cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diet, activity patterns, foraging movement and responses to deforestation of the aquatic tenrec Limnogale mergulus (Lipotyphla: Tenrecidae) in eastern Madagascar

The aquatic or web-footed tenrec Limnogale mergulus is a semi-aquatic lipotyphlan insectivore known only from stream habitats of eastern Madagascar. Limnogale is considered a high conservation priority because of its rarity, suspected vulnerability to habitat degradation, and unique ecological niche on the island. However, its ecology and behaviour remain poorly understood. Quantitative faecal analysis and radiotracking were used to study the diet and foraging activity of Limnogale in eastern Madagascar. Faecal pellet counts along forest and zero-canopy streams were also conducted to examine the response of aquatic tenrec populations to catchment deforestation. Faecal analysis indicated that the diet of Limnogale consists mainly of larval and adult aquatic insects, larval anurans and crayfishes. The most important prey were Ephemeroptera, Odonata and Trichoptera larvae. Diets did not differ substantially between forest and zero-canopy streams. Radio-tracking of two individuals indicated that Limnogale is strictly nocturnal and remains in streamside burrows during daylight. Nocturnal movement was restricted solely to stream channels and consisted of active foraging by swimming and diving. Distance travelled per night ranged from 200 to 1550 m along the stream channel (means 1067 and 860 m, respectively). The total lengths of stream channel used by the two aquatic tenrecs during each radio-tracking study were 1160 and 505 m, respectively. Faecal pellet counts along forest and zero-canopy streams suggested that Limnogale was at least as abundant in zero-canopy streams. This finding suggests that Limnogale is not an obligate forest species; however, it preys on benthic communities that are extremely vulnerable to sedimentation. Control of excessive sedimentation and maintenance of healthy benthic communities are essential to Limnogale conservation. We include an updated list of known sites for Limnogale and recommend the use of faecal pellet surveys to assess the current distribution of the species.
Character congruence of multiple data partitions and the origin of the Hawaiian Drosophilidae.

Abstract We address two systematic questions, the origin and monophyly of the Hawaiian Drosophilidae and the question of how to analyze multiple data partitions containing disparate kinds of information, in this study. New evidence, from analysis of characters from morphology, mitochondrial DNA, and nuclear DNA suggests that the Hawaiian Drosophilidae are a monophyletic assemblage. Although we are not able to suggest a single species group which may represent the continental sister taxon to the Hawaiian Drosophilidae, the candidates suggested by our analysis, themelanica–robustalineage and thevirilis–repletalineage, have been suggested by other investigators as probable sister taxa. Through analyses of our data partitions separately and in a variety of combinations, we conclude that the best phylogenetic hypothesis to be generated from multiple data partitions will be obtained if the data from these partitions are combined and analyzed simultaneously. We advocate performing tests for congruence between and among data partitions not to justify keeping them apart, but for understanding the interactions among the signals included in the analysis and how they affect the topology of, and support for, the total evidence tree.
Synthesis and Structural Characterization of the Sodium Salt of a New Sulfonate-containing Water Soluble N-Donor Ligand⎯ Self-assembly in the Solid State by π−π Stacking Interactions

Abstract : The synthesis, spectroscopic characterization, and X-ray crystal structure of the sodium salt of a new sulfonated water-soluble ligand, sodium 2-(2-pyridin-2-yl-ethylamino)-benzenesulfonate ( L ) are described. Compound L crystallizes in the centrosymmetric space group Pbcn, orthorhombic, a=31.930(13) A, b=7.153(3) A, c=14.193(6) A, α=90.00, β=90.00, γ=90.00, V=3220(2) A 3 , Z=9. π−π stacking contacts involving interactions between the π-donor benzene and the π-acceptor pyridine systems reinforce and direct the self-assembly of the structural motifs in the solid state. Keywords: Sulfonate, Water-soluble Ligand, π−π Stacking, Michael-type Addition. Introduction Water-soluble ligands and the corresponding derived catalysts are of great interest for aqueous catalysis. Typically there are many more phosphine P-donor ligands than amine N-donor ligands specifically modified by incorporation of hydrophilic groups such as hydroxyl, carboxylate or sulfonate moieties to increase their water-solubility [1, 2]. We are interested in preparing water-soluble
An Interactive Visualization System for Analyzing Spacecraft Telemetry

