cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A piloted ambulatory surgery center in a main operating room

Abstract Study objective To identify potential operational challenges in opening an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) Study design Observational data of patient throughput and efficiency measures. Setting Main operating suite of a specialty cancer center. Patients Outpatient ambulatory patients presenting on preselected days with preselected surgeons. Interventions None. Measurements Operating room utilization, throughput, on-time first case starts and turnaround time. Main results Consistency in scheduling and case mix, staff and faculty remaining in the perioperative area, staff cohesiveness and completed preoperative evaluations were found to increase efficiency and patient throughput. Conclusion It is possible to identify potential challenges in ambulatory surgery center efficiency and patient throughput by simulating case scheduling, preoperative admission and recovery room discharge in a tertiary operating room setting.
Transcending the ‘Tragic Mulatto’: The Intersection of Black and Indian Heritage in Contemporary literature

The supposed plight of multi-racial persons is widely depicted in modern American literature, including the works of William Faulkner, whose stories follow the lives of multi-racial characters such as Joe Christmas and Sam Fathers, who, reflecting characteristics of “tragic mulatto” figures, search for acceptance in a racially polarized Mississippi society. Yet more contemporary literature, including works by Michael Dorris, Leslie Marmon Silko, Toni Morrison, and Clarence Major, reference the historical relationship between African Americans and American Indians, featuring multi-racial characters that more successfully fit the fabric of current American culture than do more “traditional” works such as Faulkner9s. While an outdated black-white binary still lingers in American perceptions of race, increasingly, racial identity is now informed by self-identification, community recognition, and acculturation. As a result, black and Indian characters, as well as multi-racial authors, provide varied and insightful glimpses into the complexity of America9s racial landscape.
“I Am Untouchable!” Egyptian Women’s War Against Sexual Harassment

This chapter discusses the dual struggle that women had to carry out in the context of the Arab Spring—namely, the political struggle to secure civil rights and political rights, and the social struggle to secure gender equality. While the former can be enshrined in constitutions and enforced through the judicial branch, the latter is much harder to pin down, and even harder to enforce, because it deals with cultural mindsets and diehard social norms. This chapter uses the example of Egypt to show how within the very struggle for political rights, women experienced the worst forms of sexual violence, highlighting the long struggle ahead. It also highlights the relentless efforts which are exerted by Egyptian women to continue their parallel sociopolitical struggles, as evidenced in their tireless attempts to fight sexual harassment.
A swarm intelligence based distributed decision approach for transactive operation of networked building clusters

Abstract Recently, existing research has demonstrated that more benefits of energy cost saving, environmental sustainability and reliable power supply can be achieved by clustering buildings together to freely exchange information and energy. To enable efficient transactive operation among buildings in the cluster, both centralized and distributed decision approaches were developed in the recent decades. However, most of the existing approaches are only applicable for small scale building clusters and/or the privacy of each stakeholder (e.g., building) is not well protected. To bridge these research gaps, we propose a swarm intelligence based bi-level distributed decision approach. A particle swarm optimizer is employed at the system level to coordinate the transactive operations among buildings, and a mixed integer programming model is developed for each building to simultaneously obtain operation decisions for its energy systems. The only information exchanged between the system level and building level is the marginal price of transactive energy which can protect the private information for each building. The performance of the proposed decision approach in terms of accuracy, scalability, and robustness is evaluated using various building clusters with the number of buildings from 2 to 256. It is demonstrated that our proposed approach is very computationally efficient, scalable and robust, and the computational complexity is O(n) where n is the number of buildings in the cluster.
Post-angioplasty and In-stent Restenosis

Restenosis is the Achilles’ heel of endovascular therapy for peripheral artery disease. Long-term care of patients following arterial interventions must include aggressive modification of cardiovascular risk factors and surveillance of all arterial beds. Intervention-specific surveillance should include clinical, physiologic, and anatomic evaluation using physical examination, vascular testing, and arterial ultrasound. Detection of restenosis is not a stand-alone indication for re-intervention because there is no single pharmacologic or invasive therapy that treats restenosis in an effective and durable manner. The decision to re-intervene must be patient-specific. There is wide gap between the clinical management strategies for restenosis and evidence-based medicine.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation reduces blood pressure but not renal vasoconstrictor response to orthostatic stress in healthy older adults.

