cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incretin therapy and pancreatic pathologies: background pathology versus drug-induced pathology in rats.

It is essential that postmarketing surveillance be conducted for any new drug, especially if the drug is a trailblazer for a new class of compounds, so that possible safety concerns not detected during clinical trials can be brought to light. It is also usual for a new drug class to be first marketed as a “game changer,” followed by its vilification for potential safety issues (usually accompanied by lawsuits). Over time, its true benefits and safety profile are refined, confirmed, or denied after it has been used in the general population by large numbers of patients with a wide variety of medical conditions. The whole process can take years and sometimes involves a seesaw of both easing and adding restrictions to its clinical use as witnessed in the recent easing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the restrictions on rosiglitazone (1). Even when a drug has been in use for a long time, its complete mechanisms of action may remain enigmatic; e.g., the basic mechanisms of action for biguanides are still being determined even though their glucose-lowering properties have been known for 85 years. Two novel classes of compounds for lowering blood glucose in type 2 diabetes came on the U.S. market recently—glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (exenatide in 2005) and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors (sitagliptin in 2006). Since then, the FDA has approved other agents in these two drug classes: liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, and vildagliptin, saxagliptin, linagliptin, and alogliptin, all DPP4 inhibitors. Though both drug classes are commonly referred to as GLP-1–based or incretin-based therapies and epidemiological studies often lump the two classes of drugs together in analyses, it needs pointing out that “incretin therapy” is not precise terminology. While exenatide and liraglutide are ligands exclusively of the GLP-1 receptor, the effects of …
Purification and properties of Sandercyanin, a blue protein secreted in the mucus of blue forms of walleye, Sander vitreus

A blue protein present in the mucus coating blue forms of walleye, Sander vitreus, was purified to homogeneity by a combination of ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The purified protein has a molecular mass of 87,850 and is a homotetramer with a subunit molecular mass of 21,836. Solutions of the protein are deep blue in color and show absorbance maxima at 383 and 633 nm, respectively. Acetone treatment of the protein releases a blue chromophore with the spectral characteristics of biliverdin IXα. The results suggest that the blue protein is a new biliprotein that we have termed Sandercyanin. The function of Sandercyanin is unknown, but limited amino acid sequence analysis suggests it is a lipocalin that may be involved in the transport of heme degradation products.
Calcium current in smooth muscle cells from normotensive and genetically hypertensive rats.

Genetic hypertension results from numerous phenotypic expressions. We hypothesized that increased calcium current in vascular smooth muscle of genetically hypertensive animals is partly responsible for observed increases in agonist sensitivity, contractility, and calcium influx. Using adult, spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats (SHRSP) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) controls from an inbred colony, we characterized calcium current in smooth muscle cells isolated from cerebral arteries. Calcium current in WKY cells reached a maximum of -27.7 +/- 2.7 pA (n = 32) at +20 mV. Peak inward current at +20 mV in SHRSP cells had a mean amplitude of -44.4 +/- 3.0 pA (n = 72, P < .05). SHRSP cells exhibited a higher calcium current density. Maximal inward current normalized to cell capacitance yielded mean values of 2.07 +/- 0.11 pA/pF for WKY (n = 32) and 2.80 +/- 0.12 pA/pF (n = 79) for SHRSP (P < .05) cells. Transient-type Ca2+ channel current had the same magnitude and current-voltage relation in both cell types, giving an L-type/T-type ratio of 3.85 for WKY and 6.25 for SHRSP cells. The voltage-dependent inactivation curve for SHRSP calcium current was shifted to the right only over the range of -50 to -30 mV, but the half-maximal inactivation voltages and Boltzmann coefficients were not significantly different between cell types. Increased calcium inward current in this model of genetic hypertension could account in part for altered calcium homeostasis and increased vascular reactivity, contributing to hypertension and vasospasm.
Compiling linear recursive Prolog programs with list structure into procedural language

The authors present an algorithm for transforming a linear recursive program in Prolog which contains the list data structure as a term of the predicate into an iterative program using a while loop in a procedural language like Pascal. This algorithm obtains the same result as Prolog without unification and backtracking. In this algorithm, the recursive programs are classified into two cases, the determined programs and the undetermined programs, according to the conditions of the variables in the program. The unification process is transformed into the set of assignment and conditional statements by analyzing the variables of the rules in the program. Backtracking is accomplished by a traversal of a tree whose nodes contain instantiated predicates. >
Fast Wafer-Level Stress-and-Sense Methodology for Characterization of Ring-Oscillator Degradation in Advanced CMOS Technologies

Ring oscillators (ROs) are widely used to study the degradation of logic CMOS circuits. To successfully link the time dependence of the ROs frequency degradation to the degradation of discrete device, we introduce a novel, fast wafer-level stress-and-sense methodology. With this new methodology, we unambiguously show the close correlation between discrete device degradation and circuit aging at typical wafer-level stress times.
DNA mobility anomalies are determined primarily by polyacrylamide gel concentration, not gel pore size

