cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Primary Care Visit Regularity and Patient Outcomes: an Observational Study

Regular primary care visits may allow an opportunity to deliver high-value, proactive care. However, no previous study has examined whether more temporally regular primary care visits predict better outcomes. To examine the relationship between the temporal regularity of primary care (PC) visits and outcomes. Retrospective cohort study. We used Medicare claims for 378,862 fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries, who received PC at 1328 federally qualified health centers from 2010 to 2014. We created five beneficiary groups based upon their annual number of PC visits. We further subdivided those groups according to whether PC visits occurred with more or less regularity than the median value. We compared these 10 subgroups on three outcomes, adjusting for beneficiary characteristics: emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and total Medicare expenditures. We also aggregated to the clinic level and divided clinics into tertiles of more, less, and similarly regular to predicted. We compared these three groups of clinics on the same three outcomes of care. Within each visit frequency group, beneficiaries in the subgroup with fewer regular visits had more ED visits, more hospitalizations, and higher costs. Among beneficiaries with the most frequent PC visits, the less regular subgroup had more ED visits (1.70 vs. 1.31 per person-year), more hospitalizations (0.69 vs. 0.57), and greater Medicare expenditures ($20,731 vs. $17,430, p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Clinics whose PC visits were more regular than predicted also had better outcomes than other clinics, although the effect sizes were smaller. Temporal patterns of PC visits are correlated with outcomes, even among beneficiaries who appear otherwise similar. Measuring the temporal regularity of PC visits may be useful for identifying beneficiaries at risk for adverse events, and as a barometer for and an impetus to clinic-level quality improvement.
Salt Marsh Biogeochemistry—An Overview

Abstract In this chapter, we present an overview of the processing and cycling of the major biologically relevant elements (C, N, P, S, and Fe) in salt marshes. In keeping with the ecosystems theme of this book, and to the extent possible, the cycles are parsed into allochthonous inputs, pathways of internal cycling, and export for each element. Each of the biogeochemical cycles that we discuss is sensitive to the effects of global and local environmental changes, so we provide an overview of some ways that salt marsh biogeochemistry will be affected by the changing landscape.
Plant Parasitic Nematodes of New Mexico and Arizona

New Mexico and Arizona share topographic and climatic similarities that greatly influence crop production and plant parasitic nematodes in both states. The region is comprised of mountainous terrain interspersed with semi-arid, hot deserts, river valleys and plains. Crops are irrigated and grown mainly in the southern half of both states – within the northern reaches of the Sonoran (AZ) and Chihuahuan (NM) deserts. An exception is 29,160 ha of cropland in northwest NM operated by the Navajo Nation’s Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. Eastern New Mexico derives water from the western edge of the Ogallala Aquifer, but most cropland in both states relies on snow melt-derived water associated with river valleys. Mountain ranges and the Grand Canyon, in conjunction with numerous Native American homelands, US National Forests and federal Bureau of Land Management holdings afford a certain level of geographic isolation to many crop-producing areas. This isolation and the semi-arid environment have somewhat reduced the prevalence and introduction of some agricultural pests – undoubtedly including plant parasitic nematodes. Limited private arable acreage and irrigation water greatly affect grower decisions involving crop selection and sustainable nematode management. Southern root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is the most widely distributed and damaging plant parasite in the region, affecting most annual and some perennial crops. Other root knot nematodes including M. hapla, M. chitwoodi, M. graminis, M. marylandi and M. partityla damage some annual crops, turf and pecan. Ditylenchus dipsaci and Tylenchulus semipenetrans are pathogenic to alfalfa and citrus, respectively in Arizona, while criconematids have recently been associated with turf injury in New Mexico. Lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) affect cotton, corn and bean production in both states. This chapter focuses on the sustainable management practices for these nematodes within the context of cropping constraints associated with the region.
Trends and Outcome of Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation Over 9 Years - Focus on Empirical Extra-Pulmonary Vein Ablation.

BACKGROUND The Substrate and Trigger Ablation for Reduction of Atrial Fibrillation Trial Part II (STAR-AF2) emphasized the importance of circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) during AF ablation. Methods and Results: This study involved 2,297 consecutive patients (mean age, 58±11 years; 73.1% male, 70.1% paroxysmal AF) undergoing AF ablation from 2009 to 2017. We investigated the ablation lesion set, ablation time, catheter type, and clinical outcomes. Over the 9 years, the extra-pulmonary vein (PV) left atrial (LA) ablation rate (76.8% to 19.4%, P<0.001 for trend) and ablation time (P<0.001 for trend) decreased dramatically, whereas the 1-year recurrence rates decreased (21.8% to 14.1%, P=0.04 for trend). In persistent AF patients, the extra-PV LA ablation rate (91.4% to 55.3%, P<0.001) and ablation time (P<0.001) decreased after the STAR-AF2 report, but the 1-year recurrence rates remained similar (22.1% to 17.9%, P=0.281). A mesh-type flexible tip (MFT) catheter with a moderately increased radiofrequency power was used since 2012, and the MFT catheter was independently associated with a lower clinical recurrence compared to other irrigated-tip catheters (HR, 0.670; 95% CI: 0.559-0.803, P<0.001; log rank P=0.002) without increasing the procedure-related complications (OR, 1.434; 95% CI: 0.937-2.194, P=0.097). CONCLUSIONS Over the 9 years the extra-PV LA ablation and 1-year recurrence rates in the AF ablation cohort decreased, in part due to improved catheter technology.
Storm-driven dispersal of fluvial fine sediment on a low-energy inner shelf

