cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Learning Efficiently Over Heterogeneous Databases: Sampling and Constraints to the Rescue

Given a relational database and training examples for a target relation, relational learning algorithms learn a definition for the target relation in terms of the existing relations in the database. We propose a relational learning system called CastorX, which learns efficiently across multiple heterogeneous databases. The user specifies connections and relationships between different databases using a set of declarative constraints called matching dependencies (MDs). Each MD connects tuples across multiple databases that are related and can meaningfully join but the values of their join attributes may not be equal due to the different representations of these values in different databases. CastorX leverages these constraints during learning to find the information relevant to the training data and target definition across multiple databases. Since each tuple in a database may be connected to too many tuples in other databases according to an MD, the learning process will become very slow. Hence, CastorX uses sampling techniques to learn efficiently and output accurate definitions.
Port disruption impact on the maritime supply chain: a literature review

Maritime transportation systems are responsible for the transportation of the vast majority of global overseas trade. Ports are fundamental agents of the maritime transportation system, being the p...
Inkjet printed microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD) for glucose colorimetric detection in artificial urine

This article introduces a novel inkjet printing method for the fabrication of a microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPADs) with improved analytical performance for colorimetric measurements. Firstly, a hydrophobic boundary was created by wax printing on chromatography paper. Then, chitosan (CHI), 3,3′,5,5’-Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and enzymatic mixture solvent (glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)) were sequentially printed in the sensing zone. Polyethylene glycol (PEG6000) was mixed with the bienzymatic solution to act as an enzyme stabilizer, forming the printable ink. The resulting μPADs exhibited a linear relationship between color intensity and glucose concentration from 0.0 25 mg/ml to 0 .5mg/ml. The detectable glucose concentration was in a clinically relevant range from 0.01 mg/ml to 4 mg/ml. The limit of detection (LOD) was achieved at 0.01 mg/ml. After 60-day storage under 4 °C, the color intensity at the testing zone retained over 80% of the original intensity. In addition, a smartphone application was developed for in situ colorimetric image processing, and the colorimetric analysis results were compared with those from the use of a scanner followed by processing using ImageJ. Furthermore, the development of this ink printing method also provides a point of care (POC) platform for other substances detection purposes.
Disseram que voltei americanista. Bourdieu y Wacquant sobre la raza en Brasil

Este articulo es una pieza critica realizada en respuesta al trabajo de Bourdieu y Wacquant, "Las asrucias de la razon imperialista", publicado en el numero 4 de esta revista, tomando como caso las ultimas investigaciones sobre raza en Brasil.
Joint implementation of greenhouse gas abatement under the Kyoto protocol's ‘clean development mechanism’: Its scope and limits

The Kyoto Protocol on climate change includes four flexibility mechanisms, which pursue lower-cost global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through voluntary international re-distribution of abatement effort. We consider the operation of one of these, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which grants transferable credit for abatement achieved by individual projects in countries without national emission targets. An uncredited pilot phase in effect since 1995 provides only limited guidance for projecting the operation of the credited CDM. Under the CDM, intractable difficulties of accounting for project-level effects are likely to bias project activity toward particular project types for which exaggeration-resistant accounting rules are most readily available. This bias will favor retrofits over new investments, and will consequently limit the CDM to a modest contribution to required abatement in developing countries. Use of CDM credits as instruments of domestic policy in investor countries, as well as instruments of international policy, may mitigate this bias and the associated limitation. So may the use of projects based on novel technologies of carbon management.
The Mountain People and the Washington Post : Conflicting Narratives in the Relocation of Shenandoah Families

Congress authorized the creation of a conservation area in the Shenandoah Valley on May 22, 1926, and that same year the secretary of the interior declared that residents in the region had to leave the new Shenandoah National Park. This essay examines competing perceptions of the relocation of those residents, known as mountain people, in the creation of Shenandoah National Park by comparing the narratives of the Washington Post and the families who were forced to relocate. The editors and writers of the Post characterized the region as isolated, underprivileged, and in need of outside help and federal programs to build habitable homes. However, this discourse reflected trends of modernization within American society at large that differed from mountain people’s vision of their own life; the ideals of “modern” life were reflected in the Post’s discourse about mountain people, who the Post thought represented the antithesis of “modern” life. This narrative of a “modernizing” America versus an “outmoded” mountain way of life serves as important historical context for this conflict. This belief allowed Post writers to tell a narrative that belittled and disregarded the region’s inhabitants as they were removed from the park area. By contrast, relocated mountain people did not think of themselves in that way. Furthermore, despite promises of aid and support, they struggled socially and economically during and after their forced relocation, which proved to be both logistically difficult and emotionally trying for them. Despite these challenges, mountain people were adept at working the land and some learned to navigate and petition the bureaucracy themselves.
Interdisciplinary Science Assessment of Carbon Cycling: Construct Validity Evidence Based on Internal Structure

