cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Establishing Vegetation on Migrating Inland Sand Dunes in Texas

Migration of sand dunes damages range improvements in the Texas Coastal Sand Plain. We determined effects of mulching with native prairie hay and an open weave geotextile fabric, seeding, fertilization, and transplanting on plant species canopy cover on inland sand dunes. We compared applying native hay vs. a synthetic geotextile material to inhibit wind erosion, seeding ‘Alamo’ switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), ‘Mason’ sandhill lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes [Nutt.] Wood), and partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata [Michx.] Greene) vs. no seeding, and fertilization with 468 kg·ha−1 of 45:45:90 (N:P:K) vs. no fertilization. The same treatments were compared in a second experiment except that switchgrass, sandhill lovegrass, vetiver (Vetiveria zizanoides [L.] Nash ex Small), and giant reed (Arundo donax L.) were transplanted rather than seeded. Treatments were applied during March and April 1994 and canopy cover of vegetation in each experimental unit was estimated in October 1994, 1995, and 2004. Livestock were excluded from the study sites. The geotextile fabric degraded within 4 months and was replaced with coastal Bermuda (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers.) hay. Fertilization plus native hay mulch resulted in greater (P 0.05) across treatments in 2004 in both experiments. Fertilization, seeding, and transplanting appear unnecessary to establish vegetation on dunes protected from livestock grazing when mulch is applied to inhibit sand movement.
B-Ring unsaturated estrogens: biological evaluation of 17α-Dihydroequilein and novel B-Nor-6-thiaequilenins as tissue selective estrogens

The pharmacology and SAR of representative equine estogens is described. 17alpha-Dihydroequilenin was found to prevent bone loss after 5 weeks of oral administration to ovariectomized rats. The stereochemical significance of the D-ring and the C/D ring juncture was investigated with a series of benzothiophene-based equilenin analogues.
Multidrug resistance reversal activity of permethyl ningalin B amide derivatives

A series of amide derivatives of permethyl ningalin B were prepared and examined as multidrug resistance (MDR) reversal agents illustrating that the C5 carboxylate is widely tolerant of such derivatization.
Role of estrogen and progesterone receptors in neonatal uterine cell proliferation in the mouse

The major endocrine regulators of the female reproductive tract are 17β-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4). This review discusses our recent work related to the roles of E2 and P4 and their receptors, estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) and progesterone receptor (PR), respectively, in the neonatal uterus. Neonatal uterine cells in mice are mitogenically responsive to estrogens, but neonatal ovariectomy does not inhibit pre-weaning uterine cell proliferation, indicating that this process does not require endogenous estrogens. Neonatal uterine cell proliferation could result from ligand-independent growth factor activation of ESR1, or be independent of ESR1 neonatally despite its obligatory role in adult uterine epithelial proliferation. To determine the role of ESR1 in uterine development, we analyzed cell proliferation and uterine gland development (adenogenesis) in wild-type (WT) and Esr1 knockout (Esr1KO) mice postnatally. Our results indicate that pre-weaning uterine cell proliferation and adenogenesis are independent of ESR1, but these processes become dependent on E2/ESR1 signaling for maintenance and further proliferation and uterine growth during puberty. How pre-weaning uterine cell proliferation and adenogenesis occur independently of E2/ESR1 signaling remains unknown, but ligand-independent activation of ESR1 is not involved in this process. The synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone (Dex) inhibits luminal epithelial (LE) proliferation in neonatal mouse uteri, but it has been unclear whether Dex effects were mediated by glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and/or PR. We have used PR knockout (PRKO) mice to test whether PR is required for Dex inhibition of LE proliferation. Our results indicate that maximal inhibitory Dex effects on uterine LE proliferation require PR, possibly reflecting Dex crosstalk with PR. Inhibitory effects of Dex and P4 on LE proliferation may also involve GR binding, as indicated by the small but significant inhibition of LE proliferation by both Dex and P4 in PRKO mice.
A multi-projector display system of arbitrary shape, size and resolution

In this demo we will demonstrate integration of general content delivery from a windows desktop to a multi-projector display of arbitrary, shape, size and resolution automatically calibrated using our calibration methods. We have developed these sophisticated completely automatic geometric and color registration techniques in our lab for deploying seamless multi-projector displays on popular non-planar surfaces (e.g. cylinders, domes, truncated domes). This work has gotten significant attention in both VR and Visualization venues in the past 5 years and this will be the first time such calibration will be integrated with content delivery.
Fast segment insertion and incremental construction of constrained Delaunay triangulations

