cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A method for making substrate-independent hardness measurements of soft metallic films on hard substrates by nanoindentation

A new method for making substrate-independent hardness measurements by nanoindentation techniques that applies to soft metallic films on very hard substrates is presented. The primary issue to be addressed is substrate-induced enhancement of indentation pileup and the ways it influences the indentation contact area. On the basis of experimental observations of soft aluminum films deposited on silicon, glass, and sapphire substrates, an empirical relationship was derived that relates the amount of pileup to the contact depth. From this relationship and the associated experimental observations, a method was developed that allows the intrinsic hardness of the film to be estimated, even when the indenter penetrates through the film into the substrate. The method should prove useful for very thin films (<100 nm) in which it is not possible to make measurements at penetration depths small enough to avoid subtrate effects.
Work in Progress: Personalizing a Course Website Using the NSDL

The National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library, funded by the National Science Foundation, has the potential to have a significant impact on the future of education in this country and around the world. We are exploring how to best tailor NSDL functionality toward particular communities of users, including learners and educators. It is crucial that we not view the NSDL as merely a feature-rich Web site. We believe that, for the NSDL to have its intended impact, it needs to be integrated into the current pedagogical practices of educators and students. In this paper we present our work in progress in personalizing a course Web site using NSDL content. In particular, we focus on our initial efforts to build a collection of course syllabi for computing that can be used to help professors in the creating of new courses
Freezing Behaviour Facilitates Bioelectric Crypsis in Cuttlefish Faced with Predation Risk

Cephalopods, and in particular the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, are common models for studies of camouflage and predator avoidance behaviour. Preventing detection by predators is especially important to this group of animals, most of which are soft-bodied, lack physical defences, and are subject to both visually and non-visually mediated detection. Here, we report a novel cryptic mechanism in S. officinalis in which bioelectric cues are reduced via a behavioural freeze response to a predator stimulus. The reduction of bioelectric fields created by the freeze-simulating stimulus resulted in a possible decrease in shark predation risk by reducing detectability. The freeze response may also facilitate other non-visual cryptic mechanisms to lower predation risk from a wide range of predator types.
Nutritional Disorders in Reptiles

Reptiles have been kept in captivity and studied for many years, however, the longevity of these captive animals was, until recently, generally rather short because of a lack of knowledge with respect to their specific nutritional, temperature, humidity, photoperiod and other vital husbandry requirements. Many professional and prescient amateur herpetologists have, through their observations and published reports, contributed to the fund of available information relating to captive reptile husbandry.
Neurocontroller Selective Learning from Man-in-the-Loop Feedback Control Actions

This paper starts with a formal definition of an Intelligent System and Intelligent Control. The Differences between Intelligent Control and Adaptive Control is outlined. An example of an Adaptive controller which uses single layer Adaline like neurons for learning the structured uncertainties of a 3DOF robot model using Lyapunov approach for the weight adaptation is presented first.Next,the classical inverted pendulum-cart system is used to investigate modeling the human operator with a three layer perceptron and an adaptive critic like selective learning. In each section several simulations are presented to clarify the objectives of the paper.
Treating patients with multiple cardiovascular conditions: an analysis of outpatient data in the United States, 2005.

Background Few studies have examined treatment rates in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors. This study assessed outpatient visit and treatment patterns among patients having ≥ 1 cardiovascular conditions. Methods Nationally representative outpatient survey data were used to identify patients ≥ 25 years with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease or congestive heart failure during the year 2005 (n=15,060 records). Prevalence and visit patterns were examined for each cardiovascular condition by race/ethnicity, sex and age. Adherence to recommended treatment was also assessed using logistic regression. Results Prevalence rates generally increased with age, and several subgroup patterns were observed for some cardiovascular conditions. Visit rates were similar, with most patients seeing their providers about 3-4 times during the year. Hypertension, the most prevalent condition, had the highest treatment rate (88%) versus ischemic heart disease, one of the least prevalent conditions, which had the lowest treatment rate (28%). Treatment rates decreased with increasing numbers of cardiovascular conditions. Appropriate treatment was independently associated with decreasing numbers of cardiovascular conditions, treatment by the primary care provider and treatment with a combination agent—but not race/ethnicity, sex or primary payment source. Conclusions While patients with multiple cardiovascular conditions visit their providers several times during the year, they are still largely undertreated, particularly as their cardiovascu lar disease burden increases. These findings may suggest that patients with multiple cardiovascular conditions are getting lower-quality care because of the greater demands placed on their physicians. Adherence to treatment guidelines may improve with adoption of a polypill and by encouraging patients to have a primary care home.
Fine Particulate Formation During Biomass/Coal Cofiring

