cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
How to Make Tarp II Work

Treasury Secretary Geithner announced a plan, which the Treasury is willing to finance with up to $1 trillion of public funds, to partner with private capital to buy banks' troubled assets. The Treasury has not yet settled on the plan's design, and its announcement has encountered substantial skepticism as to whether an effective plan for a public-private partnership in buying troubled assets can be worked out. This paper argues that, yes, it can. The paper also analyzes how the plan should be designed to contribute most to restarting the market for troubled assets at the least cost to taxpayers. The government's plan should focus on establishing a significant number of competing funds that will be privately managed and dedicated to buying troubled assets - not on creating one, large public-private aggregator bank. Establishing competing funds, I show, is necessary both to securing a well-functioning market for troubled assets and to keeping costs to taxpayers at a minimum.Each new fund will be partly financed with private capital, with the rest coming (say, in the form of non-recourse debt financing) from the government's Investment Fund planned by the Treasury. One important element of the proposed design is a competitive process in which private managers seeking to establish a fund participating in the program will submit bids as to what fraction of the fund's capital will be funded privately. The government will set the fraction of each participating fund's capital that must be financed with private money at the highest level that, given the received bids, will still enable establishing new funds with aggregate capital equal to the program's target level. Overall, I show that the proposed design will leverage private capital to the fullest extent possible and will provide the most effective and least costly mechanism for restarting the market for troubled assets.The paper builds on and develops the proposal for using privately managed funds for buying troubled assets I first put forward in A Plan for Addressing the Financial Crisis (Harvard Law & Econ. Discussion Paper No. 620, 2009), available at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1273241. The analysis of this proposal is further developed in “Buying Troubled Assets, Yale Journal on Regulation, 2009, available at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1392808.
Effect of topical application of 0.5% proparacaine on corneal culture results from 33 dogs, 12 cats, and 19 horses with spontaneously arising ulcerative keratitis.

Author(s): Edwards, Sydney G; Maggs, David J; Byrne, Barbara A; Kass, Philip H; Lassaline, Mary E | Abstract: ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of topically applied proparacaine on bacterial and fungal culture results and to compare cytologic and culture results in patients with ulcerative keratitis.ProcedureCorneal samples were collected from 33 dogs, 19 horses, and 12 cats with spontaneously arising ulcerative keratitis. Samples for bacterial (dogs, cats, horses) and fungal (horses) cultures were collected prior to and following application of 0.5% proparacaine or saline. All patients then received a topical anesthetic, and samples were collected for cytology. Frequency of cultivatable bacteria before (Swab 1) and after (Swab 2) application of proparacaine or saline was compared using Fisher's exact test. Homogeneity of culture and cytology results was assessed using McNemar's test.ResultsNo difference was detected in number of animals from which bacteria were isolated from Swab 1 or Swab 2 for proparacaine (21/37 and 17/37, respectively) or saline (10/27 and 12/27, respectively). Small numbers prevented analysis of fungal culture results in horses between Swab 1 and Swab 2 for proparacaine (2/12 and 1/12, respectively) or saline (both, 1/8). Bacteria were isolated from 10 of 20 horses and detected cytologically in 3 of these; fungi were isolated from 3 of 20 horses and detected cytologically in 2 of these. Bacteria were detected more frequently using culture (31/64) than cytology (19/64).ConclusionProparacaine did not significantly alter bacterial or fungal culture results in cats, dogs, or horses; however, clinical significance warrants investigation. Culture and cytology provided complementary data; both should be performed to maximize organism detection in patients with ulcerative keratitis.
Utilization and perception of live-blogging coverage of an international manual physical therapy conference.

ABSTRACTObjective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the utilization and perception of live blogged sessions of a physical therapy (PT) conference.Methods: Sessions at an international PT conference were covered in real time using a live-blogging platform. Session coverage could be viewed remotely using computers and mobile devices. Viewers could interact with the content by clicking on links and using the comment feature. Sessions could also be replayed following their conclusion. An online survey of user perceptions was made available the week following the conference.Results: Twenty-four sessions were live blogged with an average session length of 67 min (range: 27–120). On average, live sessions received 27 views (range: 2–65), 18 clicks (range: 2–36), and 2 comments (range: 0–10). The average time spent viewing a live session was 28 min (32% of viewers 1 min). Following the conference, session replays totaled 7206 views and 2910 clicks. The average survey respondent (n = 17) w...
Superior Performance of Teaching and Transplant Hospitals in the Management of Hepatic Encephalopathy from 2007 to 2014.

