cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An ion transporter involved in congenital deafness focus on "human pendrin expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes mediates chloride/formate exchange".

congenital hearing impairment is inherited in about one-half of all cases. Of the 1 in 2,000 annual births so affected ([11][1]), a large proportion (>1 in 10,000) ([2][2], [4][3], [12][4]) have defects in the anion transport protein, pendrin. Clinical findings include progressive hearing loss,
Response Surface Model Updating for Nonlinear Structures

This paper presents a procedure to update nonlinear finite element models in time. In the proposed method, accurate response surface models are constructed and evaluated to replace the finite element model at every time step of the analysis. Then, the optimization problem of model updating is formulated and solved iteratively leading to histograms of the updated model parameters. This methodology is beneficial in extracting more information from measured signals and compensate for the error present in the regressed response surface models. The proposed method was verified through a numerical case study of a steel frame with global nonlinearity. Appropriate design and model orders were successfully established and the optimization in time performed well in the simulated scenarios under the assumption of noise free and noisy measurement data.
Editorial: Lead Risk Assessment and Health Effects.

In 1980, Clair C. Patterson stated: “Sometime in the near future it probably will be shown that the older urban areas of the United States have been rendered more or less uninhabitable by the millions of tons of poisonous industrial lead residues that have accumulated in cities during the past century”. We live in the near future about which this quote expressed concern. This special volume of 19 papers explores the status of scientific evidence regarding Dr. Patterson’s statement on the habitability of the environments of communities. Authors from 10 countries describe a variety of lead issues in the context of large and small communities, smelter sites, lead industries, lead-based painted houses, and vehicle fuel treated with lead additives dispersed by traffic. These articles represent the microcosm of the larger health issues associated with lead. The challenges of lead risk require a concerted global action for primary prevention.
THE STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION OF HOHOKAM SHELL EXCHANGE

This paper summarizes what is currently known about Hohokam shell exchange in the U.S. Southwest and attempts to interpret the role of this trade in Hohokam prehistory. Data gathered in the 1970s and 1980s and the application of quantitative methods in exchange analysis form the basis for this new synthesis. This synthesis treats Hohokam shell exchange in terms of regional specialization within a bounded exchange network. We further consider how Hohokam shell exchange changed between the Sedentary and Classic periods and examine the importance of these changes for our interpretations of Hohokam prehistory. Our synthesis is integrated by a social theory that incorporates productive relations, exchange relations, and the social meaning of shell.
J π of 6 He(5.3 MeV)

Consideration of its energy, angular-distribution shape, and magnitude of a cross section in the reaction He($p,t$) leads me to conclude that the 5.3-MeV state is likely 0${}^{+}$.
A New Simulation Model for a Comprehensive Evaluation of Yard Truck Deployment Strategies at Marine Container Terminals

Taking into account increasing volumes of the international seaborne trade and increasing port congestion, marine container terminal operators have to improve efficiency of their operations in order to provide timely service of vessels and avoid product delivery delays to customers. This paper focuses on improvement of container transfer operations between the seaside and the marshaling yard and proposes five yard truck deployment strategies. Performance of the considered marine container terminal is evaluated under each one of the yard truck deployment strategies via simulation. Different performance indicators are estimated to determine how the suggested yard truck deployment strategies will affect all equipment types, involved in container handling and transfer. Results from the extensive simulation experiments showcase that all five yard truck deployment strategies provide similar values of vessel service and quay crane performance indicators, while the shortest distance based yard truck deployment strategy yields superior gantry crane and yard truck performance indicators. The worst values of performance indicators are recorded for the random yard truck deployment strategy. Furthermore, the developed simulation model can serve as an efficient planning tool for marine container terminal operators and enhance productivity of the available equipment.
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is the body that provides oversight and ensures appropriate review of the use of vertebrate animals in teaching, testing, and research. The committee composition is generally designed to be broad enough to represent both scientific and nonscientific interests. Oversight of animal care and use is accomplished by committee review of proposed activities using vertebrate animals and by conducting regular program reviews and facility inspections. Any concerns regarding mishandling of animals are investigated by the committee and corrections are made as appropriate. Because judicious use of animals in research is paramount, it is essential to design experiments that use the minimum number of animals needed to yield statistically valid results.
Technology and Service Usage Among Family Caregivers

Family caregivers often assist their care recipients with a wide variety of activities ranging from basic personal care to transportation, medication management, finances and more. Furthermore, many caregivers live apart from the loved ones that they provide care to, and have responsibilities outside of caregiving including work and family. Use of technologies and services designed to make life easier for the general population can also be leveraged to reduce the burden and stress related with caregiving. In this study, 30 family caregivers were surveyed in depth to learn about their experiences with various technologies and services. Questions covered caregivers’ use of technologies and services, perceived usefulness and ease of use, reasons for use and non-use, and ideas for new and improved tools. Many caregivers were currently using a technology or service for caregiving, but most of the technologies and services presented in the questionnaire were only used by a limited number of participants. While usage was limited, those that currently used technologies and services generally found them helpful for making caregiving duties easier. Responses showed that technologies and services were not being widely used mainly due to limited awareness and availability, and less because of lack of interest.
A stochastic analysis of highway capacity: Empirical evidence and implications

