cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Focal plane calibration of the Spitzer space telescope

The Spitzer space telescope (Spitzer) is currently NASA's largest and most sensitive infrared (IR) telescope in space. Spitzer's focal plane carries detectors from three science instruments, namely, the infrared array camera (IRAC), the infrared spectrograph (IRS), and the multiband imaging photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). In this article we discuss the instrument pointing frame (IPF) Kalman filter, which is used to calibrate Spitzer's telescope focal plane. The IPF filter is a high-order square-root iterated linearized Kalman filter that carries 37 states to estimate frame misalignments, while correcting for systematic errors due to optical distortions, scan-mirror errors, thermomechanically induced drift variations, and gyro bias and drift in all axes. The Spitzer application demonstrates that the integrated approach offers significant advantages with respect to optimality, time-efficiency, anomaly detection, and health monitoring compared to existing telescope-calibration approaches, where the parameters are artificially broken into subsets that are estimated by separate teams of analysts. Performance results for the IPF Kalman filter indicate that all Spitzer calibration requirements are satisfied, and are consistent with margins predicted by preflight error analysis. On a final note, after more than five-and-a-half years of probing the cool cosmos, Spitzer entered standby mode on May 15, 2009, as a result of running out of the liquid helium coolant that kept its infrared instruments chilled. This event marks the successful completion of the Spitzer's cold mission as originally commissioned by NASA. However, even though the telescope is warming up, the IRAC arrays continue to operate and provide useful scientific data. A new follow-on warm mission based on the IRAC arrays has been defined and initiated, so that Spitzer will remain in commission for several years to come.
Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization: From Mechanisms to Applications

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is currently one of the most often used synthetic polymerization methods to prepare well-defined polymers with complex architecture. This review covers some fundamentals of copper-based ATRP, presents basic structure–reactivity correlation for initiators and catalyst complexes and discusses the radical nature of reactive intermediates. New ATRP initiating processes with ppm amounts of copper catalysts and various reducing agents are described together with recent electrochemically controlled ATRP and polymerization in aqueous homogeneous and dispersed media. Examples of polymers with precisely controlled architecture are presented together with the effect of variable amounts of catalysts on molecular weight distribution and morphology of nanostructured block copolymers. Some current and forthcoming applications of polymers made by ATRP are presented.
Pinpointing Representative Portions of Large Intel® Itanium® Programs with Dynamic Instrumentation

Detailed modeling of the performance of commercial applications is difficult. The applications can take a very long time to run on real hardware and it is impractical to simulate them to completion on performance models. Furthermore, these applications have complex execution environments that cannot easily be reproduced on a simulator, making porting the applications to simulators difficult. We attack these problems using the well-known SimPoint methodology to find representative portions of an application to simulate, and a dynamic instrumentation framework called Pin to avoid porting altogether. Our system uses dynamic instrumentation instead of simulation to find representative portions - called Pin-Points - for simulation. We have developed a toolkit that automatically detects PinPoints, validates whether they are representative using hardware performance counters, and generates traces for large Itanium® programs. We compared SimPoint-based selection to random selection of simulation points. We found for 95% of the SPEC2000 programs we tested, the PinPoints prediction was within 8% of the actual whole-program CPI, as opposed to 18% for random selection. We measure the end-to-end error, comparing real hardware to a performance model, and have a simple and efficient methodology to determine the step that introduced the error. Finally, we evaluate the system in the context of multiple configurations of real hardware, commercial applications, and industrial-strength performance models to understand the behavior of a complete and practical workload collection system. We have successfully used our system with many commercial Itanium® programs, some running for trillions of instructions, and have used the resulting traces for predicting performance of those applications on future Itanium processors.
Radiation Balanced Lasers

Conventional solid state lasers are exothermic. The processes of optical excitation and stimulated emission can never yield unit quantum efficiency.
Imaging of cardiac movement using ratiometric and nonratiometric optical mapping: effects of ischemia and 2, 3-butaneodione monoxime

Transmembrane voltage-sensitive fluorescent dyes are used to study electrical activity in hearts. Green and red fluorescence emissions from di-4-ANEPPS excited with 488 nm light indicate both transmembrane voltage changes and heart movement. We have previously shown that the ratio, green fluorescence divided by red fluorescence, indicates the transmembrane voltage without effects of movement. Here we examine the feasibility of measuring the movement, which is useful for the study of cardiac function, by subtracting this ratiometric signal from the red or green fluorescence signal. The results of this subtraction show tissue movement and its relative changes during cardiac ischemia and perfusion with an electromechanical uncoupling agent. By incorporating the spatial variations in fluorescence intensity from the heart, tissue movement can be qualitatively mapped to examine relative changes, however, with limited ability to quantify absolute displacement. Since these maps are obtained simultaneously with corresponding transmembrane potentials, the method allows study of spatiotemporal cardiac movement patterns and their relationship to the action potential.
Specialization and Persistence in the Arrest Histories of Sex Offenders A Comparative Analysis of Alternative Measures and Offense Types