Abstract Prolonged in-situ measurements and satellite images were analyzed to investigate storm-driven dispersal patterns of fluvially derived fine sediment in the Atchafalaya Bay/Shelf during winter storms and tropical cyclones and how they remotely influence fine-sediment distribution of an offshore sand shoal. It was revealed that storm-driven offshore advection coinciding with sediment re-suspension transports re-suspended sediment and fine sediment from the river and from the bay to the inner shelf regardless of the storm types. However, we found that the process leading to the dispersal varies with the types of storms, their intensity and tracks. On the shelf, while tropical cyclones were capable of bringing re-suspended sediment to the surface, winter storms limited the extent of sediment suspension up to approximately 10 m above the bottom. Thus, only the sediment suspension on the shallower part of the shelf (
Effects of Randomly End-Linked Copolymer Network Parameters on the Formation of Disordered Cocontinuous Phases

Randomly end-linked copolymer networks (RECNs) provide a robust route to cocontinuous nanoscale structures, yielding opportunities to integrate desirable and distinct properties of the constituent ...
Smoking cessation interventions for potential use in the lung cancer screening setting: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract Objectives Current guidelines recommend delivery of smoking cessation interventions with lung cancer screening (LCS). Unfortunately, there are limited data to guide clinicians and policy-makers in choosing cessation interventions in this setting. Several trials are underway to fill this evidence gap, but results are not expected for several years. Methods and materials We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of current literature on the efficacy of smoking cessation interventions among populations eligible for LCS. We searched PubMed, Medline, and PsycINFO for randomized controlled trials of smoking cessation interventions published from 2010–2017. Trials were eligible for inclusion if they sampled individuals likely to be eligible for LCS based on age and smoking history, had sample sizes >100, follow-up of 6- or 12-months, and were based in North America, Western Europe, Australia, or New Zealand. Results Three investigators independently screened 3,813 abstracts and identified 332 for full-text review. Of these, 85 trials were included and grouped into categories based on the primary intervention: electronic/web-based, in-person counseling, pharmacotherapy, and telephone counseling. At 6-month follow-up, electronic/web-based (odds ratio [OR] 1.14, 95% CI 1.03–1.25), in-person counseling (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.25–1.70), and pharmacotherapy (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.33–1.77) interventions significantly increased the odds of abstinence. Telephone counseling increased the odds but did not reach statistical significance (OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.98–1.50). At 12-months, in-person counseling (OR 1.28 95% CI 1.10–1.50) and pharmacotherapy (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.17–1.84) remained efficacious, although the decrement in efficacy was of similar magnitude across all intervention categories. Conclusions Several categories of cessation interventions are promising for implementation in the LCS setting.
Advancing health policy education in nursing: American Association of Colleges of Nursing Faculty Policy Think Tank

Based upon an awareness of the need to increase its policy footprint, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN) Board of Directors convened a think tank of nurse experts in the field of policy curriculum to advise the Board. The goal of the think tank was to review the current landscape, analyze trends, and create a set of recommendations for AACN's Board to consider. The Faculty Policy Think Tank (FPTT) met between 2016 and 2017 to review and reflect on methods to increase expertise of nursing faculty and students in health policy and make recommendations to the AACN Board to advance the agenda of the organization, member schools, and the profession. This article describes the methods and processes the Think Tank employed to develop a set of recommendations for the AACN Board of Directors.
Use and Discontinuation of Insulin Treatment Among Adults Aged 75 to 79 Years With Type 2 Diabetes.

Importance Among older individuals with type 2 diabetes, those with poor health have greater risk and derive less benefit from tight glycemic control with insulin. Objective To examine whether insulin treatment is used less frequently and discontinued more often among older individuals with poor health compared with those in good health. Design, Setting, and Participants This longitudinal cohort study included 21 531 individuals with type 2 diabetes followed for up to 4 years starting at age 75 years. Electronic health record data from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Diabetes Registry was collected to characterize insulin treatment and glycemic control over time. Data were collected from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2017, and analyzed from February 2, 2018, through June 30, 2019. Exposures Health status was defined as good ( 2 comorbidities or 2 comorbidities and no self-reported weekly exercise), or poor (having end-stage pulmonary, cardiac, or renal disease; diagnosis of dementia; or metastatic cancer). Main Outcomes and Measures Insulin use prevalence at age 75 years and discontinuation among insulin users over the next 4 years (or 6 months prior to death if Results Of 21 531 patients, 10 396 (48.3%) were women, and the mean (SD) age was 75 (0) years. Nearly one-fifth of 75-year-olds (4076 [18.9%]) used insulin. Prevalence and adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) of insulin use at age 75 years were higher in individuals with poor health (29.4%; aRR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.87-2.20;P Conclusions and Relevance In older individuals with type 2 diabetes, insulin use was most prevalent among those in poor health, whereas subsequent insulin discontinuation after age 75 years was most likely in healthier patients. Changes are needed in current practice to better align with guidelines that recommend reducing treatment intensity as health status declines.
Are Differences in the Disulfiram-Alcohol Reaction the Basis of Racial Differences in Biological Sensitivity to Ethanol?