The dependence of DNA mobility anomalies on gel pore size has been studied in polyacrylamide gels with a wide variety of compositions, using molecular weight ladders containing multiple copies of normal (12B) and anomalously slowly migrating (12A) 147-base pair restriction fragments from plasmid pBR322 as the migrating probe molecules. If the gel pore size is increased by decreasing the total acrylamide concentration (%T) at constant cross-linker ratio (%C), the usual method of increasing gel pore size, the mobility anomalies decrease with increasing gel pore radius as though the 12A multimers were retarded by a sieving mechanism. However, the decrease in the mobility anomalies is independent of whether the apparent gel pore radius is larger or smaller than the DNA radius of gyration, suggesting that gel pore size is not the controlling variable. If the acrylamide concentration is held constant and the gel pore size is increased by decreasing %C at constant %T, the mobility anomalies of the largest 12A multimers (6 mers and higher) decrease with increasing gel pore radius, because of sieving effects, until the effective gel pore radius becomes approximately equal to the DNA radius of gyration, after which the mobility anomalies level off and become independent of gel pore size. The mobility anomalies exhibited by 5-mers and smaller multimers of fragment 12A are independent of gel pore radius in all gels with constant %T. Similar results are observed with a molecular weight ladder containing phased A-tracts from the kinetoplast bending locus. Since the anomalous electrophoretic mobilities depend primarily on the total acrylamide concentration in the gel, and not on the apparent gel pore radius, increases in the magnitude of the mobility anomalies with increasing gel concentration (and decreasing gel pore radius) cannot be taken as evidence for DNA curvature.
The new interface of technology and medicine

The fundamental challenges in modern biomedical science often arise from the inherent complexity of the biomolecular systems that serve as the foundations from which sensing and therapeutic platforms are developed to address. Emergent diagnostic and therapeutic platforms for nanoengineered medicine are discussed here.
A LEXICON FOR FLAVOR DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF GREEN TEA

ABSTRACT A lexicon for describing green tea was developed using descriptive analysis methods. A highly trained, descriptive sensory panel identified, defined and referenced 31 flavor attributes for green tea. One-hundred and thirty-eight green tea samples from nine countries – China, India, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania and Vietnam – were selected to represent a wide range of green teas. Attributes could be categorized as “Green” (asparagus, beany, Brussels sprout, celery, parsley, spinach, green beans, green herb-like); “Brown” (ashy/sooty, brown spice, burnt/scorched, nutty, tobacco); “Fruity/Floral” (fruity, floral/perfumy, citrus, fermented); “Mouthfeel” (astringent, tooth-etching); “Basic Tastes” (overall sweet, bitter); and other attributes (almond, animalic, grain, musty/new leather, mint, seaweed, straw-like). Some attributes, such as green, brown, bitter, astringent and tooth-etching, were found in most samples, but many attributes were found in only a few samples. Green tea processors, food industry, researchers and consumers will benefit from this lexicon with precise definitions and references that reliably differentiate and characterize the sensory attributes of green teas. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Green tea (and white tea) processors, food industrialists, researchers and consumers will benefit from this lexicon with precise definitions and references that reliably differentiate and characterize the sensory attributes of green tea.
Parental Involvement, Pressure, and Support in Youth Sport: A Narrative Literature Review

The aim of this literature review is to describe and critique what is known about relations between parents and their athlete children in contemporary research. Athlete families are prevalent and in need of research based in family systems theory. I describe a typology of underinvolved, moderately involved, and overinvolved parents. I found themes of parental involvement, pressure, support, and family-level issues. I conclude with suggestions for guiding research on sports parenting with family systems theory.
Acceleration of Cardiovascular Disease by a Dysfunctional Prostacyclin Receptor Mutation Potential Implications for Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibition

Recent increased adverse cardiovascular events observed with selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition led to the withdrawal of rofecoxib (Vioxx) and valdecoxib (Bextra), but the mechanisms underlying these atherothrombotic events remain unclear. Prostacyclin is the major end product of cyclooxygenase-2 in vascular endothelium. Using a naturally occurring mutation in the prostacyclin receptor, we report for the first time that a deficiency in prostacyclin signaling through its G protein-coupled receptor contributes to atherothrombosis in human patients. We report that a prostacyclin receptor variant (R212C) is defective in adenylyl cyclase activation in both patient blood and in an in vitro COS-1 overexpression system. This promotes increased platelet aggregation, a hallmark of atherothrombosis. Our analysis of patients in 3 separate white cohorts reveals that this dysfunctional receptor is not likely an initiating factor in cardiovascular disease but that it accelerates the course of disease in those patients with the greatest risk factors. R212C was associated with cardiovascular disease only in the high cardiovascular risk cohort (n=980), with no association in the low-risk cohort (n=2293). In those at highest cardiovascular risk, both disease severity and adverse cardiovascular events were significantly increased with R212C when compared with age- and risk factor-matched normal allele patients. We conclude that for haploinsufficient mutants, such as the R212C, the enhanced atherothrombotic phenotype is likely dependent on the presence of existing atherosclerosis or injury (high risk factors), analogous to what has been observed in the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition studies or prostacyclin receptor knockout mice studies. Combining both biochemical and clinical approaches, we conclude that diminished prostacyclin receptor signaling may contribute, in part, to the underlying adverse cardiovascular outcomes observed with cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition.
Ultrastructure of the crayfish kidney--coelomosac, labyrinth, nephridial canal.