A basic assumption underlying current public policy and crime-control efforts is that sex offenders are highly specialized and persistent. Using national data on about 10,000 sex offenders released from prison in 1994, this study explored this assumption by comparing the arrest patterns and cycles of sex offenders and other offenders. As a group and across various measures, sex offenders had low levels of specialization and persistence in offending in absolute and relative terms. Similar conclusions were reached when specific types of sex offenders (e.g., rapists, child molesters) were compared with other particular offenders (e.g., robbers, burglars, drug offenders), but the results were more measure dependent. Even among persistent serial sex offenders, rapists and child molesters were found to specialize only within a more predominant pattern of versatility across their criminal careers. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and current public policy that are pr...
Regulation of eukaryotic initiation factor-2B activity in muscle of diabetic rats

Peptide-chain initiation is inhibited in fast-twitch skeletal muscle, but not heart, of diabetic rats. We have investigated mechanisms that might maintain eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-2B activity, preventing loss of efficiency of protein synthesis in heart of diabetic rats but not in fast-twitch skeletal muscle. There was no change in the amount or phosphorylation state of eIF-2 in skeletal or cardiac muscle during diabetes. In contrast, eIF-2B activity was decreased in fast-twitch but not slow-twitch muscle from diabetic animals. NADP+ inhibited partially purified eIF-2B in vitro, but addition of equimolar NADPH reversed the inhibition. The NADPH-to-NADP+ ratio was unchanged in fast-twitch muscle after induction of diabetes but was increased in heart of diabetic rats, suggesting that NADPH also prevents inhibition of eIF-2B in vivo. The activity of casein kinase II, which can phosphorylate and activate eIF-2B in vitro, was significantly lower in extracts of fast-twitch, but not cardiac muscle, of diabetic rats compared with controls. The results presented here demonstrate that changes in eIF-2 alpha phosphorylation are not responsible for the effect of diabetes on eIF-2B activity in fast-twitch skeletal muscle. Modulation of casein kinase II activity may be a factor in the regulation of protein synthesis in muscle during acute diabetes. The activity of eIF-2B in heart might be maintained by the increased NADPH/NADP+.
Mercury Control for Coal-fired Power Plants

Mercury is a toxic, persistent pollutant that accumulates in the food chain, especially in fish, and causes major environmental health concerns. There are many sources of natural and anthropogenic emissions, but combustion of coal is known to be the major anthropogenic source of mercury (Hg) emissions in the U.S. and worldwide. To address this, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently promulgated the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) to reduce Hg emissions from coal-fired utility boilers. This rule makes the United States the first country in the world to regulate mercury emissions from such plants. However, atmospheric mercury is a global problem and mercury emissions from U.S. coal-fired boilers represent only a small fraction of the total worldwide emissions. Mercury emissions from Asia — especially from countries with rapidly growing economies, such as China and India — account for almost 60% of worldwide anthropogenic mercury emissions. Mercury can be controlled as a co-benefit of existing NO x , SO x , and PM control technologies and via sorbent injection technology. The level of control is strongly affected by the type of mercury emitted (elemental, ionic, or particulate-bound), coal type, chlorine levels, and type of air pollution controls used. With knowledge of the impact of each of these, mercury can be controlled, and improved methods to achieve further control can be developed.
Going with the flow and yet controlling the Flow: the Early Life, Education, and Scholarship of Takatsukasa Seigyoku, Current Abbess of Zenkōji’s Daihongan Convent

Takatsukasa Seigyoku (b. 1929) is the current abbess of Daihongan convent, which is one of the two administrative heads of the popular Japanese pilgrimage temple Zenkōji. In this paper, I analyze Takatsukasa’s autobiographical materials about her early life, her monastic education, and her scholarly works. Her early life, here defined as the time from her birth until 1979, demonstrates the ways in which she asserted or relaxed control over her life at various times, following her motto “going with the flow and yet controlling the flow.” Her education at the Pure Land Nuns’ Sectarian School brings to light the ways that women come to embody being a nun. Her scholarship demonstrates the ways that biographical narratives can function to create ideals within the monastic community, while at the same time, they place Takatsukasa’s convent and the tradition she is a part of within the larger (mostly male) historic record. I also analyze media accounts about her ordination in 1955. From these accounts we can determine that Japanese society’s views about nuns (and laywomen, as well) in mid-century combined elements of medieval understandings of taking the tonsure as a sad event with twentieth-century discourses that defined women’s roles to be “good wives and wise mothers.” Additionally, we can see how Takatsukasa has reclaimed the narrative of her life through writing autobiographical materials, effectively challenging the interpretations of her life produced in newspapers and magazines.
Ebbs and Flows: The Courts in Racial Context