The most commonly implemented method of constructing a constrained Delaunay triangulation (CDT) in the plane is to first construct a Delaunay triangulation, then incrementally insert the input segments one by one. For typical implementations of segment insertion, this method has a ? ( k n 2 ) worst-case running time, where n is the number of input vertices and k is the number of input segments.We give a randomized algorithm for inserting a segment into a CDT in expected time linear in the number of edges the segment crosses. We demonstrate with a performance comparison that for segments that cross many edges, our algorithm is faster than gift-wrapping. We also show that a simple algorithm for segment location, which precedes segment insertion, is fast enough never to be a bottleneck in CDT construction. A result of Agarwal, Arge, and Yi implies that randomized incremental construction of CDTs by our segment insertion algorithm takes expected O ( n log ? n + n log 2 ? k ) time. We show that this bound is tight by deriving a matching lower bound. Although there are CDT construction algorithms guaranteed to run in O ( n log ? n ) time, incremental CDT construction is easier to program and competitive in practice.Lastly, we partly extend the analysis (albeit not the linear-time insertion algorithm) to randomized incremental CDT construction in three dimensions.
Discriminating direct and indirect connectivities in biological networks

Reverse engineering of biological pathways involves an iterative process between experiments, data processing, and theoretical analysis. Despite concurrent advances in quality and quantity of data as well as computing resources and algorithms, difficulties in deciphering direct and indirect network connections are prevalent. Here, we adopt the notions of abstraction, emulation, benchmarking, and validation in the context of discovering features specific to this family of connectivities. After subjecting benchmark synthetic circuits to perturbations, we inferred the network connections using a combination of nonparametric single-cell data resampling and modular response analysis. Intriguingly, we discovered that recovered weights of specific network edges undergo divergent shifts under differential perturbations, and that the particular behavior is markedly different between topologies. Our results point to a conceptual advance for reverse engineering beyond weight inference. Investigating topological changes under differential perturbations may address the longstanding problem of discriminating direct and indirect connectivities in biological networks.
Alterations in Intervertebral Disc Composition, Matrix Homeostasis and Biomechanical Behavior in the UCD-T2DM Rat Model of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) adversely affects many tissues, and the greater incidence of discogenic low back pain among diabetic patients suggests that the intervertebral disc is affected too. Using a rat model of polygenic obese T2D, we demonstrate that diabetes compromises several aspects of disc composition, matrix homeostasis, and biomechanical behavior. Coccygeal motion segments were harvested from 6-month-old lean Sprague-Dawley rats, obese Sprague-Dawley rats, and diabetic obese UCD-T2DM rats (diabetic for 69 ± 7 days). Findings indicated that diabetes but not obesity reduced disc glycosaminoglycan and water contents, and these degenerative changes correlated with increased vertebral endplate thickness and decreased endplate porosity, and with higher levels of the advanced glycation end-product (AGE) pentosidine. Consistent with their diminished glycosaminoglycan and water contents and their higher AGE levels, discs from diabetic rats were stiffer and exhibited less creep when compressed. At the matrix level, elevated expression of hypoxia-inducible genes and catabolic markers in the discs from diabetic rats coincided with increased oxidative stress and greater interactions between AGEs and one of their receptors (RAGE). Taken together, these findings indicate that endplate sclerosis, increased oxidative stress, and AGE/RAGE-mediated interactions could be important factors for explaining the greater incidence of disc pathology in T2D.
The Pill Really Can Be Mightier Than the Sword: A Response to Recent Commentaries

We appreciate the four commentaries that add new material and fresh perspectives to our article "The pill is mightier than the sword." In emphasizing the role of voluntary family planning and girls' education as achievable strategies with a potential to make the world a more peaceable place, we did not mean to oversimplify or disregard the intrinsic complexity of human conflict. On the whole, the commentators support and add to our thesis, although we question Pillai and Ya-Chien Wang's suggestion that we may have overstated the unique human predisposition to kill our own species. We present additional data on male team aggression.
On the efficiency of localized work stealing

Abstract This paper investigates a variant of the work-stealing algorithm that we call the localized work-stealing algorithm . The intuition behind this variant is that because of locality, processors can benefit from working on their own work. Consequently, when a processor is free, it makes a steal attempt to get back its own work. We call this type of steal a steal-back . We show that the expected running time of the algorithm is T 1 / P + O ( T ∞ P ) , and that under the “even distribution of free agents assumption”, the expected running time of the algorithm is T 1 / P + O ( T ∞ lg ⁡ P ) . In addition, we obtain another running-time bound based on ratios between the sizes of serial tasks in the computation. If M denotes the maximum ratio between the largest and the smallest serial tasks of a processor after removing a total of O ( P ) serial tasks across all processors from consideration, then the expected running time of the algorithm is T 1 / P + O ( T ∞ M ) .
The Heusler phases LiRh2Si and LiRh2Ge: Synthesis, structure and properties

