cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Haemolymph proteins and lipoproteins in lepidoptera--a comparative electrophoretic study.

Abstract 1. 1. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of haemolymph from seven species of Lepidoptera ( Hyalophora cecropia, H. gloveri, Callosamia promethea, Philosamia cynthia, Antheraea polyphemus, A. mylitta, Manduca sexta ) reflected the close relationship between species within the same genus and the differences between the saturniids and a sphingid. 2. 2. Comparisons were made of ontogenetic protein pattern changes in the larval-pupal-adult development of P. cynthia (a saturniid) and M. sexta (a sphingid). 3. 3. With the exception of M. sexta , it was possible to recognize the sex of pupae and adults from the electropherograms by the presence of a major protein in the haemolymph of pupal and adult females which is absent from or present in lower concentration in the males. In all seven species, the total protein concentration of the haemolymph is higher in females than in males. 4. 4. All species examined have haemolymph lipoproteins, and all the haemolymph lipoproteins of H. cecropia, H. gloveri, P. cynthia, C. promethea and A. polyphemus are also glycoproteins. Several proteins and lipoproteins possessing esterase activity were detected in the larval or pupal haemolymph of M. sexta, H. gloveri, H. cecropia, P. cynthia and A. mylitta .
Thermoplastic films from plant proteins

Films developed by thermoprocessing of plant proteins have better mechanical properties and are relatively inexpensive and environmentally friendly compared to casting films from solutions. Common plant proteins such as soyproteins, wheat gluten, and corn zein and proteins from lesser grown cereal crops such as peanut, barley, sunflower, and sorghum have all been injection or compression molded into films. Since plant proteins are non-thermoplastic, it is necessary to chemically or physically modify the proteins and make them thermoplastic. Extensive studies on the addition of plasticizers, pre-treatment of proteins with alkali, steam, chemical modifications such as acetylation and blending of the proteins with other biopolymers and synthetic polymers have been done to modify proteins and develop thermoplastics. Despite the extensive work, thermoplastic films obtained from plant proteins do not have the properties that can meet or exceed properties of films made from synthetic polymers. Poor water stability and brittleness are the two major limitations of plant protein films. This review presents an overview of the methods and processing conditions used to develop thermoplastic films from plant proteins and the properties of the films. A critical assessment of approaches that have been used so far, limitations of these approaches and potential considerations for future studies to overcome the current limitations have been discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 729-738, 2013
d,l-α-fluoropalmitic acid inhibits sphingosine base formation and accumulates in membrane lipids of cultured mammalian cells

Abstract d,l -α-Fluoropalmitic acid was synthesized by tosylation of methyI- d,l -α-hydroxypalmitate, and displacement of the tosylated function by tetrabutylammonium fluoride in acetonitrile. Uptake and utilization of the compound by cultured Balb/c 3T3 cells were studied after presentation of the fluoro fatty acid analogue complexed with bovine serum albumin. A concentration of 0.28 mM had very little effect on cell growth over several days of incubation, and cell morphology was unchanged. Chromatographie and mass spectrometric analyses at 6 and 12 h of incubation showed that d,l -α-fluoropalmitic acid was taken up by the cells and incorporated without modification as a fatty acyl moiety into select lipids. Significant levels of the compound were found at 12 h in phosphatidylcholine (1.6%) and sphingomyelin (0.6%) fatty acids, but not in those of other phospholipids or neutral lipids. d,l -α-Fluoropalmitic acid represented a significant percentage of the fatty acids of neutral glycosphingolipids (1.4%) and ceramides (0.8%) by 12 h. The fluoro fatty acid was not incorporated into long-chain sphingolipid bases, and mass spectrometry failed to reveal additional carbon-2 fluorine-substituted compounds in cellular lipids. Cellular levels of triacylglycerols and phosphatidylcholine remained essentially unchanged, or were slightly increased, while amounts of ceramide and gangliosides were decreased. Comparison of labeled palmitate incorporation into sphingolipid bases and fatty acids of sphingomyelin suggested inhibition of sphingosine synthesis by the fluoro fatty acid. d,l -α-Fluoropalmitic acid inhibited the formation of palmitoyl-CoA by Balb/c 3T3 long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase in vitro. The results support involvement of CoA thiol ester-independent steps in modification of membrane lipids.
A particle tracking meet

A first community experiment comparing the performance of analysis methods for single-particle tracking data declares no winner but reveals valuable information for users and developers.
Statistical limitations in transaxial tomography.

