cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Greenhouse gas response and Spartina alterniflora resilience to macroalgal exposure

Abstract Climate change can alter salt marsh plant communities and their associated carbon flux dynamics via several mechanisms. Due to warming waters and sea level rise, macroalgal wrack accumulation rates in salt marshes are expected to increase. The smothering and shading effects of macroalgal wrack can have adverse effects on salt marsh vegetation. Most studies have focused on the impacts of high-density accumulation or future accumulation projections, but the impacts of current accumulations of macroalgae on Spartina alterniflora (S. alterniflora) are unclear. We investigated how current, relatively low-density ephemeral (Ulva spp.) and perennial (Fucus spp.) algal wrack coverage impacts S. alterniflora survival and associated greenhouse gas fluxes. We created mesocosms with S. alterniflora-vegetated soil cores using a 2 × 2 factorial design with Fucus and Ulva present or absent. After one month, S. alterniflora cores with Ulva (but no Fucus) had a significantly lower stem density, but they later recovered, attesting to S. alterniflora’s resilience to low-density macroalgal coverage. Our results also suggest that Fucus can alter the interaction between Ulva and S. alterniflora by potentially mitigating Ulva’s impacts. Macroalgal presence did not significantly influence greenhouse gas fluxes, which suggests the low-density exposure is not altering the salt marsh carbon flux dynamics.
AI in Adjudication and Administration

The use of artificial intelligence has expanded rapidly in recent years across many aspects of the economy. For federal, state, and local governments in the United States, interest in artificial intelligence has manifested in the use of a series of digital tools, including the occasional deployment of machine learning, to aid in the performance of a variety of governmental functions. In this paper, we canvas the current uses of such digital tools and machine-learning technologies by the judiciary and administrative agencies in the United States. Although we have yet to see fully automated decision-making find its way into either adjudication or administration, governmental entities at all levels are taking steps that could lead to the implementation of automated, machine-learning decision tools in the relatively near future. Within the federal and state court systems, for example, machine-learning tools have yet to be deployed, but other efforts have put in place digital building blocks toward such use. These efforts include the increased digitization of court records that algorithms will need to draw upon for data, the growth of online dispute resolution inside and outside of the courts, and the incorporation of non-learning risk assessment tools as inputs into bail, sentencing, and parole decisions. Administrative agencies have proven much more willing than courts to use machine-learning algorithms, deploying such algorithmic tools to help in the delivery of public services, management of government programs, and targeting of enforcement resources. We discuss already emerging concerns about the deployment of artificial intelligence and related digital tools to support judicial and administrative decision-making. If artificial intelligence is managed responsibly to address such concerns, the use of algorithmic tools by governmental entities throughout the United States would appear to show much future promise. This status report on current uses of algorithmic tools can serve as a benchmark against which to gauge future growth in the use of artificial intelligence in the public sector.
Inclusive Engagement of Indigenous Communities in Scientific Research: Opportunities and Challenges

Global challenges are complex, inter-disciplinary and span political boundaries. This warrants an integrative, multi-faceted approach involving the social, economic, ecological and technological disciplines. The integrative approach also needs to identify and empower local stakeholders such as indigenous communities. In this review, we provide a balanced view of opportunities and challenges which characterize the potential and insufficiencies of the current knowledge and institutional frameworks within the context of including indigenous/local communities in modern scientific research, especially in mitigating global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
On the Largest Common Subtree of Random Leaf-Labeled Binary Trees

The size of the largest common subtree (maximum agreement subtree) of two independent uniform random binary trees on $n$ leaves is known to be between orders $n^{1/8}$ and $n^{1/2}$. By a construction based on recursive splitting and analyzable by standard "stochastic fragmentation" methods, we improve the lower bound to order $n^\beta$ for $\beta = \frac{\sqrt{3} - 1}{2} = 0.366$. Improving the upper bound remains a challenging problem.
Redesigning plant cell walls for the biomass-based bioeconomy

Lignocellulosic biomass-the lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose that comprise major components of the plant cell well-is a sustainable resource that could be utilized in the United States to displace oil consumption from heavy vehicles, planes, and marine-going vessels and commodity chemicals. Biomass-derived sugars can also be supplied for microbial fermentative processing to fuels and chemicals or chemically deoxygenated to hydrocarbons. However, the economic value of biomass might be amplified by diversifying the range of target products that are synthesized in living plants. Genetic engineering of lignocellulosic biomass has previously focused on changing lignin content or composition to overcome recalcitrance, the intrinsic resistance of cell walls to deconstruction. New capabilities to remove lignin catalytically without denaturing the carbohydrate moiety have enabled the concept of the "lignin-first" biorefinery that includes high-value aromatic products. The structural complexity of plant cell-wall components also provides substrates for polymeric and functionalized target products, such as thermosets, thermoplastics, composites, cellulose nanocrystals, and nanofibers. With recent advances in the design of synthetic pathways, lignocellulosic biomass can be regarded as a substrate at various length scales for liquid hydrocarbon fuels, chemicals, and materials. In this review, we describe the architectures of plant cell walls and recent progress in overcoming recalcitrance and illustrate the potential for natural or engineered biomass to be used in the emerging bioeconomy.
Effect of Post-splenectomy Booster Vaccine Program on Vaccination Compliance in Trauma Patients.