Growing interest in interdisciplinary (ID) understanding has led to the recent development of four ID assessments, none of which have previously been comprehensively validated. Sources of evidence for the validity of tests include construct validity, such as the internal structure of the test. ID tests may (and should) test both disciplinary (D) and ID understanding, and the internal structure can be examined to determine whether the theoretical relationship among D and ID knowledge is supported by empirical evidence. In this paper, we present an analysis of internal structure of ISACC, an ID assessment of carbon cycling, selected because the developers included both disciplinary and ID items and posited a relationship among these two types of knowledge. Responses from 454 high school and college students were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) with the Mplus software for internal structure focusing on dimensionality, as well as functioning by gender and race/ethnicity, and reliability. CFA confirmed that the underlying structure of the ISACC best matches a two-factor path model, supporting the developers’ theoretical hypothesis of the impact of disciplinary understanding on interdisciplinary understanding. No gender effect was found in the factor structure of the ISACC, indicating that females and males have similar performance. Race/ethnicity performance was similar to other science assessments, revealing possible ethnicity bias on the part of the instrument. The reliability coefficients for the two-factor path model were found to be sufficient. This study highlights the importance of the internal structure of test instruments as a source of validity evidence and models a procedure to assess internal structure.
The CityLearn Challenge 2020

This poster shows the results of The CityLearn Challenge 2020. 4 teams competed over 6 months to design the best reinforcement learning agent for the energy management of a microgrid.
Virginia and North Carolina surfers’ perceptions of beach nourishment

Abstract Coastal managers are increasingly reliant upon the process of beach nourishment to mitigate coastal erosion due to development and sea level rise, especially along the East Coast of the United States. While beach nourishment has been found to be more effective than hard stabilization measures, the process can negatively impact marine life, natural shoreline processes and coastal recreation users. There are few studies examining coastal users' opinions of beach nourishment, especially surfers, a user group that can be substantially affected by the process. The purpose of this study was to examine surfers’ perceptions of beach nourishment in Virginia and North Carolina. An online survey distributed in 2018 resulted in a sample of 500 surfers. The study found that respondents had neutral to somewhat negative perceptions of beach nourishment. Respondents from the southern North Carolina coast had significantly more negative opinions of the process that surfers in other regions. Results of the study confirm previous findings on the impacts of beach nourishment for surfers and other coastal users. The study highlights the need for additional research on the impacts of beach nourishment and the involvement of surfers as local knowledge experts in coastal management.
Quality Assessment and Validation of High-Throughput Sequencing for Grapevine Virus Diagnostics

Development of High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS), also known as next generation sequencing, revolutionized diagnostic research of plant viruses. HTS outperforms bioassays and molecular diagnostic assays that are used to screen domestic and quarantine grapevine materials in data throughput, cost, scalability, and detection of novel and highly variant virus species. However, before HTS-based assays can be routinely used for plant virus diagnostics, performance specifications need to be developed and assessed. In this study, we selected 18 virus-infected grapevines as a test panel for measuring performance characteristics of an HTS-based diagnostic assay. Total nucleic acid (TNA) was extracted from petioles and dormant canes of individual samples and constructed libraries were run on Illumina NextSeq 500 instrument using a 75-bp single-end read platform. Sensitivity was 98% measured over 264 distinct virus and viroid infections with a false discovery rate (FDR) of approximately 1 in 5 positives. The results also showed that combining a spring petiole test with a fall cane test increased sensitivity to 100% for this TNA HTS assay. To evaluate extraction methodology, these results were compared to parallel dsRNA extractions. In addition, in a more detailed dilution study, the TNA HTS assay described here consistently performed well down to a dilution of 5%. In that range, sensitivity was 98% with a corresponding FDR of approximately 1 in 5. Repeatability and reproducibility were assessed at 99% and 93%, respectively. The protocol, criteria, and performance levels described here may help to standardize HTS for quality assurance and accreditation purposes in plant quarantine or certification programs.
Investigating the spatial distribution of resident’s outdoor heat exposure across neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania using urban microclimate modeling