Abstract A general analysis is presented of the limitations on transaxial tomographic imaging due to the quantum statistics of the radiation source. An idealized model is used in which reconstruction errors due to divergence of the X-ray beam, the finite number of projections, and the finite detector size are neglected. The results, therefore, represent an upper bound to the performance attainable with this method. An operator formalism is introduced to describe the various linear reconstruction algorithms, all of which are shown to be statistically equivalent. Expressions are derived for the mean signal, rms noise, resolution, and required radiation dose for a given signal-to-noise ratio. The results are valid for any object and any linear reconstruction algorithm.
Multilayer Electron‐Beam Curing of Polymer Dielectric for Electrical Interconnections

not occur. The effect of E-beam exposure on multilayer processing and some of the critical chemical, mechanical, and electrical properties in this polymer are reported here. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that polymer backbones which are not easily thermally cured (e.g., cross-linked) may be considered for interconnection dielectric materials. The polymer backbone consists of 10 mol % triethoxy silyl norbornene and 90 mol % butyl norbornene units. The chemical structures of the monomer units are shown in Fig. 1. These two monomer units are randomly copolymerized and dissolved in mesitylene to obtain a polymer solution.2 The polymer sample used in this study has a polydispersity index (M w /M n ) of 2.8 and a weight average molecular weight (M w ) of 283,000. E-beam curing was conducted
Discovering business intelligence from online product reviews: A rule-induction framework

Online product reviews are a major source of business intelligence (BI) that helps managers and marketers understand customers' concerns and interests. The large volume of review data makes it difficult to manually analyze customers' concerns. Automated tools have emerged to facilitate this analysis, however most lack the capability of extracting the relationships between the reviews' rich expressions and the customer ratings. Managers and marketers often resort to manually read through voluminous reviews to find the relationships. To address these challenges, we propose the development of a new class of BI systems based on rough set theory, inductive rule learning, and information retrieval methods. We developed a new framework for designing BI systems that extract the relationship between the customer ratings and their reviews. Using reviews of different products from Amazon.com, we conducted both qualitative and quantitative experiments to evaluate the performance of a BI system developed based on the framework. The results indicate that the system achieved high accuracy and coverage related to rule quality, and produced interesting and informative rules with high support and confidence values. The findings have important implications for market sentiment analysis and e-commerce reputation management.
Periodic-Node Graph-Based Framework for Stochastic Control of Small Aerial Vehicles

This paper presents a strategy for stochastic control of small aerial vehicles under uncertainty using graph-based methods. In planning with graph-based methods, such as the probabilistic roadmap method (PRM) in state space or the information roadmaps (IRM) in information-state (belief) space, the local planners (along the edges) are responsible to drive the state/belief to the final node of the edge. However, for aerial vehicles with minimum velocity constraints, driving the system belief to a sampled belief is a challenge. In this paper, we propose a novel method based on periodic controllers, in which instead of stabilizing the belief to a predefined probability distribution, the belief is stabilized to an orbit (periodic path) of probability distributions. Choosing nodes along these orbits, the node reachability in belief space is achieved and we can form a graph in belief space that can handle higher order dynamics or nonstoppable systems (whose velocity cannot be zero), such as fixed-wing aircraft. The proposed method takes obstacles into account and provides a query-independent graph, since its edge costs are independent of each other. Thus, it satisfies the principle of optimality. Therefore, dynamic programming (DP) can be utilized to compute the best feedback on the graph. We demonstrate the method's performance on a unicycle robot and a six degrees of freedom (DoF) small aerial vehicle.
Children’s food consumption during television viewing

Background: Television viewing is associated with childhood obesity. Eating during viewing and eating highly advertised foods are 2 of the hypothesized mechanisms through which television is thought to affect children’s weight. Objectives: Our objectives were to describe the amounts and types of foods that children consume while watching television, compare those types with the types consumed at other times of the day, and examine the associations between children’s body mass index (BMI) and the amounts and types of foods consumed during television viewing. Design: Data were collected from 2 samples. The first sample consisted of ethnically diverse third-grade children, and the second consisted predominantly of Latino fifth-grade children. Three nonconsecutive 24-h dietary recalls were collected from each child. For each eating episode reported, children were asked whether they had been watching television. Height and weight were measured by using standard methods and were used to calculate BMI. Results: On weekdays and weekend days, 17–18% and26% of total daily energy, respectively, were consumed during television viewing in the 2 samples. Although the fat content of the foods consumed during television viewing did not differ significantly from that of the foods consumed with the television off, less soda, fast food, fruit, and vegetables were consumed with the television on. The amount of food consumed during television viewing was not associated with children’s BMI, but in the third-grade sample, the fat content of foods consumed during television viewing was associated with BMI. Conclusions: A significant proportion of children’s daily energy intake is consumed during television viewing, and the consumption of high-fat foods on weekends may be associated with BMI in younger children. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;79:1088 –94.
Quantifying the Non-Gaussianity of Wintertime Daily Maximum and Minimum Temperatures in the Southeast