Abstract The isostructural Heusler phases LiRh 2 Si and LiRh 2 Ge have been synthesized from the elements and an excess of lithium at 1000 °C. Both materials adopt the CuMn 2 Al crystal structure, space group Fm −3 m (No. 225) with the room temperature lattice parameter a =5.747(1) A [Vol=189.866(1) A 3 ] and a =5.847(1) A [Vol=199.88(6) A 3 ] for LiRh 2 Si and LiRh 2 Ge, respectively. X-ray analyses suggest mixed site occupancy of the form Li 1− x Rh 2 Si 1+ x ( x 2 Ge. Both materials are diamagnetic, χ mol (LiRh 2 Si)=−6×10 −5 cm 3 (mole) −1 and χ mol (LiRh 2 Ge)=−10×10 −5 cm 3 (mole) −1 and metallic with room temperature resistivities of approximately 19 and 32 μΩ cm, respectively. These properties are consistent with the calculated electronic structure.
Teacher Turnover, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement in DCPS

In practice, teacher turnover appears to have negative effects on school quality as measured by student performance. However, some simulations suggest that turnover can instead have large positive ...
Limits to mutual funds' ability to rely on mean/variance optimization

Our evidence suggests that estimation error in the required statistics is an important factor inhibiting investors' ability to rely on mean/variance analysis. We compare the returns reported by mutual funds to the returns obtained from a mean/variance optimized portfolio of fund holdings. The results suggest that funds tend to outperform the optimized portfolio out-of-sample (when means/variances/covariances are unknown), but under-perform in-sample (when the required statistics in the optimization are known). Therefore, a popular assumption in asset pricing models that investors rely on a basic mean/variance analysis with known underlying statistics is likely to be grossly violated in the case of mutual funds.
Likelihood inference in some finite mixture models

Abstract Parametric mixture models are commonly used in applied work, especially empirical economics, where these models are often employed to learn for example about the proportions of various types in a given population. This paper examines the inference question on the proportions (mixing probability) in a simple mixture model in the presence of nuisance parameters when sample size is large. It is well known that likelihood inference in mixture models is complicated due to (1) lack of point identification, and (2) parameters (for example, mixing probabilities) whose true value may lie on the boundary of the parameter space. These issues cause the profiled likelihood ratio (PLR) statistic to admit asymptotic limits that differ discontinuously depending on how the true density of the data approaches the regions of singularities where there is lack of point identification. This lack of uniformity in the asymptotic distribution suggests that confidence intervals based on pointwise asymptotic approximations might lead to faulty inferences. This paper examines this problem in details in a finite mixture model and provides possible fixes based on the parametric bootstrap. We examine the performance of this parametric bootstrap in Monte Carlo experiments and apply it to data from Beauty Contest experiments. We also examine small sample inferences and projection methods.
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Disability Prevalence.

Purpose Worldwide, the number of disabled individuals is used as a marker for population health status because of high morbidity and mortality burden associated with disability. The primary objective of the current study is to use the 2012 NHIS disability supplement and examine racial/ethnic disparities in disability after controlling for a comprehensive list of factors, using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (WHO-ICF).
Exact Sublinear Binomial Sampling

Drawing a random variate from a given binomial distribution B(n, p) is an important subroutine in many large-scale simulations. The naive algorithm takes $$\mathcal {O}(n)$$O(n) time w.h.p. in the WordRAM model, which is too slow in many settings, though to its credit, it does not suffer from precision loss. The problem of sampling from a binomial distribution in sublinear time has been extensively studied and implemented in such packages as R [22] and the GNU Scientific Library [11], however, all previous sublinear-time algorithms involve precision loss, which introduces artifacts such as discontinuities into the sampling. In this paper, we present the first algorithm, to the best of our knowledge, that samples binomial distributions in sublinear time with no precision loss. We assume that each bit of p can be obtained in $$\mathcal {O}(1)$$O(1) time.
Systematics of axion inflation in Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces

We initiate a comprehensive survey of axion inflation in compactifications of type IIB string theory on Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in toric varieties. For every threefold with h 1,1 ≤ 4 in the Kreuzer-Skarke database, we compute the metric on Kahler moduli space, as well as the matrix of four-form axion charges of Euclidean D3-branes on rigid divisors. These charges encode the possibility of enlarging the field range via alignment. We then determine an upper bound on the inflationary field range Δϕ that results from the leading instanton potential, in the absence of monodromy. The bound on the field range in this ensemble is Δϕ ≲ 0.3M pl, in a compactification where the smallest curve volume is (2π)2 α′, and we argue that the sigma model expansion is adequately controlled. The largest increase resulting from alignment is a factor ≈ 2.6. We also examine a set of threefolds with h 1,1 up to 100 and characterize their axion charge matrices. While we find modest alignment in this ensemble, the maximum field range is ultimately suppressed by the volume of the internal space, which typically grows quickly with h 1,1. Furthermore, we find that many toric divisors are rigid — and the corresponding charge matrices are relatively trivial — at large h 1,1. It is therefore challenging to realize alignment via superpotentials generated only by Euclidean D3-branes, without taking into account the effects of flux, D7-branes, and orientifolding.
Predicting Human Cooperation.

