cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Monoliths to Mashups: Increasing Opportunistic Assets

Opportunities are available resources that yield desired results. Their suitability depends on who seizes the opportunity and the context for its use. Opportunistic development relies on the availability of reusable software components to produce hybrid applications that opportunistically join such components to meet immediate functional or content needs. Availability and connectivity are key qualities of an opportunity. Situational assessment determines when the best available, most deployable opportunities exist within time and resource constraints.
Exo70 Generates Membrane Curvature for Morphogenesis and Cell Migration

Summary Dynamic shape changes of the plasma membrane are fundamental to many processes, ranging from morphogenesis and cell migration to phagocytosis and viral propagation. Here, we demonstrate that Exo70, a component of the exocyst complex, induces tubular membrane invaginations toward the lumen of synthetic vesicles in vitro and generates protrusions on the surface of cells. Biochemical analyses using Exo70 mutants and independent molecular dynamics simulations based on Exo70 structure demonstrate that Exo70 generates negative membrane curvature through an oligomerization-based mechanism. In cells, the membrane-deformation function of Exo70 is required for protrusion formation and directional cell migration. Exo70 thus represents a membrane-bending protein that may couple actin dynamics and plasma membrane remodeling for morphogenesis.
When Is Primary Cesarean Appropriate: Fetal Indications

The objective of this review was to assess the evidence that supports cesarean delivery for fetal indications. The main fetal reasons for abdominal delivery include abnormal fetal heart rate patterns in labor, malpresentation, fetal macrosomia, multiple gestation, and both functional and structural fetal abnormalities. Although the level of evidence is not as strong as anticipated, there is sufficient support for cesarean delivery when these fetal conditions complicate pregnancy. Efforts to decrease cesarean delivery for fetal indications in the current medicolegal environment will not be easy; however, the development of more sensitive tools to assess fetal well-being in labor and practices to deliver or reduce fetuses in breech presentation at term have the potential for greatest impact on the overall primary cesarean delivery rate.
Using Heterogeneous Choice Models to Compare Logit and Probit Coefficients Across Groups

Allison (1999) notes that comparisons of logit and probit coefficients across groups can be invalid and misleading, proposes a procedure by which these problems can be corrected, and argues that ``routine use [of this method] seems advisable'' and that ``it is hard to see how [the method] can be improved.'' In this article, the author argues that as originally proposed, Allison's method can have serious problems and should not be applied on a routine basis. However, this study also shows that his model belongs to a larger class of models variously known as heterogeneous choice or location-scale models. Several advantages of this broader and more flexible class of models are illustrated. Dependent variables can be ordinal in addition to binary, sources of heterogeneity can be better modeled and controlled for, and insights can be gained into the effects of group characteristics on outcomes that would be missed by other methods.
Extrafloral nectar content alters foraging preferences of a predatory ant

We tested whether the carbohydrate and amino acid content of extrafloral nectar affected prey choice by a predatory ant. Fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, were provided with artificial nectar that varied in the presence of carbohydrates and amino acids and were then provided with two prey items that differed in nutritional content, female and male crickets. Colonies of fire ants provided with carbohydrate supplements consumed less of the female crickets and frequently did not consume the high-lipid ovaries of female crickets. Colonies of fire ants provided with amino acid supplements consumed less of the male crickets. While a number of studies have shown that the presence of extrafloral nectar or honeydew can affect ant foraging activity, these results suggest that the nutritional composition of extrafloral nectar is also important and can affect subsequent prey choice by predatory ants. Our results suggest that, by altering the composition of extrafloral nectar, plants could manipulate the prey preferences of ants foraging on them.
Suppression of Prostate Carcinogenesis by Dietary Supplementation of Celecoxib in Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Prostate Model