Background and Aims: Hepatic encephalopathy is a liver disease complication with significant mortality and costs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative performance of facilities based on their teaching status and transplant capability by correlating their connections to mortality, cost, and length of stay from 2007 to 2014.
Social Microbial Prosthesis: Towards Super-Organism Centered Design

In this paper, I speculate on a future where our need to socialize physically is solely to exchange bacteria. With our biological data being in the hands of private companies and governments and our environments' microbiomes becoming less diverse, our social systems, social identities and social interactions are redefined and reinvented to adapt to this new reality. In this world, everyone wears a "social microbial prosthesis" that analyzes their microbial composition from their breath and reveals sensitive information on their chest. The microbial prosthesis would be able to give off information not only on the microbial composition but also on the mental and physical health of a person. This second skin plays a role in controlling communication and interaction between people, where one is able to, by inspecting surrounding people's prosthesis, take careful considerations of who to interact with and who to avoid. Social Microbial Prosthesis is a critique of the race of private companies and governments to collect our biological data, the role of commercializing such data in shaping and changing our social identities and a response to the loss of microbial diversity in our environments due to our modern lifestyles and surroundings.
Feasibility of a behavioral automaticity intervention among African Americans at risk for metabolic syndrome

Targeting habit-development (behavioral automaticity) as part of healthy lifestyle behavior change interventions may improve the adoption and maintenance of healthful behaviors. Few studies, however, have evaluated the feasibility of using a habit-development approach to foster the adoption of recommended physical activity and dietary behaviors. We report quantitative and qualitative data from a feasibility study evaluating a habit-formation intervention to foster healthy dietary and physical activity habits among middle aged African Americans with metabolic syndrome. Using a non-comparative design we evaluated the feasibility an 8-week, hybrid format (telecoaching and face-to-face sessions), habit-focused intervention targeting the development of healthful dietary and physical activity habit development among 24 African Americans aged 40 and older with metabolic syndrome recruited from the emergency department – a setting where individuals in under-resourced communities often go for primary care. We administered behavioral automaticity measures tailored to participants’ self-selected habits biweekly during the intervention and collected clinical outcomes of systolic blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, and BMI at baseline week 20. Participant attrition from the program was high (~ 50%). Despite high levels of attrition, 92% of intervention completers were extremely satisfied with the program. Intervention completers also experienced gains in behavioral automaticity for both dietary and physical activity habits. Overall, higher levels of adherence were associated with higher positive gains in automaticity with the statistical significance of the associations being more pronounced for physical activity habit plans relative to dietary habit plans. Our preliminary data support a habit-development approach for fostering the adoption of healthful dietary and physical activity habits. However, in this pilot study high rates of attrition were seen, suggesting that strategies to improve retention and participant engagement should be included in future studies, particularly when targeting African American emergency department patients. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03370419 Registered 12/11/2017, retrospectively registered.
Role of Physical Performance Assessments and Need for a Standardized Protocol for Selection of Older Kidney Transplant Candidates.

The older adult population (65 years or older) with advanced or end-stage kidney disease is steadily growing, but rates of transplantation within this cohort have not increased in a similar fashion. Physical deconditioning, resulting in poor post-transplantation outcomes, is a primary concern among older renal patients. The assessment of physical function often holds more weight in the selection process for older candidates, despite evidence showing benefits of transplantation to this vulnerable population. Although several frailty assessment tools are being used increasingly to assess functional status, there is no standardized selection process for older candidates based on these assessment results. Also, it is unknown if timely targeted physical therapy interventions in older patients result in significant improvement of functioning capacity, translating to higher listing and transplantation rates, and improved post-transplantation outcomes. It is therefore of upmost importance not only to incorporate an effective objective functional status assessment process into selection and waitlist evaluation protocols, but also to have targeted interventions in place to maintain and improve physical conditioning among older renal patients. This paper reviews the commonly utilized assessment tools, and their applicability to older patients with renal disease. We also propose the need for definitive selection and waitlist management guidelines to formulate a streamlined assessment of functional capacity and transplant eligibility, as well as a process to maintain functional status, thereby increasing the access of older patients to renal transplantation.
C–C and C–X coupling reactions of unactivated alkyl electrophiles using copper catalysis