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a stochastic characterization of highway capacity and explores its implications on ramp metering control at the corridor level. The stochastic variation of highway capac...
Medium- and Large-N Qualitative Methods in Constitutional Law

In this paper, I make a case for medium- and even large-N qualitative research in constitutional law. That is, I make a case for using qualitative techniques to analyze a set of cases that is larger than usual for qualitative research designs. In doing so, I recharacterize some familiar research practices along these lines, but I also advocate wider adoption of several less familiar research practices. In particular, I argue for more attention to case selection, data sharing, and collaborative research in qualitative constitutional scholarship.
Passive acoustic tracking using a library of nearby sources of opportunity.

A method of localizing unknown acoustic sources using data derived replicas from ships of opportunity has been reported previously by Verlinden, Sarkar, Hodgkiss, Kuperman, and Sabra [J. Acoust. Soc. Am, 138(1), EL54–EL59 (2015)]. The method is similar to traditional matched field processing, but differs in that data-derived measured replicas are used in place of modeled replicas and, in order to account for differing source spectra between library and target vessels, cross-correlation functions are compared instead of comparing acoustic signals directly. The method is capable of localizing sources in positions where data derived replicas are available, such as locations previously transited by ships tracked using the Automatic Identification System, but is limited by the sparsity of ships of opportunity. This paper presents an extension of this localization method to regions where data derived replicas are not available by extrapolating the measured cross-correlation function replicas onto a larger searc...
Academic labor and two-year institutions

ABSTRACTThis essay explores the professional challenges and prejudices faced by faculty with master’s degrees who teach communication at two-year institutions. Teachers with master’s degrees are qualified to teach at two-year institutions, yet the field of communication studies often overlooks their professional development and their specific labor issues. While facing considerable professional challenges, faculty at two-year institutions are at the forefront of changes in higher education, including changes in student demographics. Their unique position presents opportunities to reimagine and revitalize the role of the basic course in civic education. A case study of one teaching program proposes how these challenges and opportunities might be met.
Evaluation of taurine neuroprotection in aged rats with traumatic brain injury.

Despite higher rates of hospitalization and mortality following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in patients over 65 years old, older patients remain underrepresented in drug development studies. Worse outcomes in older individuals compared to younger adults could be attributed to exacerbated injury mechanisms including oxidative stress, inflammation, blood-brain barrier disruption, and bioenergetic dysfunction. Accordingly, pleiotropic treatments are attractive candidates for neuroprotection. Taurine, an endogenous amino acid with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, osmolytic, and neuromodulator effects, is neuroprotective in adult rats with TBI. However, its effects in the aged brain have not been evaluated. We subjected aged male rats to a unilateral controlled cortical impact injury to the sensorimotor cortex, and randomized them into four treatment groups: saline or 25 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg, or 200 mg/kg i.p. taurine. Treatments were administered 20 min post-injury and daily for 7 days. We assessed sensorimotor function on post-TBI days 1–14 and tissue loss on day 14 using T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Experimenters were blinded to the treatment group for the duration of the study. We did not observe neuroprotective effects of taurine on functional impairment or tissue loss in aged rats after TBI. These findings in aged rats are in contrast to previous reports of taurine neuroprotection in younger animals. Advanced age is an important variable for drug development studies in TBI, and further research is required to better understand how aging may influence mechanisms of taurine neuroprotection.
Viscosity measurements of ammonia, R32, and R134a. Vapor buoyancy and radial acceleration in capillary viscometers

The saturated liquid viscosity of ammonia (NH3) and of the hydrofluorocarbons, difluoromethane (CH2F2, R32) and 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (CF3–CH2F, R134a), was measured in a sealed gravitational viscometer with a straight vertical capillary. The combined temperature range was from 250 to 350 K. The estimated uncertainty of the ammonia measurements is ±3.3 and ±2 to 2.4% for the hydrofluorocarbons with a coverage factor of two. The results are compared with literature data which have been measured with capillary viscometers of different design. Agreement within the combined experimental uncertainty is achieved when some of the literature data sets are corrected for the vapor buoyancy effect and when a revised radial acceleration correction is applied to data which were obtained in viscometers with coiled capillaries. An improved correction for the radial acceleration is proposed. It is necessary to extend inter-national viscometry standards to sealed gravitational capillary instruments because the apparent inconsistencies between refrigerant viscosity data from different laboratories cannot be explained by contaminated samples.
Advances in Laser Direct Writing

