cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The radioiodination of RNA and DNA to high specific activities.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses radioiodination of RNA and DNA to high-specific activities. The preparation of labeled nucleic acids (especially RNA) of various types and specific activity is indispensable for most molecular-hybridization studies involving eukaryotic DNA and in studies of RNA sequence and complexity. The primary result of Commerford's reaction is the replacement of a hydrogen atom at the C-5 position of cytidine by an atom of iodine. The polynucleotide so altered has only slightly different physiochemical properties and can replace 32P- or 3H-labeled materials in almost all biochemical studies in which a radioactive label is necessary. The chapter focuses on the problems encountered in the labeling of nucleic acids to a high-specific activity and presents methods for radioiodination under conditions of relative safety to the investigator. Nature and physical properties of commercial 125I are discussed in the chapter. A general description of Commerford's reaction and an overview of radioiodination reaction are provided while discussing the reagents and solutions, assembly of reaction mixture, and column chromatography.
Ultrasonic Characterization of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets designed to achieve ignition must meet strict surface smoothness and sphericity requirements. One potentially valuable method for evaluating the quality of...
High-surface-area ceria prepared by ALD on Al2O3 support

Abstract Al2O3 powders were modified by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of CeO2 to produce composite catalyst supports for Pd. The weight of the support was found to increase linearly with the number of ALD cycles. This, together with TEM images, indicated that the CeO2 grows as a dense, conformal film, with a growth rate of 0.02 nm per cycle. The films showed good thermal stability under oxidizing conditions. XRD measurements on a sample with 0.28 g CeO2/g Al2O3 showed no evidence for crystalline CeO2 until calcination above 1073 K. Water-gas-shift rates on 1-wt% Pd catalysts supported on the CeO2 ALD-modified Al2O3 were essentially identical to rates on conventional Pd-CeO2 catalysts and much higher than rates on a catalyst in which Pd was supported on Al2O3 with CeO2 added by infiltration. The WGS rates, together with results from FTIR and CO-O2 pulse studies, suggest that all of the Pd is in contact with CeO2 on the ALD-prepared supports and that it should be possible to prepare high-surface-area, functional supports using ALD.
Resource Delivery and Teaching in Live Chat Reference: Comparing Two Libraries

This study investigates how reference staff at two libraries balance teaching with resource delivery in live chat reference. Analysis of 410 transcripts from one week shows that one library tends to deliver more resources from a wider range of database suggestions, to take more time in chat interactions, and to incorporate more teaching behavior with specific resource links. Two possible reasons for these differences are reference policies and staffing models: one library states that chat is for brief factual questions and monitors chat from a public service point; the other does not state a policy and monitors chat from private offices. Findings are important for staffing responsively, developing effective research guides, and improving teaching in online reference.
Trust-based human-robot interaction for multi-robot symbolic motion planning

Symbolic motion planning for robots is the process of specifying and planning robot tasks in a discrete space, then carrying them out in a continuous space in a manner that preserves the discrete-level task specifications. Despite progress in symbolic motion planning, many challenges remain, including addressing scalability for multi-robot systems and improving solutions by incorporating human intelligence in an adaptive fashion. In this paper, we use local communication, observation, control protocols, and compositional reasoning approaches to decompose the planning problem to address scalability. To address solution quality and adaptability, we use a dynamic and computational trust model to aid this decomposition and to implement real-time switching between automated and human motion planning. A simulation is provided demonstrating the successful implementation of these methods.
Chestnut-sided warblers use rare song types in extreme aggressive contexts

Songbirds of a number of species use song repertoires that contain some song types that are uttered only rarely, and are therefore unlikely to be heard by the typical listener. Singing patterns that hide song types are difficult to reconcile with putative repertoire functions that require listeners to evaluate the size or diversity of singers' repertoires. Perhaps in species with repertoires that include rarely used song types, the rare types serve a function that is required only rarely. Based on observations of chestnut-sided warblers, Setophaga pensylvanica , I hypothesized that in this species, rarely used song types are reserved for use in extreme aggressive contexts. I experimentally simulated such a context (a prolonged territorial intrusion by a male competitor) by presenting song playback and a taxidermic mount on chestnut-sided warbler territories. The targeted males were much more likely to use their rare song types during the simulated intrusions than during natural baseline singing. A similar but smaller effect was evident in an analysis of natural singing that compared songs associated with fighting and chasing with songs that were not. Use of rare song types by experimental subjects did not predict their likelihood of attacking the simulated intruder. If this lack of predictive value is not an experimental artefact and extends to natural interactions, it suggests that despite their association with highly aggressive contexts, rarely used song types might not represent the strongest possible signal of aggressive motivation in chestnut-sided warblers. Perhaps use of rare types instead represents the penultimate level in a graded series of aggressive signals that culminates with a signal variant that went undetected in this experiment.
Bridging Elite and Grassroots Initiatives: The Road to Sustainable Peace in Syria

Khoury and Ghosn offer a much-needed analysis of reconciliation initiatives that are essential to ensuring a long, stable, and positive peace in Syria. After they explore two types of reconciliation strategies—elite and local levels—they propose that the only way to achieve a positive, stable peace and reconciliation rather than simply absence of violence in Syria is to bridge the gap between power sharing and peacebuilding efforts (i.e. between elite level efforts and local level initiatives).
Accuracy of Complete Blood Cell Counts to Identify Febrile Infants 60 Days or Younger With Invasive Bacterial Infections.

