cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Folding of beta-sheets in membranes: specificity and promiscuity in peptide model systems

The interactions that drive the folding of beta-barrel membrane proteins have not been well studied because there have been few available model systems for membrane beta-sheets. In this work, we expand on a recently described model system to explore the contributions of interstrand hydrogen bonds, side-chain/side-chain interactions and side-chain/membrane interactions to beta-sheet formation in membranes. These experiments are based on the observation that the hydrophobic hexapeptide acetyl-Trp-Leu-Leu-Leu-Leu-Leu-OH (AcWLLLLL) folds, cooperatively and reversibly, into oligomeric, antiparallel beta-sheets in phosphatidylcholine membranes. To systematically characterize the important interactions that drive beta-sheet formation in membranes, we have used circular dichroism spectroscopy to determine the membrane secondary structure of each member of a complete host-guest family of related peptides of the form AcWLL-X-LL, where X is one of the natural amino acids. Peptides with hydrophobic X-residues of any size or character (X=Ala, Val, Ile, Leu, Cys, Met, Phe and Trp) form similar beta-sheets in membranes, while peptides with any polar X-residue or Gly or Pro at the X-position are random-coils, even when bound to membranes at high concentrations. The observed membrane sheet preferences correlate poorly with intrinsic sheet propensity scales measured in soluble proteins, but they correlate well with several membrane hydrophobicity scales. These results support the idea that the predominant interactions of the side-chains in membrane-bound beta-sheets are with the membrane lipids, and that backbone hydrogen bonding is the major driving force for the stabilization of beta-sheets in membranes.
Auxiliary-field anomalies

In general, quantum corrections to matter-supergravity couplings uniquely determine what are acceptable auxiliary fields for N = 1 supergravity, and partially determine those for N = 2. This is because one-loop corrections produce anomalies in not only the local superscale transformations, but also in the local (Poincare) supersymmetry transformations themselves, except for special cases: in particular, for N = 1 the n = 13 minimimal set of auxiliary fields is uniquely chosen.
Microflora of extreme arid Atacama Desert soils

Abstract Surface and subsurface soil samples from the most arid region within the Atacama Desert, Chile, were analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC), phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) and culturable bacteria. TOC content was determined to range between 560 and 765 μg/g. PLFA analysis indicated 2.0×10 6 –1.0×10 7 cell equivalents/g. Culturing of soil extracts on R2A and TSA media yielded 1.6×10 3 –4.6×10 3 CFU/g, and 200–300 CFU/g heat shock survivors. Twenty isolated strains were identified based on analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, and divided into eight phylogenetic groups, including Rhodopseudomonas , Sphingomonas sp., Mesorhizobium sp., Asticcacaulis sp., Bradyrhizobium sp., Bacillus subtilis , Bacillus pumilus , and Burkholderia sp.
An International Comparison Using a Diagnostic Testing Model: Turkish Students' Profile of Mathematical Skills on TIMSS-R.

This study illustrates how a diagnostic testing model can be used to make detailed comparisons between student populations participating in international assessments. The performance of Turkish students on the TIMSS-R mathematics test was reanalyzed with a diagnostic testing model called the Rule Space Model. First, mathematical and cognitive skills (‘attributes’) measured by the test were determined. One hundred sixty-two items were coded in terms of their attribute involvement, creating an incidence matrix—the Q-matrix. Using the Q-matrix and the student response data, each student’s attribute mastery profile was determined. Mean attribute mastery levels of Turkish students were computed and compared to those of their American peers. It was shown that Turkish students were weak in algebra and probability/statistics. They also demonstrated poor profiles in skills such as applying rules in algebra, approximation/estimation, solving open-ended problems, recognizing patterns and relationships, and quantitative reading.
GeoCDX: An Automated Change Detection and Exploitation System for High-Resolution Satellite Imagery

We have developed a fully automated system for change detection of high-resolution satellite imagery. Our system, GeoCDX, is sensor-agnostic, resolution-independent and designed to process the very large volumes of data collected by modern high resolution panchromatic and multispectral imaging satellites. GeoCDX performs fully automated coregistration of imagery; extracts high-level features from the satellite imagery; performs change detection processing to pinpoint locations of change; clusters image tiles to group similar regions of change; and presents results in a variety of ways in an easy-to-use web application that facilitates online discovery, analysis, and dissemination of the change detection results. We applied GeoCDX to 4121 image pairs and successfully coregistered over 91% of the pairs covering a total area greater than 370 000 km2; GeoCDX decreased the average coregistration error from 9.6 ± 8.6 m to 1.8 ± 1.2 m. We show that for some pairs, GeoCDX provides up to a 50% increase in users' efficiency compared to manually performing change detection in common GIS software. Moreover, the change detection assessment performed using GeoCDX was on average four times more accurate compared to the manual approach in large part due to the use of our change intensity map that provides visual cues to the user during exploitation. Finally, change detection analysis using GeoCDX resulted in a missed detection rate of less than 2%.
MSM-based integrated CMOS wavelength tunable optical receiver