Older adults exhibit augmented renal vasoconstriction during orthostatic stress compared to young adults. Consumption of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) found in fish oil (FO), modulates autonomic nerve activity. However, the effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption on the renal vasoconstrictor response to orthostatic stress in young and older adults is unknown. Therefore, 10 young (25 ± 1 years; mean ± SEM) and 10 older (66 ± 2 years) healthy adults ingested 4 g FO daily for 12 weeks, and underwent graded lower body negative pressure (LBNP; -15 and -30 mmHg) pre- and post-FO supplementation. Renal blood flow velocity (RBFV; Doppler ultrasound), arterial blood pressure (BP; photoplethysmographic finger cuff), and heart rate (electrocardiogram) were recorded. Renal vascular resistance (RVR), an index of renal vasoconstriction, was calculated as mean BP/RBFV. All baseline cardiovascular values were similar between groups and visits, except diastolic BP was higher in the older group (P < 0.05). FO supplementation increased erythrocyte EPA and DHA content in both groups (P < 0.05). FO did not affect RVR or RBFV responses to LBNP in either group, but attenuated the mean BP response to LBNP in the older group (older -30 mmHg: pre-FO -4 ± 1 vs. post-FO 0 ± 1 mmHg, P < 0.05; young -30 mmHg: pre-FO -5 ± 1 vs. post-FO -5 ± 2 mmHg). In conclusion, FO supplementation attenuates the mean BP response but does not affect the renal vasoconstrictor response to orthostatic stress in older adults.
O PARA-MIM [FOR-ME-NESS] COMO CARACTERÍSTICA UNIVERSAL DA EXPERIÊNCIA CONSCIENTE

Resenha de: ZAHAVI, D.; KRIEGEL, U. For-me-ness: what it is and what it is not. In: DAHLSTROM, D.; ELPIDOROU, A.; HOPP, W. (Eds.) Philosophy of mind and phenomenology: conceptual and empirical approaches. London: Routledge, 2015. P. 34- 53.
Transverse Dispersion of a Kinetically Sorbing Solute

A recursion formulation for the transverse spreading of a solute is developed, and under conditions of steady flow in a stratified aquifer, the transport of a linearly sorbing solute undergoing nonequilibrium sorption is studied. The effect of spatial variability in the velocity field and the sorption kinetics are modeled to see the combined effect of the two processes on the spreading of the solute injected at a point in the aquifer. The main result of this work is a transport model based on a discrete formulation that includes local dispersion and leads to nonasymptotic behavior in the spreading of the plume in a direction normal to the mean flow velocity.
Changing a business school corporate culture: teaching in the 21st century on a different blackboard

This chapter introduces the concept of an Academic Management System, which is designed to enhance communication among faculty, staff, students, and administration. Using an Academic Management System, built within a Course Management System, has the potential to improve communication, reduce administrative costs, and allow 24-hour access to information. The experience of one university that integrated these technologies has had a positive effect throughout campus and, as a result, several other programs are now developing similar sites for their faculty, staff students and administration.
Comparing immune response times and pathogen replication rates across vertebrate host species: a case study in West Nile Virus (170.17)

The vast majority of biological rates and times decrease systematically with increasing animal body size. For example, circulation times, a range of developmental times, and life span are systematically slower in larger animals. We use empirical data and ordinary differential equation (ODE) models of disease progression to show that immune response is independent of host body size, but that viral pathogen replication rates in vivo are systematically slower for larger animals. The models focus on West Nile Virus, but we suggest that this pattern holds more generally. We examine how the sizes and numbers of lymph nodes and the size of the lymphocyte repertoire enable immune responses that are similar across animals with vast differences in body size. We discuss how body size influences pathogenesis, epidemic spread of multi-host pathogens and the metabolic cost of immunity. Comparative studies of immune response and pathogen replication have implications for human health and animal disease.
Case Report: Exertional rhabdomyolysis in a spin class participant with sickle cell trait.

