cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vivid: How valence and arousal influence word processing under different task demands

In this study, we used event-related potentials to examine how different dimensions of emotion-valence and arousal-influence different stages of word processing under different task demands. In two experiments, two groups of participants viewed the same single emotional and neutral words while carrying out different tasks. In both experiments, valence (pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral) was fully crossed with arousal (high and low). We found that the task made a substantial contribution to how valence and arousal modulated the late positive complex (LPC), which is thought to reflect sustained evaluative processing (particularly of emotional stimuli). When participants performed a semantic categorization task in which emotion was not directly relevant to task performance, the LPC showed a larger amplitude for high-arousal than for low-arousal words, but no effect of valence. In contrast, when participants performed an overt valence categorization task, the LPC showed a large effect of valence (with unpleasant words eliciting the largest positivity), but no effect of arousal. These data show not only that valence and arousal act independently to influence word processing, but that their relative contributions to prolonged evaluative neural processes are strongly influenced by the situational demands (and by individual differences, as revealed in a subsequent analysis of subjective judgments).
Isolation and characterization of plasmin-generated bioactive fragments of IGFBP-3.

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) was digested with plasmin, and the proteolytic fragments were isolated by HPLC and tested for bioactivity as measured by stimulation of glucos...
Studies on the Population Ecology of the Smokybrown Cockroach, Periplaneta fuliginosa, in a Texas Outdoor Urban Environment

Population ecology of Periplaneta fuliginosa (Serville) was studied, using mark-recapture techniques, at a suburban residence in southeast Texas (Brazos Co.) from Mar. 1974–June 1975. Peak adult populations (3135♀: 2383♂) were attained during June 1974 while lowest levels were reached in Feb. 1975. Throughout the study period adult females were more abundant than males. Outdoor populations of nymphs and adults were active during every month of the study; however, more eggs and nymphs overwintered successfully than did adults. Seasonal activity patterns for all nymphal size classes and male and female adults were similar. Correlation coefficients (r) for activity of nymphal and adult stages vs. maximum daily temperature ranged from 0.54 for small nymphs to 0.70 for total catch. Correlation coefficients increased with cockroach size class from small to large nymphs to adults. There was a highly significant regression in each case of trap catch vs. maximum daily temperature. Of 3181 marked adults, 1664 were recaptured one or more times. Mean number of recaptures per recaptured female was greater than the mean for males. Days between 1st and last capture for females were 38.34±1.60 (range 2–363) days; for males, 38.01±1.61 (2–267) days. The difference was not significant. Of adults recaptured, 59% moved one or more times a distance greater than 3 m. Mean number of moves per recaptured females (1.342) and recaptured males (1.114) was significantly different (t = 2.86: P <0.004). A test of proportion of females moving and not moving vs. males moving and not moving revealed that a significantly greater proportion of females move (χ2 = 4.46: P <0.05). Mean distance of 1189 movements made by females was 9.77±0.23 (3–109) m and of 868 male movements was 9.75±0.29 (3–25) m; mean distances moved by each sex were not significantly different. The necessity for females to locate suitable oviposition sites within the habitat is thought to explain the difference between male and female movement frequencies.
End-to-End Optimization for Geo-Distributed MapReduce

MapReduce has proven remarkably effective for a wide variety of data-intensive applications, but it was designed to run on large single-site homogeneous clusters. Researchers have begun to explore the extent to which the original MapReduce assumptions can be relaxed, including skewed workloads, iterative applications, and heterogeneous computing environments. This paper continues this exploration by applying MapReduce across geo-distributed data over geo-distributed computation resources. Using Hadoop, we show that network and node heterogeneity and the lack of data locality lead to poor performance, because the interaction of MapReduce phases becomes pronounced in the presence of heterogeneous network behavior. To address these problems, we take a two-pronged approach: We first develop a model-driven optimization that serves as an oracle, providing high-level insights. We then apply these insights to design cross-phase optimization techniques that we implement and demonstrate in a real-world MapReduce implementation. Experimental results in both Amazon EC2 and PlanetLab show the potential of these techniques as performance is improved by 7-18 percent depending on the execution environment and application.
Cancer genomics: Hard-to-reach repairs.