Epidemiological studies and clinical observations suggest that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and certain selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors may reduce the relative risk of clinically evident prostate cancer. This prompted us to investigate the chemopreventive potential of celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, against prostate carcinogenesis in a transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) model. Similar to prostate cancer in humans, prostate malignancies in TRAMP mice progress from precursor intraepithelial lesions, to invasive carcinoma that metastasizes to lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and occasionally to bone. The basal enzyme activity and protein expression of COX-2 is significantly higher (>4-fold) in the dorsolateral prostate of TRAMP mice up to 24 weeks of age compared with their nontransgenic littermates. Eight-week-old TRAMP mice were randomly divided and fed either control diet (AIN 76A) or a custom prepared AIN 76A diet containing 1500-ppm celecoxib ad libitum for 24 weeks, a dosage that would compare with the normal recommended dose for the treatment of human disease. Studies from two independent experiments, each consisting of 10 mice on test, showed that the cumulative incidence of prostate cancer development at 32 weeks of age in animals fed with AIN 76A diet was 100% (20 of 20) as observed by tumor palpation, whereas 65% (13 of 20), 35% (7 of 20), and 20% (4 of 20) of the animals exhibited distant site metastases to lymph nodes, lungs, and liver. Celecoxib supplementation to TRAMP mice from 8-32 weeks of age exhibited significant reduction in tumor development (5 of 20) with no signs of metastasis. Celecoxib feeding resulted in a significant decrease in prostate (56%; P < 0.0003) and genitourinary weight (48%; P < 0.008). Sequential magnetic resonance imaging analysis of celecoxib-fed mice documented lower prostate volume compared with the AIN 76A-fed group. Histopathological examination of celecoxib-fed animals showed reduced proliferation, and down-modulation of COX-2 and prostaglandin E2 levels in the dorsolateral prostate and plasma, respectively. These results correlated with retention of antimetastasis markers, viz E-cadherin, and alpha- and beta-catenin, along with a significant decrease in vascular endothelial growth factor protein expression. Celecoxib supplementation also resulted in enhanced in vivo apoptosis in the prostate as monitored by several techniques including a recently perfected technique of 99mTc-labeled annexin V in live animals followed by phosphor imaging. One striking observation in an additional study was that celecoxib feeding to mice with established tumors (16 weeks of age) significantly improved their overall survival (P = 0.014), compared with AIN 76A-fed group. Our findings suggest that celecoxib may be useful in chemoprevention of prostate cancer.
Can the “Right” EGFR-Specific mAb Dramatically Improve EGFR-Targeted Therapy?

EGF receptor (EGFR)–specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) display limited therapeutic efficacy in EGFR-positive solid tumors. To overcome this limitation, the significant improvement of the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity–mediated antitumor activity of a novel EGFR-specific mAb is described. Its potential impact on the efficacy of immunotherapy for EGFR-positive solid tumors is discussed. Clin Cancer Res; 19(5); 958–60. ©2013 AACR .
US shadow economies: a state-level study

Recent studies of shadow economies focus primarily on cross-country comparisons. Few have examined regional or state-level variations in underground economic activity. This paper presents estimates of the shadow economy for 50 US states over the period 1997–2008. Results suggest that tax and social welfare burdens, labor market regulations, and intensity of regulation enforcement are important determinants of the underground economy. Among the states, Delaware, on average, maintains the smallest shadow economy at 7.28 % of GDP; Oregon, on average, has the second smallest shadow economy at 7.41 % of GDP; followed by Colorado, averaging 7.52 % of GDP, rounding out the three smallest shadow economies in the US West Virginia and Mississippi, on average, have the largest shadow economies in the US as a percent of GDP (9.32 and 9.54 %, respectively).
Multiple Viral Determinants Mediate Myopathogenicity in Coxsackievirus B1-Induced Chronic Inflammatory Myopathy

The group B coxsackieviruses cause a variety of human diseases ranging from mild flu-like illnesses to life-threatening conditions such as aseptic meningitis and myocarditis (15). Coxsackievirus infections are also associated with the development of certain chronic diseases, including diabetes, dilated cardiomyopathy, inflammatory myopathy, and chronic fatigue syndrome (4, 12, 13, 17, 29). All enteroviruses, including coxsackieviruses, are structurally similar and consist of a naked icosahedral capsid enclosing a single-stranded, messenger-sense, polyadenylated RNA genome of approximately 7,400 nucleotides (nt) in length. The viral genome contains a single open reading frame flanked by a 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) and a 3′ UTR that are involved in viral RNA translation and genome replication. While coxsackieviruses are best known as cytopathic viruses that cause death of the host cell, viral RNA may persist in skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, spleen, and lymph node (10, 26, 27). In 1979, Ray et al. described a model of chronic inflammatory myopathy (CIM) caused by infection of newborn mice with coxsackievirus B1 isolated from a patient with pleurodynia (19). This virus was later referred to as the Tucson strain (CVB1T) (22). In this model, the acute viral infection resolves within 2 weeks and is followed by chronic postviral myopathy that peaks at 1 month and is manifest as inflammation and weakness of proximal hind limb skeletal muscle. Weakness is apparent clinically as a change in hind limb mobility and gait. Chronic histopathology consists of perimysial and endomysial infiltration of muscle by mononuclear cells, accompanied by ongoing muscle necrosis and regeneration (22). CIM development is driven by a T-cell-dependent immunopathic response, as nude or neonatally thymectomized mice do not develop chronic weakness or inflammation (30, 31), and the H-2 haplotype influences disease severity (25). The importance of the infecting strain of virus in the pathogenesis of CIM is illustrated by studies of CVB1T variants (24). Infection with myopathic variants causes CIM, whereas amyopathic variants are equally infectious but attenuated for the later development of CIM. Thus, acute cytopathic infection of muscle is not sufficient by itself to induce CIM. The objective of the present study was to identify the viral genetic determinants that cause CIM. We used a reverse genetics approach, producing infectious cDNA clones of myopathic and amyopathic variants combined with construction of viral chimeras and whole-genome sequencing.
Urinary cortisol and depression in early pregnancy: role of adiposity and race