In this paper the statistics of daily maximum and minimum surface air temperature at weather stations in the southeast United States are examined as a function of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) phase. A limited number of studies address how the ENSO and/or AO affect U.S. daily—as opposed to monthly or seasonal—temperature averages. The details of the effect of the ENSO or AO on the higher-order statistics for wintertime daily minimum and maximum temperatures have not been clearly documented. Quality-controlled daily observations collected from 1960 to 2009 from 272 National Weather Service Co- operative Observing Network stations throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South and North Carolina are used to calculate the first four statistical moments of minimum and maximum daily temperature distribu- tions. It is found that, over the U.S. Southeast, winter minimum temperatures have higher variability than maximum temperatures and La Nina winters have greater variability of both minimum and maximum tem- peratures. With the exception of the Florida peninsula, minimum temperatures are positively skewed, while maximum temperatures are negatively skewed. Stations in peninsular Florida exhibit negative skewness for both maximum and minimum temperatures. During the relatively warmer winters associated with either a La NinaorAO1,negativeskewnessesareexacerbatedandpositiveskewnessesarereduced.Toalesserextent,the converse is true of the El Ninoa nd AO2. The ENSO and AO are also shown to have a statistically significant effect on the change in kurtosis of daily maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the domain.
Inactivation of the DNA repair gene O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase by promoter hypermethylation is a common event in primary human neoplasia

The DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) removes alkyl adducts from the O6 position of guanine. MGMT expression is decreased in some tumor tissues, and lack of activity has been observed in some cell lines. Loss of expression is rarely due to deletion, mutation, or rearrangement of the MGMT gene, but methylation of discrete regions of the CpG island of MGMT has been associated with the silencing of the gene in cell lines. We used methylation-specific PCR to study the promoter methylation of the MGMT gene. All normal tissues and expressing cancer cell lines were unmethylated, whereas nonexpressing cancer cell lines were methylated. Among the more than 500 primary human tumors examined, MGMT hypermethylation was present in a subset of specific types of cancer. In gliomas and colorectal carcinomas, aberrant methylation was detected in 40% of the tumors, whereas in non-small cell lung carcinomas, lymphomas, and head and neck carcinomas, this alteration was found in 25% of the tumors. MGMT methylation was found rarely or not at all in other tumor types. We also analyzed MGMT expression by immunohistochemistry in relation to the methylation status in 31 primary tumors. The presence of aberrant hypermethylation was associated with loss of MGMT protein, in contrast to retention of protein in the majority of tumors without aberrant hypermethylation. Our results suggest that epigenetic inactivation of MGMT plays an important role in primary human neoplasia.
Solvent Exposure and Parkinson's Disease: Co-Twin Control Study/ Twin Research Reports / Human Interest Stories

Naturally occurring co-twin control designs can assess associations between environmental hazards and disease risk because the genotypes of monozygous twins are the same. The first population-based study to explore links between solvent exposure and Parkinson's disease used 49 discordant monozygous twin pairs, as well as a comparison group of 50 discordant dizygous twin pairs. The methods, findings and implications from this important study are reviewed. Reviews of twin research concerning gender identity disorder, prenatal development and the VATER syndrome follow. A sampling of engaging and informative twin-related news items is also presented.
Seeds of Evidence: Integrating Evidence-Based Software Engineering

With increasing interest in evidence-based software engineering (EBSE), software engineering faculty face the challenge of educating future researchers and industry practitioners regarding the generation and use of EBSE results. We propose development and population of a community-driven Web database containing summaries of EBSE studies. We present motivations for inclusion of these activities in a software engineering course, and address the particular appeal of a community-driven Web database to students who have grown up in the Internet generation. We present our experience with integrating these activities into a graduate software engineering course, and report student and industry practitioner assessments of the resulting artifacts.
Dividing a pizza into equal parts - an easy job?

Theoretically seen dividing a pizza equally is not an easy task. For instance, with a normal knife (straight cuts) one has to hit the center so that the cut is a diameter. But there are alternatives (also for dividing equally between more than two persons) which have strong connections to elementary geometry and to integral calculus. This paper deals with these alternatives elucidating the so called "pizza theorem". Strictly speaking dividing a pizza into equal parts is not as easy as it may seem at first glance. Even if it is to be shared only between two people and the pizza is circularly shaped. After all, one has to hit the center so that the cutting line is the precise diameter. Cutting the pizza into roughly equal pieces will not be a problem at all in real life. There will normally be no conflict over who gets which piece. But what if the pieces are to be completely exact? Of course, such considerations are more theoretical than practical in nature, but they may provide useful mathematical and didactical input for teaching mathematics at different levels. In fact, in mathematics important questions are not always practical, but in some cases only theoretical.
The Cellulose Synthase Superfamily

The availability of a nearly complete genome sequence for Arabidopsis has created many novel opportunities to identify, by computational methods, the genes that encode enzymes, which have been difficult to characterize by conventional means. We have used this approach to identify a large family of
The Logic of Random Selection