Two studies find that the molecular machinery that initiates gene transcription prevents repair proteins from accessing DNA, resulting in increased mutation rates at sites of transcription-factor binding. See Letters p.259 & p.264 Recent whole-genome analyses in cancer have identified numerous hotspots of somatic point mutations within gene promoters. Two papers in this issue of Nature examine this relationship and find evidence for mechanisms linking transcription initiation and DNA repair. Jason Wong and colleagues analyse more than a thousand cancer genomes across 14 cancer types and find that increased mutation density at gene promoters is linked to transcription initiation activity and impairment of nucleotide excision repair. The density of promoter mutations can be correlated with the dependence of the cancer on excision repair. Nuria Lopez-Bigas and colleagues report an analysis of genomic data from melanomas, finding an increased rate of somatic mutations at active transcription factor binding sites within promoter regions. The increased mutation rate at these genomic regions can be explained by reduced accessibility of the protein-bound DNA to nucleotide excision repair.
Development of Abamectin EW

The formulation development and technique of abamectin EW was introduced.Its satisfactory formulation was selected,and its performance testing was also carried out.
Skyrmion Sensor-Based Low-Power Global Interconnects

In this paper, we propose the use of magnetic skyrmion sensors for low-voltage, low-current global interconnects. Magnetic skyrmions have shown great potential for low-power circuit applications, since skyrmions can be generated and moved by remarkably low-current pulses. We propose the use of skyrmion-based current sensors at the receiver that allows low-current signal transmission through the line. The proposed skyrmion sensor consists of a magnetic nanotrack on top of a spin-Hall metal (SHM). The skyrmion is nucleated in the nanotrack by using spin-polarized current and, subsequently, moved along the nanotrack by using a charge current through the SHM. This charge current is the input current from a global interconnect line, which moves the skyrmion depending on the logic input to the line. The resistance of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) at the receiver is based on the movement/location of the skyrmion. This resistance change is sensed using a reference MTJ and a simple complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) inverter. Such a receiver configuration acts as a built-in latch, and hence, expensive voltage converters or transimpedance amplifiers can be avoided, which are the bottlenecks in a conventional low-power interconnect design. Our simulation results indicate that for a 10 mm Cu-line in 45 nm CMOS technology, the energy consumption with skyrmion-based sensing is $\sim 50\times $ lower compared with full swing and $\sim 25\times $ lower compared with low-swing CMOS interconnect.
Reconciling technology and humanistic care: Lessons from the next generation of physicians

AbstractPurpose: There is concern among physicians that the rising use of technology in medicine may have a negative impact on compassionate patient-centered care. This study explores medical student attitudes and ideas about technology in medicine in order to consider ways to achieve symbiosis between technology use and the delivery of humanistic, patient-centered care.Methods: This qualitative study uses data from 138 essays written by medical students in the United States and Canada responding to the prompt “Using a real life experience, describe how technology played a role, either negatively or positively, in the delivery of humanistic patient care.” Data were analyzed for themes about technology and the impact on humanistic patient care.Results: Seven themes emerged from the medical students’ essays: Patient Perspective; Life-Giving versus Life-Prolonging; Boundaries between Human and Technology; Distancing versus Presence; Adapting to Change; Tools to Enhance Care; and Definitions of Technology.Con...
UAV Trajectory Modeling Using Neural Networks

Large amount of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAVs) are projected to operate in the near future. Potential sUAV applications include, but not limited to, search and rescue, inspection and surveillance, aerial photography and video, precision agriculture, and parcel delivery. sUAVs are expected to operate in the uncontrolled Class G airspace, which is at or below 500 feet above ground level (AGL), where many static and dynamic constraints exist, such as ground properties and terrains, restricted areas, various winds, manned helicopters, and conflict avoidance among sUAVs. How to enable safe, efficient, and massive sUAV operations at the low altitude airspace remains a great challenge. NASA's Unmanned aircraft system Traffic Management (UTM) research initiative works on establishing infrastructure and developing policies, requirement, and rules to enable safe and efficient sUAVs' operations. To achieve this goal, it is important to gain insights of future UTM traffic operations through simulations, where the accurate trajectory model plays an extremely important role. On the other hand, like what happens in current aviation development, trajectory modeling should also serve as the foundation for any advanced concepts and tools in UTM. Accurate models of sUAV dynamics and control systems are very important considering the requirement of the meter level precision in UTM operations. The vehicle dynamics are relatively easy to derive and model, however, vehicle control systems remain unknown as they are usually kept by manufactures as a part of intellectual properties. That brings challenges to trajectory modeling for sUAVs. How to model the vehicle's trajectories with unknown control system? This work proposes to use a neural network to model a vehicle's trajectory. The neural network is first trained to learn the vehicle's responses at numerous conditions. Once being fully trained, given current vehicle states, winds, and desired future trajectory, the neural network should be able to predict the vehicle's future states at next time step. A complete 4-D trajectory are then generated step by step using the trained neural network. Experiments in this work show that the neural network can approximate the sUAV's model and predict the trajectory accurately.
Selective ion transport in functionalized carbon nanotubes

Abstract Ion transport through functionalized carbon nanotubes in an external electric field is studied using all atom molecular dynamics simulations. The surface of carbon nanotubes has been functionalized with hydrogens and hydroxyl groups, and ionic current passing through the nanochannels has been examined with respect to the extent of surface modification. We are able to dramatically increase the ionic current passing through the nanotube via the appropriate surface modification. An analysis of the electrostatic potential within the tube shows higher ionic currents result from an increase in accessible pathways coupled with a global shift toward more direct ion passage. Moreover, through judicious choice of structure, the current can be modulated to a large degree with ion selectivity.
Transatlantic Musical Crossover: Miguel Bosé in the U.S.A. and Bruce Springsteen in Spain