Depression before and during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes including low birth weight and preterm birth. Abnormal maternal cortisol has been hypothesized as one mediator between depression and adverse birth outcomes. The relationship between cortisol and depression in pregnancy is exhibited most strongly in the African American population, and most studies have focused either on circulating or placental levels of cortisol. The utility of urinary cortisol in early pregnancy related to depression and adiposity has not been investigated. Twenty-five pregnant African American women identified by the Edinburgh Depression Scale as having depression were investigated and matched by body mass index (BMI), age, race, and infant birth weight centile to non-depressed subjects. Maternal urine and plasma cortisol in early pregnancy were quantified and investigated in relation to depression and adiposity. Morning urine cortisol levels tracked positively with plasma cortisol (r2 = 0.25, p < 0.001). However, no differences were observed in either urinary or plasma cortisol between depressed and non-depressed pregnant women. Plasma cortisol was significantly negatively associated with several measures of maternal adiposity including percent body fat (r2 = −0.10, p < 0.05), however this relationship was present only in the non-depressed women. In a post-hoc analysis, non-depressed non-obese women were found to have significantly higher cortisol levels compared to women with depression, obesity or both (p < 0.05). Depressed pregnant women and non-depressed obese pregnant women evidence atypical cortisol levels compared to non-depressed non-obese pregnant women. Plasma cortisol in early pregnancy is negatively associated with measures of maternal adiposity. Atypical low circulating maternal cortisol among depressed (lean and obese) and non-depressed obese pregnant African American women may indicate hypothalamic-pituitary axis dysfunction in early pregnancy.
Variable-addressability electronic binocular system.

The eye’s acuity varies across its field of view (FOV), decreasing to 10% of its axial value at only 20°. We describe an optical system that radially remaps the pixels of a miniature display or sensor to match the varying acuity of the eye across its FOV. The variable-acuity technique increases the FOV of an electronic binocular system without any apparent loss in image quality. The result is a better, more efficient human–machine interface.
Faculty Mentoring: Shaping A Program

A well developed mentoring program should not be just considered another faculty activity but rather a significant program that can define a preeminent academic institution. A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) was charged with determining whether the needs of new faculty members and the institution were being addressed in a manner that would optimize the productivity, acclimation, and professional enhancement of those new faculty members who would eventually be the foundation of the institution’s future. The FLC conducted a year-long study and an extensive survey in order to provide the administration with findings, suggestions, and recommendations for shaping a faculty mentoring program for the future.
Neuro-evolutionary event detection technique for downhole microseismic surveys

Abstract Recent years have seen a significant increase in borehole microseismic data acquisition programs associated with unconventional reservoir developments such as hydraulic fracturing programs for shale oil and gas. The data so acquired is used for hydraulic fracture monitoring and diagnostics and therefore, the quality of the data in terms of resolution and accuracy has a significant impact on its value to the industry. Borehole microseismic data acquired in such environments typically suffer from propagation effects due to the presence of thin interbedded shale layers as well as noise and interference effects. Moreover, acquisition geometry has significant impact on detectability across portions of the sensor array. Our work focuses on developing robust first arrival detection and pick selection workflow for both P and S waves specifically designed for such environments. We introduce a novel workflow for refinement of picks with immunity towards significant noise artifacts and applicability over data with very low signal-to-noise ratio provided some accurate picks have already been made. This workflow utilizes multi-step hybrid detection and classification routine which makes use of a neural network based autopicker for initial picking and an evolutionary algorithm for pick refinement. We highlight the results from an actual field case study including multiple examples demonstrating immunity towards noise and compare the effectiveness of the workflow with two contemporary autopicking routines without the application of the shared detection/refinement procedure. Finally, we use a windowed waveform cross-correlation based uncertainty estimation method for potential quality control purposes. While the workflow was developed to work with the neural network based autopicker, it can be used with any other traditional autopicker and provides significant improvements in pick detection across seismic gathers.
Computational Approaches and Simulation

Computation and simulation provides a means to investigate complex materiomic systems with unparalleled control and accuracy. At the same time, a holistic description of a material system necessitates knowledge of the lowest possible scale—atomistic and molecular interactions. While quantum level resolution provides a means to understand atom-to-atom interactions, molecular interactions provides the foundation for deterministic (or predictable) mechanistic behavior. In recent years, molecular dynamics has developed into a powerful tool to investigate biological systems such as the stretching of proteins and other macromolecules. The advent of reactive molecular dynamics (wherein chemical bonds can be formed or ruptured) has extended the range of applications at the nanoscale. Being said, the limitations of full atomistic simulation (in terms of accessible time and length scales) has necessitated coarse-grain and other multiscale methods, in a bottom-up “fine-trains-coarse” paradigm. Not unlike the reduction of engineering analysis to critical components, such multiscale methods can be used to bridge each structural hierarchy, characterize performance and behavior, and successfully explore the entire materiome via simulation.
Ethnic specularities: Exploring the Caribbean and Latino dimensions of Down These Mean Streets