Regions of the crayfish kidney were examined by electron microscopy. Coelsmosac cells are loosely bound together by desmosome-like spot junctions, and connected to the basal lamina via characteristic pedicels. The cytoplasm contains numerous vesicles and vacuoles of various sizes and is often crowded with large, lysosome-like granules or dense bodies. The morphology suggests a filtration mechanism with reabsorption of materials such as protein from the filtrate and secretion of other substances into the lumen. The labyrinth is composed of cuboidal to columnar cells which possess a brush border, long and narrow intercellular spaces, basal plasmalemmal invaginations and typical cytoplasmic components. Two sub-regions are distinguishable. The morphology of labyrinth I suggests that these cells move fluid isotonically across the epithelium. Labyrinth II, in addition to isotonic transport, appears to be more active in the endocytic uptake and intracellular digestion of large molecules such as protein. The nephridial canal consists of cells which lack a brush border, but display extensive basal invaginations associated with elongated mitochondria. A proximal and distal region are cytologically distinguishable. Proximally, the cells are small and filled with mitochondria throughout. Scattered within the cytoplasm are vesicles, vacuoles, diffuse glycogen, free ribosomes, dense bodies and some rough endoplasmic reticulum. Distally, the cells are less compact, larger, and cuboidal to columnar in shape. The cytoplasm is similar to that of the proximal cells, but the basal invaginations are even larger and more extensive. The morphology of cells in both regions of the nephridial canal is highly suggestive of active solute reabsorption, probably occurring against an osmotic gradient.
Electron capture in ion-molecule collisions at intermediate energy☆

Abstract Recent progress in theoretical studies on charge transfer in ion-molecule collisions at the intermediate energy is reviewed. Distinction between close and distant collisions is crucial to the understanding of charge transfer processes, as it is in many aspects of ion-atom collisions. For a close collision, explicit representation of the whole collision complex is necessary to describe the collision dynamics correctly, while a model potential approach for the molecule is appropriate for a distant collision. It is shown that these two distinct points of view are necessary for reproducing experimental charge transfer cross sections. Some remarks concerning further theoretical study of ion-molecule collisions are also given.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA), Sarbanes Oxley & Large Firm Risk

This study empirically evaluates the impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) and the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 upon the (equity) risk of the largest US firms, the backbone of the US economy. Drawing from the literature, hypotheses are developed and empirically evaluated using an extensive data set: daily return data between 1993 and 2009 from a representative sample of the largest European and US firms. This represents one of the first studies to evaluate the risk implications of the PSLRA, while research on Sarbanes Oxley has produced inconclusive — at times contradictory — findings. Strong evidence is provided that the PSLRA had no significant risk impact, and that Sarbanes Oxley significantly reduced firm risk — measured as mean equity variance. Findings also suggest that Sarbanes Oxley’s risk impairment effect may be enhanced for the largest 2.5% of US firms.
Do Analysts Add Value When They Most Can? Evidence from Corporate Spinoffs

This paper investigates how securities analysts help investors understand the value of diversication. By studying the research that analysts produce about companies that have announced corporate spinos, we gain unique insights into how analysts portray diversied rms to the investment community. We nd that while analysts’ research about these companies is associated with improved forecast accuracy, the value of their research about the spun-o subsidiaries is more limited. For both diversied rms and their spun-o subsidiaries, analysts’ research is more valuable when information asymmetry between the management of these entities and investors is higher. These ndings contribute to the corporate strategy literature by shedding light on the roots of the diversication discount and by showing how analysts’ research enables investors to overcome asymmetric information.
Corrections to “Comparison of Sub-Millimeter-Wave Scattering-Parameter Calibrations With Imperfect Electrical Ports” [Jan 12 144-152]

On page 145 of the above-named article [ibid., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 144-152, Jan. 2012], Table I was printed incorrectly, and the column headings were left out. The corrected table is printed here.
The Political Economy of Urban Poverty in Developing Countries: Theories, Issues, and an Agenda for Research