Importance Clinicians often risk stratify young febrile infants for invasive bacterial infections (IBIs), defined as bacteremia and/or bacterial meningitis, using complete blood cell count parameters. Objective To estimate the accuracy of individual complete blood cell count parameters to identify febrile infants with IBIs. Design, Setting, and Participants Planned secondary analysis of a prospective observational cohort study comprising 26 emergency departments in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network from 2008 to 2013. We included febrile (≥38°C), previously healthy, full-term infants younger than 60 days for whom blood cultures were obtained. All infants had either cerebrospinal fluid cultures or 7-day follow-up. Main Outcomes and Measures We tested the accuracy of the white blood cell count, absolute neutrophil count, and platelet count at commonly used thresholds for IBIs. We determined optimal thresholds using receiver operating characteristic curves. Results Of 4313 enrolled infants, 1340 (31%; 95% CI, 30% to 32%) were aged 0 to 28 days, 2412 were boys (56%), and 2471 were white (57%). Ninety-seven (2.2%; 95% CI, 1.8% to 2.7%) had IBIs. Sensitivities were low for common complete blood cell count parameter thresholds: white blood cell count less than 5000/µL, 10% (95% CI, 4% to 16%) (to convert to 10 9 per liter, multiply by 0.001); white blood cell count ≥15 000/µL, 27% (95% CI, 18% to 36%); absolute neutrophil count ≥10 000/µL, 18% (95% CI, 10% to 25%) (to convert to × 10 9 per liter, multiply by 0.001); and platelets 3 /µL, 7% (95% CI, 2% to 12%) (to convert to × 10 9 per liter, multiply by 1). Optimal thresholds for white blood cell count (11 600/µL), absolute neutrophil count (4100/µL), and platelet count (362 × 10 3 /µL) were identified in models that had areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.57 (95% CI, 0.50-0.63), 0.70 (95% CI, 0.64-0.76), and 0.61 (95% CI, 0.55-0.67), respectively. Conclusions and Relevance No complete blood cell count parameter at commonly used or optimal thresholds identified febrile infants 60 days or younger with IBIs with high accuracy. Better diagnostic tools are needed to risk stratify young febrile infants for IBIs.
Anesthetic type and hospital outcomes after carotid endarterectomy from the Vascular Quality Initiative database

Abstract Objective Studies on the safety of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) under different anesthetic techniques are sometimes contradictory. The aim of this study was to compare real-world outcomes of CEA under general anesthesia (GA) vs regional or local anesthesia (RA/LA). Methods A retrospective analysis of the Vascular Quality Initiative database (2003-2017) was performed. Primary outcomes included perioperative stroke, death, and myocardial infarction (MI) occurring during the hospital stay. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used. To minimize selection bias and to evaluate comparable groups, patients were matched on baseline variables using coarsened exact matching. Results Of 75,319 CEA cases, 6684 (8.9%) were performed under RA/LA. These patients were more likely to be older (median age, 72 vs 71 years) and male (62.5% vs 60.2%), with higher American Society of Anesthesiologists class (class 3-5, 94.2% vs 93.0%) than those undergoing CEA-GA (all P P = .01), dysrhythmia (1.6% vs 1.2%; P P P P = .03), 4 times the odds of acute CHF (aOR, 3.92; 95% CI, 1.84-8.34; P P 1 day (aOR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.67-1.93; P Conclusions Patients undergoing CEA under GA have higher odds of postoperative MI, acute CHF, and hemodynamic instability compared with those undergoing CEA under RA/LA. They are also more likely to stay in the hospital for >1 day. However, the overall risk of cardiac adverse events after CEA was low, which made the differences clinically irrelevant. The choice of anesthesia approach to CEA should be driven by the team's experience and the patient's risk factors and preference.
Pathophysiology of the Gastrointestinal Phase