Transition metal-catalysed cross-coupling reactions are widely used for construction of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. However, compared to aryl or alkenyl electrophiles, the cross-coupling of unactivated alkyl electrophiles containing β hydrogens remains a challenge. Over the past few years, the use of suitable ligands such as bulky phosphines or N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) has enabled reactions of unactivated alkyl electrophiles not only limited to the traditional cross-coupling with Grignard reagents, but also including a diverse range of organic transformations via either SN2 or radical pathways. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent development in copper-catalysed C-C, C-N, C-B, C-Si and C-F bond-forming reactions using unactivated alkyl electrophiles.
Variable-Radix Coding of the Reals

Recently proposed real number systems like Posits and Elias codes make use of tapered accuracy resulting from variable-length coding of exponents and significands. Several quite different interpretations of these number systems have been provided, though most often these rely on some combination of fixed- and variable-length codes for exponent and significand. We provide a new perspective on these number systems that unifies known representations while suggesting new ones. Our framework is based on multibit radix representations that encode the exponent in unary, the leading nonzero digit in a variablelength code, and the remaining digits in fixed-length binary code. We show how Posits, the various Elias codes, and ieee 754 like representations can be expressed in this framework. Moreover, we show that Posits and the Elias γ and δ codes represent the leading digit using the canonical Huffman code for a probability distribution given by Benford’s law, which governs the probability of leading digits. We further show that Posits correspond to the use of a fixed radix while Elias δ and ω codes are based on simple sequences of increasing radix. Our approach provides for an intuitive and uniform framework for representing numbers that reveals a visual mapping between codewords and the binary representation of real numbers obscured by prior frameworks. This new interpretation suggests a generalization of Posits and other number systems and provides simple rules for designing information-theoretically optimal codes.
Creation of a dedicated line team for critically ill patients with COVID-19: A multidisciplinary approach to maximize resource utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background:Pandemics create challenges for medical centers, which call for innovative adaptations to care for patients during the unusually high census, to distribute stress and work hours among pr...
Direct numerical simulation of a turbulent boundary layer over a bump with strong pressure gradients

The turbulent boundary layer over a Gaussian-shaped bump is computed by direct numerical simulation of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The two-dimensional bump causes a series of strong pressure gradients alternating in rapid succession. At the inflow, the momentum thickness Reynolds number is approximately of the bump height. Direct numerical simulation results show that the strong favourable pressure gradient (FPG) causes the boundary layer to enter a relaminarization process. The near-wall turbulence is significantly weakened and becomes intermittent, however, relaminarization does not complete. The streamwise velocity profiles deviate above the standard logarithmic law and the Reynolds shear stress is reduced. The strong acceleration also suppresses the wall-shear normalized turbulent kinetic energy production rate. At the bump peak, where the FPG switches to an adverse gradient (APG), the near-wall turbulence is suddenly enhanced through a partial retransition process. This results in a new highly energized internal layer which is more resilient to the strong APG and only produces incipient flow separation on the downstream side. In the strong FPG and APG regions, the inner and outer layers become largely independent of each other. The near-wall region responds to the pressure gradients and determines the skin friction. The outer layer behaves similarly to a free shear layer subject to pressure gradients and mean streamline curvature effects. Results from a RANS simulation of the bump are also discussed and clearly show the lack of predictive capacity of the near-wall pressure gradient effects on the mean flow.
Outing On Outside Group Spending On Elections

Outside spending has increased dramatically since 2010, exceeding the rate of increase of total federal campaign spending and even accounting for more spending than did the candidates in more than 120 competitive races in the last decade. This essay outlines the detrimental effects of these developments on candidates, campaigns, and institutions, e.g., an increased threat of corruption, intensified political polarization, marginalization of political parties, and increasing levels of negative advertising. Because of the rapid rate at which outside spending is increasing, the trajectory of these adverse impacts threatens the integrity of political campaigns in 2020 and future elections. Doctrinal changes introduced by Citizens United and SpeechNow.org have enabled, even invited, the rise and proliferation of campaign vehicles that can raise unlimited sums, often from a small group of high-wealth donors and often with no disclosure or sham disclosure. Ideally the doctrines in question would be reversed or rendered less potent through judicial or legislative actions. This essay argues, however, that in the absence of such judicial or legislative action, there are at present numerous laws on the books that, if enforced by the FEC and IRS, would greatly reduce the undesirable consequences of the rapid increase in outside funding and dark money. It details those laws, and it elaborates and counters the arguments that some have raised to implementing them as the lawmakers that enacted them intended. In short, if the two agencies commit today to enforcing the law as written, the worst excesses of the current electoral process would be meaningfully redressed.
Magnetic Nanoparticles in Biology and Medicine: Past, Present, and Future Trends.