Experiments to examine the effects of biomass/coal cofiring on fine particle formation were performed in the Sandia Multi-Fuel Combustor using fuels of pure coal, 3 combinations of switchgrass and coal, and pure switchgrass. A constant thermal input was maintained. The combustion products were cooled during passage through the 4.2 m long reactor to simulate the temperatures experienced in the convection pass of a boiler. Fine particle number densities, mass concentrations, and total number concentrations for particles between 10 nm and 1 μm at the reactor exit were determined using a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer. The results indicate that the fine particle loading for cofiring is higher than that achieved with dedicated coal combustion but lower than that achieved with dedicated switchgrass combustion.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Forward–backward stochastic partial differential equations with non-monotonic coefficients

In this paper we study the solvability of a class of fully-coupled forward–backward stochastic partial differential equations (FBSPDEs) with non-monotonic coefficients. These FBSPDEs cannot be put into the framework of stochastic evolution equations in general, and the usual decoupling methods for the Markovian forward–backward SDEs are difficult to apply. We prove the well-posedness of such FBSPDEs by using the method of continuation. Contrary to the common belief, we show that the usual monotonicity assumption can be removed by a change of the diffusion term.
Tax Compliance and the Love Molecule

If oxytocin is the source of human reciprocity, then perhaps storytelling that evokes close human relationships is the key to using reciprocity to further tax compliance.
Three Investigations of the Utility of Textbook Technology Supplements.

In three separate introductory psychology classes over a three-year period, I tested whether over 600 students’ exam scores were associated with the use of textbook technology supplements (TTSs). Each class used a different textbook and a different TTS (Learnsmart, PsychPortal, and Aplia). In general, students who used TTSs more, performed better on their exams (controlling for GPA). Additionally, higher scores on assignments on TTSs also correlated with higher scores (controlling for GPA). Students reported not having enough time or adequate motivation as the top reasons for why they did not use TTSs. I present suggestions for the use of such systems based on how I required the aids over the years.
Optimal Selection of Raw Materials for Pharmaceutical Drug Product Design and Manufacture using Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming and Multivariate Latent Variable Regression Models

This work presents a mathematical approach to make the most efficient use of historical data from development experiments (or commercial manufacture) to select the ingredients for the composition of a new product or to select the materials from inventory for the manufacture of a new lot of finished product. The method relies in the construction of a latent variable regression model that will serve to predict the result of combining certain materials. This predictive model is then embedded into an optimization framework to find the best combination among the pool of available materials according to a well-defined objective and subject to the predefined constraints. The framework is illustrated with two successful applications: the selection of the formulation and process for the design of a new solid oral drug product with high drug concentration and a continuous improvement project in commercial manufacture seeking to select the optimal set of lots of raw materials from the inventory to be mixed together ...
Phentolamine mesylate relaxes penile corpus cavernosum tissue by adrenergic and non-adrenergic mechanisms

Phentolamine mesylate relaxes penile corpus cavernosum tissue by adrenergic and non-adrenergic mechanisms
College Student Perceptions of Campus Safety Initiatives

In the aftermath of tragic campus-based incidents causing injury and death, it has become common to see discussions concerning the safety measures institutions should be taking to prevent or mitiga...
Describing Elementary Certification Methods Across the Elementary Music Career Cycle

The purpose of the study was to describe elementary music method choice and certification method choice overall and across the elementary music career cycle. Participants (N = 254) were categorized as Level I or Elementary Division in a southwestern music education association database. The questionnaire included 25 four-point Likert-type items that measured music curriculum alignment to given methods and agreement with statements concerning respondent school district curriculum, personal method practices, and motives concerning the pursuit of one or more method certifications. Gathered information was converted into descriptive statistics. Kodaly and Orff were the method certifications of choice overall and across the elementary music career cycle. Perceptions and motives varied little across the career cycle. Conclusions include suggestions concerning professional development.
Quantifying Grain Level Stress-Strain Behavior for AM40 via Instrumented Microindentation

Microindentation is performed on hot isostatic pressed (HIP) Mg-Al (AM40) alloy samples produced by high-pressure die cast (HPDC) process for the purpose of quantifying the mechanical properties of the α-Mg grains. The process of obtaining elastic modulus and hardness from indentation load-depth curves is well established in the literature. A new inverse method is developed to extract plastic properties in this study. The method utilizes empirical yield strength-hardness relationship reported in the literature together with finite element modeling of the individual indentation. Due to the shallow depth of the indentation, indentation size effect (ISE) is taken into account when determining plastic properties. The stress versus strain behavior is determined for a series of indents. The resulting average values and standard deviations are obtained for future use as input distributions for microstructure-based property prediction of AM40.
383 ACTIVATION OF T-LYMPHOCYTES AND HUMAN AORTIC ENDOTHELIAL CELLS BY FREE FATTY ACIDS

