cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
National Borders and the Size of Nations

The formation, consolidation and breakup of states has been at the center of human history for thousands of years, from Hammurabi’s unification of Mesopotamia to the recent collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Currently in the world there are almost two hundred nations, some as large as China or India, others as small as San Marino or Tuvalu.1 Questions on the number and size of states have been debated for almost as long as states themselves exist.2 Plato in The Laws even calculated the “optimal size” of a polity (5,040 heads of family), although he also pointed out that “the number of citizens should be sufficient to defend themselves against the injustice of their neighbors.” Aristotle in The Politics argued that a state should be no larger than a size in which everybody knows each other, and claimed that “experience has shown that it is difficult, if not impossible, for a populous state to be run by good laws.” Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws wrote that “in a small republic, the public good is more strongly felt, better known, and closer to each citizen.” Issues of “optimal” size and centralization were at the core of the debate during the American Constitutional Convention in 1787, when Madison and the other Federalists provided celebrated arguments in defense of a large federal polity against the objections of the Anti-Federalists. Sovereignty, independence and border redrawing have been paramount issues throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and remain very prominent
Effects of fenfluramine and norfenfluramine on brain serotonin metabolism in rats.

SummaryFenfluramine and its N-demethyl metabolite, norfenfluramine (3-tri-fluoromethyl-amphetamine), lowered brain serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and tryptophan hydroxylase in rats acutely and the effect persisted for more than 1 week after a single ip dose of the drugs. Serotonin depletion by fenfluramine and norfenfluramine was blocked by pretreatment with fluoxetine, an inhibitor of uptake into serotonin neurons. Serotonin turnover, as measured by the rate of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid accumulation after probenecid administration, was decreased significantly still at 1 week after fenfluramine administration. The effects of fenfluramine and norfenfluramine on brain serotonin neurons in rats resemble those of p-chloroamphetamine and probably occur via similar mechanisms.
Investigation on Influence Factors of Pneumococcal Vaccination in the Elderly People in Changning District of Shanghai

OBJECTIVE To analyze influence factors of pneumococcal vaccination in the elderly people and propose some helpful measures for improving the coverage of pneumococcal vaccination. METHODS Related populations include doctors, officials of street management and preventive medicine personnel coming from immunization clinic were invited to take part in the one-to-one depth-interview. RESULTS Related populations knew little about pneumococcal vaccine except the preventive medicine personnel coming from immunization clinic. The three related population thought it was necessary for the elderly people to have pneumococcal vaccination. The primary influence factors of pneumococcal vaccination were poor propaganda and high price. CONCLUSIONS To improve the coverage of pneumococcal vaccination in the elderly people need multiple measures including wide and intensive propaganda and falling in price.
Predation and thermal stress affect color change in the symbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia

iv Acknowledgements vi List of Figures viii List of Tables ix Introduction 1 Methods 20 Animal collection and maintenance 20 Experimental design 22 Estimating color change 27 Tentacle Measurements 29 Statistical analysis 30 Estimating color change 30 Tentacle measurements 31 Results 32 Color Data 32 Tentacle width 42 Discussion 44 Synergy 44 Temperature 46 Predation 50 Summary 54 Literature Cited 56
Interpreting archaeological data through correspondence analysis

Correspondence Analysis, a multivariate analytical technique, provides a valuable tool for archaeological analysis. Correspondence Analysis is here applied to data recovered from 27 seasons of extensive archaeological excavations at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, a frontier military post constructed in 1820. The artifact distributions and rich documentary record delineate patterns in the functional, social, and economic meaning assigned to different areas of the fort. Through the use of a model of military site characteristics, which served as a set of testable hypotheses, Correspondence Analysis results helped define functional distinctions within the military complex as elements of the social structure of the setting and enhance the anthropological understanding of economic and social status differentiation in 19th century military posts. The results show that Correspondence Analysis’ unique manner of display of data tables can serve as a heuristic device that can assist archaeologists to focus and refine research efforts.
Shoving Sheffler Out of the Courthouse: The Louisiana Supreme Court Prohibits a Cause of Action for the Breach of a Fiduciary Duty between Cocounsels

This Note considers a recent decision of the Louisiana Supreme Court that prohibited the cause of action for the breach of a fiduciary duty between cocounsel. It challenges the assumptions of the court and calls for a more thorough analysis by other state courts that may eventually consider the question in the future.
Development of a multimodal foveated endomicroscope for the detection of oral cancer

A multimodal endomicroscope was developed for cancer detection that combines hyperspectral and confocal imaging through a single foveated objective and a vibrating optical fiber bundle. Standard clinical examination has a limited ability to identify early stage oral cancer. Optical detection methods are typically restricted by either achievable resolution or a small field-of-view. By combining high resolution and widefield spectral imaging into a single probe, a device was developed that provides spectral and spatial information over a 5 mm field to locate suspicious lesions that can then be inspected in high resolution mode. The device was evaluated on ex vivo biopsies of human oral tumors.
Social discounting and distance perceptions in costly altruism