This essay lays out the common reasoning underlying a diversity of arguments for decision making using lotteries. This reasoning appeals to the sanitizing effects of ignorance. Lotteries ensure that bad reasons are unable to affect a decision. (They also ensure that good reasons have no effect as well, which is why care must be applied in deciding to use them.) All arguments for or against the use of a lottery to make a particular decision will thus appeal to the same property that lotteries possess. This fact is compatible with continued vigorous disagreement about whether particular decisions should be made by lot. Such disagreements, however, will focus on the nature of the circumstances surrounding the decision. People can thus agree that a given set of circumstances calls for the use of a lottery even as they disagree over whether those circumstances hold.
D1-class dopamine receptor involvement in the behavioral recovery from prefrontal cortical injury

Abstract Following unilateral aspiration of the left medial agranular cortex (AGm) region of prefrontal cortex, rats demonstrate contralateral neglect, characterized by a failure to orient to visual, tactile and auditory stimuli presented on the contralateral body side. While dopamine (DA) has been implicated in cortical neglect and its recovery, this study specifically examined D1-class DA receptors for their involvement in spontaneous recovery from neglect caused by AGm ablation. In the first experiment, left AGm-ablated rats demonstrated severe neglect of contralateral stimuli of each modality which spontaneously recovered over a period of several weeks. Recovered rats were given 7.0 μg/kg (s.c.) of the D1-selective antagonist SCH 23390. SCH 23390 reinstated severe neglect of contralateral stimuli, yet had no effect on orientation to ipsilateral stimuli. The same dose had no effect on the orientation behavior of controls. In a second experiment, D1 receptor characteristics were quantified via binding of [3H]SCH 23390 to tissue homogenates of the caudate-putamen of recovered AGm-ablated rats. Numbers and affinities of striatal D1 receptors of rats with unilateral AGm ablations did not differ between hemispheres or from values obtained from lesioned controls. Considered together, these findings indicate that recovery from neglect produced by cortical injury is associated with an increased dependence on D1-class receptor-mediated events, and that this increased dependence is unlikely to be mediated through changes in D1-class receptor numbers or affinities within caudate-putamen.
IMPERFECT TRANSMISSION OF TECHNOLOGY SHOCKS AND THE BUSINESS CYCLE CONSEQUENCES

We investigate the business cycle effects of imperfect transmission of technology shocks within a basic real business cycle (RBC) model along two dimensions. First, we assume that agents cannot distinguish a temporary increase in productivity growth from a sustained increase in the underlying growth rate of productivity and instead must conduct signal extraction exercises and update beliefs about the source of aggregated shocks. Second, we propose a technology adjustment cost resulting in the slow diffusion of technological innovations into the production process. Both of these impediments to the transmission of technology result in a large initial wealth effect, increasing investment and hours less, relative to the usual RBC model without these frictions. Furthermore, each of these features is capable of producing a decline in hours on impact of the technology shock matching the negative response in hours found in the data by such works as Gali [American Economic Review 89(1), 249–271 (1999)].
Critical assessment of microarray data analysis: the 2001 challenge.

Summary: We initiated the Critical Assessment of Microarray Data Analysis (CAMDA) conference to stimulate and evaluate the development of advanced data analysis techniques for microarrays. A standard data set has been released for this data analysis challenge. The goal of this challenge is to assess the performance of different analytical methods and at the same time to determine how such methods should be evaluated. We hope this effort will catalyze the discussion of microarray data analysis among the research community of biologists, statisticians, mathematicians, and computer scientists.
Frequency, characteristics, and child and parent risk factors for nonfatal injury in rural children.

Abstract PURPOSE: We sought to identify child and parent risk factors for nonfatal unintentional injury among rural children. METHODS: Design: cross-sectional health interview survey. Setting: a completely rural midwestern county not adjacent to a metropolitan area. Participants: stratified, random sample of farm, town, and nonfarm, nontown households, including parents of all children aged 0–17 years. Outcome measures: parent-reported injury episodes that occurred in the past 12 months in children that required professional care, restricted normal activities for at least four hours, or resulted in blacking out or losing awareness or memory. Potential risk factors included nine child factors and six parent factors. RESULTS: Of the 621 children in participating households, 137 or 22.1% were injured. Children on a sports team were 1.88 times (95% confidence interval: 1.07 to 3.31) more likely than other children to be injured. Track team members were more likely than non-members to have an injury (54.5% vs. 23.0%, chi square test, p = 0.001), and volleyball team members were more likely than non-members to have an injury (50.0% vs. 29.0%, chi square test, p = 0.009). Unrelated to injury status were the child's gender, rural stratum, emotional health, behavioral problems, impairment or medications. Also unrelated to child injury were the parent's marital status, alcohol dependence, binge drinking, antisocial personality, depression symptoms or fear of child abuse by spouse. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings illustrate the difficulty of discovering clues with potential to aid design of effective childhood unintentional injury prevention policies, programs, and practices. The instruments and processes in our study were of acceptable quality, therefore we failed to asses the true risk factors for childhood injury or our sample size was too small to detect associations with the factors that were included.
Exploiting commercial technology to increase tactical radio performance: digital radio design

