cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Response to “John Wesley Powell and the Unmaking of the West”

I have been working for a while on a study of the life and times of John Wesley Powell, partly because the biographies by William Culp Darrah and Wallace Stegner are so out of date (both were conceived more than a half century ago) and because neither was adequately researched. Both tend to glorify Powell and excuse his failings, which admittedly were many: too limited a passion for the wild, too much acquiescence in the removal of Indians, too uncritical a faith in science and progress. But Karl Hess Jr., in "John Wesley Powell and the Unmaking of the West" [Environmental History2 (January 1997): 7-28], takes legitimate criticisms and turns them into a rant against government that belongs on talk radio more than in a scholarly journal. He has simply not done his homework on Powell. He confusedly blames all environmental degradation in the West on Powell and his successors, a group of federal resource managers whose main fault is that they have too willingly served private greed. He offers no evidence that the western range has actually gotten worse under government supervision than it was under the laissez-faire regime prior to the 1930s. He holds up a false nostalgic ideal of unregulated capitalism as the golden road to environmental preservation and community ethics. He dishonors the memory of Stegner, whose views of the West were complex and always open to new information. Hess wants to make Powell the founding figure of Progressivism, which he defines as experts ruling over the lives of ordinary people. These Progressives supposedly ruined the West. However one regards the Progressive movement (and I have been critical of its legacy myself), Powell was of a rather different persuasion. His ideal West was not Gifford Pinchot's ideal West, in which western lands would remain in federal hands and federal resource agencies would manage them. That is why the two never saw eye to eye. Powell may have been, on the national level, an evolutionary socialist; that is, he saw large-scale industrial incorporation leading inevitably toward a more centralized state. But out in
Classification, Technical Specifications, and Types of Home Sleep Testing Devices for Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major public health problem, affecting up to 5% of the world population and between 2% and 4% of adults in the United States. It is characterized by periods of breathing cessation (apnea) and periods of reduced breathing (hypopnea). Both types of events have similar pathophysiology and consequences for patients. The severity of the disorder is quantified by measuring the number of apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep (ie, the apneahypopnea index [AHI]). The standard approach to diagnosis is in-laboratory, technician-attended polysomnography (PSG). PSG requires technical expertise, is labor-intensive, and is timeconsuming. Timely access to diagnostic testing is a problem for many patients, delayed diagnosis is common, and the costs associated with conducting in-laboratory PSG remain high. Therefore, alternative approaches to diagnosis, such as portable monitoring (PM), have been proposed as a substitute for PSG in the diagnostic assessment of patients with suspected sleep apnea. The term “portable monitoring” encompasses a wide range
Intricate combinatorial patterns of exon splicing generate multiple regulated troponin T isoforms from a single gene.

Abstract Mechanisms of alternative RNA splicing, important in the generation of protein diversity, are common but incompletely understood. Among the contractile proteins, troponin T exists in several isoforms, shown to be derived in part from a novel pattern of differential RNA splicing in the 3′ region of the rat skeletal fast troponin T gene. In fact, this gene has a previously unsuspected capacity to encode multiple isoforms. The isolation of four distinct but related cDNAs from this gene, which share discontinuous subsegments of sequence identity in their 5′ regions, and the determination of the genomic sequence, demonstrate that small exons with characteristic split codon structure are differentially spliced in intricate combinatorial patterns to generate a minimum of 10, and potentially 64, distinct troponin T mRNAs, encoding different isoforms, in a developmentally regulated and tissue-specific manner. At least two of these mRNAs are spliced from structurally identical primary transcripts, necessitating control by trans -acting factors.
Replies to commentators on Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards

Here I reply to Jean Gayon's, Tim Lewens's, and Samir Okasha's comments on Did Darwin write the Origin backwards? The topics addressed include: (1) Darwin's thinking that common ancestry is "evidentially prior" to natural selection; (2) how Darwin uses phylogenetic trees to test hypotheses concerning natural selection; (3) how group and indivdiual selection should be defined, and how each is related to the concept of adaptation.
A novel low energy fast chopper for H-injectors

The Fermilab H- injector will be upgraded from a Cockcroft-Walton system to a 750 keV RFQ (radio frequency quadrupole) system. Part of the upgrade is the addition of a fast chopper in the LEBT (low energy beam transport) just before the RFQ. The novelty of this chopper is that it reflects rather than deflects beam. It also has low capacitance < 10 pF so that the rise and fall times of the beam pulse are dominated by cabling and the MOSFET switches. In fact, the measured rise and fall time of the chopped beam have been measured and they are better than 150 ns at 15 Hz.
Inkball models for character localization and out-of-vocabulary word spotting

Inkball models have previously been used for keyword spotting under the whole word query-by-image paradigm. This paper applies inkball methods to string-based queries for the first time, using synthetic models composed from individual characters. A hybrid system using both query-by-string for unknown words and query-by-example for known words outperforms either approach by itself on the George Washington and Parzival test sets. In addition, inkball character models offer an explanatory tool for understanding handwritten markings. In combination with a transcript they can help to to attribute each ink pixel of a word image to specific letters, resulting in high-quality character segmentations.
Energy deficit after exercise augments lipid mobilization but does not contribute to the exercise-induced increase in insulin sensitivity

