cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Determination of Dissociate Formaldehyde in Cosmetics by Derivatization-Headspace-Gas Chromatography

[Objective] To establish a simple and efficient method for determination of dissociate formaldehyde in cosmetics samples by derivatization-headspace-gas chromatography,and to meet requirements of daily inspections.[Methods] Dissociate formaldehydes were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction technique using water and derivatized with pentafluorophenylhydrazine(PFPH).The derivatives were separated by gas chromatography and measured by hydrogen flame ionization detector.[Results] The derivatization reaction effectively removed interferences.The spiked concentrations of this method were 8.0-40.0 mg/kg.The average recovery was 106% and the relative standard deviation(RSD) ranged from 1.8% to 5.2%(n=6).The detection limit was 0.6 mg/kg.[Conclusion] This method for dissociate formaldehyde determination in cosmetics is simple,quick and accurate.It can meet routine laboratory testing requirements.
Experimental considerations for the centrifugal separation of blood cell components

Processing techniques using recycle and staging for blood cell collection lead to numerous conceptual design configurations. From a practical viewpoint, many of these schemes can become incongruous. Experimental fractional recoveries with up to six stages are presented, and material balance considerations and process comparisons are made. Isolation of specific leukocyte types, and cell viability effects are studied.
Adams’ Conception of Liberty

John Adams vigorously resisted Rousseau’s diversion of the republican tradition, and the French embrace of unicameralism, resting on Spartan discipline.1 Adams denied Montesquieu’s claim that climate and soil decide political institutions, and Rousseau’ s belief that “celestial virtue” will be necessary to preserve liberty. For Adams, republican virtue and liberty were products of republican institutions, not their cause, so that a republic may exist “even among highwaymen,” by setting one rogue to watch another, making them honest men by the struggle.2 The secret of avoiding tyranny lay in “equal laws made by common consent,” enforced by “three different orders of men in equilibria.”3 Machiavelli had recognized this “eternal principle”, without which every government must be “imperfect” and every commonwealth “essentially defective.”4 Adams insisted that Americans needed different orders of offices, not of men: “Out of office all men are of the same species, and of one blood”5
Optical stark effect in CdSe colloidal nanocrystals

The optical Stark effect allows ultrafast, non-dissipative manipulation of electronic states. We demonstrate optical Stark shifts > 10 meV and effective magnetic fields > 100 T in CdSe nanocrystals under off-resonant circularly polarized pumping.
Public Sector Employment Inequality in the United States and the Great Recession

Historically in the United States, the public sector has served as an equalizing institution through the expansion of job opportunities for minority workers. This study examines whether the public sector continues to serve as an equalizing institution in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Using data from the Current Population Survey, I investigate changes in public sector employment between 2003 and 2013. My results point to a post-recession double disadvantage for black public sector workers: they are concentrated in a shrinking sector of the economy, and they are more likely than white and Hispanic public sector workers to experience job loss. These two trends are a historical break for the public sector labor market. I find that race and ethnicity gaps in public sector employment cannot be explained by differences in education, occupation, or any of the other measurable factors that are typically associated with employment. Among unemployed workers who most recently worked for the public sector, black women are the least likely to transition into private sector employment.
Reply to “Comment on ‘Using an ADCP to Estimate Turbulent Kinetic Energy Dissipation Rate in Sheltered Coastal Waters’”

AbstractThis note is a comment in response to Gargett, who argues that a large-eddy estimate of turbulent dissipation rate using a horizontal length scale with a vertical velocity estimate, as in Greene et al., is a dubious approximation if the energy-containing eddies are anisotropic. A simulation of Langmuir cells and associated turbulence is used to support Gargett’s conclusions. This rebuttal reviews the approaches taken by Greene et al. and cites several instances of flawed reasoning by Gargett. This includes using Langmuir simulations to support the primary conclusion of Gargett, which seems unconnected to Greene et al.’s data and ignores a vast body of work on simulating Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities, widely considered to be the dominant mechanism producing stratified turbulence.
Sequencing historical specimens: successful preparation of small specimens with low amounts of degraded DNA.

Despite advances that allow DNA sequencing of old museum specimens, sequencing small-bodied, historical specimens can be challenging and unreliable as many contain only small amounts of fragmented DNA. Dependable methods to sequence such specimens are especially critical if the specimens are unique. We attempt to sequence small-bodied (3–6 mm) historical specimens (including nomenclatural types) of beetles that have been housed, dried, in museums for 58–159 years, and for which few or no suitable replacement specimens exist. To better understand ideal approaches of sample preparation and produce preparation guidelines, we compared different library preparation protocols using low amounts of input DNA (1–10 ng). We also explored low-cost optimizations designed to improve library preparation efficiency and sequencing success of historical specimens with minimal DNA, such as enzymatic repair of DNA. We report successful sample preparation and sequencing for all historical specimens despite our low-input DNA approach. We provide a list of guidelines related to DNA repair, bead handling, reducing adapter dimers, and library amplification. We present these guidelines to facilitate more economical use of valuable DNA, and enable more consistent results in projects that aim to sequence challenging, irreplaceable historical specimens. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The Social Construction of Policy Feedback: Incarceration, Conservatism, and Ideological Change