The advantages of digital signal processing (DSP) based radio designs vs. their analog counterparts have been well understood in the communications community for some time. The full exploitation of DSP in battery powered tactical gear has only recently been practical, with the availability of faster, lower power, more highly integrated DSP hardware. While the first generations of DSP hardware were driven by the military market, the commercial communications and PC multimedia market are currently spinning off products which can be readily exploited by radio designers to simultaneously increase radio performance and add more sophisticated waveform processing features. The advantages to the end user in mission flexibility and reduced lifecycle cost are discussed for newer digital radio designs.
Subtorii allocation strategies for torus connected networks

In this paper we investigate the problem of how to schedule n independent jobs on an m/spl times/m torus based network. We develop a model to quantify the effect of contention for communication links on the dilation of job execution time when multiple jobs share communication links.
Dose response for ultraviolet radiation A-induced focal melanocytic hyperplasia and nonmelanoma skin tumors in Monodelphis domestica.

Abstract Four groups of 30 dorsally shaved opossums (Monodelphis domestica) were exposed to graded doses of ultraviolet radiation A (UVA) (320–400 nm) three times per week for 90 weeks. Animals were monitored for the appearance of focal melanocytic hyperplasia (FMH) and nonmelanoma skin tumors (NMST) during the course of the exposures and for an additional 20 weeks following termination of exposures. FMH is the putative precursor for melanoma in the opossum. The lowest dose of UVA (2.5 × 103 J/m2) used in this study was selected based on the action spectrum for the induction of melanoma in a fish model. The prediction was that 2.5 × 103 J/m2 would induce FMH in the opossum if the action spectra for the induction of FMH in the opossum and melanoma in the fish were the same. The highest UVA dose was 2.5 × 105 J/m2. Only the highest dose of UVA gave a statistically significant induction of FMH and NMST in the opossum. As in previous studies, the FMH appeared earlier than the NMST during the course of exposur...
Terrestrial background reduction in RPM systems by direct internal shielding

Radiation detectors are often placed in positions difficult to shield from the effects of terrestrial background. This is particularly true in the case of radiation portal monitor (RPM) systems, as their wide viewing angle and outdoor installations make them susceptible to terrestrial background from the surrounding area. This issue will become even more important as the next generation of spectroscopic-capable RPMs is deployed. A low background is desired in most cases, especially when the background noise is of comparable strength to the signal of interest. Previous modeling work by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has shown the enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and isotope identification sensitivity possible through direct internal shielding, as well as some benefits of collimation and direct ground shielding. The gross-count sensitivity of a polyvinyl toluene (PVT)-based RPM detector or the isotope identification capability of a sodium iodide (NaI)-based detector will be significantly enhanced through the use of dense background shielding, as close as possible to the detector elements. In this work, the problem of shielding a generalized RPM from terrestrial background is considered. Detector and shielding scenarios are modeled with the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) computer code. Amounts of nominal-density shielding needed to attenuate the terrestrial background to varying degrees are given, along with optimal shielding geometry to be used in areas where natural shielding is limited, and where radiation detection must occur in the presence of natural background. Guidance is provided as to the enhancement possible to detection with realistic field modifications. Common shielding solutions such as steel plating are evaluated based on the SNR, and benefits are weighed against feasibility.
The Diagnostic Utility of p16 FISH and GLUT-1 Immunohistochemical Analysis in Mesothelial Proliferations

Two promising ancillary tests used in the diagnosis of mesothelioma include GLUT-1 immunohistochemical analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing for the p16 deletion. This study compared the diagnostic usefulness of p16 FISH and GLUT-1 immunohistochemical analysis in the diagnosis of mesothelial proliferations in 158 cases with a diagnosis of benign (45.4%), atypical (10.4%), or malignant/mesothelioma (44.2%). Of the 70 benign cases, none had a deletion of p16 and 5 cases (7%) were positive for GLUT-1. Of the 68 mesotheliomas, 40 (59%) had a deletion of p16 (sensitivity, 59%; specificity, 100%) and 27 (40%) were positive for GLUT-1 (sensitivity, 40%; specificity, 93%). GLUT-1 showed lower sensitivity in pleural (56% vs 70%) and peritoneal (29% vs 51%) mesotheliomas (P = .004). Our results demonstrate that p16 FISH is a more sensitive and specific test than GLUT-1 immunohistochemical analysis and can be a more reliable ancillary tool to support the diagnosis of mesothelioma.
Zellweger Syndrome: A Histochemical Diagnosis of Two Cases