Physiological alterations associated with the gastrointestinal (GI) phase of trichinosis are considered using a format based on several physiological and pathological principles. Since physiology involves a study of structure-function relationships, and abnormal biochemistry and physiology generally accompany abnormal morphology, both structural and functional tissue changes are considered. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of pathogenesis of infection with Trichinella spiralis are conditioned by prior contact with the parasite. Because of this, some attention is given to the onset and expression of structural-functional changes as they occur in primary as compared with secondary infection. Although it is quite evident that the degree of pathological damage in trichinosis is influenced in part by the intensity of infection, pathophy- siological changes are considered primarily with regard to their presence in the host, not with regard to the size of the infective inoculum.
Using Gröbner Bases to Investigate Flag Algebras and Association Scheme Fusion

This paper is meant primarily as a tutorial on how to phrase problems in association schemes in the language of Grobner bases and use the computational results provided by those bases, though it does contain fusion scheme computations not previously found in the literature.
Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry identification of Moraxella bovoculi and Moraxella bovis isolates from cattle

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) is an economically significant disease caused by Moraxella bovis. Moraxella bovoculi, although not reported to cause IBK, has been isolated from the eyes of cattle diagnosed with IBK. Identification of M. bovis and M. bovoculi can be performed using biochemical or DNA-based approaches, both of which may be time consuming and inconsistent between laboratories. We conducted a comparative evaluation of M. bovoculi and M. bovis identification using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) with a database provided by Bruker Daltonics (termed the BDAL database), the BDAL database supplemented with spectra generated in our study (termed the UNLVDC database), and with PCR-restriction-fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) typing. M. bovoculi ( n = 250) and M. bovis ( n = 18) isolates from cattle with or without IBK were used. MALDI-TOF MS using the UNLVDC database correctly identified 250 of 250 (100%) of M. bovoculi and 17 of 18 (94%) of M. bovis isolates. With the BDAL database, MALDI-TOF MS correctly identified 249 of 250 (99%) of M. bovoculi and 7 of 18 (39%) of M. bovis isolates. In comparison, the PCR-RFLP test correctly identified 210 of 250 (84%) of M. bovoculi and 12 of 18 (66%) of M. bovis isolates. Thus, MALDI-TOF MS with the UNLVDC database was the most effective identification methodology for M. bovis and M. bovoculi isolates from cattle.
Longitudinal changes in serum vitamin D binding protein and free 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a multiracial cohort of pregnant adolescents

Abstract Serum free 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) rather than total 25(OH)D may better indicate vitamin D status during pregnancy given the pregnancy-associated increase in serum vitamin D binding protein (DBP) concentration. Our aims were to assess changes in DBP and free 25(OH)D across gestation and to determine whether free compared with total 25(OH)D more strongly correlates with markers of vitamin D and calcium metabolism during pregnancy. This ancillary study included 58 pregnant adolescents (53% African American, 47% White) who completed a vitamin D3 supplementation study in Rochester, NY. Blood was collected at entry, mid-study, and delivery (median 17, 29, and 40 weeks’ gestation). Mixed-effects regression was used to test for differences in DBP, directly measured free 25(OH)D, and other serum markers by study visit and race. Free and total 25(OH)D were evaluated in relation to serum PTH, 1,25(OH)2D, 24,25(OH)2D, and calcium. The mean DBP concentration was above nonpregnant reference values at entry and increased across gestation (P
Medical Crowdfunding for Scientifically Unsupported or Potentially Dangerous Treatments

This study identified fundraising campaigns for unsubstantiated treatments, such as homeopathic remedies for cancer and antibiotic therapy for chronic Lyme disease, on GoFundMe and other crowdfunding platforms.
Incidence of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma in the United States from 2001 to 2015: A United States Cancer Statistics Analysis of 50 States

Introduction Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of death in both males and females in the United States. Nearly 85% of pancreatic cancer is adenocarcinoma. Given the silent disease progression of pancreatic cancer, identifying at-risk populations will help diagnose these fatal cancers as early as possible. Methods The United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) registry was used to obtain data for pancreatic adenocarcinoma from 2001 to 2015. The incidence analysis was stratified based on sex, race, stage, and US regional location. Results The overall incidence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma from 2001 to 2015 was 5.2 per 100,000 people per year. The overall incidence rates were the greatest for each stratification in males, blacks, distant disease, and in the Northeast. The incidence in blacks continued to rise with an annual percent change (APC) of 2.28 between 2001 and 2015. Between 2001 and 2006, the incidence of distant disease increased at a rapid rate (APC 5.34). However, after 2006, the incidence continued to increase but no longer at the previously rapid rate (APC 1.91). For incidence based on US regional location, the overall incidence was greatest in the Northeast and Midwest. The incidence in the South was increasing at an expeditious rate (APC 2.70). Conclusion In our study, we analyzed the incidence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma using data from all 50 states in the US. Our findings showed that there was a worsening incidence in blacks, those with a distant stage at diagnosis, and those in the North and Midwest. Ultimately our findings help identify at-risk populations and can contribute to improving surveillance of this deadly disease.
Capturing Domain Knowledge Through Extensible Components