Traditionally, the diagnosis of spacecraft anomalies during test and flight is slow and not very thorough due to a limited view of telemetry. The process is an off-line, linear analysis of guessing a root cause and then attempting to verify the guess through identifying and plotting telemetry channels over the appropriate time period. The desire of mission operators and testers is to have a capability to analyze all telemetry channels simultaneously and then be able to freely move through time to cover the entire problem space. Current telemetry display systems, however, only allow an operator to examine on the order of 100 telemetry channels simultaneously from a real-time stream, through a rudimentary playback, or step control of a telemetry archive. This limitation increases the risk that anomalies will be missed and increases the time to determine the real root-cause of the problem. This paper discusses the development and implementation of a visualization system that facilitates a thorough review by enabling an operator to analyze all telemetry data by pattern. This system, called the STEREO autonomy visualizer (SAV) also enables the rapid review of data by using a 'real-time random access' method for viewing real-time and archive telemetry streams. By using the system, STEREO testers have identified bugs that other test review techniques have missed, and decreased the time necessary to perform test review by more than a factor of 5. In addition, use of this system has resulted in a greater understanding of the spacecraft through the visualization of inter-relationships between telemetry channels during faults in flight.
Clinical experience with synthetic serum substitute as a protein supplement in IVF culture media: a retrospective study

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of Synthetic Serum Substitute (Irvine Scientific—Materials Section, Santa Ana, CA), a globulin-enriched protein preparation containing human serum albumin for supplementation of IVF culture media.
Chromium exposure and incidence of metabolic syndrome among American young adults over a 23-year follow-up: the CARDIA Trace Element Study

Studies suggest that chromium deficiency is associated with elevated levels of fasting blood glucose, circulating insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides, and decreased proportion of lean body mass. However, data directly relating chromium levels to metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk are lacking. A total of 3,648 American adults from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, aged 20-32 years, were prospectively examined for the incidence of MetS and its five components from 1987-88 to 2010-11. Baseline toenail chromium levels were measured with instrumental neutron-activation analysis. Incident MetS was defined by the NCEP-ATP III criteria. During the 23-year follow-up, 878 incident MetS cases were identified. Baseline toenail chromium was inversely associated with incidence of MetS as well as its blood lipid components. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) of MetS comparing the highest to the lowest quartiles of toenail chromium levels was 0.80 (0.66-0.98; Plinear trend = 0.006). The adjusted HRs were 0.82 (0.68-0.98; Ptrend = 0.045) for having abnormal triglycerides levels and 0.75 (0.64-0.88; Ptrend = 0.030) for having abnormal HDL cholesterol levels. Toenail chromium levels were inversely and longitudinally associated with incidence of MetS in American young adults. This inverse association was mainly explained by its relation to blood lipids.
A comprehensive study of the elasto-plastic contact of a sphere and a flat

Abstract In this paper the frictionless contact of an elasto-plastic sphere with an elasto-plastic flat has been studied. Previously, elasto-plastic contact has been studied mostly for either the isolated flattening or indentation cases. This work analyzes the case in between these, where both surfaces deform elasto-plastically. It has been shown that the deformation on both objects has a significant effect on the real area of contact and the contact force. The ratio between the yield strengths of the sphere and the flat has been defined as a major governing factor. FEM analysis has been performed for more than 400 cases, and a comprehensive formulation has been developed based on the FEM results in order to predict the contact parameters.
Rashba spin-orbit effect and its electric field control at the surfaces and interfaces for spintronics applications (Presentation Recording)

The Rashba effect [1] describes the momentum-dependent spin splitting of the electron states at a surface or interface. It is the combined result of the relativistic spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and the inversion-symmetry breaking. The control of the Rashba effect by an applied electric field is at the heart of the proposed Rashba-effect-based spintronics devices for manipulating the electron spinfor ma- nipulating the electron spin in the semiconductors. The effect is expected to be much stronger in the perovskite oxides owing to the presence of high-Z elements. In this talk, I will introduce the Rashba effect and discuss how the Rashba SOI at the surfaces and interfaces can be tuned by manipulating the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) by an applied electric field. The effect can be understood in terms of a tight-binding model Hamiltonian for the d orbitals incorporating the effect of electric field in terms of effective orbital overlap parameters [3]. From first principles calculations we see that the Rashba SOI originates from the first few layers near the surface and it therefore can be altered by drawing the 2DEG to the surface or by pushing the 2DEG deeper into the bulk with an applied elec- tric field. These ideas will be illustrated by a comprehensive density-functional study of polar perovskite systems [4]. References [1] E. I. Rashba, Sov. Phys. Solid State 2, 1109 (1960) [2] A. Ohtomo and H. Hwang, Nature 427, 423 (2004); Z. Popovic, S. Satpathy, and R. Martin, Phys. Rev. Letts. 101, 256801 (2008) [3] K. V. Shanavas and S. Satpathy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 086802 (2014); K. V. Shanavas, Z. S. Popovic, and S. Satpathy, Phys. Rev. B 90, 165108 (2014) [4] K. V. Shanavas, J. Electron Spectrosc., In press (2015)
Temporal Dynamics of Convergent Modulation at a Crustacean Neuromuscular Junction

Jorge-Rivera, Juan Carlos, Kamal Sen, J. T. Birmingham, L. F. Abbott, and Eve Marder. Temporal dynamics of convergent modulation at a crustacean neuromuscular junction. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 2559–25...
Lung cancer cells promote self-survival by co-activation of EGFR by opioid receptors and secretion of growth and survival promoting factors