This essay proposes a racial reinterpretation of Lacan’s mirror stage to recover the Caribbean, insular and diasporic Puerto Rican, African American and Mexican American connections of Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets. I close-read Piri’s foundational sexual encounter with a white prostitute in Texas to explore the imbrications of colonialism and blackness in metropolitan racial discourses. I then study the important contribution of this novel by re-reading Thomas’s scene in conversation with a series of racialized mirror scenes depicted in works by Frantz Fanon, Isabelo Zenon and Richard Rodriguez published between 1952 and 1981. The essay concludes by proposing a new framework for US Latino studies that is based on the comparative study of the relationality between racial discourses produced in the United States by ethnic subjects, and insular and diasporic Puerto Rican discourses on Afro-Caribbeanness.
Zappers: Tax Fraud, Technology and Terrorist Funding

"Zappers," or automated sales suppression devices, have brought unheard of efficiencies and economies of scale to a very simple tax fraud - skimming cash sales at point of sale (POS) terminals (electronic cash registers). Until recently the largest tax fraud case in Connecticut, also the "largest computer driven tax-evasion case in the nation," was a zapper case. Stew Leonard's Dairy in Norwalk Connecticut skimmed $17 million in receipts and hid the cash in St. Martin (a Caribbean island). Talal Chahine and his wife, Elfat El Aouar, owners of the La Shish restaurant chain in Detroit Michigan have the dubious honor of replacing Stew Leonard as the leading U.S. zapper fraud case. They zapped $20 million in cash sales and sent the funds to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Zapper frauds (like electronic cash registers) are not confined to the U.S. Zappers are also a significant problem in Canada, Brazil, Australia, and many countries in the EU. When the U.S. and foreign experiences are considered comparatively, it is not the similarity in the fraud-mechanism (the zapper) that is the most striking - it is the difference in the enforcement mechanism that catches one's attention. In both Canada and Brazil zappers were identified through consumption (not income) tax investigations, and this difference should suggest to U.S. policy-makers that important enforcement opportunities lay within a strengthened State-Federal audit exchange at the retail sales tax level. This paper makes this income tax/retail sales tax connection, and extends it by opening up for consideration the enforcement opportunities that are available through certified tax software solutions under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA). An extension of the SSUTA is proposed through the adoption of German Working Group on Cash Register's proposal to use encryption and smart cards in ECRs and POS systems. A certified service provider (CSP) under the SSUTA (as extended) with current levels of technology, could easily be employed not only to assure the States that the correct retail sales tax was being collected and remitted, but also assure the federal government that cash sales were not being skimmed by zappers.
Energy and Energy Metabolism

Energy is essential for life, and the type of energy required is very specific. The body is designed to take chemical energy from food and convert it to the useful form, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This conversion is critical for the performance of exercise. This chapter presents an overview of the principles of energy interconversion and how the body uses this principle to enable it to expend energy and perform the muscular work called exercise. Units of measurement are specified, anaerobic and aerobic pathways of ATP production and use are described, and a one-page “close-up” on the historical progression of methods for sampling and studying ATP processes is presented.
Functional activation of PPARγ in human upper aerodigestive cancer cell lines.

Upper aerodigestive cancer is an aggressive malignancy with relatively stagnant long-term survival rates over 20 yr. Recent studies have demonstrated that exploitation of PPARγ pathways may be a novel therapy for cancer and its prevention. We tested whether PPARγ is expressed and inducible in aerodigestive carcinoma cells and whether it is present in human upper aerodigestive tumors. Human oral cancer CA-9-22 and NA cell lines were treated with the PPAR activators eicosatetraynoic acid (ETYA), 15-deoxy-δ- 12,14-prostaglandin J2 (PG-J2), and the thiazolidinedione, ciglitazone, and evaluated for their ability to functionally activate PPARγ luciferase reporter gene constructs. Cellular proliferation and clonogenic potential after PPARγ ligand treatment were also evaluated. Aerodigestive cancer specimens and normal tissues were evaluated for PPARγ expression on gene expression profiling and immunoblotting. Functional activation of PPARγ reporter gene constructs and increases in PPARγ protein were confirmed in the nuclear compartment after PPARγ ligand treatment. Significant decreases in cell proliferation and clonogenic potential resulted from treatment. Lipid accumulation was induced by PPARγ activator treatment. 75% of tumor specimens and 100% of normal control tissues expressed PPARγ RNA, and PPARγ protein was confirmed in 66% of tumor specimens analyzed by immunoblotting. We conclude PPARγ can be functionally activated in upper aerodigestive cancer and that its activation downregulates several features of the neoplastic phenotype. PPARγ expression in human upper aerodigestive tract tumors and normal cells potentially legitimizes it as a novel intervention target in this disease. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Novel Decentralized Control of Power Systems With Penetration of Renewable Energy Sources in Small-Scale Power Systems