The implications of urban development for overall economic prosperity are well known. Employment, housing, policing, infrastructure and social policies in cities have been shaped and institutionalized through a complex set of interactions between various urban interests, public officials, and institutions. In advanced industrial countries, for example, the rise of influential coalitions with the urban working class at the center was responsible for the proliferation of social protection in the 19th and 20th centuries. Consequently, a great deal is known about the dynamics of urban political mobilization and behavior in richer countries, and of participation among the urban poor. In the cities of the developing world, however, there is far less information available regarding these issues. I survey some theoretical foundations for understanding the political-economy of urban poverty before examining several pathologies of political life for the urban poor in the developing world. I focus on some aspects of the city-dweller’s political agency - or the lack thereof - that limit the ability of the urban poor to engage in collective action, to participate in decision-making, to form effective organizations, and to resist predatory behavior by officialdom. I then examine some areas where further research is needed, including the political-economic bases for mobilization, the prospects for pro-poor urban social policy, conditions determining the effectiveness of delegation, and of membership organizations for the urban poor.
Wavelet analysis for non-stationary, nonlinear time series

Abstract. Methods for detecting and quantifying nonlinearities in nonstationary time series are introduced and developed. In particular, higher-order wavelet analysis was applied to an ideal time series and the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) time series. Multiple-testing problems inherent in wavelet analysis were addressed by controlling the false discovery rate. A new local autobicoherence spectrum facilitated the detection of local nonlinearities and the quantification of cycle geometry. The local autobicoherence spectrum of the QBO time series showed that the QBO time series contained a mode with a period of 28 months that was phase coupled to a harmonic with a period of 14 months. An additional nonlinearly interacting triad was found among modes with periods of 10, 16 and 26 months. Local biphase spectra determined that the nonlinear interactions were not quadratic and that the effect of the nonlinearities was to produce non-smoothly varying oscillations. The oscillations were found to be skewed so that negative QBO regimes were preferred, and also asymmetric in the sense that phase transitions between the easterly and westerly phases occurred more rapidly than those from westerly to easterly regimes.
How International Rules Die

A rule's abandonment through nonenforcement or noncompliance is known as desuetude. This article presents a theory of desuetude that applies to international legal regimes, taking into account the broader context of obligation, causation, and social norms in a consent-based system. The UN use-of-force regime is an example. The theory is that excessive violation of a rule, whether embodied in custom or treaty, causes the rule to be replaced by another rule that permits unrestricted freedom of action. The two rationales commonly given for obligation in the international order, the naturalist and positivist theories, are unconvincing. The rational choice model is a preferable explanatory tool because it provides practical reasons for supposing international rules to be obligatory, and it uses a more reliable means of assessing practical obligation, namely, frequency of violation. Two competing claims - that international legal rules are all that matter in shaping state conduct, and that those rules do not shape state conduct at all - are examined and rejected. Whether a particular rule falls into desuetude depends in part upon the presence of conditions necessary for international cooperation. Those conditions are associated with social norms that undermine or reinforce international legal rules, and also inject elements of coercion into a consent-based system; an infrastructure of reinforcing sub-legal norms is a necessary condition for law's effective operation. The article concludes by considering the dilemma faced by an international law scholar who recognizes that commenting upon the desuetude of a preferred rule can hasten the rule's demise.
Modern Cheating Techniques, Their Adverse Effects on Engineering Education and Preventions:

Cheating is an immoral way of achieving higher grades in school by breaking rules and regulations and gaining an unfair advantage in a competitive environment. This dishonest behavior is becoming a more serious issue, particularly with all the technological developments, and it considerably threatens the educational systems in engineering, science, fine arts, law, nursing, medicine and pharmacy. Approximately 70% of school students in the U.S. admitted that they were involved in direct and/or indirect cheating actions during exams, homework, term projects, reports, papers and presentations using a variety of cheating techniques. These techniques include all kinds of cell phones, camera phones, earphones, MP3 players, graphing calculators, iPads, texting devices, monitoring devices, multifunctional watches, etc. Similar trends have been observed in many other developed or developing countries worldwide. These issues are more crucial for online courses, which have been gaining popularity for full-time emplo...
The Role of Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonding and Proton Transfer in Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer

An example of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) comprised by the electrochemical oxidation of 1,4-hydroquinone (1,4-H2Q) in acetonitrile was studied in the presence of Bronsted bases in acetonitrile. Of the two types of bases studied, the negatively charged carboxylates, trifluoroacetate (TFAC–), benzoate (BZ–), and acetate (AC–), showed hydrogen bonding with 1,4-H2Q, whereas the neutral amines, pyridine (PY) and N,N′-diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA), did not. This difference allowed a unique investigation of the effect of proton transfer on PCET with and without the influence of hydrogen bonding using two bases (TFAC– and PY) with approximately the same pKa (∼12). The study revealed that hydrogen bonding of 1,4-H2Q with the base TFAC– made the half wave redox potential of 1,4-H2Q more negative (easier to oxidize) by 0.186 V with respect to the oxidation in the presence of the same concentration of added PY, which does not hydrogen bond with 1,4-H2Q. Both types of bases studied, carboxylates and amines...
On the Move! California's Physical Activity Initiative

