial/ethnic minority populations. This report is based on female patients aged
Production of animal commodities at Plum Grove, Iowa City

To understand how people living in rural areas articulated with larger systems of commodities networks it is important to study them not just as consumers of goods, but also as producers of commodities. Based on historical and ethnohistorical comparisons, a late-19th-century feature at the Plum Grove site in Johnson County, Iowa, displays archaeological evidence of the production of animals for market sale despite a lack of historical records from this time period. The nature of this evidence is discussed, as is its significance in understanding Plum Grove’s articulation with macro-level economic networks.
The noradrenergic locus coeruleus as a chronic pain generator

Central noradrenergic centers such as the locus coeruleus (LC) are traditionally viewed as pain inhibitory; however, complex interactions among brainstem pathways and their receptors modulate both inhibition and facilitation of pain. In addition to the well-described role of descending pontospinal pathways that inhibit spinal nociceptive transmission, an emerging body of research now indicates that noradrenergic neurons in the LC and their terminals in the dorsal reticular nucleus (DRt), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), spinal dorsal horn, and spinal trigeminal nucleus caudalis participate in the development and maintenance of allodynia and hyperalgesia after nerve injury. With time after injury, we argue that the balance of LC function shifts from pain inhibition to pain facilitation. Thus, the pain-inhibitory actions of antidepressant drugs achieved with elevated noradrenaline concentrations in the dorsal horn may be countered or even superseded by simultaneous activation of supraspinal facilitating systems dependent on α1 -adrenoreceptors in the DRt and mPFC as well as α2 -adrenoreceptors in the LC. Indeed, these opposing actions may account in part for the limited treatment efficacy of tricyclic antidepressants and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors such as duloxetine for the treatment of chronic pain. We propose that the traditional view of the LC as a pain-inhibitory structure be modified to account for its capacity as a pain facilitator. Future studies are needed to determine the neurobiology of ascending and descending pathways and the pharmacology of receptors underlying LC-mediated pain inhibition and facilitation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multi-static space-time-frequency multiple access channel simulation and results

Limited spectral access motivates technologies that operate efficiently in increasingly challenging contexts. In the context of wireless communications, users compete for spectral access in already crowded environments. Managing spectrum allocation for these users, and addressing the associated challenges, is referred to as the multiple access problem. In this paper we develop a MATLAB simulation platform with which to model and simulate a variety of multiple access problems. Included within this platform is an example system implementation with airborne transceivers operating in a rich scattering environment. A multiple access receiver is designed, implemented, and evaluated in this context. Theoretical bounds on a simple multiple access problem are presented and compared to simulation results. These users are then modeled as joint radar-communications users, simultaneously communicating and conducting synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging using a joint radar-communications waveform. Initial SAR imaging results are presented.
Impact of Entry Mode Choices on the Nature of Innovations: Indian Biopharmaceutical Industry

Drawing on the internationalization-innovation literature, this paper suggests that the type of innovation activity the firm undertakes can be understood as a consequence of the firm’s choice of di...
Vignettes and Viewpoints From a Professional Autobiography

In this professional autobiography, the author describes factors contributing to important decisions in his academic geriatric psychiatry career. Major inflection points included embarking on clinical research and later deciding to focus more on leadership roles in education and in faculty affairs. The discussion then examines themes that have emerged in reviewing this career arc, including the value of: the variety and social connectedness inherent in the academic life; cultivation of interpersonal relationships and best efforts as much as possible; an open mind ready to (collegially) seize new opportunities; and family, friends, and avocational pursuits as complements to one's profession. The author hopes that this public life review is of help to others planning or reflecting on their own career paths.
Treatment of orofacial granulomatosis: a case report

Orofacial granulomatosis is a relatively recent term coined by Wiesenfield et al. in 1985 to define granulomatous lesions of oral mucosa without intestinal involvement. When it presents in a triad encompassing facial nerve palsy, lip swelling, and fissured or furrowed tongue it is called Melkersson–Rosenthal syndrome while monosymptomatic or oligosymptomatic forms are referred to as granulomatous cheilitis. It is an uncommon clinicopathologic entity which is distinct from classic Crohn’s disease. The NOD2 variant which is commonly associated with Crohn’s has not been shown to have any association with orofacial granulomatosis. We present a case of a 31-year-old white man who had painful swelling of the lip with oral ulcers and difficulty eating for 2 to 3 years. He was diagnosed as having granulomatous cheilitis based on characteristic biopsy findings. There was serologic evidence of Crohn’s disease with anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies. However, he was not found to have any gastrointestinal involvement based on computed tomography enterography, and upper and lower endoscopies. He failed to respond to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, and dapsone therapy but responded well to high doses of infliximab. Our case questions whether granulomatous cheilitis really exists or is it simply a variant of Crohn’s disease with only oral presentation. Our patient did not have symptoms of Crohn’s disease; moreover, endoscopic studies and computed tomography enterography were unremarkable for evidence of intestinal involvement. Our case is also the first reported case where high-dose infliximab alone has been used with sustained response for approximately 8 months. In conclusion, more research is needed to assess the underlying pathology as well as ideal treatment options for patients with orofacial granulomatosis. We propose that high-dose infliximab should be considered in patients who do not respond to traditional therapies.
Experimental Study Of Fault Cones And Fault Aliasing