Extraordinary acts of altruism towards strangers represent puzzling phenomena not easily explained by dominant biological models of altruism, such as kin selection and reciprocity1–3. These theories stipulate that genetically or socially close others should be the beneficiaries of costly generosity4,5. Extraordinary altruists exhibit increased empathic sensitivity and a fast, intuitive decision-making style6,7, but no clear explanation yet exists for the most perplexing feature of these altruists, which is that they incur significant risks to benefit strangers5. Here, we considered two related proximal mechanisms—social discounting (valuational) and social distancing (perceptual)—that have been proposed to explain why costly help is preferentially given to close others. We hypothesized that variations in one or both mechanisms drive costly altruism towards distant others. We show that extraordinary altruists exhibit reduced social discounting, with altruists discounting the subjective value of outcomes for socially distant others less than controls. Group differences in social discounting were associated with self-reported other-oriented preferences and could not be accounted for by variation in social distancing. These results suggest a psychological mechanism by which costly helping behaviour towards genetically and socially close others might be extended to unrelated others. People willing to incur significant costs to help strangers, ‘extraordinary altruists’, are shown to have an increased subjective valuation of the welfare of distant others, rather than a misconception of the social distance of strangers.
Botulinum Toxin Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease in which the disease process involves multiple levels of the central nervous system leading to the emergence of a myriad of clinical symptoms. The symptomatic treatment of multiple sclerosis often does not meet patient’s satisfaction despite the availability of a variety of pharmacotherapeutic agents. This evidence-based review discusses the utility of botulinum neurotoxin therapy for treating the symptoms of multipe sclerosis. The available data from randomized, blinded clinical trials indicate that BoNT therapy is efficacious for the treatment of spasticity, bladder dysfunction, and certain types of focal pain in multiple sclerosis. Emerging literature from open-label observations suggests the utility of BoNT therapy in several other symptoms caused by MS: certain tremors, myokymia, tonic spasms, spastic dysphagia, and internuclear ophthalmoplegia. The data on MS-related sialorrhea are not available.
Enhanced Efficiency of 13C Dynamic Nuclear Polarization by Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Doping.

Attainment of high NMR signal enhancements is crucial to the success of in vitro or in vivo hyperpolarized NMR or imaging (MRI) experiments. In this work, we report on the use of a superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) MRI contrast agent Feraheme (ferumoxytol) as a beneficial additive in 13C samples for dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). Our DNP data at 3.35 T and 1.2 K reveal that addition of 11 mM elemental iron concentration of Feraheme in trityl OX063-doped 3 M [1-13C] acetate samples resulted in a substantial improvement of 13C DNP signal by a factor of almost 3-fold. Concomitant with the large DNP signal increase is the narrowing of the 13C microwave DNP spectra for samples doped with SPION. W-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy data suggest that these two prominent effects of SPION doping on 13C DNP can be ascribed to the shortening of trityl OX063 electron T1 as explained within the thermal mixing DNP model. Liquid-state 13C NMR signal enhancements as h...
Antioxidant Consumption is Associated with Decreased Odds of Congenital Limb Deficiencies.

Background Approximately 1 in 2000 infants is born with a limb deficiency in the US. Research has shown that women's periconceptional diet and use of vitamin supplements can affect risk of birth defects. We investigated whether maternal consumption of nutritional antioxidants was associated with occurrence of transverse limb deficiency (TLD) and longitudinal limb deficiencies (LLD). Methods We analysed case-control data from mothers and their singleton infants with TLD (n = 566), LLD (n = 339), or no malformation (controls; n = 9384) in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (1997-2009). Using a modified food frequency, we estimated usual pre-pregnancy antioxidant consumption by total fruit and vegetable consumption (in grams) grouped into tertiles, and cumulative antioxidant score (ranging from 1 to 10) based on consumption of three antioxidants: beta-carotene, lycopene, and lutein. We estimated odds ratios (OR) adjusted for maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index, and total energy. Results Compared to women in the lowest tertile of fruit and vegetable consumption, women in the highest tertile were less likely to have infants with TLD (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.57, 0.96) or LLD (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.59, 1.13). Compared to the lowest antioxidant consumption score of 1, those with the highest score of 10 had ORs of 0.68 (95% CI 0.48, 0.95) for TLD and 0.77 (95% CI 0.50, 1.17) for LLD. Conclusions Dietary intake of antioxidants was associated with reduced odds of limb deficiencies. These findings add further evidence for women's periconceptional diet reducing occurrence of some birth defects.
Quantitative Measurement of Osseous Pathology in Advanced Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis

Background:Osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint has typical patterns of deformity as described by Walch et al. However, more severe glenoid pathology may be difficult to classify. The purpose of this study was to use 3-dimensional computed tomography (3-D CT) imaging analysis to define common pa
Distinguishing Surface versus Bulk Hydroxyl Groups of Cellulose Nanocrystals Using Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