T-lymphocytes (T-cells) cells and human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) under hyperglycemic conditions behave similarly in that both cells in the presence of 30 mM glucose demonstrate production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation and play important roles in the atherogenic process. We have previously shown that in T-cells hyperglycemic conditions results in the emergence of the activation marker CD69 and de novo emergence of growth factor receptors for insulin, IGF-1 and IL-2, but the effect of saturated and unsaturated free fatty acids (FFA) has not been compared in these two cells in regards to their insulin receptor status. To study the similarities between these two tissues we incubated HAEC and T-cells from normal human subjects in culture media containing 5 mM glucose with either no fatty acids or 1 or 50 μM concentrations of one of the following unsaturated FFA: linoleic, linolenic, and oleic acids or 1 or 50 μM of the saturated FFA, palmitic acid, for 72 hours. For osmotic control these cells were incubated in 30 mM sucrose. Activation of the T-lymphocytes was assessed by the use of the activation marker CD69 and the insulin receptor by fluorescent tagged antibody using flow cytometry. Activation of the HAEC was determined by the emergence of the cell surface activation marker of endothelial cells, CD62E (E-selectin) using a fluorescent tagged antibody and the insulin receptor also using a fluorescent tagged antibody. The HAEC incubated in the palmitic acid demonstrated emergence of the E selectin and the insulin receptor by 48 hours, whereas the HAEC incubated in the unsaturated FFA or 30 mM sucrose demonstrated no E selectin or insulin receptors with incubation up to 72 hours, behaving similarly to the controls with no FFA. The T-cells demonstrated emergence of the CD69 activation marker by 24 hours and the insulin receptor by 72 hours when incubated with the saturated FFA, but not with the unsaturated FFA or no FFA. Thus, high concentrations of saturated but not unsaturated FFA results in activation of both HAEC and T-cells which may exert a deleterious effect on these cells. We conclude that activated T-cells demonstrate certain similarities to endothelial cells and thus may serve as an easily available early biomarker of the atherogenesis process.
Preliminary identification and evaluation of high quality rice germplasm resources for cold tolerance under natural low temperatures during 2009

[Objective]The germplasm with strong cold tolerance was screened out from the tested rice germplasm to provide materials for application in breeding of cold tolerant rice varieties.[Method]Under natural low temperature conditions of early spring and cold dew wind at late rice cropping,458 high quality rice germplasm resources were preliminary analyzed and evaluated for cold tolerance during sprouting,seedling,and flowering stages,using early sowing-early planting and late sowing-late planting methods.[Result]The germplasm number 21,15 and 76,5 and 80 showed very strong and strong cold tolerance at sprouting,seedling and flowering stage,which accounted for 4.59,3.28 and 16.59,1.48 and 23.74%,respectively.Cold tolerance of different germplasm at different growing stages was not entirely consistent,but the germplasm with strong cold tolerance at sprouting stage commonly showed stronger cold tolerance at seedling stage.Six specimens,viz.,TKM10,Sanlicun,Xiangwanxian 13,Hui 968xuan,649/Wudadaozhong//649///649 and 253/P117//253///253 were screened out,which showed strong or very strong cold tolerance at several growing stages under natural low temperature.[Conclusion]The high quality rice germplasm materials,with strong or weak cold tolerance,were distinguished under natural low temperature conditions.The germplasm with strong or very strong cold tolerance has fairly good application value.Six screened germplasm materials with strong or very strong cold tolerance at several growing stages under natural low temperature can be used as parent materials in research and breeding of cold tolerant rice varieties.
Nature of Real Controller, Government Intervention and Corporate Libility

This paper examines the bank-lending discrimination between firms with different nature of real controller and the differences under different intervention extent. Results show: state owned firms can obtain credit resources more easily, so they have higher debt level. Relative to regions with larger government intervention, regions with lower government intervention, the government has lower motivation to intervene bank credit policies, so the differences of debt levels would be relatively small. This paper not only enriches the related studies on corporate liability, but also helps us deeply understand the institutional roots of the irrational corporate liability.
General principles of perioperative transplant care.

In addition to the development of more specific and potent immunosuppressive agents, improvements in perioperative care of the allograft recipient have made transplantation of nonrenal organs a reality and have contributed greatly to overall improvements in graft and patient survival. Thorough pretransplant evaluation, intensive care therapy and monitoring, and meticulous postoperative care are essential for a successful outcome and to minimize the occurrence of complications. This article discusses common themes regarding the preoperative and postoperative care of renal, pancreatic, hepatic, and cardiac transplant recipients.
Cefepime- induced Nonconvulsive Status Epilepticus (NCSE), associated with Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES): a Case Report. (P5.080)

