cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Skeletal muscle ceramides and daily fat oxidation in obesity and diabetes

Abstract Background/Objectives Ectopic accumulation of lipids in skeletal muscle and the formation of deleterious lipid intermediates is thought to contribute to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Similarly, impaired fat oxidation (metabolic inflexibility) are predictors of weight gain and the development of T2DM; however, no study has investigated the relation between muscle ceramide accumulation and 24-hour macronutrient oxidation. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively explore the relationships between whole body fat oxidation and skeletal muscle ceramide accumulation in obese non-diabetic individuals (ND) and in people with obesity and T2DM. Methods Daily substrate oxidation was measured in a respiratory chamber and skeletal muscle ceramides were measured using liquid chromatographyelectrospray ionization tandem-mass spectrometry. Results After adjusting for sex, age, and BMI, no differences existed between the groups for fat oxidation or 24-h RQ. However, ceramides C18:1, C:20, C22, C24 and C24:1 were significantly higher in people with T2DM compared to ND whereas no differences existed for C16 and C18. Despite low amounts of muscle ceramides, fat oxidation rates were positively associated with ceramide species concentration in ND only. Our data suggests that ceramides do not interfere with whole-body fat oxidation in ND individuals whereas a persistent lipid oversupply results in excessive ceramide muscle accumulation in people with T2DM.
Novel Endodontic Disinfection Approach Using Catalytic Nanoparticles.

Abstract Introduction The aim of this study was to test a new disinfection technology using biomimetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IO-NPs) with peroxidaselike activity to enhance antibacterial activity on root canal surfaces and in dentinal tubules. Methods The canal surfaces and dentinal tubules of single-rooted intact extracted teeth were infected by growing Enterococcus faecalis biofilms for 3 weeks. The samples were divided into 6 treatment groups: (1) phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (negative control), (2) 3% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (test control), (3) IO-NPs (0.5 mg/mL) (test control), (4) IO-NPs (0.5 mg/mL) + 3% H2O2, (5) 3% sodium hypochlorite (positive control), and (6) 2% chlorhexidine (positive control). Environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy was used to confirm IO-NPs binding to the canal surface after a single treatment. Specimens were labeled with fluorescent staining for live/dead cells, and confocal laser scanning microscopy was used for the quantification of dead bacteria relative to the negative control (PBS). Results Both biofilm formation and dentinal tubule infection were successfully recapitulated using the in vitro model. IO-NPs were capable of binding to the infected canal surfaces despite a single, short-term (5-minute) treatment. IO-NP activation of H2O2 killed significantly more E. faecalis present on the canal surfaces and at different depths of dentinal tubules when compared with all other experimental groups (P Conclusions The results reveal the potential to exploit nanocatalysts with enzymelike activity as a potent alternative approach for the treatment of endodontic infections.
The implications of China’s slowdown for international trade

Abstract We study cross-border spillovers from China’s recent growth slowdown onto partner-country exports. Our analysis uses a panel vector autoregressive model and novel measures of export-intensity adjusted final demand in China’s secondary and tertiary sectors. Impulse-response analysis suggests that spillovers are largest for shocks to China’s secondary sector: a one percentage point decline in demand growth from China’s secondary sector reduces average partner country export growth by almost 0.3% points on impact, and about half this amount on average over the first year; the same size shock to China’s tertiary sector has a much smaller effect. This suggests that spillovers to different trading partners will depend on their sectoral linkages with the Chinese economy. At the regional level, the analysis indicates that countries whose trade linkages with China are strongest—such as those in Asia—would be most affected.
Review: The promise and limits for enhancing sulfur-containing amino acid content of soybean seed

Soybeans are an excellent source of protein in monogastric diets and rations with ∼75% of soybeans produced worldwide used primarily for animal feed. Even though soybeans are protein-rich and have a well-balanced amino acid profile, the nutritive quality of this important crop could be further improved by elevating the concentrations of certain amino acids. The levels of the sulfur-containing amino acids cysteine and methionine in soybean seed proteins are inadequate for optimal growth and development of monogastric animals, which necessitates dietary supplementation. Subsequently, concerted efforts have been made to increase the concentrations of cysteine and methionine in soybean seeds by both classical breeding and genetic engineering; however, these efforts have met with only limited success. In this review, we discuss the strengths and weakness of different approaches in elevating the sulfur amino acid content of soybeans. Manipulation of enzymes involved in the sulfur assimilatory pathway appears to be a viable avenue for improving sulfur amino acid content. This approach requires a through biochemical characterization of sulfur assimilatory enzymes in soybean seeds. We highlight recent studies targeting key sulfur assimilatory enzymes and the manipulation of sulfur metabolism in transgenic soybeans to improve the nutritive value of soybean proteins.
Metabolic Patterning on a Chip: Towards in vitro Liver Zonation of Primary Rat and Human Hepatocytes