In plant cell walls and cellulose-containing composites, nanocrystalline cellulose interacts with water molecules or matrix polymers through hydrogen bonding of the hydroxyl groups at the cellulose surface. These interactions play key roles in cellulose assembly in plant cell walls and mechanical properties of cellulose composites; however, they could not be studied properly due to the spectroscopic difficulty of selectively detecting the surface hydroxyl groups of nanocrystalline domains. This study employed the sum frequency scattering principle to distinguish the hydroxyl groups inside of the crystalline nanodomain of cellulose and those exposed at the surface of crystalline domains. The comparison of the spectra at various scattering angles revealed that the OH peak near ∼3450 cm–1 comes from the weakly hydrogen-bonded OH groups at the surface of crystalline cellulose. Also, a time delay measurement found that the sharp vibrational features observed near 3700 cm–1 can be attributed to isolated OH grou...
More General Problems for the Half-Space

We have seen in Chaps. 1 and 2 that the general frictionless elastic contact problem for two bodies approximated by half-spaces reduces to the indentation of a single elastic half-space with composite modulus \({E^{*}}\) by a rigid punch defined by the combined gap function \(g_0(x, y)\).
Crowdfunding Creative Ideas: The Dynamics of Project Backers

Entrepreneurs are turning to crowdfunding as a way to finance their creative ideas. Crowdfunding involves relatively small contributions of many consumer-investors over a fixed time period (generally a few weeks). The purpose of this chapter is to add to our empirical understanding of backer dynamics over the project-funding cycle. Publicly available data of two years on projects listed on Kickstarter are used to establish that the typical pattern of project support is U-shaped—in general, backers are more likely to contribute to a project in the first and last weeks as compared to the middle period of the funding cycle. We further establish that this U-shaped pattern of support is pervasive across projects, including both successfully and unsuccessfully funded projects, those with large and small goals, and projects in different categories. We then empirically explore the dynamics associated with several factors, including collective attention effects from platform-sorting options, the role of family and friends in supporting projects, the effects of social influence, and the role of project updates over the project-funding cycle.
Findings of an effect of gender, but not handedness, on self-reported motion sickness propensity

Discrepant input from vestibular and visual systems may be involved in motion sickness; individual differences in the organization of these systems may therefore give rise to individual differences in propensity to motion sickness. Non-right-handedness has been associated with altered cortical lateralization of vestibular function, such that non-right-handedness is associated with left hemisphere, and right-handedness with right hemisphere, lateralized, vestibular system. Interestingly, magnocellular visual processing, responsible for motion detection and ostensibly involved in motion sickness, has been shown to be decreased in non-right-handers. It is not known if the anomalous organization of the vestibular or magnocellular systems in non-right-handers might alter susceptibility to motion sickness. Undergraduate college students completed online versions of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, Neuropsychologia 9:97–113, 1971) and Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire – Short Form (Golding, Personality and Individual Differences 41:237–48, 2006). Data from 664 undergraduate men and women revealed no support for individual differences in handedness effects on self-reported propensity to experience motion sickness in either childhood or adulthood. Findings replicate previous work of increased motion sickness in women, compared with men. Men reported being less motion sick in adulthood compared to childhood, while women reported no differences in motion sickness between childhood and adulthood. Handedness results are discussed in the context of reported individual differences in handedness effects on memory, and gender effects in terms of social desirability. Given that the handedness groups demonstrate differences in brain organization, the null effects here may shed light on the neural mechanisms that are involved in motion sickness.
Area postrema and differential reflex effects of vasopressin and phenylephrine in rats.

In normal rats, baroreflex inhibitions of heart rate (HR) and splanchnic but not lumbar sympathetic neural activity (SNA) are greater when mean arterial pressure (MAP) is increased by intravenous infusion of arginine vasopressin (AVP) compared with phenylephrine (PE) or methoxamine. In normal rabbits, baroreflex inhibitions of HR and lumbar and renal SNA are all greater when MAP is increased by AVP vs. PE. The differential reflex bradycardic and renal sympathoinhibitory effects of AVP vs. PE in rabbits require an intact area postrema. To determine whether differential reflex effects of AVP vs. PE in rats is selective for HR or inclusive of renal SNA and to examine the role of the rat area postrema in such action, we monitored HR and renal SNA in normal (sham operated, n = 8) and area postrema-lesioned (APX, n = 8) rats under chloralose anesthesia during slow increases in MAP (less than 0.3 mmHg/s; 3 min) induced intravenously by AVP (0-16 mU.kg-1.min-1) and by PE (0-8 micrograms.kg-1.min-1). Reflex inhibition of HR (-delta betas.min-1.delta mmHg-1) was greater when MAP was increased by AVP vs. PE in normal rats (-2.7 +/- 0.5 vs. -1.7 +/- 0.1, P less than 0.05), and this difference was absent in APX rats (-2.5 +/- 0.5 vs. +/- -2.2 +/- 0.4). Similarly, maximum bradycardia (-delta beats/min) by AVP vs. PE was greater in normal rats (-64 +/- 8 vs. -48 +/- 7, P less than 0.05) but not in APX rats (-53 +/- 5 vs. -52 +/- 6).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Chaos, Group Psychotherapy, and the Future of Uncertainty and Uniqueness