ObjectiveIn 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Council on Immunization Practice recommended an additional post-splenectomy booster vaccine at 8 weeks following the ...
Dual Fluorescence and NMR Study for the Interaction between Xanthene Dyes and Nanoparticles.

Fluorescent dyes and nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used together to make novel biosensors, taking advantage of their unique characteristics. It is crucial to have techniques that enable us to gain detailed and high-resolution information regarding the interaction between NPs and fluorescent dyes. In this work, we chose rhodamine B (RhB) and amidine- and carboxylate-modified polystyrene (CML) NPs as models and employed both NMR (1H and STD-NMR) and optical (UV-vis and fluorescence) techniques to investigate the interaction between NPs and fluorescent dyes. From UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, we see that there are larger red shifts when rhodamine B binds to carboxylate-modified polystyrene NPs than amidine-modified NPs. Correspondingly, RhB has broader NMR peaks and a larger STD effect when binding to CML NPs than amidine NPs. Results from these two techniques validate each other. It is notable that the NMR techniques provide more reliable data than UV-vis and fluorescence methods. Moreover, we show that NMR techniques, especially STD-NMR, can provide more atomic-level binding geometry information. The higher STD effect of the smaller aromatic ring of RhB implies that this aromatic ring is closer to the surface of NPs when binding to polystyrene NPs.
KRT-232 and navitoclax enhance trametinib's anti-Cancer activity in non-small cell lung cancer patient-derived xenografts with KRAS mutations

Activating mutations of the KRAS gene are one of the major genomic alterations associated with tumorigenesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thus far, treatment of KRAS-mutant NSCLC remains an unmet medical need. We determined the in vivo treatment responses of 13 KRAS mutant and 14 KRAS wild type NSCLC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) to agents that target known NSCLC vulnerabilities: the MEK inhibitor trametinib, the MDM2 inhibitor KRT-232, and the BCL-XL/BCL-2 inhibitor navitoclax. The results showed that the tumor regression rate after single agent therapy with KRT-232, trametinib and navitoclax was 11%, 10% and 0%, respectively. Combination therapies of trametinib plus KRT-232 and trametinib plus navitoclax led to improved partial response rates over single-agent activity in a subset of PDX models. Tumor regression was observed in 23% and 50% of PDXs after treatment with trametinib plus KRT-232 and trametinib plus navitoclax, respectively. The disease control rates in KRAS-mutant PDXs tested were 90%-100% after treatment with trametinib plus KRT-232 or plus navitoclax. A correlation analysis of treatment responses and genomic and proteomic biomarkers revealed that sensitivity to KRT-232 was significantly associated with TP53 wild-type or STK11 mutant genotypes (P<0.05). The levels of several proteins, including GSK3b, Nrf2, LKB1/pS334, and SMYD3, were significantly associated with sensitivity to trametinib plus navitoclax. Thus, the combination of trametinib plus KRT-232 or navitoclax resulted in improved efficacy compared with the agents alone in a subgroup of NSCLC PDX model with KRAS mutations. Expanded clinical trials of these targeted drug combinations in NSCLC are warranted.
Optimal Financial Contracts for a Start-Up with Unlimited Operating Discretion

The model presented here shows that extreme uncertainty between an entrepreneur and po? tential investors can lead to the exclusive use of equity and riskless debt for small business financing. The paper derives these results without any restrictions on the available contract space, the distribution function governing a project's payoff, or the risk aversion of most potential entrepreneurs. In addition, the model produces predictions regarding the "under? pricing" of securities to outside financiers, the order in which firms will issue securities, and the relationship between the types of securities a firm will issue and its available collateral. Most security design and optimal contracting papers assume (explicitly or implicitly) that entrepreneurs are endowed with a menu of projects. Securities are then issued in order to raise money and induce the entrepreneurs to select "better" projects, in a sense that varies with the assumed objective functions. In contrast, this paper focuses on an environment in which the very existence of contracts leads entrepreneurs to create projects that take advantage of the incentive structure presented to them. Furthermore, we assume that outsiders cannot observe project selection. This set-up characterizes a situation of great uncertainty on the part of outside investors, typical of start-up firms, some IPOs, and other hard-to-gauge investments.
Unsupervised cluster analysis of patients with recovered left ventricular ejection fraction identifies unique clinical phenotypes.