OBJECTIVE: We are presenting the case of a patient who developed altered mental status (AMS) on 2 occasions after initiation of Cefepime treatment that resolved with discontinuation of the antibiotic. EEG confirmed NCSE both times and MRI brain revealed PRES once. Early recognition of NCSE as a Cefepime induced neurotoxic syndrome, its resolution on prompt drug withdrawal, and the possible role of disrupted blood brain barrier in patients with normal renal status, are emphasized. BACKGROUND: Cefepime is a fourth generation cephalosporin used in management of gram-negative bacteria, and is often used as an empirical antibiotic for neutropenic fever, especially in cancer patients. It is predominantly renally excreted and in the presence of renal dysfunction its concentration increases in the blood and CSF. DESIGN/METHODS: A 66 year old woman with recent onset acute lymphocytic leukemia treated with chemotherapy, was admitted on two occasions within 6 months for neutropenic fever and empirically treated with Cefepime. RESULTS: On both occasions she became confused 2-3 days later with a fluctuating mental status. Antiepileptic drug treatment was started after video-EEG confirmed NCSE, but the seizure activity resolved only after discontinuation of Cefepime. Her renal functions remained normal and PRES noted in brain MRI during first admission had resolved in follow up study. CONCLUSIONS: Cefepime induced NCSE is a rare but documented phenomenon, known to typically occur in renal-impaired patients without dose adjustment. Cefepime induced PRES is rare. Our case is unique because the patient developed two distinct Cefepime related neurotoxic syndromes NSCE and PRES, despite normal renal function. The underlying pathophysiology is uncertain. Long term video-EEG monitoring is essential to identify NCSE as a cause of AMS in these persons. Early recognition of toxic etiology permits prompt drug withdrawal and possible avoidance of intubation and use of anesthetic agents. Disclosure: Dr. Melkumova has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ramani has nothing to disclose.
An analog micro-electromechanical XOR

This work presents a passive resonant micro-electromechanical phase detector (PD). The PD structure is comprised of two thin film piezoelectric on silicon (TPoS) resonator plates coupled by a silicon beam in the middle. The device exhibits a width extensional resonance mode in which resonant plates vibrate out of phase. When actuated in this mode, the interference of acoustic waves generated from both plates determines the consequent displacement amplitude, and therefore the output signal. Such structure operates as an analog exclusive-OR gate, in which input signals with an identical phase lead to a destructive interference of acoustic waves and therefore a minimum output signal. Out-of-phase input signals (constructive interference), on the other hand, results in the maximum output voltage. Phase sensitivity as high as 1.3 mV/Deg was observed with minimum detectable phase error of 0.006° associated with 8μVrms output voltage standard deviation. Such PD can potentially be used in a MEMS-based analog phase locked loop (PLL). Noise reduction due to the pass-band filtering inherent in the operation of this PD, along with its minimal power consumption are the benefits of the resonant PD over its electronic counterparts.
The C-Terminal α-Helix of von Willebrand Factor Domain A2 Interacts with ADAMTS13 C-Terminal Domains To Regulate Substrate Cleavage.

ADAMTS13 is a member of the A D isintergrin A nd M etalloprotease with T hrombo S pondin type I repeat family, and it cleaves the Tyr1605-Met1606 bond in the von Willebrand factor (VWF) central A2 domain, thereby decreasing platelet adhesion mediated by VWF. Recently a minimal substrate for ADAMTS13 was characterized that consists of GST linked to Asp1596-Arg1668 with a C-terminal 6×His tag (VWF73). Further removal of 9 amino acids that comprise a predicted C-terminal α-helix (VWF64) appeared to eliminate cleavage by plasma ADAMTS13, suggesting a critical role for this helix in substrate recognition. We obtained similar results, but VWF64 was cleaved significantly at long reaction times. For example, plasma ADAMTS13 (0.3 nM, one-tenth of normal plasma) cleaved 50% of 65 nM VWF73 in 2 hours and 50% of 62 nM VWF64 in 24 hours. Similar results were obtained in either 50 mM HEPES, pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM CaCl2, 0.1 μM ZnCl2, or 5 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 10 mM BaCl2. By amino acid sequencing, ADAMTS13 was shown to cleave the Tyr1605-Met1606 bond of VWF64. Truncation of ADAMTS13 after certain structural domains had different effects on substrate cleavage. Using 3 nM enzyme for 30 min, VWF73 was cleaved ~2-fold faster by ADAMTS13 truncated after the spacer domain (MDTCS) than by ADAMTS13 truncated after the cysteine-rich domain (MDTC). Conversely, VWF64 was cleaved ~3-fold faster by MDTC than by MDTCS. Also, in 30 min MDTCS cleaved 70% of VWF73 and <10% of VWF64, whereas MDTC cleaved 40% of VWF73 and 30% of VWF64. ADAMTS13 truncated after the first TSP1 repeat (MDT) or the disintegrin domain (MD) had markedly reduced activity, but with prolonged incubation (24 h) at increased concentration (30 nM) both enzymes cleaved most of VWF64 and VWF73 at the expected site. No aberrant cleavage products were detected by Western blotting. The metalloproteinase domain alone (M) was inactive. The selective effects of deleting the cysteine-rich or spacer domain suggest that the C-terminal α-helix of the VWF A2 domain is not essential but facilitates substrate recognition by interacting with specific C-terminal domains of ADAMTS13, particularly the cysteine-rich and spacer domains.
The Impact of the Great Recession on Midlife and Older parents of Individuals With a Mental Health Problem or a Developmental Disability.