We present a novel MSM wavelength selective photodetector, integrated with its CMOS driver and receiver. We demonstrate /spl sim/1 ns wavelength switching access time for this receiver system.
Perceptual Sharpness Metric (PSM) for Compressed Video

Sharpness, one of the most effective factors in video quality assessment, usually dominates the first impression of the representation of the compressed video or image signals. In this paper, a new sharpness metric is presented. Without the original video sequence, this metric evaluates the level of sharpness of a compressed video sequence based on the presence of high frequency signals components. Also, an attention module and several human visual factors are included in order to make the measurement results more correlated to human perception. Finally, psychovisual experiments show high correlation between the metric prediction and subjective ranking of video sharpness.
Effectiveness of three post-fire rehabilitation treatments in the Colorado Front Range

Post-fire rehabilitation treatments are commonly implemented after high-severity wildfires, but few data are available about the efficacy of these treatments. This study assessed post-fire erosion rates and the effectiveness of seeding, straw mulching, and contour felling in reducing erosion after a June 2000 wildfire northwest of Loveland, Colorado. Site characteristics and sediment yields were measured on 12 burned and untreated control plots and 22 burned and treated plots from 2000 to 2003. The size of the hillslope plots ranged from 0·015 to 0·86 ha. Sediment yields varied significantly by treatment and were most closely correlated with the amount of ground cover. On the control plots the mean sediment yield declined from 6–10 Mg ha−1 in the first two years after burning to 1·2 Mg ha−1 in 2002 and 0·7 Mg ha−1 in 2003. Natural regrowth caused the amount of ground cover on the control plots to increase progressively from 33% in fall 2000 to 88% in fall 2003. Seeding had no effect on either the amount of ground cover or sediment yields. Mulching reduced sediment yields by at least 95% relative to the control plots in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and the lower sediment yields are attributed to an immediate increase in the amount of ground cover in the mulched plots. The contour-felling treatments varied considerably in the quality of installation, and sediment storage capacities ranged from 7 to 32 m3 ha−1. The initial contour-felling treatment did not reduce sediment yields when subjected to a very large storm event, but sediment yields were significantly reduced by a contour-felling treatment installed after this large storm. The results indicate that contour felling may be able to store much of the sediment generated in an average year, but will not reduce sediment yields from larger storms. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Far-sighted active learning on a budget for image and video recognition

Active learning methods aim to select the most informative unlabeled instances to label first, and can help to focus image or video annotations on the examples that will most improve a recognition system. However, most existing methods only make myopic queries for a single label at a time, retraining at each iteration. We consider the problem where at each iteration the active learner must select a set of examples meeting a given budget of supervision, where the budget is determined by the funds (or time) available to spend on annotation. We formulate the budgeted selection task as a continuous optimization problem where we determine which subset of possible queries should maximize the improvement to the classifier's objective, without overspending the budget. To ensure far-sighted batch requests, we show how to incorporate the predicted change in the model that the candidate examples will induce. We demonstrate the proposed algorithm on three datasets for object recognition, activity recognition, and content-based retrieval, and we show its clear practical advantages over random, myopic, and batch selection baselines.
Remote sensing in sea search and rescue

Abstract A classified United States Army line scanner (Texas Instruments Model AAS-24) mounted in a Mohawk aircraft was tested for its air-sea search and rescue potential. Within the environmental parameters indicated the instrument proved effective in identifying both small boats and individual swimmers. Positive identification was made during daylight and night sorties when the location of swimmers was known and in daylight trials when their location was unknown.
Using bounded-influence M-estimators in multi-frame super-resolution reconstruction: A comparative study

This paper introduces a comparative study of bounded-influence M-estimators in the context of multi-frame super-resolution reconstruction. The objectives of this study are to compare these estimators in terms of robustness, and to highlight the associated tradeoff between robustness and edge preservation (crispness) in the presence of registration errors and motion outliers.
Statistical Generic and Chip-Specific Skew Assignment for Improving Timing Yield of FPGAs

This paper presents a technique to fix timing violations caused by process variations in FPGAs by adjusting the clock skews of flip-flops. This involves making the clock distribution network tunable by adding programmable delay elements to compensate for variations. We propose generic as well as chip-specific skew assignment schemes that are robust to variations. The two proposed schemes result in recovering about 80% and 82% of the failed chips respectively with conservative timing constraints. With more aggressive constraints, the corresponding numbers are 69% and 77% respectively. Our technique causes a 39% increase in the number of chips in the fast bin when speed-binning is performed. The area and power overhead associated with this technique are 3.5% and 5.6% respectively.
Political contestation in Chinese digital spaces: Deepening the critical inquiry:

Although research on the Chinese Internet is thriving, our understanding of its multidimensional character, its diverse forms, actors, and dynamics remains limited. This is due to a tendency to foc...
Direct percutaneous embolization of visceral artery aneurysms: techniques and pitfalls.

