cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Study on the Seed Traits in Loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica Lindl.) Germplasm Resource

The seed charcter of Loquat germplasm resource was studied,including seed number,seed weight,abortive seed number,seed color,size of seed basic sheath,number of spots on seed surface,seed shape,and seed dehiscence.The result showed that,there was abundant in diversity on the 128 loquat germplasm seed characters.The main metrical character of Loquat germplasm seed was 2~4/fruit,1~3 g/seed,few abortive seed.And the described character was triquetrous,beige,few spot,small basic sheath and indehiscent.To Yunnan loquat,the seed was bigger size,more number and few abortive in Fujian,and described character tended to concentrate,which showed be loquat germplasm evolutionary trends.In addition to,the grade criteria of seed number and seed weight was advised according to the statistic.
Hemodynamic Features of Children's Congenital Aortic Valve Stenosis and Patent Ductus Arteriosus in Children

Objective:To explore the hemodynamic feature of children's congenital aortic valve stenosis(AVS)compicated with patent ductus arteriosus(PDA). Methods:Hemodynamies in 9 of 11 cases of AVS and PDA was tasted for Qp,Qs,Pp,Ps,and ΔP before and after interven- lion with Amplatzer occluder.Two-dimension Doppler UCG,X-rays,clinical examiations were followed up. Results:Eleven patients with AVS and PDA had a marked reduction in aortic valve gradient following transcatheter ductal oc- clusion,only one patient underwent percutaneous balloon aortic valvuloptasty. Conclusion:In patients with AVS and PDA,aortic valve gradient was markedly overestimated before PDA was closed.This finding offers us information in on choosing appropriate interventional or surgical treatment.
Discussions on Function and Structure for Document Management System of Hydropower Plant

The necessity of building document management system for hydropower plants is analyzed,the overall structure and system function of document management system are proposed.The key technologies,such as model structure and data security technology are discussed.Building document management system will play a positive role in project file management for hydropower plants.
Nutritive intake of black and Hispanic mothers in a Brooklyn ghetto.

Differences in ethnic background, rather than lack of income, appear to be responsible for poor diets of black as compared with Hispanic mothers. However, for both groups, generally poor diets indicated a need for nutrition education.
Selective Photocatalytic Oxidation of Alcohols by Polyoxometalates of Mo and W

Isopoly and heteropoly compounds (HPC) of Mo and W, generally called polyoxometalates, undergo photoredox reactions at the O-M CT bands in the presence of alcohols.
Dose intensification and autologous stem cell support in breast cancer

Experimental studies demonstrate the existence of a close correlation between the dose of a cytotoxic agent and the response of cancer cells to therapy [1]. This correlation has been confirmed for mammary cancer in the nude mouse model, with transplanted human xenografts [2]. The slope of this dose response curve varies from to agent, and is also dependent to a large extent on the drug sentivity of the tumor model utilized. In preclinical tumors models, relatively modest differences in dose-intensity correlate with substantial differences in response rate and survival, and in many of the models, may represent the difference between cure, or the appearance of overt metastatic disease and death. In in vitro systems the possible range of drug concentrations is very large, limited only by the solubility of the agent, or the cytotoxicity of the diluent utilized. On the other hand, in in vivo systems dose intensification can be limited by the development of drug related toxicity. In clinical practice the maximally tolerated dose, or dose-intensity is employed based on these principles developed in preclinical models.
Vice and virtue in everyday (business) life

This paper describes how a family of ethical concepts can be taught through focusing on how values play out at the most basic level – in the sphere of everyday business interactions. If our goal is to create an "ethical business culture," it makes sense to attend to our treatment of one another in the simplest, and most frequently occurring of duties. The paper examines the kinds of daily interactions common to many business settings – attending meetings, sharing information, taking phone calls, utilizing common resources – and demonstrates how these practices set up encounters in which lived moral values can make a difference in the quality of life, morale, and company productivity.
Inducements and Motives at the Top: A Holistic Perspective on the Drivers of Executive Behavior

Scholars have devoted considerable effort to exploring the causes of executive behavior, with the accumulated research spanning multiple social science disciplines. This variety is beneficial in that numerous theories and methodologies have been brought to bear on the topic, but over time has led to increasingly fragmented literatures that often differ widely in their causal accounts of executive behavior. Confronted by such fragmentation, scholars in this domain tend to examine research questions through the lens of a single motivational perspective when developing and testing models. We believe that a more holistic perspective on the drivers of executive behavior can help scholars build richer models that bridge disciplinary silos by reframing existing theories in a new light. We specifically aim to bring clarity to this domain by developing a parsimonious framework for understanding executive motives in terms of the nature of the rewards (pecuniary versus nonpecuniary) that motivate executive action and the motivational frame of reference (individualized versus socialized agency) for conceptualizing rewards. Using this bidimensional framework to synthesize research from the last decade, we outline a platform for research that conceptualizes executive motives as the lynchpin for understanding, integrating, and advancing theoretical perspectives on executive behavior.
A lump on the hip.