Ingestion of alcohol is a prerequisite for becoming an alcoholic. However, neither do all people drink alcohol equally nor are they all equally at risk for becoming alcoholics. There are large individual differences in both alcohol use and abuse. Such data leave the researcher with perplexing questions. Why is it that some people choose not to drink (for other than financial or religious reasons), why are some others indifferent to alcohol and why do some people prefer to drink alcohol? What factors govern the self-selection of alcoholic beverages? In partial answer to some of these questions, it has been proposed that there exist differences in biological sensitivity to alcohol which may modulate the self-selection process (Kalow, 1962; Wolff, 1972). Implicit in the biological sensitivity hypothesis is the notion that some people experience predominantly pleasant effects from alcohol ingestion whereas others experience mainly unpleasant effects. Further, it is assumed that the experience of pleasant-unpleasant effects has a biological basis.
API design implications of boilerplate client code

Designing usable APIs is critical to developers' productivity and software quality but is quite difficult. In this paper, I focus on "boilerplate" code, sections of code that have to be included in many places with little or no alteration, which many experts in API design have said can be an indicator of API usability problems. I investigate what properties make code count as boilerplate, and present a novel approach to automatically mine boilerplate code from a large set of client code. The technique combines an existing API usage mining algorithm, with novel filters using AST comparison and graph partitioning. With boilerplate candidates identified by the technique, I discuss how this technique could help API designers in reviewing their design decisions and identifying usability issues.
Adapting the "Resist Diabetes" Resistance Training Intervention for Veterans.

Purpose The Resist Diabetes trial demonstrated that twice-per-week resistance training reduced prediabetes prevalence and improved strength among older adults with prediabetes. Our objective was to determine initial perceptions of patients and care providers in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) regarding Resist Diabetes (RD), and ultimately, inform adaptations to improve uptake of RD in the Veterans Health Administration. Methods A mixed-methods approach was utilized. Care providers (n=20) and veterans with prediabetes (n=12) were recruited to gauge perceptions of the RD program and identify barriers and facilitators to the program referral process and program implementation. Care provider perceptions of the acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility were determined using a validated survey. Open-ended questionnaires and interview guides, based upon the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, were utilized to determine major and minor themes within the provider and veteran responses. To identify the dissemination potential of RD, the availability of onsite fitness facilities at VAMC facilities nationally (n=159) was assessed. Results Providers rated (scaled 1-5; 1=completely disagree, 5=completely agree) the RD program as appealing (4.8+/-0.1), appropriate (4.8+/-0.0), and feasible (4.6+/-0.2). Providers reported that prediabetes/diabetes is a significant problem in the VAMC, and that different prevention programs will appeal to different types of VAMC patients. Patients (n=12; 58% female; aged 65+/-10yrs; BMI 34+/-6 kg/m2; HbA1c 5.7+/-1.8%) expressed interest in an exercise-focused diabetes prevention program and defined key barriers: travel, transportation, and time constraints. Among the responding national VAMC sites, 85% (97/114) reported having an onsite fitness facility. Conclusion Salem VAMC care providers and veteran patients demonstrated positive perceptions of the Resist Diabetes program. Program adaptations are needed to address barriers to patient participation including travel, transportation and time constraints.
Using Transfer Learning, SVM, and Ensemble Classification to Classify Baby Cries Based on Their Spectrogram Images

Babies cannot communicate with formal language and instead convey necessary messages through their cries. In babies, the first few months of their growth period are critical to the rest of their lives, as many conditions, such as deafness or brain damage from asphyxia, can be remedied if they are detected during this time period, preventing irreparable damage. The ability to differentiate between types of cries of a baby can prove extremely useful for parents with newborn children. To achieve this, we employ several machine learning, deep learning and ensemble classification techniques. In our work, we use transfer learning with the existing pre-trained convolutional neural network of ResNet50, a Support Vector Machine (SVM). We also perform ensemble classification to combine the predictions of the SVM and deep learning model to classify between different types of baby cries. Models are trained on spectrogram images of the audio files taken from the Baby Chillanto Database. We evaluate our models with ten iterations of 5-fold cross-validation and our models achieve accuracies of more than 90%.
Patient perceptions of pharmacogenomic testing in the community pharmacy setting.