Background and objectives Parents of sons and daughters with disabilities have ongoing financial burdens and vulnerability due to the demands of caregiving responsibilities and their related direct and indirect costs. This study aims to investigate whether midlife and older parents of individuals with a mental health problem or a developmental disability were particularly vulnerable to the impact of the recession. Research design and methods The data were drawn from Midlife in the United States (MIDUS), a longitudinal survey of a national probability sample in the United States, Waves II (2004-2006) and III (2013-2014; 84 parents of individuals with a mental health problem, 98 parents of individuals with a developmental disability, and 2,029 parents of individuals without any conditions as a comparison group). Results The findings suggest that the midlife and older parents whose son or daughter had a mental health problem experienced more recession impacts than comparison parents, even after controlling prerecession financial status and sociodemographic characteristics. Discussion and implications The results indicate the need for policies that provide effective financial support and reduce restrictions on health service access in order to relieve the financial burden experienced by midlife and older parents of individuals with a mental health problem.
Exposures to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Consumer Products—A Guide for Pediatricians ☆

Endocrine disrupting chemicals, a group of exogenous chemicals that can interfere with hormone action in the body, have been implicated in disrupting endocrine function, which negatively affects human health and development. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are ubiquitously detected in consumer products, foods, beverages, personal care products, and household cleaning products. Due to concerns about their negative effects on human health, several professional health provider societies have recommended the reduction of common endocrine disrupting chemical exposures. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief overview of common endocrine disrupting chemicals (bisphenol A, phthalates, triclosan, polybrominated ethers, and parabens) and potential effects on child development and health. In addition, we aim to provide guidance and resources for pediatricians and other health care providers with counseling strategies to help patients to minimize exposures to common endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Resistance of selected rose cultivars to variants of Marssonina rosae in Mississippi

Abstract Seven isolates of Marssonina rosae (imperfect stage of Diplocarpon rosae) exhibited differences in colony color on potato-dextrose agar and in conidial measurements. Four of the isolates s...
Interplay between membrane curvature and protein conformational equilibrium investigated by solid-state NMR.

Abstract Many membrane proteins sense and induce membrane curvature for function, but structural information about how proteins modulate their structures to cause membrane curvature is sparse. We review our recent solid-state NMR studies of two virus membrane proteins whose conformational equilibrium is tightly coupled to membrane curvature. The influenza M2 proton channel has a drug-binding site in the transmembrane (TM) pore. Previous chemical shift data indicated that this pore-binding site is lost in an M2 construct that contains the TM domain and a curvature-inducing amphipathic helix. We have now obtained chemical shift perturbation, protein-drug proximity, and drug orientation data that indicate that the pore-binding site is restored when the full cytoplasmic domain is present. This finding indicates that the curvature-inducing amphipathic helix distorts the TM structure to interfere with drug binding, while the cytoplasmic tail attenuates this effect. In the second example, we review our studies of a parainfluenza virus fusion protein that merges the cell membrane and the virus envelope during virus entry. Chemical shifts of two hydrophobic domains of the protein indicate that both domains have membrane-dependent backbone conformations, with the β-strand structure dominating in negative-curvature phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) membranes. 31P NMR spectra and 1H-31P correlation spectra indicate that the β-strand-rich conformation induces saddle-splay curvature to PE membranes and dehydrates them, thus stabilizing the hemifusion state. These results highlight the indispensable role of solid-state NMR to simultaneously determine membrane protein structures and characterize the membrane curvature in which these protein structures exist.
Stepsibling Relationships in Remarried Families

Stepsibling relationships are an overlooked aspect of remarried families. Characteristics of these relationships are described and illustrated and implications of the effects of stepsiblings on eac...
Out-of-the-box Universal Romanization Tool uroman

We present uroman, a tool for converting text in myriads of languages and scripts such as Chinese, Arabic and Cyrillic into a common Latin-script representation. The tool relies on Unicode data and other tables, and handles nearly all character sets, including some that are quite obscure such as Tibetan and Tifinagh. uroman converts digital numbers in various scripts to Western Arabic numerals. Romanization enables the application of string-similarity metrics to texts from different scripts without the need and complexity of an intermediate phonetic representation. The tool is freely and publicly available as a Perl script suitable for inclusion in data processing pipelines and as an interactive demo web page.
A copper-polyol complex: [Na2(C2H6O2)6][Cu(C2H4O2)2].