A 42-year-old man presented with a lump on the side of his left hip, which had developed after he fell on his hip while playing basketball about 2 weeks earlier. He was able to continue playing and finished the game. After the game he noticed a lump, which rapidly increased in size. Significant
Automated debugging in data-intensive scalable computing

Developing Big Data Analytics workloads often involves trial and error debugging, due to the unclean nature of datasets or wrong assumptions made about data. When errors (e.g., program crash, outlier results, etc.) arise, developers are often interested in identifying a subset of the input data that is able to reproduce the problem. BigSift is a new faulty data localization approach that combines insights from automated fault isolation in software engineering and data provenance in database systems to find a minimum set of failure-inducing inputs. BigSift redefines data provenance for the purpose of debugging using a test oracle function and implements several unique optimizations, specifically geared towards the iterative nature of automated debugging workloads. BigSift improves the accuracy of fault localizability by several orders-of-magnitude (∼103 to 107×) compared to Titian data provenance, and improves performance by up to 66× compared to Delta Debugging, an automated fault-isolation technique. For each faulty output, BigSift is able to localize fault-inducing data within 62% of the original job running time.
Transplantation of wild-type mouse hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells ameliorates deficits in a mouse model of Friedreich's ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an incurable autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by reduced expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin due to an intronic GAA-repeat expansion in the FXN gene. We report the therapeutic efficacy of transplanting wild-type mouse hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) into the YG8R mouse model of FRDA. In the HSPC-transplanted YG8R mice, development of muscle weakness and locomotor deficits was abrogated as was degeneration of large sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and mitochondrial capacity was improved in brain, skeletal muscle, and heart. Transplanted HSPCs engrafted and then differentiated into microglia in the brain and spinal cord and into macrophages in the DRGs, heart, and muscle of YG8R FRDA mice. We observed the transfer of wild-type frataxin and Cox8 mitochondrial proteins from HSPC-derived microglia/macrophages to FRDA mouse neurons and muscle myocytes in vivo. Our results show the HSPC-mediated phenotypic rescue of FRDA in YG8R mice and suggest that this approach should be investigated further as a strategy for treating FRDA.
Breakage mechanics for granular materials in surface-reactive environments

Abstract It is known that the crushing behaviour of granular materials is sensitive to the state of the fluids occupying the pore space. Here, a thermomechanical theory is developed to link such macroscopic observations with the physico-chemical processes operating at the microcracks of individual grains. The theory relies on the hypothesis that subcritical fracture propagation at intra-particle scale is the controlling mechanism for the rate-dependent, water-sensitive compression of granular specimens. First, the fracture of uniaxially compressed particles in surface-reactive environments is studied in light of irreversible thermodynamics. Such analysis recovers the Gibbs adsorption isotherm as a central component linking the reduction of the fracture toughness of a solid to the increase of vapour concentration. The same methodology is then extended to assemblies immersed in wet air, for which solid-fluid interfaces have been treated as a separate phase. It is shown that this choice brings the solid surface energy into the dissipation equations of the granular matrix, thus providing a pathway to (i) integrate the Gibbs isotherm with the continuum description of particle assemblies and (ii) reproduce the reduction of their yield strength in presence of high relative humidity. The rate-effects involved in the propagation of cracks and the evolution of breakage have been recovered by considering non-homogenous dissipation potentials associated with the creation of surface area at both scales. It is shown that the proposed model captures satisfactorily the compression response of different types of granular materials subjected to varying relative humidity. This result was achieved simply by using parameters based on the actual adsorption characteristics of the constituting minerals. The theory therefore provides a physically sound and thermodynamically consistent framework to study the behaviour of granular solids in surface-reactive environments.
Constructing a feminist icon through erotic friend fiction: millennial feminism on Bob’s Burgers

This study engages in current scholarly debates regarding third-wave versus postfeminist media icons through an analysis of Tina Belcher, the eldest daughter in the animated series Bob’s Burgers an...
Achieving Full-Duplex Communication: Magnetless Parametric Circulators for Full-Duplex Communication Systems

In a crowded electromagnetic spectrum with ever-increasing demand for higher data rates to enable multimedia-rich applications and services, the efficient use of wireless resources becomes crucial. For this reason, full-duplex communication [1]-[4], which increases the capacity of transmission channels by operating the uplink and downlink simultaneously on the same frequency channel (see Figure 1), is returning to the spotlight after decades of being presumed impractical. This long-held assumption resulted mainly from the need for large isolation (IX) between the transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) nodes [also known as self-interference cancellation (SIC)], which typically needs to be greater than 100 dB, a challenging task that requires several innovations at the network and physical layer levels.
Machine-learning-based object detection in images for reservoir characterization: A case study of fracture detection in shales

