cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Light Scattering Studies of a Nematic to Smectic — A Phase Transition in Rigid Rod Polymer Solutions

An important approach to understanding phase transitions in liquid crystals is to study systems in which the dominant interparticle interactions are hard repulsion, rather than the complicated interparticle potentials found in most liquid crystals. Computer simulations have shown [1] that a nematic to smectic A phase transition may exist in a system as simple as monodisperse hard rods. Experimentally, Xin Wen, Robert Meyer and Donald Caspar [2] have reported the observation of the smectic A ordering in tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) suspensions, in which the dominant interparticle interactions are screened electrostatic repulsion. In this paper we present the first quantitative measurements of the nature of the nematic to smectic A phase transition in TMV. In solutions in which the concentration is just below the transition concentration to the smectic phase, large pretransitional smectic fluctuations are observed. We will describe the methods of measuring the correlation lengths of these presmectic fluctuations by light scattering. In addition, the concentration difference between the smectic and the nematic phase close to the transition point is determined to be very small, implying that the transition is very close to second order. This result is consistent with the conclusion of numerous theoretical approaches [3], such as density functional theory and scale particle theory, which have concluded that a nematic to smectic A transition in a system of rigid rods should be second order or very close to second order.
Manganese-based sorbents for coal gas desulfurization

The intent of this study is to perform a preliminary screening on a particular Mn-based sorbent, CST-939 (from Chemetals), for hot gas desulfurization. The purpose of the preliminary screening is to determine which temperature and type of coal gas this sorbent demonstrates the greatest capacity and efficiency for sulfur removal. The following conclusions were made from the data collected on the CST-939 sorbent: The sorbent efficiency and capacity are much greater at 343{degrees}C (650{degrees}F) than at 871{degrees}C (1,600{degrees}F). The sorbent efficiency and capacity are much greater in the presence of the more highly-reducing Shell gas than with the less-reducing KRW gas. The sorbent showed tremendous capacity for sulfur pickup, with actual loadings as high as 21 weight percent. Oxidative regeneration at 871{degrees}C (1,600{degrees}F) appeared to decompose sulfate; however, unusually high SO{sub 2} release during the second sulfidations and/or reductive regenerations indicated incomplete regeneration. The average crush strength of the reacted sorbent did not indicate any loss of strength as compared to the fresh sorbent. Superior sorbent performance was obtained in the presence of simulated Shell gas at 538{degrees}C (1,000{degrees}F).
Linear Stability of a Periodic Orbit in the System of Falling Balls

We study linear stability of a periodic orbit in the hamiltonian system with many degrees of freedom introduced in [W1].
Raff-ining our understanding of pneumococcal invasion

Differential raffinose metabolism influences Streptococcus pneumoniae tissue tropism and disease phenotype.
Experimentelle Untersuchung des Wärmeübergangs an Helium I bei Blasenverdampfung in einem senkrechten Rohr

In einem senkrecht angeordneten, elektrisch beheizten Kupferrohr von 5 mm Innendurchmesser und 168 mm beheizter Lange wurde der Warmeubergang an gesattigtes Helium I fur die Siedetemperaturen 2,5; 3,4; 4,2 und 4,6 K im Bereich der Blasenverdampfung gemessen. Es wurde beachtliche Hysterese festgestellt. Die Verteilung der Temperaturdifferenz uber die Rohrlange wird gezeigt. In einer anderen Versuchsreihe wurde die kritische Heizflachenbelastung zwischenλ-Punkt und kritischem Punkt in Abhangigkeit von der Siedetemperatur bestimmt.
A many-to-one sensory circuit encodes oxygen levels and drives respiratory behaviour in Danio rerio

Abstract In most animals, respiratory activity inversely correlates with environmental oxygen levels1,2. However, less is known about how the underlying neural circuitry encodes oxygen information and modifies behaviours. Here, we characterize the oxygen sensing circuit and reveal sensory coding principles in a Danio rerio larva, an optically accessible vertebrate that increases respiration and startle-related responses under hypoxia3. We observe that cranial sensory neurons receive input from multiple oxygen-sensing neuroendocrine cells, and then relay this information to hindbrain targets. Moreover, hypoxia evoked increase in cranial sensory dendrite calcium events indicates an oxygen-driven change in input dimensionality, which is also represented in their cytoplasm. Additionally, we estimate that a neural code using cytoplasmic calcium events requires most of the cranial sensory neurons, whereas one integrating input dimensionality needs only a third. Furthermore, we show that purinergic signalling at the neuroendocrine cell-sensory neuron synapses drives hypoxia-induced respiratory changes, independent of serotonin, which triggers startle-related responses. Collectively we demonstrate that oxygen coding employs a “many-to-one” sensory circuit that transforms ambient oxygen into neuronal activity and input dimensionality changes to impact behaviour. More broadly, we suggest that multi-dimensional coding might be a common feature of many-to-one circuit motifs, revealing a function for related circuits across species.
S-Acylation of plant immune receptors mediates immune signaling in plasma membrane nanodomains