Recent improvements in the laser direct write technology are reviewed with particular emphasis on new applications for micromechanics and advanced electronic packaging. The laser stereo etching method has been scaled so as to permit the accurate three-dimensional etching of silicon in a chlorine ambient at a rate of one-half million cubic micrometers per second. Laser deposition processes have been found for the direct writing of metal interconnects on copper/polyimide substrates and similar materials for multichip modules. Apparatus to implement these processes on highly three-dimensional substrates has been developed.
Stress and Coping: First-Year Nepalese Nursing Students in Clinical Settings

The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify stressful events of first-year Nepalese nursing students in the clinical setting and to determine how they cope with the stressful events. The sample consisted of 104 nursing students who had been in the clinical setting for 6 to 8 weeks. Four stressful events identified were: interpersonal relationships, initial experiences, feeling helpless, and demeaning experiences. The most frequently reported stressful event was interpersonal relationship (50%). Eight categories of coping from students' description were problem-solving, accepting responsibility, seeking social support, self-control, tension reduction, avoidance, wishful thinking and negative feelings. The majority of students utilized the "seeking social support" category of coping.
The Effectiveness of Checkpoint Inhibitor Combinations and Administration Timing Can Be Measured by Granzyme B PET Imaging

Purpose: The lack of a timely and reliable measure of response to cancer immunotherapy has confounded understanding of mechanisms of resistance and subsequent therapeutic advancement. We hypothesized that PET imaging of granzyme B using a targeted peptide, GZP, could be utilized for early response assessment across many checkpoint inhibitor combinations, and that GZP uptake could be compared between therapeutic regimens and dosing schedules as an early biomarker of relative efficacy. Experimental Design: Two models, MC38 and CT26, were treated with a series of checkpoint inhibitors. GZP PET imaging was performed to assess tumoral GZP uptake, and tumor volume changes were subsequently monitored to determine response. The average GZP PET uptake and response of each treatment group were correlated to evaluate the utility of GZP PET for comparing therapeutic efficacy. Results: In both tumor models, GZP PET imaging was highly accurate for predicting response, with 93% sensitivity and 94% negative predictive value. Mean tumoral GZP signal intensity of treatment groups linearly correlated with percent response across all therapies and schedules. Moreover, GZP PET correctly predicted that sequential dose scheduling of PD-1 and CTLA-4 targeted therapies demonstrates comparative efficacy to concurrent administration. Conclusions: Granzyme B quantification is a highly sensitive and specific early measure of therapeutic efficacy for checkpoint inhibitor regimens. This work provides evidence that GZP PET imaging may be useful for rapid assessment of therapeutic efficacy in the context of clinical trials for both novel drugs as well as dosing regimens.
Targeting CTCFL/BORIS for the immunotherapy of cancer.

Cancer vaccines have great potential in the fight against metastatic malignancies. Current anti-tumor immunotherapy is hindered by existing tolerance to tumor-associated antigens (TAA) and tumor escape using various mechanisms, highlighting the need for improved targets for immunotherapy. The cancer–testis antigen CTCFL/BORIS was discovered 16 years ago and possesses all features necessary for an ideal TAA. Recently CTCFL/BORIS has received additional attention as a target expressed in cancer stem cells (CSC). These cells drive tumor growth recurrence, metastasis, and treatment resistance. CTCFL/BORIS silencing leads to senescence and death of CSC. Therefore, an immunotherapeutic strategy that targets CTCFL/BORIS may lead to the selective destruction of CSC and potential eradication of metastatic disease. The high immunotherapeutic potential of CTCFL/BORIS antigen was shown in a stringent 4T1 mouse model of breast cancer. Using these highly metastatic, poorly immunogenic carcinoma cells inoculated into T-helper2 prone mice, we showed that DC fed with recombinant CTCFL/BORIS as an immunogen inhibited tumor growth and reduced the number of metastases in distant organs. About 20% of CTCFL/BORIS immunized animals were tumor free. 50% of animals remained metastasis free. Those having metastasis showed at least tenfold fewer metastases compared to controls. In a rat model of breast cancer, we showed that alphavirus-based CTCFL/BORIS immunotherapy was capable of cancer elimination as we were able to cure 50% of animals. Based on the above data, we believe that translation of CTCFL/BORIS-targeting immunotherapeutic strategies to the clinic will provide new avenues for improving survival of breast cancer patients with advanced metastatic disease.
Middle Meningeal Artery Embolization for Chronic Subdural Hematoma: Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Background Chronic subdural hematoma is a very common neurosurgical condition. Although conventional surgical methods, such as burr hole irrigation, have been the mainstay of treatment, middle meningeal artery (MMA) embolization has emerged as a promising adjunctive or alternative treatment. The aim of this article was to present a meta-analysis and systematic review of this topic. Methods A literature search using keywords “chronic subdural hematoma,” “chronic subdural hemorrhage,” “refractory subdural hematoma,” “refractory subdural hemorrhage,” and “middle meningeal artery embolization” was conducted through October 2018. Outcome variables of hematoma recurrence, surgical complications, and modified Rankin Scale score were analyzed and compared between MMA embolization and conventional surgery cohorts. Results Three double-arm studies comparing embolization and conventional surgery groups and 6 single-arm case series were identified and analyzed. Hematoma recurrence rate was significantly lower in the embolization group compared with conventional treatment group (2.1% vs. 27.7%; odds ratio = 0.087; 95% confidence interval, 0.026–0.292; P 2 in the embolization (12.5%) versus conventional treatment (9.1%) group showed no statistical difference (P = 0.689). A composite hematoma recurrence rate of 3.6% was found after summing the 6 case series. Composite recurrence and complication rates in the embolization cohorts of the double-arm studies and the case series were lower than literature values for conventional surgical treatments. Conclusions MMA embolization is a promising treatment for chronic subdural hematoma. Future randomized clinical trials are needed.
Biochemistry of Autoinflammatory Diseases: Catalyzing Monogenic Disease