Abstract Cities are experiencing more and more frequent extreme heat events in hot summers in the context of rising global temperatures. A precise understanding of the spatial distribution of the human outdoor heat exposure across neighborhoods in cities is of great importance for urban heat management. Different from remote sensing based the land surface temperature, this study calculated the mean radiant temperature, which is more objective to indicate human heat stress, to study the spatial distribution of human outdoor heat exposure in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The SOLWEIG (SOlar and LongWave Environmental Irradiance Geometry) model was applied to estimate the mean radiant temperature based on the high-resolution urban 3D model and meteorological data. This study further examined the spatial distributions of heat exposure levels across neighborhoods of different groups in Philadelphia. Results show that there is no significant disparity in terms of outdoor heat exposure levels for different racial/ethnic groups in Philadelphia. Generally, the elderly, who usually are more vulnerable to extreme heat, tend to live in neighborhoods with less outdoor heat exposure in summer (p
No Profitable Decompositions in Quasi-Linear Allocation Problems

We study the problem of allocating a bundle of perfectly divisible private goods from an axiomatic point of view, in situations where compensations can be made through monetary transfers. The key property we impose on the allocation rule requires that no agent should be able to gain by decomposing the problem into sequences of subproblems. Combined with additional standard properties, it leads to a characterization of the rule that shares the total surplus equally. Hence a traditional welfarist rule emerges as the unique consequence of our axioms phrased in a natural economic environment.
Unilateral vocal cord paresis following excision of a large esophageal duplication cyst via median sternotomy in a neonate

Abstract A newborn, prenatally diagnosed with a cystic mass, possible esophageal duplication cyst, of the upper posterior mediastinum was admitted to our department with symptoms of worsening respiratory distress. A median sternotomy and complete cyst resection were performed, yet worsening respiratory distress was a major concern in the immediate postoperative period which led to further hospitalization and investigations. Surgical resection is the gold standard in therapy for esophageal duplication cysts as reported by all authors that have published such cases. Resection is considered the safest approach to prevent a patient from complications such as hemorrhage, infection, perforation and malignant transformation, yet very few data are published regarding operative complications and pitfalls.
Down’s Syndrome

Down’s syndrome (DS) occurs in about 1 in 600 newborns, making it the most common chromosomal cause of mental retardation. Consequently, most general pediatricians will have at least one child with this syndrome in their practices.
Identifying Goals and Outcome Measures for Diversity Training

ABSTRACT Despite the growth in diversity training programs, little is known about the goal setting process used in developing diversity training and how its effectiveness is assessed. Based on in-depth interviews with 13 diversity consultants working in human service organizations, diversity trainers discuss their goals for managers, employers, and clients, as well as the methods they use to evaluate its effectiveness. Questions to guide decision-makers in identifying diversity training needs are offered, as well as directions for further research on diversity training.
Allopurinol augmentation in the outpatient treatment of bipolar mania: a pilot study.

Fan A, Berg A, Bresee C, Glassman LH, Rapaport MH. Allopurinol augmentation in the outpatient treatment of bipolar mania: a pilot study. Bipolar Disord 2012: 14: 206–210. © 2012 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Background: Allopurinol promotes the salvage of purines, possibly increasing endogenous adenosine levels. Recent studies suggest that adenosine has neuroprotective and inhibitory effects. Two previous inpatient trials demonstrated that allopurinol has anti-manic activity. Our objective was to test allopurinol as an adjunct to standard medications in bipolar disorder manic outpatients. Methods: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 27 subjects who met DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder and scored ≥ 14 on the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) were randomized to augmentation with allopurinol or placebo for six weeks. The primary efficacy measure was the YMRS. The primary safety measure was the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale. Results: The effect of allopurinol augmentation in decreasing mean YMRS scores was modest, with an overall effect size of −0.25 (Cohen’s d). Allopurinol-treated individuals who abstained from caffeine (n = 4) had a greater decrease in YMRS scores (−15.3 ± 1.8) than subjects using caffeine (n = 5) (−9.6 ± 3.4, p = 0.219), with an effect size of −0.86. Conclusion: In this small outpatient pilot study, allopurinol augmentation did not show a statistically significant improvement over placebo in attenuating manic symptoms. Subjects with restricted caffeine use showed a greater effect size compared to caffeine users. This finding may be interpreted as corroborating the hypothesized mechanism of action of allopurinol’s anti-manic effect in previous studies.
Identification of Actinomyces israelii and Actinomyces naeslundii by Fluorescent-Antibody and Agar-Gel Diffusion Techniques

