cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimizing the selection of hazard-consistent probabilistic scenarios for long-term regional hurricane loss estimation

Long-term regional hurricane loss estimation is typically conducted by simulating the occurrence of many hurricanes in a region using a historical or synthetic set of hurricanes; estimating losses caused by each hurricane; and using the resulting loss database to calculate loss-exceedence curves for each location. This paper introduces a new way to identify a set of hurricanes to be simulated, so as to substantially reduce the number of events required and thus the computation, while maintaining the spatial coherence of individual scenarios. Using a mixed-integer linear programming formulation, a relatively small subset of all possible hurricanes is identified (tens to a couple hundred), and the annual occurrence probability of each is adjusted so that the regional hazard estimated from the reduced set matches the regional hazard estimated from the full synthetic hurricane simulation. The user can explicitly tradeoff number of hurricanes (i.e., computation) and error based on the intended use of the analysis. The method also allows the user to force errors to be smaller at geographic locations or return periods that are particularly important for a given analysis. In a case study application for North Carolina, the method provides unbiased results with errors that are small enough for practical use.
Metastatic choriocarcinoma to the lumbar spine: Case report and review of literature.

Background: There are few cases of choriocarcinoma metastases to the spine that have been reported. Most occurrences are in women with the gestational form of the tumor, and these now exhibit a very high remission rate with chemotherapeutic treatment, typically circumventing the need for spinal surgery.
Transitory Separation Control over a Stalled Airfoil

Transitory attachment of the flow over a stalled, 2-D airfoil is investigated in wind tunnel experiments using pulsed actuation. The impulse of the momentary control jets is produced by combustion based actuators on characteristic time scales O[1 ms] that are an order of magnitude shorter than the convective time scale of the flow. A single actuation pulse results in transitory flow attachment that is manifested by rapid increase in the global circulation and aerodynamic forces and persists for about ten convective time scales before the flow becomes fully stalled again. Large-scale changes in vorticity accumulation that are associated with repetitive, burst-modulated actuation pulses are exploited for significant extension of the streamwise domain and duration of the attached flow with a corresponding increase in the peak circulation. High-resolution PIV measurements of the interaction between the pulsed jets and the cross flow reveal details of the severing and collapse of the separated flow domain and the dynamics of vorticity accumulation within the attaching boundary layer.
Treatment of advanced hepatitis C with a low accelerating dosage regimen of antiviral therapy

Patients with advanced hepatitis C virus (HCV) are at risk of death and are candidates for liver transplantation. After transplantation, HCV recurs and may rapidly progress to cirrhosis and graft loss. Treatment is needed to prevent progression of disease and minimize recurrence after liver transplantation. We evaluated the effectiveness, tolerability, and outcome of a low accelerating dose regimen (LADR) of antiviral therapy in the treatment of patients with advanced HCV. One hundred twenty-four patients (male/female ratio 81:43; age range 37-71 years; 70% genotype 1) were treated with LADR. Sixty-three percent had clinical complications of cirrhosis (ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, varices, variceal hemorrhage, encephalopathy). The mean Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score was 7.4 +/- 2.3, and the mean MELD score was 11.0 +/- 3.7. Fifty-six patients were CTP class A, 45 were class B, and 23 were class C. Forty-six percent were HCV RNA-negative at end of treatment, and 24% were HCV RNA-negative at last follow-up. Sustained virological response (SVR) was 13% in patients infected with genotype 1 HCV and 50% in patients infected with non-1 genotypes (P < .0001). Non-1 genotype, CTP class A (genotype 1 only), and ability to tolerate full dose and duration of treatment (P < .0001) were predictors of SVR. Twelve of 15 patients who were HCV RNA-negative before transplantation remained HCV RNA-negative 6 months or more after transplantation. In conclusion, in a sizeable proportion of patients with advanced HCV, LADR may render blood free of HCV RNA, stabilize clinical course, and prevent posttransplantation recurrence.
Elastic instability of polymer-shelled bubbles formed from air-in-oil-in-water compound bubbles

We study the stability of polymer-shelled bubbles with controlled dimensions generated from air-in-oil-in-water (A/O/W) compound bubbles. We show that the ratio of the shell thickness to bubble radius is critical in generating un-deformed polymer-shelled bubbles from A/O/W compound bubbles. In addition, the effects of shell stiffness and encapsulated gas on bubble stability are also investigated.
Massive prostatic hypertrophy

An unusual case is presented in which an enormously enlarged prostate gland, producing minimal urinary tract symptoms and changes, was removed via the retropubic route without operative complications and with a benign postoperative course. Applicability of the retropubic procedure in such cases is emphasized. A brief review of the literature is tabulated.
Henry Hun (1854–1924)