(1999). On the Move! California's Physical Activity Initiative. Journal of Health Education: Vol. 30, California Is “ON THE MOVE!”, pp. S3-S3.
Survival of the Lone Star Tick, Amblyomma Americanum (Acari: Ixodidae), in Contrasting Habitats and Different Years in Southeastern Oklahoma, USA

Engorged larval, nymphal, and female lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum , were released at monthly intervals in different habitats in southeastern Oklahoma during April–October in 1978–1980 to study their development and survival. Bottomland oak-hickory, upland oak-hickory, and upland pine habitats were nearly equally suitable areas for tick survival during 1978–1979 when rainfall and temperature were similar. High temperatures and low humidities in 1980 reduced tick survival in all habitats by at least 50% from that observed in 1978 and 1979. However, the bottomland oak-hickory habitat had significantly higher survival of ticks than the 2 upland wooded sites during the summer drought of 1980 and was the only habitat in which ticks molting in 1979 survived the summer of 1980. The 4th habitat, a meadow, was much less suitable for tick survival and development during all 3 consecutive years. Survival of ticks that had molted in polyester packets in 1978 in the bottomland habitat was: oversummer 1978 = 96% of the adults and nymphs; overwinter 1978–1979 = 91% of the adults and 59% of the nymphs; oversummer 1979 = 51% of the adults and 26% of the nymphs; and overwinter 1979–1980 = 30% of the adults and 2% of the nymphs. Larvae in polyester packets were able to overwinter from 1978–1979 and 1979–1980. Quantitative data on activity and development of lone star ticks are reported for 3 years of study in natural habitats.
The good life: wellbeing and the new science of altruism, selfishness and immorality

In The Good Life: Wellbeing and the New Science of Altruism, Selfishness, and Immorality, Graham Music thoughtfully explores some of the most multifarious, yet essential, tensions of being human. A...
Analysis on Audible Noise of ±800 kV Converter Stations With Layout of Valve Hall and Converter Transformer in Single-Line Form or Face-to-Face Form

Noise control is one of the key problems to be solved during the development of UHVDC power transmission. In this paper the recommended limit value of audible noise in the residential area near ±800kV converter station and that in the field of ±800kV converter station are given;the noise distribution in converter station, where the layout of valve hall and converter transformer are in single-line form or in face-to-face form, is calculated and analyzed;the effects of noise reduction measures, namely installing sound barrier near the main sound sources such as converter transformers or installing sound proof housing around the converter transformer, are analyzed. Analysis results show that the noise environment outside the ±800kV converter station can be effectively improved by use of the layout of valve hall and converter transformer in face-to-face form;when a certain noise reduction measures are adopted, the sound pressure level at the position that is 20m apart from the wall of converter station can satisfy the nightly standard requirement of the area in second class, i.e., not exceeding 50dB(A).
Persistence in the long-run expected rate of return for corporate pension plans

Abstract Firms that sponsor a defined benefit pension plan are suspected of managing earnings through the choice of the expected long-run rate of return to pension assets. However, data on this rate show it to be quite persistent with more than 50% of firms leaving their ERR unchanged from one year to the next. To capture this persistence, I model the rate using a first-order autoregression. Asset allocation information is included in the model. Endogeneity bias is addressed by estimating the dynamic panel data model using a system GMM estimator. No evidence of earnings management, measured by the relative size of the pension plan to net income and by acquisition activity, was found.
The Penile Intercommunicating Venous Valvular System

AbstractA complex, intraluminal venous valvular leaflet system has been examined histologically for the first time. Valves are present in the perforating and circumflex venous drainage systems. All valvular leaflets have apertures that control venous drainage from the penis.
Hawthorne's novels

The Scarlet Letter For a writer who made no effort for twenty years to write another novel after the embarrassment he felt over Fanshawe , Hawthorne enjoyed surprising success when he finally returned to the novel form with The Scarlet Letter . Even in this case, however, the book that has become one of the two or three best-known nineteenth-century American novels began life as another short story. “The Custom-House,” the preface Hawthorne added after completing the narrative, still includes several references to the collection in which he intended to include “The Scarlet Letter.” Published on 16 March 1850, The Scarlet Letter was a bestseller by nineteenth-century standards. The first edition of 2,500 copies sold out quickly, as did a second edition of 2,500 published a month later. (Ticknor and Fields published a third edition of 1,000 copies later in the year.) Hawthorne had been worried because his original intention was a collection of tales like Mosses from an Old Manse , and he feared that The Scarlet Letter was too short to make a book (one reason he added “The Custom-House” preface). He worried especially, as he told Fields, that the book would be too “somber” if comprised of only The Scarlet Letter . “I found it impossible to relieve the shadows of the story with so much light as I would gladly have thrown in.
The Future of Social Validity