The Prisoner’s Dilemma has been a subject of extensive research due to its importance in understanding the ever-present tension between individual self-interest and social benefit. A strictly dominant strategy in a Prisoner’s Dilemma (defection), when played by both players, is mutually harmful. Repetition of the Prisoner’s Dilemma can give rise to cooperation as an equilibrium, but defection is as well, and this ambiguity is difficult to resolve. The numerous behavioral experiments investigating the Prisoner’s Dilemma highlight that players often cooperate, but the level of cooperation varies significantly with the specifics of the experimental predicament. We present the first computational model of human behavior in repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma games that unifies the diversity of experimental observations in a systematic and quantitatively reliable manner. Our model relies on data we integrated from many experiments, comprising 168,386 individual decisions. The model is composed of two pieces: the first predicts the first-period action using solely the structural game parameters, while the second predicts dynamic actions using both game parameters and history of play. Our model is successful not merely at fitting the data, but in predicting behavior at multiple scales in experimental designs not used for calibration, using only information about the game structure. We demonstrate the power of our approach through a simulation analysis revealing how to best promote human cooperation.
Using maximum topology matching to explore differences in species distribution models

Species distribution models (SDM) are used to help understand what drives the distribution of various plant and animal species. These models are typically high dimensional scalar functions, where the dimensions of the domain correspond to predictor variables of the model algorithm. Understanding and exploring the differences between models help ecologists understand areas where their data or understanding of the system is incomplete and will help guide further investigation in these regions. These differences can also indicate an important source of model to model uncertainty. However, it is cumbersome and often impractical to perform this analysis using existing tools, which allows for manual exploration of the models usually as 1-dimensional curves. In this paper, we propose a topology-based framework to help ecologists explore the differences in various SDMs directly in the high dimensional domain. In order to accomplish this, we introduce the concept of maximum topology matching that computes a locality-aware correspondence between similar extrema of two scalar functions. The matching is then used to compute the similarity between two functions. We also design a visualization interface that allows ecologists to explore SDMs using their topological features and to study the differences between pairs of models found using maximum topological matching. We demonstrate the utility of the proposed framework through several use cases using different data sets and report the feedback obtained from ecologists.
Direct affinity of dopamine to lipid membranes investigated by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy

Dopamine, a naturally occurring neurotransmitter, plays an important role in the brain's reward system and acts on sensory receptors in the brain. Neurotransmitters are contained in lipid membraned vesicles and are released by exocytosis. All neurotransmitters interact with transport and receptor proteins in glial cells, on neuronal dendrites, and at the axonal button, and also must interact with membrane lipids. However, the extent of direct interaction between lipid membranes in the absence of receptors and transport proteins has not been extensively investigated. In this report, we use UV and NMR spectroscopy to determine the affinity and the orientation of dopamine interacting with lipid vesicles made of either phosphatidylcholine (PC) or phosphatidylserine (PS) lipids which are primary lipid components of synaptic vesicles. We quantify the interaction of dopamine's aromatic ring with lipid membranes using our newly developed method that involves reference spectra in hydrophobic environments. Our measurements show that dopamine interacts with lipid membranes primarily through the aromatic side opposite to the hydroxyl groups, with this aromatic side penetrating deeper into the hydrophobic region of the membrane. Since dopamine's activity involves its release into extracellular space, we have used our method to also investigate dopamine's release from lipid vesicles. We find that dopamine trapped inside PC and PS vesicles is released into the external solution despite its affinity to membranes. This result suggests that dopamine's interaction with lipid membranes is complex and involves both binding as well as permeation through lipid bilayers, a combination that could be an effective trigger for apoptosis of dopamine-generating cells.
Verbal Ability and Structured Navigation on Learning with Hypertext

Learners bring their unique individual perceptions, preferences, and abilities to a learning situation. The effect of individual differences on learning depends in part on how the instructional system accommodates individual differences. The current study examined the role of individual differences in verbal ability and structured navigation in hypertext learning. It was predicted that learning would vary with how well the hypertext environment supported a learner's individual attributes. Ninety-seven participants participated in one of four groups of a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design, which focused on the interaction between levels of navigational structure (unconstrained or expert constrained) and levels of participants' verbal ability (high or low). Overall, learners with high-verbal ability performed better on an unconstrained navigation structure than those with low-verbal ability; whereas in an expert-constrained navigation this difference between verbal ability levels was smaller. The resul...
Incorporating trans-arterial radioembolization (TARE) in the treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcioma: a single center experience

346 Background: There is a lack of data on the potential efficacy of the incorporation of trans-arterial radioembolization (TARE) for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of TARE in the management of patients with liver dominant metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma Methods: Sixteen patients were treated with concurrent systemic therapy and TARE for liver-dominant pancreatic adenocarcinoma from February, 2014 to August, 2015. Electronic chart review was performed for this group of patients to assess response Results: Eleven male and 5 female patients were treated for liver dominant metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma with Yttrium-90 resin microspheres. The average age was 64 (50 - 77). All patients were treated with at least one line of systemic therapy. Five had prior or concurrent SBRT treatment for the primary lesion. Eleven patients had extra-hepatic disease with evidence of nodal, pulmonary and/or omental disease on pretreatment imaging. All patients had ade...
Alkynes as allylmetal equivalents in redox-triggered C-C couplings to primary alcohols: (Z)-homoallylic alcohols via ruthenium-catalyzed propargyl C-H oxidative addition.