Neurology in upper New York State was pioneered by the Hun family.1 Thomas Hun MD (1808-unknown), the neurological patriarch, completed medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania and spent 6 years of postgraduate study in Europe.1 On his return, he helped found the Albany Medical College (1839), where he was appointed Professor of the Institutes of Medicine. Long before neurology was a recognised specialty in the United States, he gave lectures on the nervous system, held weekly neurological clinics with medical students, and stimulated his sons Edward and Henry to pursue neurological careers. Edward Reynolds Hun MD (1842–1880), the eldest son, graduated from the College …
Type 2 diabetes as a redox disease

Physical exercise has long been widely regarded as essential to human health.1 Yet, we do not know how exercise-stressed skeletal muscle cells that generate reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) delay—if not prevent—the occurrence and severity of diseases such as type 2 diabetes (as well as dementias, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers). Also unexplained is the recent finding that metformin—the most commonly used drug to treat type 2 diabetes2, 3 and 4—and physical exercise seem to be beneficial for several of the same diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and cardiovascular disease.5 and 6 New evidence7 shows that combinations of short-term metformin treatment with single acute bouts of exercise do not, as generally expected, enhance insulin sensitivity. In fact, metformin alone can attenuate much of the oxidative effect of exercise.7 The reason why exercise and metformin have opposing physiological consequences (oxidative vs reducing) has been shown by studies 8 that suggest that giving mice metformin increases synthesis of the transcription factor Nrf2, which controls the downstream synthesis of RNA molecules coding for major cellular antioxidant enzymes.
Effects of luminal osmolarity on gastric acid secretion in the little skate, Raja erinacea

Isolated gastric mucosa of the skate shows marked changes in acid secretory rate (J H ), electrical potential difference (PD), and transepithelial resistance (R) with changes in mucosal bathing solution composition and a constant serosal solution. Removal of the 350 mM urea usually present in the mucosal solution reduces acid secretory rate by 25%, while adding urea to 1 M has no significant effect. Complete removal of osmotic solutes (distilled water) inhibits secretion by 78%, isotonic urea (no salts) inhibits by 54%, while isotonic salts alone (no urea) gives control secretory rates. The changes in PD and R are consistent with acid secretory changes. Theory and experience with terrestrial organisms would not predict these changes. The most likely explanation is osmotic swelling and shrinking of the surface cells, and occlusion of the secretory tubules in the swollen condition. Since marine species never encounter hypo- or hyperosmotic conditions due to food ingestion, their surface cells may be water permeable, unlike the situation in terrestrial and fresh water animals.
Squamous cell carcinoma of the lip in a 19-month-old child: A case report

Squamous cell carcinoma of the lip is rarely seen in children. We present the case of a 19-month-old child, without known risk factors, who developed invasive squamous cell carcinoma involving the skin and underlying muscle of the lip. The histology of the tumor was invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the keratoacanthoma type. The distinction between this lesion and keratoacanthoma is often difficult and rests on the findings of invasion and significant atypia. Due to the extremely low incidence of squamous cell carcinoma in children, there are few therapeutic guidelines pertaining specifically to infants or children. This patient underwent wide local excision as definitive treatment. Currently, it is 24 months after excision of the tumor and he remains free of clinical recurrence.
Chiral hierarchies from slowly running couplings in technicolor theories

Chiral-symmetry breaking in asymptotically free theories with slowly running couplings is analyzed. When the confinement scale \ensuremath{\Lambda} is much less than the cutoff M beyond which the theory cannot be used in isolation, the dynamical mass \ensuremath{\Sigma}(p) starts from a value \ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{\Lambda} for momenta p\ensuremath{\lesssim}\ensuremath{\Lambda} and falls slowly for a significant range pg\ensuremath{\Lambda}. It then takes on the asymptotic form (lnp${)}^{a}$/${p}^{2}$ where ag1. This behavior leads to an enhancement of the fermion condensate defined with the ultraviolet cutoff M, while the Goldstone-boson decay constant F remains essentially unaltered. In technicolor theories, with four-fermion interactions of strength \ensuremath{\simeq}1/${M}^{2}$ that explicitly break some chiral symmetries, the technifermion condensate determines the values of fermion masses and pseudo-Goldstone-boson masses while F determines W and Z masses. An enhancement of the technifermion condensate will then generate fermion and pseudo-Goldstone-boson masses for higher values of M than naively expected, keeping W and Z masses nearly fixed. This could allow for an adequate suppression of the flavor-changing neutral currents that have plagued technicolor theories. Explicit gauge theories that exhibit slow running are tabulated and the results of a numerical study are reported.
DNA-binding proteins for transcription enhancing region of HLA class I gene