Abbreviation: SMA 5 superior mesenteric artery ANEURYSMS of the visceral arteries are uncommon, but when they occur, they frequently present with rupture and have a high mortality (1). These aneurysms are often inaccessible surgically, which has led to the widespread use of transcatheter embolization as the primary treatment (1,2). However, previous intervention, atherosclerotic disease, and even anatomic variants (3) may make the aneurysms inaccessible to transcatheter, intraarterial embolization. In these cases, direct percutaneous embolization is a viable alternative (3–10). We report three cases of direct percutaneous embolization of visceral artery aneurysms. As in previous reports, our small series shows that direct percutaneous embolization is a feasible alternative when more conventional routes fail. However, unlike most previous reports, two of our patients developed complications—aneurysm recurrence in one patient and coil migration into the biliary system in another patient—that help illustrate possible pitfalls related to use of this method.
Controlling directed self-assembly of gold nanorods in patterned PS-b-PMMA thin films

We present a facile strategy for the directed self-assembly of gold nanorods (AuNRs) in patterned block copolymer (BCP) thin films. Parallel arrangement of AuNRs relative to the geometric confinement generated by selective removal of one block domain was achieved. Deposition of AuNRs with aspect ratios from 3.3 to 5.8 was accomplished and the alignment of the NRs within the channels was controlled primarily by capillary forces and the channel geometry. Ordered AuNR assembly in the BCP pattern can be achieved at high surface coverages, >30%, though the surface coverage depends on the aspect ratio of the NRs. Larger NRs align in the channels more readily, but pack at slightly lower densities.
Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Foams at Cryogentic Temperatures

Mesure de la conductivite thermique, du module de Young a la compression de la dilatation thermique entre 100 et 350°K de mousses de polyurethanne de densites nominales 32, 64 et 96 kg/m 3
Hydrophobic distal pocket affects NO-heme geminate recombination dynamics in dehaloperoxidase and H64V myoglobin.

The recombination dynamics of NO with dehaloperoxidase (DHP) from Amphitrite ornata following photolysis were measured by femtosecond time-resolved absorption spectroscopy. Singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis reveals two important basis spectra. The first SVD basis spectrum reports on the population of photolyzed NO molecules and has the appearance of the equilibrium difference spectrum between the deoxy and NO forms of DHP. The first basis time course has two kinetic components with time constants of τ11 ≈ 9 ps and τ12 ≈ 50 ps that correspond to geminate recombination. The fast geminate process τ11 arises from a contact pair with the heme iron in a bound state with S = 3/2 spin. The slow geminate process τ12 corresponds to the recombination from a more remote docking site >3 A from the heme iron with the greater barrier corresponding to a S = 5/2 spin state. The second SVD basis spectrum represents a time-dependent Soret band shift indicative of heme photophysical processes and protein relaxation...
Transcutaneous determination of aortic blood-flow velocities in man

Abstract A transcutaneous ultrasonic Doppler technique for measurement of aortic blood-flow velocities has been developed and compared to more established techniques in order to evaluate its potential usefulness. It is possible by this method to quantitate blood velocity in both the ascending aorta and the aortic arch with ease and reliability. Ultrasonic access to the aorta from the suprasternal notch proved adequate in more than 90 per cent of the normal subjects examined. If further clinical trials prove as encouraging, this technique may be of significant value for patient monitoring and cardiac diagnosis.
Cutting Edge: STAT6-Deficient Mice Have Enhanced Tumor Immunity to Primary and Metastatic Mammary Carcinoma

STAT4 and STAT6 are essential for the development of CD4(+) Th1 and Th2 development, respectively. Tumor immunologists have hypothesized that Th1 cells are critical in tumor immunity because they facilitate differentiation of CD8(+) T cells, which are potent anti-tumor effectors. We have used STAT4(-/-) and STAT6(-/-) mice to test this hypothesis. BALB/c and knockout mice were challenged in the mammary gland with the highly malignant and spontaneously metastatic BALB/c-derived 4T1 mammary carcinoma. Primary tumor growth and metastatic disease are reduced in STAT6(-/-) mice relative to BALB/c and STAT4(-/-) mice. Ab depletions demonstrate that the effect is mediated by CD8(+) T cells, and immunized STAT6(-/-) mice have higher levels of 4T1-specific CTL than BALB/c or STAT4(-/-) mice. Surprisingly, Th1 or Th2 cells are not involved, because CD4 depletion does not diminish the anti-tumor effect. Therefore, deletion of the STAT6 gene facilitates development of potent anti-tumor immunity via a CD4(+)-independent pathway.
Evidence-based clustering for scalable inference in Markov logic