Singer-songwriters Miguel Bose and Bruce Springsteen are examined through the market structures, musical tastes, and celebrity cultures that made them successful on both sides of the Atlantic. Bose traversed the Madrid Movida of the 1970s and ‘80s to his transatlantic twenty-first-century comeback, part of a new international Latin pop genre. For Springsteen, the Spanish music market is receptive to his projected identity of antiheroic bravado. Bose and Springsteen constitute cultural capital for social groups on the opposite side of the Atlantic because they adopt identities and musical idioms already rooted in the new habitus. The class-inflected dimensions of musical tastes theorized by Pierre Bourdieu, as well as the waves of globalization posited by Goren Therborn, are applied to Bose’s and Springsteen’s recordings, videos, concert tours, and celebrity personas.
Probabilistic Network Models for Word Sense Disambiguation

We present the techniques used in the word sense disambiguation (WSD) system that was submitted to the Senseval-2 workshop. The system builds a probabilistic network per sentence to model the dependencies between the words within the sentence, and the sense tagging for the entire sentence is computed by performing a query over the network. The salient context used for disambiguation is based on sentential structure and not positional information. The parameters are established automatically and smoothed via training data, which was compiled from the SemCor corpus and the WordNet glosses. Lastly, the One-sense-per-discourse (OSPD) hypothesis is incorporated to test its effectiveness. The results from two parameterization techniques and the effects of the OSPD hypothesis are presented.
The downfall of Daesh in the Middle East and implications for global security

Territorial losses of Daesh, or the Islamic State (IS), in Iraq and Syria have led many to conjure the demise of the global terrorist organization. Conditions on ground, however, are ripe for the recuperation of the organization. The presence of extra-regional players, the widening Shia-Sunni divide, the failure of Iraqi and Syrian governments to stabilize the conflict-hit regions and a timely decision by Daesh to activate its sleeper cells in different parts of Europe, Asia and Africa could very much benefit the organization in recovering from battlefield losses or heralding the fourth wave of global jihad. This, then, could further augment the global implications of the rise of IS, including revival of Cold War era “proxy-ism”, refugee crises leading to fissures among the community of European nations, the intensification of the sectarian conflict in the Muslim world and “lone wolf” terrorism in the West. The paper seeks to map the possibility of Daesh’s recuperation in light of the “terrorist lifecycle” and how this would impact the global peace in general, and in South Asia in particular.
Some other Problems in Set Theory

The intention of this short note is to publicize some opportunities for set theorists to work on some analytical problems of a somewhat unusual flavor to the set-theorists palate. No claim of authorship or originality of these problems is made (rather the contrary!). I present the definitions necessary to formally understand the problems. The content of my talk at the workshop is summarized in a research announcement in the Bulletin of the AMS [Fl], I will not reproduce it here though it may be useful as motivation for these problems and as a “point of view”. The problems are arranged to allow natural discussion. The reader will be trusted to make his own ranking of importance.
Single-Site Surgery

Single-site or laparoendoscopic single-incision surgery (LESS) was introduced as a technical advancement of multiport minimally invasive surgery, with a theoretical advantage of less postoperative pain and improved cosmesis. Advances in instrument and scope design, as well as access devices (ports) specifically designed to have multiple channels, have been developed in response to a growing interest in this technology by surgeons and patients alike. However, single-incision laparoscopic surgery introduced several technical challenges for the surgeon, including loss of triangulation on target anatomy, crowding of instruments and instrument collisions, and awkward operative ergonomics. Together, these result in long operative times and a long learning curve. Nonetheless, LESS has been successfully performed on general surgical, urological, and gynecological operations. The robotic platform for laparoscopic single-site surgery was specifically designed to mitigate the difficulties imposed by LESS. Early results demonstrate feasibility, decrease in operative time, and a shortened learning curve.
Molecular Recognition by Macrocyclic Receptors

Effective molecular recognition requires the precise alignment of binding groups on the receptor with chemical features on the substrate. In the past two years we have initiated a program aimed at the development of artificial receptors containing several recognition sites that are complementary with biologically-interesting molecules. This project was inspired by a lecture at the 4th IPMR in Lancaster by Professor W. Saenger in which he discussed the X-ray structure of the guanine-binding enzyme, ribonuclease T1 [1]. This shows a guanine substrate bound into the active site by both hydrogen bonding to the peptide backbone and aromatic stacking to a tyrosine aromatic ring (Figure 1). The presence of two recognition interactions increases both the strength and specificity of substrate binding.
On the New American National Standard for Shock Testing Equipment