2378 Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in 62% of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). EGFR based therapies are of limited success and associated with resistance to therapy, suggesting that EGFR may not be the sole determinant of lung cancer progression. Therefore, we aimed to identify additional targets that activate cell growth and survival. We hypothesized that mu opioid receptor (MOR), in the cancer cells and cytokines secreted by the NSCLC impart a growth and survival promoting signaling and microenvironment, in an autoregulatory manner. Therefore, we examined if MOR co-activates, EGFR mediated signaling in human NSCLC, HL2009, HL1299 and HL460 and Beas2B a control cell line. We observed that HL2009 cells showed a 3-5 fold higher expression of MOR (by RT-PCR) as well as constitutive activation of phospho-EGFR and phospho-MAPK/ERK as compared to HL1299 and HL460. Morphine (100 nM) a MOR agonist, stimulated the phosphorylation of EGFR, MAPK/ERK and Akt in a time-dependent manner similar to that of 10 nM EGF, in HL2009 but not in HL460 cells. Morphine as well as EGF-induced phosphorylation was accompanied by translocation of phospho-EGFR to the nucleus in HL2009 but not in HL460 cells. Naloxone, an opioid receptor (OR) antagonist inhibited the morphine-induced translocation of phospho-EGFR to the nucleus but not that stimulated by EGF, suggesting that morphine acts via an OR-specific mechanism. We next examined the secretion of cytokines by H2009 and Beas2B cells in culture medium using a BioPlex array system utilizing color coded beads coupled to cytokine specific antibodies. H2009 and Beas2B were incubated for 48h in the absence or presence of morphine (100 nM) and medium was analysed for follistatin, HGF, IL8, GCSF, PDGF-BB, VEGF, leptin and PECAM1. Control wells without cells were incubated with medium alone. We observed a 37-, 15- and 11-fold increase in IL8, G-CSF and VEGF, respectively in H2009 conditioned medium as compared to Beas2B conditioned medium (p
Larco’s matrix: can we turn analysis into synthesis?

Nico Larco’s (2015) proposal to create a comprehensive and systematic order for all the variables composing sustainable urban design is a substantial achievement. He outlines a matrix in which obje...
Evolving Pharmacist Productivity Models

Leaders in health-system pharmacy are challenged to minimize costs, maximize revenue, and maintain or improve quality while simultaneously expanding services. Strong command of productivity and workload measurement is necessary to achieve these goals. This article reviews foundational pharmacy productivity concepts and key terminology, reviews historical pharmacy productivity models and their limitations, and considers new and evolving pharmacist productivity models.
Frego bract cotton and normal bract cotton: how morphology affects control of boll weevils by insecticides.

Azinphosmethyl and methyl parathion applied at 0.125 pound per acre left greater deposits and caused higher mortality of Anthonomus grandis Boheman on frego than on normal bract cotton squares when: (1) weevils were caged in the field on the 2 types of cotton, (2) weevils were placed in 1-pint cartons with squares removed from the plant after spraying, and (3) when weevils were placed in cartons with squares sprayed after being picked from the plant. These results were confirmed by recovery of approximately 7 times the amount of residue from frego than from normal bract buds sprayed with methyl parathion.
Gadamer on the Event of Art, the Other, and a Gesture Toward a Gadamerian Approach to Free Jazz"

Several prominent contemporary philosophers, including Jurgen Habermas, John Caputo, and Robert Bernasconi, have at times painted a somewhat negative picture of Gadamer as not only an uncritical traditionalist, but also as one whose philosophical project fails to appreciate difference. Against such claims, I argue that Gadamer’s reflections on art exhibit a genuine appreciation for alterity not unrelated to his hermeneutical approach to the other. Thus, by bringing Gadamer’s reflections on our experience of art into conversation with key aspects of his philosophical hermeneutics, we are able to better assess the viability of Gadamer’s contributions to contemporary discussions of difference and alterity. Sections two through six focus on key concepts in Gadamer’s account of art’s dynamic ontology and our experience of art. Such concepts include the play structure of art, hermeneutic identity, tarrying with a work, and contemporaneity. The opening sections provide not only a discussion of these central themes, but they also (1) draw attention to the various ways in which difference and otherness are integral to Gadamer’s account, and (2) utilize relevant musical examples that prepare the reader for a more focused discussion of a Gadamerian approach to free jazz in section seven. By highlighting how Gadamer’s understanding of art possesses a dialogical play structure, is characterized by identity and difference, requires actively engaged spectators and auditors, and is amenable to what many criticize as an unintelligible musical expression, viz. free jazz, Gadamer’s project is shown as other-affirming and open to ambiguity and dynamism. That is, the essential structures and concepts characterizing Gadamer’s reflections on art are likewise central to his overall hermeneutical project, and hence are not rightly described as un-attuned to difference or other-negating. Rather, Gadamer’s philosophical project upholds difference, since it requires a dialogical interplay between self and other that creates the possibility for a transformative experience.
Radiofrequency ablation versus cryoablation for atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children: a value comparison.