This paper explores the application of chaos theory, a new non-linear dynamical theory, to the understanding of psychotherapy groups. Two features of psychotherapy groups that have been insufficiently described or explained, uncertainty and uniqueness, are considered in the light of the chaos theory notion that groups proceed through periods of order and disorder. The recommendation is made that chaos theory be explored further as the field moves into the millennium and a hundred years of its own existence.
BIFURCATION OF PERIODIC SOLUTIONS OF NONLINEAR EQUATIONS IN AGE-STRUCTURED POPULATION DYNAMICS

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the bifurcation of periodic solutions of nonlinear equations in age-structured population dynamics. One important problem in the dynamical theory of population growth concerns the possibility of sustained oscillations of population density in a constant environment. The chapter presents a multiparameter bifurcation theorem applicable to general model equations based upon the general McKendrick partial differential equation that applies to the equations per se and does not necessitate a reduction, under simplifying assumptions, to some simpler equations. The chapter presents this theorem. The chapter presents the proof of a Hopf-type bifurcation theorem under the one simplifying assumption that the age-specific death rate is a function of present age-specific population density.
Understanding Structure–Activity Relationships in Sr1–xYxCoO3−δ through in Situ Neutron Diffraction and Electrochemical Measurements

In this work, we report a systematic study on temperature-dependent local structural evolution, oxygen stoichiometry, and electrochemical properties of an oxygen-deficient perovskite Sr0.7Y0.3CoO3−δ (SYC30) for oxygen electrocatalysis. The obtained results are then closely compared with its analogue Sr0.9Y0.1CoO3−δ (SYC10) of different crystal structures to establish structure–activity relationships. The comparison shows that both SYC30 and SYC10 consist of alternate layers of oxygen-deficient Co1-polyhedra and oxygen-saturated Co2-octahedra with Co1-polyhedra being responsible for Vo•• migration. It is also found that the distribution and concentration of oxygen vacancies within the Co1-layer are, respectively, less symmetrical and lower in SYC30 than those in SYC10, making the former unfavorable for oxygen transport. A molecular orbital energy analysis reveals that the energy gap between Fermi level and O 2p level in the active Co1-polyhedra is larger in SYC30 than that in SYC10, further suggesting that...
Deep Learning-Based Person Detection and Classification for Far Field Video Surveillance

This paper presents a deep learning-based approach to detect and classify persons in video data captured from distances of several miles via a high-power lens video camera. For detection, a set of computationally efficient image processing steps are considered to identify moving areas that contain a person. These areas are then passed onto a convolutional neural network classifier whose convolutional layers consist of the GoogleNet transfer learning. Despite the challenges associated with the video dataset examined in terms of the low resolution of persons appearing in the video data and the presence of heat haze and camera shaking, the developed approach generated 90% classification accuracy.
Chronic Treatment with Morphine and Ethanol, But Not Cocaine, Attenuates IL-1β Activation of FOS Expression in the Rat Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus

Interleukin-1 β (IL-1β) is a key mediator of immunological and pathological re­sponses to stress, injury and disease and it has been suggested to have profound effects on neuroendocrine-immune functions. We have shown that central treatment with IL- 1β induces the expression of FOS proto-oncogene protein immunoreactivity (FOS-IR) in several hypothalamic nuclei including the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Since FOS ex­pression has been used as an anatomical marker of neuronal function, these results suggested that the involvement of IL-1β in the neuro-endocrine-immune axis may be mediated through the PVN. Treatment with several substances of abuse has been shown to modify immune function in vivo and in vitro. In this study, we compared the effects of morphine, ethanol and cocaine on IL-1β induction of FOS-IR in the rat hypothalamus. Acute treatment with morphine or ethanol induced FOS-IR in several nuclei including the PVN. Cocaine, which induced FOS-IR in the Caudate-Putamen (CPU), nucleus Accumbens (nAcc) and Locus Coeruleus (LC), however, did not induce FOS-IR in the PVN. Chronic treatment with morphine desensitized FOS responsiveness to morphine and IL-1β in the PVN since FOS-IR was no longer induced by IL-1β or morphine in the PVN after this treatment. Similarly, chronic ethanol treatment desensitized FOS responsiveness to ethanol and to IL-1β in the PVN. By contrast, chronic cocaine did not affect FOS responsiveness to IL-1β in the PVN even though the treatment was able to desensitize the FOS responsiveness to acute cocaine in the CPU, nAcc, and LC. These results suggest that the PVN may be a site where actions of IL-1β converge with those of morphine and ethanol, but not cocaine, to modulate neuro-endocrine-immune functions.
Lack of perceived social support in patients with ischemic heart disease is associated with hopelessness.