The use of magnetism in medicine has changed dramatically since its first application by the ancient Greeks in 624 BC. Now, by leveraging magnetic nanoparticles, investigators have developed a range of modern applications that use external magnetic fields to manipulate biological systems. Drug delivery systems that incorporate these particles can target therapeutics to specific tissues without the need for biological or chemical cues. Once precisely located within an organism, magnetic nanoparticles can be heated by oscillating magnetic fields, which results in localized inductive heating that can be used for thermal ablation or more subtle cellular manipulation. Biological imaging can also be improved using magnetic nanoparticles as contrast agents; several types of iron oxide nanoparticles are US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as contrast agents that can improve image resolution and information content. New imaging modalities, such as magnetic particle imaging (MPI), directly detect magnetic nanoparticles within organisms, allowing for background-free imaging of magnetic particle transport and collection. “Lab-on-a-chip” technology benefits from the increased control that magnetic nanoparticles provide over separation, leading to improved cellular separation. Magnetic separation is also becoming important in next-generation immunoassays, in which particles are used to both increase sensitivity and enable multiple analyte detection. More recently, the ability to manipulate material motion with external fields has been applied in magnetically actuated soft robotics that are designed for biomedical interventions. In this review article, the origins of these various areas are introduced, followed by a discussion of current clinical applications, as well as emerging trends in the study and application of these materials.
P21 College Students Attending Online Programs Have Lower Rates of Food Insecurity than Residential Students

Background Residential students living off-campus report greater food insecurity than those living on campus. Distance education programs are becoming popular and provide a way to continue one's education from home. The food security status of students completing their programs online is unknown. Objective To assess food security among college students by program type- residential or online. Study Design, Settings, Participants Cross-sectional study, students aged 18 years or older, attending a large Southern university completed an online survey in 2019. Measurable Outcomes/Analysis Food security status was assessed using the Adult Food Security Survey Module and students were classified as either food secure or insecure. Students belonged to either a residential or an online program. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether food security status differed by program type while adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, family financial support, receipt of financial aid, and status as a first-generation student. Demographic and financial differences associated with food insecurity were compared by program type. Results Among students (n = 2,819), 43.1% were food insecure and 9.8% were online students. Food insecurity prevalence among the residential students was significantly higher than students obtaining their degree online (44.3% vs 32.6%, OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.8, 3.9). When compared to residential students, online students were more likely to be female (OR = 3.6, 95% CI = 2.2, 6.1), older (OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 1.1, 1.2), married (OR = 5.3, 95% CI = 3.5, 8.0), employed full-time (OR = 7.7, 95% CI = 4.5, 13.0) and less likely to receive financial aid (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4, 0.8) and family support (OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4, 0.9). Conclusion The prevalence of food insecurity among students in this sample is twice as high as that of the state and nation. However, students in an online program may be more food secure compared to residential students. Further studies are needed to assess factors that may be associated with food insecurity among online students.
Secondary headaches

In this article, we develop an approach to the headache patient based upon pattern of headache. Headache can be acute recurrent, acute, chronic progressive, and chronic nonprogressive. Within each pattern we go through the differential diagnosis, with a focus on secondary causes of headache. Although most patients presenting with headache will end up having migraine, we must be able to recognize the other causes when they present.
Pilot randomized trial of self-guided virtual reality exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder.

Abstract Background Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE) has shown promising efficacy for the treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and related comorbidities. However, most trials conducted to date were therapist-led, and little is known about the efficacy of self-guided VRE. Therefore, this randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed to determine the efficacy of a self-directed VRE for SAD. Method Forty-four community-dwelling or undergraduate adults diagnosed with SAD based on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview were randomly assigned to VRE designed to last four sessions or more (n = 26) or waitlist (WL; n = 18). Self-reported SAD severity (Social Phobia Diagnostic Questionnaire and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale), job interview anxiety (Measure of Anxiety in Selection Interviews), trait worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), and depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) were administered at baseline, post-treatment, 3-month-follow-up (3MFU), and 6-month-follow-up (6MFU). Piecewise multilevel modeling analyses were conducted to manage clustering in the data. Results VRE vs. WL resulted in greater reductions in SAD symptom severity, job interview fear, and trait worry, with moderate-to-large effect sizes (Hedge's g = −0.54 to −1.11) from pre-to-post treatment. Although significant between-group differences did not emerge for change in depression, VRE led to change in depression, whereas waitlist did not. These gains were also maintained at 3MFU and 6MFU. Further, facets of presence increased during the course of VRE (g = 0.36–0.45), whereas cybersickness decreased (g = −0.43). Discussion Brief, self-guided VRE might ameliorate SAD and comorbid worry, for young-to-middle-aged adults with SAD. Other theoretical and practical implications were also discussed.
Risk Management Application in an Oil and Gas Company for Projects