An important number of healthy and diseased tissues shows spatial variations in their metabolic capacities across the tissue. The liver is a prime example of such heterogeneity where the gradual changes in various metabolic activities across the liver sinusoid is termed as "zonation" of the liver. Here, we introduce the Metabolic Patterning on a Chip (MPOC) platform capable of dynamically creating metabolic patterns across the length of a microchamber of liver tissue via actively enforced gradients of various metabolic modulators such as hormones and inducers. Using this platform, we were able to create continuous liver tissues of both rat and human origin with gradually changing metabolic activities. The gradients we have created in nitrogen, carbohydrate and xenobiotic metabolisms recapitulated an in vivo like zonation and zonal toxic response. Beyond its application in recapitulation of liver zonation in vitro as we demonstrate here, the MPOC platform can be used and expanded for a variety of purposes including better understanding of heterogeneity in many different tissues during developmental and adult stages.
Regulation of Skeletal Homeostasis

Landmark advances in skeletal biology have arisen mainly from the identification of disease-causing mutations and the advent of rapid and selective gene-targeting technologies to phenocopy human disease in mice. Here, we discuss work on newly identified mechanisms controlling the remodeling of bone, communication of bone cells with cells of other lineages, and crosstalk between bone and vital organs as these relate to the therapeutic targeting of the skeleton.
Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor in Female Genital Tract

Context.— Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is a mesenchymal neoplasm of low malignant potential. It was first described in lung, but is known to occur in many extrapulmonary sites including femal...
Functional MRI: The Environment and Technology for Clinical Application

As the applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in clinical radiology become more evident, several broad requirements must be recognized. First, whereas diagnostic MRI uses visual inspection of a few dozen images in which the lesion contrast-to-noise ratio is usually high (>15%), fMRI studies use hundreds of images to detect signal changes (1–5%) well below the visual detection threshold. Second, clinically useful information must be available rapidly for efficient case management, thus requiring the enormous data load of fMRI to be reduced to interpretable form in near real time. Third, the fMRI protocol must be performed quickly and routinely by a MR technologist and nurse. Unlike structural MRI examinations in which the patient is asked merely to hold still, greater patient cooperation is required for cognitive tasks in that the paradigm requires active participation. Preparation of the subject is essential, conveniently performed away from the scanner with a scanner simulator that replicates the fMRI protocol. Such prescan preparation removes novelty effects, is inexpensive compared to scanner time and provides a measure of task performance that can be used to tailor the paradigm to the capabilities of the individual subjects. Such prescan preparation has been very useful for pediatric subjects who, in our experience, take considerable coaching for full cooperation. Acquisition of the fMRI data requires equipment that allows stimulus presentation and response monitoring without loss of scanner performance. Documentation of the timing of coincident images, stimuli and responses must be done accurately and automatically. As all fMRI data are processed off-line, automated documentation avoids delayed and inaccurate communication between technologist and data analyst and allows semi-automated processing.
Entropy Bound for the Classical Capacity of a Quantum Channel Assisted by Classical Feedback

We prove that the classical capacity of an arbitrary quantum channel assisted by a free classical feedback channel is bounded from above by the maximum average output entropy of the quantum channel. As a consequence of this bound, we conclude that a classical feedback channel does not improve the classical capacity of a quantum erasure channel, and by taking into account energy constraints, we conclude the same for a pure-loss bosonic channel. The method for establishing the aforementioned entropy bound involves identifying an information measure having two key properties: 1) it does not increase under a one-way local operations and classical communication channel from the receiver to the sender and 2) a quantum channel from sender to receiver cannot increase the information measure by more than the maximum output entropy of the channel. This information measure can be understood as the sum of two terms, with one corresponding to classical correlation and the other to entanglement.
Association between medical academic genealogy and publication outcome: impact of unconscious bias on scientific objectivity.

Our previous studies suggest that the training history of an investigator, termed “medical academic genealogy”, influences the outcomes of that investigator’s research. Here, we use meta-analysis and quantitative statistical modeling to determine whether such effects contribute to systematic bias in published conclusions. A total of 108 articles were identified through a comprehensive search of the high-grade glioma (HGG) surgical resection literature. Analysis was performed on the 70 articles with sufficient data for meta-analysis. Pooled estimates were generated for key academic genealogies. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to determine whether the effects attributed to genealogy alone can arise due to chance alone. Meta-analysis of the HGG literature without consideration for academic medical genealogy revealed that gross total resection (GTR) was associated with a significant decrease in the odds ratio (OR) for the hazard of death after surgery for both anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) and glioblastoma (AA: log [OR] = − 0.04, 95% CI [− 0.07 to − 0.01]; glioblastoma log [OR] = − 0.36, 95% CI [− 0.44 to − 0.29]). For the glioblastoma literature, meta-analysis of articles contributed by members of a genealogy consisting of mostly radiation oncologists revealed no reduction in the hazard of death after GTR [log [OR] = − 0.16, 95% CI [− 0.41 to 0.09]. In contrast, meta-analysis of published articles contributed by members of a genealogy consisting of mostly neurosurgeons revealed that GTR was associated with a significant reduction in the hazard of death [log [OR] = − 0.29, 95% CI [− 0.40 to 0.18]. Monte Carlo simulation revealed that the observed discrepancy between the articles contributed by the members of these two genealogies was unlikely to arise by chance alone (p < 0.006). Meta-analysis of articles contributed by authors belonging to the different medical academic genealogies yielded distinct and contradictory pooled point-estimates, suggesting that genealogy contributes to systematic bias in the published literature.
Higher CXCL16 exodomain is associated with aggressive ovarian cancer and promotes the disease by CXCR6 activation and MMP modulation