Monogenic autoinflammatory disorders are a group of conditions defined by systemic or localized inflammation without identifiable causes, such as infection. In contrast to classical primary immunodeficiencies that manifest with impaired immune responses, these disorders are due to defects in genes that regulate innate immunity leading to constitutive activation of pro-inflammatory signaling. Through studying patients with rare autoinflammatory conditions, novel mechanisms of inflammation have been identified that bare on our understanding not only of basic signaling in inflammatory cells, but also of the pathogenesis of more common inflammatory diseases and have guided treatment modalities. Autoinflammation has further been implicated as an important component of cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and metabolic syndromes. In this review, we will focus on a subset of inherited enzymatic deficiencies that lead to constitutive inflammation, and how these rare diseases have provided insights into diverse areas of cell biology not restricted to immune cells. In this way, Mendelian disorders of the innate immune system, and in particular loss of catalytic activity of enzymes in distinct pathways, have expanded our understanding of the interplay between many seemingly disparate cellular processes. We also explore the overlap between autoinflammation, autoimmunity, and immunodeficiency, which has been increasingly recognized in patients with dysregulated immune responses.
Energy generating potential of anaerobically enhanced primary treatment of domestic wastewater using multiple-compartment bioreactors

Wastewater reclamation facilities have the potential to be net energy producers if anaerobic bioreactors coupled with energy-generating technologies, such as combined heat and power (CHP), are employed. To characterize the energy-generating potential of multiple-compartment anaerobic bioreactors used for enhanced primary treatment of domestic wastewater, organic removal and observed methane (CH4) generation from two pilot-scale anaerobic baffled bioreactors operating for more than 2400 days over a range of wastewater temperatures (11 to 24 °C) were characterized. Aggregated data from both bioreactor systems were subjected to uncertainty analysis and modeling to increase confidence in results and to determine the energy-generating potential from five different CHP technologies. Results suggest that multiple-compartment anaerobic reactors converted 76% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removed to methane-rich biogas (effective energy content of 2.0 kW h kg−1 COD removed). Observed CH4 production was most accurately modeled using total COD measurements, not biodegradable COD estimates. The use of the aerobic biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) assay underestimated the amount of anaerobically biodegradable COD. Modeled scenarios suggest that energy generated from several CHP technologies with heat recovery (i.e., effective electrical energy) can provide power equivalent to the amount used by many conventional activated sludge systems. A modeled future scenario where dissolved methane (dCH4) is recovered for energy generation also suggests that dCH4 capture provides additional energy generation and is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Based on COD, mass balances indicate that using multiple-compartment anaerobic reactors for anaerobically enhanced primary treatment increases the portion of COD in the influent wastewater going to electrical energy from ∼8.5% to 21%. Results from this study suggest that replacing conventional primary treatment with anaerobic bioreactors can enhance energy-generating potential at water resource recovery facilities.
What GDPR means for data privacy

Data privacy/personal data has drawn a lot of attention from people in sectors of commerce, technology, real time data processing, information technology and the banking industry. With the adoption of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) data privacy policies must be modified to meet the new requirements. It is estimated that more than 50must modify business practices to meet the requirement (www.inc.com, 2018) The days of collecting data and selling it without easy-to-read user consent is no longer allowed under GDPR. Data portability allowing users to request a report of data stored about them in a readable format, becomes a key concern for companies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Amazon and others.
Risk of second primary papillary thyroid cancer among adult cancer survivors in the United States, 2000-2015.