Oil and gas projects are at high risk and the reasons can be the adoption of complex technology, participation of different parties, etc. Oil and gas industries are often vulnerable to risks and hazards, but they overcome these problems by following tools and techniques of risk management, which results in employee and organizations safety. Based on the facts, this research report aims to evaluate and identify the risk management strategies and procedures and assess the efficiency of risk management tools in the Oil and Gas Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The survey was conducted among two groups using quantitative as well as qualitative methods. One hundred twenty-four participants comprising of Engineers, Superintendents, Fire and Safety Officers, HR Managers, Health and Safety Environment Officers were among the respondents of the Survey Questionnaire. For the semi-structured interview, managers from supply and marine, Operation Specialist, Acting Manager of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), Managers of Operational Plant Department were selected. The data collected through the survey question was analyzed using statistical analysis. The data collected through the survey questions were later imported to IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) version 23.0 and performed descriptive analysis to explain the participants’ characteristics, discrete variables expressed as frequencies and percentages and continuous variables expressed as mean and SD. The reliability of the instrument was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. This research indicated that around 56 % of the engineers and majority of the participating managers agree and strongly agree that the company has the Oil and Gas Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain have has implemented several safety precautions, training, and appropriate risk management tools to ensure the safety of the employees and work to eliminate any risk which could be hazardous to life and property.
Diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH): clinical characteristics and progression to carcinoid tumor.

Diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH) is considered a preinvasive lesion that may progress to carcinoid tumor [1]. Histologically, it is marked by a proliferation of neuroendocrine cells that are confined to the basement membrane (neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia; NECH), and/or invaded past the basement membrane (carcinoid tumorlet) [2]. Tumorlets larger than 5 mm are classified as carcinoid tumors. Per the World Health Organization 2021 criteria, DIPNECH can be pathological (based solely on characteristic histological features) or clinical (diagnosed per characteristic symptoms and imaging findings, e.g. respiratory symptoms, bilateral pulmonary nodules, mosaic attenuation on CT) [2]. In contrast to some lung diseases or neoplasms that can cause secondary, reactive NECH/tumorlets to form, DIPNECH is marked by such hyperplasia without an identifiable cause. Footnotes This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal . It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article. Conflict of interest: Dr. Sun has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Hwang has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Pancirer has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Hornbacker has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Codima has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Lui reports and NL receives research funding from the Intuitive Foundation and Auspex Diagnostics.. Conflict of interest: Dr. Raj has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Kunz has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Padda reports and SK Padda receives research funding from Epicentrx, Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim and serves on the advisory boards of Blueprint, AstraZeneca and G1 Therapeutics.
The Messy World of Reflexivity: Qualitative Journey

Qualitative Journeys is an insightful study and guide of the messy world of reflexivity in qualitative research. The difficulties are compounded as both mentors and students struggle with this prickly issue. Qualitative Journeys opens the space within which qualitative research is done and allows the reader to tag along on reflexive treks that exemplify the often messy processes that result when students and mentors undertake the qualitative walkabout.
Trophic pathways supporting Arctic grayling in a small stream on the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska

Beaded streams are prominent across the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska, yet prey flow and food web dynamics supporting fish inhabiting these streams are poorly understood. Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) are a widely distributed upper-level consumer on the ACP and migrate into beaded streams to forage during the short 3-month open-water season. We investigated energy pathways and key prey resources that support grayling in a representative beaded stream, Crea Creek. We measured terrestrial invertebrates entering the stream from predominant riparian vegetation types, prey types supporting a range of fish size classes, and how riparian plants and fish size influenced foraging habits. We found that riparian plants influenced the quantity of terrestrial invertebrates entering Crea Creek; however, these differences were not reflected in fish diets. Prey type and size ingested varied with grayling size and season. Small grayling ( 15 cm FL) foraged most heavily on ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) throughout the summer, indicating that grayling can be insectivorous and piscivorous, depending on size. These findings underscore the potential importance of small streams in Arctic ecosystems as key summer foraging habitats for fish. Understanding trophic pathways supporting stream fishes in these systems will help interpret whether and how petroleum development and climate change may affect energy flow and stream productivity, terrestrial–aquatic linkages and fishes in Arctic ecosystems.
Second Circuit Shuts down New York's Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has struck down New York State’s highly touted Airline “Passenger Bill of Rights” law, thwarting efforts by New York and several other states to improve how airlines treat their customers during tedious and interminable flight delays. The New York state law was the strongest effort yet to improve the plight of the nation’s harried airline customers, who have faced record delays in U.S. airports over the last two years, often having to wait hours in cramped terminals or on the plane itself before their flights finally take off or are cancelled. However, the Second Circuit ruled on March 25 that only the federal government has the power to regulate service standards on the nation’s air carriers, and that any state legislation attempting to address the problem is null and void. The decision has produced relief for the airline companies and their lobbying group, the Air Transport Association of America, but has sparked anger among consumer rights activists and legislators in
An in vitro analysis of sound localization mechanisms in the gerbil lateral superior olive