BACKGROUND Patients with heart failure (HF) with recovered ejection fraction (HFrecEF) are a recently identified cohort that are phenotypically and biologically different from HFrEF and HFpEF patients. Whether there are unique phenotypes among HFrecEF patients is not known. METHODS We studied all patients at a large medical center, who had an improvement in LVEF from ≤ 35% to ≥ 50% (LVrecEF) between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2013. We identified a set of 11 clinical variables and then performed unsupervised clustering analyses to identify unique clinical phenotypes among patients with LVrecEF, followed by a Kaplan-Meier analysis to identify differences in survival and the proportion of LVrecEF patients who maintained an LVEF ≥ 50% during the study period. RESULTS We identified 889 patients with LVrecEF who clustered into 7 unique phenotypes ranging in size from 37 to 420 patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated significant differences in mortality across clusters (logrank p<0.0001), with survival ranging from 14% to 87% at 1000 days, as well as significant differences in the proportion of LVrecEF patients who maintained an LVEF ≥ 50%. CONCLUSION There is significant clinical heterogeneity among patients with LVrecEF. Clinical outcomes are distinct across phenotype clusters as defined by clinical cardiac characteristics and co-morbidities. Clustering algorithms may identify patients who are at high risk for recurrent HF, and thus be useful for guiding treatment strategies for patients with LVrecEF.
Preventing #MeToo: Artificial Intelligence, the Law, and Prophylactics

Sexual harassment is a clear blight on modern society, and far too prevalent. Yet approximately 70% of individuals who experienced harassment at work never file a formal complaint, largely out of fear of retaliation. It is often the human enforcing the policy—and not the sexual harassment policies themselves—that fail the harassed. This paper explores a deceptively obvious solution to human error; removing the human. While unthinkable even a few years ago, advances in Artificial Intelligence reveal a possible road to this end. And, with it, plenty of potholes and hazards to trip those with even the purest intentions.
Uterine glands impact embryo survival and stromal cell decidualization in mice.

Uterine glands are essential for the establishment of pregnancy and have critical roles in endometrial receptivity to blastocyst implantation, stromal cell decidualization, and placentation. Uterine gland dysfunction is considered a major contributing factor to pregnancy loss, however our understanding of how glands impact embryo survival and stromal cell decidualization is incomplete. Forkhead box A2 (FOXA2) is expressed only in the glandular epithelium and regulates its development and function. Mice with a conditional deletion of FOXA2 in the uterus are infertile due to defective embryo implantation arising from a lack of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a critical factor of uterine gland origin. Here, a glandless FOXA2-deficient mouse model, coupled with LIF repletion to rescue the implantation defect, was used to investigate the roles of uterine glands in embryo survival and decidualization. Studies found that embryo survival and decidualization were compromised in glandless FOXA2-deficient mice on gestational day 6.5, resulting in abrupt pregnancy loss by day 7.5. These findings strongly support the hypothesis that uterine glands secrete factors other than LIF that impact embryo survival and stromal cell decidualization for pregnancy success.
ApoE isoform-dependent deficits in extinction of contextual fear conditioning.

The three major human apoE isoforms (apoE2, apoE3 and apoE4) are encoded by distinct alleles (ϵ2, ϵ3 and ϵ4). Compared with ϵ3, ϵ4 is associated with increased risk to develop Alzheimer's disease (AD), cognitive impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD), and other conditions. In contrast, a recent study indicated an increased susceptibility to the recurring and re-experiencing symptom cluster of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as related memory impairments, in patients carrying at least one ϵ2 allele. Contextual fear conditioning and extinction are used in human and animal models to study this symptom cluster. In this study, acquisition (day 1, training), consolidation (day 2, first day of re-exposure) and extinction (days 2-5) of conditioned contextual fear in human apoE2, apoE3 and apoE4 targeted replacement and C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) mice was investigated. Male and female apoE2 showed acquisition and retrieval of conditioned fear, but failed to exhibit extinction. In contrast, WT, apoE3 and apoE4 mice showed extinction. While apoE2 mice exhibited lower freezing in response to the context on day 2 than apoE3 and apoE4 mice, this cannot explain their extinction deficit as WT mice exhibited similar freezing levels as apoE2 mice on day 2 but still exhibited extinction. Elevating freezing through extended training preserved extinction in controls, but failed to ameliorate extinction deficits in apoE2 animals. These data along with clinical data showing an association of apoE2 with susceptibility to specific symptom clusters in PTSD supports an important role for apoE isoform in the extinction of conditioned fear.
Constitutional History, Federal Arbitration and Seamen's Rights Sinking in a Sea of Sweatshop Labor

According to the maritime law of the United States, seamen have a constitutionally based choice of forum in which to bring their work-related claims in personam. The Supreme Court has held repeatedly that, when a seaman chooses to sue in state court, the case cannot be removed to federal court. Beginning with the Francisco and the Bautista decisions in 2002 and 2005 respectively, however, federal appellate and district courts have made an exception. They now consistently and unanimously hold that the maritime claims of seamen are removable to federal court if they qualify for arbitration. This paper traces the history of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence regarding maritime claim removal, examines its historical basis in the law of nations, relates it to federal arbitration law, and argues that the initiative of the lower courts favoring removal of such claims is wrong, contrary to values long embodied in the law of nations, traditionally expressed in our general maritime law, and of undiminished importance today.
Signal transduction and transcriptional adaptation in embryonic heart development and during myocardial hypertrophy.