Recreating real-world network scenarios on testbeds is common in validating security solutions, but modeling networks correctly requires a good deal of expertise in multiple domains. A testbed user must understand the solution being validated, the real-world deployment environments, in addition to understanding what features in these environments matter and how to model these features correctly in a testbed. As real-world scenarios and the security solutions we design become more diverse and complex, it becomes less likely that the testbed user is able to be a domain expert in their technology, a field expert in the deploy environments for their technology, and an expert in how to model these environments on the testbed. Without the proper expertise from multiple domains, testbed users produce overly simplified and inappropriate test environments, which do not provide adequate validation. To address this pressing need to share domain knowledge in the testbed community, we introduce our Extensible Components Framework for testbed network modeling. Our framework enables multiple experts to contribute to a complex network model without needing to explicitly collaborate or translate between domains. The fundamental goal of our Extensible Components is to capture the knowledge of domain experts and turn this knowledge into off-the-shelf models that end-users can easily utilize as first-class testbed objects. We demonstrate the design and use of our Extensible Components Framework through implementing Click Modular Router [10] based Extensible Components on the DETER testbed, and advocate that our framework can be applied to other environments. We focus on wired network models, but outline how Extensible Components can be used to model other types of networks such as wireless. (This material is based on research sponsored by DARPA under agreement number HR0011-15-C-0096. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of DARPA or the U.S. Government.)
Bridging the Gap: Microtrials and Idiographic Designs for Translating Basic Science into Effective Prevention of Substance Use

Prevention science is inherently pragmatic. While many mechanisms may contribute to risk for substance use and abuse, we are most concerned with those that are malleable through practical means. Basic research is most often focused on whether some mechanism increases risk or protection, with little attention to whether and how that mechanism can be changed. Applied research emphasizes pragmatic malleability, testing theories of how to change such mechanisms, as a basis for designing effective prevention programs. In this chapter we introduce two applied research designs that hold promise for developing and testing pragmatic malleability relevant for the prevention of substance use and abuse: microtrials and idiographic designs. Microtrials are brief experiments testing whether focused environmental manipulations can alter specific risk or protective mechanisms. We discuss how microtrials can be expanded to test whether interventions alter these mechanisms more strongly for some people than others and evaluate their strengths and limitations for substance abuse research. Idiographic designs use intensive repeated assessments to track continuity and change in key risk or protective mechanisms. They can be integrated with experimental designs to test intervention impact on risk and protective mechanisms as well as substance-use outcomes. We discuss several useful variants and review recent advances in statistical methods for handling the complex datasets they produce. We conclude with a discussion of how microtrials and idiographic methods can be used to enhance current substance-abuse prevention programs and support the development of more effective next-generation prevention trials.
Reducing risk of head injury in youth soccer: an extension of behavioral skills training for heading

Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. One potential source of soccer-related concussions involves the purposeful striking of the ball with one's head (i.e., heading). There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve safe heading technique. In the current study, Behavior Skills Training (BST) was evaluated as a method to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player based on a task analysis of heading. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.
Urban Green Provision and Constructions of Nation: Western and Eastern Policies

For various reasons, Singapore is a relevant case study for elucidating planning and design of public parks and open green spaces. As in western planning policies, Singapore’s public parks and open green spaces have been progressively organized into a structured ‘open space system’, ‘green belt’, and recently as ‘green infrastructure’. With regards to sustainability, the Singaporean model is said to lead contemporary conceptualizations of urban greening, including notions of ‘green urbanism’ and ‘biophilia’. The park system situates within Singapore’s political agenda—the ‘garden city’ concept manifested in the development of the physical environment—as well as the Influence of evolving western ideals of nation building and sustainability. Impacted by western policies, Singapore’s urban green-provision addresses cultural, social, environmental and economic sustainability, and the building of a recognizable nation identity.
Mentalidad autoritaria, actitudes punitivas y pensamiento penal: un esbozo

espanolEl articulo repasa el concepto de autoritarismo en la Filosofia politica y los conceptos de personalidad, caracter y actitudes autoritarias en la Piscologia social. Con sus elementos comunes construye el concepto de mentalidad autoritaria. Este concepto permite ilustrar las actitudes punitivas de los profanos, pero tambien las inclinaciones fundamentales del pensamiento penal autoritario. EnglishThe article reviews the concept of authoritarianism in Political Philosophy and the concepts of authoritarian personality, authoritative character and authoritarian attitudes in Social Psychology. With its common elements, it constructs the concept of authoritarian mind. This concept allows to illustrate the punitive attitudes of the common citizen, but also the fundamental inclinations of the authoritarian criminal thinking
Downlink Analysis in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Assisted Cellular Networks With Clustered Users