BACKGROUND It is unclear whether cryoablation or radiofrequency ablation offers better value for treating atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children. We aimed to compare the value of these procedures for treating atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children, with value being outcomes relative to costs. METHODS We performed a retrospective cohort study of all atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia ablations for children (age⩽18 years) from July, 2009 to June, 2011 at our institution. Costs included fixed costs, miscellaneous hospital costs, and labour costs, and key outcomes were acute and long-term success (6 months) of the ablations. We conducted T-tests and regression analyses to investigate the associations between the ablation procedure type and the cost and success of the ablations. RESULTS Of 96 unique cases performed by three paediatric electrophysiologists, 48 were cryoablation only, 42 radiofrequency ablation only, and six were a combination. Acute success was 100% for the cryoablation only and radiofrequency ablation only cases and 83% for the combination cases. There were no notable adverse events. The average total cost was $9636 for cryoablation cases, $9708 for radiofrequency ablation cases, and $10,967 for combination cases (p=0.51 for cryoablation only versus radiofrequency ablation only). The long-term success rate was 79.1% for cryoablation only, 92.8% for radiofrequency ablation only, and 66.7% for the combination (p=0.01 for cryoablation only versus radiofrequency ablation only), but long-term success varied notably by provider. CONCLUSIONS Cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation offer similar value in the short term for the treatment of atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children. Differences in long-term success may vary substantially by physician, and thus may lead to differences in long-term value.
Comparison of 3 methods for elimination of phenol in sesame oil

Objective:Big Sesame oil because of raw materials and sophisticated process to extract containing THC different(in C6H5OH),In order to prevent and reduce the incidence of food poisoning,by comparing the test to reduce the large Sesame oil phenol content.Methods:Through gathering covered this local production,and sales network hemp oil.The use of 4-amino ammonia diantipyryl colorimetric determination of sesame oil in THC content.Results:Sesame oil through the use of acid treatment,alkali treatment and High-temperature refining of three tests.The results show that the role has to remove phenol.In addition to phenol rates were 80.5%,63.5%,93.6%.Basic identification of the region,the background value and average value(10.6 mg/kg).The lowest value of 0.6mg/kg,the highest value of 51.1 mg/kg.Conclusion:Cannabis(Shaanxi area popular name small hemp) is the hemp branch plant,squeezes out the hemp oil raw material,main planter in our country northern area.Some areas city and countryside resident likes the edible one kind of vegetable oil,but the hemp food poisoning occurs sometimes.Three methods of excepted of phenol in hemp oil were compared,High-temperature refining is more effective,simply,practical and convenient.The hygienic targets is in accordance with the Edible Frying Oil health indicators GB7102-2003 before and after the High-temperature refining.
Design of Automatic Frequency Control Loop in Tracking-Receiver of Satellite Communication

This paper introduces the design of automatic frequency control(AFC) loop in tracking-receiver of satellite communication,analyzes the effect on system phase noise and the sources of the error in frequency control.Basic principle of frequency detector design is provided at the end of the article.
Pediatric Coagulation Disorders

1. Vilmarie Rodriguez, MD* 2. Deepti Warad, MBBS* 1. *Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Mayo Clinic Children’s Center, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Hemophilia Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Clinicians are often challenged in primary practice with patients who present with potential hemostatic disorders. Determining which laboratory tests to order and when to refer a patient to a pediatric hematologist is of vital importance. After completing this article, the reader should be able to: 1. Describe the physiology of hemostasis in the pediatric patient. 2. List clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of a congenital or acquired bleeding disorder. 3. Understand laboratory testing and indications in the diagnosis of a bleeding disorder and timing of subspecialty referral. 4. Describe the clinical management of bleeding disorders. 5. Become familiar with congenital and acquired thrombophilic disorders and their diagnosis and management recommendations. Hemostasis in the pediatric patient evolves as the child grows and matures, and normal adult laboratory values are not often the norm for a child. This article provides a summary of the pathophysiology of hemostasis (eg, bleeding and thrombosis disorders) and reviews the basic principles of history and physical findings to provide the primary care practitioner with the necessary tools for initial evaluation of a pediatric patient with a suspected coagulation disorder. A basic understanding of when to test a patient for a coagulation disorder or make a proper referral to a pediatric hematologist will result in optimal care. Hemostasis is a complex process that requires a balance between maintaining blood in a fluid state and addressing areas of tissue injury in which a local response is generated at the site of vascular endothelial injury to promote healing and prevent hemorrhage. This process requires the interaction of the vascular endothelium, platelets, and coagulation factors. Diminished or dysfunctional activity of any of the components of the …
The Japanese as library patrons