SUMMARY S-Acylation is a reversible protein post-translational modification mediated by Protein S-acyltransferases (PATs). Here, we demonstrate that three plant immune receptors P2K1 (DORN1), FLS2 and CERK1, representing three distinct families of receptor like-kinases, are S-acylated by Arabidopsis PAT5 and PAT9 on the plasma membrane (PM). Mutations in Atpat5 and Atpat9 resulted in an elevated plant immune response, increased phosphorylation and decreased degradation of FLS2, P2K1 and CERK1 during immune signaling. Mutation of key cysteine residues S-acylated in these receptors resulted in a similar phenotype as exhibited by Atpat5/Atpat9 mutant plants. The data indicate that S-acylation also controls localization of the receptors in distinct PM nanodomains and, thereby, controls the formation of specific protein-protein interactions. Our study reveals that S-acylation plays a critical role in mediating spatiotemporal dynamics of plant receptors within PM nanodomains, suggesting a key role for this modification in regulating the ability of plants in respond to external stimuli.
Pediatric thoracolumbar spine surgery and return to athletics: a systematic review.

Objective Spinal conditions and injuries in the pediatric population can necessitate surgical treatment. For many pediatric patients, a return to athletic activity after spinal surgery is a significant postoperative focus. However, there is a lack of standardized guidelines to determine criteria for safe return to play (RTP). To understand clinical criteria for patients to safely RTP, the authors conducted a systematic review of outcomes and the period of time before physicians recommend an RTP for pediatric patients undergoing spinal surgery. Methods English-language publications were searched systematically in the PubMed electronic database, and a review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Additional relevant studies found via a supplementary literature search were also included. Studies assessing return to athletic activity in a pediatric population after spinal surgery were included. Studies without an RTP, postsurgical activity outcomes, or surgical intervention were excluded. Results A PubMed search identified 295 articles, with 29 included for the systematic review. In addition, 4 studies were included from a supplementary literature search. The majority of these studies were retrospective case series and cohort studies, and the remaining studies included questionnaire-based studies, prospective cohorts, and case-control studies. The most common spinal conditions or injuries included spondylolysis, and this was followed by adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Overall, the most frequent recommendation for RTP for noncontact and contact sports was 6 months after surgery (range 1-12 months), and for collision sports it was 12 months after surgery. However, some physicians recommended never returning to collision sports after spinal intervention. Conclusions Most pediatric patients are able to return to some level of sports after spinal surgery. However, no standardized criteria have been proposed, and RTP recommendations vary according to the treating surgeon. In addition, limited data are published on the variation in timelines for RTP with regard to classifications of sports (noncontact, contact, and collision). Further analysis of specific spinal conditions and injuries with postoperative athletic recovery is needed.
Electrical Storm in COVID-19

Abstract COVID-19 is a global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Infection is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular disease or evidence of myocardial injury are at risk for severe disease and death. Little is understood about the mechanisms of myocardial injury or life-threatening cardiovascular sequelae. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.)
Spoiler Alert: Muriel Spark Gives Away the Ending

Muriel Spark has a tendency to go far beyond foreshadowing in her classic novels. Whereas that literary tactic relies on insinuation, consisting mostly of hints which are only fully revealed after ...
Evaluation of a passive pediatric leg exoskeleton during gait.

Background:Children with hemiparesis are commonly prescribed ankle foot orthoses to help improve gait; however, these orthoses often result in only small and variable changes in gait. Research with...
SODA: A Serial Fortran Library for Adaptation of Structured Meshes

It is often of great interest in geomechanical analysis to model localized phenomena, such as strain concentrations along failure planes or hydraulic gradient concentrations near discontinuities and exit points. Focus in recent years on massively parallel finite element codes with adaptive meshing algorithms, have left many previously developed libraries for adapting quadrilateral meshes difficult to find, and often unsupported. While large, parallel simulations are of great interest to researchers, an acceptable modeling outcome for many practical engineering problems can often be obtained using meshes with more modest numbers of elements (e.g. < 105), removing the need for use of large parallel libraries. This paper describes a software library written in modern Fortran for adaptive meshing of structured meshes. The library consists of less than 1,000 lines of code and is based on 4 Fortran functions making it quick to learn as an educational and research tool, and easy to implement in existing codes. The library is demonstrated through an example seepage problem of a point source (Poisson problem).
Erotic Preaching: Phenomenological Insights for Homiletics

Emerging from a Barthian perspective on the necessary impossibility of preaching, this paper articulates an erotic phenomenology for preaching as a means of knowing and speaking about God in contem...
Scalable Knowledge Graph Analytics at 136 Petaflop/s