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating as aerial base stations (BSs) has emerged as a promising solution especially in scenarios requiring rapid deployments (e.g., in the cases of crowded hotspots, sporting events, emergencies, and natural disasters) in order to assist the ground BSs. In this paper, an analytical framework is provided to analyze the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) coverage probability of UAV assisted cellular networks with clustered user equipments (UEs). Locations of UAVs and ground BSs are modeled as Poison point processes, and UEs are assumed to be distributed according to a Poisson cluster process around the projections of UAVs on the ground. Initially, the complementary cumulative distribution function and probability density function of path losses for both UAV and ground BS tiers are derived. Subsequently, association probabilities with each tier are obtained. SINR coverage probability is derived for the entire network using tools from stochastic geometry. Finally, area spectral efficiency (ASE) of the entire network is determined, and SINR coverage probability expression for a more general model is presented by considering that UAVs are located at different heights. Via numerical results, we have shown that UAV height and path-loss exponents play important roles on the coverage performance. Moreover, coverage probability can be improved with smaller number of UAVs, while better ASE is achieved by employing more UAVs and having UEs more compactly clustered around the UAVs.
Approach to Management of Premature Ventricular Contractions.

Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are arrhythmias with presentation ranging from asymptomatic and benign to symptomatic, frequent and capable of inducing cardiomyopathy. Work in the late 1970s–1980s showed that they could be representative of underlying coronary artery disease, hypertension, or left ventricular hypertrophy. Furthermore, their presence is independently linked to an increased risk of stroke and sudden cardiac death. Since characterization of PVC-induced cardiomyopathy 21 years ago, there has been progressive interest in treating PVCs. This review aims to present an approach that practitioners can use for the treatment of PVCs. Recent efforts have focused on optimizing techniques for mapping and ablation of PVCs in patients with symptoms or reduced LVEF. However, an understanding of the medical treatment options is necessary because medical management is still the first line of therapy. The practitioner will need to weigh the risks and benefits of these strategies in order to help the patient determine the best course of action. PVCs are recognized as a clinically significant arrhythmia, and evolving treatment strategies can improve cardiovascular outcomes. This review provides a concise summary of the current state of PVC treatment.
Towards a predictor for CO2 plume migration using deep neural networks

Abstract This paper demonstrates a deep neural network approach for predicting carbon dioxide (CO2) plume migration from an injection well in heterogeneous formations with high computational efficiency. With the data generation and training procedures proposed in this paper, we show that the deep neural network model can generate predictions of CO2 plume migration that are as accurate as traditional numerical simulation, given input variables of a permeability field, an injection duration, injection rate, and injection location. The neural network model can deal with permeability fields that have high degrees of heterogeneity. Unlike previous studies which did not consider the effect of buoyancy, here we also show that the neural network model can learn the consequences of the interplay of gravity, viscous, and capillary forces, which is critically important for predicting CO2 plume migration. The neural network model has an excellent ability to generalize within the training data ranges and to a limited extent, the ability to extrapolate beyond the training data ranges. To improve the prediction accuracy when the neural network model needs to extrapolate to situations or parameters not contained in the training set, we propose a transfer learning (fine-tuning) procedure that can quickly teach the trained neural network model new information without going through massive data collection and retraining. With the approaches described in this paper, we have demonstrated many of the building blocks required for developing a general-purpose neural network for predicting CO2 plume migration away from an injection well.
Spiking Recurrent Networks as a Model to Probe Neuronal Timescales Specific to Working Memory

Cortical neurons process and integrate information on multiple timescales. In addition, these timescales or temporal receptive fields display functional and hierarchical organization. For instance, areas important for working memory (WM), such as prefrontal cortex, utilize neurons with stable temporal receptive fields and long timescales to support reliable representations of stimuli. Despite of the recent advances in experimental techniques, the underlying mechanisms for the emergence of neuronal timescales long enough to support WM are unclear and challenging to investigate experimentally. Here, we demonstrate that spiking recurrent neural networks (RNNs) designed to perform a WM task reproduce previously observed experimental findings and that these models could be utilized in the future to study how neuronal timescales specific to WM emerge.
Finance without Financiers

Finance orthodoxy views finance capital as privately supplied, inherently scarce, and limited to assets accumulated by rentiers and held in financial institutions to be “intermediated” between virt...
Memories are made of

One elusive goal in semiconductor technology is realizing the ideal nonvolatile memory -- that is, one that retains information when the power is switched off without battery back-up. In this context, so-called ferroelectric random access memories are promising. Work on a particular form of ferroelectric material provides encouraging evidence that it has the desired properties for nonvolatile memory.
Transitions across agriculture-savannah edges: Why did the rodent cross the edge?