Abstract Background In order to optimize community pharmacist roles and patient outcomes, a better understanding of patient perceptions of pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing may be helpful for successful integration into community pharmacy practice. Objective The objective of this study was to identify patient perceptions related to PGx testing in the community pharmacy setting. Methods Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with adults ≥18 years of age to gather their perceptions of PGx testing. Interview participants were taking either an antiplatelet agent or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor listed in Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) guidelines and were patients at one of two community pharmacies in West Michigan. Interview questions were designed to follow the Theory of Planned Behavior and to take into account existing literature on patient perceptions of PGx. Interviews were recorded, transcribed by a third party transcription service, coded by a team of three researchers to identify themes, and analyzed using nVivo qualitative analysis software. Results A total of 19 interviews were conducted over a period of 16 days in June 2016. Upon preliminary evaluation, four themes related to patient perceptions of PGx testing were consistently observed across multiple interviews: 1) trust, 2) experience, 3) risk/benefit, and 4) clarity. Conclusions Semi-structured patient interviews revealed four themes related to PGx testing in the community pharmacy setting. These themes may influence the desire to pursue PGx testing. Future research may seek to identify how community pharmacists can communicate with patients about PGx in the context of these themes to empower patients to make positive health care decisions.
Opinion: Eight simple actions that individuals can take to save insects from global declines

Insects constitute the vast majority of known animal species and are ubiquitous across terrestrial ecosystems, playing key ecological roles. As prey, they are critical to the survival of countless other species, including the majority of bats, birds, and freshwater fishes (1). As herbivores, predators, and parasites, they are major determinants of the distribution and abundance of innumerable plants and animals. The majority of flowering plants, the dominant component of most terrestrial ecosystems, depend on insects for pollination and hence reproduction. As consumers of waste products, insects are essential to the recycling of nutrients. Humans and their agriculture rely heavily on such “ecosystem services” provided by insects (Fig. 1 A – J ), which together have at least an annual value of ∼$70 billion (2020 valuation) in the United States (2). Insects also provide humans with honey, silk, wax, dyes, and, in many cultures, food. Insects have become essential subjects in medical and basic biological research. Furthermore, insects are one of the most easily accessible forms of wildlife, with a diversity of morphology, life history, and behavior that seems ready-made for inspiring appreciation of nature and its conservation (Fig. 1 K – T ). Fig. 1. Examples of insects that are beneficial to humans ( A – J ), and examples of amazing things that insects do ( K – T ). A , Pollinator: Honey bee ( Apis mellifera ). B , Bumble bee ( Bombus sp.). C , Decomposer: Dung beetle (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). D , Biocontrol: Ladybird beetle ( Harmonia sp.). E , Ecosystem service: Ants (Formicidae). F , Silk production: Silk moth ( Bombyx mori ). G , Research: Fruit fly ( Drosophila melanogaster ). H , Vaccine development, including coronavirus: Alfalfa looper moth ( Autographa californica ). I , Dye production: Cochineal scale insect ( Dactylopius coccus ). J , Environmental assessment: Stonefly (Plecoptera). K , Visual systems: Dragonflies (e.g., Neurothemis sp.) have near 360° vision. L , Visual defense: … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: kawahara{at}flmnh.ufl.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
The Association of Social Determinants of Health With COVID-19 Mortality in Rural and Urban Counties.

PURPOSE: To identify the county-level effects of social determinants of health (SDoH) on COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019) mortality rates by rural-urban residence and estimate county-level exceedance probabilities for detecting clusters. METHODS: The county-level data on COVID-19 death counts as of October 23, 2020, were obtained from the Johns Hopkins University. SDoH data were collected from the County Health Ranking and Roadmaps, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Semiparametric negative binomial regressions with expected counts based on standardized mortality rates as offset variables were fitted using integrated Laplace approximation. Bayesian significance was assessed by 95% credible intervals (CrI) of risk ratios (RR). County-level mortality hotspots were identified by exceedance probabilities. FINDINGS: The COVID-19 mortality rates per 100,000 were 65.43 for the urban and 50.78 for the rural counties. Percent of Blacks, HIV, and diabetes rates were significantly associated with higher mortality in rural and urban counties, whereas the unemployment rate (adjusted RR = 1.479, CrI = 1.171, 1.867) and residential segregation (adjusted RR = 1.034, CrI = 1.019, 1.050) were associated with increased mortality in urban counties. Counties with a higher percentage of college or associate degrees had lower COVID-19 mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS: SDoH plays an important role in explaining differential COVID-19 mortality rates and should be considered for resource allocations and policy decisions on operational needs for businesses and schools at county levels.
Adapting pharmacy experiential education during COVID-19: Innovating remote preceptor resources, tools, and patient care delivery beyond virtual meetings.