Le recrutement d'etudiants japonais dans les universites americaines publiques est une tendance recente. Cet article se propose d'examiner les problemes poses aux bibliotheques par cet afflux d'etudiants japonais et l'efficacite des services confrontes aux differences culturelles plus ou moins perceptibles entre les deux societes.
The Economic Roots of Reaganism: Corporate Conservatives, Political Economy, and the United Farm Workers Movement, 1965–1970

This article examines the response of Ronald Reagan and his gubernatorial administration to the strike and boycott waged by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers union. in particular, the essay spotlights the important role of corporate elites in shaping both Reagan's administration and, ultimately, the political economy of Reaganism.
Linking endothelial cell stimulation to tumor growth and vascular density: The VEGF - Bcl-2 - CXCL8 pathway

Tumor-induced angiogenesis is a highly complex process involving several cellular and subcellular events, and is critically dependent upon the activities of endothelial cells and the chemokines that stimulate them. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the processes associated with angiogenesis is essential for the development of new anticancer therapies targeted against blood vessel development. In this chapter, we build a multiscale, delay differential equation model of tumor angiogenesis that begins by considering the effect of intracellular signal cascades on individual cell behavior, and we subsequently couple the impact of the biochemical microenvironment with these cellular processes. The model is then scaled up to a macroscopic view of global population dynamics as influenced by these intracellular pathways. In particular, we focus on the recently discovered VEGF-Bcl-2-CXCL8 pathway, associated with tumor cell-induced endothelial cell activation. We demonstrate the translational value of such modeling by applying our model to test the antiangiogenic potential of novel therapies targeting this pathway, including predictions of optimal drug design strategies.
Ecological Determinants of "White Ethnic" Identity in St. Louis, Missouri.

A comparative analysis of voluntary group interaction patterns within two "white ethnic" groups in St. Louis was conducted to investigate the relationship between levels of voluntary group participation and geographical sites of respective ethnic centers. Archival research, participant observation, and structured interviewing over a 12-month period were the methods employed to conduct case studies of both the Croatian and Czech ethnic communities. Utilizing an ecological framework, the findings suggest a degree of organizational activity is strongly dependent on the environmental adequacy of the ethnic center site. This paper describes how two varying external locations promote contrasting styles of secondary group involvement. Neighbourhood stability supports ongoing participation in one pattern, but in the other, area transiency exacts merely occasional participation.
Healthcare providers' caring: Nothing is too small for parents and children hospitalized for heart surgery

Abstract Background Parents of children with congenial heart disease (CHD) face frequent healthcare encounters due to their child’s care trajectory. With an emphasis on assuring caring in healthcare, it is necessary to understand parents’ perceptions of healthcare providers’ actions when their child undergoes heart surgery. Objectives To describe parents’ perceptions of healthcare providers’ actions when their child is diagnosed with CHD and undergoes heart surgery. Methods This is a qualitative study with in-depth interviews. Parents of children with CHD were interviewed twice after surgery. We analyzed data using directed content analysis guided by Swanson Caring Theory. Results Findings of the study indicate that parents perceive caring when providers seek to understand them ( knowing ); accompany them physically and emotionally ( being with ); help them ( doing for ); support them to be the best parents they can be ( enabling ); and trust them to care for their child ( maintaining belief ). Conclusions Healthcare providers play an irreplaceable role in alleviating parents’ emotional toll when their child undergoes cardiac surgery. Providers' caring is an integral component in healthcare.
Load-Dependent Cascading Failures in Finite-Size Erdös-Rényi Random Networks

Large-scale cascading failures can be triggered by very few initial failures, leading to severe damages in complex networks. This paper studies load-dependent cascading failures in random networks consisting of a large but finite number of components. Under a random single-node attack, a framework is developed to quantify the damage at each stage of a cascade. Estimations and analyses for the fraction of failed nodes are presented to evaluate the time-dependent system damage due to the attack. The results provide guidelines for choosing the load margin to avoid a cascade of failures. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a phase transition behavior in the extent of the damage as the load margin grows, i.e., the fraction of the damaged components drops from near one to near zero over a slight change in the load margin. The critical value of the load margin and the short interval over which such an abrupt change occurs are derived to characterize the network reaction to small network load variations. Our findings provide design principles for enhancing the network resiliency in load-dependent complex networks with practical sizes.
Southern Politics Revisited: On V. O. Key's “South in the House”