Human-induced landscape alteration by agriculture is ubiquitous and impacts ecological processes and ecosystem services. The link between altered and native vegetation (hereafter edges) can create anthropogenic barriers for wildlife movement. Movement response to edges is dependent on landscape and functional group characteristics that shape spatial behavior in individuals; and affect population dynamics, dispersal, diversity, gene flow, and nutrient distribution. Few studies exist on small-mammal functional group movement response to edges, despite its integral role in behavioral and ecological processes. I analyzed the effect of altered land use on movement response in African savannah generalist Mastomys natalensis and specialist Lemniscomys rosalia. Each species was live-trapped for 2 months at 8 sites, across 2 boundary classes—homestead agriculture vs. savannah and commercial agricultural vs. savannah. Twelve individuals of each species were tracked and translocated at each transect with alternating treatments. Movement characteristics by M. natalensis showed a preference for altered land-use areas, possibly due to resource utilization. Conversely, L. rosalia showed a definitive trend (80%) to avoid edge crossing, regardless of abutting vegetative community, possibly due to their inability to cross and utilize altered landscapes. These results support the a priori hypothesis that altered land-use areas greatly impact specialists moving across the edge but only minimally affect generalist movements. Altered landscapes can affect small mammal movements and have cascading effects that alter vegetative and faunal communities.
Common Ownership, Creative Destruction, and Inequality: Evidence from U.S. Consumers

Using granular data from the consumer goods industry, we study pricing and non-pricing effects of common ownership at the product level. We find positive elasticity of consumer goods prices to common ownership and that firms pass along price increases to consumers through the marginal cost channel. Our results are robust to using Bartik-like shifters for market shares and variations in common ownership driven by financial mergers. We present the first large-scale systematic evidence on the relationship between common ownership and creative destruction at the product level. Our results show that common owners introduce new products at a faster rate and discontinue existing product items at a similar pace compared to control firms, resulting in greater net variety. Finally, we provide new insights in that the rate of increase in consumer goods prices is higher in product modules catering to lower-income households, whereas consumers in high-income segments benefit more from the increase in product variety due to higher common ownership. These results deliver important parameters to highlight the contrasting effects of increased common ownership on consumer segments across income distribution.
Against gig academia: connectivity, disembodiment, and struggle in online education

In this paper, we examine the process of decomposition as well as the struggle for recomposition of academic labor, which we understand as a contradictory positionality within so-called “gig academ...
Persons who inject drugs (PWID) retain functional NK cells, dendritic cell stimulation, and adaptive immune recall responses despite prolonged opioid use.

Previous literature suggests that acute opioid use results in the functional impairment of the immune response, thereby decreasing resistance to viral infection. Here, we assessed if innate and adaptive immune responses are compromised ex vivo in persons who inject drugs (PWID) and whether long-term injection drug use may impact host susceptibility to in vitro HIV infection. We measured the frequency, activation state, and functional profile of NK cells, dendritic cells, and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in low-risk PWID who do not share needles, high-risk needle-sharing PWID, and control donors who did not inject drugs. We also assessed plasma levels of inflammatory markers and CD4+ T cell susceptibility to HIV infection. We observed a significant increase in the amount of sCD14 (P = 0.0023, n = 16) and sCD163 (P = 0.0001, n = 16) in the plasma of PWID compared to controls. Evidence of constitutive activation was noted in PWID as compared to controls with increased CD69 expression in CD56dim NK cells (P = 0.0103, n = 26) and increased CD38 and HLA-DR expression in CD4+ T cells (P = 0.0355, n = 23). However, no innate or adaptive functional differences were detected between PWID and controls, including: NK cell direct or antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity poly-functional response, TLR-stimulated dendritic cell/NK crosstalk, CD8+ T cell response to Staphylococcal enterotoxin B or CMV/EBV/FLU peptides, or constitutive or anti-CD3/CD28-stimulated CD4+ T cell infectivity with CCR5-tropic or CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 isolates. Our data indicate that PWID who utilize opioids over as prolonged time frame can retain a functional ex vivo immune response without a measurable increase in CD4+ T cell infectivity suggesting that leukocytes from PWID are not intrinsically more susceptibility to infection with HIV than non-PWID controls.
Directed self-oriented self-assembly of block copolymers using topographical surfaces

This chapter reviews various topographical surfaces to direct self-assembly of block copolymer (BCP) thin films. The chapter first demonstrates the interfacial interactions for controlling the orientation of BCP microdomains in thin films and then discusses the influence of topographical surfaces on the orientation and the lateral ordering of BCP microdomains. The chapter includes a brief application of BCP microdomains guided by topographical surfaces.
Implementing the New Ecosystem Services Mandate: A Catalyst for Advancing Science and Policy