This study was an attempt to develop a fluorescent-antibody (FA) test to differentiate Actinomyces israelii and A. naeslundii as an aid in their laboratory identification. Two strains of A. israelii (X522 and A601) and two strains of A. naeslundii (X454 and X600), which had received intensive study by several investigators, were used for the immunization of rabbits. Working titers, based on tests with antigens prepared from the homologous strains and from well-established heterologous strains, were determined for each labeled antibody preparation. These conjugates and their normal serum control conjugates were used separately to stain 85 cultures of Actinomyes species and 23 strains of other species that might be confused with them. Acetone-precipitated soluble antigens from these same strains were tested with different antisera in the agar-gel diffusion test. Results showed that A. israelii (X522 and A601) and A. naeslundii (X454 and X600) labeled antiglobulins, when used at their working titers, stained most strains of their homologous species. Agar-gel diffusion results showed general agreement with those of the FA tests. The two tests appear to be equal in sensitivity, but the FA test is more specific, since several cross-reactions were noted with the agar-gel diffusion test whereas no cross-reactions were obtained with the FA reagents. Agar-gel and FA studies suggest that at least two serotypes of A. israelii may be associated with human disease. Although the majority of strains tested in this study appear to belong to a common serotype, “serotype 1,” two strains of an apparent second serotype, “serotype 2,” were encountered. FA staining of tissue impression smears from experimentally infected mice was successful when a counterstain, Evans Blue dye, was used.
Concerning the production of free radicals in proteins by ultraviolet light.

The response to UV light of several solid proteins and model compounds has been studied in vacuum and at low temperature, using electron paramagnetic resonance techniques. The results indicate that the details of amino acid composition and sequence, and the tertiary structure of a protein are important in determining both the rate of, and the mechanism for, the production of free radicals, and in determining the conditions under which sulfur-type radicals can be produced. The results presented are related to enzyme inactivation and to the UV stability of proteins generally.
Performance of commercial-size plasmapolymerized PDMS-coated hollow fiber modules in removing VOCs from N2/air

Abstract Selective removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a N2 stream via vapor permeation using microporous polypropylene hollow fibers having an ultrathin plasmapolymerized silicone skin on the outside surface, has been a subject of both pilot-plant and laboratory studies. The hollow fiber-based vapor permeation process employs a lumen-side feed flow essentially at atmospheric pressure and vacuum on the shell side. The excellent separation performance obtained with small membrane modules has inspired the exploration of the performances of larger commercial-size hollow fiber cartridges and multiple cartridge-containing modules for treating real-life VOC-containing gas streams. Results from two pilot-scale studies where the VOC-containing feed was the emission from a batch reactor in a pharmaceutical plant or the air emissions from a paint booth are reported here. The VOC concentration in the gas stream was as high as 14% of methanol in the batch reactor study; other VOCs emitted from the reactor were toluene (2.5%) and ethyl acetate (4%). The gas flow rates encountered varied between 10–80 l/min. Very low levels of VOC in the range of 5–100 ppmv were involved in the paint booth emission study. More than 95% of the VOC present in the feed was successfully removed in each study.
Carbon Dioxide Fixation by Metallosphaera yellowstonensis and Acidothermophilic Iron-Oxidizing Microbial Communities from Yellowstone National Park

ABSTRACT The fixation of inorganic carbon has been documented in all three domains of life and results in the biosynthesis of diverse organic compounds that support heterotrophic organisms. The primary aim of this study was to assess carbon dioxide fixation in high-temperature Fe(III)-oxide mat communities and in pure cultures of a dominant Fe(II)-oxidizing organism (Metallosphaera yellowstonensis strain MK1) originally isolated from these environments. Protein-encoding genes of the complete 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate (3-HP/4-HB) carbon dioxide fixation pathway were identified in M. yellowstonensis strain MK1. Highly similar M. yellowstonensis genes for this pathway were identified in metagenomes of replicate Fe(III)-oxide mats, as were genes for the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle from Hydrogenobaculum spp. (Aquificales). Stable-isotope (13CO2) labeling demonstrated CO2 fixation by M. yellowstonensis strain MK1 and in ex situ assays containing live Fe(III)-oxide microbial mats. The results showed that strain MK1 fixes CO2 with a fractionation factor of ∼2.5‰. Analysis of the 13C composition of dissolved inorganic C (DIC), dissolved organic C (DOC), landscape C, and microbial mat C showed that mat C is from both DIC and non-DIC sources. An isotopic mixing model showed that biomass C contains a minimum of 42% C of DIC origin, depending on the fraction of landscape C that is present. The significance of DIC as a major carbon source for Fe(III)-oxide mat communities provides a foundation for examining microbial interactions that are dependent on the activity of autotrophic organisms (i.e., Hydrogenobaculum and Metallosphaera spp.) in simplified natural communities.
Impact of Substrate Physical Characteristics on Grow Out of Freshwater Prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, in Ponds and Pond Microcosm Tanks