Abstract Imaging tools are widely used in the petroleum industry to investigate structural features of reservoir rocks directly at multiple scales. Quantitative image analysis is often used to dete...
Affordable Housing and the Socioeconomic Integration of Elementary Schools

Children from poor families achieve more academically if they are enrolled in schools that are socioeconomically integrated, but low-income students are increasingly attending schools characterized by high concentrations of poverty. Providing more housing opportunities for low-income families within the attendance zones of middle- and high-income schools has the potential to reverse this trend, but the link between the housing stock and the socioeconomic segregation of public schools has not been addressed in the existing literature. Using a panel of elementary schools in Florida, we show that increasing the stock of rental and affordable housing units in middle- and high-income neighborhoods has an important effect on the number of poor children attending these schools. Our results also reveal the types of housing units that have the largest impacts on socioeconomic segregation.
Simple Economics of Cybercrime and the Vicious Circle

Cybercrimes are becoming increasingly pervasive and sophisticated and have more severe economic impacts than most conventional crimes. Technology and skill-intensiveness; a higher degree of globalization than conventional crimes; and the newness make cybercrimes structurally different. In this chapter, we examine how characteristics of cyber-criminals, cybercrime-victims, and law-enforcement agencies have reinforced each other and formed the vicious circle. Next, we build on key elements of the vicious circle and some additional characteristics of cybercrimes to assess the cost–benefit calculus of a hacker.
Question Asking During Collaborative Problem Solving in an Online Game Environment

This paper investigated frequency of questions and depth of questions in terms of both task difficulty and game phase when players collaboratively solve problems in an online game environment, Land Science. The results showed frequency of questions increased with both the task difficulty and unfamiliar tasks in the game phases. We also found players asked much more shallow questions than intermediate and deep questions, but more deep questions than intermediate questions.
Positive Psychology and Poverty

For millennia scholars have given attention to the relationship between material resources and the Good Life. The findings from a large body of research literature suggest that income and related aspects of material life influence well-being at both the individual and national levels. Much of the popular and some of the academic understanding of those living in poverty have focused on problems related to living without material sufficiency. In this chapter, we suggest that there are many positive aspects in the lives of the very poor. In keeping with a positive psychology approach, we suggest that these strengths and successes can be useful in the process of empowering people living in poverty. We review research and theory from positive psychology as it bears on poverty, and present case studies for psychological empowerment.
First Application of a New Optical Rosette for Strain Measurements

Interferometric strain/slope rosette technique is an optical technique based on laser interferometric. It has advantages such as short gage length, non-contacting, thermal resistant, measuring both in-plane strains and out-of-plane deformations’ slopes simultaneously. Six-faced delta rosette has been always utilized. In this paper, a new type of rosette, the eight-faced rectangular rosette was first applied. Besides the advantages described above, the new rosette has the advantage for measuring strains/slopes directly in two orthogonal directions. This avoids the strain transformation process which was generally required by the delta rosette. Also, since the rectangular rosette measures strains directly along the two objective directions instead of measuring in the direction with an angle, higher sensitivity will be achieved. Two preliminary tests using the new rosette were presented in this paper. First, it was adapt to measure strains in a compression test of an aluminum block at each loading step. Resistance strain gage rosette was also applied for evaluating the result. Second, the new rosette was introduced for measuring the real time strain during an arc welding process. Strain history during the welding process was successfully obtained and compared well with results using delta rosettes.
Practical Disinfection Technique

Recommended practices for the disinfection of endoscopic equipment are inconsistently practiced. Manufacturer’s instructions for disinfection may be confusing, nonexistent, or difficult to follow. This article outlines the principles and provides a practical guide that can be applied to the disinfection of endoscopic equipment and accessories. The design of the equipment and its intended use are the key determinants for which disinfection process should be used.
Universalising the particular: strategic framing in immigrant cross-border activism

Existing literature on transnational migration suggests that immigrants’ participation in political cross-border activism is particularistic, meaning it is defined by national, racial, or ethnic co...
Effect of changes in salt content and food thickness on electromagnetic heating of rice, mashed potatoes and peas in 915 MHz single mode microwave cavity.

Abstract A mathematical model for predicting electromagnetic power dissipation within a rectangular dielectric slab heated by equal intensity 915 MHz plane waves from top and bottom was developed. A dimensionless parameter (J-T number) which is a combination of the loss factor (er″), dielectric constant (er′) and food thickness (L) was proposed. This unique number provided direct insight into the relationship between food dielectric properties, thickness, product temperature, and thermal lethality. For the validation tests, mashed potatoes, peas and rice samples with 0–2% salt content were processed in a pilot scale microwave assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) system. In each food, the combination of dielectric properties and thickness which gave J-T number of 1.8–2.2 at 100–121°C, provided the highest lethalities. MATS is a novel commercial technology being adapted in the food industry. A qualitative assessment of the combined effect of food properties on lethalities using this model will be helpful in process development for MATS systems.
Eosinophilic esophagitis during sublingual and oral allergen immunotherapy.