This paper presents an overview of a recently published American National Standard [1] to be used for testing equipment that will be subjected to shock. This standard provides shock test parameters for testing a broad range of equipment, which will ensure inherent levels of shock resistance. It defines test requirements and severity thresholds for a large range of shock environments, including but not limited to shipping, transport, and rugged operational environments. The severity thresholds herein can be associated with specific shock environments and should be chosen for a given application on a case-by-case basis. The intent of the standard’s requirements is to outline those elements necessary for verification of a successful and accurate shock test, but not the specific test method. This standard will allow vendors to better market, and users to more easily identify, equipment that will operate or simply survive in rugged shock environments.
Performance of Virtual Machines Using Diskfull and Diskless Compute Nodes

In this paper, virtual machine performance is determined while stationary and during a live migration process. Benchmarks are used to determine network, CPU, and disk I/O performance of the virtual machines while stationary and migrating. To further examine virtual machine performance, three types of persistent storage techniques are used: Solid-State Drive (SSD), Hard Disk Drive (HDD), and Diskless (Network Boot). Results are given that show the degraded performance of a diskless cloud cluster, due to the network latency of fetch requests located on a networked PXE server. The diskless cloud cluster is compared to the performance of a traditional diskfull cluster consisting of SSDs and HDDs.
Effectiveness of the Alpha Calibration with a Brain-Computer Interface for College Students

During college, students make important decisions that will affect the rest of their life while also dealing with the burdens of social and academic expectations, often while living alone for the first time. For these reasons, stress deteriorates mental health and ability to relax. Meditation has been shown to reduce stress and mitigate its negative effects. EEG activity in the alpha spectrum has been shown to increase during meditative sessions and has been linked to feelings of relaxation. In this study, students without being given training in meditative practices, are asked to try to clear their mind and meditate for 10 minutes. Participants were also given a questionnaire to help determine if they were able to clear their thoughts. Results show that 77.14% of participants were not able to clear their mind for proper meditation. This shows that students do not usually have a natural ability to relax and meditate.
Beyond the Baccalaureate: Factors Shaping Latina/o Graduate Degree Aspirations.

This study examined how Latina/o undergraduate students’ graduate and professional degree aspirations change during college. Using longitudinal data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Prog...
Comparison of e-cigarette marketing and availability in tobacco retail outlets among diverse low-income communities in California.

Objective Research examining marketing and availability of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) within tobacco retail stores is limited, especially among vulnerable communities. However, tobacco retailers tend to be the first point of access to e-cigarette exposure, especially among youth. In response, store observations were conducted among tobacco retailers across five ethnically diverse, low-income communities. Design Trained community health workers recorded the presence of e-cigarette products, marketing, self-service displays, product pricing and product placement in the tobacco retail environment across American–Indian Tribal lands in California (n=96) and low-income African–American, Hispanic/Latino (HL), Korean–American (KA) and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) communities in Southern California (n=679) from January 2016 to January 2017. Store characteristics and pricing were analysed by ethnic community. Results Compared with retailers in NHW communities, retailers across all other communities were less likely to sell e-cigarette and flavoured e-cigarette products and were less likely to have self-service displays. Compared with retailers in NHW communities, retailers across all other communities were less likely to have e-cigarettes placed near youth-friendly items, while retailers in KA and HL communities were less likely to have exterior advertising compared with retailers in NHW communities. Conclusions Findings indicate differences in e-cigarette availability and marketing by ethnic community. In addition, placement of products and marketing that expose youth to e-cigarette and other tobacco products within the retail environment should be restricted and regulated by policymakers and tobacco regulatory agencies to reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases among vulnerable populations.
Enhanced maturation of fast-spiking interneurons driven by mTOR activation

Summary The use of stem cell derived neurons for cell-based therapies is limited by a protracted maturation. We present a novel? approach for accelerating the post-mitotic maturation of human stem cell derived interneurons via the activation of mTOR signaling. Lox sites were placed within PTEN, a key mTOR inhibitor, in a cortical interneuron (CIn) reporter line. Following directed differentiation and purification by FACS, the CIns were exposed to Cre-expressing lentivirus, then transplanted into mouse neocortex or plated onto cultured rat neocortex. Input synaptogenesis and dendritogenesis was greatly enhanced in the PTEN-deleted CIns. Whole-cell recording of the PTEN-deleted CIns in slices of transplanted neocortex revealed multiple indices of enhanced maturation. Finally, we observed similar effects using transient, doxycycline-inducible activation of AKT. We thus present an inducible, reversible approach for accelerating the maturation of human stem cell derived CIns, and to study the influences of this disease-related signaling system in human neurons.
Fragmento de la nación, geografía de desafío en "Laberintos de orgullo", de Rosa María Britton: un espacio mutante