Ovarian cancer (OvCa) is the leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies. Five-year survival rate of OvCa ranges from 30–92%, depending on the spread of disease at diagnosis. Role of chemokines is well appreciated in cancer, including OvCa. However, their precise role is understudied. Here, we show clinical and biological significance of CXCR6-CXCL16 and ADAM10 in OvCa. Expression of CXCR6 and N-terminal CXCL16 was significantly higher in serous carcinoma tissues compared to endometrioid. OvCa cells (SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3) also showed higher expression of CXCR6 than normal ovarian epithelial cells (IOSE-7576) while CXCL16 was higher in SKOV-3 than IOSE-7576. Furthermore, N-terminal CXCL16 was higher in conditioned media of OvCa cells than IOSE-7576. Compared to OVCAR-3, SKOV-3 cells, which had higher CXCL16, expressed significantly higher transcripts of ADAM10, a protease that cleaves CXCL16. OVCAR-3 cells showed higher CXCR6 specific migration whereas SKOV-3 cells showed more invasion. Difference in invasive potential of these cells was due to modulation of different MMPs after CXCL16 stimulation. Higher CXCR6 expression in serous papillary carcinoma tissues suggests its association with aggressive OvCa. Increased migration-invasion towards CXCL16 implies its role in metastatic spread. Therefore, CXCR6-CXCL16 axis could be used to differentiate between aggressive versus non-aggressive disease and as a target for better prognosis.
Sistema de control de gestión basado en el modelo de Miller-Orr

El presente articulo presenta el analisis del sistema de control de gestion en la administracion del efectivo, basado en el modelo Miller-Orr, en dos empresas de servicios de la region metropolitana, durante el periodo enero- diciembre 2011. Para ello, es menester identificar el sistema de control de gestion, determinar los distintos controles en la administracion del efectivo y examinar las posibles falencias del sistema de control de gestion en la administracion del efectivo. Logrando concluir que las organizaciones no cuentan con un modelo, siendo de gran importancia en la administracion del efectivo, ya que, determina la oportunidad (cuando) y magnitud (cuanto) de las transferencias entre inversiones en valores negociables y el monto de efectivo
La Vita Di Un Economista (The Life of an Economist) (in Italian)

The article is part of the special issue of the journal on Charles P. Kindleberger (CPK). It is here reported one of CPK’s articles published in Moneta e Credito (vol. 33 n. 131, settembre 1980, pp. 253-58). The article presents a short piece of scientific autobiography by Kindleberger, and it is part of a series of recollections published by the journal in the old series of the journal.
Characterizing the role of dermatologists in developing artificial intelligence for assessment of skin cancer: A systematic review

Background The use of artificial intelligence (AI) for skin cancer assessment has been an emerging topic in dermatology. Leadership of dermatologists is necessary in defining how these technologies fit into clinical practice. Objective To characterize the evolution of AI in skin cancer assessment and characterize the involvement of dermatologists in developing these technologies. Methods An electronic literature search was performed using PubMed by searching machine learning or artificial intelligence combined with skin cancer or melanoma. Articles were included if they used AI for screening and diagnosis of skin cancer using data sets consisting of dermoscopic images or photographs of gross lesions. Results Fifty-one articles were included, and 41% of these had dermatologists included as authors. Articles that included dermatologists described algorithms built with more images versus articles that did not include dermatologists (mean, 12,111 vs 660 images, respectively). In terms of underlying technology, AI used for skin cancer assessment has followed trends in the field of image recognition. Limitations This review focused on models described in the medical literature and did not account for those described elsewhere. Conclusions Greater involvement of dermatologists is needed in thinking through issues in data collection, data set biases, and applications of technology. Dermatologists can provide access to large, diverse data sets that are increasingly important for building these models.
Charged Particles in a 2+1 Curved Background