On April 10, 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) jointly published final regulations defining standards and procedures for authorizing compensatory mitigation of impacts to aquatic resources the Corps permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (Section 404). Prior to the rule, the Section 404 compensatory mitigation program had been administered under a mish-mash of guidances, inter-agency memoranda, and other policy documents issued over the span of 17 years. A growing tide of policy and science scholarship criticized the program's administration as not accounting for the potential redistribution of ecosystem services that results when wetlands are filled at impact sites and mitigation wetlands are provided at possibly significant distances away. Although motivated primarily by the need to bring the program under one comprehensive regulatory framework, the new rule also for the first time introduces ecosystem services into the mitigation decision-making standards, requiring that "compensatory mitigation...should be located where it is most likely to successfully replace lost...services." Easily overlooked in the in the 210-page Federal Register document, this is a potentially significant development, but it will be unlikely to gain policy traction without substantial research into the development of efficient and reliable wetland ecosystem service assessment methods. To help orient such research efforts, this article provides: (1) background on the compensatory mitigation program and ecosystem services prior to promulgation of the new rule; (2) an overview of how the new rule integrates ecosystem service analysis into compensatory mitigation decisions; and (3) suggestions for a research agenda to support implementation of that feature of the rule.
The Cambridge Introduction to Literature and Psychoanalysis

This volume is an introduction to the relationship between psychoanalysis and literature. Jean-Michel Rabate takes Sigmund Freud as his point of departure, studying in detail Freud's integration of literature in the training of psychoanalysts and how literature provided crucial terms for his myriad theories, such as the Oedipus complex. Rabate subsequently surveys other theoreticians such as Wilfred Bion, Marie Bonaparte, Carl Jung, Jacques Lacan, and Slavoj Žižek. This Introduction is organized thematically, examining in detail important terms like deferred action, fantasy, hysteria, paranoia, sublimation, the uncanny, trauma, and perversion. Using examples from Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare to Sophie Calle and Yann Martel, Rabate demonstrates that the psychoanalytic approach to literature, despite its erstwhile controversy, has recently reemerged as a dynamic method of interpretation.
Adenosine stimulation of DNA synthesis in human endothelial cells

We investigated adenosine stimulation of DNA synthesis in human endothelial cells by measuring [3H]thymidine incorporation in cultures derived from human umbilical veins. After 18 h of exposure to adenosine in serum-free medium, endothelial cell [3H]thymidine incorporation was increased by 30-64%. Adenosine-induced DNA synthesis was not mimicked by adenosine receptor agonists and was not inhibited by adenosine receptor antagonists. Adenosine-induced DNA synthesis was inhibited 81% by 100 microM 5'-(N,N-dimethyl)amiloride, an inhibitor of Na+/H+ exchange, and was totally inhibited by 10 microM 2',4'-dibromoacetophenone, an inhibitor of phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Adenosine increased adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate levels in endothelial cells, but adenosine-induced DNA synthesis was not inhibited by the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor Rp-cAMPS. Both ATP and the phorbol ester 4beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) increased DNA synthesis in human endothelial cells. Stimulation by ATP was inhibited by the P2-receptor antagonist suramin, and PMA stimulation was inhibited by the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor H-7. Neither suramin nor H-7 inhibited adenosine-stimulated DNA synthesis. The results suggest that Na+/H+ exchange and PLA2 are involved in adenosine-induced DNA synthesis in cultures of human endothelial cells independently of adenosine receptor, PKA, or PKC activation.
An Experiment in Software Decoy Design

This paper presents an implementation of integrated intrusion detection and system response based on system call instrumentation. We introduce the notion of an intelligent software decoy as a means for detection and response to patterns of suspicious behavior. A prototype of such a system has been developed using NAI Labs’ Generic Software Wrapper Toolkit. We present a case study of an ftp-based intrusion.
A Nation of Immigrants

Immigration makes America what it is and is formative for what it will become. America was settled by three different models of immigration, all of which persist to the present. The Virginia Colony largely equated immigration with the arrival of laborers, who had few rights. Massachusetts welcomed those who shared the religious views of the founders but excluded those whose beliefs challenged prevailing orthodoxy. Pennsylvania valued pluralism, becoming the most diverse colony in religion, language, and culture. A fourth, anti-immigration model also emerged during the colonial period, and was often fueled by populist leaders who stoked fears about newcomers. Arguing that the Pennsylvania model has best served the country, this book makes key recommendations for future immigration reform. Given the highly controversial nature of immigration in the United States, this second edition – updated to analyze policy changes in the Obama and Trump administrations – provides valuable insights for academics and policymakers.
An Annotated and Federated Digital Library of Marine Animal Sounds