Rosa Maria Britton ofrece una intrigante especulacion narrativa que, desde el siglo veintiuno, reescribe Panama con ingredientes textuales de una proyeccion geopolitica afin con el entendimiento que tanto la autora, como la region, deben aceptar como la realidad panamena. Para sustentar estos saberes ha sido necesario que Britton recurra a la historia como zocalo y asi cuestionar el paradigma tradicional de la nacion; no obstante, es la intencion de este ensayo comprender la joven republica como espacio privado, llegando a aceptar la region como espacio publico y, esta vez como resultado directo, alcanzar una vision mas cercana y acertada del ciudadano en ambas representaciones, individual y colectiva. El trabajo se fundamenta en un geocriticismo que indaga los espacios humanos que las artes mimeticas organizan por medio de los textos, la imagen y las interacciones culturales relacionadas con ellos. Es el desafio constante de una colectividad fragmentada que responde al llamado de una sola bandera para confrontar un nacionalismo inscrito ya en un siglo republicano e independiente. Dicho de otra forma, la narrativa se vera como una geografia movil que reclama su lugar; o sea, un espacio que, por medio de un encadenamiento escritural es, y seguira siendo, mutante.
UNIQUE MARKOV EQUILIBRIUM UNDER LIMITED COMMITMENT

I develop a recursive method for the characterization of competitive equilibrium under limited commitment with not‐too‐tight solvency constraints. The reputational mechanism is fragile, as it sustains constrained efficiency as well as a large set of constrained inefficient equilibria. However, I establish that the only strongly ergodic Markov equilibrium with trade is constrained efficient. The method relies on a planning program along with the theory of monotone concave operators. It is suitable for other applications to macroeconomics and dynamic contracts.
Testes function and feedlot performance of bulls actively immunized against gonadotropin-releasing hormone: effect of age at immunization.

Testes function, feedlot performance, and carcass traits were evaluated in bulls actively immunized against gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) at different ages. Bull calves were randomly assigned to one of seven treatment groups (n = 15 calves/group). Calves were unimmunized (Group 1), immunized at 1.5, 4, 7, or 12 mo of age with a GnRH-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) conjugate (Groups 2 to 5, respectively), or castrated at 4 mo of age (Groups 6 and 7). Immunized bulls did not receive a secondary, or booster, immunization. Calves in group 6 received Synovex-C at castration and Synovex-S at weaning and feedlot entry. Anti-GnRH titer was evident at slaughter in all immunized bulls. However, the final immune response of bulls immunized at 1.5 mo was significantly lower than the response of bulls immunized at later stages of development. Final scrotal circumference and testis weight in bulls immunized at 4, 7, or 12 mo of age were significantly reduced relative to unimmunized bulls. The final live weight, feedlot gain, and carcass weight of immunized and unimmunized bulls did not differ (P > .05) from the same parameters in steers implanted with Synovex. Longissimus muscle area, marbling score, and backfat thickness did not differ between immunized and unimmunized bulls. The sex class score of the carcasses of immunized bulls did not differ from the score of steer carcasses. In contrast, a significantly higher proportion of carcasses from unimmunized bulls graded as bullock carcasses. Taken together, these data indicate that a single immunization against GnRH at 4 to 12 mo of age results in significant attenuation of testicular growth in bulls. These data also demonstrate that immunization against GnRH reduces the masculinity of carcasses from bulls, but does not affect feedlot performance, longissimus muscle area, marbling score, or backfat thickness. These results suggest that single immunization with the GnRH-KLH conjugate may have practical utility as a noninvasive alternative to surgical castration in management of beef cattle.
Modeling and analysis of business process reengineering strategies for improving emergency department efficiency

Emergency departments (ED) in the USA treat 136.9 million cases annually and account for nearly half of all medical care delivered. Due to high demand and limited resource (such as doctors and beds...
Multi-Solar PV Allocation for Optimal Sizing and Placement on Distribution Feeders

Although research has shown the benefits of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems penetrating onto distribution grids, improperly sized and placed PVs can cause extreme over-voltages, higher power losses and grid capacity violations. In some cases, high PV penetration may lead to reverse power flow conditions and disruption of existing protection schemes. This work proposes improvements to an existing multi-objective optimization genetic algorithm (IMO) technique designed for PV sizing and site locations in radial distribution systems based on power loss reduction and limiting nodal voltage deviation. The proposed mathematical model yields a solution set of PV sizes based on bus location which reduces the instances of voltage profile constraint violations across all branches of the system while improving power losses at each nodal location. This is an improvement over previous works which were only applicable to single radial feeders without any branches. Finally, this approach allows for optimization of multiple PV distributed generation to be used to compensate losses and improve the overall voltage profile on any branch of the radial system, with room for future expansion.
Group-Structured Adversarial Training.