V. O. Key's Southern Politics in State and Nation continues to be a central text in political science, the single most important work in understanding the role of the South in American politics. This article returns to, replicates, and seeks to advance Key's analysis of southern politics in Congress, reanalyzing and extending his account of southern strategies and actions in the House of Representatives. Where Key's text was characterized by an episodic attention to issue substance, we focus directly on how southern representation varied across discrete issue areas. We generate temporally fine-grained issue-specific ideal points for members of Congress that allow us to determine how congressional preferences changed across time, generating a more refined portrait of the process by which southern Democratic members diverged from their northern counterparts. We also thicken and extend Key's account along regional and temporal dimensions, assessing how his findings change when we employ a legal-institutional definition of the South, and include the whole period from the beginning of the New Deal to the close of the Truman administration. The article concludes by detailing the significance of our finding to the study of American politics, particularly American political development.
Explicit Incorporation of Hard and Soft Protein–Protein Interactions into Models for Crowding Effects in Protein Mixtures. 2. Effects of Varying Hard and Soft Interactions upon Prototypical Chemical Equilibria

Previously derived approximate analytical relations for the activity coefficient of each solute in a mixture of up to three spherical solutes in a highly nonideal solution interacting via square well potentials of mean force (Hoppe, T.; Minton, A. P. J Phys Chem B. 2016, 120, 11866–11872) were used to explore the effect of heterogeneity in volume occupancy and intermolecular interactions upon prototypical schemes representing solubility, partitioning, conformational isomerization, and self-association in crowded solutions. Results generally indicate that all of the equilibria explored are exquisitely sensitive to variations in both volume occupancy and intermolecular interaction and have important implications for the design and execution of more detailed simulations of complex media.
Multi-temporal mesoscale hyperspectral data of mixed agricultural and grassland regions for anomaly detection

Abstract Flight-based hyperspectral imaging systems have the potential to provide valuable information for ecosystem and environmental studies, as well as aid in land management and land health monitoring. This paper examines a series of images taken over the course of three years that were radiometrically referenced allowing for quantitative comparisons of changes in vegetation health and land usage. The study area is part of a geologic carbon sequestration project located in north-central Montana, approximately 580 ha in extent, at a site requiring permission from multiple land owners to access, making ground based validation difficult. Classification based on histogram splitting of the biophysically based parameters utilizing the entire three years of data is done to determine the major classes present in the data set in order to show the constancy between data sets taken over multiple years. Additionally, a method of anomaly detection for both single and multiple data sets, using Median Absolute Deviations (MADs), is presented along with a method of determining the appropriate size of area for a particular ecological system. Detection of local anomalies within a single data set is examined to determine, on a local scale, areas that are different from the surrounding area and depending on the specific MAD cutoff between 50–70% of the anomalies were located. Additionally, the detection and identification of persistent (anomalies that occur in the same location over multiple data sets) and non-persistent anomalies was qualitatively investigated.
Detection of concentric left ventricular wall hypertrophy by contrast-enhanced non-electrocardiogram-gated chest computed tomography

Abstract Background No established measure of concentric left ventricular wall hypertrophy (cLVH) on routine computed tomography (CT) of the adult chest currently exists. The objective of this study was to identify and test linear measures for the detection of cLVH using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) as the reference standard. Methods Contrast-enhanced non-electrocardiogram-gated chest CTs acquired within two weeks of TTE were retrospectively evaluated. Two radiologists independently made trans-axial measurements in the proximal half of the left ventricle at its approximate widest internal diameter: maximum septal thickness (sept), maximum lateral wall thickness (lat), and inner (Id) and outer (Od) wall-wall diameters at the level of greatest combined myocardial thickness. The sum of sept and lat, hereafter Thmax, and modified cross-sectional area (Amod = Od2 - Id2) were calculated. Sept, lat, Thmax, and Amod were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves using TTE as the reference standard. Thresholds were optimized for specificity and applied to a validation cohort. Inter-rater agreement was assessed by a simple unweighted Kappa statistic (κ). Results Sept and Amod were selected based on areas under the ROC curves of 0.75 and 0.71, respectively, using 100 CTs. Thresholds of 1.6 cm and 30 cm2, respectively, showed similar specificities of 98% with sensitivities of 27% and 30%, respectively. Applied to a validation cohort of 100 CTs, sept had higher combined positive predictive value (75%), inter-rater agreement (κ = 0.58), specificity (91%), and sensitivity (24%). Conclusion Linear measures demonstrate utility in the diagnosis of cLVH on routine contrast-enhanced chest CT.
Group 16 Elements: Chalcogens

These elements have the following crystal structures: S: orthorhombic, Se: monoclinic, Te: trigonal and Po: simple cubic. In this work we performed calculations in only the cubic structures and found that the lowest energy occurs in the simple cubic lattice. For Se and Te we indicate in the total energy diagram, the lowest energy corresponding to monoclinic and trigonal lattices [1]. Polonium is the only element in the periodic table that crystallizes in the simple cubic structure and we correctly predict it. We also present energy bands and DOS in the simple cubic lattice as well as TB parameters.
The quest for carbon-neutral industrial operations: renewable power purchase versus distributed generation