The federal court system has been used alternatively to maintain the status quo and to push for social change. Sociological literature identifies a cycle of racism such that civil rights progress is inevitably followed by backlash; therein lie the ebbs and flows.This article puts the federal courts within this racial context. A review of desegregation and affirmative action case law from passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the present indicates that courts are not immune from these ebbs and flows, but adhere to the cycle of progress and hostility to civil rights.
Abstract 2653: Nelfinavir induces apoptosis in hormone-resistant prostate cancer cells through inhibition of regulated intramembrane proteolysis of SREBP-1 and ATF6

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL We previously reported that nelfinavir-induced apoptosis in liposarcoma is a direct result of regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) inhibition mediated through inhibition of site-2 protease (S2P) activity. We now report similar effects in hormone-resistant prostate cancer (HR-PC) cells. Nelfinavir-mediated RIP inhibition leads to accumulation of unprocessed sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6). This results in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and inhibition of the unfolded protein response (UPR), which leads to autophagy and caspase activation. Confocal microscopy and proliferation studies demonstrate that nelfinavir inhibits the nuclear translocation of SREBP-1-EGFP and ATF6-EGFP fusion proteins, and reduces PC proliferation, similar to the situation observed in site-1 protease (S1P) and S2P-siRNA knockdown cells. Western blotting in nelfinavir and S1P and/or S2P-siRNA knockdown cells confirms accumulation of precursor SREBP-1 and ATF6. Treatment of PC cells with DCI, an S1P inhibitor did not affect SREBP-1 processing. In contrast, 1,10-phenanthroline, an S2P inhibitor, reproduces the molecular and biological phenotype observed in nelfinavir-treated HR-PC cells. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that S2P is a target of nelfinavir. These findings, together with our previous report, provide new insight into the mechanism of nelfinavir-mediated induction of ER stress and cell death in cancer, and are the first to report targeting S2P therapeutically for cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2653. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2653
Effect of Se-doping on deep impurities in Al x Ga 1-x As grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We have studied the effect of Se-doping on deep impurities in AlxGa1−xAs (x = 0.2∼0.3) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Deep impurities in various Se-doped AlxGa1−xAs layers grown on GaAs substrates were measured by deep level transient spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. We have found that the commonly observed oxygen contamination-related deep levels at Ec-0.53 and 0.70 eV and germanium-related level at Ec-0.30 eV in MOCVD grown AlxGa1−xAs can be effectively eliminated by Se-doping. In addition, a deep hole level located at Ey + 0.65 eV was found for the first time in Se-doped AlxGa1-xAs when Se ≥2 × 1017 cm−3 or x ≥ 0.25. The concentration of this hole trap increases with increasing Se doping level and Al composition. Under optimized Se-doping conditions, an extremely low deep level density (Nt less than 5 × 1012 cm−3, detection limit) Al0.22Ga0.78As layer was achieved. A p-type Al0.2Ga0.8As layer with a low deep level density was also obtained by a (Zn, Se) codoping technique.
Effects of Defect on Ferroelectric Stability in PbTiO3 Thin Films

Effects of defect on ferroelectric stability in PbTiO3 (PTO) thin films have been investigated using molecular dynamics with first-principles effective Hamiltonian. In this paper, oxygen vacancy (Vo) has been considered to study the hysteresis loop, spontaneous polarization as a function of film thickness. Vo has been modeled as a charged point defect. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to determine the Vo-induced localized fields (both mechanical and electrical) and the calculated DFT results are used as inputs to molecular dynamics simulations in a large system. The strain field induced by the Vo is calculated by DFT calculations and fitted by the continuum strain modeling, and the electrostatic field is given by the superposition of the Vo-induced field and the external field. Vo significantly reduces the spontaneous polarization and increases the critical thickness.
Citation Impact of Women in Social Work: Exploring Gender and Research Culture

Purpose:We assessed citation impact scholarship of women in the top 25-ranked schools of social work in the United States.Method:We used a mixed methodology. Part 1 was a secondary data analysis of...
Seamless Handover Between Longitudinal Differential Protection and Pilot Protection in Circumstance of Single Channel

The error code ratio and the coherence of bi-directional channel time-delay of fiber channel are two important factors influencing performances of longitudinal differential protection.A method for recognizing the coherence of bi-directional channel time-delay by using difference between voltage phase angles calculated with line lumped-parameter model is proposed.In circumstance of single channel,two transmission rules,i.e.short frame fit for pilot protection and long frame fit for longitudinal differential protection,are combined,so that the seamless handover between the two kinds of protections can be automatically implemented according to the channel's circumstance.The tests show that the seamless handover scheme can significantly reduce the exiting time of main protection,thus improve the reliability of protection.
Feasibility Study of Implementing Geothermal Power Generation in Guanzhong Region of Shaanxi Province