In comparing the pathological state of cardiac hypertrophy with early embryonic growth and development of the primitive heart, important and informative aspects of mechanisms that underlie activation of the gene expression pattern become apparent. Interestingly, in both cases the muscle phenotypes share the expression of a ‘fetal’ gene expression program, raising the question whether the same genetic mechanism is being called upon by signals associated with the onsets of cardiogenesis and myocardial hypertrophy. A cell specific transcription factor, CLP-1, was recently identified in our laboratory that is likely to play a crucial role, in conjunction with other known regulatory factors, in early cardiac events leading to cardiogenic cell specification and differentiation. We have also identified a novel mechanism that involves activation of the Jak/Stat signaling pathway that is linked to the autocrine angiotensin-II loop associated with the hypertrophic response in cardiomyocytes. Since early cardiac cell development and the hypertrophic state involve the expression of the same battery of genes, one may speculate that common transcription factors may account for assembling a competent apparatus responsible for transcribing the genes. Our present studies are designed to investigate the potential role of these factors in control of both processes.
Ultrasoft X-ray background observations of the Local Interstellar Medium

Preliminary results from a May 8, 1984 sounding rocket survey of the soft X-ray background are presented. The X-ray detectors are sensitive to X-rays in three soft X-ray bandpasses: 80 to 110 eV, 90 to 188 eV, and 284 to 532 eV (at 20% of peak response). The lowest energy X-rays in this range have a mean free path of order 10 to the 19th power/sq cm and provide information about the local interstellar medium. The count rate in the 80 to 110 eV energy band (the Be band) tracks the 90 to 188 (eV band (the B band) very well, indicating that the same approx. 1 million degree gas that is responsible for the B band emission may be responsible for the bulk of the Be band X-rays as well.
A Performance Model for the Texaco Controlled Combustion, Stratified Charge Engine

Abstract : A model has been developed to predict the performance of the Texaco Controlled Combustion, Stratified Charge Engine starting from engine geometry, fuel characteristics and the operation conditions. This performance model divides the engine cycle into the following phases: Intake, Compression, Rapid Combustion, Mixing - Dominated Expansion, Heat - Transfer Dominated Expansion and Exhaust. During the rapid combustion phase, the rate of heat release is assumed to be controlled by the rate of fuel injection and the gas-to-fuel ratio. Entrainment of the surrounding gas by the plume is assumed to be controlled by the turbulent eddy entrainment velocity. A plume geometry model has been developed to obtain the surface area of the plume for entrainment during the mixing dominated phase. The model also gives the wall areas in contact with the hot, burned gas plume and the relatively cold unburned gas for heat transfer calculations. Comparison of the model predictions with the available experimental data shows good agreement. In addition, the potential of the performance model as a design tool is demonstrated with a parametric analysis. (Author)
Factor-independent activation of Escherichia coli rRNA transcription. II. characterization of complexes of rrnB P1 promoters containing or lacking the upstream activator region with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase.

Abstract A region upstream from the Escherichia coli rrnB P1 promoter, the upstream activator region (UAR), increases the activity of the promoter in vivo and the rate of association with RNA polymerase (Eσ70) in vitro in the presence of the two initiating nucleotides. We have used four types of chemical and enzymatic footprinting probes to determine whether rrnB P1-Eσ70 complexes formed in the presence of the initiating nucleotides (RPinit) differ from typical open complexes (RPo) formed in the absence of the initiating nucleotides and to examine the structural differences between rrnB P1 complexes containing the UAR and those lacking the UAR. We find that the rrnB P1-RPinit complex closely resembles open complexes formed at other Eσ70 promoters, indicating that the formation of the first phosphodiester bond does not result in a major rearrangement of the promoter-RNA polymerase complex. An unusual potassium permanganate modification at position −18 in both RPo and RPinit indicates the possible presence of a subtle difference in the −10, −35 spacer structure compared to some other E. coli promoters. We show that the Eσ70-rrnB P1 complex formed with the promoter containing the UAR has DNase I and hydroxyl radical cleavage patterns in the −50 region different from those observed with the same promoter lacking the UAR. These results are interpreted to indicate that Eσ70 may interact with a region further upstream from that contacted by RNA polymerase bound at most other promoters and/or that unusual structural properties of this region are induced by bound Eσ70.
Investigation of excitation control for wind-turbine generator stability

High speed horizontal axis wind turbine generators with blades on the downwind side of the support tower require special design considerations to handle disturbances introduced by the flow wake behind the tower. Experiments and analytical analyses were made to determine benefits that might be obtained by using the generator exciter to provide system damping for reducing power fluctuations.
Regulation of protein synthesis in heart muscle. 3. Effect of anoxia on protein synthesis.