We are motivated by newly proposed methods for data mining large-scale corpora of scholarly publications, such as the full biomedical literature, which may consist of tens of millions of papers spanning decades of research. In this setting, analysts seek to discover how concepts relate to one another. They construct graph representations from annotated text databases and then formulate the relationship-mining problem as one of computing all-pairs shortest paths (APSP), which becomes a significant bottleneck. In this context, we present a new high-performance algorithm and implementation of the Floyd-Warshall algorithm for distributed-memory parallel computers accelerated by GPUs, which we call DSNAPSHOT (Distributed Accelerated Semiring All-Pairs Shortest Path). For our largest experiments, we ran DSNAPSHOT on a connected input graph with millions of vertices using 4, 096nodes (24,576GPUs) of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Summit supercomputer system. We find DSNAPSHOT achieves a sustained performance of $136\times 10^{15}$ floating-point operations per second (136petaflop/s) at a parallel efficiency of 90% under weak scaling and, in absolute speed, 70% of the best possible performance given our computation (in the single-precision tropical semiring or “min-plus” algebra). Looking forward, we believe this novel capability will enable the mining of scholarly knowledge corpora when embedded and integrated into artificial intelligence-driven natural language processing workflows at scale.
The costs and benefits of retirement policies at U.S. audit firms

Abstract The mandatory retirement age within U.S. Big 4 audit firms ranges from 55 to 62, which has attracted controversy and legal scrutiny. The potential costs of an earlier retirement age include the loss of established networks, experience, and expertise. However, studies in non-U.S. jurisdictions conclude that partners nearing retirement disengage from their work, which manifests in lower audit quality. Using intensive hand-collected data on the age of 3,148 U.S. audit partners, we provide the first evidence of the costs and benefits of mandatory retirement policies at U.S. audit firms. We find that audit quality does not vary, but that fees are significantly higher for U.S. partners approaching retirement. These findings suggest that U.S. mandatory retirement policies are forcing out experienced revenue earners that are producing audit quality equivalent to younger partners. Additional analysis reveal that partner retirements are mechanisms to promote and grow the client portfolios of younger and female audit partners, and therefore increase partner diversity. Our additional analysis of non-U.S. audit partners leading audits of U.S. listed companies shows that partners approaching retirement are associated with lower audit quality across certain measures. This suggests that the audit quality of older U.S. partners is superior to their non-U.S. counterparts.
Role of Environmental Variables on the Distribution of the Burmese Python in Florida

The objective of this study was to model the relationship between environmental variables and the spatial distribution of the Burmese Python across Florida. MaxEnt model was utilized to understand the relative preference of pythons based on environmental variables. The presence of Burmese Python is high along roads and canals, our study moves beyond these human-made paths to identify other environmental variables which determine their distribution. The distribution is mostly restricted to south Florida, and the probability of presence is high in areas where elevation is 0–1 feet and mean temperature ranges between 24–25 ℃. The most suitable habitats were located throughout wetlands where the soil is shallow and sits atop limestone. There was also a seasonal shift in distribution.
NFTs & the Death of Art

A “non-fungible token” or “NFT” is an encrypted unit of data on a digital ledger, typically used to authenticate a digital artwork. NFTs actually lack any meaningful connection to the artworks they purport to authenticate. Accordingly, the market for NFTs is really a market for unique digital files, not a market for artworks. While NFTs are absurd, markets have survived far worse. And perhaps NFTs could liberate art from the art market.
Spectroscopic investigations of electron and hole dynamics in MAPbBr3 perovskite film and carrier extraction to PEDOT hole transport layer

Organometallic halide perovskite (MAPPbBr3), Rust-based Vapor Phase Polymerization (RVPP)-PEDOT hole transporting layers and (RVPP-PEDOT)/MAPPbBr3 dual-layer, deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide glass were studied at room temperature using steady-state absorption, time-resolved photoluminescence imaging and femtosecond time-resolved absorption spectroscopy. Application of these techniques in conjunction with diverse excitation intensities allowed determination of various optoelectronic properties of the perovskite film and the time constant of the hole extraction process. Spectral reconstruction of the bandedge absorption spectrum using Elliot's formula enabled separation of the exciton band. The binding energy of the exciton was determined to be 19 meV and the bandgap energy of the perovskite film was 2.37 eV. Subsequent time-resolved photoluminescence studies of the perovskite film performed using a very weak excitation intensity followed by a global analysis of the data revealed monomolecular recombination dynamics of charge carriers occurring with an amplitude weighted lifetime of 3.2 ns. Femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption of the film performed after excitation intensity spanning a range of over two orders of magnitude enabled determining the rate constant of bimolecular recombination and was found to be 2.6 × 10−10 cm3 s−1. Application of numerous high intensity excitations enabled observation of band filling effect and application of the Burstein–Moss model allowed to determine the reduced effective mass of photoexcited electron–hole pair in MAPPbBr3 film to be 0.19 rest mass of the electron. Finally, application of transient absorption on RVPP-PEDOT/MAPPbBr3 enabled determination of a 0.4 ps time constant for the MAPPbBr3-to-PEDOT hole extraction process.
Sorption Behavior and Aerosol-Particulate Transitions of 7Be, 10Be, and 210Pb: A Basis for Fallout Radionuclide Chronometry.