Lifted inference algorithms take advantage of symmetries in first-order probabilistic logic representations such as Markov logic networks (MLNs), and are naturally more scalable than propositional inference algorithms which ground the MLN. However, lifted inference algorithms have an "evidence problem" - evidence breaks symmetries, and the performance of lifted inference algorithms is the same as propositional inference algorithms (or sometimes worse, due to overhead). In this paper, we propose a general method for addressing this problem. The main idea in our method is to approximate the given MLN having, say, n objects by an MLN having k objects such that k ≪ n and the results obtained by running potentially much faster inference on the smaller MLN are as close as possible to the ones obtained by running inference on the larger MLN. We achieve this by finding clusters of "similar" groundings using standard clustering algorithms (e.g., K-means), and replacing all groundings in the cluster by their cluster center. To this end, we develop a novel distance (or similarity) function for measuring the similarity between two groundings, based on the evidence presented to the MLN. We evaluated our approach on different benchmarks utilizing various clustering and inference algorithms. Our experiments clearly show the generality and scalability of our approach.
Development of Electro-Viscoelastic Materials for Active Damping

*Electroviscoelastic materials (EVEMs) are polymeric materials that exhibit changes in structural properties when a voltage is applied across it. In the current study, an EVEM is developed that produces large changes in stiffness and damping with applied voltage. The resulting material exhibits many of the same properties as an electrorheological (ER) material, except the current material is self-supporting and thus can be used to applications where viscoelastic materials are used. The EVEM is composed of three components: 20% (by mass) of poly (p-phenylene) (PPP) particles doped with CuCl2 or FeCl3, 64% of Dow Sylgard 527 silicone gel, and 16% Dow Corning Sylgard 182 silicone elastomer, where the elastomer is added for stiffening. Experimental harmonic tests using a double-lap shear test and 0.025” thick test specimens excited between 1 and 150 Hz reveal a factor six increase in stiffening and a factor of three decrease in damping with applied voltage (1500v). The structural property change is a result of particle attraction through applied voltage. Nomenclature A = Cross-section of area of viscoelastic material F(t) = Force excitation G* = Complex shear module (G* = GR + iGI) m = Mass of viscoelastic material layer M = Mass of moving block t = Thickness of viscoelastic material layer V(t) = Velocity of moving block x(t) = Motion of moving block η = The material loss factor of the viscoelastic material ω = frequency i = Imaginary number
Relationships between Population Demography of McCown's Longspurs and Habitat Resources

Etude des relations entre la demographie et la qualite de l'habitat chez Calcarius mccownii dans une prairie du sud-est du Wyoming. Sur une periode de deux annees (1986-1987), la taille des territoires de reproduction est evaluee dans quatre zones de neuf hectares avec un recensement des individus. Les caracteristiques de la vegetation et la quantite de proie sont evaluees dans les territoires de reproduction ainsi que dans des zones non occupees par les oiseaux. Grâce a des analyses de regression, des relations entre ces differents parametres sont recherchees
One State’s Systems Change Efforts to Reduce Child Care Expulsion: Taking the Pyramid Model to Scale

This article describes the efforts funded by the state of Colorado to address unacceptably high rates of expulsion from child care. Based on the results of a 2006 survey, the state of Colorado launched two complementary policy initiatives in 2009 to impact expulsion rates and to improve the use of evidence-based practices related to challenging behavior. The primary policy initiative involved the funding of a center to develop model sites, a state-level planning team, ongoing practitioner training, and certification of coaches and trainers all built around the Pyramid Model. The secondary initiative involved expanding the number of early childhood mental health consultants and modifying their reimbursement/payment formula such that direct preventative work with adult providers, consistent with the Pyramid Model, was reimbursable. A follow-up survey in 2011 showed a dramatic reduction in expulsion rates and a corollary increase in providers’ teaching of prosocial skills to children with challenging behavior.
Global Health Partnerships between Multinationals and BRICA: A Planting Strategy

Global health challenges have taken a severe toll on economic development in resource-rich as well as resource-poor countries. Yet they have also brought about a unique opportunity to rethink a global strategy for a new kind of partnership between the large multinational pharmaceutical companies and the BRICA stakeholders for a win-win situation.
Research on Standardization of Distributed Information Resource Metadata

The metadata standardization is a key factor for carrying forward the integrated construction and sharing of distributed information resource.On the basis of the fundamental requirement for the standardization of distributed information resource metadata,the metadata standard specification of the distributed information resource is proposed,and the overall framework for the metadata standard registry system of the distributed information resource is designed for the metadata release,management and sharing.
The Subcoronal Meatus