Robust training methods against perturbations to the input data have received great attention in the machine learning literature. A standard approach in this direction is adversarial training which learns a model using adversarially-perturbed training samples. However, adversarial training performs suboptimally against perturbations structured across samples such as universal and group-sparse shifts that are commonly present in biological data such as gene expression levels of different tissues. In this work, we seek to close this optimality gap and introduce Group-Structured Adversarial Training (GSAT) which learns a model robust to perturbations structured across samples. We formulate GSAT as a non-convex concave minimax optimization problem which minimizes a group-structured optimal transport cost. Specifically, we focus on the applications of GSAT for group-sparse and rank-constrained perturbations modeled using group and nuclear norm penalties. In order to solve GSAT's non-smooth optimization problem in those cases, we propose a new minimax optimization algorithm called GDADMM by combining Gradient Descent Ascent (GDA) and Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). We present several applications of the GSAT framework to gain robustness against structured perturbations for image recognition and computational biology datasets.
Seawater desalination derived entirely from ocean biomass

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation shows great prospects for seawater desalination with its rapid fast evaporation rate and high photothermal conversion efficiency. Here, a sustainable, biodegradable, non-toxic, and highly efficient full ocean biomass-based solar-driven evaporator is reported, which is composed of chitosan (CS) hydrogel as the hydratable skeleton and cuttlefish ink (CI) as the photothermal material. Under solar irradiation, the cuttlefish ink powder harvests solar energy and heats the surrounding water. Simultaneously, the water in the three-dimensional network of chitosan hydrogel is rapidly replenished by the interconnected porous structure and the hydrophilic functional groups attached to the polymer chains. With its enlarged evaporation surface, high solar absorptance, adequate water transportation, good salt drainage, and heat localization, the CI/CS-based evaporator achieves a remarkable evaporation rate of 4.1 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun irradiance (1 kW m−2) with high-quality freshwater yields. This full ocean biomass-based evaporator with abundant raw material availability provides new possibilities for an efficient, stable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly solar evaporator with guaranteed water quality.
Crystallins and neuroinflammation: The glial side of the story.

Abstract Background There is an abundance of evidence to support the association of damaging neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration across a multitude of diseases. One of the links between these pathological phenomena is the role of chaperone proteins as both neuroprotective and immune-regulatory agents. Scope of review Chaperone proteins are highly expressed at sites of neuroinflammation both in glial cells and in the injured neurons that initiate the immune response. For this reason, the use of chaperones as treatment for various diseases associated with neuroinflammation is a highly active area of investigation. This review explores the various ways that the small heat shock protein chaperones, α-crystallins, can affect glial cell function with a specific focus on their implication in the inflammatory response associated with neurodegenerative disorders, and their potential as therapeutic treatment. Major conclusions Although the mechanisms are still under investigation, a clear link has now been established between alpha-crystallins and neuroinflammation, especially through their roles in microglial and macroglial cells. Interestingly, similar to inflammation in itself, crystallins can have a beneficial or detrimental impact on the CNS based on the context and duration of the condition. General significance Overall this review points out the novel roles that chaperones such as alpha-crystallins can play outside of the classical protein folding pathways, and their potential in the development of new therapies for the treatment of neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative diseases. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Crystallin Biochemistry in Health and Disease.
Abstract 19122: Co-administration of Autologous Cardiac Stem Cells and Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reduces Infarct Size and is Superior to a Single Cell Type in Restoring Function in a Swine Model of Chronic Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

Introduction: While a cell combination of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and ckit+ cardiac stem cells (CSCs) improves left ventricular (LV) performance to a greater degree than MSCs alone in post myocardial infarction swine, the impact in heart failure remains unknown. Hypothesis: To advance the development of cell combination therapy, we tested the hypothesis that transendocardial autologous CSCs/MSCs produces greater improvement of performance than autologous MSCs in a rigorous model of heart failure. Methods: Mini-swine (n=28) underwent LAD coronary artery occlusion followed by reperfusion, and allowed to undergo LV remodeling for 90 days. Autologous MSCs were amplified from bone marrow and CSCs from heart biopsies in each swine, and injections of either CSC/MSC combo (1M/200M, n=7), MSCs (200M, n=6), or placebo (Plasmalyte, n=6) were injected to the infarct-border zone via the NOGA system. MRI and pressure volume loops were obtained. Results: Both cell groups had substantially reduced scar size (Combo –37.2± 5.4% vs MSCs –44.1±6.8% vs placebo -12±4.2, P Conclusions: Combination cell therapy and MSCs alone dramatically reduce scar size in swine with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy. In contrast, combination therapy has much greater impact on functional recovery, increasing EF to [near normal] levels. These findings illustrate that interactions between ckit+ CSCs and MSCs result in substantial enhancement in cardiac performance, establish the safety of autologous cell combination strategies, and support the development of an advanced second generation cell therapeutic product.
Media Coverage and EPA Pesticide Decisions

In this paper, we analyze the effect of media coverageon EPA pesticide decisions. We hypothesize that mediacoverage influences the distribution of opinions inthe general public and that EPA decision makersrespond to these opinions. We develop a revealedpreference model that includes media coverage andpublic opinion. We test the model by extending theanalysis of Cropper et al. (1992) to include mediacoverage. We find that the media coverage ofpesticides has a non-linear effect on EPA pesticidedecisions.
Differentiation of live, dead and treated cells of Escherichia coli O157:H7 using FT-IR spectroscopy.