PURPOSE To describe the innovative teaching practices, tools, and resources for remote learning developed by a school of pharmacy with a decentralized experiential program to empower and support preceptors in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. SUMMARY As the pandemic has continued, there have been significant shifts in pharmacy workflow, staffing, and patient care delivery. Pharmacy students are slowly being reintegrated into these learning environments. Although preceptors are willing and eager to teach, many lack the resources, tools, and support to create remote learning experiences at their facilities. The University of the Pacific Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy has a decentralized experiential education model in which faculty regional coordinators with clinical practices and diverse expertise are disseminated throughout California. This model allowed us to collaborate and understand preceptor needs from a local level. We created a preceptor COVID-19 guidance document, introduced innovative virtual playbooks to pivot up to 100% remote rotations, and promoted the layered learning model to integrate pharmacy residents into the remote teaching space. Communication and flexibility are key to ensure student and preceptor safety while maintaining high-quality advanced pharmacy practice experiences and preserving patient-student relationships in telehealth. CONCLUSION Overall, we successfully created innovative solutions and leveraged our decentralized experiential model to meet the teaching and learning demands during an unanticipated crisis. We continue to adapt and plan to assess the effectiveness of the tools by administering surveys of preceptors and pharmacy students.
Assigning Authenticity: Future Directions for Undergraduate Writing in Sociology:

Social movements seeking to dismantle white supremacy within academia cast long-running debates over writing instruction in a new light. This conversation approaches these critiques as an opportuni...
Degranulation enhances presynaptic membrane packing, which protects NK cells from perforin-mediated autolysis.

Natural killer (NK) cells kill a target cell by secreting perforin into the lytic immunological synapse, a specialized interface formed between the NK cell and its target. Perforin creates pores in target cell membranes allowing delivery of proapoptotic enzymes. Despite the fact that secreted perforin is in close range to both the NK and target cell membranes, the NK cell typically survives while the target cell does not. How NK cells preferentially avoid death during the secretion of perforin via the degranulation of their perforin-containing organelles (lytic granules) is perplexing. Here, we demonstrate that NK cells are protected from perforin-mediated autolysis by densely packed and highly ordered presynaptic lipid membranes, which increase packing upon synapse formation. When treated with 7-ketocholesterol, lipid packing is reduced in NK cells making them susceptible to perforin-mediated lysis after degranulation. Using high-resolution imaging and lipidomics, we identified lytic granules themselves as having endogenously densely packed lipid membranes. During degranulation, lytic granule–cell membrane fusion thereby further augments presynaptic membrane packing, enhancing membrane protection at the specific sites where NK cells would face maximum concentrations of secreted perforin. Additionally, we found that an aggressive breast cancer cell line is perforin resistant and evades NK cell–mediated killing owing to a densely packed postsynaptic membrane. By disrupting membrane packing, these cells were switched to an NK-susceptible state, which could suggest strategies for improving cytotoxic cell-based cancer therapies. Thus, lipid membranes serve an unexpected role in NK cell functionality protecting them from autolysis, while degranulation allows for the inherent lytic granule membrane properties to create local ordered lipid “shields” against self-destruction.
Credit Supply and the Rise in College Tuition: Evidence from the Expansion in Federal Student Aid Programs

When students fund their education through loans, changes in student borrowing and tuition are interlinked. Higher tuition costs raise loan demand, but loan supply also affects equilibrium tuition costs — for example, by relaxing students’ funding constraints. To resolve this simultaneity problem, we exploit detailed student-level financial data and changes in federal student aid programs to identify the impact of increased student loan funding on tuition. We find that institutions more exposed to changes in the subsidized federal loan program increased their tuition disproportionately around these policy changes, with a sizable pass-through effect on tuition of about 65 percent. We also find that Pell Grant aid and the unsubsidized federal loan program have pass-through effects on tuition, although these are economically and statistically not as strong. The subsidized loan effect on tuition is most pronounced for expensive, private institutions that are somewhat, but not among the most, selective.
Optical Probe Diffusion in Polymer Solutions

The experimental literature on the motion of mesoscopic probe particles through polymer solutions is systematically reviewed. The primary focus is the study of diffusive motion of small probe particles. Comparison is made with measurements of solution viscosities. A coherent description was obtained, namely that the probe diffusion coefficient generally depends on polymer concentration as D_p = D_0 exp(-alpha c^nu). One finds that alpha depends on polymer molecular weights as alpha ~ M^0.8, and \nu appears to have large-M and small-M values with a crossover linking them. The probe diffusion coefficient does not simply track the solution viscosity; instead, D_p eta typically increases markedly with increasing polymer concentration and molecular weight. In some systems, e.g., hydroxypropylcellulose:water, the observed probe spectra are bi- or tri-modal. Extended analysis of the full probe phenomenology implies that hydroxypropylcellulose solutions are characterized by a single, concentration-independent, length scale that is approximately the size of a polymer coil. In a very few systems, one sees re-entrant or low-concentration-plateau behaviors of uncertain interpretation; from their rarity, these behaviors are reasonably interpreted as corresponding to specific chemical effects. True microrheological studies examining the motion of mesoscopic particles under the influence of a known external force are also examined. Viscosity from true microrheological measurements is in many cases substantially smaller than the viscosity measured with a macroscopic instrument.
Two desensitization processes of GABA receptor from rat brain. Rapid measurements of chloride ion flux using quench-flow techniques.