Geothermal energy is one of the cleanest environmentally friendly and efficient reliable new energy.Based on a review of the geothermal resources of Guanzhong Region in Shaanxi Province,this paper expounds the feasibility to implement geothermal generation by analyzing three fundamentals of geothermal resources,power equipment and recharge.
Chromosomal Studies in Cryptorchidism

Abstract The chromosomes of undescended testes from 13 boys were analyzed. In 12 of these patients the peripheral blood chromosomes were examined and in 7 the chromosomes of normal skin cultures were examined. In addition to standard techniques the chromosomes also were analyzed by G and Q-banding methods. We were unable to detect any significant abnormalities of either chromosome number or structure in the undescended testes. Thus, our investigation failed to demonstrate a chromosomal lesion that may be responsible for maldescent of the testes. Our investigation did not reveal any changes in the chromosomes of these undescended testes that could be interpreted as indicating a potentially malignant state.
Joan Clos: l’urbanisation est un outil de développement

Joan Clos est le Directeur executif du Programme des Nations Unies pour les etablissements humains (ONU-Habitat), base a Nairobi. Dans cet entretien avec Newton Kanhema pour Afrique Renouveau, le Dr Clos parle des effets de l’urbanisation en Afrique et d’Habitat III, la prochaine grande conference des Nations Unies sur le logement et le developpement urbain durable qui se tiendra a Quito en Equateur en octobre 2016.
An ethnographic study of salt use and humoral concepts in a Latino farm worker community in California's Central Valley.

This article reports on the use of domestic or table salt for its perceived health effects and healing properties in a Latino farmworker community. It explores how contemporary salt usage beliefs can be seen to have roots in long-standing humoral theories of medicine and health. This qualitative investigation comprised 30 in-depth individual interviews and five focus groups conducted in Spanish with Mexican and Central American immigrants in one small city in California’s Central Valley (N = 61 total participants). Interviews and focus groups were audiotaped, translated into English and transcribed. Several researchers independently and iteratively read transcripts, developed and applied codes, and engaged in thematic analysis. Strongly emergent themes identified the importance of balance in health, and beliefs about the effects on salt on health. Valued for its culinary role, for bringing out the flavors in food, and used by people of all ages, salt use is part of a robust set of cultural practices. Salt was regularly mixed with foods in different combinations and ingested to restore balance, prevent disequilibrium or reduce vulnerability to diverse illnesses, promote rehydration, and address symptoms of exposure to extremes of temperature or physical or emotional stress. Statements made and practices engaged in by participants were highly suggestive of health and healing beliefs common to humoral belief systems based primarily on a hot-cold dichotomy in classifications of foods and healing behaviors. We evaluate these statements and practices in the context of the existing literature on historical and contemporary humoral beliefs in Latin American communities, in Mexico and Central America, and in the United States. Humoral theory is a useful framework for understanding contemporary rural Latino migrant farmworkers’ perceptions of the importance of salt for their health.
Enhancing Student Understanding of Color Perception: A Teaching Activity on Intersubjective Color Variations

Abstract We present a teaching activity whose aim is to enhance students' understanding of color perception by introducing them to intersubjective color variations among normal perceivers. The approach can be used in different disciplines, including biology, philosophy, psychology, physics, or statistics, for different purposes and with college students having various levels of sophistication and scientific training.
Patterns of Fractionation and Boost Usage in Adjuvant External Beam Radiotherapy for Ductal Carcinoma in Situ in the United States.

Abstract Background While the roles of hypofractionated (HFxn) radiotherapy and lumpectomy boost in the adjuvant management of invasive breast cancer are supported by the results of clinical trials, randomized data supporting their use for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are forthcoming. We sought to evaluate current national trends and identify factors associated with HFxn and boost usage using the National Cancer Database. Patients and Methods We queried the National Cancer Database for women diagnosed with DCIS from 2004 to 2014 undergoing external beam radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery. Patients were categorized as receiving either conventional fractionation (CFxn) or HFxn and as either receiving or not receiving a boost. Multiple logistic regression was performed to identify demographic, clinical, and treatment factor associations. Results A total of 101,615 women were identified, with 87,641 (86.2%) receiving CFxn, 13,974 (13.8%) receiving HFxn, and most patients in each group (84.9% and 57.7%, respectively) receiving a boost. Implementation of HFxn increased from 4.3% in 2004 to 33.0% in 2014, and the use of a boost declined from 83.3% to 74.6%. HFxn receipt was independently associated with later year of diagnosis, older age, higher income, greater distance from treatment facility, greater facility volume, academic facility type, Western residence, smaller lesions, and nonreceipt of a boost. Factors associated with boost receipt included earlier year of diagnosis, younger age, higher income, community facility type, adverse pathologic features, and nonreceipt of HFxn. Conclusion Although CFxn with a boost remains the most common external beam radiotherapy strategy for DCIS, implementation of HFxn without a boost appears to be increasing. Practice patterns at present seem to be driven by guidelines for invasive breast cancer and nonclinical factors.
Witnesses to transformation: Family member experiences providing individualized music to their relatives with dementia