Class I regulatory complex (CRC) located in the 5'-upstream region of MHC class I gene contains transcriptional enhancing sequences, called Enh A. This Enh A region contains tandem-arranged kappa B-like sites, one of which has a well-conserved perfect palindromic sequence. The second kappa B-like site, juxtaposed to the perfect palindrome, contains an imperfect palindromic sequence. In B-cell nuclear extracts, we have identified at least four sequence-specific protein complexes; three shared the repeated kappa B enhancer as their binding motifs. The perfect palindromic sequence facilities the binding of a complex termed BI, while the imperfect palindrome provides the binding sites for two other complexes, BII and BIII. The BII and BIII complexes exhibited binding crossreactivity with other kappa B-related motifs and recognized both the perfect and imperfect palindromic sequences, whereas the BI complex was specific for the perfect palindromic sequence which is unique to the class I promoters. A DNA segment outside the repeated kappa B enhancers probably binds the fourth complex, BIV. These complexes, except for the perfect palindrome-binding complex, differ from those described for the murine class I promoter. The binding characteristics of these factors suggest that the mechanism controlling the class I transcription may be quite complex.
Physical register reference counting

Several proposed techniques including CPR (checkpoint processing and recovery) and NoSQ (no store queue) rely on reference counting to manage physical registers. However, the register reference counting mechanism itself has received surprisingly little attention. This paper fills this gap by describing potential register reference counting schemes for NoSQ, CPR, and a hypothetical NoSQ/CPR hybrid. Although previously described in terms of binary counters, we find that reference counts are actually more naturally represented as matrices. Binary representations can be used as an optimization in specific situations.
Task effects in the development of hand preference in 9-, 13-, and 20-month-old infant girls.

Hand preference for reaching for objects was assessed in 63 female infants (twenty‐two 9‐month‐olds, eighteen 13‐month‐olds, and twenty‐three 20‐month‐olds). Unimanual reaching was elicited for five different kinds of objects after demonstrations of their use: putting pegs in a pegboard, drawing with a crayon, building a tower of cubes, stirring a spoon in a cup, and putting cubes in a cup. Bimanual manipulation was elicited for four different toys after demonstrations of their use: nut‐and‐bolt, car‐in‐a‐jar, ball‐in‐a‐box, and pinwheel. For unimanual reaching, there was a significant increase with age in the percentage of infants showing a right‐hand preference as well as an increase in strength of preference. Further analyses also revealed that of the different tasks, the crayon task was the most reliable predictor of hand preference, whereas the spoon‐in‐the‐cup task was the least reliable. For bimanual manipulation, frequency of right‐hand manipulation increased with age, although there were age‐rela...
The Association of Intimacy Goals and Marital Satisfaction: A Test of Four Mediational Hypotheses

This research examines the association of intimacy goals and marital satisfaction and tests four potential mediators of the goals-satisfaction link. Forty-four married couples completed measures of their own intimacy goals, their perceptions of their spouse’s goals, patterning of marital interactions (e.g., social support, time spent together, number of activities engaged in together, mutual influence), and marital satisfaction. As predicted, both individuals’ own and their spouses’ pursuit of intimacy goals were associated with marital satisfaction. However, these associations between goals and satisfaction were eliminated when individuals’ perceptions of their spouses’ goals were included in the analysis, indicating that the link between intimacy goals and marital satisfaction was mediated by individuals’ perceptions of their spouses’ goals. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and applied implications of these findings.
2011 Lenna Frances Cooper Memorial Lecture: The Road to HEaLth Is Paved with Good InVentions: Of Science, Sense, and Elephense

to bridge this gap? What operational steps are required to translate our knowledge into the power of routine action? What would turn optimal eating from the road less traveled to the path of lesser resistance? What is the role in the design and execution of those steps of science, and of sense? What elements make up the “big picture” in which knowledge and power, what we know and what we do, actually come together? The case will be made that the reductionistic demands of science can, when misapplied, impede rather than accelerate the insights borne of sense. Reductionism sees trees, but no forest; parts, but no elephant. A vision will be shared for a reconciliation of science and sense that helps us find the forest; and for a reconciliation of knowledge and power that actually gets u s...o ut of thewoods. BIRTHMARK ...
Bayesian classification of tumours by using gene expression data

Summary. Precise classification of tumours is critical for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Diagnostic pathology has traditionally relied on macroscopic and microscopic histology and tumour morphology as the basis for the classification of tumours. Current classification frameworks, however, cannot discriminate between tumours with similar histopathologic features, which vary in clinical course and in response to treatment. In recent years, there has been a move towards the use of complementary deoxyribonucleic acid microarrays for the classification of tumours. These high throughput assays provide relative messenger ribonucleic acid expression measurements simultaneously for thousands of genes. A key statistical task is to perform classification via different expression patterns. Gene expression profiles may offer more information than classical morphology and may provide an alternative to classical tumour diagnosis schemes. The paper considers several Bayesian classification methods based on reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces for the analysis of microarray data. We consider the logistic likelihood as well as likelihoods related to support vector machine models. It is shown through simulation and examples that support vector machine models with multiple shrinkage parameters produce fewer misclassification errors than several existing classical methods as well as Bayesian methods based on the logistic likelihood or those involving only one shrinkage parameter.
Soil development on the WWI battlefield of Verdun, France