Abstract : The Macaulay Library is the world's largest archive of animal sounds and has been selected by the Office of Naval Research as a major repository for the deposition, digital archival, review, and retrieval of the many recordings of marine animals made over the last half-century. Archived marine recordings pose challenging retrieval problems given the typically long intervals of silence between animal sounds and the multiplicity of species detectable in any given recording. One goal of this project is to design software that will permit remote experts to annotate the content of long recordings archived at the Macaulay Library through their web browsers. Annotations will permit subsequent searches of the archive database to retrieve not only suitable recordings, but also those parts of a recording meeting the search criteria. The project also seeks to define and extract a set of acoustic features from all archived marine recordings that can be used in subsequent search and retrieval tasks. Both capabilities will be unique to this sound collection, and will greatly enhance the accessibility and the utility of the archive to scientists, students, educators, military personnel, and the media.
Reply to Chen: Under specified assumptions, adequate random samples of skewed distributions obey Taylor's law

Chen (1) simulated random samples of beta, lognormal, and Poisson distributions with varying parameters following the method that we (2) used for fixed parameters. Chen claimed that the relationship between the supporting rate of Taylor's law (TL) and skewness is “complex and nonmonotonic,” as some random samples of some skewed distributions did not support TL. Chen did not consider two crucial issues: satisfying the assumptions of our theorem (2) and estimating the quantities in it adequately.
Demonstration and function of 2-methyl-butyrate racemase in Ascaris lumbricoides.

Abstract 1. 1. The nematode, Ascaris lumbricoides var. suum accumulates racemic mixtures of free 2-methylbutyrate and 2-methylvalerate from carbohydrate fermentation in muscle. 2. 2. Upon saponification of the neutral lipid fraction obtained from Ascaris eggs, 2-methylbutyrate and 2-methylvalerate were isolated, both of which were levorotatory. 3. 3. Optically active 2-methylbutyrate was synthesized and the presence of a Mg2 or Mn2+ dependent racemase in muscle and perienteric fluid was demonstrated. 4. 4. These findings suggest the possibility that the racemase functions to obtain the proper isomer from the muscle for incorporation into the neutral lipidsof the egg.
Structure-property relationships in self-assembled metalorganic chemical vapor deposition–grown CoFe2O4–PbTiO3 multiferroic nanocomposites using three-dimensional characterization

Multiferroic nanocomposites, consisting of branched, ferrimagnetic CoFe2O4 filaments and large protruding PbTiO3 particles embedded in a piezoelectric PbTiO3 matrix, have been fabricated by co-deposition using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Branched CoFe2O4 filaments reduce the CoFe2O4/PbTiO3 interfacial strain and induce a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Three-dimensional characterizations reveal that in addition to the c-domain, grains with a second orientation in PbTiO3 particles contribute to an additional four apparent variants of polarization. In contrast, the PbTiO3 matrix exhibits only c-domain polarization with a smaller magnitude. The smaller piezoresponse results from the constraints imposed by the branched CoFe2O4 filaments. Three-dimensional microstructure and property analysis provide a comprehensive insight on the structure-property relationship of multiferroic nanocomposites grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition.
Automated Design of the Europa Orbiter Tour

In this paper we investigate tours of the Jovian satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto for the Europa Orbiter Mission. The principal goal of the tour design is to lower arrival V(sub infinity) for the final Europa encounter while meeting all of the design constraints. Key constraints arise from considering the total time of the tour and the radiation dosage of a tour. These tours may employ 14 or more encounters with the Jovian satellites, hence there is an enormous number of possible sequences of these satellites to investigate. We develop a graphical method that greatly aids the design process.
The Cyber Education Project and IT IAS Curriculum

The Cyber Education Project (CEP) is an initiative to develop undergraduate curriculum guidelines and a case for accreditation for a baccalaureate in "Cyber Sciences" (The Cyber Education Project, 2015). The Learning Outcomes Working Group (LOWG) is in the process of creating a "taxonomy" and a set of "learning outcomes" for this baccalaureate program. In this document we examine concepts from the disciplines of linguistics, terminology management, knowledge management and ontology development that help illuminate the challenges involved with creating and managing the vocabulary we use to communicate about technical topics. We discuss how the concepts of ambiguity and terminology apply to the CEP and the issues of creating and managing a controlled vocabulary to support a field of study. We discuss the magnitude of the LOWG work by providing general characteristics of 31 glossaries and 5 different taxonomies or Bodies of Knowledge proposed by "Cyber Security" related organizations. These include the IAS knowledge areas from IT2008 and CS2013 which have begun to diverge. Finally we conclude with some suggestions of how to approach the creating and managing a vocabulary for Cyber Sciences without losing the connections to the source disciplines and how those source disciplines. IT curriculum must maintain consistency with the evolution of the Cyber Sciences or risk becoming an isolated silo whose IAS curriculum is isolated from an evolving Cyber Sciences community.