Abstract Objective To evaluate perceived social support (PSS) in ischemic heart disease (IHD) patients who report hopelessness. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, 156 patients were screened during their hospitalization for moderate to severe state hopelessness. Twenty patients who reported hopelessness during hospitalization and maintained hopelessness one week after hospital discharge were included. Results A moderately strong negative correlation was identified between PSS and state hopelessness (r = −0.54, p = .014). PSS was significantly higher in married/partnered patients (26.7 ± 4.85) compared to unmarried/unpartnered patients (18 ± 9.18; t = 2.45, p = .035). Conclusions Social support may help reduce hopelessness in vulnerable cardiac patients, especially those who are unpartnered.
Failure of Patellofemoral Joint Preservation

Abstract Patellofemoral instability is a common problem, but surgical management of patients with patellofemoral instability is complex. Surgical intervention is typically indicated for patients with recurrent dislocations, but surgery may be indicated even in first-time dislocators if there is a concomitant cartilage injury or if the patient has a poor prognosis based on evolving risk factors. Cartilage repair should be performed if possible, and additional procedures such as medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction and/or tibial tubercle osteotomy (TTO) can be performed in conjunction with cartilage procedures. However, surgical decision-making and preoperative planning can be challenging. In this article, we outline the authors’ preferred techniques for performing these primary procedures in addition to recommendations to help avoid complications which can arise following MPFL reconstruction and TTO. The aims of this review are 1) to describe the indications and contraindications to the surgical procedures which can be utilized in the treatment of patellofemoral instability and associated cartilage injury, 2) to outline recommendations which can help when performing these procedures in the primary setting, and 3) to describe case examples which required revision procedures.
Electroresistance and electro-optic effects in molecular ferroelectrics

Molecular ferroelectrics are often considered as an alternative to inorganic ferroelectrics due to their structural diversity, optical transparency, and low-temperature solution processing. A significant amount of molecular ferroelectrics have been developed and studied for their fundamental mechanisms and potential applications in electronic devices. This review will report the recent findings in the study of electroresistance and electro-optic effects based on molecular ferroelectrics. Different varieties of molecular ferroelectrics are discussed according to their electronic structure and related electroresistance and electro-optic effects. We sketch the current theoretical understanding of electroresistance and electro-optic effects in molecular ferroelectrics, summarize key experimental results, and outline promising prospects in future molecular electronic devices.
The Ten Parts of 'Illegal' in 'Illegal Immigration' that I Do Not Understand

Many who support immigration enforcement measures will justify their position by asking what part of illegal in illegal immigration do you not understand? This essay provides ten answers to that question. The term “illegal immigrant” is without legal meaning, sweeping in both undocumented immigrants and legal immigrants who commit violations, including violations which may be minor or unintentional. The presumption that some immigrants are worthy of status while others are not distracts us from appreciating that our enforcement-only immigration policies are irrational, expensive, and detrimental to our long-term interests. For over 20 years, ever since President Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, we have pursued immigration enforcement at the expense of legalizing the status of those who are contributing to our society. We have done so by demonizing immigrants in general and those whom we call “illegal immigrants” in particular. But who is illegal and who is legal is not a matter of character or an ability to follow the rules—it is a matter of pure luck, based on what the current law is. Immigrants have not changed, but our laws most certainly have. Instead of following common sense rules that allow parents of citizen children, veterans, and tax payers to remain and continue to give—which is what the old immigration law provided—we have been pursuing policies that harm our short-term economic interests, long-term economic interests, and the very fabric of society. The test of character is not for those who can or cannot follow these new arbitrary rules, but for a society that elects to enact irrational and costly policies.
siRNAs containing 2'-fluorinated Northern-methanocarbacyclic (2'-F-NMC) nucleotides: in vitro and in vivo RNAi activity and inability of mitochondrial polymerases to incorporate 2'-F-NMC NTPs.

We recently reported the synthesis of 2'-fluorinated Northern-methanocarbacyclic (2'-F-NMC) nucleotides, which are based on a bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane scaffold. Here, we analyzed RNAi-mediated gene silencing activity in cell culture and demonstrated that a single incorporation of 2'-F-NMC within the guide or passenger strand of the tri-N-acetylgalactosamine-conjugated siRNA targeting mouse Ttr was generally well tolerated. Exceptions were incorporation of 2'-F-NMC into the guide strand at positions 1 and 2, which resulted in a loss of the in vitro activity. Activity at position 1 was recovered when the guide strand was modified with a 5' phosphate, suggesting that the 2'-F-NMC is a poor substrate for 5' kinases. In mice, the 2'-F-NMC-modified siRNAs had comparable RNAi potencies to the parent siRNA. 2'-F-NMC residues in the guide seed region position 7 and at positions 10, 11 and 12 were well tolerated. Surprisingly, when the 5'-phosphate mimic 5'-(E)-vinylphosphonate was attached to the 2'-F-NMC at the position 1 of the guide strand, activity was considerably reduced. The steric constraints of the bicyclic 2'-F-NMC may impair formation of hydrogen-bonding interactions between the vinylphosphonate and the MID domain of Ago2. Molecular modeling studies explain the position- and conformation-dependent RNAi-mediated gene silencing activity of 2'-F-NMC. Finally, the 5'-triphosphate of 2'-F-NMC is not a substrate for mitochondrial RNA and DNA polymerases, indicating that metabolites should not be toxic.
Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver presenting as a hemorrhagic mass in a pregnant woman