Abstract Much research has been done on how the physical environment can influence the outcome of battle, but few have studied the inverse: the effects of warfare upon the environment. The goal of this research is to characterize and help understand soil development within areas disturbed by explosive munitions on the WWI battlefield of Verdun, France (1916). Encompassing an area of 29,000 km2, the battlefield remains one of the most heavily shelled of all time. Twenty-seven pedons were sampled and described, at three sites on the battlefield; some pedons were within artillery craters while others were on adjacent “undisturbed” soils. Site selection reflected the diversity of bedrock and drainage characteristics across the study area. Soil development was characterized within the crater bottoms and sides. Many craters penetrated the shallow limestone bedrock, and blasted out fragments of limestone on nearby undisturbed pedons had already been incorporated into the profile. Despite the short period of time since the battle (88 years), measurable amounts of weathering and pedogenesis has occurred in the soils within the craters. A major pedogenic process operative here is the accumulation and decomposition of organic matter, which is intimately associated with (and aided by) earthworm bioturbation. Based on elemental analysis of the fine earth fraction, measurable amounts of leaching and weathering have occurred in the 88 years since the battle. This study provides insight into the ability of a landscape to recover following a catastrophic anthropogenic disturbance.
Early Adolescents' Perspectives on Motivation and Achievement in Academics

This study, conducted in four urban schools, utilized student voice to address the relationship between early adolescent developmental needs, classroom instructional practices, and academic motivat...
Unproven nutritional remedies and cancer

Questionable dietary remedies for cancer decreased quality of life and did nothing to improve cancer outcomes in patients with extensive disease.
Classroom applications of the disequilibrium model of reinforcement

The present study investigated applications of the disequilibrium model of reinforcement in typical classroom contexts with students perceived by their teachers as being difficult to motivate. The disequilibrium model states that reinforcing effects are produced when access to any response (task) is constrained so that an individual cannot meet an (unconstrained) baseline level for that response (task). The implication of the model is that low-probability (low-preference) responses can be constrained and used as reinforcers, a seeming contradiction to the common practice of using a high-probability response to reinforce increases in a low-probability response. The present study investigated the effects of disequilibrium schedules of reinforcement with six students with several disabilities in classroom contexts. The specific research questions were (i) whether disequilibrium schedules would produce reinforcing effects if both the instrumental and contingent tasks were of moderate to low preference for the student; (ii) how effects of disequilibrium schedules would compare with those of a teacher-generated contingency; and (iii) what effects disequilibrium schedules would have with students who engage in non-task responding during the baseline period. Results suggest that disequilibrium schedules are effective when used with moderate to low-preference tasks. Results of the comparison with teacher-generated contingencies were mixed. Results do suggest that the presence of higher levels of non-task responding during the baseline period may affect subsequent effectiveness of disequilibrium schedules calculated from the baseline. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Semiconductors: a new class of metamaterials.

Conventional metamaterials that show negative refraction suffer from high intrinsic losses and are difficult to fabricate. A novel anisotropic semiconducting metamaterial offers a solution.
Real-time tracking of face features and gaze direction determination

A non-intrusive real-time program detects the face, then eyes and nose of a moving workstation user at a rate of between 10 and 30 Hertz. Based on the head pose, it determines where on the display the subject is looking. The long term goal is to provide a system for controlling a computer using head movements and gaze direction. The current program creates a base facility for other capabilities such as detecting facial gestures, creating face models, and normalizing for face recognition. A skin color model is used along with geometric knowledge about the face and weak assumptions about the lighting. Good results are reported with various subjects and conditions, including facial hair; 3D motion, and use of eyeglasses.
Viability, Electability, and Candidate Choice in a Presidential Primary Election: A Test of Competing Models

Using data from an exit poll, this paper tests three models of voter decision making in a presidential primary: a simple candidate preference model, a bandwagon model, and an expected utility model. For both Republican and white Democratic primary voters, the data support the expected utility model. In choosing a candidate for their party's nomination, Republican and Democratic primary voters weighed electability in addition to their general evaluations of the candidates. Opinions about electability were, in turn, strongly influenced by perceptions of candidates' nomination prospects. Thus, viability had an important, but indirect, influence on voter decision making.
Site Value Taxation in a Declining City

. The relationship is analyzed between the economic decline of a central city and the likelihood that a site value tax will be politically acceptable. Public choice and land use models are combined to generate a scenario of land use changes and changes in improvements to land ratios which determine whether a specific property owner will gain or lose from a revenue-neutral site value tax. A case study is presented which substantiates many of the effects suggested by the model. In general, private and public sector responses to a city's decline result in an atmosphere that is relatively hostile to site value taxation.
Operational characteristics of transportable in-building propagation