Exertional rhabdomyolysis is more common in sickle trait due to a predisposition to dehydration and inability to concentrate the urine. Spinning, an indoor cycling workout, has been associated with exertional rhabdomyolysis in recent reports. A consequence of rhabdomyolysis is acute kidney injury, which may be expected to be more common in patients with sickle trait. We report a case of spinning induced rhabdomyolysis in a woman with sickle trait that did not result in renal injury. “Spin rhabdo” is thought to be more severe than other causes of exertional rhabdomyolysis and is associated with higher creatine kinase levels than other causes of exertional rhabdomyolysis. Therefore, individuals with known sickle trait should consider visiting their physician prior to participation in spin classes for the first time. We might also consider voluntary screening for sickle trait in at risk populations prior to enrolling in spin classes given that many patients are unaware of their sickle trait status.
Chemistry of thienopyridines. XL. Reactions of 7‐acetyl‐4‐(1‐carboethoxy‐1‐cyano)methylene‐4,7‐dihydrothieno‐[2,3‐b]pyridine. Part 3: Kinetics of hydrolysis

The kinetics of hydrolysis of 7-acetyl-4-(1-carboethoxy-1-cyano)methylene-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridine (1) in undried DMSO-d6 to give ethyl 2-(4-thieno[2,3-b]pyridyl)cyanoacetate and acetic acid at ambient temperature was investigated by 1H nmr spectrometry. The reaction is pseudo first order in the concentration of 1 with a rate constant of 9 × 10−4 per minute, not noticeably altered by the addition of deuteriotrifluoroacetic acid. The hydrolysis is, however, catalyzed by means of added pyridine-d5 (k = 37 × 10−4 per minute). The pyridine is presumed to serve as a transfer agent for the acetylium ion as in acetylations with acetyl chloride and acetic anhydride.
"D" is for Dilemma.

Immunoglobulin D (IgD) monoclonal gammopathy is a rare subtype of multiple myeloma (MM) associated with a worse prognosis compared with other variants of MM. A 61-year-old man with no known past medical history presented with complaints of abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting for three weeks. Physical examination revealed mild epigastric tenderness. Laboratory data demonstrated a significantly elevated creatinine with minimal proteinuria and small abnormality in the gamma fraction. Ultrasound of the kidneys described normal-sized kidneys. Serum-free light chains and immunofixation were consistent with IgD kappa monoclonal gammopathy. Kidney biopsy revealed cast nephropathy. Bone marrow biopsy was remarkable for sheets of CD 38+ plasma cells comprising approximately 80% of the marrow cells. Recognizing the atypical presentation of IgD MM is crucial to facilitate early diagnosis and management and improve the prognosis of this subtype of MM.
Research for Practitioners: Cognitive Bias:

Research has shown multiple cognitive biases that affect compensation related decisions. This research brief lists and describes several, including the bias held by most of us that we are too intel...
Impact of bariatric surgery on cerebral vascular reactivity and cognitive function: a non-randomized pilot study.

Bariatric surgery is an effective long-term weight loss strategy yielding improvements in neurocognitive function; however, the mechanism(s) responsible for these improvements remains unclear. Here, we assessed the feasibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate whether cerebral vascular reactivity (CVR) is impaired in severely obese bariatric surgery candidates compared with normal weight healthy controls and whether CVR improves following bariatric surgery. We also investigated whether changes in CVR were associated with changes in cognitive function. Bariatric surgery candidates (n = 6) were compared with normal weight healthy controls of a similar age (n = 10) at baseline, and then reassessed 2 weeks and 14 weeks following sleeve gastrectomy bariatric surgery. Young reference controls (n = 7) were also studied at baseline to establish the range of normal for each outcome measure. Microvascular and macrovascular CVR to hypercapnia (5% CO2) were assessed using blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) MRI, and changes in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) cross-sectional area, respectively. Cognitive function was assessed using a validated neurocognitive software. Compliance with the CVR protocol was high. Both macro- and micro-cerebrovascular function were highest in the young reference controls. Cognitive function was lower in obese bariatric surgery candidates compared with normal weight controls, and improved by 17% at 2 weeks and 21% by 14 weeks following bariatric surgery. To our surprise, whole-brain CVR BOLD did not differ between obese bariatric surgery candidates and normal weight controls of similar age (0.184 ± 0.101 vs. 0.192 ± 0.034 %BOLD/mmHgCO2), and did not change after bariatric surgery. In contrast, we observed vasoconstriction of the MCA during hypercapnia in 60% of the obese patients prior to surgery, which appeared to be abolished following bariatric surgery. Improvements in cognitive function were not associated with improvements in either CVR BOLD or MCA vasodilation after bariatric surgery. Assessing CVR responses to a hypercapnic challenge with MRI was feasible in severely obese bariatric patients. However, no changes in whole-brain BOLD CVR were observed following bariatric surgery despite improvements in cognitive function. We recommend that future large trials assess CVR responses to cognitive tasks (rather than hypercapnia) to better define the mechanisms responsible for cognitive function improvements following bariatric surgery.
A Study of Nonstructural Protein 1 of SARS Coronavirus