The content of meals consumed after exercise can impact metabolic responses for hours and even days after the exercise session. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of low dietary carbohydrate (CHO) vs. low energy intake in meals after exercise on insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism the next day. Nine healthy men participated in four randomized trials. During the control trial (CON) subjects remained sedentary. During the other three trials, subjects exercised [65% peak oxygen consumption (Vo2peak); cycle ergometer and treadmill exercise] until they expended ∼800 kcal. Dietary intake during CON and one exercise trial (BAL) was designed to provide sufficient energy and carbohydrate to maintain nutrient balance. In contrast, the diets after the other two exercise trials were low in either CHO (LOW-CHO) or energy (LOW-EN). The morning after exercise we obtained a muscle biopsy, assessed insulin sensitivity (Si; intravenous glucose tolerance test) and measured lipid kinetics (isotope tracers). Although subjects were in energy balance during both LOW-CHO and CON, the lower muscle glycogen concentration during LOW-CHO vs. CON (402 ± 29 vs. 540 ± 33 mmol/kg dry wt, P < 0.01) coincided with a significant increase in Si [5.2 ± 0.7 vs. 3.8 ± 0.7 (mU/l)−1·min−1; P < 0.05]. Conversely, despite ingesting several hundred fewer kilocalories after exercise during LOW-EN compared with BAL, this energy deficit did not affect Si the next day [4.9 ± 0.9, and 5.0 ± 0.8 (mU/l)−1·min−1]. Maintaining an energy deficit after exercise had the most potent effect on lipid metabolism, as measured by a higher plasma triacylglycerol concentration, and increased plasma fatty acid mobilization and oxidation compared with when in nutrient balance. Carbohydrate deficit after exercise, but not energy deficit, contributed to the insulin-sensitizing effects of acute aerobic exercise, whereas maintaining an energy deficit after exercise augmented lipid mobilization.
Valve Replacement in Patients with Native Valve Endocarditis: What Really Determines Operative Outcome?

Abstract The influence of 27 variables on operative mortality and late complications (defined as residual or recurrent endocarditis or late bland periprosthetic leak) was determined using discriminant analysis for 108 patients undergoing valve replacement for native valve endocarditis at Stanford University Medical Center from March, 1964, to January, 1983. Congestive heart failure was the indication for valve replacement in 86% of patients. Aortic valve replacement was required in 68% and mitral valve replacement, in 26%. Patients were arbitrarily defined as having active (58%) or healed (42%) endocarditis. Follow-up included 515 patient-years and extended to a maximum of 19 years. Operative mortality was 15 ± 4%, and 17 patients had late complications (linearized rate, 3.3% per patient-year). Seven variables were significantly related to operative mortality in the univariate analysis, but only organism ( Staphylococcus aureus versus all others, p = 0.0302) was a significant independent predictor of operative mortality. For late complications, only 2 of 7 significant univariate covariates proved to be significant independent determinants: organisms on valve culture or gram stain and the presence of annular abscess. Patients with S. aureus endocarditis not showing prompt response to antibiotic treatment must be considered for early operation. Similarly, timely operative intervention for patients with annular abscess will be essential in decreasing late valve infections and perivalvular leaks.
The emergence of HIV in the U.S. blood supply: Organizations, obligations, and the management of uncertainty

In the early 1980s, blood suppliers in most Western nations went through at least a crisis, and often a scandal. Thousands of people were infected with HIV after receiving a blood transfusion or some other blood product. Blood-borne AIDS, like the AIDS epidemic as a whole, was a human tragedy. It was also an organizational disaster. If we want to understand what happened, the experience of the United States provides a particularly important starting point. It has the largest blood industry in the world. Unusually, a non-pro¢t whole blood sector that relies on voluntary donations coexists with a large, for-pro¢t plasma industry that buys its raw material from suppliers. Almost the same volume of raw plasma is purchased as whole blood is donated each year. In retrospect, the blood industry in the U.S. between 1981 and 1983 provides a kind of natural experiment that allows us to test and develop our ideas about the social embeddedness of economic transactions, and the reactions of complex organizations to uncertainty.
Effects of Exogenous Heme on Renal Function. Role of Heme Oxygenase and Cyclooxygenase