The cationic ruthenium catalyst generated upon the acid–base reaction of H2Ru(CO)(PPh3)3 and 2,4,6-(2-Pr)3PhSO3H promotes the redox-triggered C–C coupling of 2-alkynes and primary alcohols to form (Z)-homoallylic alcohols with good to complete control of olefin geometry. Deuterium labeling studies, which reveal roughly equal isotopic compositions at the allylic and distal vinylic positions, along with other data, corroborate a catalytic mechanism involving ruthenium(0)-mediated allene–aldehyde oxidative coupling to form a transient oxaruthenacycle, an event that ultimately defines (Z)-olefin stereochemistry.
Terminal olefins to chromans, isochromans, and pyrans via allylic C-H oxidation.

The synthesis of chroman, isochroman, and pyran motifs has been accomplished via a combination of Pd(II)/bis-sulfoxide C–H activation and Lewis acid co-catalysis. A wide range of alcohols are found to be competent nucleophiles for the transformation under uniform conditions (catalyst, solvent, temperature). Mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction proceeds via initial C–H activation followed by a novel inner-sphere functionalization pathway. Consistent with this, the reaction shows reactivity trends orthogonal to those of traditional Pd(0)-catalyzed allylic substitutions.
Connecting toxicology and chemistry to ensure safer chemical design

Designing safer, healthier and sustainable products and processes requires the engagement of toxicologists and the incorporation of twenty-first century toxicology principles and practices. As the demand for safer products increases, scientists must incorporate toxicology as early as possible as part of a comprehensive design strategy to minimize or eliminate toxicity prior to product development. Hazard reduction through molecular design benefits from trans-disciplinary collaboration among chemists, toxicologists and environmental scientists, and must be initiated at the design stage of chemicals synthesis. The path forward requires a sustained multi-pronged commitment to embedding the principles of toxicology into the chemistry curriculum, developing a framework that articulates maxims for sustainable design, promoting research collaboration among allied professional scientists and supporting education and outreach efforts at every opportunity, to technical and non-technical audiences, that highlight the natural nexus between toxicology and chemistry.
Deep3D: Fully Automatic 2D-to-3D Video Conversion with Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

As 3D movie viewing becomes mainstream and the Virtual Reality (VR) market emerges, the demand for 3D contents is growing rapidly. Producing 3D videos, however, remains challenging. In this paper we propose to use deep neural networks to automatically convert 2D videos and images to a stereoscopic 3D format. In contrast to previous automatic 2D-to-3D conversion algorithms, which have separate stages and need ground truth depth map as supervision, our approach is trained end-to-end directly on stereo pairs extracted from existing 3D movies. This novel training scheme makes it possible to exploit orders of magnitude more data and significantly increases performance. Indeed, Deep3D outperforms baselines in both quantitative and human subject evaluations.
Adjusted empirical likelihood for long-memory time-series models

The empirical likelihood method has been applied to short-memory time-series models by Monti through the Whittle’s estimation method. Yau extended this idea to long-memory time series models. Nordman and Lahiri showed a new formulation of empirical likelihood for inference of dependent data. Asymptotic distributions of the empirical likelihood ratio statistic for short and long-memory time series have been derived to construct confidence regions for the corresponding model parameters. However, computing profile empirical likelihood function involving constrained maximization does not always have a solution, which leads to several drawbacks. In this article, we propose an adjusted empirical likelihood procedure to modify the one proposed by Yau for the autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average (ARFIMA) model. It guarantees the existence of a solution to the required maximization problem and maintains an asymptotic chi-squared distribution. Simulations have been carried out to illustrate that the adjusted empirical likelihood method for different long-time series models provides competitive confidence regions and coverage probabilities compared to the unadjusted ones, especially for small sample sizes.
Introduction to Tidal Streams

Dwarf galaxies that come too close to larger galaxies suffer tidal disruption; the differential gravitational force between one side of the galaxy and the other serves to rip the stars from the dwarf galaxy so that they instead orbit the larger galaxy. This process produces “tidal streams” of stars, which can be found in the stellar halo of the Milky Way, as well as in halos of other galaxies. This chapter provides a general introduction to tidal streams, including the mechanism through which the streams are created, the history of how they were discovered, and the observational techniques by which they can be detected. In addition, their use in unraveling galaxy formation histories and the distribution of dark matter in galaxies is discussed, as is the interaction between these dwarf galaxy satellites and the disk of the larger galaxy.
Force Generation by Membrane-Associated Myosin-I