In this paper, the power grid with penetration of renewable energy sources is modeled as a multigenerator interconnected power network. The power grid includes distributed energy resources including conventional synchronous generators and renewable energy sources; here called renewable generators that are connected to the grid via grid-tie inverters (GTIs). With the proposed modeling, the GTI resembles a synchronous generator with excitation control. The modeling takes into account the dc-link capacitor stored energy as a dynamical state, in contrast with the available methods, and through an appropriate controller assures the stability of the dc link and the entire grid without needing an abundant-energy dc link. Next, the power grid comprising the synchronous and renewable generators is converted to decentralized control form with subsystems in Brunovsky canonical form whose interactions with the rest of the grid are unknown. A decentralized adaptive neural network (NN) feedback controller is proposed with quadratic update law to stabilize the rotor speed and dc-link voltage oscillations in asymptotic fashion in the presence of grid disturbances. The proposed controller is then simplified. Though the solar power interacting with conventional synchronous generators is considered in this paper, the proposed modeling and controller design can be applied to many other renewable energy systems. Simulation results on the IEEE 14-bus power system with penetration of solar power are provided to show the effectiveness of the approach in damping oscillations that occur after disturbances.
Conclusion: The Mystery of International Legal Obligation

This chapter investigates the nature of International Public Law (IPL) and asks why it continues to permit certain types of lawless behavior like maritime piracy to persist. The proposed answer is that IPL is to a large extent voluntary in the sense that countries can choose whether or not to enforce it, and there is little consequence of choosing not to do so. The extent to which some enforcement does occur is because countries like the United States have a sufficiently large stake in maintaining order that they will unilaterally expend the necessary resources, while other countries will be content to free-ride on those efforts. At present, this appears to be the case with regard to the control of maritime piracy.
Scientist-engineering interactions across the project lifecycle

The roles and responsibilities of a Principal Investigator (PI) and/or Project Scientist (PS) and the Project Systems Engineer (PSE) on a NASA mission change across the project lifecycle, as do the nature and focus of their interactions. There are also interactions between the Investigation Scientist (IS) and the Payload System Engineer (PLSE) and Flight System Systems Engineer (FSSE). In order to achieve the best results for the mission, the interactions between the science community and the engineering community need to be rich, focused and frequent. In this paper, the author describes the roles and responsibilities of the PI, PS, IS, PSE, PLSE and FSSE, and the nature of the interactions between them in each phase of the lifecycle. She also describes the primary focus of each role in each phase, and gives specific examples and anecdotes of how solid interactions addressed key issues in a timely, productive manner. The paper concludes with some insights and recommendations for scientist-engineering interactions.
Graphic Display of Urinary Risk Factors For Renal Stone Formation

From the analysis of various urinary constituents and the estimation of urinary saturation of stone-forming salts, it is now possible to identify risk factors responsible for or contributing to stone formation. Metabolic factors included calcium, oxalate, uric acid, citrate and pH. Environmental factors were total volume, sodium, sulfate, phosphate and magnesium. Physicochemical factors represented saturation of calcium oxalate, brushite, monosodium urate, struvite and uric acid. A scheme for graphic display of risk factors was developed to allow ready visual recognition of important risk factors presumed to cause stone formation. This graphic display had diagnostic use as well as practical value in following response to treatment. For example, a low urinary pH and high urinary concentration of undissociated uric acid could be discerned readily in cases of uric acid lithiasis, as were high urinary pH and exaggerated urinary supersaturation of struvite in cases of infection lithiasis. In a patient with absorptive hypercalciuria and hypocitraturia treatment with thiazide and potassium citrate could be shown to abolish high risks (hypercalciuria, hypocitraturia and relative supersaturation of calcium oxalate) displayed before treatment.
Latent fingerprint segmentation using ridge template correlation

Even with the high accuracy of automated fingerprint identification in matching plain to rolled prints, latent to rolled print matching continues to require human input. Latent prints are those that are lifted from a surface, typically at a crime scene, whereas plain prints are obtained under supervision with quality control. In comparison to plain or rolled prints, latent prints are usually of poor quality and have a small fingerprint surface area, making it difficult to extract a large number of features reliably. Manually processing latent prints is time consuming, so efforts are being made to speed up the process through partial automation. One of the first steps is image segmentation, which is the separation of the foreground (fingerprint region) from the background. Traditional automated methods for segmentation are designed for backgrounds with random noise and perform poorly on structured/textured backgrounds, resulting in many spurious minutiae, thus inhibiting the matching process. This paper presents a novel approach for improving the performance of segmentation in latent prints, with and emphasis on structured backgrounds. The results show that the proposed method reduces the average detected fingerprint area from 60.7% of the total image to 33.6% while maintaining the rate of true minutiae in the fingerprint region; in effect, low-quality portions of the print are being removed from consideration. In a separate test, the rate of true minutiae labelled as background was reduced from 1.41% to 0.29% while maintaining the same average fingerprint region size in comparison to a traditional segmentation method. The results were obtained using a database of 258 latent fingerprint images with ground truth minutiae. (6 pages)
Balancing Power Relations for Food Security