We examined the effects of heme administration (15 mg/kg IV) on indexes of renal carbon monoxide production and contrasted the renal functional response to heme in anesthetized rats pretreated and not pretreated with stannous mesoporphyrin (40 μmol/kg IV) to inhibit heme oxygenase or sodium meclofenamate (5 mg/kg IV plus infusion at 10 μg/kg per minute) to inhibit cyclooxygenase. In rats without drug pretreatment, heme administration decreased renal vascular resistance and increased renal blood flow, urine volume, and sodium excretion associated with augmented urinary excretion of 6-keto-PGF 1α and enhanced concentration of carbon monoxide in the renal cortical microdialysate. Pretreatment with stannous mesoporphyrin did not prevent heme from producing renal vasodilation and increasing renal blood flow but abolished the diuretic and natriuretic responses. Conversely, pretreatment with sodium meclofenamate blunted the renal vasodilatory effect of heme but affected neither the diuretic nor the natriuretic effect. We conclude that heme-induced renal vasodilation is a cyclooxygenase-dependent response involving increased synthesis of PGI 2 , whereas heme-induced diuresis and natriuresis are heme oxygenase-dependent responses involving inhibition of tubular reabsorption of sodium and water through undefined mechanisms.
The diffusion of a mass genetic screening programme.

This paper reports the diffusion of knowledge of screening for a genetic disorder (Tay–Sachs disease) in two fairly well defined, urban, Jewish populations in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas, and on some of the sociological variables which influence the diffusion. Differences between the two populations are shown.
A STATISTICAL MODEL OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

Motivated by empirical observations of spatio-temporal clusters of crime across a wide variety of urban settings, we present a model to study the emergence, dynamics, and steady-state properties of crime hotspots. We focus on a two-dimensional lattice model for residential burglary, where each site is characterized by a dynamic attractiveness variable, and where each criminal is represented as a random walker. The dynamics of criminals and of the attractiveness field are coupled to each other via specific biasing and feedback mechanisms. Depending on parameter choices, we observe and describe several regimes of aggregation, including hotspots of high criminal activity. On the basis of the discrete system, we also derive a continuum model; the two are in good quantitative agreement for large system sizes. By means of a linear stability analysis we are able to determine the parameter values that will lead to the creation of stable hotspots. We discuss our model and results in the context of established crim...
Oligoaniline intermediates in the aniline-peroxydisulfate system

Abstract Chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline using peroxydisulfate oxidant in aqueous pH 2.5–10.0 buffers yields electrically insulating brown powders that are believed to be mixtures of Michael-type adducts of benzoquinone monoimine and aniline at various stages of hydrolysis. A spectroscopically similar product is formed when solid 1,4-benzoquinone is added to an aqueous solution of aniline at room temperature in the absence of peroxydisulfate. This suggests that the peroxydisulfate oxidant in the aniline/S2O82− system provides a pathway for the formation of benzoquinone monoimine as an intermediate. Benzoquinone monoimine intermediate could be formed as a result of a Boyland–Sims rearrangement of aniline proceeding via the intermediacy of p-aminophenyl sulfate. Benzoquinone monoimine undergoes a series of conjugate 1,4-Michael-type addition/reoxidation/coupling steps with aniline or p-aminophenyl sulfate yielding the oligoaniline product. The precipitate that is isolated is also in the midst of two simultaneous pH dependent hydrolysis reactions: (i) hydrolysis of the imine groups to quinone, and (ii) hydrolysis of arylsulfates to phenols. The ratio of hydrolysis in each case was determined by the C/N ratio and sulfur elemental analysis values yielding analytical data that is consistent with experimentally determined values and also with our proposed reaction scheme. These findings offer a rationale for the high C/N ratios (>6.0) frequently observed in these systems while tracing the genesis of the residual sulfur in the product to unhydrolyzed arylsulfate. The oligoaniline product has previously been reported to have a novel poly-aza structure consisting of continuously linked –N–N–N– bonds, and alternately also reported to consist of phenazine-type linkages. This study is consistent with the latter and describes a pathway to phenazine coupling through a second and third stage hydrolysis of the arylsulfate and reoxidation with peroxydisulfate. There is no pathway for the formation of linear –N–N–N– linkages in the aniline/benzoquinone adduct and the striking similarity between its spectroscopic properties and the aniline/S2O82− adduct suggests that it is not a preferred pathway under these experimental conditions.
The Dialectical Gaze Exploring the Subject-Object Tension in the Performances of Women who Strip

Much of past research on female exotic dance has characterized strippers as deviant workers who are either passive, objectified victims of a sexploitation system that trades on their bodies for financial gain or as active subjects who work the exchange for their own benefit. Drawing on theories of power, performance, and communication, this work complicates the subject-object tension, showing how power circulates through a system of competing discursive relationships forming a dialectic of agency and constraint in which strippers are simultaneously subjects and objects. The author presents ethnographic data of how strippers discursively negotiate the ambivalence and contradictions they experience during their interactions with customers, management, and their families. Finally, this work concludes that given the need for all women to perform their prescribed gender in the course of their everyday lives, the occupation of the exotic dancer may not be as deviant as previously defined.
MAESTRO: Orchestrating predictive resource management in future multicore systems