Abstract Perfusion of the isolated rat heart under anaerobic conditions inhibited synthesis of whole heart protein and myosin. The effect was reversible and did not appear to be due to the decrease in mechanical activity. Anaerobic inhibition of protein synthesis appeared to be due to a block in incorporation of free amino acids from the intracellular pool into protein rather than a block in the entry of amino acids into the cell. Intracellular levels of amino acids were either unchanged or increased in the anaerobic heart with exception of aspartic and glutamic acids. Entry of aspartic acid, isoleucine, and phenylalanine into the cell was unchanged by anoxia, whereas entry of glycine, aminoisobutyric acid, and lysine was accelerated. Inhibition of protein synthesis was associated with somewhat fewer ribosomal subunits and more polysomes than found in aerobic hearts perfused under the same conditions. A 50% reduction in GTP and a 3-fold increase in GMP was found in the anaerobic heart.
Hydrologic modeling to screen potential environmental management methods for malaria vector control in Niger

United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Oceans and Human Health Program
The Invention of News: How the World Came to Know about Itself

The Invention of News studies the European commercial news market, 1400–1800. Andrew Pettegree shows that, thanks largely to printing, the market went from serving economic and political elites to ...
DSC Studies of Thermally Induced Phase Separation of Hydrogen Bonded Polymer Blends

The thermally induced phase separation behavior of hydrogen bonded polymer blends, poly(n-hexyl methacrylate) (PHMA) blended with poly(styrene-co-vinyl phenol) (STVPh) random copolymers having various vinyl phenol contents, was studied by temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC).The enthalpy of phase separation was determined to be about 0.5 cal g−1 for one of the blends. A phase diagram was constructed from the TMDSC data for one of the blends. The kinetics of phase separation was studied by determining the phase compositions from the glass transition temperatures of quenched samples after phase separation. Subsequently, the phase separated samples were annealed at temperatures below the phase boundary to observe the return to the homogeneous state.
Pharmaceuticals and Hormones in the Environment

Some of the earliest initial reports from Europe and the United States demonstrated that a variety of pharmaceuticals and hormones could be found in surface waters, source waters, drinking water, and influents and effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). It is unknown though, at this time, what ecotoxicological effects can be had from pharmaceuticals and hormones that are essentially designed for one purpose (e.g., treatment of human and domestic livestock for illness and disease) and their possible adverse effects on terrestrial wildlife, aquatic organisms, bacteria, and ultimately humans, through unintentional environmental exposure. One of the challenges the analytical chemistry community faces is the development of robust and standardized analytical methods and technologies that can easily be transferred to laboratories worldwide. While today's analysts can detect picograms per liter and nanograms per liter concentrations of numerous pharmaceuticals, hormones, and their metabolites, in a variety of environmental matrices, there are still analytical gaps that are necessary to fill. We hope that this article will add to the body of knowledge of environmental analytical chemistry techniques regarding pharmaceuticals and hormones, giving environmental scientists a good overview of those analytical techniques that are currently available, and where possible, of improvements and new methodologies that can be developed in support of this important, and relevant, environmental issue. Keywords: environmental chemistry; pharmaceuticals; hormones; analytical chemistry; solid-phase extraction; sampling; mass spectrometry; pressurized liquid extraction; green chemistry
A note on smsa and industry as determinants of manufacturing suburbanization

Traditionally, the intraurban location patterns of industrial firms have been explained with an equilibrium bid-rent model. Recently, location theorists have begun to use models which recognize that cities are seldom in long-run equilibrium, largely because of the fixed nature of the stock of buildings and the costs of moving an industrial firm. Utilizing a regression model with qualitative explanatory variables, it is found that the variation of industrial locations is greater across urban areas than across industries. This finding supports the contention that the disequilibrium nature of urban areas should be recognized in explaining emergent location patterns.
Effect of Surface Cooling on Fatigue Life Improvement

In this study, we investigate the influence of surface cooling on the life of specimens undergoing low-to-intermediate-cycle fatigue. The experiments involve rotating-bending tests with Stainless Steel 304L and Steel 4145 specimens. External cooling air is provided via a vortex tube at a constant supply rate. Results are compared with the case of fatigue at room temperature. The results of experiments reveal significant improvement in fatigue life when the surface of the specimen is cooled. A possible explanation for the observed phenomenon is the notion of self-organization within the context of irreversible thermodynamics.
The lipids in human milk

The summary will be limited to the areas that should be intensively investigated. The first is: determination of fatty acid profiles using modern methods on a world wide basis. We have no more than five or six papers in which my criterion was applied, one from Canada and the remainder from Europe with some data from Africa. Obviously, milk cannot be used as the gold standard on this meager data base. The second area is analysis of TG structure. These analyses are difficult, but structure is one of the factors controlling digestion. Data on the effects of maternal diet on structure would be useful. The third area is the role of primary or derived milk lipids as microbicidal agents. The fourth area is examination of globule parameters, i.e. number, size, volume, surface, and how they are affected by diet. There are many others which may interest the reader.
Optimizing Intergovernmental Grants With Three Levels of Government