First paragraphs: Opinions about how to better govern food systems to prevent food shortages and food price jumps have diverged since the food crisis of 2007–2008, with battle lines drawn between camps that have little common ground other than the shared understanding that hunger is a huge yet ultimately tractable problem. On one side are interests claiming that increased production is essential; on the other side are those who say increased control by hungry people of access to resources and markets are much more important, and increasing production will do little to solve hunger without concomitant sociopolitical changes. One of the consequences of the global failure to predict and protect vulnerable people from food price jumps was the reform of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in 2009. Understanding the CFS and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which hosts the CFS's annual meetings, is critical to understanding how decisions are playing out that affect whether millions of people have sufficient healthy food to eat, as well as control over how that food is produced, by whom, and for whose benefit. Imagine a knowledgeable guide to the CFS who accompanies you through the halls of the FAO — playing Virgil to your Dante — while explaining the background, history, and important actors who have shaped current issues. Nora McKeon is just such a guide: she brings an unparalleled perspective on the CFS, having worked as civil society liaison for the FAO for years and now regularly engaging in Rome with CFS activities and in Africa with grassroots food sovereignty activists. Food Security Governance: Empowering Communities, Regulating Corporations picks up the story and questions she introduced in her previous book, The United Nations and Civil Society: Legitimating Global Governance — Whose Voice? (Zed Books, 2009)....
Implementation of an Educational Intervention to Reduce Inappropriate Antibiotic Use in Upper Respiratory Infections.

Background:Inappropriate use of antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections (URI) directly contributes to antibiotic resistance. Educational interventions reduce antibiotic prescriptions written for viral (URI) symptoms and antibiotic resistance.Objective:This study aims to ascertain whether
In Situ-Generated Glycinyl Chloroaminals for a One-Pot Synthesis of Non-proteinogenic α-Amino Esters.

An acetyl chloride-mediated cascade transformation involving a primary carbamate, ethyl glyoxylate, and various types of nucleophiles is reported for the synthesis of orthogonally protected α-amino esters. These reactions proceeded rapidly to afford the pivotal α-chloroglycine intermediate in excellent yields, which can be directly functionalized in situ with various types of nucleophiles. A mild and unique AcOH(cat.)/AcCl system was found to promote an autocatalytic-like condensation and facilitate the multicomponent assembly of non-proteinogenic α-amino esters. To better understand this one-pot transformation and the orchestration of the components’ condensations, the investigation of a broader scope of nucleophiles and some kinetic studies are presented. Our findings suggest that the halogenation step toward the formation of α-chloroglycine is the rate-determining step likely proceeding through the formation of N-carbamoyl iminium. Also, the initial kinetic profiling for the nucleophilic substitution s...
From Judeo-Provençal to Judeo-Piedmontese and Western Yiddish

When Jews were expelled from southern France and went to northern Italy and southern Germany, they lost their language and learned Judeo-Piedmontese and Western Yiddish. However, there are features of these languages that suggest a Shuadit substratum. Jews were expelled from France in the fourteenth century and from Provence in the fifteenth. In Shuadit, the Hebrew letter ד is pronounced [z] medially and finally, reflecting a parallel change in Provencal. It is possible that Jews from Provence brought the pronunciations [juz] and [lamez] with them to Germany, where the final sounds unvoiced, leading to the [yus] and [lames] we find in Western Yiddish. The fact that the names of these letters are different in Western and Eastern Yiddish suggests that these pronunciations arrived in Germany after Eastern Yiddish speakers had already moved to the region of Poland-Lithuania. Some of the Jews fleeing Provence went to the Piedmont region of Italy. Judeo-Piedmontese is the only variety of Judeo-Italian with the front rounded vowel [y]. In the Judeo-Italian of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, however, we find only [u]. Perhaps the presence of [y] in Judeo-Piedmontese reflects a Judeo-Provencal substratum.
Starting Cold: The Power of Social Networks in Predicting Non-Contractual Customer Behavior

