cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
X-Irradiation-Induced Mitotic Abnormalities in Mouse Liver Regenerating after Carbon Tetrachloride Injury. II. Partial-Body Irradiation

A series of studies was carried out with various kinds of shielding to determine whether mitotic abnormalities observed in the liver were due to direct action of x rays, secondary systemic effects, or a combination of both. In experiments in which the liver region was irradiated while the head and tail regions were shielded, the percentage of mitotic abnormalities, though somewhat lower, paralleled results for animals exposed to total-body x irradiation. ln the reverse experiments, in which the liver region was shielded, the percentage of mitotic abnormalities was very low. In more precise shielding experiments, animals were operated upon and the left lateral lobe of the liver exposed and irradiated; or the left lateral lobe was shielded while the remainder of the animal was irradiated. In both instances, few abnormalities were observed in the tip of the exteriorized liver lobe. Results of the experiments indicate that although direct irradiation is necessary for obtaining a high percentage of abnormalities, little damage occurrs unless other areas of the animal have been irradiated. This constitutes strong evidence for the importance of a humoral factor or factors in irradiation injury. (auth)
Opportunities and Challenges Around a Tool for Social and Public Web Activity Tracking

While the web contains many social websites, people are generally left in the dark about the activities of other people traversing the web as a whole. In this paper, we explore the potential benefits and privacy considerations around generating a real-time, publicly accessible stream of web activity where users can publish chosen parts of their web browsing data. Taking inspiration from social media systems, we describe individual benefits that can be unlocked by such sharing and that may incentivize users to publish aspects of their browsing. We ask whether and how these benefits outweigh potential costs in lost privacy. We conduct our study of public web activity sharing through scenario-based interviews and a field deployment of a tool for web activity sharing.
Race, Religion, Region and Abortion Attitudes

Previous research has reported that African Americans are less supportive of legal abortion than whites. Although differences in religious orthodoxy and religiosity seem likely explanations for these differences, most research has minimized the role of religious variables in accounting for racial differences. This research note looks at the intersection of race, religion, and region in relation to abortion attitudes. The results suggest that religiosity and doctrinal orthodoxy are important predictors of abortion attitudes among blacks and whites, and explain much of racial differences in these attitudes. Since the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade and the subsequent rise of the anti-abortion movement, scholars have frequently investigated the sources of abortion attitudes. Although some have explored the world views of activists on both sides of the abortion controversy (Luker, 1984), most have focused on the determinants of abortion attitudes in the general public (Granberg, 1978) or among different religious groups Jelen, 1984).
Intimate partner violence: how you can help female survivors.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent, complex, and challenging women’s health problem associated with a number of negative medical, reproductive, and mental health conditions. When clinicians bring up the topic with their patients, patients are more likely to disclose. Supportive counseling and referrals are associated with improved safety and health.
EFFECT OF DEGREE OF ORIGINAL LEARNING AND TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN TWO TASKS ON REVERSAL SHIFT.

Sugimura (1962) reported that a nonreversal shift was easier with a 30-min. rest interval between two learning tasks than with no rest interval and this finding was dependent upon degree of original learning. The purpose of this experiment was to repeat the previous smdy using a reversal shift. Sixty boys, aged 15 to 19, were divided into 6 groups, 1 0 Ss each. S was trained on a simple 2-choice size or color discrimination task until one of the following 3 learning criteria was met: 3 or 5 successive correct responses, and 1 0 successive plus 2 0 correct responses. Immediately after reaching the respective criteria, half of the Ss were given the reversal task without further instructions. The remaining half were given the same task but with a 30-min. rest interval. The learning criterion of reversal task was 1 0 successive correct responses for all Ss. The median number of trials to criterion in reversal learning decreased as the criterion of original learning was made more rigorous under the no-rest condition: 13.5, 5.5, and 1.0 under the original criteria of 3, 5 correct and 1 0 plus 20 correct responses, respectively. The differences among 3 groups were significant ( p < .01) and agreed with our previous work (Iwahara & Sugimura, 1960) . Under the 30-min. rest condition, however, the median was 1.0 for 3 groups, regardless of original criteria. The difference between the 2 rest conditions was significant only when Ss were trained on the criterion of 3 correct responses in original learning ( f i < .01). When the median of trials to 1 0 successive correct responses in original learning (i.e., 5.0) was regarded as a baseline to evaluate the transfer effect, positive transfer occurred in the 3 30-min. rest groups and in the overtrained group without rest. Negative transfer occurred when Ss were trained to a criterion of 3 correct responses without rest. In conclusion, a rest interval between original and reversal tasks and overtraining of original task had facilitative effects on a reversal shift, as was shown in the previous nonreversal study.
Safety-critical cyber-physical attacks: analysis, detection, and mitigation