The coupling to a 2+1 background geometry of a quantized charged test particle in a strong magnetic field is analyzed. Canonical operators adapting to the fast and slow freedoms produce a natural expansion in the inverse square root of the magnetic field strength. The fast freedom is solved to the second order. At any given time, space is parameterized by a couple of conjugate operators and effectively behaves as the `phase space' of the slow freedom. The slow Hamiltonian depends on the magnetic field norm, its covariant derivatives, the scalar curvature and presents a peculiar coupling with the spin-connection.
Harnessing Sparsity Over the Continuum: Atomic norm minimization for superresolution

At the core of many sensing and imaging applications, the signal of interest can be modeled as a linear superposition of translated or modulated versions of some template [e.g., a point spread function (PSF) or a Green's function] and the fundamental problem is to estimate the translation or modulation parameters (e.g., delays, locations, or Dopplers) from noisy measurements. This problem is centrally important to not only target localization in radar and sonar, channel estimation in wireless communications, and direction-of-arrival estimation in array signal processing, but also modern imaging modalities such as superresolution single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, and spike localization in neural recordings, among others.
An Epistemological Conception of Safe Spaces

The debate over safe spaces has traditionally been cast as a conflict between competing goals. On the one hand we have epistemic goals such as the pursuit of truth and the free exchange of ideas. O...
Analysis of Social Media Usage and Relationship to Profit Margin among Insurance Companies

Relationship marketing uses a strong relationship between seller and customer to offset limitations of selling an intangible service, such as insurance. Social media can facilitate interactions bet...
Portfolio Strategies for Developing Currencies – Carry and Momentum

Widely used active trading signals in currency markets are carry, momentum, reversion and value. Further, to create a portfolio from the individual signals, the weights are quintile based in traditional currency setting where we invest equally in the long and short signals. In this study, we combine the carry and momentum signals to check the performance of combined strategy and explain the observation. Furthermore, for generating the portfolio from the individual signals, we propose a factor based weighting scheme and discuss its performance with the strategy based on naive quintile weights. The combined strategy generates Information ratio of 0.92, better than both the individual strategies while the factor based portfolio achieves higher performance that the quantile approach.
Wong Kim Ark Rewritten

This contribution to Feminist Judgments: Immigration Law Opinions Rewritten (Kathleen Kim, Kevin Lapp, & Jennifer Lee eds., Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2022) reimagines the Supreme Court’s opinion in Wong Kim Ark v. United States. The Court in that 1898 case held that the child of Chinese immigrants, born in the United States, was a U.S. citizen. The rewritten opinion explains how the legal landscape of Wong Kim Ark was shaped not only by racism, but by white Americans’ beliefs about Chinese women’s propensities and morality, Chinese men’s conformance to appropriate gender roles, the right of Chinese merchants to connubial access to their wives, and the nature of Chinese families.
The severity of herpes simplex viral keratitis in mice does not reflect the severity of disease in humans.

Four herpes simplex type 1 virus (HSV) isolates were selected from patients with mild ocular disease and four from patients with severe ocular disease on the basis of the number of epithelial recurrences, presence or absence of stromal disease, visual acuity, and the need for corneal transplantation. The scarified right corneas of 20 BALB/c mice were inoculated with each low-passage HSV isolate (1.0 X 10 7 plaque-forming units/ml) and examined three times per week for 2 weeks for the presence and severity of epithelial and stromal disease. The eight individual virus isolates differed with respect to the incidence of dendritic disease (P < 0.001), the severity of dendritic disease (P < 0.001), the incidence of stromal disease (P = 0.002), and the severity of stromal disease (P = 0.001) they produced in the mouse. The severity of disease was compared for the two groups of viruses: (1) those that had caused mild disease in their human hosts and (2) those that had caused severe disease. There were no statistically significant differences in the severity or incidence (44 versus 43 animals, respectively) of dendritic disease or stromal disease (27 of 80 animals in each group) between the two groups. These data suggest that the naive BALB/c mouse model of acute HSV keratitis after topical ocular inoculation does not reflect clinically significant differences in the severity of human HSV keratitis that might be caused by variations in the virus genome. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 33:268-272,1992 It has been hypothesized that strain-specific virus factors are more important than host factors in determining the pattern of herpetic ocular disease in humans. ' It has been shown that the course of experimentally produced herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV) keratitis in rabbits is influenced by the infecting virus strain. 1 " 4 A defined region of HSV DNA that varies among virus strains has been found to affect the disease pattern. 5 In the inbred mouse model, virus-determined factors also regulate the pattern of HSV keratitis. 6 Differences in the capacity of two HSV strains to replicate in the trigeminal ganglion of its host and spread into the brain has been shown to be determined by nucleotide sequences in the gene for DNA polymerase. 7 Other studies report that susceptibility to HSV ocular disease is influenced by the host genome. 68 " 10 The Igh-1 locus on chromosome 12 has
Survey of in Vitro Systems: Their Potential Use in Teratogenicity Screening

In this chapter an in vitro system is considered to be any developing tissue, organ, or organism other than a pregnant mammal. In recent years the thought of testing for teratogenicity in anything less than a pregnant mammal has generally been rejected by the scientists and regulatory officials who are responsible for safety evaluations. This aversion has been based on the sound premise that the maternal-placental-embryonic relationship could not be duplicated in any submammalian form and that this relationship was essential for realistic testing. It is certainly true that no in vitro system yet devised can approximate the dynamic interchange that occurs between maternal and embryonic organisms, with their constant fluctuations in concentrations of foreign chemicals and of metabolic products across the placenta. Furthermore, natural wastes and the products arising from the metabolism of the test substance tend to accumulate, and possibly to compromise development, in a static extrauterine environment.
T helper cell-dependent B cell activation.