Content analysis of 35 family members stories found that sharing individualized music enhanced memory, mood and provided interactive opportunities, where family members connected and communicated w...
Managing the university: Why “organized anarchy” is unacceptable in the age of massive open online courses:

The growing complexity of the university and of its competitive, technological, and operating environment means that the status quo in management is no longer adequate. New mental models are required. An approach that has been developed through a lengthy study of strategic management in the private sector is the dynamic capabilities framework. This essay presents the dynamic capabilities framework with indications for how it applies in the university context. By thinking in terms of sensing shifts, seizing opportunities, and transforming the university, a university’s leaders can improve their own effectiveness and their school’s readiness to respond to challenges and achieve its goals.
Review of the genus Trichiotes Casey (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Pimeliinae: Edrotini), with the description of a new species and a preliminary checklist of the Tenebrionidae from Cuatrociénegas, Mexico.

The rarely collected, previously monotypic, darkling beetle genus Trichiotes is reviewed, including new state and country records for T. seriatus Casey, 1907 and a new species, Trichiotes lightfooti Wirth & Smith, n. sp., is described from the Cuatrocienegas Protected Area in Coahuila, Mexico. Differences in stridulatory structures between the species are discussed and the occurrence of a waxy, extracuticular pruinescence is reported for Trichiotes. A species key to the genus is provided and a checklist of the known Tenebrionidae from the Cuatrocienegas region is presented.
Cell-Type Transcriptomes of the Multicellular Green Alga Volvox carteri Yield Insights into the Evolutionary Origins of Germ and Somatic Differentiation Programs

Germ–soma differentiation is a hallmark of complex multicellular organisms, yet its origins are not well understood. Volvox carteri is a simple multicellular green alga that has recently evolved a simple germ–soma dichotomy with only two cell-types: large germ cells called gonidia and small terminally differentiated somatic cells. Here, we provide a comprehensive characterization of the gonidial and somatic transcriptomes of V. carteri to uncover fundamental differences between the molecular and metabolic programming of these cell-types. We found extensive transcriptome differentiation between cell-types, with somatic cells expressing a more specialized program overrepresented in younger, lineage-specific genes, and gonidial cells expressing a more generalist program overrepresented in more ancient genes that shared striking overlap with stem cell-specific genes from animals and land plants. Directed analyses of different pathways revealed a strong dichotomy between cell-types with gonidial cells expressing growth-related genes and somatic cells expressing an altruistic metabolic program geared toward the assembly of flagella, which support organismal motility, and the conversion of storage carbon to sugars, which act as donors for production of extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoproteins whose secretion enables massive organismal expansion. V. carteri orthologs of diurnally controlled genes from C. reinhardtii, a single-celled relative, were analyzed for cell-type distribution and found to be strongly partitioned, with expression of dark-phase genes overrepresented in somatic cells and light-phase genes overrepresented in gonidial cells- a result that is consistent with cell-type programs in V. carteri arising by cooption of temporal regulons in a unicellular ancestor. Together, our findings reveal fundamental molecular, metabolic, and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie the origins of germ–soma differentiation in V. carteri and provide a template for understanding the acquisition of germ–soma differentiation in other multicellular lineages.
The Laplace Equation and Wave Equation

In this chapter we introduce the central linear partial differential equations of the second order, the Laplace equation $$\Delta u = f$$ (0.1) and the wave equation $$\left (\frac{{\partial }^{2}} {\partial {t}^{2}} -\Delta\right )u = f.$$ (0.2) For flat Euclidean space \(\mathbb{R}^{n}\), the Laplace operator is defined by $$\Delta u =\frac{{\partial }^{2}u} {\partial {x}_{1}^{2}} +\cdots +\frac{{\partial }^{2}u} {\partial {x}_{n}^{2}}.$$ (0.3)
Assistive technology and computer adaptations for individuals with spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) commonly occurs in individuals during important years for formation of vocational goals, resulting in low post-injury employment rates and higher costs to society. Individuals with SCI who are employed have improved quality of life. Assistive technology, often available at modest cost, can help individuals with SCI to compensate for functional limitations, overcome barriers to employability, enhance technical capacities and computer utilization, and improve ability to compete for gainful employment.
Biosignature Preservation Potential in Playa Evaporites: Impacts of Diagenesis and Implications for Mars Exploration.