Purpose of review The aim of this review is to discuss the current evidence regarding the development of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in individuals undergoing oral and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) for both food and environmental allergens. Cumulative incidence of EoE in patients on allergen immunotherapy for peanut, milk, and egg is estimated. Recent findings De novo development of EoE in patients undergoing oral and SLIT has been demonstrated on the scale of case reports and prospective randomized trials. However, few individuals with EoE-like symptoms during immunotherapy undergo endoscopy, and the long-term outcomes of immunotherapy-associated EoE are unknown. Summary Evidence exists to suggest that allergen immunotherapy could place individuals at risk for the development of EoE, the true incidence of which may vary depending on antigen exposure and methods used to define the condition.
All-cause mortality among patients with hidradenitis suppurativa: A population-based cohort study in the United States.

Background The mortality risk for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is largely unknown. Objective To compare mortality risk among individuals with and without HS in the United States. Methods Retrospective cohort study in a population sample identified by using electronic health records data between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2016. Primary outcome was incidence of 5-year all-cause mortality. Results The crude 5-year mortality rate among patients with HS was 2.4% (321/13 289), compared with 2.7% (18 508/685 573) among control individuals. In the fully adjusted model, the increase in HS mortality risk was 14% (odds ratio [OR], 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.28). Overall, excess risk of death attributable to HS was 3.1 deaths per 1000 patients (95% CI, 0.2-6.0) during the study period. Characteristics associated with mortality among patients with HS included age (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.04-1.06), male sex (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.09-1.79), ever-smoking status (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.16-1.92), and Charlson Comorbidity Index score (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.21-1.29). Limitations The follow-up period may not have been long enough to assess the influence of disease severity or duration on mortality. Conclusion HS appears to confer an independent risk of all-cause mortality. This risk is also influenced by tobacco smoking and comorbidities, which may be modifiable.
Robots, Pirates, and the Rise of the Automated Takedown Regime

The notice-and-takedown provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has become increasingly controversial, particularly with the ever-increasing use of "robo-takedown" requests -- an automated procedure by which a copyright holder locates allegedly infringing content online and then sends a takedown notice to an ISP. The rise of the robo-takedown request has been met with considerable backlash, with critics pointing to the high volume of content removal and instances of overbroad takedown requests as evidence of "abuse" of the notice-and-takedown procedure. With automated processes, there can appear to be little stopping copyright holders from regularly sending illegitimate takedown requests to ISPs, sometimes in massive numbers. Users are able to counter-notify under the DMCA to contest removal of their content, but use of the counter-notification procedure is difficult to track and seemingly rare. But, does the high rate of takedown and the seemingly low instance of counter-notification reflect “abuse” of the notice-and-takedown procedure, or does it simply mean that the DMCA is effective at combating digital piracy? This Note takes an empirical approach to exploring the issue of notice-and-takedown “abuse” with a focus on instances of robo-takedown. To do so, it identifies and analyzes all known instances of litigation arising from the notice-and-takedown procedure, isolating those instances that arise from section 512(c) user counter-notification as well as those that are predicated on section 512(f) misrepresentation claims. After presenting the empirical findings, this Note argues that robo-takedown procedures aren’t actually doing as much harm as believed, and that they, coupled with methods of strengthening user pushback procedures and lessening the risk of overbroad takedown requests, are actually an efficient means of combating the high volume of infringing content in the digital world.
Copy number-based quantification assay for non-invasive detection of PVT1-derived transcripts.

Background One of the most important susceptibility loci for cancer is the 8q24 human chromosomal region. The non-protein coding gene locus plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) is located at 8q24 and is dysregulated in prostate cancer. PVT1 gives rise to multiple transcripts which may have different functions. Here, we describe a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based assay for copy number-based quantitation of PVT1 exons 4A, 4B, and 9 to enable accurate, reproducible, and quantifiable detection. Methods PVT1 exons 4A, 4B, and 9 were cloned into a plasmid vector to create standards for subsequent creation of linear standard curves representing a broad range of concentrations. PCR was carried out using SYBR-Green signal detection to quantify PVT1 exons 4A, 4B, and 9. The efficacy of this assay was evaluated by using it to detect these transcripts in prostate epithelial and prostate cancer cell lines, normal and cancerous human prostate tissues, human serum, mouse plasma, and urine samples. Results The results indicate that the assay can be used to quantify both low and high copy numbers of PVT1-derived transcripts. This is the first report of a copy number-based quantification assay for non-invasive detection of PVT1 derived transcripts. Conclusions This novel assay holds promise for routine non-invasive testing in diseases where PVT1 is dysregulated.
Speaking for the Refugee Other: Missioneering, White Saviourism, and the Politics of Ethnographic Representation in Luis Alberto Urrea's Across the Wire

Luis Alberto Urrea's Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border (1993) provides a harrowing perspective on the struggles of a group of mainly indigenous refugees and migrants who li...
Life-Extending Benefit of Crack Sealing for Pavement Preservation:

Crack sealing and filling is used as a pavement preservation treatment to prevent water infiltration and loss of load-carrying capacity, hence extending the life of the pavement. This study used fi...
Effects of 17 beta-estradiol and diets varying in energy on secretion of luteinizing hormone in beef heifers.