Over the last decade, in a major switch in position, conservatives have embraced the cause of reducing prison populations in the states and, increasingly, at the national level. The long-term crime decline and the increasing antistatism of the Republican Party contributed to this change, but it also has an important cognitive component: Policy makers have become more open to evidence of the damaging effects of mass incarceration. In contrast to previous studies, our case shows that such policy “feedback” only functions politically when a signal about a policy consequence is assigned valence and intensity by policy makers, whose calculations are heavily structured by the demands of party coalitions. On issues in which no core coalition member has a major stake, feedback can be tipped from reinforcing to undermining and vice versa, but this process depends on the efforts of entrepreneurs to change the way information is processed. In a highly polarized environment, opening policy makers to previously ignored evidence requires the cultivation of a reform cadre composed of ideological standard-bearers who can vouch for the orthodoxy of the new position.
Scheduling and Design Problems

In addition to location problems, a truly amazing variety of scheduling and design problems has been formulated by numerous professionals in industrial engineering, management science, computer science and the social sciences as Boolean quadratic problems with special ordered set constraints (BQPSs). These include notorious problems such as the traveling salesman problem and seemingly innocuous, but NP-hard optimization problems such as the unconstrained quadratic zero-one optimization problem. In this chapter we collect a representative number of these problems with the aim of classifying them into a schema that will permit us to detect commonalities and differences for further in-depth study of the essential problem classes. Right from the outset, we wish, however, to make clear that we do not advocate the exclusive treatment of every zero-one optimization problem that fits into our framework within the classes of BQPSs that we consider. Additional structural properties of a combinatorial optimization problem — if present — must be exploited fully in order to achieve numerical success and while we subscribe to the often heard maxim “...as global as possible, as local as necessary ...”, we do it with the right amount of caution.
Image retrieval for visual understanding in dynamic and sensor rich environments

Vision is vital to decision making, as humans naturally trust their eyes to enhance situation awareness. Yet the modern age has overwhelmed humans with massive amounts of visual information, which is problematic in time sensitive and mission critical situations, such as emergency management and disaster response. More efficient search and retrieval systems address some of these issues, which is why many seek to develop and extend Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) techniques to support situational awareness in a more autonomous fashion. However, there is currently no adequate system for CBIR to support situational awareness in dynamic and sensor rich environments. This research proposes an extensible framework for CBIR to support a holistic understanding of the environment through the automated search and retrieval of relevant images and the context of their capture. This constitutes assisted CBIR as embodied in the multi-sensor assisted CBIR system (MSACS). We design the MSACS framework and implement the core CBIR system of MSACS using the state of the art Bag of Visual Words paradigm. The system is evaluated using a dataset of GPS tagged images to show favorable precision and recall of spatially related images. Applications for localization and search for Wi-Fi access points demonstrate improved situational awareness using the system. Assisted CBIR could enable vision based understanding of an environment to ease the burdens of information overload and increase human confidence in autonomous systems.
Sea anemone model has a single Toll-like receptor that can function in pathogen detection, NF-κB signal transduction, and development

In organisms from insects to vertebrates, Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are primary pathogen detectors that activate downstream pathways, specifically those that direct expression of innate immune effector genes. TLRs also have roles in development in many species. The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis is a useful cnidarian model to study the origins of TLR signaling because its genome encodes a single TLR and homologs of many downstream signaling components, including the NF-κB pathway. We have characterized the single N. vectensis TLR (Nv-TLR) and demonstrated that it can activate canonical NF-κB signaling in human cells. Furthermore, we show that the intracellular Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain of Nv-TLR can interact with the human TLR adapter proteins MAL and MYD88. We demonstrate that the coral pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus causes a rapidly lethal disease in N. vectensis and that heat-inactivated V. coralliilyticus and bacterial flagellin can activate a reconstituted Nv-TLR-to-NF-κB pathway in human cells. By immunostaining of anemones, we show that Nv-TLR is expressed in a subset of cnidocytes and that many of these Nv-TLR-expressing cells also express Nv-NF-κB. Additionally, the nematosome, which is a Nematostella-specific multicellular structure, expresses Nv-TLR and many innate immune pathway homologs and can engulf V. coralliilyticus Morpholino knockdown indicates that Nv-TLR also has an essential role during early embryonic development. Our characterization of this primitive TLR and identification of a bacterial pathogen for N. vectensis reveal ancient TLR functions and provide a model for studying the molecular basis of cnidarian disease and immunity.
Total serum bilirubin levels and sensorineural hearing loss in the US adolescents: NHANES 2007-2010.