A three-level governmental world (federal, state, and local) where the local government engages in a positive externality-producing activity is examined. At each level, each (identical) governmental unit is presumed to maximize the benefits minus costs internal to its jurisdiction. The relationship between federal and state rates of subsidy (their respective decision variables) is developed and the equilibrium rate of subsidies found. The analysis is extended to the situation where a significant portion of the taxes which finance the subsidy comes from each particular subgovernment and to a situation where tax exporting exists. Last, alternative assumptions and optimizing rules are suggested.
Triaxial shapes in light La nuclei

Lifetimes for the lowest 15/2− and 19/2− states in 129, 131La have been measured. Values for the reduced transition probabilities compared with those in neighboring even nuclei can be understood using a model that couples a rotation-aligned h112 proton to a triaxial core.
Design of nanostructured phononic materials

The ability of a material containing a periodic arrangement of second-phase inclusions to prevent transmission of waves in certain frequency ranges is well known. This is true for all types of waves including acoustic, electromagnetic, and elastic. These forbidden regions are called band gaps. They arise as incident waves are effectively attenuated by interference among the scattered wave fields. Indeed much of current semiconductor technology revolves around band-gap engineering with regard to electron flow in the periodic potentials resulting from atoms in their lattice positions. The phenomena are also being heavily explored in the context of light via the development of photonic crystals. Things become more interesting if instead of thinking of periodic arrangements, one selectively removes some of the inclusions in the periodic geometry creating defects. If done right, this can result in a material microstructure that can guide waves through the material. Advances in nano and micromanufacturing technologies in the last couple of years have opened up the possibility to fabricate heterogeneous material systems with precise positional control of the constituent materials. For example, it is now possible to place thin-film materials precisely at a resolution of fractions of a micron. Depending on how it is done, one can envision designing a material so that a wave will be guided to a particular location and/or away from another and as a result damping or amplifying the wave locally. In this work we develop a topology optimization approach to design such nanostructured materials. We demonstrate the approach through the design of three multifunctional phononic composite materials composed of silicon and aluminum: i) a grating designed to stop wave propagation at a specified frequency, ii) a waveguide that bends the propagation path of an elastic wave, and iii) an elastic switch that switches an input signal between two output ports based on the state of the input signal.
Health care use and expenditures associated with access to the medical home for children and youth

Background: The pediatric medical home is an approach to the delivery of family-centered health care. Policy-makers and payers are interested in potential changes to health care utilization and expenditures under this model. Objective: To test associations between having a medical home and health service use and expenditures among US children and youth. Research Design: Observational cross-sectional study. Subjects: A total of 26,221 children aged 0 to 17 years surveyed in the 2005 to 2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys. Measures: Parent report of a child’s access to a medical home was developed from multiple survey items in the Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys. Negative binomial regression examined the association between the medical home and parent-reported counts of annual outpatient, inpatient, emergency department, and dental visits. Two-part models examined associations between the medical home and parent-reported annual total, outpatient, inpatient, emergency department, and other health care expenditures. Models accounted for potential self-selection into a medical home using propensity scores. Results: Children with a medical home had a greater incidence of preventive visits [incidence rate ratio (IRR)=1.11; (95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.03–1.20)] and dental visits [IRR=1.09 (95% CI, 1.02–1.17)] and a lower incidence of emergency department visits [IRR=0.87 (95% CI, 0.79–0.97)] compared with children without a medical home. Children with a medical home also had greater odds of incurring total, outpatient, prescription medication, and dental expenditures, OR’s ranging from 1.09 to 1.38. Despite greater odds of incurring certain expenditures, expenditures were no different for children with and without a medical home. Conclusions: The medical home is associated with several domains of health service use, yet there is no evidence for its association with health care expenditures for children and youth.
A comparison of four pseudo random number generators implemented in Ada

Four random number generators implemented in Ada are compared in terms of their equidistribution, independence, speed and period. Each generator is described and it's code presented. The tests used to evaluate the generators were simple ones. First, a stream of random numbers generated were checked for equidistribution by means of a chi-square test. Next, the numbers were checked for independence by means of a serial test. The code was then timed for a certain number of iterations. Finally, the reported periods of the generators are compared.
Redirecting research in business policy and strategy

Because business policy research has primarily been a series of inductive generalizations of case studies; theories have been typically ambiguous and untested, and have not progressed swiftly. Deductive theorizing, by contrast, yields clear, often non-obvious conclusions that can be debated effectively and generalized slowly; so realism of current models can be sacrificed for progress towards realistic future models. Deductive theorizing, with more attention to a game-theoretic definition of equilibrium and to recent ideas from economics, should be one new direction for policy research. Of course, these deductive models will inevitably draw their inspiration from the richness of careful observation and exhaustive checklist-making that are the hallmarks of induction. Specific avenues for new research are described, and the importance of teaching non-obvious theories is defended.
Primary murine limb bud mesenchymal cells in long-term culture complete chondrocyte differentiation: TGF-β delays hypertrophy and PGE2 inhibits terminal differentiation