In this position paper, we make a case for a novel framework called MAESTRO which predictively manages system resources in shared-memory parallel computing platforms built with advanced multicore processors. In such platforms, effectively coordinating the use of asymmetric shared system resources under complex program execution scenarios becomes hard. Current resource management strategies are mostly reactive and have limited awareness of an application's resource usage and asymmetry in hardware resources. For better resource management, MAESTRO monitors the program execution environment (hardware/OS) and application behaviors, learns useful knowledge from collected information, annotates the results of the learning to relevant program and system control structures, and makes resource management decisions such as task mapping and cache partitioning in a predictive manner.
Effect of particle size and boundary conditions on the shear stress in an annular shear cell

The effect of particle size and boundary geometry in granular shear flows is investigated. The measured shear stress of glass spheres in an annular shear cell experiment is reported. In order to explore the particle size effect, the experiments are run using four different particle diameters, d = 2, 3, 4, and 5 mm. It is found that the shear stress follows the Bagnold scaling with respect to the apparent shear rate, but deviates from it with respect to particle size. For high solids concentration the results deviate qualitatively from the kinetic theory for bounded granular shear flows, where the non-dimensional shear stress measured with large particles exceeds that measured for small particles by as much as one order of magnitude. The effect of the boundary geometry is explored by using three different boundary types; type 1 employs aluminum radial half-cylinders, type 2 employs aluminum hemispheres arranged in a polar hexagonal closed packed configuration, and type 3 employs sandpaper. It is shown that the geometry of the boundary has an insignificant effect on dilute flows of small particles. For denser flows and/or larger particles the difference is evident. The sandpaper boundary, which is different from the aluminum ones both in geometry and in its material properties, yields the lowest stress. These results imply that in granular materials-structure interaction, the structure’s properties are just as important as the properties of the granular material. Their interaction may also depend on the relative size between the structure and the grain size.
Using Big Data, Large-Scale Studies, Secondary Datasets, and Secondary Data Analysis as Tools to Inform Social Studies Teaching and Learning

Secondary datasets, large-scale studies, and big data are attractive information sources that have the potential to broaden the scope and influence of social studies research. Using large-scale samples and complex sampling frames, secondary datasets offer greater external validity, considerably more variables, and more representative samples than primary data. Other advantages of secondary datasets are accessibility, time and cost savings; however; analyses of these datasets require knowledge of a wide range of statistical methods and modeling. Positioning the value of large datasets in examining the vox populi and the underutilization of large-scale studies and secondary data analysis in social studies, authors discuss possibilities big data offer the field, democratization of data, and repurposing of data. Limitations of working with large-scale datasets and statistical considerations to avoid pitfalls of secondary data analyses are presented. Authors conclude with the potential wisdom of democratic judgment derived from large-scale, data-informed thinking in social studies.
Book Review: New Media and Communication across Religions and Cultures, edited by Isaac Nahon-Serfaty and Rukhsana Ahmed

New Media and Communication across Religions and Cultures. Isaac Nahon-Serfaty and Rukhsana Ahmed, eds. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2014. xxi + 304 pp. $195 hbk.In October 2009, three dozen scholars, media professionals, and community activists from North America, South America, and Europe gathered for a daylong workshop at the University of Ottawa to examine normative issues at the crossroads of communication and religion. Representing disciplines from art, communication studies, and political science to philosophy, religion, and semiotics, the participants scrutinized interfaith practices of religious groups and cultures and religious dimensions of media organizations and productions. For this anthology, University of Ottawa associate professors of communication Isaac Nahon-Serfaty and Rukhsana Ahmed selected nine of the workshop papers and solicited five others. The result is a multi-disciplinary collection of papers that highlight ongoing concerns about public dimensions of religion.A few of the chapters stand out. "Cult Wars on the Internet" by Susan Palmer, a professor of religious studies at Dawson College in Montreal, explains how new religious movements (NRMs) experience cyberspace as both a weapon and a shield. Bypassing commercial media not only allows NRMs to define themselves, but it also makes NRMs vulnerable to secularists who depict them as harmful and to religious opponents who depict them as heretical. Using examples from the Raelians, the Church of Scientology, Hare Krishna, and Falun Gong, Palmer shows how NRM leaders struggle to correct media rumors, to create and maintain evenhanded Wikipedia entries, and to block attacks on their websites. Online challenges increasingly come from dissident members who, as Palmer points out, are sometimes able to instigate reforms within NRMs.Another notable chapter is by Ronald I. Cohen, the National Chair of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) from 1993 until 2011, who explains how the CBSC has responded to complaints about television and radio broadcasts related to religion. A complaint about the short-lived network program, Dieu recoit ("God Receives"), resulted in the CBSC finding that the show was neither anti-Catholic nor disdainful of any individual believer despite its irreverent depiction of God as a scrawny, mustachioed, bespectacled administrator who viewed the past, present, and future on his "oracle" viewing screen. By contrast, the CBSC upheld a complaint about an R. W. Schambach sermon on Power Today in which the evangelist called homosexuals "devils" and "demon possessed." According to Cohen, "The right to speak freely does not, in the view of the CBSC, supersede the right of identifiable groups to be free from abusive or unduly discriminatory comment on the basis of, among other things, their religion. …
Solubilization of Hexafluorobenzene by the Micellar Aromatic Core Formed from Aggregation of Amphiphilic (2,3-O-Dibenzyl-6-O-sulfobutyl) Cyclodextrins.