Abstract Objective We aimed to investigate whether current levels of total serum bilirubin are associated with different subtypes of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in adolescents. Methods A set of cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2007–2010) was used. A subset of 1404 adolescents was sampled for measurements of total serum bilirubin, tympanometry, and average pure tone threshold at low-frequencies (LPTA: 500, 1000, 2000 Hz) or high-frequencies (HPTA: 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz). SNHL was defined as the hearing loss that had type A tympanograms with a peak admittance of 0.3 ml or greater. Associations between serum bilirubin (square-root transformed) and different subtypes of SNHL were evaluated using binary or multinomial logistic regression models with 4-year sampling weights. The bootstrap method was used for estimation of variance and 10-fold cross-validation for assessment of overfitting issue. Results Total serum bilirubin levels were found to be associated with any high-frequency (HPTA>15 dB in at least one ear, adjusted odds-ratio (ORa)(bootstrap 95% confidence interval) = 3.29(1.31–8.19), p = 0.011), but not with any low-frequency (LPTA>15 dB in at least one ear), SNHL in the US adolescents. Furthermore, high-frequency SNHL with HPTA>15 dB in both ears (bilateral) or HPTA≥25 dB in at least one ear, compared to that with HPTA>15 dB in one ear only (unilateral) or HPTA = 15–25 dB in at least one ear, had a stronger association with total serum bilirubin levels (ORa = 5.37(1.27–22.65), p = 0.022 for bilateral; ORa = 2.64(0.84–8.25), p = 0.094 for unilateral; ORa = 5.00(0.95–26.58), p = 0.058 for HPTA≥25 dB in at least one ear; as well as ORa = 3.06(1.15–8.25), p = 0.025 for HPTA = 15–25 dB in at least one ear). No severe overfitting problems were found. Conclusion Our findings suggest that current levels of total serum bilirubin may be informative in predicting and/or targeting high-frequency SNHL in the US adolescents.
Evolution and Kidney Development: A Rosetta Stone for Nephrology

This issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology contains three interrelated papers from the laboratory of Andrew McMahon, providing a comprehensive analysis of sequential human and mouse kidney development at the macroscopic, microscopic, cellular, and molecular level.[1][1]–[3][2
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Neuromodulation of Pain

Abstract Physical pain is a leading cause of healthcare spending, work-related disability, and morbidity in the United States. The development of advanced functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques such as blood oxygenation level dependent imaging, arterial spin labeling, and resting-state functional connectivity MRI offers researchers the prospect of developing objective diagnostic instruments for pain syndromes. This chapter reviews recent advancements in functional imaging, and the diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities they present in pain management.
Increased Diagnostic Yield of 4-Hour Outpatient EEG Compared to Routine EEG (P02.235)

OBJECTIVE: To examine if greater yield of focal or epileptiform abnormalities is detected during a 4-hour outpatient extended-EEG (XEEG) compared to an outpatient 40-minute routine EEG (REEG) at an epilepsy center in adults being evaluated for possible seizure. BACKGROUND: Yield of the initial REEG in patients with epilepsy (PWES) is approximately 30-55%. Inpatient video-EEG or outpatient ambulatory EEG increases diagnosis with increased cost and resource utilization. Outpatient XEEG recording may have benefit and small incremental resource utilization. DESIGN/METHODS: From 2010-2012, 77 consecutive patients evaluated for possible seizures or known epilepsy and having a 2-4 hour XEEG at a single university medical center neurophysiology lab underwent retrospective chart review. For most of these XEEGs, 1 of 2 electroencephalographers interpreted the first 40-minutes of the EEG (REEG) and filed separate interpretation of the entire XEEG. 26% of patients had their XEEG report compared against an REEG performed weeks-months earlier. RESULTS: Mean age was 47 yr (range 19-90 yr). 50% were suspected of having epilepsy prior to the XEEG (29 LRE, 10 Generalized epilepsy). 69% of the total cohort was on AEDs. Median number of AEDs used during the XEEG was 1 (range 1 to 4). Mean XEEG duration was 3.6 hrs (range 2-4 hr, >75% were 4h). 38% of REEGs vs. 48% of XEEGs contained significant focal or epileptiform abnormalities. This 10% difference is statistically significant (95%CI 3-18%, p=0.01). Epileptiform abnormalities were noted in 18% of the REEGs and 27% of the XEEGs. 1 nonepiletic event was recorded on the rEEG, and 3 XEEGs had events (1 epileptic, 2 nonepiletpic). CONCLUSIONS: This rigorous case-control study shows 4-hour EEG provides significantly more diagnostic information in this group of adults evaluated for 1 or multiple possible seizures. Most of this benefit came from detection of epileptiform discharges. Disclosure: Dr. Beckerman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Wong has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mani has nothing to disclose.
Finite Element Methoden aus objektorientierter Sicht