The ionic title complex, bis(μ-ethyl­ene glycol)-κ3O,O′:O′;κ3O:O,O′-bis[(ethyl­ene glycol-κ2O,O′)(ethyl­ene glycol-κO)sodium] bis(ethyl­ene glycolato-κ2O,O′)copper(II), [Na2(C2H6O2)6][Cu(C2H4O2)2], was obtained from a basic solution of CuCl2 in ethyl­ene glycol and consists of discrete ions inter­connected by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. This is the first example of a disodium–ethyl­ene glycol complex cation cluster. The cation lies about an inversion center and the CuII atom of the anion lies on another independent inversion center.
SELF-HELP FOR A HEDGEHOG STUCK ON A MOLEHILL

the normal Darwinian sense of assisting individuals to survive and reproduce, but watershed in the sense of boosting evolution itself in ways that seem entitled to the label progressive. It may well be that after, say, the invention of multicellularity, or the invention of metamerism, evolution was never the same again. In this sense there may be a one-way ratchet of progressive innovation in evolution. For this reason over the long term, and because of the cumulative character of coevolutionary arms races over the shorter term, Gould's attempt to reduce all progress to a trivial, baseball-style artifact constitutes a surprising impoverishment, an uncharacteristic slight, an unwonted demeaning of the richness of evolutionary processes.
Heart disease: #75-S effect of baseline body weight on trends in cardiovascular disease in us adults

Abstract PURPOSE: To compare the mortality, incidence and case fatality rate from cardiovascular disease (CVD), including coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, among normal weight and overweight participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (NHEFS) cohorts, and to evaluate secular trends in the CVD incidence and case-fatality rates to the decline in CVD mortality. METHODS: NHANES I collected data from 1971 to 1975 from a nationally representative sample of the civilian non-institutionalized population of the United States. The NHEFS cohort includes 14.407 persons ages 25–74 years old who completed a medical examination in NHANES I conducted during 1971–75. Two cohorts of adults aged 35 to 74 years were created from this data. 10,869 (5,057 normal weight, 5, 812 overweight) subjects in the 1971-1982 cohort and 9,774 (5,245 normal weight, 4,529 overweight) subjects in the 1982-1992 cohort were included in the analysis. The cohorts were followed-up prospectively for an average of 8.2 and 7.4 years, respectively. Incidence and mortality data for CVD were obtained from medical records and death certificates. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and sex , the declines in mortality, incidence, and 28-day case fatality rate due to CVD were 32% (p = 0.000), 22% (p = 0.002), and 18% (p = 0.278), respectively, in normal weight subjects, and 33% (p = 0.000), 22% (p = 0.000), and 45% (p = 0.000) in overweight subjects. The decline in age-adjusted CVD mortality was 35% (p = 0.000) and 23% (p = 0.100) for normal weight men and women, and 32% (p = 0.000) and 38% (p = 0.058) for overweight men and women, respectively. Reductions in the age adjusted incidence (27% (p = 0.001) and 17.5% (p = 0.246) for normal weight men and women, respectively, and 22.1% (p = 0.0.43) and 21.5% (p = 0.006) for overweight men and women, respectively), and 28-day case fatality rate (28.7% (p = 0.092) for normal weight men, respectively, and 17.8% (p = 0.070) and 68.7% (p = 0.001) for overweight men and women, respectively) for CVD contributed to the decline in mortality. After adjustment for age and sex, the declines in mortality, incidence, and 28-day case fatality rate for CHD were 35% (p = 0.028), 17% (p = 0.206), and 31% (p = 0.081), respectively, in normal weight subjects, and 37% (p = 0.006), 10% (p = 0.137), and 51% (p = 0.000), respectively, in overweight subjects. Following adjustment for age and sex , the declines in mortality, incidence, and 28-day case fatality rate due to stroke were 18% (p = 0.386), 40% (p = 0.000), and 2% (p = 0.992), respectively, in normal weight subjects, and 55% (p = 0.025), 24% (p = 0.015), and 65% (p = 0.019), respectively, in overweight subjects. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the substantial decline in CVD mortality in the overweight group is mainly due to reduction in case fatality rate.
Reflective supervision for social work field instructors: Lessons learned from infant mental health

Reflective supervision is a specialized approach to supervision essential to infant mental health (IMH) practice, a relationship-based approach to working with infant and toddlers and their families. This unique approach to supervision is rooted in reflective practice, which has been cited as an important component of social work field and practice education (CSWE in Educational policy and accreditation standards, https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/Accreditation/Standards-and-Policies/2015-EPAS/2015EPASandGlossary.pdf.aspx , 2015; Bogo in Clin Soc Work J 43:317–324, 2015; Franklin in Clin Superv 30(2):204–214, 2011; Hendricks et al. in Learning to teach: teaching to learn, Council on Social Work Education Press, Alexandria, 2013). Borne out of the findings from a reflective practice training series for social work field instructors, a 9-month reflective supervision group was piloted for field instructors with a goal of enhancing the field instructors’ capacities for engaging their student interns in reflective practice. This reflective supervision group provided field instructors opportunities to engage in process-oriented group supervision, facilitated by a field director with a background in IMH, and focused on the field instructors’ supervision of social work interns. This paper describes how this unique field instructor supervision group supports field instructors’ use of the reflective practice capacities of curiosity, self-awareness, and use of parallel process. Specifically, an example of a field instructor’s use of the reflective supervision group to address a challenging field supervision experience illustrates the powerful role of reflective practice in enhancing and expanding a field instructor’s capacity to more fully support a social work intern’s professional development.
Abstract TP350: Extension of tPA Treatment Window With Granulocyte-colony Stimulating Factor in a Thromboembolic Rat Model of Stroke