This chapter emphasizes on the future of social validity. Research on social validity has progressed considerably since Wolf first introduced the term, and a large amount of information has been gathered and discussed. Although a number of variables which are influential on social validity have been discovered, the relative importance of these variables and other contingencies linked to these variables remain unclear. The inconsistent research findings that are apparent in the literature on social validity provide some insight into the difficulty involved in making the findings useful to practitioners. While some variables, such as the use of reinforcement-based procedures as opposed to punishment-based procedures, appear to generally produce consistently higher acceptability ratings, the majority of these variables are highly influenced by other situational or personological variables. In order to provide practitioners information which can be useful, the interaction of a number of variables on social validity will need to be investigated. A practitioner attempting to develop socially valid treatments needs to have a means for determining which variables may be most influential, what relative situational and personological variables need to be considered, and in what combination these variables may influence social validity.
Demo: Eavesdropping on PolyPoint: Scaling High-Precision UWB Indoor Localization

Recently, we introduced PolyPoint, a high-fidelity RFbased indoor localization system that achieves 28 cm accuracy indoors and tracks a fast-moving quadcopter with only 56 cm average error. PolyPoint uses ultra-wideband signals to achieve high precision RF time-of-flight estimates between nodes. To further improve accuracy, PolyPoint exploits two forms of diversity: frequency diversity, which leverages several ultra-wideband channels to improve channel response, and antenna diversity, which adds three antennas at 120° offsets to mitigate the effects of antenna polarization and nulls. To efficiently capture this diversity, PolyPoint introduces an efficient, novel ranging protocol that maximizes these diversity sources with a minimal number of packets. Unfortunately, this protocol can only locate one tag concurrently. In this demo, we explore whether passive, eavesdropping tags can also glean location information, albeit at lower fidelity. Additionally, we demo our hardware platform that provides ranging and localization as a drop-in module. The minimal TriPoint integrates an ultra-wideband transceiver and microcontroller with firmware that implements the PolyPoint protocol. The TriTag carrier board adds Bluetooth and batteries to create a complete mobile tag, and the TriBase anchor platform integrates a TriPoint with an Intel Edison to act as anchors for the system.
Targeted mutagenesis of a conserved anther-expressed P450 gene confers male sterility in monocots.

Summary Targeted mutagenesis using programmable DNA endonucleases has broad applications for studying gene function in planta and developing approaches to improve crop yields. Recently, a genetic method that eliminates the need to emasculate the female inbred during hybrid seed production, referred to as Seed Production Technology, has been described. The foundation of this genetic system relied on classical methods to identify genes critical to anther and pollen development. One of these genes is a P450 gene which is expressed in the tapetum of anthers. Homozygous recessive mutants in this gene render maize and rice plants male sterile. While this P450 in maize corresponds to the male fertility gene Ms26, male fertility mutants have not been isolated in other monocots such as sorghum and wheat. In this report, a custom designed homing endonuclease, Ems26+, was used to generate in planta mutations in the rice, sorghum and wheat orthologs of maize Ms26. Similar to maize, homozygous mutations in this P450 gene in rice and sorghum prevent pollen formation resulting in male sterile plants and fertility was restored in sorghum using a transformed copy of maize Ms26. In contrast, allohexaploid wheat plants that carry similar homozygous nuclear mutations in only one, but not all three, of their single genomes were male fertile. Targeted mutagenesis and subsequent characterization of male fertility genes in sorghum and wheat is an important step for capturing heterosis and improving crop yields through hybrid seed.
Interfacial and Surface Tensions of Polymers

Abstract Interfacial and surface tensions of polymers are important in the technology of plastics, coatings, textiles, films, and adhesives through their roles in the processes of wetting, adsorption, and adhesion. Because of experimental difficulty due to high viscosity, however, reliable measurements of these quantities were not reported until 1965 for surface tensions [l, 2] and 1969 for interfacial tensions [3, 4]. A body of scattered data has been accumulated in the literature. This review will evaluate, compile, and interpret these results.
Additives for the self-extinguishment of corona in gases

It has long been recognized that corona discharge, in addition to representing a power loss, causes damage to insulation, which may result in eventual failure. Even in equipment designed to be corona-free, flaws or defects, or abnormal conditions which result in high voltages, may produce corona. Moreover, if there would be assurance that corona would be suppressed, various combinations of the alternatives of smaller size, higher operating voltage or longer life of equipment would be possible.
Layers of Pathology

This chapter dives right into a common clinical situation. As we grapple with the complexity of a real patient, it becomes clear that dividing psychopathology into units will help clarify just what is happening with the patient and what to do. Looking into the nature of these units, we can see where thoughts, behavior, and emotions connect. The example of Jack explores how this way of looking at psychotherapy helps integrate techniques from different traditions and can be applied to the full range of problems addressable through psychotherapy.
Using Active Remote Sensing to Evaluate Cloud-Climate Feedbacks: a Review and a Look to the Future