Die numerische Behandlung praxisrelevanter partieller Differentialgleichungen mittels adaptiver, multilevel-vorkonditionier-ter finite Element Techniken stellt hohe Anspruche an die Programmierung, die mehrere komplexe Aufgaben zu bewaltigen hat. Ein spezieller objektorientierter Ansatz erlaubt die Assemblierung der algebraischen Probleme, so das effiziente Bibliothekroutinen fur die lineare Algebra verwendet werden konnen. Die Implementierung zur Verwaltung der Geometriedaten kann wiederverwendet werden.
Jenseits der Sozialpartnerschaft

Der globale Freihandel wird im Allgemeinen als dynamische Kraft der Freisetzung unternehmerischer Profitmaximierung betrachtet. Die auf dem Weltmarkt operierenden Unternehmen werden aus nationalen Restriktionen durch Traditionen der Sozialpartnerschaft und der offentlichen Verantwortung entlassen. Die Produktion wird in Lander mit niedrigstem Lohnniveau und niedrigsten Sozialstandards verlagert. Korrespondierend zu diesem Produktionsaufbau in den Niedriglohnlandern werden Produktionsstatten in den Hochlohnlandern geschlossen. Damit einher geht ein wachsender Druck auf die Lohne und Lohnnebenkosten. Es scheint sich demgemas ein race to the bottom zu entwickeln, das Wohlstand und Sozialstandards in den Hochlohnlandern abbaut, ohne in den Niedriglohnlandern zu einem wahrnehmbaren Aufbau von Wohlstand und Sozialstandards zu fuhren. Wahrend der nationale Wohlfahrtsstaat die Okonomie moralisch uberformt bzw. eingebettet hat, impliziert der globale Freihandel anscheinend eine komplette Befreiung der Okonomie von moralischen Restriktionen. Dieses Argument trifft allerdings nur so weit zu, wie die Moral des nationalen Wohlfahrtsstaates zum Masstab gemacht wird. Dabei handelt es sich jedoch um eine Binnenmoral, deren Kehrseite eine Ausenmoral der Exklusion der grosen Masse der Weltbevolkerung aus dem Wohlstand der reichen Lander ist (Weber 1923: 303f). Wenn man diesen Masstab in Frage stellt, dann kann der globale Freihandel als ein Vehikel der fortschreitenden internationalen Arbeitsteilung verstanden werden, die darauf hinzielt, das segmentar differenzierte System der Nationalstaaten durch eine zunehmend funktional differenzierte Weltgesellschaft abzulosen. Das heist in Durkheims (1992/11893) Begriffen, dass die mechanische Solidaritat der Nationen geschwacht wird, wahrend sich die Konturen einer globalen organischen Solidaritat abzeichnen. Die starke, konkrete, zwanghafte und nach ausen unmoralische Moral des Wohlfahrtsstaates weicht ein Stuck weit einer schwachen, abstrakten, aber universell gultigen Moral der Weltgesellschaft.
Effect of Sympathetic Stimulation on Critical Closure of Intraocular Blood Vessels

Acute common carotid occlusion in rabbits causes a reduction in ocular blood volume andciliary artery blood pressure. At all levels of intraocular pressure, cervical sympathetic stimula-tion reduces these changes. The ocidar blood volume reduction after acute common carotidocclusion is not linearly related to the absolute blood pressure change or to the lowest bloodpressure reached in the ciliary artery; it is related to the effective perfusion pressure afterocclusion. Effective perfusion pressure is equal to ciliary artery blood pressure minus intra-ocular pressure and it reflects the transmural pressure of ocular blood vessels.. The effectiveperfusion pressure at which the peak ocular volume change occurs after acute common carotidocclusion reflects the critical closing pressure of the ocular blood vessels. This approaches zeroin the absence of sympathetic stimulation and is 10 mm. Hg or greater in the presence ofsympathetic stimulation.Key words: critical closure, sympathetic stimulation, carotid occlusion, effective perfusionpressure, ciliary artery blood pressure.
Robot path planning in a dynamic environment with stochastic measurements

We study the problem of trajectory planning for autonomous vehicles designed to minimize the travel distance while avoiding moving obstacles whose position and speed are not known. Because, in practice, observations from sensors have measurement errors, the stochasticity of the data is modeled using maximum likelihood estimators, which are shown to be consistent as the sample size increases. To comply with the kinematic constraints of the vehicle, we consider smooth trajectories that can be represented by a linear combination of B-spline basis functions, transforming the infinite-dimensional problem into a finite-dimensional one. Moreover, a smooth penalty function is added to the travel distance, transforming the constrained optimization problem into an unconstrained one. The planned stochastic trajectory, obtained from the minimization problem with stochastic confidence regions, is shown to converge almost surely to the deterministic one as the number of sensor observations increases. Finally, we present two simulation studies to demonstrate the proposed method.
The Jewish Secularization Thesis and the Revival of American Jewish Secularism: The Case of College Students in 2014