Spurred on by the quest for a personal communications system (PCS), portable in-building propagation has been the subject of many published articles and conference presentations. However, while in-building fields have been well characterized, little attention has been paid to the time variation of signal levels for subscriber units under operational circumstances. The paper presents results for transportable devices such as laptop computers and examines the potential benefits of diversity reception. Block error rate equations are developed for various modulation schemes in both Rayleigh and lognormal fading.
BCL-2 in prostate cancer: a minireview

Prostate cancer progression and the development of androgen-independent prostate cancer have been largely related to a number of genetic abnormality that affect not only the androgen receptor but also crucial molecules involved in the regulation of survival or apoptotic pathways. One of these molecules, the pro-survival protein BCL-2, has been associated with the development of androgen-independent prostate cancer due to its high levels of expression in androgen-independent tumors in advanced stages of the pathology. The upregulation of BCL-2 after androgen ablation in prostate carcinoma cell lines and in a castrated-male rat model further established a connection between BCL-2 expression and prostate cancer progression. This review focuses on the experimental evidence that associates BCL-2 expression with prostate carcinogenesis and cancer progression, and analyzes the evidence that links the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) survival pathway with the upregulation of BCL-2. The way in which hormone ablation influences this survival pathway and the potential application of novel therapeutic strategies to overcome this anti-apoptotic mechanism is examined.
Tuning the entanglement for a one-dimensional magnetic system with anisotropic coupling and impurities

Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA~Received 7 March 2003; published 30 June 2003!We study a set of localized spins coupled through exchange interaction and subject to an external magneticﬁeld. We demonstrate, for such a class of one-dimensional magnetic systems, that entanglement can be con-trolled and tuned by varying the anisotropy parameter in the Hamiltonian and by introducing impurities into thesystems. In particular, for certain parameters, the entanglement is zero up to a critical point l
Quantum-confined Stark effect electroabsorption in Ge/SiGe quantum wells on silicon substrates

We observe strong electroabsorption in Ge quantum wells with SiGe barriers, grown on Si substrates, with performance comparable to III-V materials, and promising compact, low-power, high-speed modulators compatible with Si CMOS electronics.
Reactions of Men of Color to a Commonly Used Rape Prevention Program: Attitude and Predicted Behavior Changes

African American, Latino, and Asian first-year college men (36) saw The Men’s Program, an all-male rape prevention workshop, and wrote answers to four open-ended questions to determine how men from non-white groups react to a commonly used rape prevention program. Using a multi-stage inductive analysis, participant responses fell into five main themes including reinforced current beliefs and/or no changes, increased awareness of rape and its effects on survivors, increased understanding of consent, plans to intervene if a rape might occur, and plans to change behavior in their own intimate situations. Participants mentioned specific ways in which they planned to change personal behavior, and ways in which they planned to intervene if they saw potentially dangerous situations.
Effects of soil characteristics and human disturbance on tiger beetle oviposition

1. Understanding species-specific habitat requirements is important in insect ecology. Co-occurrence of closely related species can provide insight into microhabitat segregation. Tiger beetles are well suited for such studies, as they occur in multi-species assemblages, exhibit species-specific habitat requirements, and are sensitive to anthropogenic modifications of the environment. 2. This study investigated ovipositional microhabitat choice of two sympatric tiger beetles at Point Reyes National Seashore, California, U.S.A., and evaluates how human activity affects that choice. Cicindela oregona is widespread and common whereas C. hirticollis, an undescribed subspecies, is locally threatened. Laboratory experiments tested oviposition-site selection of the two species in response to variations in moisture, pH, salinity, and grain size. Field experiments tested larval burrow location in response to experimental shading and experimental human disturbance. 3. Laboratory results indicated that while C. hirticollis females preferred a narrow range of moisture levels and fine sands, C. oregona females had more specific pH and salinity requirements and preferred coarser sands. They also differed in timing of activity. Preferences are probably related to prevention of fungal or bacterial infection and avoidance of desiccation and immersion. 4. In the field, significantly more larval burrows were found under experimental shading for both species. In addition, repeated human compaction of the sand significantly decreased the number of larval burrows. 5. Results suggest that protection of microhabitat, restoration of native plants, and limitation of human traffic are vital in the conservation management of tiger beetles.
Probabilistic measures of fault equivalence in mixed-signal systems

A study of fault equivalence in mixed analogue-digital circuits and systems is presented, emphasizing both the theoretical analysis of the equivalence concept as well as experimental results from three classes of circuits: sample-and-hold, digital-to-analog converter, and analog-to-digital converter. While fault equivalence is well understood in digital fault models, the concept is still quite new for analog fault models. The concept is also valid within the context of mixed-signal fault models, but the equivalence has to be defined in the frequency domain and in some cases, has to be approached from a probabilistic perspective. The experimental results include fault effects due to the classic digital stuck-at-fault models as well as analog faults such as out-of-specification performance, nonlinearity, etc. For each class of circuit, extensive simulation is conducted to study the fault behavior and experimental measurements are carried out to verify these behaviors as well as to confirm the validity of equivalence definition. The major application of this study is in test generation and fault diagnosis, similar to the application of digital equivalent faults in defining test vectors for equivalence classes. >
A comparison of Northern Hemisphere snow extent climatologies derived from passive microwave and visible remote sensing data