Two independent trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of different physical characteristics of substrate materials on growth and survival of freshwater prawn. In Trial 1, juvenile prawns (0.4 ± 0.2 g) were stocked at 123 prawns/m2 of tank bottom into twenty-one 18,000-L fiberglass tanks managed as pond microcosms. Six substrate materials were chosen to allow comparisons of surface area, mesh size, color, and texture. A control treatment received no added substrate. There were three replicate tanks per treatment. Substrates were positioned vertically at a rate sufficient to increase the bottom surface area by 100%. Prawns were fed a 32% protein sinking diet according to a feed chart. After 110 d, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in survival among treatments, averaging 72.6% overall. Prawns in the control treatment (no substrate) had significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) average weights (9.5 g), lower production (1342 kg/ha), and higher feed conversion ratio (FCR; 2.5) than those in substrate treatments, which were not significantly different (P > 0.05) and averaged 13.4 g, 2404 kg/ha, and 1.3, respectively. For Trial 2, the least expensive substrate material from Trial 1 (lightweight polyethylene bird netting) was compared with the substrate most commonly used in commercial production (heavyweight orange polyethylene safety fencing) under practical pond conditions. Juvenile prawns (0.8 ± 0.3 g) were stocked at 61,600/ha into six 0.04-ha earthen ponds. Each was randomly assigned one of the two substrate materials, and there were three replications per treatment. After 101 d, there were no significant differences (P > 0.05) between treatments in terms of survival (91%), average weight (34 g), total production (2150 kg/ha), or FCR (3.1). In these studies, physical characteristics of the substrate materials had little impact. The lightweight netting represents a 68% cost savings compared to the currently recommended substrate material.
Seventh international conference on modulated semiconductor structures

Abstract The Seventh International Conference on Modulated Semiconductor Structures was held in Madrid, Spain during the period July 10–14, 1995. With about 230 participants, the conference was a comfortable size. There were no parallel sessions and people were easily accessible for discussions. This conference was chaired by Dr Carlos Tejedor of the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, and Dr Luis Vina headed the program committee. Overall, the conference had a well balanced program ranging from the basic physics of modulated semiconductor structures to material properties and device applications for advanced electronics.
Markets in open telecommunication service systems

Abstract A theoretical framework is presented for describing stochastic processes in open telecommunication service systems and paves the way for a service system design based on self-organisation. The theory allows for the decomposition of the evolution of services in terms of deterministic and stochastic processes and enables the effects of random occurrences within such systems to be analysed in a systematic way. The theory lays the foundation for a unified approach to describing the dynamics of open distributed service systems in terms of market phenomena occurring at the level of (a) the operators who have access to the network, (b) the users who draw upon the finite resources of the distributed system, and (c) the processes and processors (resources). Such a market-based approach will become important as free-market conditions occurring outside networks become absorbed inside networks. The interleaving of this approach with conventional approaches based on hierarchical layered architectures and the relevance of the work to real-time pricing structures and regulatory mechanisms in broadband telecommunication systems is discussed.
Above-ground primary production in impounded, ditched, and naturalBatis-salicornia marshes along the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, U.S.A.

Yearly above-ground production estimates in natural, ditched, and impounded high salt marshes along the Indian River Lagoon in east central Florida ranged from 834.9 g/m2 in the impounded marsh to 2.316.5 g/m2 in the natural one. Mosquito control activities in the impounded marsh prior to the start of this study resulted in larger stocks of dead and litter biomass there during the first year than at the other two marshes. High soil temperature and salinity during the summer may have caused a decrease in production during that season. Annual tumover rales varied from 5.8 at the impounded marsh during the first year to 1.1 at the impounded marsh and at a nearby ditched marsh during the second year. Prduction was inversely correlated with flooding frequency. No significant differences were found in the rates of litter loss from any of the sites, but litter from the impounded marsh had greater organic content than litter from the open and the ditched marshes. The data suggest that flooding for mosquito control during the summer can curtail production, but the effects upon yearly production are minor, as production during the summer is naturally low.
Ion optics for Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Abstract This paper offers a brief introduction to the ion optics of FT-ICR mass spectrometry, followed by selected examples of various means for improved simulation and control of ion trajectories in a Penning ion trap (which may be of hyperboloidal, cylindrical, or cubic configuration), as well as means for injecting ions through a magnetic field gradient by use of an rf-only octupole ion guide.
Transgenic overexpression of dystroglycan does not inhibit muscular dystrophy in mdx mice.