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that 17 beta-estradiol (E2) would not suppress secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) in heifers fed a diet limited in energy during the period before the onset of nutritionally induced anestrus. Sixteen of 20 heifers that had been exhibiting normal estrous cycles (20 mo of age, 409 +/- 6 kg body weight) were ovariectomized, and half of them were assigned at random to receive an E2 implant. The ovariectomized heifers were assigned at random to receive diets that contained low (L; 5.8 Mcal X animal-1 X d-1, n = 8) or high levels of energy (H; 20.0 Mcal X animal-1 X d-1, n = 8) for 100 d. The other four heifers remained intact and were fed the L-diet. The intact heifers were utilized to determine the status of reproductive function in animals fed the L-diet. Heifers lost body weight rapidly after initiation of feeding the L-diet. Heifers fed the L-diet then stabilized at a lighter weight until the latter part of the experiment. One of the four intact heifers fed the L-diet became anestrus near the end of the study. Mean concentrations of LH in blood serum increased linearly (P less than .05) in ovariectomized heifers fed the L- and H-diet. Mean concentration of LH in heifers fed the H-diet that were implanted with E2 was similar to ovariectomized heifers fed the H-diet that received no E2. Mean LH in serum of ovariectomized heifers implanted with E2 fed the L-diet was suppressed and remained low throughout the study. Frequency of pulses of LH in ovariectomized heifers fed the L-diet was less (P less than .01) than that in ovariectomized heifers fed the H-diet. Estradiol decreased the number of pulses of LH in heifers fed the L-diet. We conclude that dietary energy restriction in beef heifers has a direct action on the hypothalamo-pituitary axis to lower the number of pulses of LH in the absence of ovarian steroids. However, ovarian E2 appears to suppress further secretion of LH in heifers fed limited levels of dietary energy before the onset of nutritional anestrus occurs, therefore, our working hypothesis is rejected.
Atmospheric Oxidation Mechanism of Isoprene

Environmental Context. Many plant species biosynthesize and emit the volatile hydrocarbon isoprene. Once in the atmosphere, isoprene is susceptible to a range of reactions involving potentially hundred of products and intermediate compounds. The products of these reactions in turn may pose a risk to human and plant health and impact the climate through the generation of acids, ozone, and atmospheric aerosols. Abstract. The atmospheric oxidation mechanism of isoprene initiated by OH, O3, NO3, and Cl, which incorporates the most recent laboratory and theoretical studies, is described. A box model intercomparison between the new mechanism and previous available isoprene oxidation mechanisms has been performed. Ozone and OH concentrations are compared with predictions by the previous mechanisms in high and low NOx scenarios. The O3 and OH sensitivities to the chlorine−isoprene reactions have also been investigated by comparing the box model results with and without the chlorine−isoprene reactions, showing that the ozone production rate and OH concentrations are slightly impacted. The new mechanism facilitates more accurate modelling of isoprene photochemistry in the atmosphere.
Vaginitis and Cervicitis

Vaginitis is one of the most common reasons for women to seek medical care. Eliciting a detailed history and performing a comprehensive physical exam are crucial to make an accurate diagnosis. Bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, and trichomoniasis are the most common infectious etiologies for vaginitis. Non-infectious etiologies are related to foreign bodies or atrophic changes and are less common in adolescents. Rapid point-of-care tests are available to aid in the diagnosis of vaginitis which includes microscopic examination of vaginal secretions and testing of vaginal pH. Cervicitis can also be infectious and non-infectious in etiology. Infectious etiologies include sexually transmitted infections such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Mycoplasma genitalium. These infections generally respond well to treatment though misdiagnosis and, rarely, treatment resistance can occur.
Pre-formed Cooper pairs in copper oxides and LaAlO 3 —SrTiO 3 heterostructures

The Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory of superconductivity and the Landau–Fermi liquid theory form the basis of our current understanding of conventional superconductors and their parent non-superconducting phases. However, some exotic superconductors do not conform to this physical picture but instead feature an unusual ‘normal’ state that is not a Fermi liquid. One explanation of this unusual behaviour is that pre-formed pairs of electrons are established above the superconducting temperature Tc. Here, we highlight recent experiments that show the likely existence of these pre-formed pairs in two rather different materials—a high-temperature cuprate superconductor and strontium titanate. Moreover, in both materials the normal state from which superconductivity emerges has other shared properties, including a pseudogap and electronic nematicity—rotational symmetry breaking in the electron fluid that is not expected in Fermi liquid theory nor more generally from the crystal lattice symmetry. These experimental findings should provoke more interaction between the communities working on these materials and new insights into the underlying mechanism of the creation of pre-formed pairs. Pairs of electrons can form above the superconducting critical temperature. The authors review the similarities and differences in this phenomenology in copper-based superconductors and oxide heterostructures.
Reconfigurable Transport Networks to Accommodate Much More Traffic Demand

Transport networks are being used to exchange traffic among communication sites. Current transport networks are mostly static, because existing traffic patterns do not fluctuate wildly. However, given that demand fluctuations are likely to become significant due to the emerging diversity of network services, current static networks will have great difficulty in accommodating all future demands. In this paper, we propose a network architecture that can accommodate more demands by employing fiber cross-connects (FXCs) connected with dark fibers; FXCs, e.g., robotic patch panels and micro-electromechanical system, are optical switches that perform circuit-switching on a per-fiber basis. Because the FXCs can satisfy demand changes by reconfiguring the physical network topology, it can accommodate greater demand variations than traditional fixed networks; this is confirmed by numerical simulations. The reconfigurable network is particularly effective when the network has many nodes with significant demand fluctuations; it accommodates up to 2.5 times more demand than the fixed equivalent.
Role of CTSA institutes and academic medical centers in facilitating preapproval access to investigational agents and devices during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: With no approved treatments for COVID-19 initially available, the Food and Drug Administration utilized multiple preapproval pathways to provide access to investigational agents and/or medical devices: Expanded Access, Emergency Use Authorizations, and Clinical Trials. Regulatory units within an Academic Medical Center (AMC), including those part of the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium, have provided support for clinicians in navigating these options prior to the pandemic. As such, they were positioned to be a resource for accessing therapies during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Methods: A small survey and a follow-on poll of the national Investigational New Drug (IND)/Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) Workgroup were conducted in October and December 2020 to determine whether CTSA regulatory units assisted in facilitating access to COVID-19 therapies and the extent of pandemic-related challenges these units faced. Results: Fifteen survey and 21 poll responses were received, which provided insights into the demands placed on these regulatory support units due to the pandemic and the changes required to provide critical support during this and future crises. Key changes and lessons learned included the importance of regulatory knowledge to support the institutional response, the critical need for electronic submission capacity for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents, and the nimble reallocation of regulatory and legal resources to support patient access to investigational agents and/or medical devices during the pandemic. Conclusion: AMC- and CTSA-based regulatory units played a meaningful role in the COVID-19 pandemic but further unit modifications are needed for enabling more robust regulatory support in the future.
Neurolaryngology: In-office Diagnosis and Treatment

The purpose of this review is to highlight recent literature relating to the diagnosis and treatment of neurologic disorders of the larynx. The three main conditions of interest in this review are spasmodic dysphonia, essential tremor, and Parkinson’s disease. Diagnosis of these disorders requires a thorough history, complete physical exam, and a neurology consultation in most cases. While diagnostic tools have not changed much over the past year, recent studies proposing new treatment methods for these conditions will be reviewed.
Early Pleistocene Homo

Today, it is easy to identify humans (Homo sapiens) vis-a-vis all other primates because the anatomical and behavioral gulf between us and our closest living relatives is great and obvious (e.g., the former's large brain size, technological sophistication, worldwide distribution, and language). In our practical experience, there is only one human species living today and this seems reasonable to us given that our behavioral and technological adaptations are so pervasive that there is not enough “ecological room” for another humanlike species and it is easy for us to consider that this uniqueness and suite of adaptations extended well into the past. However, this view is challenged as we learn more about the behavioral sophistication of other living apes, and as more ancient and anatomically primitive hominin fossils are recovered. While the appearance of modern humans (H. sapiens) is first documented in the fossil record at 195,000 years ago in southern Ethiopia, the origins of the genus Homo extend back to 2.7–2.9 million years ago, with a complex history that includes significant taxonomic diversity and marked behavioral and anatomical evolution. Here, the fossil evidence for Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.78 million years ago) Homo is reviewed.
Protein-Nucleic Acid Interaction: Major Groove Recognition Determinants

Protein–nucleic acid interactions play a crucial role in central biological processes. It is known that the most common binding element of proteins is an α helix and the primary binding site on DNA is in the major groove. Some general rules of the α helix binding to the DNA major groove have been derived, but there is no general code (one-to-one correspondence) for recognition. Keywords: protein–nucleic acid complexes; zinc finger; α helix binding; major groove interactions
Viterbi detector for narrow-band digital FM with limiter-discriminator detection