Clearly, there is more to the Jewish experience in America than religion. The idea that the Jews are a “people” and not just a faith is ancient. It also means that Jewish identity and identification are very different from that of other religious traditions in the U.S. with which Jews are often compared. The contemporary survey evidence refutes the claims of secularism’s critics that it is merely a historical vestige of an immigrant past.
Abstract 33: Intra-arterial Saline Flushing Reduces Infarct Size and Improves Sensorimotor Function in a Rat Model of Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Introduction: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for large vessel occlusive (LVO) stroke provides an opportunity to deliver targeted intra-arterial (IA) adjunctive therapies (ATs) to the ischemic brain. We developed a model of selective IA catheterization after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) in rats to investigate targeted adjunctive therapies. Here we report the brain protective effects of targeted IA flushing with normal saline as an adjunctive therapy to LVO revascularization. Methods: We incorporated a continuous internal carotid artery (ICA) catheter infusion system after tMCAO in Sprague Dawley rats (300-350g). Two groups were studied (N=6/group): Control (tMCAO with IA catheter only) and Flushing (tMCAO with IA catheter and brief intermittent flushing). The Flushing group received 1 min infusions of normal saline at 2cc/min immediately, 1hr, and 2hrs after reperfusion. Laser Speckle Imaging was used to measure microvascular perfusion at baseline, post-occlusion, post-reperfusion, and ...
WearableDL: Wearable Internet-of-Things and Deep Learning for Big Data Analytics—Concept, Literature, and Future

This work introduces Wearable deep learning (WearableDL) that is a unifying conceptual architecture inspired by the human nervous system, offering the convergence of deep learning (DL), Internet-of-things (IoT), and wearable technologies (WT) as follows: (1) the brain, the core of the central nervous system, represents deep learning for cloud computing and big data processing. (2) The spinal cord (a part of CNS connected to the brain) represents Internet-of-things for fog computing and big data flow/transfer. (3) Peripheral sensory and motor nerves (components of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)) represent wearable technologies as edge devices for big data collection. In recent times, wearable IoT devices have enabled the streaming of big data from smart wearables (e.g., smartphones, smartwatches, smart clothings, and personalized gadgets) to the cloud servers. Now, the ultimate challenges are (1) how to analyze the collected wearable big data without any background information and also without any labels representing the underlying activity; and (2) how to recognize the spatial/temporal patterns in this unstructured big data for helping end-users in decision making process, e.g., medical diagnosis, rehabilitation efficiency, and/or sports performance. Deep learning (DL) has recently gained popularity due to its ability to (1) scale to the big data size (scalability); (2) learn the feature engineering by itself (no manual feature extraction or hand-crafted features) in an end-to-end fashion; and (3) offer accuracy or precision in learning raw unlabeled/labeled (unsupervised/supervised) data. In order to understand the current state-of-the-art, we systematically reviewed over 100 similar and recently published scientific works on the development of DL approaches for wearable and person-centered technologies. The review supports and strengthens the proposed bioinspired architecture of WearableDL. This article eventually develops an outlook and provides insightful suggestions for WearableDL and its application in the field of big data analytics.
A Dynamic Solenoid Model for Fuel Injectors

The fuel injection system strongly affects the engine combustion phenomena which determines pollutant emissions, combustion noise and fuel efficiency. Many studies have shown the advantages of using small quantity and closely-spaced multiple injections per combustion cycle for emission reduction and fuel efficiency improvement. However, closely-spaced multiple injections using electromagnetic fuel injectors, which predominate in almost all gasoline engines, are challenging, as there is residual energy (flux) in the injector coil when the injector is re-energized. The residual flux causes over-fueling in the subsequent injection event resulting in unacceptable injection instability. In this paper, we develop a simple and highly accurate dynamic model of a solenoid in electromagnetic fuel injectors to predict the residual energy/flux. Eddy current effect and magnetic saturation are considered to model the transient behavior of flux. The model parameters are derived from physical variables, which render the model easy to tune/calibrate. The predicted flux from the model showed very good agreement with experimental results over typical fuel injection profiles. The model is an enabler for model based fuel injector control to achieve accurate fuel metering in closely space multiple injection applications. The method is also applicable to solenoid in other applications, e.g., solenoid actuators in robotics, variable force solenoid in clutch systems, and so on.
Metabolomic profiling of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) in human tissue samples and xenografts.

10516 Background: There is a growing need for novel agents to treat resistant GIST. The goal of this study was to characterize and identify potential therapeutic targets in the metabolic profile of...
Techno-economic analysis of water precipitation for lignin value prior to pulping

Abstract Lignocellulosic biorefinery strategies are evolving to include recovering value from lignin as well as the sugar components. Dissolving the lignin in a solvent to separate it from the cellulose fraction is a popular strategy. Lignin solvation techniques must be paired with complementary lignin and solvent recovery strategies. Water precipitation to decrease the solvent concentration is a popular method of laboratory-scale lignin precipitation, but it requires solvent concentrations of 3–10% v/v. High lignin precipitation yields must be tempered by the economic challenges of recovering the dilute solvent in an industrial process. Herein we describe several solvent recovery strategies and their implementation for lignin value prior to pulping (LVPP) with water precipitation. We model the use of distillation, multi-effect evaporation, and reverse osmosis (RO) to concentrate and recover solvent. Two different solvents, low and high boiling, above and below water, (b.p. 120 °C), are concentrated from dilute to pretreatment solutions of 70% v/v and 90% v/v. We show that the annual costs of solvent recovery after water precipitation, given current industrial separation techniques, would be prohibitive for lignin commercialization due to a required lignin selling price of a few times its fuel value.
Fibronectin fiber creep under constant force loading.