In vitro models of endochondral bone formation using both primary and immortalized cells have provided insight regarding factors and signaling pathways involved in chondrocyte maturation and endochondral bone formation. However, primary murine cell culture models of chondrocyte differentiation have not been established but have enormous potential due to the possible use of cells from transgenic and knockout animals. Here, we show that stage E11.5 embryonic murine limb bud mesenchymal stem cells in micromass cell culture progress through the stages of chondrogenesis, chondrocyte hypertrophy, terminal differentiation, and matrix calcification. This cell culture system recapitulated the sequential expression of genes that characterize chondrocyte differentiation, including Sox9, col2, colX, MMP13, VEGF, and osteocalcin. TGF-beta treatment for up to 21 days markedly delayed the rate of chondrocyte maturation and inhibited matrix calcification and its related gene expression. In TGF-beta-treated cultures, the hypertrophic and terminal differentiation markers colX, VEGF, MMP13, and osteocalcin were reduced or absent. PGE2 had minimal effects on chondrocyte hypertrophy but delayed terminal differentiation and matrix calcification. Thus, primary murine mesenchymal cells sequentially differentiate through the various stages of chondrocyte maturation and establish a model whereby the role of specific signaling molecules can be examined in cells derived from transgenic or knockout mice.
Biochemical characterization of a highly active O2-evolving photosystem II preparation from maize

Abstract An O2-evolving Photosystem (PS) II preparation was isolated from maize by a Triton X-100 procedure (Kuwabara, T. and Murata, N. (1982) Plant Cell Physiol. 23, 533–539). A highly active O2-evolving preparation was obtained which evolved O2 at 76% the rate of fresh chloroplasts (H2O → 2,6-dichloro-p-benzoquinone) and was very sensitive to 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea. There was no detectable PS I activity in the preparation (2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine → methyl viologen). When analyzed by lithium dodecyl sulfate (LDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis the O2-evolving preparation was shown to be highly depleted in CP I, CF1, and devoid of cytochromes f and b-563 (the absence of which was confirmed by difference spectroscopy). The preparation was enriched in the PS II reaction center polypeptides I and II, the 34 kDa polypeptide (Metz, J., Wong, J. and Bishop, N.I. (1980) FEBS Lett. 114, 61–66), the Coomassie blue-stainable 32 kDa polypeptide (Kuwabara, T. and Murata, N. (1979) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 581, 228–236), LHCP-associated polypeptides and cytochrome b-559. Polypeptides of unknown function at 40.5, 25, 24, 22, 16.6 and 14 kDa were also present in the O2-evolving preparation. Triton X-114 phase partitioning (Bricker, T.M. and Sherman, L.A. (1982) FEBS Lett. 149, 197–202) indicated that the majority of these polypeptides were intrinsic. Only the polypeptides at 32, 25, 24 and 14 kDa were extrinsic. When examined by the octylglucoside procedure of Camm and Green (Camm, E.L. and Green, B.R. (1980) Plant Physiol. 66, 428–432) the PS II O2-evolving preparation was shown to contain the chlorophyll-proteins CP 27, CP 29, CP II∗, D, and CP a-1 and CP a-2. Chlorophyll-proteins associated with PS I were highly depleted. The visible absorption spectra indicated an enrichment of chlorophyll b and carotenoids in the preparation. The 77 K fluorescence emission spectrum (excitation wavelength = 435 nm) exhibits a strong F-686 with little F-695 shoulder and a broad, low-intensity F-735 emission.
Haemophilus paraphrophilus Peritonitis Followed by Tuberculous Peritonitis and Pott’s Disease

Patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who have ascites have a high risk of developing spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). The authors report a case of SBP caused by Haemophilus paraphrophilus, the first-reported SBP in literature with this pathogen. Later on, the patient also developed tuberculous (TB) peritonitis associated with thoracic Pott's disease, a combination never reported before. The diagnoses were confirmed by positive mycobacterium cultures of both omental tissues and vertebral tissues. This report also illustrates prominent computed tomography findings of TB peritonitis and magnetic resonance imaging of spinal cord compression of Pott's disease. Tuberculosis is a treatable and curable disease and should be considered as a potential offending pathogen on differential diagnosis in SBP of alcoholic cirrhotic patients. Timely biopsy and surgical intervention with these kinds of TB are needed to lead early diagnosis and result in an excellent outcome.
Levels and applications of qualitative research evidence