The extent and variability of seasonal snow cover are recognized as important parameters in climate and hydrologic systems. At its average maximum extent snow covers more than 45 percent of the land surface of the Northern Hemisphere and is the single greatest source of annual and interannual albedo fluctuations, both in terms of magnitude as well as spatial extent. Trends in snow cover are also expected to serve as an indicator of global climatic changes. Any decrease in snow resulting from a warming trend results in increased absorption of solar radiation and additional heat to melt additional snow. This results in the classic positive temperature albedo feedback mechanism which is included in nearly all climate models. In addition to the albedo effect, snow cover represents a significant heat sink during the warming period of the seasonal cycle due to a relatively high latent heat of fusion. As a result, the seasonal snow cover provides a major source of thermal inertia within the total climate system as it takes in and releases large quantities of energy with little or no fluctuation in temperature.
Presence of three mycorrhizal genes in the common ancestor of land plants suggests a key role of mycorrhizas in the colonization of land by plants

*The colonization of land by plants fundamentally altered environmental conditions on earth. Plant-mycorrhizal fungus symbiosis likely played a key role in this process by assisting plants to absorb water and nutrients from soil. *Here, in a diverse set of land plants, we investigated the evolutionary histories and functional conservation of three genes required for mycorrhiza formation in legumes and rice (Oryza sativa), DMI1, DMI3 and IPD3. *The genes were isolated from nearly all major plant lineages. Phylogenetic analyses showed that they had been vertically inherited since the origin of land plants. Further, cross-species mutant rescue experiments demonstrated that DMI3 genes from liverworts and hornworts could rescue Medicago truncatula dmi3 mutants for mycorrhiza formation. Yeast two-hybrid assays also showed that bryophyte DMI3 proteins could bind to downstream-acting M. trunculata IPD3 protein. Finally, molecular evolutionary analyses revealed that these genes were under purifying selection for maintenance of their ancestral functions in all mycorrhizal plant lineages. *These results indicate that the mycorrhizal genes were present in the common ancestor of land plants, and that their functions were largely conserved during land plant evolution. The evidence presented here strongly suggests that plant-mycorrhizal fungus symbiosis was one of the key processes that contributed to the origin of land flora.
In vivo blood flow imaging of inflammatory human skin induced by tape stripping using optical microangiography

Vasculature response is a hallmark for most inflammatory skin disorders. Tape stripping on human skin causes a minor inflammation which leads to changes in microvasculature. In this study, optical microangiography (OMAG), noninvasive volumetric microvasculature in vivo imaging method, has been used to track the vascular responses after tape stripping. Vessel density has been quantified and used to correlate with the degree of skin irritation. The proved capability of OMAG technique in visualizing the microvasculature network under inflamed skin condition can play an important role in clinical trials of treatment and diagnosis of inflammatory skin disorders.
Instrumental variable methods in comparative safety and effectiveness research.

Instrumental variable (IV) methods have been proposed as a potential approach to the common problem of uncontrolled confounding in comparative studies of medical interventions, but IV methods are unfamiliar to many researchers. The goal of this article is to provide a non-technical, practical introduction to IV methods for comparative safety and effectiveness research. We outline the principles and basic assumptions necessary for valid IV estimation, discuss how to interpret the results of an IV study, provide a review of instruments that have been used in comparative effectiveness research, and suggest some minimal reporting standards for an IV analysis. Finally, we offer our perspective of the role of IV estimation vis-a-vis more traditional approaches based on statistical modeling of the exposure or outcome. We anticipate that IV methods will be often underpowered for drug safety studies of very rare outcomes, but may be potentially useful in studies of intended effects where uncontrolled confounding may be substantial.
Jihads and Crusades in Sudan From 1881 to the Present

This chapter grapples with several difficult questions that arise from the history of conquest, revolution, and colonial rule in Sudan. To what extent was the Mahdist jihad anti-Christian at its inception; to what extent did the jihad reflect, instead, a battle among Muslims over the nature of Islamic government and society? How did Muslim religious sensibilities influence popular responses to British colonialism after 1898? To what extent did jihadist discourses persist among Sudanese Muslims, both in the Anglo-Egyptian period and in the decades following decolonization? Reciprocally, to what extent were British policies anti-Muslim? How did British fears of Muslim “fanaticism” influence colonial policies on education, administration, and public health, and did these policies amount to a series of “colonial crusades”?
Investigation of High-Energy Ion-Irradiated MA957 Using Synchrotron Radiation under In-Situ Tension