Abstract: There has been much recent enthusiasm for repair of subcoronai hypospadias, which is due to the positive experience with meatal advancement, glanuloplasty and its excellent cosmetic results, extremely low complication rate and brief hospitalization requirement. Although we have found the meatal advancement, glanuloplasty to be an extremely reliable procedure in the majority of boys with subcoronai hypospadias and no fibrous chordee, we have encountered 3 variants, patulous, fibrotic and hypoplastic, of the subcoronai meatus, which are not amenable to meatal advancement, glanuloplasty. We describe a logical approach to the assessment of the subcoronai meatus with use of a vascularized meatal-based flap for hypospadias repair when meatal advancement, glanuloplasty is not applicable.
Outcome of Hemispherectomy for Refractory Epilepsy

The clinical features, presurgical workup, and postoperative outcome of 39 patients with medically intractable epilepsy who underwent hemispherectomy from 1996 to 2005 are reported from University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Detailed Investigation of Detergent Micelle Formation using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Surfactants are amphiphilic molecules with the ability to self-assemble into micelles and are commonly used in membrane protein extraction and solvation. Recent studies have shown that detergent type and concentration have a direct impact on the degree of oligomerization and function of membrane proteins [1], further extending their usefulness as a tool for investigating the structure-function relationship of membrane proteins. Despite their widespread use, the biophysical properties of detergent micelles at the atomistic level are poorly understood. We have conducted a systematic study on the physical characteristics of surfactant micelles using all-atom and coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The commonly used detergents n-dodecylphosphochiline (DPC) and n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside (DDM) were chosen. Our results agree in general with small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments and provide valuable insights into the relationship between micelle shape and aggregation number. Cluster analysis of self-assembled micelles reveal a wide distribution of micellar size and shape. This is consistent with the large range of aggregation numbers for DPC and DDM that have been experimentally determined. The shape of DPC micelles was more spherical due to its lower aggregation number, whereas DDM micelles tended to be ellipsoidal. In addition, micelle shape strictly obeys behavior based on theoretical packing factor considerations [2] such that both DPC and DDM surfactants formed ellipsoid micelles and larger preformed micelles (up to 300 detergent molecules) deformed to a hexagonal shape. Our results allow us to more accurately estimate the number of molecules and the effective thickness of the detergent layer surrounding membrane proteins. These insights in turn add to our understanding of the relationship between detergent properties and membrane protein oligomerization. [1] Hussain, S. 2015 J. Mol. Biol. 427:1278. [2] Israelachvili. J. N. et. al., 2011 Academic Press, 3rd ed.
Religion and Reality

Religious experience, then, is structured by religious beliefs, and religious beliefs are implicit within religious experience. We next have to ask whether this complex of experience and belief, taking as it does different shapes within the different traditions, is to be regarded simply as a human creation or as our response to a transcendent reality—though a response whose particular forms always involve the creative activity of the human imagination.
Learning for a Change: Rage and the Promise of the Feminist Classroom

This chapter explores the emotional life of the classroom when teaching gender. Drawing on classroom examples and excerpts from students’ formal and informal writings, the author seeks to unpack and grapple with the intense emotion of rage. Particular attention here is paid to classrooms that focus on issues of violence, trauma, and dis/embodiment. Rage is understood as a legitimate response to structural inequalities and it is seen as emotion that can inspire personal growth and propel social change. The author offers a new term, pedagogical rage, in an effort to conceptualize an innovative mapping of difficult emotion and to uncover the possible positive functions of rage in the classroom and beyond.
A tracking system to calculate patient skin dose in real-time during neurointerventional procedures using a biplane x-ray imaging system

Purpose: Neurovascular interventional procedures using biplane fluoroscopic imaging systems can lead to increased risk of radiation-induced skin injuries. The authors developed a biplane dose tracking system (Biplane-DTS) to calculate the cumulative skin dose distribution from the frontal and lateral x-ray tubes and display it in real-time as a color-coded map on a 3D graphic of the patient for immediate feedback to the physician. The agreement of the calculated values with the dose measured on phantoms was evaluated. Methods: The Biplane-DTS consists of multiple components including 3D graphic models of the imaging system and patient, an interactive graphical user interface, a data acquisition module to collect geometry and exposure parameters, the computer graphics processing unit, and functions for determining which parts of the patient graphic skin surface are within the beam and for calculating dose. The dose is calculated to individual points on the patient graphic using premeasured calibration files of entrance skin dose per mAs including backscatter; corrections are applied for field area, distance from the focal spot and patient table and pad attenuation when appropriate. The agreement of the calculated patient skin dose and its spatial distribution with measured values was evaluated in 2D and 3D for simulated procedure conditions using a PMMA block phantom and an SK-150 head phantom, respectively. Dose values calculated by the Biplane-DTS were compared to the measurements made on the phantom surface with radiochromic film and a calibrated ionization chamber, which was also used to calibrate the DTS. The agreement with measurements was specifically evaluated with variation in kVp, gantry angle, and field size. Results: The dose tracking system that was developed is able to acquire data from the two x-ray gantries on a biplane imaging system and calculate the skin dose for each exposure pulse to those vertices of a patient graphic that are determined to be in the beam. The calculations are done in real-time with a typical graphic update time of 30 ms and an average vertex separation of 3 mm. With appropriate corrections applied, the Biplane-DTS was able to determine the entrance dose within 6% and the spatial distribution of the dose within 4% compared to the measurements with the ionization chamber and film for the SK150 head phantom. The cumulative dose for overlapping fields from both gantries showed similar agreement. Conclusions: The Biplane-DTS can provide a good estimate of the peak skin dose and cumulative skin dose distribution during biplane neurointerventional procedures. Real-time display of this information should help the physician manage patient dose to reduce the risk of radiation-induced skin injuries.
The adaptive optics and transmit system for NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration project