We investigated the partitioning of 7Be, 10Be, and 210Pb aerosols between operationally dissolved and >0.5 μm particulate fractions in wet and dry atmospheric deposition. Bulk deposition in situ-log(KD) averaged 4.27 ± 0.46 for 7Be and 4.79 ± 0.59 for 210Pb (±SD, n = 163), with corresponding activity-fractions particulate (fP) = 24 and 48%. KD was inversely correlated with particulate mass concentration (pC), a particle concentration effect (p.c.e.) that indicates that dissolved 7Be and 210Pb are bound to submicron colloids. Experimental desorption-KD was higher than in situ by a factor of 20 for 7Be and 4 for 210Pb (n = 27), indicating that FRN sorption to particulates was irreversible. 7Be:10Be ratios confirmed that colloidal and particulate fractions were geochemically distinct, with corresponding ages of 120 ± 30 and 260 ± 45 days, respectively [mean ± SE, n = 9, p = 0.011]. Fractions particulate fBe7, fBe10, and fPb210 each increased with 7Be:10Be bulk age, a particle-age effect (p.a.e). In multiple regression, fBe7 was best predicted by N, Mn, Al, and Ni [R2 = 0.75, p < 0.0001], whereas fPb relied on N, S, Fe, and Mn [R2 = 0.69, p < 0.0001]. Despite differences in magnitude and controls on partitioning, the ratio fBe:fPb converged to 1 with pC in the range of 10-100 mg L-1. Given sufficient solid surfaces, irreversible sorption and p.a.e. form a basis for 7Be:210Pb chronometry of aerosol biogeochemical cycling.
Endothelial GNAQ p.R183Q Increases ANGPT2 (Angiopoietin-2) and Drives Formation of Enlarged Blood Vessels.

Objective: Capillary malformation (CM) occurs sporadically and is associated with Sturge-Weber syndrome. The somatic mosaic mutation in GNAQ (c.548G>A, p.R183Q) is enriched in endothelial cells (EC...
Metabolites of Blueberry Anthocyanins Suppress Lipotoxicity Induced Endothelial Inflammation

The vascular benefits of anthocyanins might be mediated by their circulating metabolites. This mechanism has not been explored because the metabolites are not commercially available. We synthesized...
A framework for examining skill specialization, gender inequity, and career advancement in the information security field

This paper presents an ongoing research project that examines career advancement barriers to women information security professionals. The study proposes to identify the skill sets critical for success in the information security area and to examine gender differences in specialized skill sets. The paper provides a brief review on IT workforce studies with a special focus on gender inequity problems. The research design and analytical methods are also presented.
Evaluation theory and practice as applied to security education

This paper will overview general evaluation purposes, elements, and steps for designing an evaluation in order to provide foundational information that can be used to conduct an evaluation of any security awareness, training, or education programs. An example of evaluation principles discussed in this paper as applied to an information security education program has been provided in the appendix. This paper is a tool for individuals who have little to no formal training in educational evaluation.
The kinetics of formation and biological activity of native and hybrid molecules of human follicle-stimulating hormone.

Abstract A rat testes tubule tissue receptor assay was utilized to study the kinetics of combination of the hormone-specific β subunit of human follicle-stimulating hormone (hFSH) with the α subunits of hFSH, human luteinizing hormone (hLH), bovine luteinizing hormone (bLH), and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). In this competitive protein-binding assay, 125I-hFSH is the radioligand and FSH activity is measured by the ability of the test substance to inhibit uptake of the radioligand by the rat testes tubule receptors. Rate data for combination of subunits were analyzed for quality of fit to first or second order integrated rate equations by nonlinear regression analysis. The time course for the appearance of FSH activity upon incubation of the various subunit combinations was neither clearly first or second order, although each simple mechanism could be fitted to the experimental data. We conclude that at least one kinetically distinguishable state follows formation of the initial α/β subunit complex and that this complex has a binding affinity for its receptors in rat testes tubules which is much less than those of subsequent states. Hybrid molecules of bLH-α/hFSH-β, hLH-α/hFSH-β, and hCG-α/hFSH-β were formed at differing rates, but each was more rapid than the combination always gous hFSH-α/hFSH-β pair. Maximum combination always occurred by 1440 min of incubation. Hybrid molecules formed after this time were tested for FSH activity by the in vitro rat testes tubule receptor assay and results compared with FSH activity as measured by a classical in vivo bioassay. The in vitro activity of hFSH-α/hFSH-β, hLH-α/hFSH-β and hCG-α/hFSH-β hybrid molecules was from 2 to 4 times greater than their activity as measured in vivo. The in vitro activity of these hybrids was similar to that of intact hFSH, but the activity of the hybrid molecules in vivo was less than that of intact hFSH. Of particular interest were the properties of the hybrid molecule formed between bLH-α/hFSH-β. This combinant had an in vitro activity which was 2.8 times greater than that of purified hFSH. The activity of the bLH-α/hFSH-β hybrid as measured by the in vivo bioassay, however, was only 0.14 times the activity of purified hFSH. The ratio of activity in vitro to in vivo for this artificial FSH molecule was 19.8. It is suggested that the bLH-α/hFSH-β hybrid has a greater affinity than native hFSH for receptors in rat testes tubules, but that expression of in vivo biological activity is depressed probably because of factors related to its more rapid clearance from the circulation.
A controlled, hierarchical study of habitat fragmentation: responses at the individual, patch, and landscape scale