Vertebrate myosin-IC (Myo1c) is a type-1 myosin that links cell membranes to the cytoskeleton via its actin-binding motor domain and its phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2)-binding tail domain. While it is known that Myo1c bound to PtdIns(4,5)P2 in fluid-lipid bilayers can propel actin filaments in an unloaded motility assay, its ability to develop forces against external load on actin while bound to fluid bilayers has not been explored. Using optical tweezers, we measured the diffusion coefficient of single membrane-bound Myo1c molecules by force-relaxation experiments, and the ability of ensembles of membrane-bound Myo1c molecules to develop and sustain forces. To interpret our results, we developed a computational model that recapitulates the basic features of our experimental ensemble data and suggests that Myo1c ensembles can generate forces parallel to lipid bilayers, with larger forces achieved when the myosin works away from the plane of the membrane or when anchored to slowly diffusing regions.
Observations of pre- and post-breakdown events in polydimethylsiloxanes

The effect of viscosity and rate of voltage application on the electrical breakdown process in four polydimethylsiloxane fluids has been investigated under non-uniform field conditions using a high-speed image converter camera. The viscosity of these fluids ranged from 10 to 10,000 cSt, and the rate of rise. of the approximately trapezoidal voltage pulse varied from 10 to 42 kV/µs. It was noted that, within experimental error, viscosity had no effect on the breakdown process. When the cathode was a point, pre-breakdown streamer propagation was shown to be related to the rate of rise of the applied voltage and the breakdown voltage was highest for the highest rate. When the anode was a point, the streamer. propagation was approximately independent of applied voltage. The time to cross the gap of 3 mm was determined to be 0.6 ± 0.1 µs independent of the fluid's viscosity. The implications of those findings are discussed in the light of existing theories.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of three therapeutic schemes for lower respiratory tract infection

AIM To compare the cost-effectiveness of three antibacterial drugs in the treatment of lower respiratory tract infection.METHODS A total of 126 patients with lower respiratory tract infection were divided into 3 groups(group A,group B and group C).Group A was given 1.5 g cefuroxime sodium,iv gtt,tid,group B was given 2.0 g ceftriaxone sodium,iv gtt,qd and group C was given 2.0 g cefoperazone sodium,iv gtt,bid,for 7d.RESULTS The effective rate in 3 groups was not significantly different(P0.05).The therapeutic costs were 760.20 CNY,701.40 CNY and 1 128.40 CNY,respectively.The cost-effectiveness ratio were 9.12,8.34 and 13.68,respectively.CONCLUSION Ceftriaxone sodium is the best choice for the treatment of lower respiratory tract infecion.
On the Flow Along Swept Leading Edges

Flight tests on the Handley Page suction wing showed that turbulence at the wing root can propagate along the leading edge and cause the whole flow to be turbulent. The flow on the attachment line of a swept wing was studied in a low speed wind tunnel with particular reference to this problem of turbulent contamination. The critical Reynolds number, RθL , of the attachment-line boundary layer for the spanwise spread of turbulence was found to be about 100 for sweep angles in the range 40°–60°. A device was developed to act as a barrier to the turbulent root flow so that a clean laminar flow could exist outboard. This device was shown to be effective up to an Rθ of at least 170, so that experiments were possible on a laminar boundary layer at Reynolds numbers above the lower critical value. A spark was used to introduce spots of turbulence into the attachment-line boundary layer and the propagation speeds of the leading and trailing edges were measured. The spots expanded, the leading edge moving faster than the trailing edge, at high Reynolds numbers, and contracted at low values. The behaviour of Tollmien-Schlichting waves was also investigated by exciting the flow with sound emanating from a small hole on the attachment line. Measurements of the perturbation phase and amplitude were made downstream of the source and, although accurate values of wave length and propagation speed could be found, difficulties were experienced in evaluating the amplification ratio. Nevertheless, all small disturbances decayed at a sufficient distance from the source hole up to the highest available Reynolds number of 170.
Reproductive justice & preventable deaths: state funding, family planning, abortion, and infant mortality, US 1980-2010.