Considers a Viterbi detector for narrowband digital FM with limiter-discriminator detection. It is shown that the bit-error-rate performance of a four-state Viterbi detector is better than that of a two bit (or four-level) decision feedback method for GMSK on an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. The four-state Viterbi detector can be applied to duobinary FM, generalized TFM, or any other continuous-phase modulation (CPM). Evaluating the relative performance between various digital FM schemes by minimum squared Euclidean distance is also discussed. Simulated performance for MSK, duobinary FM and GMSK with a Viterbi detector is given.
Choosing Hunting Sites: Web Site Preferences of the Orb Weaver Spider, Neoscona crucifera, Relative to Light Cues

Field experiments carried out on the nocturnal orb weaver spider, Neoscona crucifera (Aranea: Araneidae), found in deciduous hardwood forests suggest that lighted areas where prey densities are elevated provide cues used by the spiders to rank optimal foraging sites. Specifically, experiments were conducted to test whether spiders exhibited preferences for lighted areas where prey densities are high, maximizing their energy intake per unit of foraging time, and minimizing energy expended on web building. Incandescent light bulbs of 4–60 W were used to influence prey densities, and results indicate that when given a choice of brighter versus darker foraging areas, spiders seek lighted areas where prey densities are high. In addition, results support the hypothesis that the size and time of web construction are drastically reduced in brighter situations.
Optimal Willingness to Supply Wholesale Electricity Under Asymmetric Linearized Marginal Costs

This analysis derives the profit-maximizing willingness to supply functions for single-plant and multi-plant wholesale electricity suppliers that all incur linear marginal costs. The optimal strategy must result in linear residual demand functions in the absence of capacity constraints. This necessarily leads to a linear pricing rule structure that can be used by firm managers to construct their offer curves and to serve as a benchmark to evaluate firm profit-maximizing behavior. The procedure derives the cost functions and the residual demand curves for merged or multi-plant generators, and uses these to construct the individual generator plant offer curves for a multi-plant firm. Keywords: Wholesale Electricity; Cost; Willingness to Supply; Linear Analysis; Multi-Plant; Asymmetric JEL Classifications: D43; L11; L94
Trimming of silicon nitride microring resonators with a polysilane top cladding

We demonstrate 23.5 nm shifts of Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ microring resonances by exposing a polysilane cladding layer to UV light. Our PECVD polysilane cladding is superior to other approaches, because it is insoluble, demonstrates good stability, and exhibits /spl sim/4% index shift.
Comparing apples with oranges: evaluating twelve paradigms of agency

We report on a study in which twelve different paradigms were used to implement agents acting in an environment which borrows elements from artificial life and multi-player strategy games. In choosing the paradigms we strived to maintain a balance between high level, logic based approaches to low level, physics oriented models; between imperative programming, declarative approaches and "learning from basics" as well as between anthropomorphic or biologically inspired models on one hand and pragmatic, performance oriented approaches on the other. Instead of strictly numerical comparisons (which can be applied to certain pairs of paradigms, but might be meaningless for others), we had chosen to view each paradigm as a methodology, and compare the design, development and debugging process of implementing the agents in the given paradigm. We found that software engineering techniques could be easily applied to some approaches, while they appeared basically meaningless for other ones. The performance of some agents were easy to predict from the start of the development, for other ones, impossible. The effort required to achieve certain functionality varied widely between the different paradigms. Although far from providing a definitive verdict on the benefits of the different paradigms, our study provided a good insight into what type of conceptual, technical or organizational problems would a development team face depending on their choice of agent paradigm.
Is a knotted graph determined by its associated links

Given a θ-curve in S3, an associated link can be defined as a knot type invariant of the θ-Curve. In this paper we partially proved the conjecture that θ-curves in S3 are determined by their associated links and showed that the conjecture does not hold in an oriented and ordered case.
Negotiations and Power Asymmetries: The Cases of Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka

Ethnic conflict, as illustrated by the cases of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Sri Lanka, has been difficult to negotiate due to the power asymmetries involved and the general belief of national governments that such issues should be solved through the political process. Although external, ethnic-linked groups can help address some of the problems of power asymmetry, they can also complicate the process. Changing power structures in an increasingly multicentric world may create an environment in which successful resolution of ethnic violence becomes more likely, but democracy impacts both positively and negatively upon such an outcome.
Reduced 5-hydroxymethyluracil-DNA glycosylase activity in Werner's syndrome cells.