Until 17 years ago the diagnosis of the cerebrohepatorenal Zellweger syndrome (ZS) rested largely on clinical grounds confirmed by pathologic findings at autopsy. The observation that peroxisomes are not detectable morphologically or histochemically in liver or kidney of patients with this syndrome gave histopathologists the opportunity to make the diagnosis of this complex syndrome at biopsy. Catalase reaction of the peroxisomes can be used as a rapid and accurate method to differentiate between ZS and other clinical conditions in which the peroxisomes are present in normal or reduced number. We describe two patients in whom the diagnosis of ZS was made by the absence of histochemical staining for catalase in a liver biopsy. The findings were subsequently confirmed using standard biochemical tests.
Bis(di-2-pyridylmethane­diol-κ3N,O,N′)copper(II) bis­(tetra­fluorido­borate) dihydrate

The title complex, [Cu(C11H10N2O2)2](BF4)2·2H2O, was isolated as a dihydrate from a 1:2 molar mixture of copper(II) tetra­fluoridoborate hexa­hydrate with di-2-pyridyl ketone in aqueous solution. The centrosymmetric complex cation is structurally similar to that found in previously reported salts and exhibits Cu—O bonds deviating by 25 degrees from an octa­hedral geometry by the so-called `off-axis angle' distortion. The BF4− anion exhibits a two site disorder of the fluorine atoms [ratio 0.210 (8):0.790 (8)].
Example-Tracing Tutors: Intelligent Tutor Development for Non-Programmers.

In 2009, we reported on a new Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) technology, example-tracing tutors, that can be built without programming using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT). Creating example-tracing tutors was shown to be 4–8 times as cost-effective as estimates for ITS development from the literature. Since 2009, CTAT and its associated learning management system, the Tutorshop, have been extended and have been used for both research and real-world instruction. As evidence that example-tracing tutors are an effective and mature ITS paradigm, CTAT-built tutors have been used by approximately 44,000 students and account for 40 % of the data sets in DataShop, a large open repository for educational technology data sets. We review 18 example-tracing tutors built since 2009, which have been shown to be effective in helping students learn in real educational settings, often with large pre/post effect sizes. These tutors support a variety of pedagogical approaches, beyond step-based problem solving, including collaborative learning, educational games, and guided invention activities. CTAT and other ITS authoring tools illustrate that non-programmer approaches to building ITS are viable and useful and will likely play a key role in making ITS widespread.
Diagnosis of Premature Ventricular Complexes: Common and Often Forgotten Rules

Prehospital and hospital emergency medical care providers frequently rely on the electrocardiogram (ECG) to assist them in the differential diagnosis of complex patient problems and as such, the ECG often constitutes a major determinant of the definitive treatment selected. The purpose of this exercise is to review a small portion of the vast area of ECG interpretation: specifically, those rules that guide the practitioner in the diagnosis of Premature Ventricular Complexes (PVCs). Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) occur in multiple individuals in multiple settings. Due to these differences, the causes, implications, and treatment of PVCs must be individualized. Thus, the scope possible for this discussion is huge. Consequently, this exercise will focus only on helping the practitioner correctly identify PVCs.
Orientational order in cylinder-forming block copolymer thin films.

Shear can impart a high degree of orientational order to supported block copolymer thin films containing one or more layers of cylindrical microdomains, leading to a striped pattern with a period of tens of nanometers extending over macroscopic (centimeter-squared) areas. Though the as-deposited films have a polygrain structure, after shearing at sufficiently high stresses the only defects which remain are isolated dislocations, and the orientational order can be quite high (nematic or twofold orientational order parameter g0.99, as measured by tapping-mode atomic force microscopy). The effect of isolated dislocations on orientational order is adequately captured by an isotropic elastic continuum model of the structure surrounding the dislocation, producing a linear decrease of order parameter with dislocation density. Even at zero dislocation density, however, the order parameter does not quite reach unity, due to small-amplitude undulations of the cylinders about their axes which persist in the transverse direction over several cylinder periods.
Two-wave mixing in nonlinear magnetization dynamics: A perturbation expansion of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation

Recent experiments have shown that two electromagnetic waves can be mixed together by a nonlinear process in magnetic materials and can produce a wide variety of output waves, each with a different frequency. A perturbation expansion of the Landau-Lifschitz-Gilbert equation is presented which provides qualitative and quantitative understanding of this process. The results of this expansion are compared to both experiment and direct numerical solutions.
The Transplantation of Difficult Donor Kidneys and Recipients: Helpful Surgical Techniques

AbstractDue to the current shortage of organ donors a coalescence of surgical techniques has been applied in an attempt to use all compatible organs that may have been discarded due to anatomical variations, disease or damage, and to transplant them into higher surgical risk recipients. Selected cases have been chosen that illustrate some of these techniques, and the various types of recipients and donor kidneys. Cases 1 and 2 illustrate applications of the orthotopic technique of renal transplantation, as well as reconstructive measures that may be necessary for success. Renal transplantation in perhaps one of the more commonly encountered difficult recipients, the patient with severe atherosclerotic vascular disease, is addressed by cases 1 and 3. The use of unusual donor organs, such as horseshoe kidneys and pediatric donor en bloc kidneys, is particularly pertinent in the attempt to transplant all viable organs and is demonstrated in cases 4 and 5. These cases illustrate the application of various sur...
Coupling the short-term global forecast system weather data with a variable source area hydrologic model