Today's cyber-physical systems (CPSs) can have very different characteristics in terms of control algorithms, configurations, underlying infrastructure, communication protocols, and real-time requirements. Despite these variations, they all face the threat of malicious attacks that exploit the vulnerabilities in the cyber domain as footholds to introduce safety violations in the physical processes. In this paper, we focus on a class of attacks that impact the physical processes without introducing anomalies in the cyber domain. We present the common challenges in detecting this type of attacks in the contexts of two very different CPSs (i.e., power grids and surgical robots). In addition, we present a general principle for detecting such cyber-physical attacks, which combine the knowledge of both cyber and physical domains to estimate the adverse consequences of malicious activities in a timely manner.
Research on Numerical Simulation Method for Spontaneous Combustion Trend of Coal Dump

Aiming at prediction problem of spontaneous combustion trend of coal dump,prediction model of spontaneous combustion trend of coal dump for intercoupling of dynamics model of coal low temperature oxidation,equivalent equation of heat conduction of coal dump and oxygen diffusion equation for coal dump hole were established.Coordinate transformation method was used for transforming fracture section of coal dump into regular calculation plane for discretization treatment and solve the discretization algebraic equation.Under the condition of coal dump surface as convective boundary,temperature field of coal dump,distribution of oxygen concentration field and change rule with time was worked out.Preliminary analysis indicates that this model could reasonably explain spontaneous combustion trend of coal dump and the firing position.
Introduction to cryogenic solid state cooling

Thermoelectric (Peltier) coolers have historically not been used for cooling to temperatures much below 200 K, because of limitations with existing thermoelectric materials. There are many advantages to solid-state coolers: they have no moving parts, are compact, vibration-free, inherently durable, and scalable to low power levels. A significant drawback is their low coefficient of performance. The figure of merit, zT, is the materials characteristic that sets this efficiency in Peltier coolers. The zT decreases rapidly with temperature, roughly following a T7/2 law. However, new material developments have taken place in the last decade that have made it possible to reach zT>0.5 down to 50 K. Many new ideas have also been put forward that enable better ZT’s and lower temperatures. This article reviews the difficulties associated with Peltier cooling at cryogenic temperatures, as an introduction to the following presentations and proceeding entries that will present solutions that have been developed since 2010. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Provability as Modality

Although the idea of provability as modal necessity is hardly novel, the serious study of the modal logic of provability did not get underway until the 1970s. There were early flirtations with the idea, but they never amounted to anything: About the time his Incompleteness Theorems gave him instant fame (among mathematicians and philosophers), Godel wrote up a short note on an embedding of intuitionistic logic into modal logic. The idea behind the embedding was simple: Intuitionistic truth is defined in terms of proof and provability is necessity. Composition yields the embedding. Godel never bothered (so far as anyone knew before his death— his Nachlass may, or may not, reveal otherwise) to connect this modal view of provability with his self-referential one.
Credibility confirmed: the implications of domestic support

Chapter 5 relied on the broad distinction between democratic and nondemocratic regimes, and the hypotheses were derived by asking how a regime shift in one or both states affects the expected probability of various observable outcomes. In this chapter and the one that follows, we change the focus from variation in institutions to variation in strategies. After all, the institutions do not, on their own, generate the effects considered in the previous chapter. Rather, institutions structure the incentives of political actors within the state, and it is the actual choices made by these actors that determine crisis outcomes. The argument that democratic institutions influence the credibility of threats made in crises was built on explicit claims regarding the public actions taken by government and opposition parties, as well as the effect which those actions have on the beliefs of foreign decision makers. In order to determine whether or not these specific causal mechanisms underlie the correlations we just saw, we need to examine actual crises in greater depth. Does public competition between the government and opposition play out as predicted in the model? Do the parties' strategy choices make sense given their political incentives? Do foreign states pay attention to the resultant signals and act in a manner consistent with the theoretical model? The model developed in Chapter 4 points to three broad patterns which are of particular interest here: (1) The government makes a threat, and the opposition supports it . All other things being equal, these “confirmed” threats should have greater credibility than threats made by nondemocratic governments. The targets of such threats should be less likely to resist or take actions to further escalate the crisis. […]
Examining Escherichia coli glycolytic pathways, catabolite repression, and metabolite channeling using Δpfk mutants.