Aggregation colloids that possess an aromatic pseudophase in an aqueous system could provide new avenues of research including micellar catalysis, aqueous remediation, and emulsion polymerization studies. The apparent aggregation of two macrocyclic surfactants, hexakis (2,3-O-dibenzyl-6-O-sulfobutyl) cyclomaltohexaose (DBSBA) and heptakis (2,3-O-dibenzyl-6-O-sulfobutyl) cyclomaltoheptaose (DBSBB), was investigated using diffusion ordered nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (DOSY), conductivity, and pyrene fluorescence techniques. These amphiphiles were found to possess near spherical symmetry at critical micelle concentrations of approximately 0.1 mM in all techniques used to study the phenomenon. Aggregation of both surfactants was found to be entropically driven at low temperatures but enthalpically driven at higher temperatures. The calculated compensation temperatures of DBSBA and DBSBB were determined to be 317 and 307 K, respectively. These surfactants contain a high percentage of aromatic...
Problems in Reporting of Health and Epidemic Control Information and Countermeasures after Wenchuan Earthquake in Mianyang

Objective To analyze the problems in reporting of health and epidemic control information after Wenchuan earthquake in Mianyang,and explore the countermeasures.Methods The data of health and epidemic control information reporting in Mianyang CDC were collected and analyzed systematically and statistically.Results The information reporting was carried out by temporary information groups with unsatisfied reporting channel and non-consistent contents,which resulted in the poor quality of information reporting.The timeliness rate of reporting by routine way was less than 60%,and the timeliness rate of reporting by specific way was less than 50%.Conclusion It is necessary to strengthen the health and epidemic control information reporting in public health emergency and improve the relevant systems.
Measurement of sister chromatid exchange induction in intracerebral brain tumors as a method for evaluation of therapeutic drug combinations.

Rats with 9L or 9L-2 intracerebral brain tumors were treated with streptozotocin (STZ) and 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) at various doses either as single agents or in combination. Treatment of rats bearing 9L or 9L-2 tumors with either STZ or BCNU produced a significant increase the level of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) (p <.001). Compared with 9L-2 tumors, 9L tumors were 7.8 -fold more sensitive to the induction of SCEs by BCNU treatment. After combination treatments of STZ and BCNU, the number of SCEs observed in 9L tumors was additive but was synergistic in 9L-2 tumors. O 6 -alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase activity (AGT) was measured in 9L and 9L-2 cells in vitro. No AGT activity was detected in 9L cells, however, a low level of activity was measured in 9L-2. In vitro, treatment of 9L-2 cells with STZ produced a dose dependent inhibition of AGT activity. We interpret, these results to suggest that STZ pretreatment potentiated the effects of BCNU in 9L-2 tumors by inhibiting AGT activity. The observations in this study suggest that measurement of SCE induction in intracerebral tumor models may provide a useful strategy for evaluating the effectiveness of new agents and potential therapeutic combinations for the treatment of gliomas.
Training Spatial Ability

The ability to create a mental image of an object and then to manipulate it mentally has significant practical application in fields such as mathematics, physics, architecture, engineering and design. It is documented that success in these fields is highly predicted by one’s ability to visualize and manipulate objects (e.g. Ghiselli, 1966). Moreover, it is becoming increasingly apparent that spatial skills may reflect important intellectual capacities that cannot be measured verbally. For example, Einstein, through his own accounts, considered his primary thoughts to be visual, not verbal (Hadamard, 1945). This suggests that reasoning need not be entirely verbal in nature. If this is the case, it would be extremely useful to know if training or some other types of experience would lead to improvement of this aptitude. Although many researchers have addressed this question, available evidence does not provide an unequivocal answer. For example, two studies in 1942, one by Faubian, Cleveland, and Hassell, and the other by Churchill, Curtis, Coombs, and Hassell, showed no improvement in spatial tests (relative to a control group) after training in drafting, blueprint reading, and engineering drawing. In contrast, Blade and Watson (1955) did find evidence for the trainability of spatial ability.
Clinical Applications of Kinase Inhibitors in Solid Tumors