Few current modeling tools are designed to predict short-term, high-risk runoff from hydrologically sensitive areas (HSAs) in watersheds. This study couples the Soil and Water Assessment Tool-Variable Source Area model with the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis model and the Global Forecast System-Model Output Statistics model short term weather forecast, to develop a HSA prediction tool designed to assist producers, landowners, and planners in identifying high-risk areas generating storm runoff and pollution. Short-term predictions for stream flow and soil moisture level were estimated in the South Fork of the Shenandoah river watershed. Daily volumetric flow forecasts were found to be satisfactory four days into the future, and distributed model predictions accurately captured sub-field scale HSAs. The model has the potential to provide valuable forecasts that can be used to improve the effectiveness of agricultural management practices and reduce the risk of non-point source pollution. A watershed model-Global Forecast System model are coupled to develop a critical source area prediction tool.All software is open source and the application applies globally.The tool predicts watershed discharge and spatially distributed soil moisture conditions 14 days into the future.The tool is designed to assist land managers in identifying high-risk areas generating storm runoff and pollution.
Perioperative Care of the Orthopedic Patient with Gastrointestinal and Liver Issues

Several gastrointestinal problems occur with relative frequency in the perioperative orthopedic setting. Abnormal preoperative liver function studies are often benign although various conditions, specifically cirrhosis, are important to define before surgery is performed; other gastrointestinal complications arise postoperatively. These include nausea, vomiting, and more severe conditions such as abdominal ileus and C. difficile colitis. Physicians involved in postoperative care need to be familiar with these conditions, the presentation of which may be subtle but may evolve producing severe morbidity. This chapter reviews the most common of the postoperative gastrointestinal problems, and the best strategy for avoiding and dealing with these perioperative complications is anticipation, prevention, and early therapy.
Experienced iPad-Using Early Childhood Teachers: Practices in the One-to-One iPad Classroom

Although many elementary schools have adopted one-to-one programs, we still lack information on how teachers integrate iPads or other tablets into their daily instruction, especially in early child...
How to build a helpful baby: a look at the roots of prosociality in infancy

The ability to show concern for others in need and distress is thought to be a vital building block for prosocial tendencies among humans. The current review shows that such other-oriented emotional processes play an important role in guiding prosocial behavior from early in development. Recent research supports the view that infants genuinely care about others in need and distress, but also that a caring continuum exists, which underpins variability in infant prosocial action. Novel methods measuring brain, pupillary, and postural responses have provided insights into affective predictors, motivators, and consequences of prosocial behavior in infants. These advances foster a more mechanistic understanding of the ontogenetic roots of prosociality and attest to infants’ affective competency in engaging prosocially with others.
Identification of initial decomposition reactions in liquid-phase HMX using quantum mechanics calculations

Abstract Octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine, (HMX), also known as octogen, is a commonly used ingredient in solid propellants and explosives. As a result, many experimental and theoretical studies have investigated HMX to elucidate its liquid-phase and gas-phase decomposition behavior. In various experimental efforts, including both fast and slow thermolysis, the results indicate that ring opening occurs very early due to the presence of carbon-containing species, such as HCN, H2CO, HNCO, CO and CO2. After a lengthy search using quantum mechanics, ring-opening and subsequent reactions have been identified which may occur in both liquid and gas phases. Two existing pathways – 1) HONO elimination and 2) N NO2 homolysis – are re-examined for liquid-phase decomposition, and early ring-opening reactions have been identified. Three additional pathways – 1) reaction with NO and formation of ONTNTA, 2) prompt oxidation via HONO and ONNO2 addition, and 3) hydrogen abstraction via NO2– are also identified along with early ring-opening reactions in each pathway. The proposed pathways for decomposition of HMX are similar to that of RDX presented earlier [37]. The quantum mechanics calculations are performed using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-311 + + G(d,p) level. Conductor-like Polarizable Continuum Model (CPCM) is used to account for solvation effects with water as solvent within the Gaussian program package. Intrinsic reaction coordinate calculations have also been performed to verify that the reactants are indeed connected to the expected products. Similar to RDX, HONO elimination appears to be the initiation reaction followed by early ring-opening reactions. Results also indicate simultaneous formation of formaldehyde and N2O from early ring-opening reactions. Competing bimolecular reactions with NO2, HONO and ONNO2 are also investigated in the liquid phase, which explain the experimentally observed autocatalytic behavior. These reactions can assist in the development of a detailed liquid-phase chemical kinetics mechanism of nitramine propellants containing RDX and HMX.
The Management of Persistent and Recurrent Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