The last decade has seen a rapid emergence of non-contractual networked services. The standard approach in predicting future customer behavior in those services involves collecting data on a user's past purchase behavior, and building statistical models to extrapolate a user's actions into the future. However, this method fails in the case of newly acquired customers where you have little or no transactional data. In this work, we study the extent to which knowledge of a customer's social network can solve this “cold-start” problem and predict the following aspects of customer behavior: (1) activity, (2) transaction levels and (3) membership to the group of most frequent customers. We conduct a dynamic analysis on approximately one million users from the most popular peer-to-peer payment application, Venmo. Our models produce high quality forecasts and demonstrate that social networks lead to a significant boost in predictive performance primarily during the first month of a customer's lifetime. Finally, we characterize significant structural network differences between the top 10% and bottom 90% of most frequent customers immediately after joining the service.
Osteopenia and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a term that means “porous bones.” It is a skeletal disease affecting both women and men. Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones have lost minerals especially calcium, making them weaker, more brittle, and susceptible to fractures. Any bone in the body can be affected by osteoporosis, but the most common places where fractures occur are the back (spine), hips, and wrists.
Is There Too Much Inequality

Should we be troubled by the recent increase in income inequality? Throughout human history, even quite extreme levels of inequality have tended to be accepted as part of the natural order, indeed “just the way things are.” This is not to imply that such acquiescence has ever been so complete as to eliminate all opposition. With the Enlightenment, a critical rhetoric of equality emerged in opposition to the civil and legal advantages of the aristocracy, a rhetoric that ultimately provided the intellectual underpinnings of socialism. This egalitarian rhetoric was of course the implicit narrative behind some of the world’s most famous revolutions (e.g., the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution). However, such revolutions are rare events that stand out precisely because the larger and dominant tendency is to accept the current regime, even a highly unequal one, as legitimate. The contemporary world is no exception to this general pattern of acquiescence. Although public opinion polls have registered some dissatisfaction with the amount of inequality, this dissatisfaction is usually quite muted and, at most, registers as a worry or complaint in conversations with friends, family, or pollsters rather than spontaneous protests in the streets or more organized anti-inequality political movements.
From mitred cores to broken microliths: in search of specialization during the Capsian

During nearly four millennia, Capsian foragers occupied the high steppe of eastern Algeria and southern Tunisia, during which time they developed a very successful adaptation to a semi-arid environ...
The Birth of the Lemma: The Restrictive Interpretation of the Covenant Code's Manumission Law by the Holiness Code (Lev 25:44-46)

The jubilee laws of the Holiness Code contains a previously unrecognized restrictive reinterpretation of the Covenant Code’s law requiring manumission of the Hebrew slave (עבד עבר) after six years of service. This case, which involves studied lemmatic citation and reformulation of the earlier law, has important implications for contemporary pentateuchal theory, where the question of the dating of the Holiness Code relative to the other literary sources has been reopened during the last quarter century. The reasons why this case has escaped the attention of scholarship are equally significant. The Septuagint translator failed to recognize the reuse of two technical legal idioms relevant to manumission law and misconstrued the syntax and punctuation of the Hebrew Vorlage of Leviticus 25:44, 46. That ancient misunderstanding has had a lasting impact upon the way this unit has subsequently been understood. Seeing the text in its own light opens up a significant new perspective on the sophistication of the Holiness Code and its literary relation to the other pentateuchal sources. The techniques for legal reinterpretation employed in Leviticus 25 include the use of the Wiederaufnahme and pronominal deixis. These techniques, as well as their larger goal of textual reapplication, reveal an emergent form of the methods that are well attested in the pesher and other more formalized exegetical literature of the later Second Temple period. That they occur here in a text that presents itself as revelatory rather than as exegetical, however, raises a series of fascinating hermeneutical issues.
Inborn errors of metabolism and pregnancy.

An increasing number of women with inborn errors of metabolism are now reaching child-bearing age. For certain disorders there are maternal risks associated with pregnancy. These may be related to an increased likelihood of metabolic decompensation (e.g. disorders of the urea cycle) or to increased stress to systems already compromised by disease (e.g. cardiomyopathy in GSD III). Detrimental effects upon the fetus may also be caused by maternal disease, as occurs with phenylketonuria, or from medication used to treat the mother's condition. Less commonly, fetal inborn errors may adversely effect the mother's health--e.g. fetal long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency and the maternal HELLP syndrome (haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets) and AFLP (acute fatty liver of pregnancy). Because of the rarity of individual disorders, our knowledge of risks associated with pregnancy is limited. Even for more common inborn errors such as phenylketonuria, there remain a number of questions that have not been fully answered.
An Examination of Critical features of Positive Frameworks: Impact in Rural Environments for School-based Practitioners

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 requires the examination of schools to determine which factors of school quality relate to improved student outcomes. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is one such framework that proposes to create a positive school climate through school-wide principles of applied behavior analysis. These practices aim to create an environment that is more conducive for academic endeavors. Discovering ways to understand the use of universal prevention systems in rural schools is vital due to increased student need as well as professional shortages in education settings. This study examined the relations between school-level critical features of PBIS and standardized measures of reading and math achievement in schools in a rural, Midwestern state. The results demonstrate statistically and practically significant relations between the critical features of Expectations taught and District-level support on Total achievement (β = 0.67; β = 0.37), English language arts (ELA) achievement (β = 0.66; β = 0.34), and Math achievement (β = 0.63; β = 0.37). Implications for school-wide prevention efforts for school-based mental health providers in areas of critical personnel shortages are discussed to determine how schools may use prevention systems to impact student achievement.
Quantum singularities in self-similar spacetimes