Abstract Viscoelasticity is a fundamental property of virtually all biological materials, and proteinaceous, fibrous materials that constitute the extracellular matrix (ECM) are no exception. Viscoelasticity may be particularly important in the ECM since cells can apply mechanical stress resulting from cell contractility over very long periods of time. However, measurements of ECM fiber response to long-term constant force loading are scarce, despite the increasing recognition that mechanical strain regulates the biological function of some ECM fibers. We developed a dual micropipette system that applies constant force to single fibers for up to 8 h. We utilized this system to study the time dependent response of fibronectin (Fn) fibers to constant force, as Fn fibers exhibit tremendous extensibility before mechanical failure as well as strain dependent alterations in biological properties. These data demonstrate the Fn fibers continue to stretch under constant force loading for at least 8 h and that this long-term creep results in plastic deformation of Fn fibers, in contrast to elastic deformation of Fn fibers under short-term, but fast loading rate extension. These data demonstrate that physiologically-relevant loading may impart mechanical features to Fn fibers by switching them into an extended state that may have altered biological functions. Statement of significance Measurements of extracellular matrix (ECM) fiber response to constant force loading are scarce, so we developed a novel technique for applying constant force to single ECM fibers. We used this technique to measure constant force creep of fibronectin fibers since these fibers have been shown to be mechanotransducers whose functions can be altered by mechanical strain. We found that fibronectin fibers creep under constant force loading for the duration of the experiment and that this creep behavior resembles a power law. Furthermore, we found that constant force creep results in plastic deformation of the fibers, which suggests that the mechanobiological switching of fibronectin can only occur once after long-term loading.
Greco-Roman Beginnings of “Theatre” (as Theatron/Theatrum)

This chapter investigates possible Minoan and Mycenaean cultic theatres, 2600–1100 BCE. Then it considers the development of ancient Greek theatre with the dithyrambic chorus honoring Dionysus, with Thespis as “answerer” to the chorus, and with the further emergence of many elements in the Western art form, including the Greek theatron, in the 500s–200s. And it explores ancient Roman performances, from theatre spaces and the plays of Seneca, Plautus, and Terence to the violent, mass spectacles of arena games, including the schedule of events, mythic characters, and costumes and props of gladiators—sometimes involving emperors and Christian martyrs as actors.
Socioeconomic disparities of depressive symptoms and cytokines in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To examine the associations among socioeconomic factors, depressive symptoms, and cytokines in patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods A total of 266 patients diagnosed with HCC were administered a battery of questionnaires including a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiologic StudiesDepression (CES-D) scale. Blood samples were collected to assess serum levels of cytokines using Luminex. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, linear regression, and Bonferroni corrections were performed to test the hypotheses. Results Of the 266 patients, 24% reported depressive symptoms in the clinical range (CES-D ≥ 22). Females had higher CES-D score than males (Mann-Whitney U = 7135, P = .014, Padj = .028). Being unemployed/disabled (Kruskal-Wallis = 14.732, P = .001, Padj = .005) was found to be associated with higher depressive symptoms in males but not in females. Serum level of IL-2 (Kruskal-Wallis = 17.261, P = .001, Padj = .005) were found to be negatively associated with education level. Gender (β = .177, P = .035), income (β = -.252, P = .004), whether the patient's income met their basic needs (β = .180, P = .035), and IL-1β (β = -.165, P = .045) independently predicted depressive symptoms and together explained 19.4% of variance associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusions Sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors were predictive of inflammation and depressive symptoms. Recommendations include the development of gender-targeted interventions for patients diagnosed with HCC who have low socioeconomic status (SES) and may suffer from depressive symptoms.
Using guided reading to teach internet inquiry skills: a case study of one elementary school teacher’s experience

Employees in the twenty-first century must be equipped to effectively process information from print and online sources; yet, many students struggle with online research and comprehension skills, m...
Far-infrared optical properties of Hg1−xCdxSe thin films