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the role of kinase inhibitors in treatment of tumors and cancers. Cancer treatment has seen a new form of treatment in the form of a newer class of “targeted therapies,” involving selective kinase inhibitors. In May 2001 imatinib became the first kinase inhibitor approved to treat a human cancer ushering in a new paradigm in cancer drug development. This chapter highlights the clinical applications of kinase inhibitors in the first three specific solid tumors for which kinase inhibitors were approved, gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GISTs), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In one case (GIST), understanding of the molecular etiology of the disease led to rational drug development; in another case (NSCLC), clinical drug development led to rational dissection of the underlying biology; and in a third case (RCC), an existing body of molecular knowledge provided a framework to begin to understand why a certain class of drugs may be effective. To explain this, the study discusses relevant translational studies. Under this, it touches upon the clinical aspects of these diseases, pharmacologic properties of the kinase inhibitors used in these diseases, and the clinical trial design. The development of such agents has been the direct result of major progress made in the elucidation of molecular signaling events that lead to and sustain cancer.
Retaining the Activity of Enzymes and Fluorophores Attached to Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide (GO) has drawn interest for impermeable coatings, water purification, drug delivery vectors, and other applications that involve functionalizing its surface with molecular, polymeric, or biomolecular species. Existing GO functionalization strategies rely on covalent attachment to polar functionalities at its oxidized regions or weak nonspecific absorption to the graphitic regions. These modifications risk disrupting GO’s aqueous dispersibility and leave its hydrophobic patches available to disrupt protein structure and quench the emission of fluorophores. Here, we demonstrate a general strategy to functionalize GO noncovalently using tripodal binding motifs, which present three pyrene moieties that bind to the hydrophobic regions. Tripods immobilize the serine protease enzyme chymotrypsin (ChT) onto GO and preserve its native structure and activity. In contrast, unmodified GO is one of the strongest known ChT inhibitors, which we show to arise from interactions with both GO’s hydrophilic re...
Distribution and Dynamics of Metrosideros Dieback on the Island of Hawai’i: Implications for Management Programs

Large sections of the montane rain forest community on the windward (eastern) side of the island of Hawai’i experienced death or defoliation of the dominant tree species, ‘ohi’a-lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha Gaud.), since the mid-1960s (Mueller-Dombois and Krajina 1968; Burgan and Nelson 1972; Mueller- Dombois 1980, 1988; US Forest Service 1981; Jacobi et al. 1983, 1988). The appearance of large tracts of forest in apparent decline caused a great deal of concern among biologists, land managers, and the general public over the future quality of the forest watershed and stability of this native rain forest ecosystem with its numerous endangered species (Burgan and Nelson 1972; Anon. 1974; Clark 1974; Alton 1975). Petteys et al. (1975) described the ‘ohi’a forest death as “a severe epidemic”, and they predicted that the native rain forest would be eliminated from this windward habitat in 15 to 25 years if the rate of tree death continued.
Hidden histories of gene flow in highland birds revealed with genomic markers.

Genomic studies are revealing that divergence and speciation are marked by gene flow, but it is not clear whether gene flow has played a prominent role during the generation of biodiversity in species-rich regions of the world where vicariance is assumed to be the principal mode by which new species form. We revisit a well-studied organismal system in the Mexican Highlands, Aphelocoma jays, to test for gene flow among Mexican sierras. Prior results from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) largely conformed to the standard model of allopatric divergence, although there was also evidence for more obscure histories of gene flow in a small sample of nuclear markers. We tested for these “hidden histories” using genomic markers known as ultraconserved elements (UCEs) in concert with phylogenies, clustering algorithms, and newer introgression tests specifically designed to detect ancient gene flow (e.g., ABBA-BABA tests). Results based on 4,303 UCE loci and 2,500 informative SNPs are consistent with varying degrees of gene flow among highland areas. In some cases, gene flow has been extensive and recent (though perhaps not ongoing today), whereas in other cases there is only a trace signature of ancient gene flow among species that diverged as long as five million years ago. These results show how a species complex thought to be a model for vicariance can reveal a more reticulate history when a broader portion of the genome is queried. As more organisms are studied with genomic data, we predict that speciation-with-bouts-of-gene-flow will turn out to be a common mode of speciation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Asymptotic Expansion for a Class of Sample Quantiles

Let Xk:n be the kth order statistic (1 ⩽ k ⩽ n) for a random sample of size n from a population with the distribution function F. Let {αn}, {βn} (βn > 0) be sequences of real numbers and let {kn} (kn ⩽ n) be a sequence of positive integers. The present article explores the various choices of αn, βn and kn such that under some mild regularity conditions on F, L(Yn) → n (0,1) as n→∞, where Yn = (Xkn:n + αn)⁄βn. It is further shown that under some additional conditions on F, standard asymptotic expansion (in Edgeworth form) for the distribution of Yn can be derived.
A maverick's quest for quantum gravity

There is one central quandary to 21st-century physics. It is that the two main pillars of 20th-century physics – quantum mechanics and Einstein's general theory of relativity – are mutually incompatible. On the sub-atomic scale, Einstein's view of gravity fails to comply with the quantum rules that govern the elementary particles, while on the cosmic scale, black holes are threatening the very foundations of quantum mechanics. "Quantum gravity" is the name we give to the solution to this problem, but the way to achieve it and the question of whether such a solution even exists are the subjects of hot debate. Three Roads to Quantum Gravity by Lee Smolin is a layperson's guide to the different routes on which today's theorists are currently embarked.
A Question Perpetually Arising: Implied Powers, Capable Federalism, and the Limits of Enumerationism