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) encoded nonstructural protein 1 (nsp1) orchestrates a multi-pronged mechanism to down regulate host gene expression, also known as host shutoff Nsp1 is a 180 amino acid long protein with primarily flexible structure that allows nsp1 to interact with various cellular factors during host shutoff to inhibit translation and promote mRNA decay Mutations of the surface residues of nsp1 either attenuates or augments its host shutoff function prompting the hypothesis that these residues bind cellular proteins that facilitate nsp1 during host shutoff To identify cellular proteins that interact with nsp1 and assist its function, we conducted a quantitative proteomics experiment by comparing protein complexes associated with nsp1 and its inactive mutant (K164AH165A) and computer modeling to predict structural changes By comparing protein complexes, we identified a previously undetected mechanism by which nsp1 exploits the nuclear pore complex and disrupts nuclear-cytoplasmic transport of biomolecules Expression of nsp1 in 293 cells disrupts Nup93 localization around the nuclear envelope without triggering proteolytic degradation of the protein while other nucleoporins and the nuclear lamina remain unperturbed, suggesting a significant alteration of the nuclear pore complex in the presence of nsp1 However, expression of mutant nsp1, which does not bind to Nup93, does not alter the nuclear pore complex To better understand the structural basis of this protein?s function, we have utilized computational modeling tools, more specifically, I-TASSER (Iterative Threading ASSEmbly Refinement) Structural models of various mutants of nsp1 were obtained (by using I-TASSER) in order to explore the structural impact of different mutations Our preliminary explorations show significant topological changes on nsp1?s surface for specific mutations These perturbations of surface properties can provide a steric-based mechanism of interfering with nsp1?s binding or recognition function therefore, aggravating its host shutoff function
Flight Crew Conduct of a Relative Spacing Task During Parallel Runway Operations

The Interval Management Paired Approach (IM PA) operation is intended to maximize arrival throughput to closely spaced parallel runways with centerlines less than 2,500 feet apart during weather conditions where aircraft-to-aircraft visual separation cannot be applied. A Human in the loop (HITL) evaluation was conducted to assess flight crew acceptability of IM PA operations, procedures, and display elements within the recently updated defined roles and responsibilities, during nominal and off-nominal operations. It consisted of eight training and ten data collection scenarios simulating approaches into San Francisco International Airport. Eighteen pilots, working as flight crews, used IM information and flew flight deck-generated IM speeds to maintain an Assigned Spacing Goal relative to a Lead aircraft using one of two alternative Cockpit Display of Traffic Information implementations (comparing a minimum display implementation or a minimum implementation plus enhancements). Overall, results indicate that pilots found the IM PA operation to be acceptable and desirable. No significant differences in acceptability, workload, or performance were found based on the different display implementations or scenario nominality. Pilots were comfortable with the roles and responsibilities for the IM PA operation, where ATC monitored for separation and flight crews followed IM speeds. Pilots expressed a desire for a more salient notification of new IM Speeds. No new display features were found to be necessary for IM PA above and beyond those recommended for other IM operations. The results and recommendations were intended to be used by the Federal Aviation Administration and RTCA Special Committee 186.
Local Institutional Heterogeneity and Firm Dynamism: Decomposing the Metropolitan Economic Freedom Index

A nascent body of research suggests that economic freedom is positively associated with entrepreneurial activity. Most of this literature is based on cross-countries analyses, although there is significant regional heterogeneity in entrepreneurial activity and the institutional and policy context within countries. The literature also largely overlooks the potential for the entrepreneurial-inducing effects of economic freedom to drive less efficient firms out of the market. Additionally, economic freedom is a multi-dimensional construct comprised of numerous underlying aspects of the institutional and policy environment, but most studies have employed a composite economic freedom measure to assess its impact on entrepreneurial activity. I contribute to these shortcomings in the literature by decomposing the recently developed Metropolitan Economic Freedom Index into its underlying institutional indicators to explore their potential impact on the firm entry and firm exit rates for a sample of nearly 300 U.S. cities over the period 1972-2012.
A Combinatorial View of Sums of Powers