In this study, an MA957 oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloy was irradiated with high-energy ions in the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System. Fe ions at an energy of 84 MeV bombarded MA957 tensile specimens, creating a damage region ~7.5 μm in depth; the peak damage (~40 dpa) was estimated to be at ~7 μm from the surface. Following the irradiation, in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction measurements were performed at the Advanced Photon Source in order to study the dynamic deformation behavior of the specimens after ion irradiation damage. In-situ X-ray measurements taken during tensile testing of the ion-irradiated MA957 revealed a difference in loading behavior between the irradiated and un-irradiated regions of the specimen. At equivalent applied stresses, lower lattice strains were found in the radiation-damaged region than those in the un-irradiated region. This might be associated with a higher level of Type II stresses as a result of radiation hardening. The study has demonstrated the feasibility of combining high-energy ion radiation and high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction to study materials’ radiation damage in a dynamic manner.
Endogenous pulmonary nitric oxide in the regulation of airway microvascular leak

Endogenous nitric oxide (NO) is an important modulator of airway function, but its role in the regulation of airway microvascular leak (AMVL) remains unclear. Thus we assessed the effects of NO synthase (NOS) inhibition on expired NO (ENO) levels and on AMVL measured by the Evans blue dye technique in guinea pigs. In control unsensitized animals, systemic N G-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) reduced ENO by 70 ± 8% ( P < 0.01) and reduced AMVL by 92 ± 1 and 44 ± 17% ( P < 0.05 for both) in the extrapulmonary and intrapulmonary airways, respectively. In animals sensitized and challenged with intratracheal antigen, markedly increased levels of AMVL and ENO were similarly attenuated byl-NAME. In contrast, aminoguanidine, a relatively selective type II NOS inhibitor, reduced ENO in both antigen-sensitized and control unsensitized animals by 39 ± 3% ( P < 0.01) but had no effect on AMVL. These data indicate that endogenous pulmonary NO contributes to both basal and antigen-stimulated levels of AMVL in guinea pigs and that this NO-dependent activity does not appear to be derived from type II NOS.
The foundations of the human cultural niche

Technological innovations have allowed humans to settle in habitats for which they are poorly suited biologically. However, our understanding of how humans produce complex technologies is limited. We used a computer-based experiment, involving humans and learning bots, to investigate how reasoning abilities, social learning mechanisms and population structure affect the production of virtual artefacts. We found that humans' reasoning abilities play an important role in the production of innovations, but that groups of individuals are able to produce artefacts that are more complex than any isolated individual can produce during the same amount of time. We show that this group-level ability to produce complex innovations is maximized when social information is easy to acquire and when individuals are organized into large and partially connected populations. These results suggest that the transition to behavioural modernity could have been triggered by a change in ancestral between-group interaction patterns.
Effects of single cycle binaural beat duration on auditory evoked potentials

Binaural beat (BB) illusions are experienced as continuous central pulsations when two sounds with slightly different frequencies are delivered to each ear. It has been shown that steady-state auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to BBs can be captured and investigated. The authors recently developed a new method of evoking transient AEPs to binaural beats using frequency modulated stimuli. This methodology was able to create single BBs in predetermined intervals with varying carrier frequencies. This study examines the effects of the BB duration and the frequency modulating component of the stimulus on the binaural beats and their evoked potentials. Normal hearing subjects were tested with a set of four durations (25, 50, 100, and 200 ms) with two stimulation configurations, binaural dichotic (binaural beats) and diotic (frequency modulation). The results obtained from the study showed that out of the given durations, the 100 ms beat, was capable of evoking the largest amplitude responses. The frequency modulation effect showed a decrease in peak amplitudes with increasing beat duration until their complete disappearance at 200 ms. Even though, at 200 ms, the frequency modulation effects were not present, the binaural beats were still perceived and captured as evoked potentials.
A Rapid Chemical Field Test for Archaeological Site Surveying

A simple and inexpensive qualitative chemical field method, or spot test, is described for ascertaining the presence of enriched soil phosphate. The spot test is an efficient technique for rapid archaeological site surveying, for elimination of guesswork in establishing trench lines, and for creating phosphate maps depicting type, extent, and relative duration of abandoned settlement features.
Temporal Distribution of Phyllonorycter elmaella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) and Its Major Parasitoid, Pnigalio flavipes (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), in Washington Apple Orchards

The seasonal occurrence of Phyllonorycter elmaella Doganlar & Mutuura, a tentiform leafminer, and its parasitoid, Pnigalio flavipes (Ashmead), in insecticide-free blocks located in commercial apple orchards was determined. P. elmaella had three complete generations each year; population densities increased in each generation. P. elmaella sap feeders (first to third instars) were “abnormally” abundant in the blocks at the end of each season, possibly because of a delay in their development. P. flavipes had at least the same number of generations as P. elmaella . Parasitoid activity decreased as the season progressed. Phenology data showed adult P. flavipes emerged almost concurrently with adult P. elmaella during the spring and summer generations, 2–3 wk before tissue feeders (fourth and fifth instars), were present in the orchard. This emergence pattern may be caused by a reproductive advantage for female P. flavipes to feed on sap feeders before oviposition. The number of individuals of P. elmaella that are able to overwinter successfully, rather than the seasonal levels of parasitism, seems to determine the leafminer's year-to-year population dynamics. However, parasitoid activity reduced the leafminer's intraseasonal population increase and kept its densities below treatment threshold levels in all orchard blocks examined.
Aromatic nitration in liquid Ag0.51K0.42Na0.07NO3.