One way in which animals localize sounds along the horizon is by detecting the level differences at the 2 ears. Neurons in the lateral superior olive (LSO) encode this cue by integrating the synaptic drive from ipsilateral excitatory and contralateral inhibitory connections. This synaptic integration was analyzed in 400-500-microns brain slices through the gerbil superior olive. Intracellular recordings from LSO neurons were obtained during the application of independent or conjoint electrical stimuli to the excitatory afferent and inhibitory afferent pathways. Stimulation of ascending fibers from the ipsilateral cochlear nucleus reliably evoked EPSPs and action potentials. Stimulation of the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) consistently evoked IPSPs. The evoked postsynaptic potentials differed in that IPSPs were 2 times the duration of EPSPs. An electrophysiological estimate of convergence indicated approximately 10 excitatory and 8 inhibitory afferents per LSO neuron. MNTB stimulation suppressed synaptically evoked action potentials. When stimulus amplitude was increased to the excitatory pathway, it was generally found that a greater MNTB stimulus was necessary to suppress the action potential. A similar commensurate rise in ipsilateral and contralateral acoustic stimulation was also found to be necessary to give the same criterion response. These results confirm that the LSO can integrate evoked action potentials and IPSPs to encode interaural level. Increasing stimulus voltage was found to decrease both action potential and IPSP latency, suggesting that intensity information may be encoded with temporal cues in the nervous system. It was also found that an evoked burst of action potentials could be inhibited in such a way as to yield intermediate discharge rates, dependent on contralateral stimulus level. Taken together, these results suggest that certain properties related to level-difference coding may be available for intracellular analysis using the brain-slice preparation. Several temporal characteristics of the synaptic potentials, including latency and duration, may play a critical role in this simple computation.
Bounds on the Number of String Subsequences

The problem considered is that of determining the number of subsequences obtainable by deleting t symbols from a string of length n over an alphabet of size s. Recurrences are proven and solved for the maximum and average case values, and bounds on these values are exhibited.
Partisan Effects of Legislative Term Limits

Term limits remain a popular policy reform and have generated a great deal of scholarship as a result. Although many predicted that term limits would benefit the Republican party, the literature finds no marked partisan effects, possibly because termed-out legislators have largely been replaced by copartisans. This article demonstrates that term limits have indeed had partisan effects—just not on electoral outcomes. Term limits have caused a significant reallocation of institutional power from Democrats to Republicans (as measured by contributions from access-oriented interest groups), in large part because they have removed more senior Democrats than Republicans. The partisan effects of term limits therefore point to the institutional value of seniority.
Physical activity in U.S.: adults compliance with the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Background To date, no study has objectively measured physical activity levels among U.S. adults according to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (PAGA). Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess self-reported and objectively measured physical activity among U.S. adults according to the PAGA. Methods Using data from the NHANES 2005–2006, the PAGA were assessed using three physical activity calculations: moderate plus vigorous physical activity ≥150 minutes/week (MVPA); moderate plus two instances of vigorous physical activity ≥150 minutes/week (M2VPA); and time spent above 3 METs ≥500 MET-minutes/week (METPA). Self-reported physical activity included leisure, transportation, and household activities. Objective activity was measured using Actigraph accelerometers that were worn for 7 consecutive days. Analyses were conducted in 2009–2010. Results U.S. adults reported 324.5±18.6 minutes/week (M±SE) of moderate physical activity and 73.6±3.9 minutes/week of vigorous physical activity, although accelerometry estimates were 45.1±4.6 minutes/week of moderate physical activity and 18.6±6.6 minutes/week of vigorous physical activity. The proportion of adults meeting the PAGA according to M2VPA was 62.0% for self-report and 9.6% for accelerometry. Conclusions According to the NHANES 2005–2006, fewer than 10% of U.S. adults met the PAGA according to accelerometry. However, physical activity estimates vary substantially depending on whether self-reported or measured via accelerometer.
Dental service mix among working-age adults in the United States, 1999 and 2009.