Abstract Two rapid phases of GABA receptor desensitization, which proceeded with a 10-fold difference in rates, were detected in two types of experiment with membrane vesicle preparations from rat cerebral cortex. (i) The time course of GABA-mediated 36Cl− influx progressed in two phases. (ii) The 36Cl− influx was decreased, by preincubation with GABA, in two phases. Measurements were made in the time range 10–1000 ms. The major loss of channel opening activity occurred in the faster phase, which was complete in 100 ms with saturating GABA concentrations. The remaining activity decreased in a slower phase in a few seconds with a 10-fold slower rate. The faster phase of desensitization was more than 10-fold faster than previously observed and the slower phase was slightly faster than previously reported measurements with GABA receptor. Both desensitization processes had a similar dependence on GABA concentration with a half response at ∼ 100 μM GABA.
Formation and Secular Evolution of Elliptical Galaxies

Three ways have been proposed to make elliptical galaxies: cooling by gas dynamical processes at late epochs, Compton cooling at early times and merging. These theories must address a variety of observational constraints, the most severe being the problems of slow rotation and high central phase densities. I look at some aspects of all three theories with particular attention to key numerical simulations and observations that can distinguish between the scenarios.
History of Iran: Empire of the Mind – By Michael Axworthy

The author of this book was a British Foreign Service officer in Iran from 1998 to 2000. He offers a lucid account of Iranian history and culture in nine chapters.In chapter one, Michael Axworthy d...
Comparison and hybridization of neural networks and fuzzy logic in biomedical applications

Neural networks and fuzzy logic are cousins under the aegis of human-thought-inspired soft computing, which, in contrast to tradition or hard computing, is robust to imprecision, uncertainty, partial truth, and approximation. As such, these two techniques share common abilities; however, they are very different. Individually, both techniques are widely used in biomedical applications, but there is a real power in combining the two to form neurofuzzy or fuzzy-neural systems (not the same thing). In addition to expounding neural networks and fuzzy logic individually and in hybrids, this paper presents biomedical applications of these soft computing approaches.
Molecular Pathology and Diagnostics of Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma

Of all the molecular alterations that may have predictive value in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), testing for EGFR mutations is usually the first step in determining course of adjuvant therapy. Activation of EGFR mutations, and perhaps amplification, predicts the response of NSCLC to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The presence of activating KRAS mutations predicts resistance to TKI therapy, but the value of this test is questionable in NSCLC given that the coexistence of both EGFR and KRAS mutations in the same patient is extremely rare and the presence of a KRAS mutation may not have much different significance than the absence of an EGFR mutation. In patients who are considered for gemcitabine therapy, measurement of ribonucleotide reductase subunit 1 (RRM1) expression levels may help predict which patients are less likely to respond, as higher levels of RRM1 have been shown to overcome the anti-metabolite of this drug. Similarly, in patients being considered for platinum-based therapy, determination of excision-repair cross complementing-1 protein (ERCC1) expression level may help predict which patients are less likely to respond, given that ERCC1 repairs platinum-induced DNA damage. The use of these predictive factors ideally will help target therapy to individual tumors to achieve the best chance for long-term survival and to avoid side effects from medications that are unlikely to have any effect. Further studies will continue to refine testing and treatment algorithms.
Note---Comments on Goal Programming for Aggregate Planning

A recently proposed goal programming approach to aggregate planning of production rates and work force levels is reviewed and it is pointed out that there is very little difference between the “new approach” and the earlier Hansemann and Hess linear programming formulation. It is noted that the HMMS model used as a test vehicle in the original article can also be viewed as a goal programming formulation. Some more general opinions on the role of modelling in decision making are also included.
On the misadventures of the sophists: Hegel's tropological appropriation of rhetoric

The author examines Hegel's incorporation of the Sophists into the history of philosophy. The basic argument is that Hegel's history of the Sophists operates along tropological lines, the exact same lines that the truth claims of his philosophy oppose. Using the tropes of metaphor, metonymy and prolepsis, the author shows that when Hegel places the Sophists in the process of the teleological unfolding of reason he employs the very rhetorical mechanisms he denounces.
And They Sang the “Marseillaise”: A Look at the Left French Press as It Responded to the Haymarket