Abstract Werner's syndrome (WS) is an autosomal recessive disease marked by early symptoms of accelerated aging. There is evidence indicating accumulation of oxidized DNA bases to be a major factor in cellular aging. The first step excision repair of such bases in human cells is their removal from DNA by glycosylases. 5-Hydroxymethyluracil (HMU)-DNA glycosylase excises HMU from DNA; another glycosylase removes many non-aromatic pyrimidine derivatives. Levels of glycosylases that excise oxidized pyrimidines from DNA were compared between confluent and proliferating populations of WS cells, age-matched controls, and young control cells. They were assayed by measurements of direct release of free bases from their respective DNA substrates. Specific activities of the glycosylase that releases various modified pyrimidines and of uracil-DNA glycosylase (which removes uracil from DNA) were essentially the same in all cell lines. Cell cycle variations of these enzymes also did not differ between WS and control cells. HMU-DNA glycosylase specific activity was reduced in WS cells. Reduction of HMU-DNA glycosylase has been described in senescent human WI-38 cells. Therefore, while neither WS nor senescent cells have overall deficiencies of DNA glycosylase activities, they both might have reduced excision of HMU from DNA. This indicates a possible role of HMU accumulation in the aging process.
Identification of an amino acid domain encoded by the capsid gene of porcine circovirus type 2 that modulates intracellular viral protein distribution during replication

Previous work showed that distinct amino acid motifs are encoded by the Rep, Cap and ORF3 genes of two subgroups of porcine circoviruses (PCV), PCV2a and PCV2b. At a specific location of the gene, a certain amino acid residue or sequence is preferred. Specifically, two amino acid domains located in the capsid protein, designated motif-1 (six residues located at positions 86-91) and motif-2 (four residues at positions 190-191-206-210), have been identified to associate with either PCV2a (motif-1a:T(N)KI(S)I and motif-2a:SRKD) or PCV2b (motif-1b:S(N)PR(S)V and motif-2b:AGIE) preferentially. In this study, the protein distribution pattern of a PCV2a isolate and a PCV2b isolate was examined. Each virus exhibited a different viral protein pattern during replication in porcine kidney cells and the viral protein distribution pattern was associated with amino acid motif-2 but not motif-1. The results also showed that a more robust accumulation of viral proteins in the nucleus was associated with motif-2b than with motif-2a. In addition, viruses containing motif-2b replicated better than viruses containing motif-2a in porcine kidney cells.
Parametric Conversion and Amplification of Light in Moving Media

We present calculations which should be of interest in connection with the problem of radiative transport through the magnetospheres of pulsars and the envelopes of quasars, where not only are particle speeds of the order of the speed of light expected, but also variations of refractive index with frequency and position.
Aqueous solution properties of pH‐responsive AB diblock acrylamido–styrenic copolymers synthesized via aqueous reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer

Here we report the synthesis and solution characterization of a novel series of AB diblock copolymers with neutral, water-soluble A blocks consisting of N,N- dimethylacrylamide and pH-responsive B blocks of N,N-dimethylvinylbenzylamine. To our knowledge, this represents the first example of an acrylamido-styrenic block copolymer prepared directly in a homogeneous aqueous solution. The best blocking order (with poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) as a macro-chain-transfer agent) yielded well-defined block copolymers with minimal homopolymer impurities. The reversible aggregation of these block copolymers in aqueous media was studied with 1 H NMR spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. Finally, an example of core-crosslinked micelles was demonstrated by the addition of a difunctional crosslinking agent to a micellar solution of the parent block copolymer. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 1724 -1734, 2004
Size, Weight and Power Efficiency for High-power, Nonlinear, Geophysical-transmitter, Rod-core Antennas

There is a significant body of work that addresses the use of rod-core antennas as receiver coils. However, research on the use of rod-core antennas as transmitters is limited since high-permeability core materials are nonlinear at high-drive levels. This paper analyzes weight, power and volume efficiencies of rod cores constructed from six different materials: two types of ferrite toroids; black-oxide, low-carbon-steel wire; two types of Metglas foil tapes; and Nanocrystalline material foil tape. Weight efficiency is defined as the ratio of the antenna’s magnetic moment to the sum of the antenna’s core, wire and battery weights. Likewise, power efficiency is defined as the ratio of the antenna’s magnetic moment and the antenna’s resistive power losses, and volume efficiency is defined as the ratio of the antenna’s magnetic moment and the antenna’s volume. The magnetic moment, core-series-loss-resistance, and inductance were measured at various magnetic core flux densities. These data were then modified t...
Virtual heat entrainment in the mixed layer over very rough terrain

Inversion fluxes of virtual heat were computed for seven clear days over the Pre-Alpine region in Switzerland with profile data from a sequence of radio soundings. Several entrainment models based on the turbulent kinetic energy equation were tested with the data. It was found that the relatively simple equation first proposed by Tennekes (1973) which contains both a convective and a mechanical term for the entrainment does as well as the more complicated parameterizations. In addition, the effect of water vapor on the magnitude of the buoyancy fluxes at the surface and at the inversion was observed to be important since the Bowen ratio normally ranged between 0.1 and 0.2.