Recently, there have been a number of studies demonstrating that overexpression of molecules in skeletal muscle can inhibit or ameliorate aspects of muscular dystrophy in the mdx mouse, a model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Several such studies involve molecules that increase the expression of dystroglycan, an important component of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. To test whether dystroglycan itself inhibits muscular dystrophy in mdx mice, we created dystroglycan transgenic mdx mice (DG/mdx). The α and β chains of dystroglycan were highly overexpressed along the sarcolemmal membrane in most DG/mdx muscles. Increased dystroglycan expression, however, did not correlate with increased expression of utrophin or sarcoglycans, but rather caused their decreased expression. In addition, the percentage of centrally located myofiber nuclei and the level of serum creatine kinase activity were not decreased in DG/mdx mice relative to mdx animals. Therefore, dystroglycan overexpression does not cause the concomitant overexpression of a utrophin-glycoprotein complex in mdx muscles and has no effect on the development of muscle pathology associated with muscular dystrophy.
Pediatric Stroke: A Review

Stroke is relatively rare in children, but can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Understanding that children with strokes present differently than adults and often present with unique risk factors will optimize outcomes in children. Despite an increased incidence of pediatric stroke, there is often a delay in diagnosis, and cases may still remain under- or misdiagnosed. Clinical presentation will vary based on the child's age, and children will have risk factors for stroke that are less common than in adults. Management strategies in children are extrapolated primarily from adult studies, but with different considerations regarding short-term anticoagulation and guarded recommendations regarding thrombolytics. Although most recommendations for management are extrapolated from adult populations, they still remain useful, in conjunction with pediatric-specific considerations.
A Synthetic Interaction between CDC20 and RAD4 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae upon UV Irradiation

Regulation of DNA repair can be achieved through ubiquitin-mediated degradation of transiently induced proteins. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rad4 is involved in damage recognition during nucleotide excision repair (NER) and, in conjunction with Rad23, recruits other proteins to the site of damage. We identified a synthetic interaction upon UV exposure between Rad4 and Cdc20, a protein that modulates the activity of the anaphase promoting complex (APC/C), a multisubunit E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. The moderately UV sensitive Δrad4 strain became highly sensitive when cdc20-1 was present, and was rescued by overexpression of CDC20. The double mutant is also deficient in elicting RNR3-lacZ transcription upon exposure to UV irradiation or 4-NQO compared with the Δrad4 single mutant. We demonstrate that the Δrad4/cdc20-1 double mutant is defective in double strand break repair by way of a plasmid end-joining assay, indicating that Rad4 acts to ensure that damaged DNA is repaired via a Cdc20-mediated mechanism. This study is the first to present evidence that Cdc20 may play a role in the degradation of proteins involved in nucleotide excision repair.
The relational determination of length illusions and length aftereffects.

When two lines were presented simultaneously, in an illusion paradigm, the judged length of one of the lines (the focal line) assimilated toward the length of the contextual line. When the lines were presented sequentially, in an aftereffect paradigm, the apparent length of the focal line was displaced away from the length of a previously presented contextual line (i.e. contrast). The largest effects obtained at inverse contextual-to-focal length ratios: 1·67:1 for contextual lines longer than the focal line and 0·60:1 for contextual lines shorter than the focal line. Overestimation of focal length was larger than underestimation for both illusions and aftereffects despite the fact that identical stimuli produced effects in opposite directions in the two paradigms. Results were discussed in terms of a neural length-coding model and were related to visual size constancy.
Solution development in organ preservation: The University of Wisconsin perspective

Transplantation of solid organs, although dependent upon many factors, is particularly dependent upon successful organ preservation. The primary goal of organ preservation should be to maximize utilization of donor organs, and prevent organ wastage while, at the same time, providing excellent function. Organ preservation should also allow time for transportation from donor to recipient hospital, tissue typing, and recipient preparation, again while providing excellent function. Although organ preservation has improved dramatically and current solutions are adequate for clinical transplantation, improvements are clearly necessary before truly successful long-term preservation can be achieved. This article describes solution development, both cold storage and machine perfusion, from the University of Wisconsin perspective.
On equity and efficiency

Abstract We investigate the following problem within the context of a simple exchange economy: Will a sequence of fair net trades (wherein each agent prefers his or her trade to that of any other), starting from the equal division allocation, result in a final allocation which is itself fair? The answer is generally negative.
Autonomous cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis in hepatomas: deletion of the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate control mechanism of normal liver.