Objective In the United States, health-care costs are increasing while state and federal budgets contract. In order to establish a baseline and provide data for alternative oral health workforce models, this report describes the types of dental procedures received by US working-age adults in 2009 and looks at trends since 1999. Methods Data for this analysis came from the 1999 and 2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys. The primary outcome variable represented the types of dental procedures undergone during a dental visit in the preceding year. Descriptive variables included dental insurance coverage and income. Analysis was restricted to adults aged 21-64 years. Results In 2009, diagnostic and preventive procedures accounted for >75 percent of all dental services received by working-age adults. Those with public insurance and those who were uninsured, as well as those with lower income, were less likely to receive these services than their peers. Between 1999 and 2009, small but statistically significant increases in the proportion of preventive and diagnostic procedures received occurred in the nation. The likelihood that a preventive service would be received during a visit also increased during this period, while the probability that a restorative procedure would be undergone went down. Conclusions Preventive-type procedures represented the vast majority of dental services received by working-age adults in 2009. Between 1999 and 2009, receipt of preventive-type procedures generally increased while receipt of surgical-type procedures decreased. These findings emphasize the health-promoting role of the dental team and provide a baseline for the measurement of future trends.
How to be a Jamaican Girl

In basic school, when all the girls clump together like hair kinks and whisper about that cute boy with the nice eyes who going marry them after school, dont find yourself playing in the dirt, pushing mud to feel how it feel between your fingers. Them girls will watch you like a hawk and wonder why you act like you do and word will spread fast that you not one of them, you not like any a them.
Contesting our Everyday Work Lives: The Retention of Minority and Working-Class Sociology Undergraduates

Efforts to improve retention and graduation among minority students have been commonplace in higher education, but few such efforts have been undertaken in sociology. In this presidential address, ...
Enhancing complex system performance using discrete-event simulation

In this paper, we utilize discrete-event simulation (DES) merged with human factors analysis to provide the venue within which the separation and deconfliction of the system/human operating principles can occur. A concrete example is presented to illustrate the performance enhancement gains for an aviation cargo flow and security inspection system achieved through the development and use of a process DES. The overall performance of the system is computed, analyzed, and optimized for the different system dynamics. Various performance measures are considered such as system capacity, residual capacity, and total number of pallets waiting for inspection in the queue. These metrics are performance indicators of the system's ability to service current needs and respond to additional requests. We studied and analyzed different scenarios by changing various model parameters such as the number of pieces per pallet ratio, number of inspectors and cargo handling personnel, number of forklifts, number and types of detection systems, inspection modality distribution, alarm rate, and cargo closeout time. The increased physical understanding resulting from execution of the queuing model utilizing these vetted performance measures identified effective ways to meet inspection requirements while maintaining or reducing overall operational cost and eliminating any shipping delays associated with any proposed changes in inspection requirements. With this understanding effective operational strategies can be developed to optimally use personnel while still maintaining plant efficiency, reducing process interruptions, and holding or reducing costs.
Biotransformation of Green Tea Polyphenols and the Biological Activities of Those Metabolites

Green tea (Camellia sinensis, Theaceae) and its major polyphenol constituents, the catechins, have been reported to have many health benefits including the prevention of cancer and heart disease. Many mechanisms of action have been proposed based on in vitro models; however, the importance of most of these mechanisms remains to be determined in vivo. The bioavailability and biotransformation of tea catechins play a key role in determining the importance of various mechanisms in vivo. Likewise, the biological activity and bioavailability of tea catechin metabolites, an understudied area, are important in understanding the potential beneficial effects of tea. In this article, we review the data available on the biotransformation of the tea catechins and the limited data set available on the biological activities of the catechin metabolites. Careful interpretation of available data, carefully designed animal experiments, and integration of bioavailability and biological activity data are needed if the diseas...
Influence of gas channel depth in self-humidified miniature PEM fuel cells with dead-ended anode