Abstract Background While radiotherapy is a major risk factor for thyroid cancer after childhood cancer, factors contributing to increased thyroid cancer risk after adulthood cancer remain unclear. Methods We evaluated second primary papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) risk among 3,175,216 ≥ 1-year adult survivors of non-thyroid malignancies from US population-based cancer registries (2000–2015), using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs). Because heightened surveillance may increase detection of indolent thyroid tumors and earlier detection of advanced tumors, we examined SIRs by PTC stage and time since first cancer (latency). Results SIRs for second primary PTC (N = 4333) were statistically-significantly 1.2–3.5-fold elevated overall and after 23/27 first cancer types evaluated, with generally similar risks for localized and regional/distant PTC. SIRs for regional/distant PTC (N = 1501) were highest after pancreatic (SIR = 3.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.9–6.5) and soft tissue (SIR = 4.2; 95%CI = 2.8–6.2) cancers, followed by melanoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and larynx, kidney, and brain/central nervous system (SIRs = 2.0–2.9) cancers. SIRs typically decreased with increasing latency but remained statistically-significantly elevated for regional/distant-PTC ≥5 years after diagnosis of cancers of the rectum, pancreas, lung/bronchus, soft tissue, female breast, uterine corpus, prostate, and kidney, and after melanoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, CLL/SLL, and follicular lymphoma. Neither total nor regional/distant PTC were clearly associated with initial course of radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Conclusions PTC risk was elevated after a range of first primary adult cancers but was not clearly related to treatment. Although surveillance may contribute to elevated short-term risks of PTC, longer-term elevations in regional/distant PTC may be attributable to shared risk factors.
Primary Amyloidosis of the Genitourinary Tract.

Context.— Amyloidosis is caused by the deposition of misfolded proteins as insoluble eosinophilic material in the extracellular tissues of the body, leading to impairment of organ function. It can ...
A minimally invasive pilonidal protocol improves quality of life in adolescents.

Abstract Background Pilonidal disease adversely affects the quality of life (QoL) of adolescents with this condition. We report the impact of minimally invasive care on the QoL of a series of adolescent patients in a dedicated Pilonidal Care Clinic. Methods Beginning in February 2019, all patients completed QoL surveys prior to each visit reporting current symptoms and their QoL impact. Data were collected prospectively with objective disease severity and treatment details. Patients with at least 2 clinic visits were included. Demographics, procedures performed, and median QoL scores by severity were analyzed. Results 74 patients were included. Mean age was 17.3 years (SD 2.4), mean BMI was 27.5 (SD 6.2), median follow-up duration was 4 months (2–12). At intake patients reported a median total QoL impact of 12 for those with mild disease, 11 for those with moderate disease, and 12 with severe disease. Median total QoL impact resolved by the second visit for patients with mild disease, the third for moderate disease, and decreased 88% by the fourth visit for patients with severe disease. Conclusion Pilonidal disease has a profound impact on most patients’ quality of life. Minimally invasive care promptly resolves negative impacts on quality of life in adolescents.
Induced resistance to Fusarium oxysporum in mechanically stressed Acacia koa A. Gray seedlings

Abstract Acacia koa A. Gray (koa) is a leguminous timber wood tree endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Koa forests have been suffering from a devastating wilt disease caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. koae. To protect koa forestry from the disease, it is crucial to understand how disease resistance is conferred in koa. Here we show that non-wounding mechanical stress enhances resistance against F. oxysporum in koa as the survival rate of stressed seedlings doubled compared to that of unstressed seedlings (40.6% and 17.0%, respectively) following 3 weeks of mechanical treatment. The mechanical stress induces genes for antifungal activities, including those for pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis enzymes, within 6 h. Consistent with the gene expression, the extract from the stems of stressed plants had an increased total phenolic content as well as antifungal activity. Stressed plants also showed faster and enhanced expression of genes for the antifungal proteins upon inoculation by F. oxysporum f. sp. koae. These results indicate that a simple non-wounding mechanical stress can prime koa seedlings for the subsequent fungal infection to enhance disease resistance, and non-wounding mechanical stress may be a useful tool to study mechanisms underlying disease resistance in koa.
Identifying the Best System in the Presense of Stochastic Constraints with Varying Thresholds

We consider the problem of finding a system with the best primary performance measure among a finite number of simulated systems in the presence of stochastic constraints on secondary performance measures. When no feasible system exists, the decision maker may be willing to consider looser thresholds. Given that there is no change in the underlying simulated systems, we adopt the concept of green simulation and perform feasibility check across all potential thresholds simultaneously. We propose an indifference-zone procedure that takes multiple threshold values for each constraint based on the user’s inputs and returns the best system that is feasible to the most desirable thresholds. We prove that our procedure yields the best system in the most desirable feasible region possible with at least a prespecified probability. Our experimental results show that the proposed procedure performs well with respect to the number of required observations as compared with an existing procedure.
Importance of Mentoring on Workplace Engagement of Emergency Medicine Faculty: A Multi-institutional Study.