Background: When given beyond 4.5 hours of stroke onset, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) produces deleterious side effects in the ischemic brain, notably, hemorrhagic transformation (HT). Extend...
The Cygnus Loop’s distance, properties, and environment driven morphology

The Cygnus Loop is among the brightest and best studied evolved Galactic supernova remnants. However, its distance has remained uncertain thus undermining quantitative understanding about many of its fundamental properties. Here we present moderate-dispersion spectra of stars with projected locations toward the remnant. Spectra of three stars revealed Na I 5890,5896 A and Ca II 3934 A absorption features associated with the remnant's expanding shell, with velocities ranging from -160 to +240 km/s. Combining Gaia DR2 parallax measurements for these stars with other recent observations, we find the distance to the Cygnus Loop's centre is 735 +/-25 pc, only a bit less than the 770 pc value proposed by Minkowski some 60 years ago. Using this new distance, we discuss the remnant's physical properties including size, SN explosion energy, and shock velocities. We also present multi-wavelength emission maps which reveal that, instead of being located in a progenitor wind-driven cavity as has long been assumed, the Cygnus Loop lies in an extended, low density region. Rather than wind-driven cavity walls, these images reveal in unprecedented clarity the sizes and locations of local interstellar clouds with which the remnant is interacting, giving rise to its large-scale morphology.
Las violentas entrañas de la justicia y del derecho en Raquel, de Vicente García de la Huerta, y «Crítica de la violencia», de Walter Benjamin

Even after considering the prominent contributions of Georges Sorel, Simone Weil and Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin’s essay, “Critique of Violence,” is undoubtedly the most significant and influential theoretical text written about violence in the 20th century. Here, Benjamin proposes the relationship between law, justice and violence in order to establish a critique, in the etymological sense, of several polarities: law-making in contrast to law-preserving violence, as well as divine in opposition to mythical violence. Since violence is an intrinsic part of tragic emotion, it is possible to read Raquel, by Vicente Garcia de la Huerta (1734-1787), through the lens of Benjamin’s essay (and vice versa). The dialogue between both texts reveals intriguing parallelisms and bridges the historical and pragmatic distances separating them. At the same time, it also exposes the extent to which Garcia de la Huerta’s tragedy conceptualizes Law, Justice and Violence as a triad of interconnected concepts.
Reconsidering Six-Degree-of-Freedom Magnetic Actuation Across Scales

Magnetic actuation, also known as magnetic manipulation, refers to the use of controlled magnetic fields, generated by electromagnets or permanent magnets, to impart forces and torques on a remote magnetic object. The magnetic object is typically modeled as a magnetic dipole, affording five-degree-of-freedom (5-DOF) actuation, comprising 3-DOF force and 2-DOF torque. A method was proposed that uses a three-magnet object in which one magnet is used for traditional 5-DOF actuation and two auxiliary magnets achieve the sixth (torque) DOF via a force couple, and this object can still be modeled and controlled as if it exists at a single point in space, as in traditional 5-DOF actuation. We reconsider this method of 6-DOF magnetic actuation. We perform a numerical study of torque that can be generated on a multi-magnet object of varying shape (but assuming that the individual magnetization vectors are coplanar), size, and orientation, using a variety of well conditioned magnetic manipulation systems. We find that, in the limit as the magnetic object is reduced in size, there is an optimal arrangement of the magnetic object, which is invariant to the manipulation system. We find that the sixth DOF comes at a cost to the original 5-DOF, reducing them by 61% when using the optimal magnetic arrangement; this value is also invariant to the manipulation system. Finally, we find that the sixth DOF scales poorly relative to the other five as the size of the object is reduced, but can be relatively large as we consider objects that are large relative to the distances over which they are being actuated.
Nines are Not Enough: Meaningful Metrics for Clouds

Cloud customers want strong, understandable promises (Service Level Objectives, or SLOs) that their applications will run reliably and with adequate performance, but cloud providers don't want to offer them, because they are technically hard to meet in the face of arbitrary customer behavior and the hidden interactions brought about by statistical multiplexing of shared resources. Existing cloud SLOs are more concerned with defending against corner cases than defining normal behavior. This and other tensions make SLOs surprisingly hard to define. We show that this problem shares some similarities with the challenges of applying statistics to make decisions based on sampled data. We argue that a mutually beneficial set of Service Level Expectations (SLEs) and Customer Behavior Expectations (CBEs) ameliorates many of the problems of today's SLOs by explicitly sharing risk between customer and service provider.
Nur77 limits endothelial barrier disruption to LPS in the mouse lung