Small, resting B lymphocytes are driven into the cell cycle as a consequence of receiving multiple signals from elements found within their local environment. The first of these signals results from the binding of specific antigen to membrane immunoglobulin (mIg) receptors on the B cells. Pursuant to antigen binding, signals are transduced and the B cell commences to endocytose and degrade the antigen. Fragments of the antigen are expressed on the B cell surface in noncovalent association with class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The antigen-class II MHC complex serves as a recognition complex for CD4+ helper T cells (Th). As a consequence of recognition, Th form stable physical conjugates with the B cells. Over an extended period of time the Th and B cells bilaterally signal one another. This interchange of signals results in the growth and differentiation of both cells. This review will discuss the sequence of events that culminate in the growth and differentiation of B lymphocytes...
5 – Interactions Involving the Polarization of Molecules

This chapter explores electrostatic interactions involving molecular polarization. Molecular polarization involves the dipole moments induced in molecules by the electric fields emanating from nearby molecules. For a nonpolar molecule, the polarizability arises from the displacement of its negatively charged electron cloud relative to the positively charged nucleus under the influence of an external electric field. The chapter lists the electronic polarizabilities of some common atoms and molecules. Since the electronic polarizability is associated with displacements of electron clouds, it is recognized that the polarizability of a molecule can be obtained by simply summing the characteristic polarizabilities of its covalent bonds. The chapter shows that apart from the purely Coulombic interaction between two charges or permanent dipoles in a vacuum, all other interactions are essentially polarization type interactions. The effects of polarization on electrostatic interactions are summarized in the chapter. The chapter concludes with a discussion on interactions between ions and uncharged molecules.
Tracing pathogens in poultry and egg production and at the abattoir

Abstract: One of the most rapidly growing categories of food commodities consists of poultry meat and hen eggs. The rise in the production and consumption of these commodities has resulted in increased concerns regarding their safety to the consumer. This chapter presents a summary of the most common zoonotic bacterial pathogens associated with poultry meat and hen egg production, as well as a review of various intervention strategies aimed at the reduction of these pathogens on/in the products.
Two Chemically and Metabolically Distinct Forms of Calf Thymus Histone F3

Abstract The F3 histones of duck erythrocytes and calf thymus have been purified and compared by a variety of techniques. The results of analytical gel electrophoresis, gel filtration, cysteine content determinations, and amino acid analysis support the conclusion that there exist two chemically and metabolically distinct forms of F3 histone. The duck erythrocyte has a single form of F3 histone, which contains 1 cysteine residue. The calf thymus, however, has two forms of F3 histone. The minor form present as approximately 20% of the total F3 histone fraction closely resembles the duck erythrocyte F3 in that it contains a single cysteine residue. The major form of calf thymus F3 histone, however, contains 2 half-cystine residues. These two forms of F3 histone differ metabolically in that they are acetylated at different rates in isolated calf thymus nuclei. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the possible evolutionary origins of histone F3.
Analysis of the Novel Benzylsuccinate Synthase Reaction for Anaerobic Toluene Activation Based on Structural Studies of the Product

Recent studies of anaerobic toluene catabolism have demonstrated a novel reaction for anaerobic hydrocarbon activation: the addition of the methyl carbon of toluene to fumarate to form benzylsuccinate. In vitro studies of the anaerobic benzylsuccinate synthase reaction indicate that the H atom abstracted from the toluene methyl group during addition to fumarate is retained in the succinyl moiety of benzylsuccinate. Based on structural studies of benzylsuccinate formed during anaerobic, in vitro assays with denitrifying, toluene-mineralizing strain T, we now report the following characteristics of the benzylsuccinate synthase reaction: (i) it is highly stereospecific, resulting in >95% formation of the (+)-benzylsuccinic acid enantiomer [(R)-2-benzyl-3-carboxypropionic acid], and (ii) active benzylsuccinate synthase does not contain an abstracted methyl H atom from toluene at the beginning or at the end of a catalytic cycle.
Hierarchical Wrapper Induction for Semistructured Information Sources