Glycolysis breakdowns glucose into essential building blocks and ATP/NAD(P)H for the cell, occupying a central role in its growth and bio-production. Among glycolytic pathways, the Entner Doudoroff pathway (EDP) is a more thermodynamically favorable pathway with fewer enzymatic steps than either the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway (EMPP) or the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP). However, Escherichia coli do not use their native EDP for glucose metabolism. Overexpression of edd and eda in E. coli to enhance EDP activity resulted in only a small shift in the flux directed through the EDP (~20 % of glycolysis flux). Disrupting the EMPP by phosphofructokinase I (pfkA) knockout increased flux through OPPP (~60 % of glycolysis flux) and the native EDP (~14 % of glycolysis flux), while overexpressing edd and eda in this ΔpfkA mutant directed ~70 % of glycolytic flux through the EDP. The downregulation of EMPP via the pfkA deletion significantly decreased the growth rate, while EDP overexpression in the ΔpfkA mutant failed to improve its growth rates due to metabolic burden. However, the reorganization of E. coli glycolytic strategies did reduce glucose catabolite repression. The ΔpfkA mutant in glucose medium was able to cometabolize acetate via the citric acid cycle and gluconeogenesis, while EDP overexpression in the ΔpfkA mutant repressed acetate flux toward gluconeogenesis. Moreover, 13C-pulse experiments in the ΔpfkA mutants showed unsequential labeling dynamics in glycolysis intermediates, possibly suggesting metabolite channeling (metabolites in glycolysis are pass from enzyme to enzyme without fully equilibrating within the cytosol medium). We engineered E. coli to redistribute its native glycolytic flux. The replacement of EMPP by EDP did not improve E. coli glucose utilization or biomass growth, but alleviated catabolite repression. More importantly, our results supported the hypothesis of channeling in the glycolytic pathways, a potentially overlooked mechanism for regulating glucose catabolism and coutilization of other substrates. The presence of channeling in native pathways, if proven true, would affect synthetic biology applications and metabolic modeling.
United States–Cuba Agricultural Relations and Agrarian Questions

In the wake of Cuba's far-reaching, halting economic reforms, geopolitical rapprochement and trade openings with the United States (US) offer opportunities and risks for Cuban small-scale farmers and agrarian cooperatives: pressures, paradoxes and potential abound. Meanwhile, on the margins, agro-ecologically oriented tours bring admiring US students, farmers and agrarian advocates. Cubans concur that the country must solve key problems in its agricultural sector to overcome the contradictions of its agri-food model, and that this entails more exchange with the US – but in what capacity and on what terms? The current crossroads begs the classic agrarian question, even as it updates it. Having experienced and survived the promises and disasters of both capitalist and communist agricultural economies, Cuban farmers expand the original ‘peasant’ protagonist. As they navigate new non-state markets and recent re-entrenchment of state control of prices, Cuban farmers and cooperatives struggle to avoid monopolizing tendencies of unfettered capitalist as well as communist agricultural economies – both of which have historically been ecologically damaging. US agribusiness courts Cuba, but not as mere unidirectional capture: Cubans are inviting and leveraging trade to end the embargo, which is increasingly being modified altogether. Key Cuban agrarian principles of resilience and cooperativismo have persisted through capitalist and communist crises: could they influence prospects for agro-industrial hegemony from the North?
Evidence for a Di-μ-oxo Diamond Core in the Mn(IV)/Fe(IV) Activation Intermediate of Ribonucleotide Reductase from Chlamydia trachomatis.

High-valent iron and manganese complexes effect some of the most challenging biochemical reactions known, including hydrocarbon and water oxidations associated with the global carbon cycle and oxygenic photosynthesis, respectively. Their extreme reactivity presents an impediment to structural characterization, but their biological importance and potential chemical utility have, nevertheless, motivated extensive efforts toward that end. Several such intermediates accumulate during activation of class I ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) β subunits, which self-assemble dimetal cofactors with stable one-electron oxidants that serve to initiate the enzyme’s free-radical mechanism. In the class I-c β subunit from Chlamydia trachomatis, a heterodinuclear Mn(II)/Fe(II) complex reacts with dioxygen to form a Mn(IV)/Fe(IV) intermediate, which undergoes reduction of the iron site to produce the active Mn(IV)/Fe(III) cofactor. Herein, we assess the structure of the Mn(IV)/Fe(IV) activation intermediate using Fe- and Mn-...
Transoral robotic retropharyngeal node dissection in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Patterns of metastasis and functional outcomes.

Background Assessment of the retropharyngeal lymph nodes is essential in the treatment for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Transoral robotic retropharyngeal lymph node dissection (RPLND) may provide valuable staging information and guide selection of adjuvant therapy in a transoral robotic surgery (TORS) treatment paradigm. Methods Outcomes were compared between 30 patients with oropharyngeal SCC with tonsillar primaries undergoing RPLND and 37 stage-matched cases without RPLND. Results Retropharyngeal metastasis was confirmed in 6 patients undergoing RPLND. Compared with 37 stage-matched controls, there were no differences in length of stay, length of feeding tube dependence, net change in perioperative weight, or rates of hemorrhage and postoperative complications. RPLND altered adjuvant treatment recommendations in 1 of 30 patients. Conclusion RPLND is technically feasible by a purely transoral robotic approach. Its performance is not associated with worse swallowing outcomes or rates of complication. In select patients, RPLND may provide valuable staging information and guide the selection of adjuvant therapy.
Measuring the effects of farming on human skull morphology.