Abstract Assessing biosignature preservation potential (BPP) in ancient habitable environments on Mars is a top NASA priority. We address this goal through the study of Miocene-Pliocene evaporites ...
Challenges Facing Grasslands inthe Northern Great Plains and North Central Region

Grasslands in the Northern Great Plains and North Central Region are diverse, highly productive, and remarkably resilient.Despite these advantages, these grasslands are being threatened by land use change, invasive species, and loss of biodiversity, as well as being presented with new challenges in how to manage for threatened and endangered species.Between 2008 and 2012, approximately 2.3 million hectares of grasslands were converted to crop production, while on the remaining grasslands, invasions of perennial cool-season grasses have altered the forage cycle, reduced diversity, and negatively impacted pollinator habitat.However, the high forage quality and productivity of the grasslands in the area suggest that there are opportunities to address these challenges.Maintaining ranchers on the landscape to keep grasslands intact is a critical component in realizing these opportunities; therefore, efforts to maintain grasslands in the region need to focus on producer profitability.
Tuning the graphene mechanical anisotropy via defect engineering

Abstract Exceptional mechanical properties of graphene have been extensively studied and leveraged in applications of a broad variety. The fine-tuning of the degree of graphene mechanical anisotropy, however, remains not well understood today. In this paper, a defect engineering strategy is adopted to tune the anisotropic property of monolayer graphene. Mechanical properties of various defect designs, from defect designs consisting of basic elements to more complex patterned graphene kirigami, are systematically discussed and numerically studied using molecular dynamics simulations. A novel stress-ratio-versus-strain-ratio graph is proposed to visualize and rationalize the tuning of mechanical anisotropy of defected graphene sheet. Through our defect designs, all the four quadrants of the 2D ratio graph are covered, indicating a high capability and versatility of fine-tuning the mechanical properties of graphene in different directions. This research, which investigates the tunability of graphene mechanical anisotropy via defect design, sheds light on the new possibility of fine-tuning mechanical properties of other 2D materials and has the potential to improve materials for applications such as stretchable electronics and supercapacitor devices.
A Moving Target Defense to Detect Stealthy Attacks in Cyber-Physical Systems

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) have traditionally been considered more static, with regular communication patterns when compared to classical information technology networks. Because the structure of most CPS remains unchanged during long periods of time, they become vulnerable to adversaries who can tailor their attacks based on their precise knowledge of the system dynamics, communications, and control. Moving Target Defense (MTD) has emerged as a strategy to add uncertainty about the state and execution of a system in order to prevent adversaries from having predictable effects with their attacks. In this work we propose a novel type of MTD strategy that randomly changes the availability of the sensor data, so that it is harder for adversaries to tailor stealthy attacks and at the same time it can minimize the impact of false-data injection attacks. Using tools from switched control systems we formulate an optimization problem to find the probability of the switching signals that increase the visibility of stealthy attacks while decreasing the deviation caused by false data injection attacks.
Titanic’s Doomed Lovers as Shakespearean Avatars

I argue here for a latent ideological connection between Shakespeare and a contemporary movie romance, James Cameron’s celebrated and sometimes unloved Titanic (1997). This is the only movie I discuss whose Shakespearean antecedents are clear if not always perfectly understood: when Cameron pitched the movie to the studio, he called it “Romeo and Juliet on the ‘Titanic.’” I take his pitch seriously and examine the connections in the text that strikingly suggest a sorry fate in the imagined afterlife for all four lovers, whose story has become an integral part of modern popular culture and our faulty view of the model romance. Titanic, unlike Romeo and Juliet, is a true tragedy, though it may not know that.
Unsymmetrical Bis-Alkynyl Complexes Based on Co(III)(cyclam): Synthesis, Ultrafast Charge Separation, and Analysis

Donor-bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) systems with a polarizable bridge can afford rapid photoinduced electron transfer dynamics that may be susceptible to rate modulation by infrared excitation. We descri...
Correlates of substance use in pregnant women under community supervision after conviction for a criminal offence: The role of psychological distress

BACKGROUND Being pregnant while under community supervision after conviction for a criminal offence can be a highly stressful experience, and pregnant women under community supervision are at an elevated risk for substance use. AIMS/HYPOTHESES To test for relationships between psychological distress and use of tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana during the month prior to a research assessment among pregnant women under community supervision, controlling for demographic characteristics. METHODS Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health were aggregated for the years 2008-2016, inclusive. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine correlates of past-month use of each substance. RESULTS Of all 505,796 people in the survey, 6,974 were pregnant women of whom 280 reported being under community supervision for a criminal offence; relevant data were available for 271 of these cases. The pregnant women under community supervision reported higher rates of past-month substance use of each kind and of psychological distress than pregnant women not under community supervision. Past-month serious psychological distress, but not remitted psychological distress, corresponded strongly with past-month alcohol use even when controlling for demographic characteristics and other substance use. CONCLUSIONS Our findings add to the very sparse literature about a group of women likely to be exceptionally vulnerable during pregnancy and underscore the importance of screening for symptoms of substance use and of psychological distress amongst them. Among women under community supervision, alcohol use was less likely in the second or third trimester than the first, but as those using alcohol were more likely to report past month psychological distress, it may be important to provide additional resources and treatment services for these women.
The Meanings in Lives