Integrating renewable energy into the manufacturing facility is the ultimate key to realising carbon-neutral operations. Although many firms have taken various initiatives to reduce the carbon foot...
Integrated framework for designing spatially explicit biofuel supply chains

Abstract We present a framework that allows us to utilize high-resolution spatial data to design biomass-to-fuel supply chains. Specifically, we first present how to extract crop data from the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project packages, and then develop a method to combine these data with a historical cropland data layer, to generate spatial data with user-specified resolution. Next, we develop a general approach to determine the potential depot and biorefinery locations, and calculate the actual flow path distance between facilities using Geographic Information Systems methods. Since spatially explicit data lead to large-scale supply chain networks, we develop preprocessing algorithms that allow us to remove arcs that will never be used in an optimal solution, thereby reducing the size of the network under consideration. We then present a multi-period mixed-integer linear programming model that accounts for the selection of depot and biorefinery locations and their capacities, shipping and inventory planning, as well as the selection of pretreatment and conversion technologies, and transportation modes. Finally, we demonstrate the application of our framework using a case study of corn stover-to-ethanol supply chain in Wisconsin.
Clark Kerr: Two Voices

Clark Kerr, the 12th president of the University of California (UC) is universally regarded as one of America’s most important university leaders. But he also enjoyed a worldwide reputation as a thinker. His many writings and activities, and the writings that he inspired, provided a foundation for sophisticated comparative higher education policy studies. He encouraged fresh thinking about the purposes of higher education when, to the dismay of critics, he renamed the “modern” university as a “multiversity” and justified the neologism. He was also the principal architect of the California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960, the first such comprehensive planning document in the 800-year old history of the university, an attempt to balance egalitarian and meritocratic objectives. But in some respects, which critics miss, is that his deepest feelings about the purposes of higher education were old-fashioned. These essays or “chapters” by those who knew or worked with him provide the most comprehensive analysis yet to appear of the man, his ideas, his influences and the issues with which he and his successors engaged and must still engage.
A spectrographic investigation of consonant-vowel transitions in the speech of deaf adults

Abstract: A spectrographic investigation was carried out on the speech of normal-hearing and deaf speakers; the research attempted to answer questions concerning formant transitions, coarticulation and neutralization of vowels in the speech of the deaf adults. Recordings were made of each subject reading a constant carrier phrase into which a changing medial monosyllable was embedded. The deaf subjects chosen for this investigation were judged to be above average in intelligibility (for deaf talkers that is); they exhibited a profound bilateral hearing loss of early onset. Wide band spectrograms were made of selected recorded stimulus items. The results indicated that the transitions of deaf speakers had a restricted range and slower rate of movement than did those of the normal talkers. Further, the speech of the deaf showed relatively few coarticulation effects, their vowel formants tended to be neutralized and they tended to begin any given articulatory sequence in a manner similar to any other regardless of context.
165 GENETIC ANALYSIS OF 2′,3′-DIDEOXYCYTIDINE METABOLISM IN HUMAN CEM T LYMPHOBLASTS

2′,3′-Dideoxycytidine (ddC) is known to inhibit the in vitro infectivity and growth of HTLV-III/LAV, the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The cellular determinants that mediate the action of ddC in cultured human CEM thymic lymphoblasts were analyzed by somatic cell genetic approaches. Whereas ddC at a concentration of 5 micromolar inhibited the growth of wild type CEM cells by 50%, two nucleoside transport-deficient clones were 4-fold resistant to the pyrimidine analog. A deoxycytidine kinase-deficient CEM cell derivative was completely refractory to growth inhibition by I millimolar ddC. An 80% diminished rate of ddC influx into the two nucleoside transport-deficient cell lines could account for their resistance to the dideoxynucleoside, while the resistance of the deoxycytidine kinase-deficient cells to ddC toxicity could be explained by a complete failure to incorporate ddC in situ. NBMPR and DPA, two potent inhibitors of nucleoside transport in mammalian cells, mimicked the effects of the genetic deficiency in nucleoside transport with respect to ddC toxicity and ddC incorporation. These data indicate that the intracellular metabolism of ddC in CEM cells is initiated by the nucleoside transport system and deoxycytidine kinase and has important implications for the design of biochemically rational chemotherapeutic regimens exploiting antiretroviral nucleoside analogs in the treatment of AIDS.
Distrust and empathy: explaining the lack of support for capital punishment among minorities

Public opinion polls show that the majority of people in the United States support capital punishment but that is because the majority of White Americans support it. Research on the opinions of non...
Oestrogen inhibits PTPRO to prevent the apoptosis of renal podocytes