Approximately 10,000 years ago, certain human groups began to rely on diets derived from domesticated plants and animals rather than acquiring wild sources of food via hunting, gathering, and foraging. This transition in subsistence economy occurred independently in several global regions, with particular starchy crops (e.g., wheat, barley, rice, maize, etc.) becoming staple food sources in different continents (1). The profound effects of the transition to agriculture on the biology of modern humans cannot be overstated. These effects include an increased tendency to stay in a single place for extended periods of time, changes in weaning practices, increases in the incidence of infectious disease, and increased fecundity, leading ultimately to an explosion in the global human population (2, 3). Without the development of horticultural and animal-rearing practices, it would not be possible to sustain the enormous population of humans alive on the planet today. Anthropologists have long been interested in the effects of this shift in subsistence strategy from a genetic, morphological, social, and medical perspective. Agricultural diets are, in general, less variable, higher in starch and sugars, and lower in protein compared with forager diets, resulting in a suite of health-related problems such as anemia, dental caries, vitamin deficiencies, and malnutrition (4, 5). Agricultural diets are also softer, on average, meaning that they are mechanically less demanding in terms of chewing than forager diets. Anthropologists have noted for some time that even prehistoric farmers had more gracile crania and lower jaws (mandibles) than foragers, which can be summarized by Carlson and Van Gerven’s (6) “masticatory-functional hypothesis.” This hypothesis explains the observed changes through time in Nubian cranial morphology (Fig. 1) in terms of reduced biomechanical stress from chewing softer agricultural foods (5, 7). Now, in PNAS, Katz et al. (8) add novel evidence in support … [↵][1]1Email: noreenvo{at}buffalo.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Investigating the Relationships Between Alcohol Consumption, Cannabis Use, and Circulating Cytokines: A Preliminary Analysis.

Background In recent years, human and animal studies have converged to support altered inflammatory signaling as a molecular mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Alcohol binds to receptors on immune cells, triggering signaling pathways that produce pro-inflammatory cytokines. Chronic inflammation is associated with tissue damage, which may contribute to negative effects of AUD. Conversely, cannabis is associated with decreased inflammatory signaling, and animal studies suggest that cannabinoids may impact alcohol-induced inflammation. Thus, the impact of cannabis on inflammation in AUDs in humans warrants examination. Methods We explored the relationship between self-reported alcohol and cannabis use and circulating levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-8, and IL-1β in the blood. Among 66 regular drinkers (mean age = 30.08), we examined circulating cytokines and administered questionnaires assessing alcohol consumption and days of cannabis use over the past 90 days. We examined whether alcohol consumption, cannabis use, and gender were associated with changes in circulating cytokines, and whether there was a significant interaction between alcohol and cannabis use predicting blood levels of circulating cytokines. Results A positive association between alcohol and IL-6 emerged. We also observed a negative association between cannabis and IL-1β. Follow-up moderation analyses indicated a cannabis by alcohol interaction predicting circulating IL-6, such that cannabis nonusers showed a stronger relationship between alcohol and IL-6 compared to cannabis users. Conclusions These preliminary findings suggest that cannabinoid compounds may serve to mitigate inflammation associated with alcohol use. In addition, the present results provide data to inform future investigations, with the goal of ultimately leveraging knowledge of the role of inflammation in AUDs to develop more effective treatments focused on novel immune targets.
“Thank You, Black Twitter”: State Violence, Digital Counterpublics, and Pedagogies of Resistance:

In this article, I examine the role of Black Twitter as a “digital counterpublic” that enables critical pedagogy, political organizing, and both symbolic and material forms of resistance to anti-Bl...
Time Series Analysis of Crime Rates

A methodological critique of Cantor and Land's (1985) approach to the time series analysis of the crime–unemployment relationship is developed. Error correction models for U.S. homicide and robbery rates for the years 1946–1997 are presented to illustrate procedures for analyzing nonstationary time series data. The critique is followed by a discussion of methodological problems in work by Devine et al. (1988), Smith et al. (1992), and Britt (1994, 1997) that builds on Cantor and Land's approach.
Carboxysomes: The Genes of Thiobacillus Neapolitanus