Abstract Using a combination of reflectivity and ellipsometry, we determined the far-infrared dielectric functions of molecular beam epitaxy-grown Hg1−xCdxSe thin films between 85 cm−1 and 8, 000 cm−1. Spectroscopic ellipsometry, performed between 400 cm−1 and 8000 cm−1, recovered the dielectric function and the thickness of each film. Ellipsometry results were then used to model the reflectivity data allowing us to obtain absolute reflectance values and map the dielectric function from reflectivity between 85 cm−1 and 8, 000 cm−1, and to obtain the absorption due to free electrons, phonons, and band electrons. Specifically, our models find two transverse optical modes for Hg1−xCdxSe, where the HgSe-like mode blue-shifts and the CdTe-like mode red-shifts with increasing Cd concentration.
Neither boat nor barbeque: in search of new language to unleash the transformative possibility of restorative justice

Restorative justice (RJ) has emerged as a justice approach designed to address some of the perceived inequity and marginalization engendered by traditional retributive justice systems. However, gro...
Contradictory Information: Better Than Nothing? The Paradox of the Two Firefighters

Prominent philosophers (Bar-Hillel and Carnap, Popper, Floridi) have argued that contradictions contain either too much or too little information to be useful. We dispute this with what we call the “Paradox of the Two Firefighters.” Suppose you are awakened in your hotel room by a fire alarm. You open the door. You see three possible ways out: left, right, straight ahead. You see two firefighters. One says there is exactly one safe route and it is to your left. The other says there is exactly one safe route and it is to your right. While the two firemen are giving you contradictory information, they are also both giving you the perhaps useful information that there is a safe way out and it is not straight ahead. We give two analyses. The first uses the “Opinion Tetrahedron,” introduced by Dunn as a generalization of Audun Josang’s “Opinion Triangle.” The Opinion Tetrahedron in effect embeds the values of the “Belnap-Dunn 4-valued Logic” (Truth, Falsity, Neither, Both) into a context of subjective probability generalized to allow for degrees of belief, disbelief, and two kinds of uncertainty—that in which the reasoner has too little information (ignorance) and that in which the reasoner has too much information (conflict). Josang had only a single value for uncertainty. We also present an alternative solution, again based on subjective probability but of a more standard type. This solution builds upon “linear opinion pooling.” Kiefer had already developed apparatus for assessing risk using expert opinion, and this influences the second solution. Finally, we discuss how these solutions might apply to “Big Data” and the World Wide Web.
Buddhism and the Sciences: Historical Background, Contemporary Developments

While discourse on the relation between Christianity and science has a long history, it has only been in the last century that Buddhists and Buddhist scholars have begun to consider the relation between their own religious tradition and the promises and challenges of modern science. This does not mean that there has not been a long history of a relation between Buddhism and the sciences. However, rarely has that relation been conceived of in terms of “discourse on religion and science” as such. As a result, much of the recent work done in the area of science and religion, though significant in its own right, inadequately considers many core Buddhist concerns. Originally published in 1993, this version has been updated with a preface surveying developments over the last three decades.
Unwanted Housing: Localism and Politics of Housing Development:

We examine pervasive opposition to building market-rate housing and relate it to localism: a perspective that grants moral authority to incumbent residents. We argue that localism has become preval...
Mechanisms of Mental-Health Disparities Among Minoritized Groups: How Well Are the Top Journals in Clinical Psychology Representing This Work?:

It has been known for decades that mental-health disparities exist among minoritized groups, including race, ethnicity, sexual identities, gender identity and expression, ability, and others. Theor...
A content analysis of change management strategies used in technological transitions in higher education institutions from the lens of a strategic alignment framework

Technology innovations have the potential to significantly strengthen the ability of higher education institutions to deliver on their core educational mission with greater quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. Not surprisingly, managing technological changes is among the chief concerns for institutional leaders, and yet there is a dearth of research that provides concrete frameworks for managing this type of change in a higher education context. Using Guerra-Lopez and Hicks’s Learning and Development Strategic Alignment (LDSA) framework, this qualitative study used a directed content analysis approach to develop a contextualized framework for planning and managing technology change in higher education institutions. The findings suggest that there is a meaningful fit between specific change management strategies found in the learning management systems (LMS) transition research literature and the LDSA framework. The various strategies were synthesized and grouped around LDSA dimensions and core functions, resulting in a technological change management framework contextualized for higher education.
Crashworthiness of Circular Tubes with Rhombus Star Grooving Pattern

Abstract Thin-walled structures are widely used as energy absorbers in aircraft and automobiles. They have a high load-bearing capacity despite their small thickness. Due to their lightweight and high energy absorbing capacity, their application is becoming increasingly diverse. In this study, the structural response and crashworthiness performance of circular thin-walled grooved tubes were investigated under axial loading. Rhombus star grooving patterns were introduced to relatively short and thin tubes to enhance crashworthiness performance. The optimum crashworthy performance should provide a proper initial stiffness and a stable crushing force after the initial collapse. Experimental and numerical analyses have been conducted to investigate the influence of various geometrical patterns on crushing behavior and crashworthiness parameters. It was found that several multi-lobe diamond deformation modes can be triggered for a tube with a constant diameter to thickness ratio (D/t = 59.25). An increased number of lobes and folds led to higher specific energy absorption (SEA) and crushing load efficiency (CLE), up to 31% and 34.5% respectively. Parametric studies showed that groove depth can be used to achieve a desirable deformation mode that increases both SEA and CLE simultaneously. The proposed tubes would apply to the crashworthiness design of helicopter subfloor structures and vehicle bodies.
Interfacial Adhesion and Surface Bioactivity of Anodized Titanium Modified with SiON and SiONP Surface Coatings