The Laser Communication Relay Demonstration is NASA’s multi-year demonstration of laser communication to a geosynchronous satellite. We are currently assembling the optical system for the first of the two baseline ground stations. The optical system consists of an adaptive optics system, the transmit system and a camera for target acquisition. The adaptive optics system is responsible for compensating the downlink beam for atmospheric turbulence and coupling it into the modem’s single mode fiber. The adaptive optics system is a woofer/tweeter design, with one deformable mirror correcting for low spatial frequencies with large amplitude and a second deformable mirror correcting for high spatial frequencies with small amplitude. The system uses a Shack- Hartmann wavefront sensor. The transmit system relays four beacon beams and one communication laser to the telescope for propagation to the space terminal. Both the uplink and downlink beams are centered at 1.55 microns. We present an overview of the design of the system as well as performance predictions including time series of coupling efficiency and expected uplink beam quality.
Der Nil und seine Oase

Der Nil und sein Wirtschaft wie Volksleben dominierender Uberwemmungszyklus wurde von allen Reisenden als die Lebensader des Landes beschrieben. Schon fruh im 19. Jahrhundert kam mit Agypten als Touristenziel auch die Fluskreuzfahrt auf dem Nil in Mode, damals aber noch eine wenig entspannte und monatelange Tour auf einheimischen Flusseglern. Wegen der uberragenden Bedeutung des Nil begann bereits Vizekonig Mehmed Ali mit grosen Wasserbauprojekten, um die Bewasserungsleistung des Flusses auszuweiten und zu verstetigen. Nachdem Agyten 1882 faktisch zu einem britischen Protektorat geworden war, wurde 1902 der erste Staudamm bei Assuan fertiggestellt und bereits 1912 auf 35 m erhoht. Dies leitete das Ende der seit grauer Vorzeit das Niltal pragenden jahreszeitlichen Niluberschwemmungen ein, das mit dem 1960-71 nur etwas stromauf errichtete dritten und 111m hohen Hochdamms besiegelt wurde. Anders als im nun grundlegend veranderten Niltal konnen manche der historischen Eigenheiten der alten Flusoase im fruchtbaren Becken des Fayyum noch angetroffen werden, einer im 19. Jahrhundert wie heute von auslandischen Reisenden zu Unrecht wenig besuchte Ausstulpung der Niloase.
Emergency preparedness of veterans and nonveterans

This study examined statistical differences in levels of disaster preparedness between former members of the US Armed Forces (veterans) and civilians (nonveterans). It was hypothesized that veterans would exhibit a higher degree of disaster preparedness as compared to their nonveteran counterparts as a consequence of their training and life experience. Furthermore, if this were proven to be valid, the finding would identify this cohort as an ideal target audience for emergency and disaster preparedness education efforts. A four-page survey consisting principally of closed-ended questions about emergency preparedness was written to measure these differences. Most of the questions required respondents to rank their answers according to a five-step Likert Scale. The survey could be completed either in hard copy or online from September 2014 to January 2015. Ultimately, 113 surveys were returned for evaluation. Of those respondents, 62 were veterans and 51 were nonveterans. The responses were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance tests for statistical significance using the 95 percent confidence standard for each tested value. The results support that veterans are more prepared for domestic emergencies than nonveterans. In addition, veterans were more willing to provide leadership and direction to others in an effort to assist emergency managers in responding to domestic disasters. It is for these reasons that emergency managers should consider targeting veterans for disaster preparedness training to help ensure effective and efficient responses to emergencies.
Make business ethics a cumulative science

Business ethics research is not currently a cumulative science, but it must become one. The benefits to humanity from research that helps firms improve their ethics could be enormous, especially if that research also shows that strong ethics improves the effectiveness of companies.
Promoting Children’s Social Skills and Adaptive Interpersonal Behavior

We initially accepted the invitation to write a chapter entitled “The Prevention of Social Adjustment Disorders in Children” with little thought about the difficulties we would encounter in determining its specific content. We began to sense our plight as we attempted, unsuccessfully, to define “social adjustment disorder.”
Exploration and Comparison of Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Caregiver’s Perspectives on Transitioning to Adult Health Care and Adulthood