We present a case of undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver (UES), an uncommon malignant mesenchymal tumor that occurs predominately in children and is very rarely seen in adults. Our patient is a 32-year-old pregnant female without significant past medical history, who presented to the emergency department with worsening abdominal pain and a large palpable abdominal mass. Imaging identified a large, hemorrhagic right hepatic lobe mass that in retrospect had imaging characteristics most suggestive of UES. Though extremely rare in adults, it is still important to recognize the imaging features of UES as to avoid mistaking it for other more common benign and malignant hepatic masses.
Sea-level rise enhances carbon accumulation in United States tidal wetlands

Summary Coastal wetlands accumulate soil carbon more efficiently than terrestrial systems, but sea-level rise potentially threatens the persistence of this prominent carbon sink. Here, we combine a published dataset of 372 soil carbon accumulation rates from across the United States with new analysis of 131 sites in coastal Louisiana and find that the rate of relative sea-level rise (RSLR) explains 80% of regional variation in carbon accumulation. A carbon mass balance for the rapidly submerging Louisiana coast demonstrates that carbon accumulation rates in surviving marshes increase with RSLR and currently exceed the rate of carbon loss due to marsh drowning and erosion. Although continued erosion will eventually lead to net carbon loss, our results suggest a strong negative carbon-climate feedback for coastal marshes, where even submerging marshes sequester carbon at rates that increase with RSLR.
Micro-architecture Tuning for Dynamic Frequency Scaling in Coarse-Grain Runtime Reconfigurable Arrays with Adaptive Clock Domain Support

State-of-the-art Coarse-Grain Runtime Reconfigurable Arrays (CGRRAs) can now be reconfigured every clock cycle. At the same time, CGRRA and traditional FPGA vendors have embraced High-Level Synthesis (HLS) to increase the design productivity and help designers with limited hardware development skills to program these devices. One of the advantages of HLS over traditional RT-level hardware design is that the HLS process automatically re-tunes the generated hardware circuit based on the target synthesis frequency. Moreover, a large pool of design candidates with different area vs. performance tradeoffs can be easily generated by setting different synthesis options in the form of synthesis directives (pragmas). These typically allow the designer to control how to synthesize arrays (registers or RAM), loops (unroll, not unroll or partially unroll) and functions (inline or not). This work leverages this and proposes a method to dynamically adapt the micro-architecture at runtime when the operating frequency changes to reduce the power consumption, while maximizing the throughput. Most, previous works on Dynamic Frequency Scaling (DFS) for FPGAs assume that the architecture is fixed. Results show that our proposed approach leads to faster circuits which consume a fraction of the power than just statically scaling the frequency of the static microarchitecture.
Food loss in the Hungarian food industry - Examining quantification problems and attitudes of managers and their impact on policy.

Abstract The food industry is estimated to be the second biggest generator of food losses after households. The novelty of this paper is that it focuses on this less analysed sector, conducting exploratory research based on a detailed primary survey among Hungarian food processors with a uniquely large sample of 175 respondents. A SPSS program was used to analyse the data, generating descriptive statistics, statistical tests for exploring relationships between variables and cluster analysis for classifying respondents based on their attitudes towards the problem. In-depth interviews (19) and a workshop were also applied, refining the results. Only half of the respondents maintain exact records of food loss. The leaders of the companies usually do not consider the generation of losses as a serious problem, but instead tend to see it as a natural phenomenon related to technological processes. Based on the cluster analysis carried out, the companies could be classified into two distinguishable groups. Larger companies perceived the loss to be a significantly more serious problem, they recorded it more accurately than the other group and they had more important motivations such as the desire to achieve cost reduction and better allocation of resources. Food processors face several barriers during food loss management: regulatory issues, the lack of a developed market for by-products, insufficient stakeholder collaboration along the food chain and currently, insufficient incentive to reduce losses. Reduction and better utilisation of food loss can only be achieved if there is a fundamental change in food loss regulation: incentives should be provided to drive companies to avoid losses and to make the best use of the by-products.
Distributed photovoltaic configuration optimization based on three-phase unbalance under time sequence