We compared the performance of individuals and whole populations of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, within and between experimentally created habitat fragments of three sizes (1.0, 0.25, and 0.0625 ha) and between a 20-ha fragmented and a 20-ha continuous habitat landscape. We recorded 10,020 captures of 3946 individuals over 17 censuses between June 1993 and October 1994. Five demographic parameters showed significantly different population responses between the two landscapes but no difference in tests comparing fragment size: i.e., mean and peak population densities (the latter, in each of the two growing seasons) averaged 149 to 172% higher, population growth rate averaged 219% higher, and adult recruitment 170% higher in fragmented than in the continuous control landscape. Observations at the individual level (body sizes, rates of reproduction, residence times) suggested that these landscape differences involved enhanced performance of adult females associated with edge habitats rather than differential immigration or emigration. If this turns out to be a common response to fragmentation, the detection of such responses will be greater when comparing fragmented and unfragmented landscapes with qualitatively different structure than for fragments of varied size with differing proportions of edge. That responses to habitat fragmentation may be more evident at the very small (individual) and very large (landscape) scales, but may be obscured at the intermediate spatial scale of fragments, is a proposition that clearly requires more attention.
Introduction: Antibody Structure and Function

Antibodies, a central part of humoral immunity, have increasingly become a dominant class of biotherapeutics in clinical development and are approved for use in patients. As with any successful endeavor, the history of monoclonal antibody therapeutics benefited from the pioneering work of many, such as Paul Ehrlich who in the late nineteenth century demonstrated that serum components had the ability to protect the host by “passive vaccination” [1], the seminal invention of monoclonal antibody generation using hybridoma technology by Kohler and Milstein [2], and the advent of recombinant technologies that sought to reduce the murine content in therapeutic antibodies [3]. During the process of generation of humoral immunity, the B-cell receptor (BCR) is formed by recombination between variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) exons, which define the antigen recognition element. This is combined with an immunoglobulin (Ig) constant domain element (m for IgM, d for IgD, c for IgG (gamma immunoglobulin), a for IgA, and e for IgE) that defines the isotype of the molecule. Sequences for these V, D, J, and constant domain genes for disparate organisms can be found through the International ImMunoGeneTics Information System [4]. The different Ig subtypes are presented at different points during B-cell maturation. For instance, all naive B cells express IgM and IgD, with IgM being the first secreted molecule. As the B cells mature and undergo class switching, a majority of them secrete either IgG or IgA, which are the most abundant class of Ig in plasma. Characteristics like high neutralizing and recruitment of effector mechanisms, high affinity, and long resident half-life in plasma make the IgG isotype an ideal candidate for generation of therapeutic antibodies. Within the IgG isotype, there are four subtypes (IgG1–IgG4) with differing properties (Table 1.1). Most of the currently marketed IgGs are of the subtype IgG1 (Table 1.2). 1
TEACHING RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS TO YOUNG CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME

Despite extensive evidence of significant and pervasive impairments in communication in individuals with Down syndrome, there is relatively little empirical and behavior analytic research demonstrating effective intervention procedures. In this study, we examined a behavior analytic intervention to teach answers to questions in two children with Down syndrome. Children acquired the target responses and generalized across settings and people. This contributes to the growing body of demonstrations of behavior analytic interventions to address the needs of children with Down syndrome. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tobacco Surcharges on 2015 Health Insurance Plans Sold in Federally Facilitated Marketplaces: Variations by Age and Geography and Implications for Health Equity

In 2014, few health insurance plans sold in the Affordable Care Act’s Federally Facilitated Marketplaces had age-dependent tobacco surcharges, possibly because of a system glitch. The 2015 tobacco surcharges show wide variation, with more plans implementing tobacco surcharges that increase with age. This underscores concerns that older tobacco users will find postsubsidy health insurance premiums difficult to afford. Future monitoring of enrollment will determine whether tobacco surcharges cause adverse selection by dissuading tobacco users, particularly older users, from buying health insurance.
Husserl and Heidegger on Human Experience: Heidegger's critique of Husserl's methodological solipsism