Uncertainty in the equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) of the Earth continues to be large. Aspects of the cloud feedback problem have been identified as fundamental to the uncertainty in ECS. Recent analyses have shown that changes to cloud forcing with climate change can be decomposed into contributions from changes in cloud occurrence that are proportional to globally averaged temperature change and changes associated with rapid adjustments in the system that are independent of changes to globally averaged surface temperature. Together these responses enhance warming due to (1) cloud feedback from increasing cloud altitude by upper tropospheric clouds and (2) decreases in cloud coverage by marine boundary layer clouds. We argue that active remote sensing from space can play a unique and crucial role in constraining our understanding of these separate phenomena. For 1, the feedback associated with changing tropical cirrus is predicted to emerge from the statistical noise of the climate system within the next one to two decades. However, active remote sensing will need to continue for that signal to be observed since accurate placement of these clouds in the vertical dimension is necessary. For 2, the processes associated with changes to marine boundary layer clouds have been linked to the coupling between cloud and precipitation microphysics and air motions over remote ocean basins where precipitation formation in shallow convection is modulated by changes to aerosols and thermodynamics. Exploiting the synergy in combined active and passive remote sensing is likely one of the only ways of constraining our evolving theoretical understanding of low-level cloud processes as represented in cloud-resolving models and for validating global-scale models.
Familial Multiple Trichodiscomas: Case Report and Concise Review

Familial multiple trichodiscomas is a condition characterized by multiple asymptomatic skin papules. The inheritance pattern has not been established. The skin lesions usually appear in childhood. The diagnosis of the cutaneous papules is established by pathologic evaluation. Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome is excluded by not detecting any aberration in the folliculin gene locus. Including our patient, 15 index individuals and their families are described. There is no systemic organ involvement or associated malignancies in individuals with this condition.
Primary Cilia and Brain Cancer

Cell-extrinsic signals and intrinsic cell cycle regulators strictly control proliferation. Cancers develop from a cell that escapes these tight controls and proliferates unrestrictedly. The primary cilium critically controls proliferation by mediating cell-extrinsic signals and regulating cell cycle entry. Accordingly, recent studies showed that defective cilia can either promote or suppress cancers, depending on the cancer-initiating mutation, and that presence or absence of primary cilia is associated with specific cancer types. These novel findings suggest that primary cilia play central but distinct roles in different cancer types, opening up a completely new avenue of research to understand the biology and treatment of cancers.
Comment peut-on être française et musulmane ? Lallab face à l’identité nationale:

Depuis 1989, les polemiques au sujet des femmes francaises musulmanes n’ont cesse de gangrener la sphere politico-mediatique alimentant ainsi de nombreux fantasmes. Ces controverses visant la commu...
Glass: An Overview

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of the main types of glasses and its application. Glass coatings are deposited from the vapor or liquid solution, sometimes with chemical reactions. Thus sodium-silicate glass can be made by evaporating an aqueous solution of sodium silicate and baking the deposit to remove water. The product of this process is indistinguishable from sodium-silicate glass of the same composition made by cooling from the liquid. The production of flat glass, mainly for windows in buildings and vehicles, is the second largest item of glass manufacture. The possibility of incorporating a large number of different oxides in a silicate glass has led to a wide variety of commercial glasses. By far, the most common glass is based on the sodalime–silicate system. All ancient glasses contained the oxides of sodium, calcium, and silicon. Vitreous silica is made of pure silica giving it excellent high-temperature stability, optical properties, and thermal-shock resistance. A variety of lead glasses is important as low melting reading and solders glasses with a wide working-temperature range. Lead glass for fine “crystal” contains much more lead than these glasses.
The Influence of Drawing on the Transport Properties of Gases and Vapors in Polymers

It is well established that substantial reduction in the equilibrium sorption and even more drastic reduction in the diffusion rates takes place during drawing of polyethylene. The exact influence of the draw ratio on the transport behavior was recently reported by Williams-Peterlinl and a more general discussion of this effect was presented earlier by Peterlin-Williams-Stannett.2 More recently, Williams-Peterlin3 have demonstrated that drastic decreases in transport behavior do not always accompany drawing. In fact, the extent of decrease in the transport behavior is mainly dependent on the medium in which the material is drawn. Furthermore, under certain drawing conditions the rate of diffusion can be actually increased, i.e., the exact opposite as observed during cold drawing of polyethylene. This increase in transport behavior can be very substantial often several orders of magnitude higher than the undrawn material.
Pulse oximetry--an alternative to transcutaneous PO2 in sick newborns.