Aromatic molecules have a strong affinity for silver(I) and dissolve to a limited extent in Ag0.51K0.42Na0.07NO3, a low-melting eutectic mixture of silver, potassium, and sodium nitrates. Aromatic nitration in this inorganic ionic liquid leads to products which arise from nonelectrophilic substitution pathways.
Beyond Overlay: Reaping Mutual Benefits for Primary and Secondary Networks Through Node-Level Cooperation

Existing spectrum sharing paradigms have set clear boundaries between the primary and secondary networks. There is either no or very limited node-level cooperation between the primary and secondary networks. In this paper, we develop a new and bold spectrum-sharing paradigm beyond the state of the art for future wireless networks. We explore network cooperation as a new dimension for spectrum sharing between the primary and secondary users. Such network cooperation can be defined as a set of policies under which different degrees of cooperation are to be achieved. The benefits of this paradigm are numerous, as they allow integrating resources from two networks. There are many possible node-level cooperation policies that one can employ under this paradigm. For the purpose of performance study, we consider a specific policy called U nited cooperation of P rimary and S econdary (UPS) networks. UPS allows a complete cooperation between the primary and secondary networks at the node level to relay each other's traffic. As a case study, we consider a problem with the goal of supporting the rate requirement of the primary network traffic while maximizing the throughput of the secondary sessions. For this problem, we develop an optimization model and formulate a combinatorial optimization problem. We also develop an approximation solution based on a piece-wise linearization technique. Simulation results show that UPS offers significantly better throughput performance than that under the interweave paradigm.
Serious post-traumatic infections, with special reference to gas gangrene, tetanus and necrotizing fasciitis.

Gas gangrene, tetanus and necrotizing fasciitis do not respond to antibiotic therapy alone. Only a better understanding of the present concepts of prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment will result in improvement in the serious consequences of these infections. The most important aspect of the prophylaxis of these infections is adequate debridement. The availability of good agents for active and passive immunization against tetanus does not reduce the importance of the proper management of traumatic wounds.
Cytopathologic characteristics of SMARCB1 (INI-1) deficient sinonasal carcinoma: A potential diagnostic pitfall

Tumors of the head and neck are extremely diverse and a subset are poorly differentiated and difficult to classify. Recently, a new entity has been described with rhabdoid and/or plasmacytoid cytologic features and a characteristic genetic signature-inactivation of the SMARCB1 (INI-1) tumor suppressor gene. To date, only 16 cases of SMARCB1 (INI-1) deficient sinonasal carcinoma have been described, and there are currently no reports of the cytopathologic features by fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology. A case of a 77-year-old man who presented with a posterior ethmoid sinus lesion with invasion into the skull base and bone was reported. FNA cytology of a right retropharyngeal lymph node revealed relatively monomorphic, loosely cohesive clusters of plasmacytoid cells with occasional nucleoli, rare intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions, and mitotic figures in a background of necrosis and absence of overt squamous or glandular differentiation. A diagnosis of metastatic myoepithelial carcinoma was made; however, retrospectively, the surgical excision showed loss of the SMARCB1 (INI-1) tumor suppressor gene by immunohistochemistry. In summary, the cytomorphologic features of SMARCB1 (INI-1) deficient sinonasal carcinoma are relatively nonspecific and overlap with other regional tumors, including myoepithelial neoplasms. As a result, this entity should be considered in the differential diagnosis for a plasmacytoid tumor arising in the sinonasal tract by FNA cytology. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2016;44:700-703. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Rapidly texturedBi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8

Amorphous Bi[sub 2]Sr[sub 2]CaCu[sub 2]O[sub 8] (Bi-2212) was crystallized under uniaxial loads (up to 1500 N) at temperatures up to 890 [degree]C to induce texture. Well-textured samples (19 mm in diameter and 0.15 mm thick) were obtained for samples heated to 890 [degree]C and quenched. Heated (10 [degree]C/min) and quenched samples at 550, 750, 850, and 870 [degree]C demonstrate that the crystallization path is Bi[sub 2]Sr[sub 2]CuO[sub 6] (Bi-2201) (550 [degree]C) to Bi-2212 (850 [degree]C) with texturing occurring during grain growth ([ital T][gt]850 [degree]C). Comparison of samples crystallized under load and no load demonstrates that the texturing is a result of the plane stress biasing the normal anisotropic grain growth normal to the applied stress direction.