In this chapter, I look at Heidegger's critical response to Husserl's Cartesianism and his effort to articulate a conception of human existence that undercuts the methodological solipsism that provides the general epistemological and metaphysical framework for Husserl's analysis of experience. Heidegger's conception of human existence is intended to undermine the Husserlian assumption that sense and meaning are things that are intelligible in the terms set by methodological solipsism. The contemporary philosophy of mind has been considerably interested in the merits and demerits of internalist and externalist conceptions of the mental. According to internalists, it is possible to understand at least some contents of the mind in the narrow terms provided by introspection and first-person awareness that does not appeal to any knowledge of other persons or objects outside of the person in question. It is thus possible to investigate such contents of consciousness in a manner that is methodologically solipsistic. Externalists, by contrast, argue that there is no interesting notion of mental content left over once one abstracts from the relations of persons to the public institutions that constitute our linguistic conventions. The externalist argues that these conventions are themselves underwritten by the objects belonging to a shared environment. It is the natural kinds into which objects fall in our environment that give determinate structure to the concepts that persons have. Heidegger has a wide reputation for his efforts in breaking down the inner–outer distinction of post-Cartesian epistemology and philosophy of mind. Instead of thinking of understanding on the model of a subject that confronts an object, he suggests that we understand human existence as being-in-the-world.
Demyelination secondary to chronic nerve compression injury alters Schmidt–Lanterman incisures

The role of Schmidt-Lanterman incisures (SLIs) within the myelin sheath remains the subject of much debate. Previous studies have shown a positive correlation between the number of SLIs per internode and internodal width for both normal and pathological myelin internodes. As chronic nerve compression (CNC) injury induces demyelination, we sought to evaluate if CNC injury altered the occurrence of SLIs using nerve-teasing techniques and light microscopy. Rigorous examination of the teased axons from nerves subjected to CNC injury for 1 month, 2 months or 8 months revealed that there is indeed a positive correlation between the number of SLIs per internode and the internodal width. However, unlike previous studies, the degree of positive correlation between these two parameters was greater in the internodes that had undergone remyelination in response to CNC injury as compared with the internodes from control nerves. These findings support the theory that SLIs are likely to assist in the metabolic processes of the myelin sheath, including growth and maintenance of the myelin sheath.
The antimicrobial effect of chloroform on Enterococcus faecalis after gutta-percha removal.

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effectiveness of chloroform on Enterococcus faecalis when used as a gutta-percha solvent during endodontic retreatment. Bilaterally matched human teeth were instrumented, infected with E. faecalis, and obturated. The gutta-percha was then removed using either chloroform or saline. Bacterial samples were collected after gutta-percha removal and following additional apical enlargement. A significant difference was seen (p < 0.05) between the number of colony forming units (CFU) of E. faecalis for teeth retreated using chloroform (mean 21 + 56 CFU/ml) versus saline (mean 280 + 480 CFU/ml). Negative cultures were obtained in 11 of 17 chloroform samples and none of the saline samples. Samples taken after apical enlargement two sizes larger than the original master apical file showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between teeth retreated using chloroform versus saline. Negative cultures were seen in 9 of 17 chloroform samples and 1 of 17 saline samples. This study demonstrated that the use of chloroform during endodontic retreatment significantly reduced intracanal levels of cultivatable E. faecalis.
The identification of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol as an antifungal metabolite produced by cutaneous bacteria of the salamander Plethodon cinereus.

Beneficial bacteria that live on salamander skins have the ability to inhibit pathogenic fungi. Our study aimed to identify the specific chemical agent(s) of this process and asked if any of the antifungal compounds known to operate in analogous plant–bacteria–fungi systems were present. Crude extracts of bacteria isolated from salamander skin were exposed to HPLC, UV-Vis, GC-MS, and HR-MS analyses. These investigations show that 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol is produced by the bacteria isolate Lysobacter gummosus (AB161361), which was found on the red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus. Furthermore, exposure of the amphibian fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (isolate JEL 215), to different concentrations of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol resulted in an IC50 value of 8.73 μM, comparable to crude extract concentrations. This study is the first to show that an epibiotic bacterium on an amphibian species produces a chemical that inhibits pathogenic fungi.
Simulation of Summer Diurnal Circulations over the Northwest United States

AbstractDuring the summer, strong surface heating combines with the terrain and land–water contrasts of the northwest United States to create a complex array of diurnal circulations. Though observational and modeling studies have described some of these circulations, advances in high-resolution numerical modeling allow for a more comprehensive and three-dimensional examination. To simulate typical summer conditions over the Pacific Northwest, 3-hourly Global Forecast System (GFS) model output for July and August 2009–11 was used to initialize and provide boundary conditions for a high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model run. To ensure the realism of the simulation, it was compared to observations from a collection of days representing typical summer conditions. Generally, it was found that the simulated diurnal wind, relative humidity, and temperature were close to the observations. It is shown that regional diurnal circulations over the Pacific Northwest occur on a number of interacti...
TAURINE IN THE NUTRITION OF THE HUMAN INFANT