The test of digital integrated circuits compares the test pattern results for the device under test (DUT) to the expected test pattern results of a standard reference. The standard response is typically obtained from simulations. The test pattern and response are created and evaluated assuming ideal test conditions. The standard response is normally stored within automated test equipment (ATE). However the use of ATE is the major contributor to the test cost. This thesis explores an alternative strategy to the standard response. As an alternative to the stored standard response, the response is estimated by fault tolerant technique. The purpose of the fault tolerant technique is to eliminate the need of standard response and enable online/real-time testing. Fault tolerant techniques use redundancy and majority voting to estimate the standard response. Redundancy in the circuit leads to fault aliasing. Fault aliasing misleads the majority voter in estimating the standard response. The statistics and phenomenon of aliasing are analyzed for benchmark circuits. The impact of fault aliasing on test with respect to coverage, test escape and over-kill is analyzed. The results show that aliasing can be detected with additional test vectors and get 100% fault coverage.
Improving RNAi in the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug: Identification of target genes and reference genes for RT-qPCR

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is native to Asia and recently invaded the USA. RNA interference (RNAi) is a gene silencing mechanism in which the introduction of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) inhibits gene function by degrading target mRNA. In dsRNA stability assays, the dsRNases present in the hemolymph and salivary gland secretions of BMSB showed lower activity than those in the hemolymph of Heliothis virescens. We evaluated six housekeeping genes (18S rRNA, EF1-α, Actin, Ubiquitin, 60S RP and β-Tubulin) across dsRNA treatments (injection and feeding) in nymphs and adults of BMSB and identified 18S rRNA and 60S RP as the best genes to use as a reference in reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Homologs of 13 genes that were shown to function as effective RNAi targets in other insects were identified and evaluated by injecting dsRNA targeting these homologs into BMSB adults. Five out of 13 dsRNAs tested caused more than 70% mortality by seven days after injection of dsRNA. Feeding dsRNA targeting five of these genes (IAP, ATPase, SNF7, GPCR, and PPI) to nymphs caused more than 70% mortality by three of the five dsRNAs tested. These data suggest that feeding dsRNA causes target gene knockdown and mortality in BMSB.
How Cartels Punish: A Structural Theory of Self-Enforcing Collusion

* Law Clerk to the Hon. James K. Logan, United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Judicial Circuit; Assistant Professor, Northwestern University School of Law (beginning August 1987); Research Fellow, American Bar Foundation (beginning August 1987). B.A. Yale University, 1981;J.D. Yale University, 1986; Ph.D Candidate (Economics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I thank John Donohue, Henry Hansmann, Al Klevorick, George Priest, Garth Saloner, Steven Salop, Richard Schmalensee, Louis Schwartz, Oliver Williamson, and participants of seminars at Cardozo, Duke, Emory, Iowa, Northwestern, and Yale for valuable comments. Financial support from the Yale Center for Studies in Law, Economics and Public Policy is gratefully acknowledged. 1. Structural theories have many antecedents. See, e.g., G. Stigler, A Theory of Oligopoly, in The Organization of Industry 39-63 (1968); Hay & Kelley, An Empirical Survey of Price Fixing Conspiracies, 17 J.L. & Econ. 13 (1974). More generally, these theories follow the Structure-Conduct-Performance (S-C-P) paradigm of Joseph Bain, under which structural variables (such as seller concentration) were modeled to affect conduct variables (such as collusion or competition) which in turn were to affect performance variables (such as profits). J. Bain, Industrial Organization 43 (2d ed. 1968). Although conduct can conversely affect structure, see, e.g., infra note 4 (predatory behavior will influence seller concentration), such feedback effects are beyond the scope of this Article. Bain's S-C-P paradigm has gained widespread acceptance. See, e.g., F. Scherer, Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance 3-7 (2d ed. 1980); Weiss, The Structure-Conduct-Performance Paradigm and Antitrust, 127 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1104 (1979). 2. For example, Judge Richard Posner has championed a structural approach for detecting and punishing antitrust collusion. See R. Posner, Antitrust Law: An Economic Perspective 55 (1976); R. Posner & F. Easterbrook, Antitrust: Cases, Economics Notes and Other Materials 336 (1981); 6 P. Areeda, Antitrust Law ? 1430, at 178-82 (1986). 3. The Federal Trade Commission has examined structural characteristics to focus investigative resources on suspect industries. For a history of the FTC's attempts at targeting collusion, see D. Pender & M. Coate, Case Generation and Remedies 8 (F.T.C. Collusion Project Working Paper No. 3, June 29, 1984) (unpublished paper on file at the Columbia Law Review). 4. At least one court has considered structural evidence as a plus-factor for inferring the actual existence of collusion. See, e.g., Wall Products Co. v. National Gypsum Co., 326 F. Supp. 295 (N.D. Calif. 1971) (stressing structural characteristics of the relevant market that predisposed it to collusion); see also R. Posner, supra note 2, at 73 & n.52 (discussing implications of case). While this Article investigates how structure affects collusive behavior-that is, efforts to make competitors cooperate-the structural approach also applies to identifying