Background Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience challenges achieving independence. Few studies assess both adolescents and caregivers' needs as adolescents transition to adult health care. Objective/methods This study explored and compared the health-related independence experiences of 27 adolescents with ASD and their caregivers. Caregivers participated in focus groups and adolescents participated in semi-structured interviews. Results Thematic analysis of dyads' responses highlighted three common themes: (a) efforts toward independence, (b) low self-efficacy for adolescents' independence, and (c) desire for independence. Nuances in responses indicated that although members of dyads shared many experiences, they were not communicating these experiences with each other. Conclusions Results suggest both groups understand the importance of health-related independence and are motivated to achieve independence but lack skills and supports. Improved communication about experiences and goals between caregivers, adolescents, and the care team are needed. These findings can inform future interventions to better support adolescents' transition to adult health care.
Modeling and Mitigation of Static Noise Margin Variation in Subthreshold SRAM Cells

In energy-constrained applications, SRAM systems operating in the subthreshold region are often deployed to reduce power consumption. Subthreshold SRAM designs, however, confront numerous challenges, such as susceptibility to process variation and reduced ON–OFF current ratio. Statistical modeling of the variation in cell stability is critical in SRAM design, especially, for designs operating in the subthreshold region, where the process and temperature variations are the most pronounced. In this paper, statistical models for estimating the static noise margins (SNMs) of SRAM cells are built from the perspective of a shifted voltage transfer characteristic. Read (hold) SNM of a subthreshold 8T cell is analyzed. It is shown that the distribution of a single-sided read SNM is a weighted sum of several normal distributions instead of a regular Gaussian distribution. The proposed statistical model is verified with simulation results in 65-nm technology. Furthermore, to mitigate performance and yield degradation, an adaptive body biasing circuit is developed. It is demonstrated through simulation that, with a negligible area and power overhead, the proposed circuit achieves a 15% improvement in the worst case read SNM.
Structure/property relationships in copolymers comprising renewable isosorbide, glucarodilactone, and 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan subunits

Carbohydrates and their derivatives have great potential as building blocks for the development of renewable materials that are cost and performance competitive with conventional petroleum-based materials. To this end, the rigid carbohydrate-derived diols, glucarodilactone and isosorbide were functionalized with a castor oil derivative, 10-undecenoic acid, forming α,ω-dienes suitable for acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization. Equimolar copolymerizations of these two monomers, glucarodilactone undecenoate (GDLU) and isosorbide undecenoate (GDLU), transform brittle homopolymers into elastic materials with shape memory capabilities. To understand the source of these properties, a series of copolymers consisting of a range of GDLU and IU compositions (100 : 0, 77 : 23, 76 : 24, 52 : 48, 48 : 52, 18 : 82, 0 : 100 mol percent GDLU to IU) was synthesized. The material and chemical properties were characterized by uniaxial tensile testing, small-amplitude oscillatory shear rheology, X-ray scattering and hydrolytic degradation testing. Small compositional changes in this family were shown to have a drastic impact on the observed mechanical performance and degradability of these materials. Rheological measurements of GDLU-containing copolymers found evidence for the presence of transient networking within these materials. We posit that the transient network within this material is responsible for the elasticity and shape memory abilities of the GDL-containing materials. In confirmation of these properties, a novel α,ω-diene 2,5-bis(hydroxymethylfuran) undecenoate (BHMFU) was developed and served as a direct replacement for either GDLU or IU in copolymerizations. The replacement of GDLU resulted in a total loss of the elasticity and shape memory of the copolymers, supporting the role of GDLU in the mechanical performance.
Common neurologic emergencies in the elderly population

Aged individuals often present to the ED with acute neurologic syndromes. The disorders described in this article are among the most difficult to diagnose in the older patient. Accurate diagnosis of syndromes such as delirium or syncope mandates a thorough history and physical examination, even in the most frail or combative of patients. Treatment should be guided by the cause, and the reflex prescription of psychotropics avoided. The diagnosis of spinal cord compression in an older patient requires awareness of typical signs and symptoms as well as performance of a careful neurologic examination. This neurologic emergency demands prompt and aggressive treatment, with immediate neurologic or neurosurgical consultation. Language: en
Stratigraphy and paleohydrology of delta channel deposits, Jezero crater, Mars