Podocytes are a major component of the glomerular filtration membrane, and their apoptosis is involved in a variety of nephrotic syndromes. In the current study, the effects and molecular mechanisms of oestrogen on the proliferation and apoptosis of podocytes were investigated to elucidate the role of oestrogen in the pathogenesis of childhood nephrotic syndrome. The cell proliferation of mouse renal podocytes (MPC-5) and human primary renal podocytes was promoted by 17β-oestradiol (E2) in what appear to be a time-dependent manner. Apoptosis was inhibited by E2 and promoted by the E2 antagonist, tamoxifen. The expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type O (PTPRO) decreased with the increasing dosage of E2, but increased with the increasing dosage tamoxifen in MPC-5 and human podocytes. The protein, oestrogen receptor (ER)α, was not expressed in MPC-5 and human podocytes. E2 binding to ERβ completely eliminated PTPRO expression in MPC-5. In podocytes, PTPRO was phosphorylated by E2 at the Y1007 and associated with tyrosine-protein kinase JAK2 (JAK2) activation, rather than JAK1 activation. PTPRO was involved in the binding of E2 to signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 at the Y705 and S727 sites, resulting in the phosphorylation of STAT3 in podocytes. Through PTPRO, E2 also regulated the proliferation and apoptosis of podocytes. In conclusion, oestrogen binding to ERβ, rather than ERα, promoted the proliferation of podocytes and inhibited the apoptosis of podocytes by inhibiting the expression of PTPRO. The mechanism may be associated with the activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway. The current study may provide a novel direction for the treatment of childhood nephrotic syndrome.
An Integrative View of Lepidosaur Cranial Anatomy, Development, and Diversification

There are over 10,300 recognized reptile species in the lineage Lepidosauria whose members utilize almost every mode of locomotion except powered flight. They exhibit a diverse array of feeding mechanisms such as the ballistic tongue projection and retraction system of chameleons to the snake macrostomate mode of eating prey larger than their body width. Lepidosauria also exhibit specialized cranial ornamentation and diverse cranioskeletal architecture. The diversity across over 10,300 species makes it unfeasible to conduct an exhaustive review in a short chapter. Herein, we focus our efforts on four phylogenetically, sensory, and phenotypically divergent taxa, the tuatara (Rhynchocephalia: Sphenodon punctatus) and three squamate reptiles: the desert grassland whiptail lizard (Teiidae: Aspidoscelis uniparens), veiled chameleon (Chamaeleonidae: Chamaeleo calyptratus), and the African house snake (Boaedon fuliginosus). While chondro- and osteocranial architecture, cranial muscle, and cranial nerves have been described for various taxa, most reports focus on different taxa but do not provide a description of all three of these tissues for the same species. Herein we present an integrative view of tissue differentiation of the cranium for the latter three species and also develop a reference for future comparative study of the squamate cranium. In addition, we briefly discuss topics as varied as the role of the embryonic cranial base in shaping the adult postorbital skull and the homology of some skeletal elements and jaw adductor musculature as well as the conservation of cranial nerves across Lepidosauria
Knee osteoarthritis severity level classification using whole knee cartilage damage Index and ANN

In this study, we extended our previous work on analyzing the relationship between cartilage thickness and osteoarthritis (OA) severity grade change. Cartilage thickness is measured by the Cartilage Damage Index (CDI) which includes 60 points marked on 3D MRI for each knee joint. In our previous work, we used CDI points on femur and tibia compartments only (36 points) as features and employed machine learning methods to predict the OA severity grade change. In this work, we added the 24 CDI points on patella into the feature space and explored whether CDI points from patella could improve the accuracy, on a larger dataset. Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade was used to measure OA severity in this study. Artificial neural network (ANN), which showed good performance in our previous study, was employed as the machine learning method. For KL grade classification, experiment results showed that adding patella points improved the performance remarkably, from AUC 0.822 to AUC 0.903 and the whole knee CDI achieved the best classification performance on the dataset.
Synthetic control over orientational degeneracy of spacer cations enhances solar cell efficiency in two-dimensional perovskites.

Two-dimensional perovskites have emerged as more intrinsically stable materials for solar cells. Chemical tuning of spacer organic cations has attracted great interest due to their additional functionalities. However, how the chemical nature of the organic cations affects the properties of two-dimensional perovskites and devices is rarely reported. Here we demonstrate that the selection of spacer cations (i.e., selective fluorination of phenethylammonium) affects the film properties of two-dimensional perovskites, leading to different device performance of two-dimensional perovskite solar cells (average n = 4). Structural analysis reveals that different packing arrangements and orientational disorder of the spacer cations result in orientational degeneracy and different formation energies, largely explaining the difference in film properties. This work provides key missing information on how spacer cations exert influence on desirable electronic properties and device performance of two-dimensional perovskites via the weak and cooperative interactions of these cations in the crystal lattice. Two dimensional halide perovskites solar cells have attracted research interest due to their higher stability compared to three dimensional counterparts. Here Hu et al. show that fine tuning of the chemical structure of the spacer cations leads to different packing arrangements and device efficiency.