With the access of DG distributed energy such as single-phase photovoltaic, the inherent three-phase unbalance and negative sequence voltage of distribution network become more prominent. The traditional planning ignores the partial phase operation of distributed PV and the negative sequence voltage in the distribution network, resulting in a slightly poor effect. In this paper, aiming to restrain the influence of negative sequence voltage in distribution network connecting single phase photovoltaic power, an optimal objective function to minimize negative sequence voltage, active power losses on a transmission line and the degree of voltage instability is set up. The Bacterial Colony Chemotaxis Optimization algorithm is used to search the Pareto optimal solution set. The optimal solution is obtained only if the sum of Pareto subset among the optimal solution set. The proposed approach in the paper can effectively solve the multi-objective optimization problem and improve the convergence.
Chapter 25. Bacterial Adhesins

Publisher Summary Adhesins are proteins located on the surface of the bacteria that mediate their attachment to specific substrates as a prelude to colonization. Substrates may be inanimate surfaces, eukaryotic cells, or other bacteria. The relatively specific nature of adhesin interactions differentiates their mode of action from other surface molecules that participate in comparatively weak, nonspecific hydrophobic or electrostatic reactions. Two general types of adhesive interactions are described in the chapter. Lectin-like adhesins recognize specific sugar moieties in the receptor molecules (i.e., glycolipids, glycoproteins, or polysaccharides), while the second group possesses binding sites that recognize noncarbohydrate constituents—that is, protein–protein interactions. The former group of interactions is similar to those observed with plant lectins. A microorganism cannot be an effective pathogen unless it adheres to, and subsequently reproduces within, a host. Thus, the central role played by adhesins in disease processes has elevated these protein molecules to the status of virulence factors, and currently, they are used to define a bacterium's pathogenic potential. This chapter describes a selective number of bacterial proteins that possess specific attachment functions relevant to colonization. The chapter focuses on adhesin topology, prototypic Escherichia coli adhesins, Pseudomonas aeruginosa adhesins, Bordetella pertussis filamentous hemagglutinin, mycoplasma adhesins, adhesins of oral bacteria, Prevotella adhesins, Capnocytophaga gingivalis adhesins, Fusobacterium nucleatum receptor protein, and gram-positive oral bacteria adhesins, as well as the therapeutic uses of these adhesins. The chapter also explains how or whether bacteria once attached to a substrate are released. The modes of attachment of bacteria to host cells mediated by specific adhesin and receptor interactions and some naturally occurring cell-to-cell interactions among oral bacteria that simulate the accretion of plaque are also discussed.
Pharmacological interventions for short stature: pros and cons.

Although growth hormone (GH) therapy is virtually always effective in accelerating growth and restoring height potential to children with GH deficiency (GHD), the expansion of its use to a wide variet
YscO of Yersinia pestis Is a Mobile Core Component of the Yop Secretion System

The Yersinia pestis low-Ca2+ response stimulon is responsible for the temperature- and Ca2+-regulated expression and secretion of plasmid pCD1-encoded antihost proteins (V antigen and Yops). We have previously shown that lcrD, yscC, yscD, yscG, and yscR encode proteins that are essential for high-level expression and secretion of V antigen and Yops at 37 degreesC in the absence of Ca2+. In this study, we characterized yscO of the Yop secretion (ysc) operon that contains yscN through yscU by determining the localization of its gene product and the phenotype of an in-frame deletion. The yscO mutant grew and expressed the same levels of Yops as the parent at 37 degreesC in the presence of Ca2+. In the absence of Ca2+, the mutant grew independently of Ca2+, expressed only basal levels of V antigen and Yops, and failed to secrete these. These defects could be partially complemented by providing yscO in trans in the yscO mutant. Overexpression of YopM and V antigen in the mutant failed to restore the export of either protein, showing that the mutation had a direct effect on secretion. These results indicated that the yscO gene product is required for high-level expression and secretion of V antigen and Yops. YscO was found by immunoblot analysis in the soluble and membrane fractions of bacteria growing at 37 degreesC irrespective of the presence of Ca2+ and in the culture medium in the absence of Ca2+. YscO is the only mobile protein identified so far in the Yersinia species that is required for secretion of V antigen and Yops.
Technology Roadmap: Lab-on-a-Chip

With the integration of microfluidic and MEMS technologies, biochips such as the lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices are at the brink of revolutionizing the medical disease diagnostics industries. Remarkable advancements in the biochips industry are making products resembling Star Trek.s "tricorder" and handheld medical scanners a reality. Soon, doctors can screen for cancer at the molecular level without costly and cumbersome equipments, and discuss treatment plans based on immediate lab results. This paper develops a roadmap for a hypothetical company (XI) which is seeking to be successful in this market. The roadmapping process starts with gathering data through literature research and expert opinions, and progress through defining the market/product/technology layers, linking and integrating these layers, and finally creating a labon-a-chip for disease diagnostics technology roadmap.
Translocation of Rac Correlates with NADPH Oxidase Activation EVIDENCE FOR EQUIMOLAR TRANSLOCATION OF OXIDASE COMPONENTS