Cubital tunnel syndrome (CuTS) is the second most common compressive neuropathy in the upper extremity. There are considerable diagnostic and therapeutic challenges associated with treating patients after a failed primary procedure for CuTS. Distinguishing cases of recurrence versus persistence and identifying concomitant pathology can guide treatment. Conditions that mimic CuTS must be carefully ruled out and coexisting dysfunction of the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve needs to be addressed. Results of revision procedures are not as reliable as primary procedures for CuTS; however, improvements in pain and paresthesias are noted in approximately 75% of patients. Nerve wraps represent a promising adjuvant treatment option, but long-term outcome data are lacking. External neurolysis and anterior transposition after failed CuTS procedures are supported by case series; multicenter, prospective randomized trials are needed to guide treatment further and improve outcomes.
Theory of instantaneous sinuous structure in turbulent buoyant plumes

This paper reports a theory which explains the flickering motion of turbulent plumes as well as their large-scale sinuous structure. The theory is based on the fact that the inviscid region of the plume (the “plume column”) possesses elastic properties analogous to those of elastic rods subjected to longitudinal compression. It is shown that the straight plume column is not stable and buckles. The distance between two consecutive elbows is proportional to the local plume diameter, in other words, the shapes of all buckled plumes are geometrically similar. A buckled plume collapses periodically due to the interaction of its lateral elbows with the stagnant ambient. This interaction is responsible for the intermittent formation of large-scale buoyant eddies on the periphery of the turbulent plume.
Gender, Development, and Rights-Based Approaches: Lessons for Climate Change Adaptation and Adaptive Social Protection

As adaptation policies increasingly aim to recognize the agency and autonomy of marginalized groups, the push for gender-sensitive climate change policy is also gaining voice and visibility. This shift is akin to the growing popularity of rights-based approaches to development, suggesting that lessons can be drawn from previous gender and development debates to inform adaptation policy and practices. In this chapter, we explore the nexus between gender, development, and right-based approaches in order to highlight the possibilities and pitfalls of such an approach to adaptation. We examine recent (adaptive) social protection programs to understand the potential of rights-based approaches to build capacity and enhance resilience under climate change. Finally, by emphasizing social responsibilities to and for others, we indicate the opening of spaces for a more inclusive social project for promoting adaptation that values differential skills, assets, expertise, and voices while acknowledging the limits of autonomous actors in adaptation.
Protein-Ligand Docking with Protein-based and Ligand-based Structure Activity Relationships

Protein-small molecule docking programs predict the interaction interface and energy between a given protein target and a small molecule ligand. The accuracy of docking predictions generally improve with the guidance of experimentally derived restraints. One available source of such restraints is structure-activity relationships (SARs). SARs provide information on changes in binding affinity or biological response corresponding to a chemical change in the protein and/or ligand. These chemical changes frequently refer to amino acid mutations on the protein side and functional group modifications on the ligand side. Theoretically, predicted interaction energies should correlate with SARs though in practice, this is challenging due to the difficulties in scoring protein-ligand interactions. We have previously developed RosettaLigandEnsemble (RLE), a protein-ligand docking method that simultaneously docks a congeneric ligand series to a single protein target. RLE is capable of identifying native-like binding modes for a ligand series that match the available ligand SARs. This work in progress reports on the extension of RLE to factor in SARs derived from protein mutagenesis data. The new method, ProteinLigEnsemble (PLE), is also part of the Rosetta Biomolecular Modeling Suite available at https://www.rosettacommons.org/. We have also developed protein ensemble docking features that allow for docking or screening against multiple receptor variants at the same time. We have included a proof of concept study and a tutorial for interested users.
Focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) for the regional anesthesiologist and pain specialist

This article in our point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) series is dedicated to the role the focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) exam plays for the regional anesthesiologist and pain specialists in the perioperative setting. The FAST exam is a well-established and extensively studied PoCUS exam in both surgical and emergency medicine literature with over 20 years demonstrating its benefit in identifying the presence of free fluid in the abdomen following trauma. However, only recently has the FAST exam been shown to be beneficial to the anesthesiologist in the perioperative setting as a means to identify the extravasation of free fluid into the abdomen from the hip joint following hip arthroscopy. In this article, we will describe how to obtain the basic FAST views (subcostal four-chamber view, perihepatic right upper quadrant view, perisplenic left upper quadrant view, and pelvic view in the longitudinal and short axis) as well as cover the relevant sonoanatomy. We will describe pathological findings seen with the FAST exam, primarily free fluid in the peritoneal space as well as in the pericardial sac. As is the case with any PoCUS skill, the application evolves with understanding and utilization by new clinical specialties. Although this article will provide clinical examples of where the FAST exam is beneficial to the regional anesthesiologist and pain specialist, it also serves as an introduction to this powerful PoCUS skill in order to encourage clinical practitioners to expand the application of the FAST exam within the scope of regional anesthesia and pain management practice.