The American constitutional order embodies a tension between two irreconcilable ideas. “Enumerationism” holds that federal powers are limited to those expressly enumerated in the Constitution, plus whatever implied powers are necessary and proper to execute them. What I call “capable federalism” asserts that the Constitution creates a national government fully empowered to address all national problems. Enumerationism rejects the idea that the federal government has general powers, or that it has implied powers of equal or greater dimension than those expressly listed. Capable federalism is a general power by definition, and it is fully compatible with formal recognition of implied “great” powers. Although the two theories are incompatible, our constitutional doctrine tries to harmonize them by claiming to adhere to enumerationism while evading its strictures. We find various constitutional tricks and cheats to accommodate the “structural imperative” that any federalist system must ensure that all social problems can be addressed by at least one level of government. Still, an ideological overlay of enumerationism continues to suppress any formal recognition of capable federalism.This article argues that enumerationism is an ideology far more than it is a viable constitutional theory. Lacking a compelling claim to our constitutional fidelity as a matter of text or history, enumerationism is also lacking as a principle. Its purported logical premises — that a limited grant of power requires enumeration, and that an enumeration must always be interpreted as exclusive — are both false. The inability of enumerationism to explain implied powers undermines its logical consistency. And by requiring as an axiom that there be some regulatory gap — identifiable subjects of national regulatory concern that cannot be adequately addressed by any level of government in our federal system — enumerationism imposes social costs without a countervailing justification. Not surprisingly, our constitutional practice, over the long run from ratification to the present, has been reflective of capable federalism: some way will be found to accommodate a federal power to address national legislative problems.
The Scales of Power in School District Secession

Research focused on the processes and effects of educational segregation has consistently centered school district and municipal boundaries as conceptual units that are critical to understanding the dividing mechanisms of different racial and economic groups across U.S. schools. The two prongs constituting this line of inquiry—demographic and policy focused research—have emphasized the effects of these political units, particularly in how they sort different racial groups and structure access to high status educational programs.
Anti-Factor Xa measurements in acute care surgery patients to examine enoxaparin dose.

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to determine if fixed dose enoxaparin prophylaxis provided effective anticoagulation for acute care surgery patients and to examine whether a real-time enoxaparin dose adjustment algorithm optimized anticoagulation. Methods Acute care surgical patients placed on enoxaparin prophylaxis 30 mg twice daily were recruited prospectively. Peak steady state aFXa levels were drawn with a goal peak aFXa range of 0.2–0.4 IU/ml. A real time dose adjustment algorithm was implemented for patients with out-of-range levels. Results Fifty five patients were included. 56.4% of patients had low aFXa levels ( Conclusion The majority of acute care surgery patients receive inadequate VTE prophylaxis with fixed enoxaparin dosing.
Reduced-Port-Chirurgie

Die laparoskopische Chirurgie hat durch die Reduzierung der Trokarzugange noch einmal die Invasivitat reduziert. Nach der reinen NOTES-Variante mit Verwendung naturlicher Korperoffnungen fur die Zugange durfte das Single-Port-Konzept, das zurzeit am wenigsten invasive Vorgehen darstellen. Uberwiegend wird der sog. Single-Port, uber den 3–4 Trokare eingefuhrt werden konnen, im Nabelbereich bzw. an vorgesehenen Stomaoffnungen eingebracht. Es ergeben sich einige Unterschiede am operativen Vorgehen, die Operateure stehen dicht beieinander und in der konventionellen Laparoskopie ungebrauchliche Bewegungen wie Uberkreuzungen werden bei dieser Variante notwendig. Grundsatzlich ist fast jede laparoskopische Operation auch als Single-Port-Verfahren moglich, wenn auch bestimmte Operationen wie die linksseitige Kolonoperation zu den Standardprozeduren fur dieses Vorgehen geworden sind. Bei ahnlichen operativen Ergebnissen ist das kosmetische Ergebnis mit kaum erkennbaren Narben z. B. direkt im Nabelbereich bestechend.
The complexity of school racial climate: Reliability and validity of a new measure for secondary students.

Background The conceptualization of the role of race and culture in students’ experience of school has been limited. This study presents a more comprehensive and multidimensional framework than previously conceptualized and includes the two domains of (1) intergroup interactions (frequency of interaction, quality of interaction, equal status, and support for positive interaction) and (2) school racial socialization (cultural socialization, mainstream socialization, promotion of cultural competence, colourblind socialization, critical consciousness socialization, and stereotyping) (Byrd, 2015, Journal of Educational Research, 108, 10). Aims The scale presents a measure of school racial climate for middle and high school students and tests for evidence of reliability and validity in two independent, nationwide samples. Sample and method Participants were 819 children aged 12–18 (M = 15.27, SD = 1.58) who completed the School Climate for Diversity – Secondary Scale and a number of validating measures: general school climate, perceived discrimination, culturally responsive teaching, grades, and academic motivation. Results and conclusions Confirmatory factor analyses and reliability analyses showed support for the 10-factor structure of the scale, and the subscales were associated with the validating measures in expected ways.
Multi-objective optimal operation of CCHP system with PV/PT integrated module