Abstract Introduction Little current research examines associations between infant mortality and US states’ funding for family planning services and for abortion, despite growing efforts to restrict reproductive rights and services and documented associations between unintended pregnancy and infant mortality. Material and methods We obtained publicly available data on state-only public funding for family planning and abortion services (years available: 1980, 1987, 1994, 2001, 2006, and 2010) and corresponding annual data on US county infant death rates. We modeled the funding as both fraction of state expenditures and per capita spending (per woman, age 15–44). State-level covariates comprised: Title X and Medicaid per capita funding, fertility rate, and percent of counties with no abortion services; county-level covariates were: median family income, and percent: black infants, adults without a high school education, urban, and female labor force participation. We used Possion log-linear models for: (1) repeat cross-sectional analyses, with random state and county effects; and (2) panel analysis, with fixed state effects. Results Four findings were robust to analytic approach. First, since 2000, the rate ratio for infant death comparing states in the top funding quartile vs. no funding for abortion services ranged (in models including all covariates) between 0.94 and 0.98 (95% confidence intervals excluding 1, except for the 2001 cross-sectional analysis, whose upper bound equaled 1), yielding an average 15% reduction in risk (range: 8–22%). Second, a similar risk reduction for state per capita funding for family planning services occurred in 1994. Third, the excess risk associated with lower county income increased over time, and fourth, remained persistently high for counties with a high percent of black infants. Conclusions Insofar as reducing infant mortality is a government priority, our data underscore the need, despite heightened contention, for adequate public funding for abortion services and for redressing health inequities.
Alkene Isomerization–Hydroboration Promoted by Phosphine-Ligated Cobalt Catalysts

Generated in situ from air-stable cobalt precursors or readily synthesized using NaHBEt3, (PPh3)3CoH(N2) was found to be an effective catalyst for the hydroboration of alkenes. Unlike previous base-metal catalysts for alkene isomerization–hydroboration which favor the incorporation of boron at terminal positions, (PPh3)3CoH(N2) promotes boron incorporation adjacent to π-systems even in substrates where the alkene is at a remote position, enabling a unique route to 1,1-diboron compounds from α,ω-dienes.
The Creeping Virtuality of Place

Places are inherently dynamic. They also mediate between entities and events of significance to us, and space. They reflect a network of associations, involving landmarks deemed salient for various reasons. These are all properties assigned to a place by a speaker, and may or may not correspond to the properties assigned to a place by any other speaker. As a result, places have a subjective quality. These properties of dynamicity and subjectivity present interesting challenges when producing mashups that align different data sources. I propose addressing this by assuming that entities, following Hornsby & Egenhofer (2000), have histories, namely sequences of time intervals when they are predicated to exist. Places are entities with spatial properties that include topological relationships to other places, represented in terms of RCC-8 or the 9-intersection calculus, as well as distance and orientation relations. This spatio-temporal integration can avail of existing annotation schemes for space and time in natural language, but it leaves some open issues related to the representation of subjectivity.
Designing Modular Software: A Case Study in Introductory Statistics

ABSTRACTModular programming is a development paradigm that emphasizes self-contained, flexible, and independent pieces of functionality. This practice allows new features to be seamlessly added when desired, and unwanted features to be removed, thus simplifying the software's user interface. The recent rise of web-based software applications has presented new challenges for designing an extensible, modular software system. In this article, we outline a framework for designing such a system, with a focus on reproducibility of the results. We present as a case study a Shiny-based web application called intRo, that allows the user to perform basic data analyses and statistical routines. Finally, we highlight some challenges we encountered, and how to address them, when combining modular programming concepts with reactive programming as used by Shiny. Supplementary material for this article is available online.
Visual Reasoning Indexing and Retrieval Using In-memory Computing

Research has shown that visual information of multimedia is critical in highly-skilled application, such as biomedicine and life sciences, and a certain visual reasoning process is essential for meaningful search in a timely manner. Relevant image characteristics are learned and verified with accumulated experiences during the reasoning processes. However, such type of process is highly dynamic and elusive to computationally quantify and therefore challenging to analyze, let alone to make the knowledge shareable across users. In this paper we study real-time human visual reasoning processes with the aid of gaze tracking devices. Temporal and spatial representations are proposed for gaze modeling, and a visual reasoning retrieval system utilizing in-memory computing such as Apache Spark is designed for real-time search. Simulated data derived from human subject experiments show that the system has a reasonably high accuracy and provides predictive estimations for hardware requirements versus data sizes for exhaustive searches.
Comparing 30 Meter Imagery from Landsat 5 and 7 for Crop Area Estimation

This paper compares digital, multi-spectral imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper with that of the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper when used to discriminate crop types for area estimation. Comparisons are done for different types of crop areas in several states, using images that are only one day apart. The overlaps between adjacent paths in several major crops states are used to define the analysis areas. A simple non-parametric paired sample sign test is used to determine statistical significance of differences. Standardized techniques as used in the Agency's Cropland Data Layer Project are used for image processing, including a modified supervised pattern recognition /clustering approach for cover type signatures and maximum likelihood for categorization. Ground truth data consist of 211 one and two square mile areas selected in a stratified random sample and visited in June of the corresponding crop year. Sampling rates for the ground data range from one in 30 to one in 166 depending on the state and land use stratum.
Beta functions in Chirally deformed supersymmetric sigma models in two dimensions