This is a tale of two cities Chicago and Pans They were different worlds, one the gem of western Europe, the other the gem of the prairies, yet both had a working class movement in the 1870s and 1880s that produced a unique set of historical events which have served a symbolic function of communicating be tween one side of the globe and another To illustrate these events as they ap peared to one continent from the other I will begin with Chicago and demon strate how the Pans Commune served as a symbolic event which gave meaning to local political struggles in the Windy City Then, as the Haymarket Affair of 1886 unfolds, I will shift to Pans and the left-wing press as it tried to trans late Chicago events into something meaningful for French workers If these were the best of times and worst of times for workers in the late nineteenth century, then it is worth exploring the uses of these events in the creation of a working-class language of internationalism Unlike the French workers after the Pans Commune, the Chicago work ers were having some success in local politics in the late 1870s The growth of the Knights of Labor, with three district assemblies in Chicago in 1878, added to the strength of the Socialist Labor Party in the city The SLP took 15 per cent of the city vote in 1878 and elected its first alderman, state senators and assemblymen The socialists celebrated with a pageant, complete with the union and red flags draped over huge portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Ferdi nand Lassalle, and George Washington The next year the party platform grew more radical and party functions reflected that change With hopes for a stun ning victory they launched the ticket with a "Dawn of Liberty" exposition, a two-day festival held in March to celebrate the German Revolution of 1848 and the Pans Commune The festival marked the height of the SLP's influ ence, they polled 20 percent of the vote in 1879, but in the next few years mter party disputes, blatant ballot box stealing, and pressures from a declining economy all worked to weaken the socialists in the city x Albert Parsons, an SLP party worker and member of the Knights of La bor, concluded, "the ballot boxes and all other peaceful ways to secure a re form are under the command of capital " Later, after his arrest for the Hay
Formation and properties of new Ni-based amorphous alloys with critical casting thickness up to 5 mm

New Ni-based bulk metallic glasses were synthesized in NixCua−xTiyZrb−yAl10 (a~b~45 at.%) system, based on a ternary alloy, Ni45Ti20Zr35. The additions of Al and Cu greatly increase the glass-forming ability (GFA). The best GFA is located around Ni40Cu5Ti16.5Zr28.5Al10, from which fully amorphous samples of up to 5 mm thickness were successfully fabricated by an injection mold casting method. These alloys exhibit high glass-transition temperatures Tg ~ 760 to 780 K, and relatively wide undercooled-liquid regions ΔT (defined by the difference between Tg and the first crystallization temperature Tx1 upon heating) ~ 40–50 K. Mechanical tests on these alloys show quite high Vicker's Hardness ~ 780 to 862 kg/mm^2, Young's modulus ~ 111 to 134 GPa, shear modulus ~ 40 to 50 GPa and high fracture strength ~ 2.3 to 2.4 GPa. The effect of small Si-addition and a discrepancy between GFA and ΔT are also reported. The exceptional GFA and the all-metallic compositions give these new alloys excellent promise for both scientific and engineering applications.
Measurement of intrinsic dynamics of SOA using outband optical modulation

A parasitic-free technique using outband optical modulation for measuring a semiconductor optical amplifier's (SOA's) dynamic response is proposed. It is demonstrated that a counter-propagating scheme is useful in measuring the carrier lifetimes and the response obtained with a co-propagating scheme includes the transmission function of an SOA.
Modeling Effort and Lobbying in a Heterogeneous Common Pool Resource Setting

Extraction from a common pool resource (CPR), such as a fishery, can lead to socially inefficient and undesirable outcomes as a result of appropriation problems. Through regulation of the CPR, users may achieve a more profitable and socially efficient outcome. Feeny et al. (Land Econ 72(2):187–205, 1996) delve into some of the assumptions made by traditional CPR models and how use of those assumptions provides an incomplete framework to guide fishery policy. In the theoretical models we develop, we relax two of those assumptions: CPR users are homogeneous and are unable to create, or influence, management of the resource. We note a case where regulation of the individual user can induce others to harvest more, and relate this to the slippage effect concept. Regarding resource sustainability, we document situations where incentives exist for CPR users to lobby for tighter regulations and thus increase profits by limiting the tragedy of the commons influence.
Influence of surface modification of Ti-SBA15 catalysts on the epoxidation mechanism for cyclohexene with aqueous hydrogen peroxide

The thermolytic molecular precursor method was used to introduce site-isolated Ti(IV) centers onto the surface of a mesoporous SBA15 support. The resulting surface Si-OH/Ti-OH sites of the Ti-SBA15 catalysts were modified with a series of (N,N-dimethylamino)trialkylsilanes, Me(2)N-SiMe(2)(R) (where R = Me, (n)Bu, or (n)Oc). Compared with the unmodified catalysts, the surface-modified catalysts are more active in the oxidation of cyclohexene with H(2)O(2) and exhibit a significantly higher selectivity (up to 58%) for cyclohexene oxide formation (vs allylic oxidation products). In situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and diffuse reflectance UV visible (DRUV-vis) spectroscopies were used to probe this phenomenon, and it was determined that active sites with capped titanol centers, (SiO(surface))(3)Ti(OSiR(3)), likely undergo Ti-OOH formation upon addition of H(2)O(2) in a manner analogous to that for active sites of the type (SiO(surface))(3)TiOH. On the basis of the observation of similar Ti-OOH intermediates for both species, the electron-withdrawing effects on the Ti(IV) active site, resulting from the surface modification, are likely responsible for the observed increase in selectivity.
Urea reabsorption along the papillary collecting duct in potassium-deficient rats