The technology of renewable energy has been raising public's concern and developing rapidly, however fossil fuels still seize the dominant position around the world. Therefore, how to gain the effective integration of renewable energy and traditional energy appears especially significant. In this paper, the refined model of the combined cooling heating and power systems considering the optimal cooperation of different components is proposed. Optimal operation of CCHP system equipped with PV/PT integrated module is discussed around three indexes in respects of economy, energy consumption and environment. As to the comprehensive consideration of three indexes, the method of analytic hierarchy process is adopted to determine the weight of above indexes according to the importance. In case study, the power utilization of household appliance is optimized and the influence of the main modules configuration on the performance of CCHP system in the real-time electricity price environment is analyzed.
An economic “Kessler Syndrome”: A dynamic model of earth orbit debris

Abstract We construct a dynamic model of orbital debris that predicts an “economic Kessler Syndrome”, where orbital debris renders orbits economically unprofitable, precedes a “physical Kessler Syndrome”. Our model generalizes to any orbit subject to debris accretions or decrements.
Narcotics and Knee Arthroscopy: Trends in Use and Factors Associated With Prolonged Use and Postoperative Complications.

Purpose To (1) examine trends in the prevalence of preoperative and prolonged postoperative narcotic use in patients undergoing knee arthroscopy, (2) characterize factors associated with prolonged narcotic use after knee arthroscopy, and (3) explore the association of preoperative and prolonged postoperative narcotic use with complications after knee arthroscopy. Methods The PearlDiver database was reviewed for patients who underwent knee arthroscopy from 2007 to 2015 with a minimum of 6 months' follow up. Patients with preoperative or prolonged postoperative narcotic use were identified and analyzed for trends. Predictors for prolonged postoperative use were identified, and regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results A total of 75,372 patients were included, of which 23.9% used narcotics preoperatively and 22.6% used narcotics for a prolonged period postoperatively. There was no statistically significant trend on a year-to-year basis in preoperative ( P = .744) or prolonged postoperative ( P = .304) narcotic use. The most significant predictor for prolonged postoperative use was preoperative use (OR 5.33, CI 5.11-5.56, P P P = .046), and infection (OR 1.31, CI 1.07-1.59, P = .007). Prolonged postoperative narcotic use was associated with subsequent ipsilateral knee arthroscopy (OR 1.64, CI 1.45-1.86, P P Conclusions The results of this study did not show a trend in the use of narcotics, preoperatively or on a prolonged basis postoperatively, during the study period. The degree of preoperative narcotic use is correlated with prolonged narcotic use. The use of narcotics preoperatively and for a prolonged period postoperatively is associated with increased complications. Level of Evidence Level IV, case series, therapeutic.
Transfer of fixed- and variable-interval schedule control

Rats were first trained to respond on either chain or response lever (R1) and then were switched to the alternate operandum (R2). In the first of two experiments it was found that Ss given training on a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement on Rl subsequently acquired the fixed-interval “scallop” pattern of responding on R2 more rapidly than they had on R1. In the second experiment a pronounced fixed-interval scallop developed more rapidly on R2 in the presence of a stimulus previously correlated with a fixed-interval schedule than one previously correlated with a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement for R1. The results were discussed in relation to respondent mediation, operant mediation, and nonmediational theories of fixed-interval responding.
A Temperature Dependent Viscoelastic-Damage Model for Ceramics Failure

Ceramics have many important applications one of them being in gas turbine engines, where they operate under high temperatures (about 1300 °C). The mechanical behavior of ceramic materials under high temperature is complex with the following main characteristics: nonlinear rate-dependent behavior and asymmetric behavior in tension and compression.
Salinity and Climate Reconstructions from Continental Lakes

The species composition of diatoms preserved in lake sediments can be used to infer temporal changes in salinity, driven by changes in the balance between precipitation and evaporation. This approach works best in topographically closed lake basins in arid or semiarid regions that have limited groundwater connections. The reconstruction of past salinity trends from diatoms is based on our knowledge of diatom ecology derived from studying modern lakes, and in most cases, salinity reconstructions can be made with a high degree of confidence. Reconstruction of climate from salinity change relies on a good understanding of the factors that control the hydrologic and ion balance of individual lakes. Diatom-inferred salinity reconstructions have been used to document Quaternary environmental change from modern and ancient lake basins on all the continents and from high to low latitudes. The majority of studies are from the Americas and Africa, where diatoms have been used to document precipitation patterns associated with global temperature, insolation, and sea-surface temperature variation at orbital to decadal time scales.
Recommendations for Further Research

This monograph proposed a theory of spatially averaged diffraction correction for ultrasonic piston transducers operating in pulsed mode. A good portion of the theory has been cast in closed-form and verified, both analytically and numerically. Indeed, we even provided a few cases of indirect experimental validation of the theory. Additionally, auto-convolution diffraction corrections were applied experimentally. Despite this, much more work needs to be done.