This final chapter sums up the lessons that can be learned from this book. It discusses the fact that, in a world as messy and chaotic as ours, anthropologists must seek theories that explore societies’ workings by looking at the local, experiential, and practical—explaining societies as the products of individuals working together. Empathy, satisficing, and shared problem-solving are essential tools for our subjects, and, for anthropologists, figuring out how to deal with difference is every bit as important as understanding conformity. Cultural ecosystems, then, are laboratories for experimenting, exploring, and learning, as well as the places where people teach one another about what they have found.
High-Energy Density Capacitors for Electric Vehicle Traction Inverters

DC bus capacitors take up substantial space in a traction inverter, limiting the traction drive power density. Thus, several commercial capacitor technologies, under consideration for use as DC bus capacitors for electric vehicle traction inverters, were reviewed for their ability to optimize the volume of traction inverters and are evaluated in this paper. Three promising capacitor technologies-film, ceramic, and PLZT have been selected for detailed experimental characterization. Experimental results for equivalent series resistance, equivalent series inductance, and effective capacitance with respect to DC bias voltage for various operating frequencies and temperatures are presented. The results reveal the superiority of the PLZT capacitor in terms of power density, current conduction capability, and redundancy.
Transforming Clinical Pathways

[ ]urine albumin to creatinine ratio is often measured at the point-of-care in a network of clinics Because of limited data on the quality of this test, Tamika Regnier, BMedSc, and colleagues investigate this aspect using 16 years of analytical quality data Adil I Khan, MSc, PhD Adil I Khan, MSc, PhD, is an associate professor of pathology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the medical director for point-of-care testing and clinical chemistry for the Temple University Health System Dr Khan then pursued a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Calgary, Canada, studying the role of L-selectin and CD44 in models of acute inflammation, followed by a postdoctoral clinical chemistry training fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Since 2006, he has been teaching at Temple University, lecturing to pathology residents, medical students, and students of podiatric medicine
Synthesis and Aqueous Self-Assembly of ABCD Bottlebrush Block Copolymers

Tetrablock bottlebrush copolymers with three incompatible hydrophobic domains and one hydrophilic domain are prepared by a grafting-through approach using living ring-opening metathesis polymerizat...
Gut microbiota in Celiac Disease: microbes, metabolites, pathways and therapeutics

Current evidence supports a vital role of the microbiota on health outcomes, with alterations in an otherwise healthy balance linked to chronic medical conditions like celiac disease (CD). Recent a...
Financial Consumer Protection in the U.S. and the E.U.: A Preventive Building Block of Banking Bailout Law

This article evaluates the post-2008 legal/regulatory framework of financial consumer protection in the U.S. and the E.U. and argues that financial consumer protection is not sufficiently robust to have a significantly positive impact on financial stability. To turn this around, the article proposes a novel analysis of financial consumer protection and the strengthening of financial consumer protection with a broader, systemic stability-based argument, rather than a narrower, primarily competition law-based argument. This article proposes a more encompassing consumer protection definition, a catalog of chief areas and tools, and a more interdisciplinary approach in this new era that emphasizes the importance of financial education and international collaboration.
Heterogeneity of the strength response to progressive resistance exercise training in older adults: Contributions of muscle contractility.

Abstract Background Older adults display wide individual variability (heterogeneity) in the effects of resistance exercise training on muscle strength. The mechanisms driving this heterogeneity are poorly understood. Understanding of these mechanisms could permit development of more targeted interventions and/or improved identification of individuals likely to respond to resistance training interventions. Thus, this study assessed potential physiological factors that may contribute to strength response heterogeneity in older adults: neural activation, muscle hypertrophy, and muscle contractility. Methods In 24 older adults (72.3 ± 6.8 years), we measured the following parameters before and after 12 weeks of progressive resistance exercise training: i) isometric leg extensor strength; ii) isokinetic (60°/sec) leg extensor strength; iii) voluntary (neural) activation by comparing voluntary and electrically-stimulated muscle forces (i.e., superimposed doublet technique); iv) muscle hypertrophy via dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) estimates of regional lean tissue mass; and v) intrinsic contractility by electrically-elicited twitch and doublet torques. We examined associations between physiological factors (baseline values and relative change) and the relative change in isometric and isokinetic muscle strength. Results Notably, changes in quadriceps contractility were positively associated with the relative improvement in isokinetic (r = 0.37–0.46, p ≤ 0.05), but not isometric strength (r = 0.09–0.21). Change in voluntary activation did not exhibit a significant association with the relative improvements in either isometric or isokinetic strength (r = 0.35 and 0.33, respectively; p > 0.05). Additionally, change in thigh lean mass was not significantly associated with relative improvement in isometric or isokinetic strength (r = 0.09 and −0.02, respectively; p > 0.05). Somewhat surprising was the lack of association between exercise-induced changes in isometric and isokinetic strength (r = 0.07). Conclusions The strength response to resistance exercise in older adults appears to be contraction-type dependent. Therefore, future investigations should consider obtaining multiple measures of muscle strength to ensure that strength adaptations are comprehensively assessed. Changes in lean mass did not explain the heterogeneity in strength response for either contraction type, and the data regarding the influence of voluntary activation was inconclusive. For isokinetic contraction, the strength response was moderately explained by between-subject variance in the resistance-exercise induced changes in muscle contractility.
Technological Improvement Rates and Evolution of Energy-Based Therapeutics