Aims: To apply specific collection techniques and spectroscopy to differentiate between live and dead Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells, as well as cells subjected to various inactivation treatments, including heat, salt, UV, antibiotics and alcohol. Methods and Results: Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to analyse E. coli O157:H7 cells, after filtration or immunomagnetic collection. Partial least squares analysis of the spectra quantified live E. coli O157:H7 in the presence of dead cells with an R2 > 0·996. Canonical variate analysis (CVA) not only differentiated between spectra of 100% dead and 100% live cells but also between 1% live : 99% dead and 100% dead. CVA using principal components also differentiated between the spectra of the differentially treated cells at a 95% confidence level, and Cooman plots showed clear separation between clusters of spectra of bacteria exposed to the different inactivation treatments. Mahalanobis distances (MD) corroborated the results of CVA. Conclusions: These results demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid cell collection and FT-IR spectroscopy techniques to differentiate between live and dead E. coli O157:H7 cells. Significance and Impact of the Study: This technique has potential applications for use with foods subjected to various inactivation treatments.
The emerging structure of the Agrobacterium T-DNA transfer complex

Single-stranded DNA-protein complex (T-complex) is proposed to mediate T-DNA transfer from Agrobacterium to plant cells. A novel model for transfer is presented which incorporates features of both bacterial conjugation and viral infection. Specific protein components of the T-complex, its ultrastructure and possible functions in the plant cell are discussed.
The Health Tree: An Interactive Needs Assessment Tool for Hispanic Students

(1999). The Health Tree: An Interactive Needs Assessment Tool for Hispanic Students. Journal of Health Education: Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 186-187.
A New Rough Sets Model Based on Database Systems

Rough sets theory was proposed by Pawlak in the early 1980s and has been applied successfully in a lot of domains. One of the major limitations of the traditional rough sets model in the real applications is the inefficiency in the computation of core and reduct, because all the intensive computational operations are performed in flat files. In order to improve the efficiency of computing core attributes and reducts, many novel approaches have been developed, some of which attempt to integrate database technologies. In this paper, we propose a new rough sets model and redefine the core attributes and reducts based on relational algebra to take advantages of the very efficient set-oriented database operations. With this new model and our new definitions, we present two new algorithms to calculate core attributes and reducts for feature selections. Since relational algebra operations have been efficiently implemented in most widely-used database systems, the algorithms presented in this paper can be extensively applied to these database systems and adapted to a wide range of real-life applications with very large data sets. Compared with the traditional rough set models, our model is very efficient and scalable.
Structure-mapping of the Hairpin Ribozyme: Magnesium-dependent Folding and Evidence for Tertiary Interactions within the Ribozyme-Substrate Complex

We have used chemical modification analysis to probe the solution structure of the hairpin ribozyme. The modifying reagents dimethylsulfate, 1-cyclohexyl-N'-[2-(N-methylmorpholino) ethyl-carbodiimide-p-toluenesulfonate, kethoxal, diethylpyrocarbonate and (2,12-dimethyl-3,7,11,17- tetraazabicyclo [11.3.1]heptadeca-1(17),2,11,13,15-pentaenato) nickel(II) perchlorate were used to probe functional groups that participate in Watson-Crick and non-canonical base-pairs. Our results confirm the existence of four short helices (3 to 6 bp) within the ribozyme-substrate complex, and demonstrate that one intramolecular helix (helix 4) is comprised of three base-pairs rather than the previously suggested five. In the absence of magnesium, the ribozyme is observed to fold into its secondary structure. Upon addition of magnesium, a striking difference in chemical modification is observed, particularly at sites within the ribozyme's large internal loop (loop B) that are essential for catalytic function (bases 21 to 26). Moreover, magnesium-dependent folding clearly destabilizes an A-U base-pair in a region where a proposed bend is required to juxtapose the catalytically essential loops A and B. Upon addition of substrate, no changes are observed in the structure of helix 3, loop B or helix 4. However, strong protection of bases in the substrate-binding domain is observed, including those located across internal loop A. The modification data are consistent with the formation of a previously proposed tertiary structure motif within loop B that includes non-canonical G-A, A-U and A-A base-pairs, and that is identical with those identified by NMR analysis of loop E of 5 S rRNA and the sarcin/ricin loop of 28 S rRNA. Our results indicate that the hairpin ribozyme adopts a stable magnesium-dependent tertiary structure to which the substrate binds without inducing major conformational changes, and that substrate recognition is likely to involve non-canonical base-pairs between the ribozyme and substrate sequences adjacent to the cleavage site.
Impact of global climate change on ozone, particulate matter, and secondary organic aerosol concentrations in California: A model perturbation analysis