Author(s): Lucas, Raymond H; Dandar, Valerie | Abstract: Introduction: Mentoring in emergency medicine (EM) has not been well studied despite a larger body of literature that has described the value of mentoring in academic medicine on career satisfaction and scholarly output. Over half of all EM faculty nationally are of junior faculty ranks. The aim of this study was to identify the frequency and types of mentoring in EM, how types of mentoring in EM differ by gender, and how mentoring correlates with workplace satisfaction for EM faculty.Methods: Using descriptive statistics and chi-squared analysis, we analyzed data from a cohort of medical schools participating in the Association of American Medical Colleges StandPoint Faculty Engagement Survey.Results: A total of 514 EM faculty from 26 medical schools replied to the survey. Nearly 80% of EM faculty reported receiving some sort of mentoring; 43.4% reported receiving formal mentoring; 35.4% reported receiving only informal mentoring; and 21.2% received no mentoring at all. Women EM faculty received formal mentoring at lower rates than men (36.2% vs 47.5%) even though they were more likely to report that formal mentoring is important to them. Workplace satisfaction was highest for faculty receiving formal mentoring; informally or formally mentored faculty reported higher workplace satisfaction than faculty who are not mentored at all. Unmentored faculty are less likely to stay at their medical school than those formally mentored (69.8 % vs 80.4%).Conclusion: Institutions and department chairs should focus on mentoring EM faculty, particularly women, to increase engagement and reduce attrition.
Terrorist Attacks Against Vaccinators: A Review

Vaccinators fulfill an important role in a nation's public health by reducing the burden of disease on the population. Understanding patterns of attack employed against vaccinators is important to ...
Note, A Free Pass for Foreign Firms? An Assessment of SEC and Private Enforcement Against Foreign Issuers

While proponents of the bonding hypothesis have posited that foreign firms crosslist in the United States to signal compliance with the strict U.S. corporate governance regime, these scholars have taken the enforcement of U.S. securities laws largely for granted. This Note presents an empirical examination of previously unexplored data on the enforcement of U.S. securities laws against foreign issuers. The results suggest that relative to domestic issuers, foreign issuers in the United States have benefited not only from a more lax set of rules, but also from a more forgiving public enforcement agency. At the same time, U.S. courts have limited private enforcement against foreign issuers, thus restricting an alternative to public enforcement and further widening the gap between the corporate governance regime for U.S. issuers and the one for foreign issuers. author. Yale Law School, J.D. 2009; Stanford University, M.A., B.A. 2006. I would like to thank Roberta Romano for her continued guidance and support. I would also like to thank Henry Hansmann, Jonathan Macey, and James Cox for helpful comments on earlier drafts, and Scott Hartman and the editors of The Yale Law Journal for significant editorial assistance. All errors are my own. SHNITSER_PRESS_V2WEB.DOC 5/28/2010 6:02:50 PM a free pass for foreign firms?
Riskier than we thought: revised estimates of noncontracepting women risking unintended pregnancy.

Risk-taking is defined as non-use of contraception among sexually active women who do not desire pregnancy. The published National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) definition of risk of unintended pregnancy includes sterilized women and women relying on partner sterilization in the statistic. However this inclusion skews percentages of risk-taking women to appear smaller than is realistic since sterilized women face minimal risk of pregnancy. The objective of this study was to obtain realistic estimates of risk-taking behavior to identify groups at special need for improved services. In calculating risk-taking statistics sterilized women and women relying on partner sterilization are removed from both the numerator and denominator. The numerator includes all non-contracepting women who believe that they are fecund. The authors calculated the proportion of risk-taking women for various age ethnic and marital status groups. Overall 14.0% of sexually active fecund women are risk-taking. Except for teenagers who do not use sterilization the proportions of risk takers are higher than the NSFG estimates of proportion of women at risk of unintended pregnancy in all groups. Differences in risk estimates ranged from 0.4% to 10.7% with the greatest differences seen among formerly married and Hispanic black women. These results indicate that published NSFG percentages of adult women at risk of unintended pregnancy underestimate risk-taking behavior for groups previously thought to be at lower risk of unintended pregnancy. (authors)
Adduction moment increases with age in healthy obese individuals

There is a need to understand how obesity and aging interact to cause an increased risk of medial knee osteoarthritis (OA). This study tested whether the knee adduction and flexion moments increase with age in healthy normal-weight and obese adults, as well as the mechanism of this increase. We analyzed whether ground reaction force magnitude, knee alignment, step width, toe-out angle, body volume distribution, and limb position (knee position relative to the pelvis center) are associated with the adduction moment and whether these variables also change with age. Ninety-six healthy volunteers (60 normal-weight and 36 obese) were tested using marker-based gait analysis; knee alignment was based on marker positions during quiet standing. Adduction moment increased with age in obese (R(2) = 0.19), but not in normal-weight individuals (R(2) = 0.01); knee flexion moment did not change with age in either group. In the obese, only knee alignment and limb position were related to the adduction moment (R(2) = 0.19 and 0.51), but only limb position changed with age (R(2) = 0.26). The resulting increase in adduction moment suggests greater medial compartment loads, which may combine with elevated levels of inflammation to contribute to the increased risk of medial OA in this population.
New Concepts in Agroecology: A Service-Learning Course.