These experiments were designed to evaluate the hypothesis that K+ deficiency may be associated with decreased delivery of urea to the renal papillary collecting duct and/or decreased reabsorption of urea from the papillary collecting duct. Either of these factors would result in diminished capacity for urea recycling and might explain the mechanism of the urinary concentrating defect that is observed in K+ depletion. Munich-Wistar rats were fed 25 ml of water and 12 g of normal (CON) or K+-deficient (KD) diet each day for 21 days. Papillary collecting duct samples were obtained by micropuncture through the intact ureter. Fractional delivery of H2O to the base and tip of the papillary collecting duct was increased in KD as compared to CON rats (1.50 +/- 0.30% in KD vs 0.72 +/- 0.09% in CON at the base, P less than 0.01; and 0.55 +/- 0.08% in KD vs 0.30 +/- 0.05% in CON at the tip, P less than 0.01). However, fractional delivery of urea to the base and tip of the papillary collecting duct was not different between KD and CON rats (26.9 +/- 5.6% in KD vs 21.4 +/- 3.3% in CON at the base, P greater than 0.05; and 12.4 +/- 1.5% in KD vs 10.4 +/- 1.4% in CON at the tip, P greater than 0.05). Furthermore, reabsorption of water or urea between the base and tip of the papillary collecting duct was not decreased in KD as compared to CON rats (water reabsorption was 57.8 +/- 4.4% in KD and 55.9 +/- 5.11% in CON and urea reabsorption was 45.0 +/- 6.5% in KD and 45.9 +/- 5.4% in CON, P greater than 0.05). These results demonstrate that water reabsorption, but not urea reabsorption, is impaired in renal tubules proximal to the accessible papillary collecting duct in hydropenic rats.
Convention center operations: some questions answered

Abstract Convention centers continue to be built or expanded, worldwide. But, with all these new and expanded centers coming on-line, which ones will succeed and which will fail? Is there an optimum sized city that would do well to have a convention center? Is it only the large sized centers that can compete effectively? What type of management structure works best and helps insure the success of a center? The current study answers some of these strategic questions in convention center planning and development.
Clinical Implications of Therapeutic Exercise in HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS poses serious risks to the health of millions around the globe. Despite decades of research, no cure or vaccine has been found to prevent this disease and the resultant morbidity and mortality. New antiretroviral drug regimens, such as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), offer benefits at the cost of debilitating side effects. Other therapies, such as steroid and growth hormone administration, are also effective in treating HIV-related symptoms, but with serious side effects and increased cost (Basaria, Wahlstrom, & Dobs, 2001; Schambelan et al., 1996). Alternative therapies, the most commonly used of which is therapeutic exercise, are currently being explored to deal with symptoms and complications of chronic HIV infection without the unwanted side effects (Standish et al., 2001). Therapeutic exercise has been used successfully in the treatment of diabetes (Albright et al., 2000), dyslipidemias (Durstine & Haskell, 1994), hypertension (JNC VI, 1997), cardiovascular disease (American College of Sports Medicine, 1994) and certain types of cancer (Winningham, MacVicar, Bondoc, Anderson, & Minton, 1989). The benefits of regular exercise also extend to the population infected with HIV. Chronic HIV infection is associated with muscle wasting, muscle weakness, fatigue, impaired functional work capacity, depression, and decreased quality of life, which lead to disability and mortality. Exercise can positively affect many aspects of the physical and mental health of HIV-infected patients. The effects of prolonged, high-intensity exercise, or overtraining, have been well documented to increase the severity of infections and to negatively affect immune function in humans and increase mortality in animal models. It is for these reasons that many physicians still instruct their HIV-infected clients to avoid physical exertion, despite evidence that moderateintensity exercise can decrease symptoms of HIV infection and positively affect immune measures.
The TRPV1 receptor agonist capsaicin is an ineffective bronchoprovocant in an experimental model of feline asthma

ObjectivesAirway hyper-responsiveness (AHR), a key feature of feline asthma, can be measured using bronchoprovocation testing. Limitations of both direct and indirect bronchoprovocants evaluated to...
Inferring functional connections between neurons

A central question in neuroscience is how interactions between neurons give rise to behavior. In many electrophysiological experiments, the activity of a set of neurons is recorded while sensory stimuli or movement tasks are varied. Tools that aim to reveal underlying interactions between neurons from such data can be extremely useful. Traditionally, neuroscientists have studied these interactions using purely descriptive statistics (cross-correlograms or joint peri-stimulus time histograms). However, the interpretation of such data is often difficult, particularly as the number of recorded neurons grows. Recent research suggests that model-based, maximum likelihood methods can improve these analyses. In addition to estimating neural interactions, application of these techniques has improved decoding of external variables, created novel interpretations of existing electrophysiological data, and may provide new insight into how the brain represents information.