Modern day intensive care for sick newborn infants includes continuous monitoring of oxygen as a routine. This routine stems from our concerns regarding hyperoxemia and its probable role in retinopathy of prematurity and hypoxemia and its role in CNS damage, pulmonary vasoconstriction and possibly in retinopathy of prematurity. Transcutaneous PO2 (tcPO2) monitoring, the most widely used method in the 1970s and early 1980s, has provided an excellent detector of fluctuations in PO2 that cannot be detected by intermittent sampling of arterial blood. It has permitted rapid detection of hypoxemia associated with apnea, hypoventilation, or procedures. However, transcutaneous monitoring has limitations, including frequent calibration periods and a heated electrode, which causes first, and occasionally, second degree burns and which requires frequent site changes. Furthermore, unpredictable gradients have been reported between skin and arterial PO2 values in older infants and in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
A comparison between mid-Paleozoic New England, USA, and the modern western USA: Subduction of an oceanic ridge-transform fault system

Abstract A detailed comparison is made between the mid-Paleozoic Norumbega fault system (NFS) in Maine, USA, and the San Andreas fault system (SAFS) of coastal California, USA, and their tectonic settings. The SAFS formed following subduction of an oceanic ridge-transform system, and the NFS is interpreted as having formed the same way. The parallel evaluation of mid-crustal processes associated with the NFS and surface processes associated with the SAFS gives a unique perspective on modern and inactive crustal-scale strike-slip fault systems. The SAFS is separated from the Cascadia subduction zone by the Mendocino triple junction. Similarly, the mid-Paleozoic NFS is interpreted as having been separated from a convergent zone to the southwest by the interpreted Norumbega triple junction. The SAFS cuts a subduction complex, the Franciscan Complex, that formed when the margin was still convergent. No equivalent subduction complex associated with the NFS has been recognized, perhaps because it was eroded away or displaced, or because it never formed. The SAFS experienced periods of transpression and transtension, whereas the NFS shows transpressive structures only. Slab window magmatic rocks exist along the SAFS. Devonian to earliest Carboniferous plutonic rocks along the NFS may in part be slab window magmatic rocks, although the effects of the Acadian and prior orogenies in the Appalachians complicate their identification. Magmatic rocks along the SAFS are offset due to the high rate of displacement (20–40 mm/yr). Magmatic rocks along the NFS show little offset, consistent with the low rate of displacement (~3 mm/yr) in the model. Transverse structures are associated with both the SAFS and NFS. Other Mendocino-type triple junctions may have existed in the past, but may be difficult to recognize. Where a past crustal-scale intracontinental strike-slip fault system terminates on an along-strike contemporaneous convergent system, such a fault-fault-trench triple junction may be considered.
The Story of January Schofield

Just as the case of the Genain sisters was emblematic of the era of twin studies, the case of January Schofield is emblematic of that of genome-wide association studies. January Schofield is a young girl said to be afflicted with schizophrenia, and the subject of the five-part documentary series Born Schizophrenic. The series is analyzed critically, and it is noted that other than the completely unsupported proclamations of one psychiatrist, the series adduces not one shred of evidence that January Schofield or any other human being was “born schizophrenic.”
Solvent-Mediated Affinity of Polymer-Wrapped Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Chemically Modified Surfaces.

Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (s-CNT) arrays are being explored for next-generation semiconductor electronics. Even with the multitude of alignment and spatially localized s-CNT depo...
DEVELOPMENT OF A CONVOLUTION NEURAL NETWORK FOR SHOCKABLE ARRHYTHMIA CLASSIFICATION WITHIN A NEXT GENERATION AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR

The accurate diagnosis of shockable arrhythmias resulting from VT/VF remain integral to improving sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) process of care. Herein, we report the diagnostic performance of new machine learning approaches on arrhythmia classification within a novel AED design (Avive). A 4 layer
High pH Stress Affects Root Morphology and Nutritional Status of Hydroponically Grown Rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.).

Rhododendrons (Rhododendron spp.) are ornamental plants in the family Ericaceae that thrive in acidic soils and are challenged by neutral or alkaline soils. This soil requirement limits the locations where rhododendrons can be grown and causes chlorosis, diminished growth, and low survival when rhododendrons are grown in high pH soils. While growth and survival impacts are widely documented, little is known about how high pH soils cause these symptoms in rhododendrons. We hypothesized that high pH stress impacts root form and function, leading to nutrient deficiencies that limit plant growth. We tested this hypothesis in a hydroponic experiment. “Mardi Gras” rhododendron liners were grown in a complete nutrient solution at pH 5.5 (optimum pH) or pH 6.5 (high pH) for 49 days. Biomass accumulation, nutrient uptake and concentration, and root stress were assessed. High pH nutrient solutions diminished leaf and root growth. Plants grown in high pH nutrient solutions developed clusters of short, highly branched roots. Plants grown in optimum pH did not exhibit this morphology. High pH affected the uptake and translocation of most essential nutrients. S and Mn deficiencies likely limited plant growth. High pH had a nuanced effect on root oxidative status. These results suggest that rhododendron root morphology and nutrient uptake are directly affected by high pH and that aboveground symptoms might be a consequence of impaired root function.