Activation of the superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase system of human neutrophils involves the assembly of several neutrophil components, some located on the plasma membrane and others in the cytosol. It has recently been established that one of the required components for NADPH oxidase activity is the GTP-binding protein Rac. To further investigate the role of Rac in the NADPH oxidase system, studies were carried out to determine its subcellular distribution in resting and activated human neutrophils. In resting cells, Rac and an associated guanine nucleotide regulatory factor, GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI), were located only in the cytosol, along with other known oxidase factors, p47-phox and p67-phox. After activation of neutrophils with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate or formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, Rac was translocated from the cytosol to the plasma membrane, and this translocation corresponded temporally with the translocation of p47-phox and p67-phox and with the generation of superoxide. GDI remained localized to the cytosol, suggesting activation of the oxidase involved dissociation of the Rac-GDI complex prior to Rac translocation. Determination of the quantities of cytosolic factors associated with the plasma membrane indicated that Rac, p47-phox, and p67-phox are translocated to the plasma membrane simultaneously in equimolar amounts, but that the membrane-associated cytochrome b was present at 3-4-fold molar excess. These findings suggest that Rac may play a role in assembly of the active NADPH oxidase complex.
Spin-Dependent Exciton Quenching and Intrinsic Spin Coherence in CdSe/CdS Nanocrystals

Large surface-to-volume ratios of semiconductor nanocrystals cause susceptibility to charge trapping, which can modify luminescence yields and induce single-particle blinking. Optical spectroscopies cannot differentiate between bulk and surface traps in contrast to spin-resonance techniques, which in principle avail chemical information on such trap sites. Magnetic resonance detection via spin-controlled photoluminescence enables the direct observation of interactions between emissive excitons and trapped charges. This approach allows the discrimination of two functionally different trap states in CdSe/CdS nanocrystals underlying the fluorescence quenching and thus blinking mechanisms: a spin-dependent Auger process in charged particles; and a charge-separated state pair process, which leaves the particle neutral. The paramagnetic trap centers offer control of energy transfer from the wide-gap CdS to the narrow-gap CdSe, i.e. light harvesting within the heterostructure. Coherent spin motion within the trap states of the CdS arms of nanocrystal tetrapods is reflected by spatially remote luminescence from CdSe cores with surprisingly long coherence times of > 300 ns at 3.5 K.
Motives, Timing, and Targets of Corporate Philanthropy: A Tripartite Classification Scheme of Charitable Giving

Although corporate philanthropy has been an important part of American business for more than a century, the motives and consequences of corporate philanthropy are not well understood. This paper develops a richer classification scheme of philanthropic activity, to aid in theory development and management. Examining simultaneously the domains of why firms give (motive), when they give (timing) and to whom they give (target), a conceptual model identifying distinct categories of philanthropic activity is developed and its implications to present and future research discussed.
An Integration and Evaluation Framework for ESPC Coupled Models

Abstract : To realize its potential, a U.S. Earth system modeling and prediction capability must encompass a network of agencies and organizations that contribute model components, infrastructure, and scientific and technical expertise. The model component contributions must be integrated using coupling software, optimized as a whole, and the predictive skill of the resulting models assessed using standard metrics. We propose to provide these integrative functions for the Earth System Prediction Capability (ESPC), using as a reference application a version of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) running an optimized version of the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). We will establish a Coupling Testbed as a resource available to ESPC modelers, with Testbed leads who have developed infrastructure for major modeling systems and can engage and motivate interactions with modelers at NASA, NOAA, and other centers. The Testbed will be used to explore and prototype design and performance challenges related to integration, migrate optimizations to ESPC codes, and advance convergence of coupling interfaces to support knowledge transfer and controlled experimentation. We will work to broaden existing multi-agency computational working groups to address ESPC performance concerns and new application requirements. We will advance and update a coupled CESM-HYCOM system prototyped under other funding with a version of HYCOM optimized for accelerator-based architectures. This HYCOM version will be obtained from a linked proposal, entitled Accelerated Prediction of the Polar Ice and Global Ocean. Performance of the ocean component is of particular interest because we choose to emphasize science applications that are of greatest interest to the Navy, and this is best done at ocean eddy resolving scales. The coupled system will be suitable for data assimilative prediction problems with timescales from one week to up to one year.
PI-PAIR PRODUCTION WITH POLARIZED X-RAYS.

A study has been made of the reaction\(\gamma + p \to \pi ^ - + \mathcal{N}^{ * + + } \) using a polarized X-ray beam. The essentially null result obtained for the production asymmetry can assist in determining the OPE contribution to this reaction.
Respiratory-induced 3D deformations of the renal arteries quantified with geometric modeling during inspiration and expiration breath-holds of magnetic resonance angiography.

Purpose To quantify renal artery deformation due to respiration using magnetic resonance (MR) image-based geometric analysis.