With the tremendous amount of information that becomes available on the Web on a daily basis, the ability to quickly develop information agents has become a crucial problem. A vital component of any Web-based information agent is a set of wrappers that can extract the relevant data from semistructured information sources. Our novel approach to wrapper induction is based on the idea of hierarchical information extraction, which turns the hard problem of extracting data from an arbitrarily complex document into a series of simpler extraction tasks. We introduce an inductive algorithm, STALKER, that generates high accuracy extraction rules based on user-labeled training examples. Labeling the training data represents the major bottleneck in using wrapper induction techniques, and our experimental results show that STALKER requires up to two orders of magnitude fewer examples than other algorithms. Furthermore, STALKER can wrap information sources that could not be wrapped by existing inductive techniques.
Solar and Supernova Neutrinos

Ever since it was realized in the 1920’s that nuclear fusion reactions are the only viable source that could power the Sun for a time compatible with the age of the oldest rocks found on Earth, the production and emission of neutrinos is closely related to the stellar evolution. During the time when a star is on the main sequence, i.e. follows the most common evolution pattern, neutrinos are constantly emitted by the same fusion reactions, that provide the energy for its luminosity. For all ordinary stars, similar to the Sun, the emitted neutrino fluxes are almost directly proportional to the stellar luminosity. A very simple estimate gives the magnitude of the neutrino flux from the Sun. If we assume that the first fusion reaction that puts together protons to create a deuteron, $$ p + p \to {}^2H + {e^ + } + {v_e} + 1.44MeV $$ (1) is the only energy source of the Sun, we can calculate the flux of v e at Earth. The total amount of energy created by this reaction is ~ 10 MeV. The reaction rate is then $$ Rate = {L_ \odot }/10MeV = 2.5 \times 1{0^{38}}{s^{ - 1}}, $$ (2) and the neutrino flux F v $$ {F_v} \simeq {{2.5 \times {{10}^{38}}} \over {4\pi {D^2}}} \simeq {10^{11}}c{m^{ - 2}}{s^{ - 1}}. $$ (3) This number is surprisingly close to the real flux of solar neutrinos.
Seafloor seismic monitoring of an active submarine volcano: Local seismicity at Vailulu'u Seamount, Samoa

[1] We deployed five ocean bottom hydrophones (OBHs) for a 1-year seismic monitoring study of Vailulu'u Seamount, the youngest and easternmost volcano in the Samoan Archipelago. Four instruments were placed on the summit crater rim at 600–700 m water depth, and one was placed inside the crater at 1000 m water depth. An analysis of the first 45 days of records shows a very large number of seismic events, 211 of them local. These events define a steady background activity of about four seismic events per day, increasing to about 10 events per day during a week of heightened seismic activity, which peaked at 40 events during 1 day. We identified 107 earthquakes, whose arrivals could be picked on all five stations and that are likely located within the seamount, based on their similar waveforms. Two linear trends are defined by 21 of these events. These are extremely well correlated and located, first downward then upward on a steeply inclined plane that is close to the axial plane of the southeast rift as it emerges from the main summit of Vailulu'u. These events resemble volcanotectonic earthquakes from subaerial volcanoes in displaying very coherent seismic waveforms and by showing systematic, narrowly defined progressions in hypocenter locations. We propose that these events reflect brittle rock failure due to magma redistribution in or near a central magma reservoir.
Heterostructure, Confined-Field Lasers

In Chap. 12, it was demonstrated that confining the optical field to the region of the laser in which the inverted population exists results in a substantial reduction of threshold current density and a corresponding increase in efficiency. As early as 1963, it was proposed that heterojunctions could be used to produce a waveguiding structure with the desired property of optical confinement [14.1, 14.2]. At about the same time, others proposed using a heterojunction laser structure not for optical field confinement, but to produce higher carrier injection efficiency at the p-n junction, and to confine the carriers to the junction region [14.3, 14.4]. Actually, all three of these mechanisms are present in a heterostructure laser, and their combined effects result in a device that is vastly superior to the basic p-n homojunction laser.
Purification and characterization of recombinant Xenopus poly(A)+-binding protein expressed in a baculovirus system

The poly(A)(+)-binding protein (PABP) is a highly conserved protein that binds to the poly(A)+ tail of mRNAs. PABP has been shown to regulate message stability and translational efficiency, yet the mechanisms remain unknown. To facilitate further dissection of the functions of this protein, we have expressed and purified Xenopus PABP using a baculovirus expression system. At 48 h after infection of insect Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells with recombinant virus, approx. 3% of cell protein was PABP. Purification of PABP was achieved by affinity chromatography on poly(A)(+)-Sepharose. The purified protein was indistinguishable from Xenopus PABP with respect to its immunoreactivity and electrophoretic mobility. Furthermore, the recombinant PABP was expressed and purified as a functional protein as indicated by its ability to bind to poly(A)(+)-Sepharose and its ability to enhance the translation of adenylated messages in vitro. By comparing protein extracts from various developmental stages of Xenopus embryos with known amounts of purified PABP, we determined the amount of PABP per embryo. This analysis suggested that there is less than one PABP molecule available per PABP-binding site at early stages of development, and only a slight excess of PABP at later stages.
Benchmark study on glyphosate-resistant crop systems in the United States. Economics of herbicide resistance management practices in a 5 year field-scale study.

BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of glyphosate-resistant (GR) crops, growers have often relied on glyphosate-only weed control programs. As a result, multiple weeds have evolved resistance to glyphosate. A 5 year study including 156 growers from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Mississippi in the United States was conducted to compare crop yields and net returns between grower standard weed management programs (SPs) and programs containing best management practices (BMPs) recommended by university weed scientists. The BMPs were designed to prevent or mitigate/manage evolved herbicide resistance. RESULTS: Weed management costs were greater for the BMP approach in most situations, but crop yields often increased sufficiently for net returns similar to those of the less expensive SPs. This response was similar across all years, geographical regions, states, crops and tillage systems. CONCLUSIONS: Herbicide use strategies that include a diversity of herbicide mechanisms of action will increase the long-term sustainability of glyphosate-based weed management strategies. Growers can adopt herbicide resistance BMPs with confidence that net returns will not be negatively affected in the short term and contribute to resistance management in the long term. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
Tropical reef corals: tolerance of low temperatures on the north carolin.

Individual heads of two species of reef or herinatypic coral, Solenastrea hyades (Dana) and Siderastrea siderea (Ellis and Solander), occur on rock outcrops on the inner continental shelf off North Carolina in waters where winter bottom temperatures are as low as 10.6°C. These temperatures are significantly lower than previously assumed minimum temperatures for the survival of tropical reef corals in their natural environment.
Work In Progress: "Explain It To Me"

The ubiquitous on-line delivery and assessment of personalized tasks and homework problems to students in pre-engineering physics courses has had considerable positive impact promoting student achievement. The reasons include instant feedback on the correctness of the solutions and the ability to interact quickly and efficiently with fellow students and teaching staff. Still, many and especially less well prepared students have considerable difficulty in understanding the assigned problems. The current work investigates the impact of providing students video explanations designed to approximate personalized one-on-one tutorial sessions for a set of representative problems. Initial results show significant improvement in the students' problem solving ability.
The mechanism of conversion of hydrocarbons on sulfated metal oxides. Part II. Reaction of benzene on sulfated zirconia [1]☆

Abstract The conversion of benzene on sulfated zirconia was studied in batch reactor, under mild conditions. The interaction of benzene with the catalyst is a complex process which is initiated by a one-electron oxidation, followed either by trapping of the generated cation-radicals to form sulfite esters on the surface, or by the reaction of the cation-radicals with the excess of benzene, followed by a cascade of coupling and cleavage reactions. The surface esters liberate phenol upon hydrolysis at the end of the reaction. Thus, benzene is retained on sulfated zirconia not because of protonation to benzenium ion, but because of formation of non-volatile products. Together with our previous results on the reaction of adamantane on sulfated zirconia, the present work elucidates the mechanism of conversion of aliphatic hydrocarbons on sulfated metal oxides. The first interaction is a one-electron oxidation of the alkane, leading to an ion-radical pair, followed by recombination and rearrangement to generate sulfite esters on the surface, which are the active intermediates in the mechanism. The high activity of sulfated metal oxides in alkane conversion is due, therefore, to their one-electron oxidizing ability, leading to ion-radicals and then to surface esters. The latter either ionize generating carbocations, or eliminate forming olefins. Both these species can carry on carbocationic reactions with no requirement of superacidity, which these catalysts do not possess. The oxidative mechanism predicts the existence of an induction period in the alkane conversions and a rapid deactivation of the catalyst, both in agreement with the experimental observations.
Effects of boundary conditions on non-Darcian heat transfer through porous media and experimental comparisons

The present work centers around the numerical simulation of forced convective incompressible flow through porous beds. Inertial as well as viscous effects are considered in the momentum equation. The mathematical model for energy transport was based on the two-phase equation model, which does not employ local thermal equilibrium assumption between the fluid and the solid phases. The transport processes for two different types of boundary conditions are studied. The analysis was performed in terms of nondimensional parameters that successfully cast together all the pertinent influencing effects. Comparisons were made between our numerical findings and experimental results. Overall, the comparisons that were made for the constant wall heat flux boundary condition display good agreement.
Abnormal, abusive, and stress-related behaviors in baboon mothers.