Polyhedral inclusion bodies have been observed in all of the cyanobacteria thus far examined and in many, but not all, chemoautotrophic bacteria (Codd 1988, Shively 1974, Shively et al. 1988, Shively,English 1991). The bodies were first isolated from Thiobacillus neapolitanus and shown to consist of a monolayer shell surrounding multiple molecules of the enzyme ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, RuBisCO (Shively et al. 1973a,b). The inclusions were subsequently named carboxysomes. Presumably, all of the polyhedral inclusion bodies of similar appearance are carboxysomes. To date, evidence has been gathered which identifies the bodies of Nitrosomonas sp., several Nitrobacter sp., Anabaena cylindrica, Chlorogleopsis fritschii, Anacystis nidulans, Synechococcus sp., Synechocystis sp., Prochloron, and Prochlorothrix as carboxysomes (Shively,English 1991).
Adhesion Molecule-Dependent Cardiovascular Injury

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the potential mechanisms by which inflammatory injury may complicate ischemic heart disease. It is to be emphasized that no one seriously proposes that the initial injury associated with ischemic heart disease is inflammatory in nature; rather we are describing the mechanism of a reaction to injury, and will examine evidence that this secondary reaction might extend and complicate cardiac injury associated with ischemia and reperfusion. The concept that a reaction to injury extends the primary injury is classic in pathology, but its application to this disease entity is relatively recent (Hillis and Braunwald, 1977).
Computer vision research at the university of Massachusetts

This video first summarizes current research at the University of Massachusetts on mobile vehicle navigation using landmark recognition and a partial 3D world model. We then show how landmarks and world models might be automatically acquired and updated over time. A fundamental goal in robot navigation is to determine the "pose" of the robot - that is, the position and orientation of the robot with respect to a 3D world model, such as a hallway. In order to determine its pose, the robot identifies modeled 3D landmarks such as doors and baseboards in a 2D image of the hallway. Identifying landmarks involves determining correspondences of extracted image line segments with predicted landmark lines projected into the image. Model matching is achieved by a combinatorial optimization technique (local search) which minimizes the error in the model to data fit. From the model- data feature correspondences thus obtained, the 3D pose of the robot is computed via a non-linear optimization procedure. The best pose requires that lines in the 2D image lie on the planes formed by the corresponding 3D landmark lines and the camera center. Robust statistical methods are employed to detect outliers. Extension of the initial partial model (over time) is achieved by determining the camera pose over a sequence of images while simultaneously tracking new unmodeled features; triangulation is then used to determine the depth of these new features, allowing them to be incorporated into the 3D model.
Underwater imaging: photographic, digital and video techniques

Abstract: This chapter discusses photographic, digital, and video techniques commonly found in underwater imaging, as well as new and emerging trends. The chapter first reviews conventional imaging methods that utilize traditional camera hardware and digital signal processing and image processing techniques to produce enhanced linear perspective images. Next, the chapter reviews illumination techniques while taking into account special considerations for the underwater domain. Finally, the chapter closes with a discussion of emerging trends in the underwater imaging domain, including some unconventional imaging approaches and movement to a new computational paradigm.
Snap-jaw morphology is specialized for high-speed power amplification in the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae

What is the limit of animal speed and what mechanisms produce the fastest movements? More than natural history trivia, the answer provides key insight into the form-function relationship of musculoskeletal movement and can determine the outcome of predator-prey interactions. The fastest known animal movements belong to arthropods, including trap-jaw ants, mantis shrimp and froghoppers, that have incorporated latches and springs into their appendage systems to overcome the limits of muscle power. In contrast to these examples of power amplification, where separate structures act as latch and spring to accelerate an appendage, some animals use a 'snap-jaw' mechanism that incorporates the latch and spring on the accelerating appendage itself. We examined the kinematics and functional morphology of the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae, who use a snap-jaw mechanism to quickly slide their mandibles across each other similar to a finger snap. Kinematic analysis of high-speed video revealed that snap-jaw ant mandibles complete their strike in as little as 23 µsec and reach peak velocities of 90 m s-1, making them the fastest known animal appendage. Finite-element analysis demonstrated that snap-jaw mandibles were less stiff than biting non-power-amplified mandibles, consistent with their use as a flexible spring. These results extend our understanding of animal speed and demonstrate how small changes in morphology can result in dramatic differences in performance.
Political Connections and Insider Trading

Politically connected insiders are more likely to sell shares prior to negative abnormal returns and engage in other aggressive trading behavior: trading prior and closer to major corporate events, trading during periods that overlap with traditional blackout periods, and missing SEC timely reporting requirements. These findings are consistent with insiders perceiving their political connections as protection against SEC enforcement. The relation between political connections and insider trading is stronger for connections with Senators and with each political party when that party controls both Congressional chambers.
MFTs’ Burnout Prevention and Coping: What Can Clinicians, Supervisors, Training Programs, and Agencies Do?

ABSTRACTBurnout is a significant challenge for helping professionals, and several unique factors make MFTs in agency settings particularly vulnerable to experiencing burnout. We identified key fact...
Multi-hop Question Answering via Reasoning Chains.