ABSTRACT Titanium (Ti) surface modification via coating technologies (plasma spraying, electron-beam deposition) has been used to enhance bone-implant bonding by increasing the rate of hydroxyapatite (HA) formation, a property known as bioactivity. Regardless the enhancement in the surface activity, the high fabrication-temperature (> 600 °C) reduces coating-implant adhesion due to thermal expansion mismatch and reduces bioactivity due to increased crystallinity in the coating. Thus, amorphous surface coatings with strong Ti-substrate adhesion that can be fabricated at relatively low temperatures are crucially needed for enhanced osseointegration. Therefore, this study aimed to enhance the Ti surface bioactivity via strongly adherent bioactive thin film coatings deposited by low temperature (
- PvPK1: PvPK1 (Phaseolus vulgaris)

The chapter focuses on PvPKl that was isolated by homology cloning using degenerate primers corresponding to conserved catalytic domain sequences. The kinase domain resides in the C-terminal region and is highly related to PKC and PKA. The kinase domain is interrupted by a series of short repeats that are rich in cysteine and basic amino acids. The N-terminal domain is unrelated to proteins in the database. The function of this protein kinase is unknown. The catalytic domain of OsGllA is homologous to the catalytic domain of PvPKl. However, the N-terminal, noncatalytic regions are completely unrelated. A homologue is also present in Arabidopsis thaliana and again contains a unique N-terminal region.
3 Hormonal Control of Oocyte Final Maturation and Ovulation in Fishes

Publisher Summary Results of in vitro investigations have conclusively shown that certain steroids are potent stimulators of oocyte final maturation in fish. Although phylogenetic differences exist in the stimulation of final maturation by steroids, in at least eight different species representing several teleost orders, the most effective steroid yet tested for the induction of final maturation is 17α,20β-DHP. From in vitro investigations, gonadotropins appear to stimulate final maturation, in most fish directly at the ovarian level, although in at least one species, the Indian catfish, the stimulation appears to be through the interrenals. That gonadotropins stimulate final maturation by stimulating follicular steroidogenesis has been confirmed by several methods. Further, increases in circulating gonadotropin levels correlate well with final maturation and ovulation in several species.
Agriculture Study Abroad program to Poland

Abstract. The Technology Travel Course (TSM 496) is an elective course that meets the university-wide international perspectives requirement. The course has a curricular home in the department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), Iowa State University (ISU). It enables instructors to develop and offer a study abroad program structured as a faculty-led trip abroad. This course is also an excellent opportunity for students to learn/compare technology concepts and applications in an international context that is encouraged by the ABE External Advisory Board. The objectives of this paper are to (1) Review the application of TSM 496 to Ag Study Abroad trip to Poland (with cultural trips to Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, and Ukraine, and to (2) summarize curricular enhancement of student learning objectives (SLOs) and competencies. The course has been offered yearly since 2011, and served 48 students from several majors in Agriculture & Life Sciences and Engineering colleges. The pre-departure course is focused on teaming up ISU students with students at two agricultural universities in Poland. Teams develop comparative projects focused on agriculture with specific emphasis on animal systems production, technology, environment, sustainability, and regulations. Projects are finalized and presented jointly at special Polish-American Student Workshops. The joint project format creates an opportunity to make friends with students in Poland while working on international projects. The scientific part of the program is a mix of field trips to farms, plants, co-ops, lab tours, cultural sites and activities. Students have many opportunities to socialize, get inspired by rich culture, history, science, agro business attitudes and the spirit of change. SLOs are measured with the program surveys. Currently 65 SLOs/competencies are enhanced with 17 provided by this program (26%). In addition, 25 new competencies are gained, a 38% increase to the new total of 90. Students highly rate this learning and often list it as a highlight of their college career thus far. Data analysis of the Program Evaluation Surveys shows high degree of developing student skills, meeting and enhancement of class goals, departmental and college SLOs.
Toward a Better Understanding of Ocean-Wave-Typhoon Interactions in the Western Pacific Ocean

Abstract : This project investigates the interplay among typhoon-strength winds, ocean surface waves, and upper-ocean circulation during and after typhoon passages over the western Pacific Ocean and around the island of Taiwan. We use three numerical models and calibrate them against continuous measurements of ocean currents, temperature, wave heights, and turbulence intensities from several open ocean moorings in the western Pacific. Through these calibrations, we will learn how to better represent winds, ocean currents, and waves under typhoon-strength wind conditions in the western Pacific Ocean.