Singularities, which are commonplace in general relativity, are indicated by causal geodesic incompleteness in otherwise maximal spacetimes. Can such singularities be healed (or “resolved”) quantum mechanically? Geodesics are in effect the paths of classical particles, which led Horowitz and Marolf to propose that they be replaced by quantum wave packets. Then a singularity is healed if the quantum wave operator can be shown to be essentially self-adjoint. We explore here a generalized Horowitz–Marolf approach for conformally static spacetimes in the context of the Klein–Gordon operator in the vicinity of singularities in the self-similar spacetimes introduced by Brady. We show that it fails the self-adjointness test for an entire generic class of spacetimes that have asymptotically power-law metric coefficients near the classically-singular origin, so the singularities in these spacetimes cannot be healed using quantum wave packets.
Timing of Delivery in Pregnancies Complicated by Suspected Fetal Growth Restriction without Doppler Abnormalities.

Objective This study aimed to identify the optimal gestational age for delivery of pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction (FGR) without Doppler abnormalities. Study Design Cases of FGR (ultrasound-estimated fetal weight less than the 10th or abdominal circumference less than the 5th percentile for gestational age) without fetal Doppler abnormalities were identified from a fetal ultrasound database. The primary outcome was a composite of perinatal mortality and morbidity. The risk of the primary outcome for each gestational age was compared with pregnancies delivered at 390/7 to 406/7 weeks. Odds ratios were adjusted for potential confounders. Results The analysis included 1,024 pregnancies. FGR was identified at a median of 235/7 weeks (range: 20–42 weeks). Four cases of fetal death (234/7—376/7 weeks) and no neonatal deaths were included. The primary outcome occurred in 209 patients (20.4%). This was greater for patients delivered at less than 37 weeks' gestation than for those delivered at or after 39 weeks' gestation, with no increased risk after 40 weeks. Conclusion Among pregnancies complicated by suspected FGR without Doppler abnormalities, delivery at 39 weeks is safe with no difference in perinatal outcomes from 37 to 42 weeks.
Immune-related adverse events for different age groups using the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System.

e14256Background: Understanding immune-related adverse events (irAEs) for different age groups is crucial in the era of immunotherapy. The aim of our study is to assess the irAE profiles in differe...
EPI distortion correction for concurrent human brain stimulation and imaging at 3T.

Abstract Background Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be paired with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in concurrent TMS-fMRI experiments. These multimodal experiments enable causal probing of network architecture in the human brain which can complement alternative network mapping approaches. Critically, merely introducing the TMS coil into the scanner environment can sometimes produce substantial magnetic field inhomogeneities and spatial distortions which limit the utility of concurrent TMS-fMRI. Method and results We assessed the efficacy of point spread function corrected echo planar imaging (PSF-EPI) in correcting for the field inhomogeneities associated with a TMS coil at 3 T. In phantom and brain scans, we quantitatively compared the coil-induced distortion artifacts measured in EPI scans with and without PSF correction. We found that the application of PSF corrections to the EPI data significantly improved signal-to-noise and reduced distortions. In phantom scans with the PSF-EPI sequence, we also characterized the temporal profile of dynamic artifacts associated with TMS delivery and found that image quality remained high as long as the TMS pulse preceded the RF excitation pulses by at least 50 ms. Lastly, we validated the PSF-EPI sequence in human brain scans involving TMS and motor behavior as well as resting state fMRI scans. Conclusions Our collective results demonstrate the potential benefits of PSF-EPI for concurrent TMS-fMRI when coil-related artifacts are a concern. The ability to collect high quality resting state fMRI data in the same session as the concurrent TMS-fMRI experiment offers a unique opportunity to interrogate network architecture in the human brain.
Smarter smart contract development tools

Much recent work focuses on finding bugs and security vulnerabilities in smart contracts written in existing languages. Although this approach may be helpful, it does not address flaws in the underlying programming language, which can facilitate writing buggy code in the first place. We advocate a re-thinking of the blockchain software engineering tool set, starting with the programming language in which smart contracts are written. In this paper, we propose and justify requirements for a new generation of blockchain software development tools. New tools should (1) consider users' needs as a primary concern; (2) seek to facilitate safe development by detecting relevant classes of serious bugs at compile time; (3) as much as possible, be blockchain-agnostic, given the wide variety of different blockchain platforms available, and leverage the properties that are common among blockchain environments to improve safety and developer effectiveness.