Multi-hop question answering requires models to gather information from different parts of a text to answer a question. Most current approaches learn to address this task in an end-to-end way with neural networks, without maintaining an explicit representation of the reasoning process. We propose a method to extract a discrete reasoning chain over the text, which consists of a series of sentences leading to the answer. We then feed the extracted chains to a BERT-based QA model to do final answer prediction. Critically, we do not rely on gold annotated chains or "supporting facts:" at training time, we derive pseudogold reasoning chains using heuristics based on named entity recognition and coreference resolution. Nor do we rely on these annotations at test time, as our model learns to extract chains from raw text alone. We test our approach on two recently proposed large multi-hop question answering datasets: WikiHop and HotpotQA, and achieve state-of-art performance on WikiHop and strong performance on HotpotQA. Our analysis shows the properties of chains that are crucial for high performance: in particular, modeling extraction sequentially is important, as is dealing with each candidate sentence in a context-aware way. Furthermore, human evaluation shows that our extracted chains allow humans to give answers with high confidence, indicating that these are a strong intermediate abstraction for this task.
The first biolinguist?: A forgotten (and forgettable) episode in thought about the evolution of human language

Summary In 1930s Germany, Georg Schwidetzky (1875–1952) produced several works attempting to derive modern human languages by reconstruction from the vocalizations of non-human primates. This work was suppressed by other biologists under the Third Reich, not just because both the biology and the linguistics were ridiculously bad, but because Schwidetzky’s views on the origin of races were in conflict with Nazi ideology. While almost comically wrong-headed, there are nonetheless a few parallels between this project and some modern thought about the evolution of language. On the one hand, Schwidetzky stressed the need to think about the evolution of human language in terms of the biological evolution of our species, a branch of Naturwissenschaft, and not a purely humanistic activity, Geisteswissenschaft, as opinion among German linguists of the time saw it. Indeed, he was probably the first to characterize his agenda as the development of Biolinguistik. On the other hand, his attempt to maintain continuity between human language and the communicative vocalizations of non-humans fails to take into account the unique, species-specific character of human language.
Financial Stress and Perceptions of Spousal Behavior Over Time in Remarriages

Remarriages tend to be more vulnerable to dissolution than first marriages due to the unique challenges these unions face, one of which is remarried couples’ financial stress. Financial stress predicts lower marital satisfaction, increased conflict, and a higher risk of divorce among first marriages, but less is known about financial stress influences and relational processes within remarital contexts. This study applied the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model to examine whether early financial stress has a direct effect on the perceptions spouses hold toward partner behavior in the areas of positive and negative behaviors and initiation of sexual advances over time, and whether such perceptions mediate the effect of early financial stress on perceived martial stability within remarital contexts. Data were gathered on 808 remarried couples. A dyadic indicator-specific growth model (ISGM) was estimated for perceptions of positive behavior, negative behavior, and sexual initiation. The ISGM served as a mediator between financial distress and marital instability. Results indicated that financial stress is a predictor of initial levels of husbands’ perceptions. Financial stress also predicted wives’ initial amount of perceived positive and negative behavior, but not sexual initiation. Financial stress was not a predictor of change over time for any perceptions. Mediation effects of financial stress on marital instability were supported through wives’ initial amount of perceived positive and negative behavior. Findings and implications are discussed in relation to the key tenets of the FAAR model and possible interventions.
The Oath Formulas of Matthew 23:16–22 as Evidence for a Pre-70 Date of Composition for Matthew’s Gospel

Although several Matthean scholars have suggested that the oath formulas in Matthew 23:16-22 offer evidence of a pre-70 date of composition for the Gospel, scholars have not previously conducted a thorough investigation of this claim. This essay explores the potential meaning and rationale of the oath formulas, examines post-70 Jewish conceptions of the temple site, scrutinises the oaths ‘by the sanctuary’ or ‘by the temple’ in early rabbinic literature that potentially undermine the usefulness of the oath formulas for establishing the date of the Gospel, and considers Matthew’s purpose for including Matthew 23:16-22. It concludes that the oath formulas of Matthew 23 do lend credible support to a pre-70 date of composition for the Gospel of Matthew, though they cannot establish this date conclusively.
For GTA's: Teaching Strategies for Graduate Teaching Assistants

NOTE: This is a co-located workshop, meaning that it is open to both ITL attendees and the broader Mason community. You do not have to be registered for the conference to attend this session. If you do plan to attend, please register for this event (ITL attendees please also register through this link so you receive follow up materials from the session). Are you new to teaching or an experienced graduate teaching assistant (GTA)? Do you serve in a support capacity (office hours, review sessions, grading, etc.) or serve as the instructor (leading a lab section, teaching a lecture or recitation section, etc.)? The semester has started and as a GTA, you are in the thick of working with students, trying to enable their learning. This session aims to provide some "just in time" support for the questions and concerns that you may have now that you are teaching and working with students. The first part of this session is designed to provide a broad framework for how people learn and what it means to teach through some short interactive activities. The second part will provide practical strategies and tips that you can use next week in the classroom or working with your students. There will also be time for Q&A.
A superconvergent hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for weakly compressible magnetohydrodynamics