The precise biological role of taurine is unknown apart from its conjugation with bile acids and xenobiotics. Evidence is accumulating, however, that taurine may have a more general biological role in development and membrane stability. Furthermore, there is a dietary requirement for taurine in the human infant. Whether or not it is "essential" in man, awaits further study.
Knowledge and Vision in Teaching

The author challenges the role of knowledge in teaching by pointing out the variety of issues and concerns teachers must simultaneously address. Teachers use two strategies to manage their multidimensional space: They develop integrated habits and rules of thumb for handling situations as they arise, and they plan their lessons by envisioning them unfolding as a drama might. It is entirely unclear where or how knowledge enhances teachers’ visions, but it is very clear that visions depend on a strong sense of purpose, direction, and momentum. Most teacher educators try to foster visions in their students, but their interest in vision creates two problems. First, it places them in conflict with their university brethren who expect to see them promulgating knowledge. Second, the particular vision they embrace is too narrowly progressive; it ignores many concerns that teachers try to juggle in their practice and many societal ideals for education as well.
Brillouin scattering of light in a liquid crystal

Abstract The stimulated and spontaneous Brillouin scattering of light from cholesteryl 2- (2 ethoxy ethoxy) ethyl carbonate is studied in the temperature range 20° to 60°C. Dispersion of hypersonic sound waves has been observed around the cholesteric to isotropic transition temperature of this compound.
Why the Wait? Delayed HIV Diagnosis among Men Who Have Sex with Men

We sought to identify factors associated with delayed diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; testing HIV-seropositive 6 months or more after HIV seroconversion), by comparing delayed testers to non-delayed testers (persons who were diagnosed within 6 months of HIV seroconversion), in King County, Washington among men who have sex with men (MSM). Participants were recruited from HIV testing sites in the Seattle area. Delayed testing status was determined by the Serologic Testing Algorithm for Recent HIV Seroconversion or a self-reported previous HIV-negative test. Quantitative data on sociodemographic characteristics, health history, and drug-use and sexual behaviors were collected via computer-assisted self-interviews. Qualitative semi-structured interviews regarding testing and risk behaviors were also conducted. Multivariate analysis was used to identify factors associated with delayed diagnosis. Content analysis was used to establish themes in the qualitative data. Out of the 77 HIV-seropositive MSM in this sample, 39 (51%) had evidence of delayed diagnosis. Factors associated with delayed testing included being African-American, homeless, “out” to 50% or less people about male-male sex, and having only one sex partner in the past 6 months. Delayed testers often cited HIV-related sickness as their reason for testing and fear and wanting to be in denial of their HIV status as reasons for not testing. Delayed testers frequently did not identify as part of the MSM community, did not recognize that they were at risk for HIV acquisition, and did not feel a responsibility to themselves or others to disclose their HIV status. This study illustrates the need to further explore circumstances around delayed diagnosis in MSM and develop outreach methods and prevention messages targeted specifically to this potentially highly marginalized population in order to detect HIV infections earlier, provide HIV care, and prevent new infections.
Reproduction and residue accumulation in black ducks fed toxaphene.

Three sets of 15 pairs of black ducks (Anas rubripes) were given 0, 10, or 50 ppm toxaphene in a dry mash diet for a period of 19 months, which included two breeding seasons. Survival of adults was not affected, but the weights of treated males were depressed during the summer months. Egg production, fertility, hatchability, eggshell thickness, growth, and survival of young did not vary with toxaphene ingestion in either breeding season. However, the mean number of days required to complete a clutch was lower in birds fed toxaphene than in birds on the control diet. Clutches of hens fed 50 ppm toxaphene showed improved hatching success in the second year of the study.
Group whiteboards and modeler/customer teams: getting closer to industrial-style collaboration in a classroom

This paper reports on two simple innovations that helped create a more authentic and engaging modeling experience in an undergraduate Analysis and Design course: (a) having each team of students act both as modelers for another team, and as customers for another team, and (b) providing each team with their own whiteboard. The results from their use throughout the course, and for a single use of the whiteboards in a Computing Technology and Public Policy course, were quite positive. They resulted in a qualitatively different experience noticeable both to the instructors and the students. While some students were initially reluctant to use the whiteboards, by the end of the course most students were enthusiastic about their use.
Carminator, a new genus of Megalyridae (Hymenoptera) from the Oriental and Australian regions, with a commentary on the definition of the family

The taxonomic history of the family Megalyridae is reviewed. Carminator gen.n. from the Oriental and Australian regions is described and illustrated. Four new species are included in the genus: C.affinis, Cater, C.cavus and C.nooni. A key to the species is provided. Twelve characters are evaluated for their phylogenetic significance, including those which historically have been regarded as important for the definition of the family. Carminator is provisionally assigned to the subfamily Dinapsinae, based on the reduction of Rs in the hindwing. The family Megalyridae is regarded as monophyletic based on their unique pattern of reduced hindwing venation and position of the ‘pronotalrsquo; spiracle. The mesozoic Cleistogastrinae are excluded from Megalyridae. The cretaceous genus Maimetsha is reclassified as a dinapsine megalyrid.
A boundary integral approach to the scattering from periodic gratings

A boundary integral formulation is presented for computing the scattering from infinite periodic gratings. Periodic boundary conditions and expansion of the fields in terms of Floquet harmonics allow the boundary integral formulation to treat just a single period of the infinite grating. Numerical results for a blazed grating designed for use at infrared wavelengths are presented and shown to be in good agreement with a series of measurements. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Fusion barrier distributions for heavy ion systems involving prolate and oblate target nuclei.