- orative efforts to implement such transformations. t oward this end, we have integrated methods from systems thinking, soft- systems methodology, and agroecosystems analysis, and used a service-learning component to provide students with an op - portunity to apply and evaluate these methods in practice. Most students favorably evaluated the course. Ultimately, we expect that the course will help our students to develop a civic profes - sionalism through which they apply their professional skills to complex public problems in agriculture.
Respiratory infection alters archetypal anti-viral CD8 T cell differentiation programs resulting in diminished memory potential (MUC5P.861)

Our understanding of memory CD8 T cells has been largely derived from acute, systemic infection models. However, memory CD8 T cells generated from mucosal infection exhibit unique properties and, in respiratory infections, are poorly maintained long-term. To better understand how infection route modifies memory differentiation, we compared murine CD8 T cell responses to an identical VSV challenge generated intranasally (IN) or intravenously (IV). IN infection resulted in greater peak expansion of VSV-specific CD8 T cells. However, this numerical advantage was rapidly lost during the contraction phase of the immune response, resulting in numerical memory CD8 T cell deficiencies when compared to IV VSV infection. Interestingly, the anti-viral CD8 T cells generated in response to IN VSV exhibited a biased and sustained proportion of early effector cells (CD127loKLRG1lo) akin to the CD8 developmental program favored after IN influenza infection, suggesting that respiratory infection favors an incomplete memory differentiation program. Correspondingly, IN infection resulted in lower CD122 expression and EOMES levels by VSV-specific CD8 T cells, further indicative of an inferior transition to bona-fide memory. Together these data suggest that the environments encountered in distinct immunization routes are sufficient to modulate both the quality and quantity of anti-viral CD8 T cells in response to an identical pathogen and should be considered in CD8-based vaccine design.
Lossless image compression using generalized LZ1-type methods

Lossless image compression has traditionally employed techniques quite separate from those used for text compression or lossy image compression; most standards employ modeling followed by coding (e.g., the JBIG standard, the IBM Q-coder, CCITT Group 4). Constantinescu and Storer [1994] presented a lossy image compression scheme that can be viewed as a generalization of lossless dynamic dictionary compression ("LZ2" type methods) to two dimensions with approximate matching; Constantinescu and Storer [1995] have experimented with this approach for lossless image compression with great success. Here we generalize "LZ1" type methods to lossless image compression. We examine complexity issues and 2D implementations.
Software Tools at the University: Why, What and How

The Computer Sciences department is currently involved in various tool technology transfer activities including the use, development, enhancement and evaluation of CASE software as class projects, and a software engineering laboratory for the synthesis of software. Industry cooperation efforts include continuing education courses, beta testing, and joint projects in which university and industry personnel share hardware and software as well as expertise. These endeavors are described briefly and a short synopsis of benefits, problem areas and some possible solutions provided.
Slow target-directed eye movements in ataxia-telangiectasia.

PURPOSE. To analyze the slow eye movements that shift the direction of gaze in patients with ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). METHODS. Eye and head movements were recorded with search coils in three patients with A-T during attempted gaze shifts, both with the head immobilized and free to move. RESULTS. Gaze shifts frequently included both saccadic and slow components. The slow movements were recorded after 42% of saccades and had an average peak velocity of 6.1 deg/sec and a mean amplitude of 2.0°. They occurred with the head stationary and moving, could be directed centripetally or centrifugally, had velocity waveforms that were relatively linear or exponential, and always moved the eyes toward the visual target. CONCLUSIONS. The slow movements appear to differ from pursuit and vestibular eye movements and are not fully explained by the various types of abnormal eye movements that can follow saccades, such as gaze-evoked nystagmus or postsaccadic drift. Their origin is uncertain, but they could represent very slow saccades, due to aberrant inhibition of burst cell activity during the saccade.
E-Commerce Law Report: MDY Industries, LLC Vs. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

This paper provides a summary of the factual background, the legal arguments and the trial court decision in MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Vivendi Games, Inc. / Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Vivendi Games, Inc. v. Michael Donnelly.
Purchasing power for the grid : a social contract approach

Abstract This paper considers a regulatory mechanism that electric utility regulators may use to govern the purchase of electric power that is generated by independent sellers. In the suggested mechanism, the commission will get to specify the terms of one ‘fair’ tariff, which any prospective generator may unconditionally use to sell power back to the utility grid; once this tariff is offered, the utility may freely design or negotiate as many alternatives as it likes. The suggested approach displays many economically desirable outcomes that can compare favorably with alternative procedures — i.e., avoided cost pricing and competitive bidding — that are now in use.
On the isentropic compressible Navier-Stokes equation