Summary Rat hepatoma slices incubated with cAMP (5×10 −3 M) or dibutyryl cAMP (3×10 −4 M), and acetate-2- 14 C, demonstrated unsuppressible cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis, compared to controls. This observation contrasts sharply with that of the marked suppression in lipogenesis brought about by cyclic nucleotides in normal liver and indicates a deletion in hepatomas of this regulatory mechanism in lipogenesis.
Substructure analysis with scanning electron microscopy of Estigmene acraea granulosis virus

Abstract Substructure of the granulosis virus (Baculovirus) of the salt marsh caterpillar, Estigmene acraea (Drury), was analyzed with scanning electron microscopic techniques. Ovoid-shaped capsules of various sizes and morphologies were observed. High magnification revealed the presence of a mid-lateral depression surrounding a protuberance.
Regeneration of symmetrical hindlimbs in larval salamanders

The complete circle rule of the polar coordinate model of pattern regulation was tested for regenerating hindlimbs of Ambystoma larvae. The hindlimbs were made symmetrical in the circumference of either the thigh or the shank, and their ability to regenerate from both levels was observed. Thighs composed of two anterior halves failed to regenerate, whereas thighs composed of two posterior halves often regenerated distally complete, correspondingly symmetrical limbs; shanks composed of either two anterior or two posterior halves regenerated distally complete, correspondingly symmetrical limbs. These results are in contrast to what is predicted by the complete circle rule and suggest a modification of this rule.
Period shifts and synchronization in resonant mode interactions of non-linear stellar pulsation

On etudie analytiquement des modes de resonance a deux et trois ondes, et plus particulierement le probleme des deplacements et de la synchronisation des periodes de pulsation inclus dans les iterations de ces modes de resonance. Une synchronisation peut etre realisee par des deplacements mutuels des periodes des modes dans des etats d'oscillations stationnaires. Des solutions stationnaires multiples apparaissant pres des centres de resonance sont discutes brievement comme une partie d'une etude sur la stabilite des solutions stationnaires
The SVM Based on Reduction Strategy Applied in Bus Passenger Flow Counting

There has become a bottleneck to use support vector machine (SVM) due to the problems such as slow learning speed, large buffer memory requirement, low generalization performance and so on. These problems are caused by large-scale training sample set and outlier data immixed in the other class. Aiming at these problems, this paper proposed a new reduction strategy for large-scale training sample set according to analyzing on the structure of the training sample set based on the point set theory. By using fuzzy clustering method in this new strategy, the potential support vectors are obtained and the non-boundary outlier data immixed in the other class is removed. In view of reducing greatly the scale of the training sample set, it improves the generalization performance of SVM and effectively avoids over-learning. Then the proposed method was applied to bus passenger flow counting. The experimental results show that the method reposed in this paper obtains higher classification accuracy.
Cosmopolitan politics and the migrant day labor movement

This essay explores the mobilization of the migrant day laborers' movement in search of lessons to inform a critical theory of cosmopolitan politics. In the course of the movement's rise to national prominence in US immigrant politics, have day labor groups also developed forms of political consciousness and action that move beyond the narrow limits inscribed by the system of sovereign nation-states? How might considering the circumstances of day laborers influence the way theorists conceive of cosmopolitanism and, in turn, what aspects of the day labor movement stand out most sharply when viewed through the lens of cosmopolitan theory? The first part of this essay formulates a theory of cosmopolitan politics that reflects attentiveness to migrant workers' everyday lives. According to this vision, cosmopolitanism should oppose neoliberalism, resist domestication by liberal legalism even as it pursues a politics of rights, deploy threads of connection across political terrains at multiple geographical leve...
Believing and affirming

In the Meno Socrates says that the soul, 'having seen all things that exist, whether in this world or in the world below, has knowledge of them all'.' He goes on to argue for this by trying to show that certain geometrical truths are known by a slave boy who has been taught no geometry.2 A crucial assumption Socrates makes in questioning the boy is that the boy's affirmations indicate knowledge the boy had prior to being questioned. It is likely that Socrates was taking knowing to entail believing3 and would also assume that the boy's affirmations expressed prior beliefs. In any case, this second assumption suggests some important views about the relation between believing and affirming, and these views will be a major concern of this paper. If, as I shall assume, knowing does entail believing, then certain of the points that emerge will apply to Socrates' argument even if he himself did not take the entailment to hold.4 It is not clear just what general assumption Socrates, or anyone arguing in a similar way from what is said to what is believed, might have been making about the relation of be.lieving to affirming. Perhaps, however, we may read him as assuming roughly this: for any person, S, any proposition, p, and any time, t, if, upon being asked at t whether p is the case, S would sincerely and unhesitatingly affirm p, then, at t, S believes p. Perhaps in part through Plato's influence, this view, or a quite similar one, is widely accepted. The idea that believing and affirming are so connected is important not only because of what it implies about belief, but because it may be used-and similar ideas have been used-to argue that a person can have an infinite number of beliefs. What this paper will do is show how the idea figures in some plausible arguments for the viewwhich I shall call the infinite belief thesis-that a person can have an infinite number of beliefs. In the context of evaluating these arguments, the idea can bereadily assessed, and some important distinctions can be clearly brought out.
Algorithm 843: Improvements to the Schwarz-Christoffel toolbox for MATLAB