Abstract For fuel cells to become a viable power source in low power applications, significant gains must be made in maximizing fuel cell specific power density and system specific energy density. To reduce complexity, these miniature PEM fuel cells are passively cooled with a dead-ended anode. Additionally, dry reactant gases can be supplied, resulting in self-humidified membranes. Targeting reductions in mass, this work experimentally investigates the influence of flow field channel depth on cell performance. Over the range of 0.457–1.57 mm, the best performance was found at cathode channel depths of 0.813 mm with no statistically significant difference associated with anode channel depth using static polarization curves following anode purges. As a result, an along-the-channel model of anode nitrogen accumulation identifies the optimal anode channel depth that minimizes the system specific energy density given a driving cycle. The anode volumetric leak rate plays a significant role in the nitrogen frontal evolution and resulting optimal anode channel depth. If deployed in a multi-cell stack with the recommended channel depths, the PEMFC system would be capable of achieving a specific power density of 45 mW/g and a specific energy density of 680 W h/kg, nearing the specific power density and exceeding the specific energy density of off-the-shelf lithium-ion batteries (approximately 80–100 mW/g and 300 W h/kg).
Commutative Banach algebras and decomposable operators

For a multiplication operator on a semi-simple commutative Banach algebra, it is shown that the decomposability in the sense of Foias is equivalent to weak and to super-decomposability. Moreover, it can also be characterized by a convenient continuity condition for the Gelfand transform on the spectrum of the underlying Banach algebra. This result implies various permanence properties for decomposable multiplication operators and leads also to a useful characterization of the regularity for a semi-simple commutative Banach algebra. Finally, the greatest regular closed subalgebra of a commutative Banach algebra is investigated, and some applications to decomposable convolution operators on locally compact abelian groups are given.
Ampicillin Resistance in Haemophilus influenzae as Determined by a Rapid Test for Beta-Lactamase Production

A rapid capillary tube method was used to demonstrate beta-lactamase production by ampicillin-resistant strains of Haemophilus influenzae.
Efficient association rule mining among both frequent and infrequent items

Association rule mining among frequent items has been extensively studied in data mining research. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for mining the infrequent items (such as rare but expensive items). Since exploring interesting relationship among infrequent items has not been discussed much in the literature, in this paper, we propose two simple, practical and effective schemes to mine association rules among rare items. Our algorithm can also be applied to frequent items with bounded length. Experiments are performed on the well-known IBM synthetic database. Our schemes compare favorably to Apriori and FP-growth under the situation being evaluated.
AN EPR STUDY OF FREE RADICALS GENERATED BY GAMMA‐RADIATION OF DRIED SPICES AND SPRAY‐DRIED FRUIT POWDERS

Gamma-radiation of powdered tumeric, black pepper, dry mustard, cinnamon and paprika, at dosage of 30 kGy, at 30°C, produced free radicals detectable by EPR. The intensities of the EPR signals were proportional to the total irradiation dose up to a saturation dose. The signal decayed most significantly in the first four-postirradiation days, but could be detected even after 34 days. The paramagnetic signal was unaffected by the presence of oxygen, but decayed rapidly in water. Similar observations were made for spray-dried fruit powder.
Shake-and-Bake applications using simulated reference-beam data for crambin.

The Shake-and-Bake method, as implemented in the computer program SnB, has been applied to simulated reference-beam data for the small protein crambin at several resolutions in the range 1.5–3.0 A. Sets of triplet invariants were generated having simulated mean triplet-phase errors from 0 to 60°. Provided that these errors were no larger than 40°, it was possible (at all resolutions tested) to find trial sets of individual Bragg phases with mean errors of 40–45°. At 1.5 A, this could be achieved using only a single reference-beam data set. Peak picking provided useful phase constraints even at the lowest resolution tested. These results suggest that direct methods may be useful in conjunction with reference-beam data at resolutions lower than 1.2\AA.
Symmetry constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory with applications to the fermion dynamical symmetry model

Abstract The coherent state variational method of the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory with dynamical symmetry constrained (SCHFB) is studied for the many-body system with applications to the recently proposed fermion dynamical symmetry model.
The treatment of infectious mononucleosis.

A LTHOUGH infectious mononucleosis has been recognized as a clinical entity for at least 67 years, following the clinical description by Pfeiffer in 1889,’ and even though the hematologic picture was accurately characterized 23 years ago by Downey and McKinley2 and Tidy and Daniel3 simultaneously, identifying the lymphocyte as the cell form involved, the causative agent of this disease has not yet been identified. It is axiomatic that specific treatment of a disease is rarely possible without first identifying the causative agent. It is therefore likely that treatment of infectious mononucleosis will remain on a symptomatic basis until the etiologic factor is identified. Although there is rather uniform agreement among workers in this field that the causative agent is a lymphotropic virus, this has by no means been proved. Under the limitations of these circumstances, therefore, the important advances in treatment have been confined to management of the complications and a consideration of this topic necessarily occupies the main portion of this discussion.