Nur77 is an orphan nuclear receptor implicated in the regulation of a wide range of biological processes, including the maintenance of systemic blood vessel homeostasis. Although Nur77 is known to ...
Ctcf is required for renin expression and maintenance of the structural integrity of the kidney

Renin cells are crucial for the regulation of blood pressure and fluid electrolyte homeostasis. We have recently shown that renin cells possess unique chromatin features at regulatory regions throughout the genome that may determine the identity and memory of the renin phenotype. The 3-D structure of chromatin may be equally important in the determination of cell identity and fate. CCCTC-binding factor (Ctcf) is a highly conserved chromatin organizer that may regulate the renin phenotype by controlling chromatin structure. We found that Ctcf binds at several conserved DNA sites surrounding and within the renin locus, suggesting that Ctcf may regulate the transcriptional activity of renin cells. In fact, deletion of Ctcf in cells of the renin lineage led to decreased endowment of renin-expressing cells accompanied by decreased circulating renin, hypotension, and severe morphological abnormalities of the kidney, including defects in arteriolar branching, and ultimately renal failure. We conclude that control of chromatin architecture by Ctcf is necessary for the appropriate expression of renin, control of renin cell number and structural integrity of the kidney.
Revisiting Comparative Performance of DNS Resolvers in the IPv6 and ECS Era.

This paper revisits the issue of the performance of DNS resolution services available to Internet users. While several prior studies addressed this important issue, significant developments, namely, the IPv6 finally getting traction and the adoption of the ECS extension to DNS by major DNS resolution services, warrant a reassessment under these new realities. We find that DNS resolution services differ drastically -- by an order of magnitude in some locations -- in their query response time. We also find established resolvers (Google DNS and OpenDNS) to lag far behind relative newcomers (Cloudflair and Quad9) in terms of DNS latency, and trace the cause to drastically lower cache hit rates, which we further trace to less cache sharing within the resolver platform. In addition, we find that public resolvers have largely closed the gap with ISP resolvers in the quality of CDNs' client-to-edge-server mappings as measured by latency. Finally, in most locations, we observe IPv6 penalty in the latency of client-to-CDN-edge-server mappings produced by the resolvers. Moreover, this penalty, while often significant, still does not rise above typical thresholds employed by the Happy Eyeballs algorithm for preferring IPv4 communication. resolvers. Thus, dual-stacked clients in these locations may experience suboptimal performance.
Major Transitions in Digital Evolution

The astonishing complexity of the world around us is the result of major transitions in evolution where lower-level entities unite to form a higher-level unit: living and reproducing as one. These transitions give rise to many questions within evolutionary biology, but can prove challenging to study due to their rare occurrence in nature. Here, we describe a digital evolution approach where cells, organisms, and worlds all exist within the framework of a computer and as such have rapid generation times and are amenable to experimental control, replaying key events, and precise data tracking. Using this approach we describe our previous experiments exploring fraternal major transitions in evolution—transitions that occur when identical lower-level units (e.g., cells) remain together as one higher-level unit (e.g., a multicellular organism). We have performed experiments to test key hypotheses regarding the formation of higher-level units and the reproductive and task-based division of labor that can evolve once these units are in place.We then describe a series of on-going studies that explore hypotheses regarding the forces that prevent higher-level units from reverting to their lower-level origins, how plasticity may predispose the evolution of division of labor, and how egalitarian transitions (which occur when different lower-level units come together) may occur.
Diógenes Abreu. Perejil : el ocaso de la hispanidad dominicana ; celebración de la multiplicidad cultural desde New York

Este texto analiza los centrales pensamientos de la obra "Perejil: el ocaso de la hispanidad dominicana" de Diogenes Abreu, la cual es una obra critica contundente y demoledora contra la premiada publicacion de Manuel Nunez "El Ocaso de la Nacion Dominicana".
Improving Access to Palliative Care at a VHA Hospital

Objective:Explore veteran-specific factors impacting the acceptance of palliative care services at a Veterans Health Administration hospital.Methods:Prospective, focused one-on-one interviews were ...
Therapeutic Outcomes with Surgical and Medical Management of Primary Aldosteronism

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most common cause of secondary hypertension and is significantly under-diagnosed. Delays in diagnosis and treatment can lead to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The goal of this study is to review the management of PA, with a focus on medical and surgical treatment outcomes. PA causes cardiovascular dysfunction in excess of degree of hypertension. Adrenalectomy demonstrates a therapeutic advantage over mineralocorticoid antagonist (MRA) therapy, after controlling for degree of hypertension and subtype of PA. Higher rates of atrial fibrillation, heart failure, stroke, and incidence of chronic kidney disease are observed in subjects treated with MRAs than in subjects treated with adrenalectomy. The therapeutic benefit of surgery may reflect definitive resolution of excess aldosterone. Complete mineralocorticoid blockade may achieve similar benefit to adrenalectomy. Adrenalectomy is the most effective treatment for unilateral PA. Biomarkers for MRA therapy might inform optimal medical therapy of bilateral adrenal hyperplasia.