Abstract Background Psychiatric disturbances during pregnancy and the postpartum period are especially serious, given the negative effects on the mother as well as the child. Understanding the causes of such disturbances has been difficult owing to the complexity of psychological, social, experiential, biological, and genetic factors involved. Methods To determine the potential utility of a nonhuman primate model for the study of postpartum disorders, the pathologic and stress-related behavior of 62 female baboons living in social groups was studied during pregnancy and after the birth of an infant. Results The prevalence of abnormal behavior and self-directed scratching (a measure of stress response) was higher after birth of the infant. Subjects displayed a significantly higher frequency per hour of these behaviors postpartum, which increased over 8 weeks. Abusive behaviors toward the infant were common, occurring in 55% of the subjects. Mothers with low dominance rank, who usually have lower levels of social support, had higher levels of abusive behavior during the postpartum period. Conclusions Baboons show variation in measurable behaviors related to stress and abnormal functioning during the pre- and postpartum periods, indicating that a nonhuman primate model may be useful in the study of factors affecting postpartum psychiatric disorders and infant abuse.
The Ceramics of Raquira, Colombia: Gender, Work, and Economic Change

The Ceramics of Raquira, Colombia: Gender, Work, and Economic Change. Ronald J. Duncan. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ix. 233 pp., illustrations, appendix, glossary, bibl.ography, mdex.
Prevalence of psychopathology in carpal tunnel syndrome patients

This study assessed the prevalence rates of psychopathology in acute carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and acute low back pain (LBP) patients. Psychopathology was assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-III-R (SCID). The results showed that the CTS patients had significantly higher rates of anxiety disorders, both current and lifetime, than the LBP patients. However, LBP patients had significantly higher rates of lifetime substance abuse than the CTS patients. In regard to other types of psychopathology, such as depression, current substance abuse, and somatoform pain disorders, CTS patients had similar rates as the LBP patients. It was concluded that anxiety disorders may be a concomitant of carpal tunnel syndrome, and that treating psychological problems along with physical aspects of the syndrome may increase the patient's chance of a successful therapeutic outcome.
Human resource information systems: Information security concerns for organizations

Abstract We explore HRIS and e-HR security by presenting information security fundamentals and how they pertain to organizations. With increasing use of enterprise systems such as HRIS and e-HR, security of such systems is an area that is worthy of further exploration. Even then, there is surprisingly little research in this area, albeit that extensive work is present in regard to HRIS privacy. While focusing on HRIS and e-HR security, we introduce aspects of HRIS and e-HR security and how it can be enhanced in organizations. A research model is also presented along with propositions that can guide future research.
Duration of patient immobilization in the ED

In this article we seek to determine the duration of immobilization in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). We conducted a 10-week prospective study of a convenience sample of patients transported to a level one trauma center immobilized with a backboard and cervical collar. Total backboard time (TBT) was measured from the time the ambulance left the scene to the time the patient was removed from the backboard, while total ED backboard time (TEDBT) was measured from the time of arrival at the ED to the time of backboard removal. There were 138 patients entered in the study. Insufficient data excluded 36 patients from further analysis. TBT was available for 92 patients and averaged 63.63 (±45.87) minutes. Dividing patients into those who were removed from the backboard prior to radiographs (n = 85), the TBT average was 53.9 minutes (±30.1), whereas the average for those who had radiographs prior to removal from the backboard (n = 7) was 181.3 minutes (±41.6). There were 102 patients for whom TEDBT was available and averaged 46.36 (±44.88) minutes. Dividing patients into those who were removed from the backboard prior to radiographs (n = 95), the TEDBT average was 37.6 minutes (±29.6), whereas the average for those who had radiographs prior to removal from the backboard (n = 7) was 165.3 minutes (±49.7). Patients are left on backboards for significant periods of time even when no radiographs are taken prior to backboard removal.
The Dunlop Commission's Premise: A Tilted Playing Field?*

This paper examines the premise that the "pla ying field" is tilted against labor, making union organizing and the exercise of collective voice difficult. There is broad agreement that the union organizing process is unnecessarily contentious, while nonunion labor re lations is overly litigious and subject to costly regulation. Workers want both an effective voice in the workplace and a cooperative relationship with management, a combination realized in too few workplaces. Many of the changes recommended by the Dunlop Commission head us in a desirable direction. Although their recommendations would strengthen union organizing, the union sector will remain a small por tion of the private sector labor force. Commission recommendations would do little to facilitate impr ovements in workplace communication, employee involvement, and labor-management cooperation in the large and growing nonunion sectors of the economy. A likely scenario is that we continue on our current path, one with a decreased role for collective bargaining, heavy reliance on government regulation and litigation, a nd an unfulfilled desire on the part of workers to have greater voice and cooperation in the workplace.
Inhibition of cGMP-dependent protein kinase reduces the response to sonic hedgehog in neuralized embryoid bodies.

Previously, we have shown that increasing the intracellular cGMP concentration enhances the sonic hedgehog (Shh) response in neural plate cells. The use of two mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell lines ...
Catheter-Based Optical Imaging of a Human Coronary Artery

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a recently developed technology that uses infrared light to generate micrometer-scale cross-sectional images ( Science. 1991;254:1178-1181). We recently demonstrated the feasibility of using OCT for assessing atherosclerotic plaque microstructure ( Circulation. 1996;93:1206-1213) at resolutions of 4 to 16 …