We consider the compressible Navier-Stokes equation with density dependent viscosity coefficients, focusing on the case where those coefficients vanish on vacuum. We prove the stability of weak solutions both in the torus and in the whole space in dimension 2 and 3. The pressure is given by p=rho^gamma, and our result holds for any gamma>1. In particular, we obtain the stability of weak solutions of the Saint-Venant model for shallow water.
Synthesis of citrulline from glutamine in pig enterocytes

The synthesis of citrulline from glutamine was quantified in enterocytes from pre-weaning (14-21 days old) and post-weaning (29-58 days old) pigs. The cells were incubated at 37 degrees C for 30 min in Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer (pH 7.4) containing 0, 0.5, 2 and 5 mM glutamine. Oxygen consumption was linear during the 30 min incubation period. The rates of citrulline synthesis were low or negligible in enterocytes from 14-21-day-old pigs, but increased 10-20-fold in the cells from 29-58-day-old pigs. This marked elevation of citrulline synthesis coincided with an increase in the activity of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase with the animal's post-weaning growth. In contrast, decreases in the activities of phosphate-dependent glutaminase, ornithine aminotransferase, ornithine carbamoyltransferase and carbamoyl-phosphate synthase were observed as the age of the pigs increased. The concentrations of carbamoyl phosphate in enterocytes from pre-weaning pigs were higher than, or similar to, those in the cells from post-weaning pigs. It is possible that the low rate of citrulline synthesis from glutamine in enterocytes from pre-weaning pigs was due to a limited availability of ornithine, rather than that of carbamoyl phosphate. We suggest that this limited availability of ornithine in pre-weaning-pig enterocytes results from (i) the low rate of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthesis from glutamate, due to the low activity of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase, and (ii) the competitive conversion of pyrroline-5-carboxylate into proline. Our present findings on the developmental aspect of citrulline synthesis in pig enterocytes may offer a biochemical mechanism for the previous observations that arginine is a nutritionally essential amino acid for suckling piglets, but not for adult pigs.
Transport effects in the sublimation growth of aluminum nitride

In this paper, a detailed two-dimensional model accommodating the thermal convection and Stefan flow is formulated for AlN sublimation growth. Some assumptions are applied in the model and inspected by the experimental data. A detailed numerical investigation is carried out for the transport effect on the sublimation growth. Theoretical predictions agree with the experimental data at pressure above 100 Torr and current operating temperature (seed temperature) ranging from 1700 to 1900°C. The activation energy of the growth rate is 681 KJ/mol close to the sublimation heat of aluminum nitride. Nevertheless, at low pressure less than 100 Torr, a combination of surface crystallization model is necessary to describe the process kinetics correctly. Meanwhile, a detailed heat transfer model for furnace temperature gradient is required for more accurate prediction of growth rate.
Hold your nose and vote: corruption and public decisions in a representative democracy

This paper analyzes how corruption alters policy decisions in democracy, and examines whether this distortion can result in a long-term persistence of corruption even when the voters are well informed and rational. By applying a citizen-candidate model of representative democracy, the paper analyzes how corruption distorts the allocation of resources between public and private consumption, altering the policy preferences of elected and nonelected citizens in opposite directions. The outcome is a reduction in real public expenditure and, if the median voter’s demand for public goods is sufficiently elastic, a reduction in taxes. In this case, some citizens benefit indirectly from corruption. The paper also presents some empirical evidence that, in democratic countries, corruption results in lower tax revenue, and proceeds to show that, when this occurs, citizens anticipating a shift in preferences in favor of public expenditure may support institutions that favor corruption. This result complements the findings of other studies that have attributed the persistence of corruption in democracy to some failure on the part of the voters or the electoral system. It also bears implications for developing effective anticorruption strategies and for redefining the role that can be played by the international community.
A Multiple-Behavior Lifestyle Intervention for Cancer Patients and Their Families Delivered in a Community-Based Oncological and Hematologic Treatment Clinic

This article describes the implementation of a 6-session multiple-behavior lifestyle intervention for patients with cancers and their families in a community-based specialty clinic in Lafayette, Indiana. This is an example of theory-driven, community-based intervention that simultaneously targets multiple behaviors that impact cancer management and aims to reduce risk for possible recurrence.
Methamphetamine-Induced Insulin Release

Administration of methamphetamine or amphetamine to rats and mice produces a rapid increase in the level of immunoassayable plasma insulin not attributable to hyperglycemia. While in the mouse this release of insulin is followed consistently by a profound hypoglycemia, in the rat this response is variable. Studies in vitro demonstrate that insulin is released by a direct effect of methamphetamine on the pancreas.