Abstract This work proposes a hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method for the solution of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) problems with weakly compressible flows. A novel fluid formulation that adopts the velocity and the pressure as primal variables is first derived and its superior properties, compared to alternative density–momentum-based approaches, are demonstrated on a simple benchmark. The coupled MHD formulation exhibits superconvergence properties for both the fluid velocity and the magnetic induction, a feature not present in any HDG formulation published in this field. An alternative MHD formulation, adopting a fluid-type solver for the solution of the magnetic subproblem, is also considered and its advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The convergence properties of the proposed formulations for the single physics and for the coupled problem are examined on an extensive set of numerical examples in both two and three dimensions, on structured and unstructured meshes and at low and high Hartmann numbers.
Prior exercise does not alter the incretin response to a subsequent meal in obese women

Prior research has shown an increase in GLP-1 concentrations during exercise but this exercise bout was conducted postprandially. The purpose of this study was to examine the incretin response to a meal following an exercise bout of different intensities in obese subjects. Eleven women (BMI>37.3±7.0kg/m(2); Age 24.3±4.6year) participated in 3 counter- balanced study days, where a standardized meal was preceded by: (1) No exercise (NoEx), (2) ModEx (55% VO2max), and (3) IntEx (4min (80% VO2max)/3min (50% VO2max). Frequent blood samples were analyzed for glucose, lactate, insulin, glucagon, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and C-peptide concentrations throughout 280min of testing. Glucose concentrations were not different between conditions during exercise or meals. There were no differences between conditions in insulin levels during exercise and recovery, but postprandial insulin incremental area under the curve was lower in ModEx vs. NoEx (p<0.01). GIP and GLP-1 levels were not different between conditions during exercise, but during exercise recovery, GLP-1 concentrations were higher in ModEx vs. NoEx (p=0.03). The meal increased the incretin responses (p<0.01) but this response was not affected by prior exercise. Glucagon concentrations increased with exercise (p<0.05) and continued to be elevated during recovery, with the greatest increase with IntEx compared with NoEx (p<0.05). No differences between conditions were detected for hepatic insulin extraction, insulin secretion, or insulin sensitivity. Exercise prior to an evening meal has no impact on the incretin response to the subsequent meal, yet insulin concentrations were lower during the meals that followed exercise. Exercise intensity had no impact on this response.
Short‐Photoperiod Exposure Reduces Vasopressin (V1a) Receptor Binding But Not Arginine‐Vasopressin‐Induced Flank Marking in Male Syrian Hamsters

In Syrian hamsters, socially relevant information is communicated with a form of scent marking known as flank marking. There is substantial evidence that arginine-vasopressin acting on V 1a vasopressin receptors (V 1a R) in the medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamic continuum (MPOA-AH) regulates the expression of flank marking. Previous studies have shown that the expression of flank marking is also influenced by the circulating concentrations of gonadal hormones. In hamsters housed in long 'summer-like' photoperiods (i.e. >12.5 h of light/day), castration reduces flank marking and administration of testosterone restores precastration levels of flank marking. When exposed to short 'winter-like' photoperiods (i.e. < 12.5 h of light/day), hamsters undergo gonadal regression and the circulating levels of testosterone decline. Surprisingly, flank marking induced during social encounters is not reduced in hamsters exposed to short photoperiods despite the low circulating concentrations of testosterone. In the present study, it was hypothesized that reductions in testosterone, caused by exposure to short photoperiod, would not reduce the ability of vasopressin to stimulate flank marking by its actions in the MPOA-AH. The amount of flank marking induced by vasopressin injected into the MPOA-AH did not significantly differ between hamsters housed in long and short photoperiods; however, short photoperiod-exposed males had significantly less V 1a R binding in the MPOA than long photoperiod-exposed males. These results support the hypothesis that the sensitivity of the MPOA-AH to vasopressin is not reduced in short photoperiod-exposed males, despite decreases in serum testosterone. However, by contrast to our predictions, short photoperiod-exposed males have significantly reduced V 1a R binding in the MPOA-AH compared to long photoperiod-exposed males.
Inhibition of endogenous gastrin activity by antibodies to the carboxyl-terminal tetrapeptide amide of gastrin.