Abstract Air quality simulations are performed to determine the impact of changes in future climate and emissions on regional air quality in the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) of California. The perturbation parameters considered in this study include (1) temperature, (2) absolute humidity, (3) biogenic VOC emissions due to temperature changes, and (4) boundary conditions. All parameters are first perturbed individually. In addition, the impact of simultaneously perturbing more than one parameter is analyzed. Air quality is simulated with meteorology representative of a summertime ozone pollution episode using both a baseline 2005 emissions inventory and a future emissions projection for the year 2023. Different locations within the modeling domain exhibit varying degrees of sensitivity to the perturbations considered. Afternoon domain wide average ozone concentrations are projected to increase by 13–18% as a result of changes in future climate and emissions. Afternoon increases at individual locations range from 10 to 36%. The change in afternoon particulate matter (PM) levels is a strong function of location in the basin, ranging from −7.1% to +4.7% when using 2005 emissions and −8.6% to +1.7% when using 2023 emissions. Afternoon secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentrations for the entire domain are projected to decrease by over 15%, and the change in SOA levels is not a strong function of the emissions inventory utilized. Temperature increases play the dominant role in determining the overall impact on ozone, PM, and SOA concentrations in both the individual and combined perturbation scenarios.
Parallel time complexity of a heuristic algorithm for the k-center problem with usage weights

The authors analyze the parallel time-complexity of a heuristic algorithm for solving the NP-hard k-center problem with usage weights. The problem is to choose k vertices as service centers so that the maximum weighted service delivery distance to any vertex is minimized. The algorithm uses a greedy strategy to choose the vertex with maximum usage weights as the next service vertex. It generates results that are guaranteed to be no greater than twice the optimal solution values, which is the best possible polynomial time heuristic unless P=NP, and its uniprocessor time complexity is O(n/sup 3/). The authors show that the algorithm may be implemented on a multiprocessor system in O(n log/sup 2/ n) time, where n is the total number of vertices. They further show that even with unlimited parallelism, this algorithm will have higher than polylogarithmic time complexity unless polylogspace=P. >
Automatic Detecting Documents Containing Personal Health Information

With the increasing usage of computers and Internet, personal health information (PHI) is distributed across multiple institutes and often scattered on multiple devices and stored in diverse formats. Non-traditional medical records such as emails and e-documents containing PHI are in a high risk of privacy leakage. We are facing the challenges of locating and managing PHI in the distributed environment. The goal of this study is to classify electronic documents into PHI and non-PHI. A supervised machine learning method was used for this text categorization task. Three classifiers: SVM, decision tree and Naive Bayesian were used and tested on three data sets. Lexical, semantic and syntactic features and their combinations were compared in terms of their effectiveness of classifying PHI documents. The results show that combining semantic and/or syntactic with lexical features is more effective than lexical features alone for PHI classification. The supervised machine learning method is effective in classifying documents into PHI and non-PHI.
How Do Auditor Fees Affect Accruals Quality? Additional Evidence

This study examines whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) moderates the association between auditor fees and accruals quality. Using a large sample of firms, we first confirm the results of Srinidhi and Gul, showing that in the pre-SOX years, higher audit fees (non-audit fees) denoting higher effort (rents) imply higher (lower) accruals quality. However, we find that post-SOX, these associations weaken or disappear in some specifications. This study also finds that lengthy auditor tenure attenuates the relationship between audit fees and accruals quality. These findings provide new evidence to investors and policymakers on the impact of SOX on auditor fees and audit quality, and have implications for academic studies that use auditor fees as a proxy for audit quality.
Classification of Stress Fractures

Stress fractures represent a fatigue failure of bone, occurring along a spectrum of severity of structural injury with healing potential that varies by location. Many stress fracture classification systems currently exist in the literature. These systems employ various imaging modalities, but few include clinical parameters or have been validated for reliability between evaluators. Though many are generalizable, a gold standard classification system for grading stress fractures has yet to be determined.
The signs of the sacred: Identifying shamans using archaeological evidence

Anthropologists have determined that shamanism is a robust cross-cultural pattern, but they still have many methodological and theoretical issues to resolve. Central to archaeological religious studies is the need to develop a general and rigorous methodology for identifying the presence and structure of shamanism. This discussion begins by discussing shamans as a polythetic class and proposes that shamans and priests as they are commonly defined do not represent dichotomous religious structures, but rather reflect two ends of a continuum. The paper then presents a methodology for identifying and studying shamanism based on cross-cultural regularities in shamanic tools (sacra) and shamanic experiences. The methodology is then applied to the Casas Grandes region and Pottery Mound, both from the North American Southwest, and indicates that shamanic ritual was likely present during the late prehistoric occupation of the region.