Abstract The Jezero crater open-basin lake contains two well-exposed fluvial sedimentary deposits formed early in martian history. Here, we examine the geometry and architecture of the Jezero western delta fluvial stratigraphy using high-resolution orbital images and digital elevation models (DEMs). The goal of this analysis is to reconstruct the evolution of the delta and associated shoreline position. The delta outcrop contains three distinct classes of fluvial stratigraphy that we interpret, from oldest to youngest, as: (1) point bar strata deposited by repeated flood events in meandering channels; (2) inverted channel-filling deposits formed by avulsive distributary channels; and (3) a valley that incises the deposit. We use DEMs to quantify the geometry of the channel deposits and estimate flow depths of ∼7 m for the meandering channels and ∼2 m for the avulsive distributary channels. Using these estimates, we employ a novel approach for assessing paleohydrology of the formative channels in relative terms. This analysis indicates that the shift from meandering to avulsive distributary channels was associated with an approximately four-fold decrease in the water to sediment discharge ratio. We use observations of the fluvial stratigraphy and channel paleohydrology to propose a model for the evolution of the Jezero western delta. The delta stratigraphy records lake level rise and shoreline transgression associated with approximately continuous filling of the basin, followed by outlet breaching, and eventual erosion of the delta. Our results imply a martian surface environment during the period of delta formation that supplied sufficient surface runoff to fill the Jezero basin without major drops in lake level, but also with discrete flooding events at non-orbital (e.g., annual to decadal) timescales.
Secure Network Coding for Multiple Unicast: On the Case of Single Source

This paper considers multiple unicast wireline noiseless networks where a single source wishes to transmit independent messages to a set of legitimate destinations. The primal goal is to characterize the secure capacity region, where the exchanged messages have to be secured from a passive external eavesdropper that has unbounded computational capabilities, but limited network presence. The secure capacity region for the case of two destinations is characterized and it is shown to be a function of only the min-cut capacities and the number of edges the eavesdropper wiretaps. A polynomial-time two-phase scheme is then designed for a general number of destinations and its achievable secure rate region is derived. It is shown that the secure capacity result for the two destinations case is not reversible, that is, by switching the role of the source and destinations and by reversing the directions of the edges, the secure capacity region changes.
The Rv2633c protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a non-heme di-iron catalase with a possible role in defenses against oxidative stress

The Rv2633c gene in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is rapidly up-regulated after macrophage infection, suggesting that Rv2633c is involved in M. tuberculosis pathogenesis. However, the activity and role of the Rv2633c protein in host colonization is unknown. Here, we analyzed the Rv2633c protein sequence, which revealed the presence of an HHE cation-binding domain common in hemerythrin-like proteins. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Rv2633c is a member of a distinct subset of hemerythrin-like proteins exclusive to mycobacteria. The Rv2633c sequence was significantly similar to protein sequences from other pathogenic strains within that subset, suggesting that these proteins are involved in mycobacteria virulence. We expressed and purified the Rv2633c protein in Escherichia coli and found that it contains two iron atoms, but does not behave like a hemerythrin. It migrated as a dimeric protein during size-exclusion chromatography. It was not possible to reduce the protein or observe any evidence for its interaction with O2. However, Rv2633c did exhibit catalase activity with a kcat of 1475 s−1 and Km of 10.1 ± 1.7 mm. Cyanide and azide inhibited the catalase activity with Ki values of 3.8 μm and 37.7 μm, respectively. Rv2633c's activity was consistent with a role in defenses against oxidative stress generated during host immune responses after M. tuberculosis infection of macrophages. We note that Rv2633c is the first example of a non-heme di-iron catalase, and conclude that it is a member of a subset of hemerythrin-like proteins exclusive to mycobacteria, with likely roles in protection against host defenses.
Beyond the Categories: A Formula-Driven Prediction of Carotid Stenosis:

PurposeCurrent methods to predict carotid stenosis from ultrasound duplex criteria involve assigning a category of stenosis on the basis of an individual laboratory-defined combination of peak syst...
Medical Costs of Fatal and Nonfatal Falls in Older Adults.

Objectives To estimate medical expenditures attributable to older adult falls using a methodology that can be updated annually to track these expenditures over time. Design Population data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and cost estimates from the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) for fatal falls, quasi-experimental regression analysis of data from the Medicare Current Beneficiaries Survey (MCBS) for nonfatal falls. Setting U.S. population aged 65 and older during 2015. Participants Fatal falls from the 2015 NVSS (N=28,486); respondents to the 2011 MCBS (N=3,460). Measurements Total spending attributable to older adult falls in the United States in 2015, in dollars. Results In 2015, the estimated medical costs attributable to fatal and nonfatal falls was approximately $50.0 billion. For nonfatal falls, Medicare paid approximately $28.9 billion, Medicaid $8.7 billion, and private and other payers $12.0 billion. Overall medical spending for fatal falls was estimated to be $754 million. Conclusion Older adult falls result in substantial medical costs. Measuring medical costs attributable to falls will provide vital information about the magnitude of the problem and the potential financial effect of effective prevention strategies.
Fundus Appearance of Choroideremia Using Optical Coherence Tomograpy

Choroideremia is an X-linked recessive disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of the choroid, RPE and retina Goedblood et al., 1942). Patients initially present with night blindness in the first or second decade that progresses to severe constriction of the visual field. Central acuity is lost late in life (Kril et al.).