Evaluation of qualitative findings for application to nursing practice can go beyond the rigor with which the evidence was developed to the characteristics of the findings themselves. Five categories of qualitative findings are described that vary in their levels of complexity and discovery: those restricted by a priori frameworks, descriptive categories, shared pathway or meaning, depiction of experiential variation, and dense explanatory description. Four modes of clinical application of qualitative evidence are proposed-insight or empathy, assessment of status or progress, anticipatory guidance, and coaching-that vary in their degree of visibility and patient involvement. The greater the complexity and discovery within qualitative findings, the stronger may be the potential for clinical application.
Asymptotic Properties of Discrete Unitary Transforms

A method for studying the asymptotic behavior of discrete transformations is developed using numerical quadrature theory. This method allows a more convenient examination of the correlation properties of common unitary transforms for large block sizes. As a practical result of this method it is shown that the discrete cosine transform is asymptotically optimal for all finite-order Markov signals.
Abstract 654: High-throughput RNAi screening for the identification of genes that potentiate paclitaxel response in metastatic breast cancer

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC In the United States, metastatic breast cancer is currently the second leading cause of death in women after lung cancer and it has been estimated that over 400,000 women worldwide die from the disease each year. Two chemotherapeutic agents that have shown much promise in treatment of metastatic breast cancer are paclitaxel and docetaxel, both being members of a class of drugs known as taxanes. Although the current regimens in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer often include one of these taxanes, the overall response rate is between 30-60%, indicating that about half the patients that receive treatment for metastatic breast cancer do not respond. In order to improve paclitaxel response in breast cancer cells, we employed a functional genomics based approach, utilizing high-throughput RNAi (HT-RNAi) to identify genes that, when silenced, would sensitize breast cancer cells to paclitaxel. The HT-RNAi assay was developed to quantify the growth inhibition of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells transfected with siRNA and treated with an EC30 dose of paclitaxel. For screening, MDA-MB-231 cells were reverse-transfected with siRNA from a library targeting 7000 druggable genes (2 siRNA per gene). Twenty-four hours after siRNA transfection, an EC30 dose of paclitaxel was added and cell viability was assessed after 72 hours of drug exposure. The data was analysed using the B-score method. Following data analysis, we generated a list of “gene targets”, which upon silencing individually, lead to potentiation of paclitaxel in breast cancer cells. Validation of these genes will identify potential therapeutic targets for novel paclitaxel combinations in order to improve clinical efficacy. Furthermore, these findings demonstrate the effectiveness of using HT-RNAi as a tool for identifying sensitizing targets to chemotherapeutic agents. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 654.
Response regulators: structure, function and evolution.

Abstract We have determined the phylogenies of the receiver modules and effector domains of 49 fully sequenced response regulators and their homologues. The phylogenetic tree of the receiver modules revealed three major clusters and several minor clusters, the former of which frequently but not always correlate with the nature of the associated DNA binding domain. The minor clusters of receiver modules were usually but not always associated with other types of effector domains. It is concluded that receiver modules generally diverged from common ancestral protein domains together with the corresponding effector domains, but interdomain splicing, fusion and shuffling has occurred during the evolution of some of these proteins.
Fear of Aids and Homophobia Scales: Additional Estimates of Reliability and Validity

Psychometric properties of the Fear of AIDS Scale and the Homophobia Scale from 85 heterosexual undergraduates (and 44 gay, lesbian, and bisexual undergraduates) were estimated. Responses on the Homophobia Scale were internally consistent (alpha = .88), had 4% standard error of measurement, and scores differed by subjects' sexual orientation. Responses to Fear of AIDS Scale were moderately internally consistent (alpha = .75), had 12% standard error, and were significantly different for the two groups. Scores on the tests were correlated .66. Researchers must assess the relationship between scores on these measures.
Student Engagement: Developing a Conceptual Framework and Survey Instrument.

Student engagement is considered to be among the better predictors of learning, yet there is growing concern that there is no consensus on the conceptual foundation. The authors propose a conceptualization of student engagement grounded in A. W. Astin's (1984) Student Involvement Theory and W. A. Kahn's (1990) employee engagement research where student engagement is built on four components: emotional engagement, physical engagement, cognitive engagement in class, and cognitive engagement out of class. Using this framework the authors develop and psychometrically test a student engagement survey that can be used by researchers to advance engagement theory and by business schools to monitor continuous improvement.
Mercury porosimetry of hardened cement pastes

Abstract Mercury porosimetry was performed on 92 hardened cement paste specimens of water/cement (w/c) ratios 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 and curing times of 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 56 days. This paper presents the experimental techniques, results, and their possible implications with respect to pore connectivity. As expected, longer curing times and lower w/c ratios resulted in smaller indicated total porosities and smaller threshold pore widths. Longer curing times and higher w/c ratios resulted in greater degrees of hydration. In most of the mercury intrusion results, two peaks could be observed in the differential curves that were identified as the “initial” and “rounded” peaks. The initial peak may correspond to the intrusion of mercury through a connected capillary network, while the rounded peak may correspond to the crushing of interposed hydration products.