Fusion excitation functions spanning the entire barrier region in 1 MeV energy steps for the two systems {sup 40}Ca + {sup 192}Os, {sup 194}Pt are presented. The results of fission fragment angular distribution measurements for fusion-fission of {sup 40}Ca + {sup 197}Au at several projectile energies within the barrier region are also presented. The fusion data are of high enough precision to allow for extraction of the distribution of fusion barriers from the second differential of the product of {ital E} and {sigma}. Basic coupled channels calculations which are in quite good agreement with the data are shown and discussed. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}
Networks and the Best Approximation Property

Networks can be considered as approximation schemes. Multilayer networks of the perceptron type can approximate arbitrarily well continuous functions (Cybenko 1988, 1989; Funahashi 1989; Stinchcombe and White 1989). We prove that networks derived from regularization theory and including Radial Basis Functions (Poggio and Girosi 1989), have a similar property. From the point of view of approximation theory, however, the property of approximating continuous functions arbitrarily well is not sufficient for characterizing good approximation schemes. More critical is the property ofbest approximation. The main result of this paper is that multilayer perceptron networks, of the type used in backpropagation, do not have the best approximation property. For regularization networks (in particular Radial Basis Function networks) we prove existence and uniqueness of best approximation.
The neutral stability of surface-tension driven cavity flows subject to buoyant forces. II: Oblique disturbances

A horizontal free-surface cavity contains a fluid which maintains a steady Couette—Poiseuille return flow circulation in the central region of the zone. This circulation is maintained by a surface-tension gradient along the free surface, set by fixing the endwalls at different temperatures. The zone is subject to various buoyant forces by altering either the gravitational field or the zone depth. The hydrodynamic stability of the zone is considered by superimposing a small perturbation upon the two-dimensional steady basic flow. The three-dimensional oblique-wave instabilities are considered for a variety of fluids. For example, cavities of low Pr (Sn, Si) and high Pr (NaNO3, H2O) materials are studied. For a given material (Pr), the physical properties and gravitational environment dictate the critical temperature gradients, zone depth, and type of the most dangerous disturbance for the steady return flow. Minimum nondamping container geometries may be determined from the oblique-wave critical parameter sets. If the choice of experimental container does not allow for the expression of the most dangerous disturbance, then the critical curves for the longitudinal and transverse wave types (Part I) need to be explored with respect to their critical wavelength, direction, and energy.
Impact of boundaries on velocity profiles in bubble rafts.

Under conditions of sufficiently slow flow, foams, colloids, granular matter, and various pastes have been observed to exhibit shear localization, i.e., regions of flow coexisting with regions of solidlike behavior. The details of such shear localization can vary depending on the system being studied. A number of the systems of interest are confined so as to be quasi two-dimensional, and an important issue in these systems is the role of the confining boundaries. For foams, three basic systems have been studied with very different boundary conditions: Hele-Shaw cells (bubbles confined between two solid plates); bubble rafts (a single layer of bubbles freely floating on a surface of water); and confined bubble rafts (bubbles confined between the surface of water below and a glass plate on top). Often, it is assumed that the impact of the boundaries is not significant in the ``quasistatic limit,'' i.e., when externally imposed rates of strain are sufficiently smaller than internal kinematic relaxation times. In this paper, we directly test this assumption for rates of strain ranging from ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. This corresponds to the quoted rate of strain that had been used in a number of previous experiments. It is found that the top plate dramatically alters both the velocity profile and the distribution of nonlinear rearrangements, even at these slow rates of strain. When a top is present, the flow is localized to a narrow band near the wall, and without a top, there is flow throughout the system.
Review of mid- and long-term predictions of China's grain security

Purpose – This paper analyzes the factors that potentially affect grain security in China and reviews the techniques used for prediction. It reviews and compares forecasts for grain security in 2020 and 2030 with the aim of making some judgments, from the perspective of grain supply and demand, about the future grain security situation in China. Design/methodology/approach – In this article, the paper will introduce the methods and results of the forecast and also focus on the predictions for grain security in 2020 and 2030 in order to give a clear review of previous researches in this regard. Findings – The results indicate that the traditional threats to food supply and demand in China still exist, while demand for biomass energy continues to rise. With regard to grain aggregate, the grain supply-demand balance will still be relatively tight for both 2020 and 2030. In terms of structure, grain for feed will experience increase – mainly driven by the supply of corn – adding to the unabated structural iss...