We study two-dimensional sigma models where the chiral deformation diminished the original &#x1d4a9; = (2, 2) supersymmetry to the chiral one, &#x1d4a9; = (0, 2). Such heterotic models were discovered previously on the world sheet of non-Abelian stringy solitons supported by certain four-dimensional &#x1d4a9; = 1 theories. We study geometric aspects and holomorphic properties of these models, and derive a number of exact expressions for the β functions in terms of the anomalous dimensions analogous to the NSVZ β function in four-dimensional Yang-Mills. Instanton calculus provides a straightforward method for the derivation.
Earnings comparability and informed trading

Abstract We investigate whether earnings comparability is associated with the probability of informed trading ( PIN ) as a proxy for information asymmetry in the equity market. We measure earnings comparability in three different ways to account for idiosyncratic variation in firm-specific components of earnings using GAAP earnings, special item-adjusted GAAP earnings, and Street earnings. We find that earnings comparability is inversely associated with PIN . The inverse relation between earnings comparability and information asymmetry is pronounced for large and high-analyst coverage firms. Overall, this paper adds to the literature by demonstrating economic benefits of cross-firm properties of accounting information.
Pricing variance and volatility swaps for Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard process driven financial markets

The objective of this paper is to study the arbitrage free pricing of variance and volatility swaps for Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard type Levy process driven financial markets. One of the major challenges in arbitrage free pricing of swap is to obtain an accurate pricing expression which can be used with good computational accuracy. In this paper, we obtain various approximate expressions for the pricing of volatility and variance swaps. We show that with the approximate formulas obtained from the Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard model the error estimation in fitting the delivery price is much less than the existing models with comparable parameters. Pricing formulas proposed in this paper are simple to compute in real time and hence can be efficiently used in practical applications. Numerical results are provided in support of the accuracy of approximate formulas presented in this paper.
Use of Micropatterned Thin Film Nitinol in Carotid Stents to Augment Embolic Protection.

Stenting is an alternative to endarterectomy for the treatment of carotid artery stenosis. However, stenting is associated with a higher risk of procedural stroke secondary to distal thromboembolism. Hybrid stents with a micromesh layer have been proposed to address this complication. We developed a micropatterned thin film nitinol (M-TFN) covered stent designed to prevent thromboembolism during carotid intervention. This innovation may obviate the need or work synergistically with embolic protection devices. The proposed double layered stent is low-profile, thromboresistant, and covered with a M-TFN that can be fabricated with fenestrations of varying geometries and sizes. The M-TFN was created in multiple geometries, dimensions, and porosities by sputter deposition. The efficiency of various M-TFN to capture embolic particles was evaluated in different atherosclerotic carotid stenotic conditions through in vitro tests. The covered stent prevented emboli dislodgement in the range of 70%–96% during 30 min duration tests. In vitro vascular cell growth study results showed that endothelial cell elongation, alignment and growth behaviour silhouettes significantly enhance, specifically on the diamond-shape M-TFN, with the dimensions of 145 µm × 20 µm and a porosity of 32%. Future studies will require in vivo testing. Our results demonstrate that M-TFN has a promising potential for carotid artery stenting.
Design of a slow pulsed positron beam for positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

Positron annihilation spectroscopy provides a useful tool for the non-destructive study of subsurface microscopic defects. Variations in the electronic environment, from that of the bulk of the material, caused by defects introduce Coulombic forces which cause positrons to localize at the site of defects. This lifetime can vary from nanoseconds, if the positron forms a positronium atom before annihilation, to picoseconds if it is involved in pick-off annihilation. By bunching the incident positron beam, the time-resolution of a measurement can greatly be enhanced, allowing the observation of the variation in the lifetime of positrons that undergo pick-off annihilation, which occurs in metals and semiconductors. This is achieved by narrowing the resolution function of the detection system, which allows the measurement of shorter lifetime components. This improved timing resolution, over other techniques, comes at the expense of more complex electronics but is capable of performing measurements over a wide range of timing resolutions. Simulations have been preformed to optimize the design of a bunched slow positron beam to be implemented at North Carolina State University. For the proposed apparatus, the DC beam produced by the positron source at the 1-MW PULSTAR reactor, located at NCSU, must first be chopped into small pulses. This is accomplished by applying a time-varying potential to a re-moderator in the beam line. This waveform accelerates positrons emitted from a transmission moderator, which the incident beam is focused upon, into bunches. This time-varying field has been calculated and is capable of accelerating positrons into pulses approximately 8.5 ns wide with a FWHM of 4 ns. Following this initial chopping stage, the positron pulses undergo further time focusing using applied rf fields to coaxial resonators. Current simulations demonstrate the capability of supplying a 2.4 ns (FWHM) pulse to the double harmonic buncher for final time focusing. The goal is to produce a pulsed positron beam with a time resolution of less than 100 ps capable of implanting positrons with kinetic energy up to 30 kV.