This paper examines the field of energy-based medical therapies based on the analysis of patents. We define the field as the use of external stimuli to achieve bio-medical modifications to treat disease and to increase health. Based upon distinct sets of patents, the field is sub-divided into sub-domains for each energy category used to achieve the stimulation: electrical, magnetic, microwave, ultrasound, and optical. Previously developed techniques are used to retrieve the relevant patents for each of the stimulation modes and to determine main paths along the trajectory followed by each sub-domain. The patent sets are analyzed to determine key assignees, number of patents, and dates of emergence of the sub-domains. The sub-domains are found to be largely independent as to patent assignees. Electrical and magnetic stimulation patents emerged earliest in the 1970s and microwave most recently around 1990. The annual rate of improvement of all sub-domains (12 to 85 %) is found to be significantly higher than one we find for an aggregate pharmaceutical domain (5%). Overall, the results suggest an increasingly important role for energy-based therapies in the future of medicine.
Reading Epilepsy: An Electroclinical Review

(1975). Reading Epilepsy: An Electroclinical Review. American Journal of EEG Technology: Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 145-169.
Component-Oriented Programming as an AI-Planning Problem

A dream of the software-engineering discipline is to develop reusable program-components and to build programs out of them. Formalization of a type of component-oriented programming (COP) problem (that does not need any non-trivial effort for gluing components together) shows a surprising similarity to the problem of Planning as defined within the Artificial Intelligence (AI). This short paper explores the possibility of solving the COP by using AI-planning techniques. We have looked into some closely related AI-planning algorithms and suggested directions on how to adopt them for the purpose. Other important related issues like the target specification languages and other relevant research disciplines are also being touched upon here.
Production of organometallic polymers by the interfacial technique. VI. Production of poly[silylalkylene(arylene)diamines] by a new modified interfacial system†

The production of poly[silylalkylene(arylene)diamines] from dichlorosilanes and diamines by a modified nonaqueous interfacial system consisting of 2.5-hexanedione and hydrocarbons (heptane, octane, nonane) is presented. Protonation of amine groups is a critical factor competing with polymer formation. Poly[silylalkylen(arylen)diamine] wurden durch Grenzflachenpolykondensation von Dichlorsilanen mit Diaminen in einem modifizierten wasserfreien Losungsmittelsystem aus Hexandion-(2.5) und Kohlenwasserstoffen (Heptan, Octan, Nonan) hergestellt. Die Protonisierung der Aminogruppen ist eine Reaktion, die mit der eigentlichen Polykondensation konkurriert.
Aging mechanisms in RTV polysiloxane foams

The long-term use of polysiloxane foams requires a good understanding of the diverse factors that may influence their performance. The aim of the present work was to understand the interplay between in-service environments and reactive species that reside in the foams. Two foams (SX358 and S5370) were thermally aged under compressive strain to gauge the onset of compression set, an indicator of degradation. Experiments were performed by either aging the foams in open air containers or in high humidity environments. Our results indicated that foams aged in open air environments exhibited less compression set than when aged in presence of moisture. These results were analyzed in terms of post-curing reactions, hydrolysis and rearrangement of the network, which are promoted by active residues that are left in the foam from the curing process. In particular, the residues from tin octoate, the catalyst used in the cure of the foams, were identified and their role in promoting aging was determined. Reactions were either catalyzed by tin(II) species or by a combination of trace amounts of water and octanoic acid, a product of the hydrolysis of tin octoate. More precisely, this work demonstrated that reactive residues promote chemical changes in the polymer, which resulted in compression set. On the other hand, the oxidized residues of the tin octoate show no catalytic activity towards promoting condensation reactions between silanol groups. Our work established that, depending on service conditions, certain residues are more harmful to the foam's lifetime than others.