The Schwarz--Christoffel Toolbox (SC Toolbox) for MATLAB, first released in 1994, made possible the interactive creation and visualization of conformal maps to regions bounded by polygons. The most recent release supports new features, including an object-oriented command-line interface model, new algorithms for multiply elongated and multiple-sheeted regions, and a module for solving Laplace's equation on a polygon with Dirichlet and homogeneous Neumann conditions. Brief examples are given to demonstrate the new capabilities.
The earliest seeds

Lagenostomalean-type seeds in bifurcating cupule systems have been discovered in the late Devonian Hampshire Formation of Randolph County, West Virginia, USA (Fig. 1). The associated megaflora, plants from coal balls, and vertebrate and invertebrate faunas demonstrate that the material is Famennian; the microflora indicates a more specific Fa2c age. Consequently, these seeds predate Archaeosperma arnoldii1 from the Fa2d of northeastern Pennsylvania, the oldest previously reported seed. By applying precision fracture, transfer, degagement, and thin-section techniques to selected cupules from the more than 100 specimens on hand, we have determined the three-dimensional morphology and histology of the seeds (Fig. 2a–h, k) and cupule systems. A comparison with known late Devonian to early Carboniferous seeds reveals that ours are more primitively organized than all except Genomosperma2,3.
Limit theorems for random trees

Abstract This paper is concerned with random rooted trees and studies the distribution of the vertices according to their altitude. If the trees are chosen at random with an increasing number of vertices, then, by a suitable normalization, the distribution function of the number of vertices at a given altitude and the distribution function of the total height approach specific limits. Explicit formulas are given for these limit distribution functions and their moments.
DNA Concentration-Dependent Dissociation of EcoRI: Direct Transfer or Reaction during Hopping

Direct transfer of proteins between DNA helices is a recognized important feature of the recognition site search process. Direct transfer is characterized by a dissociation rate that depends on total DNA concentration. This is taken as evidence for the formation of an intermediate DNA-protein-DNA ternary complex. We find that the dissociation rate of EcoRI-DNA-specific complexes at 80 mM NaCl depends on the concentration of competitor oligonucleotide suggesting that direct transfer contributes to EcoRI dissociation. This dependence on competitor DNA concentration is not seen at 180 mM salt. A careful examination of the salt concentration dependence of the dissociation rate, however, shows that the predictions for the formation of a ternary complex are not observed experimentally. The findings can be rationalized by considering that just after dissociating from a DNA fragment the protein remains in close proximity to that fragment, can reassociate with it, and diffuse back to the recognition site rather than bind to an oligonucleotide in solution, a hopping excursion. The probability that a protein will bind to an oligonucleotide during a hop can be approximately calculated and shown to explain the data. A dependence of the dissociation rate of a DNA-protein complex on competitor DNA concentration does not necessarily mean direct transfer.
Stress, genetics and epigenetic effects on the neurobiology of suicidal behavior and depression

Alterations in a number of neurobiological systems have been associated with suicidal behavior including the serotonergic and noradrenergic systems and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Altered functioning of these systems may stem from both genetic and developmental causes. Adversity in early-life has developmental consequences on these systems that persist into adulthood. Genetic differences may also contribute to alterations in functioning of neurobiological systems. Moreover, the interaction of early-life experiences of adversity and genetic vulnerability is increasingly thought to play a role, including via epigenetic mechanisms.
Bubble-free devolatilization in counterrotating nonintermeshing twin-screw extruder

A theoretical analysis of the diffusion-controlled, essentially bubble-free, mass transfer regime of polymer solution devolatilization has been performed for a counterrotating, nonintermeshing twin-screw extruder (1). The commonly used penetration diffusion approach is applied specifically to this geometry. Mass transfer from the recirculating pool and barrel film in the closed channel and the pool only in the open channel is taken into account. Use is made in this study of the recently determined pumping characteristics of this geometry (2), which allow the estimation of the length of the extraction section. Mass transfer rate measurements have been taken on a 20-mm extruder using the model system polystyrene/ethylbenzene. The agreement between the mass transfer calculations and the experimental results is very good.