Since incubation of gastrin with antibodies directed against its functional carboxyl-terminal tetrapeptide amide inhibits the gastric secretory effects of exogenous gastrin, this series of experiments was performed to determine whether the same antibody preparation also inhibits the physiological effects of endogenous gastrin. Endogenous gastrin release was stimulated in the perfused pylorus-ligated rat stomach by gastric irrigation with acetylcholine. The control rat experiments demonstrated that acid secretory responses to intragastric acetylcholine were reproducible and reliable; the second response in each rat varied from 10 % higher to 15 % lower than the first. In the experimental rats, passive administration of antibody-containing globulin during endogenous release inhibited the expected increase in acid secretion an average of 73 % (47 to 100 %). The experiments document that antibodies to the functional portion of the gastrin molecule inhibit the acid secretory effects of endogenous gastrin.
Two Biologically Active Ferredoxins from the Aerobic Nitrogen-fixing Bacterium, Azotobacter vinelandii

Abstract The recently discovered, biologically active, ferredoxin component of the aerobic nitrogen fixer, Azotobacter vinelandii, has been found to comprise two distinct, low potential proteins (Fd I, Em = -420 mv; Fd II, Em = -460 mv) which were about equally effective as electron carriers for the nitrogenase system and in NADP reduction by illuminated chloroplasts. The absorption spectrum of Fd I showed a shoulder between 380 and 420 nm, whereas Fd II had a broad peak with a maximum at 388 nm. The 400:280 absorbance ratio for Fd I was 0.58, and the 388:280 absorbance ratio of Fd II was 0.68. Fd I which was found to be the main ferredoxin component in A. vinelandii cells (about 5 times more abundant than Fd II) was crystallized and further characterized. Fd I yielded crystals of unusually large size, up to 1 mm in length and 0.01 mm in thickness. Fd I resembles clostridial ferredoxins in having eight non-heme iron and eight labile sulfide groups per mole but its molecular weight is more than twice as great (14,400 versus 6,000 daltons). The sulfur groups of Fd I, unlike those of other ferredoxins, were only slowly and incompletely titrable by p-chloromercuribenzoate. Fd I also differed from other ferredoxins in being significantly more stable in 4 m guanidine-HCl. The possible significance of some of these properties to the role of ferredoxin as a reductant for a nitrogenase system that functions in an aerobic organism is discussed.
Juran's Lectures to Japanese Executives in 1954: A perspective and some contemporary lessons

﻿[This abstract is based on the author’s abstract.] In 1954, Joseph M. Juran gave a series of lectures to Japanese industry executives and middle managers. These lectures, and those given by W. Edwards Deming in 1950, are considered seminal contribution..
Photometry and polarimetry of Jupiter at large phase angles: I. Analysis of imaging data of a prominent belt and a zone from pioneer 10

Photopolarimetric observations of a prominent bright zone and a dark belt of Jupiter in red and blue light are analyzed which were performed by Pioneer 10 at phase angles of 12, 23, 34, 109, 120, 127, and 150 deg. Geometric and photometric reductions of the imaging data are described, the instrument sensitivity at various times is evaluated, and the data are referred to an absolute scale. The observations are analyzed in detail by comparing the data with results of radiative-transfer calculations for specific scattering models of Jupiter's atmosphere. These models include those with a vertical structure consisting of a layer of Rayleigh-scattering gas above a semiinfinite mixture of cloud particles and gas, those having a small quantity of aerosols in the gas above either the diffuse cloud in a reflecting-scattering model or the top cloud of a two-cloud-layer model, those in which a forward-scattering haze is mixed uniformly with gas, and those containing dust layers. It is found that in both the belt and the zone in red as well as blue light, cloud phase functions are required which provide both strong forward scattering and some backscattering.
Nitrification in Aquatic Systems

Physiology and Energetics of Nitrifying Bacteria Phylogeny of Bacteria Involved in Nitrification Role of Nitrification in the Nitrogen Cycle Distribution and Abundance of Nitrifiers in Aquatic Habitats Methods for Measuring Nitrification in Water and Sediments Distribution of Nitrification in Water and Sediments Environmental Variables that Affect Nitrification Rates and Distributions Nitrous Oxide and Nitric Oxide Production During Nitrification Nitrification and Methane Oxidation Keywords: nitrification in aquatic systems; nitrogen cycle; sediments, nitrification in
Use of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 and Dietary Calcium Manipulations to Improve Tenderness of Beef

Improving tenderness of beef from cows is desirable because it could increase marketability of these carcasses and, thereby, increase profits to producers. In this study, two dietary treatments, supplemental 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OH D3) and manipulations of dietary calcium, were examined as methods of increasing plasma and muscle calcium concentrations as a means for improving tenderness of beef. Our results indicate that the environment created in the muscle by supplementing 25-OH D3, increasing dietary calcium, or both is conducive to increased activity of calpain, a calcium-dependent enzyme responsible for postmortem tenderization of beef. Increased calpain activity could lead to improved beef tenderness.