The sum of powers of the first n positive integers, 1m+2m+3m+⋯+nm, has been a topic of mathematical study for centuries. For example, the formulas for this sum when m equals 1, 2, and 3 are widely ...
The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics

Public health is fundamentally concerned with promoting the health of populations through the prevention of disease and injury. It is, at its core, a moral endeavor, because the end it seeks is the advancement of human well-being. Vexing ethics issues are inherent in all aspects of public health practice and policy. They exist in top-of-the-news stories like infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine hesitancy, health disparities, and in more routine assessments of population health needs, data collection, program evaluation, and policy development. They may be distinctive or shared across diverse fields, such as environmental health, nutrition programs and policy, injury prevention, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and reproductive health. This volume represents the first comprehensive examination of public health ethics in the United States and globally. The volume editors recruited top public health professionals, policy experts, and scholars in public health and ethics fields to offer varied perspectives on the diversity of the issues that define public health ethics. The volume begins with two sections examining the crosscutting conceptual foundations, ethical tensions, and ethical frameworks of and for public health and how public health does its work. It then proceeds topically, with thirteen sections analyzing the application of public health ethics considerations and approaches across the broad range of subject areas. While the fifteen sections can serve to orient the reader within a specific field, each of the more than seventy chapters is designed to serve as a stand-alone contribution. The approach makes the book, its sections, and individual chapters useful as part of course materials, as well as a seminal reference for students, scholars, and public health professionals. NOTE: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS HAS TEMPORARILY MADE THIS WORK OPEN ACCESS DUE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS.
Supply Chain Disruption: Long-Term and Short-Term Effects of COVID-19 in the Textile Supply Chain

The paper describes some of the changes to the textile business environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, it explores which of these changes are of a temporary nature and which are likely to constitute a more long-term, strategic change.
Effect of class IV laser therapy and Pilates exercises on bone density and pain in primary osteoporosis: a randomised controlled trial

Background/aims Osteoporosis is a systemic disorder characterised by a decrease in bone quality and density. This causes the bones to become weak and unable to withstand mild stresses, and the asso...
BAZ1B the Protean Protein.

The bromodomain adjacent to the zinc finger domain 1B (BAZ1B) or Williams syndrome transcription factor (WSTF) are just two of the names referring the same protein that is encoded by the WBSCR9 gene and is among the 26–28 genes that are lost from one copy of 7q11.23 in Williams syndrome (WS: OMIM 194050). Patients afflicted by this contiguous gene deletion disorder present with a range of symptoms including cardiovascular complications, developmental defects as well as a characteristic cognitive and behavioral profile. Studies in patients with atypical deletions and mouse models support BAZ1B hemizygosity as a contributing factor to some of the phenotypes. Focused analysis on BAZ1B has revealed this to be a versatile nuclear protein with a central role in chromatin remodeling through two distinct complexes as well as being involved in the replication and repair of DNA, transcriptional processes involving RNA Polymerases I, II, and III as well as possessing kinase activity. Here, we provide a comprehensive review to summarize the many aspects of BAZ1B function including its recent link to cancer.
Thermal Conductivity and Electrical Resistivity of Simulated Fuel Elements

It is well-known that important changes may occur in the physical properties of bonded fuel rods during their lifetime within a reactor. These changes are caused by the high temperatures, environment, and lastly (and probably most importantly) by the high neutron fluxes. Neutrons have a strong effect in reducing the thermal conductivity, λ, by introducing defects such as vacancies and dislocations into the basal planes of graphitic material. The reduction of λ raises the operating temperature which lowers the lifetime of the graphite. Although the quantitative effects of neutron irradiation on the λ of polycrystalline graphites have been extensively studied, they have not been studied for carbonaceous material nor for carbonaceous material containing various quantities of spherical fuel particles which are envisioned for use in a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR). The primary purpose of this experiment, therefore, was to measure the thermal conductivity of simulated fuel elements consisting of inert particles suspended in a carbonaceous matrix as a function of temperature, T, volume percent particle loading, and neutron fluence.
Derivatives of Salicylic Acid as Inhibitors of YopH in Yersinia pestis

Yersinia pestis causes diseases ranging from gastrointestinal syndromes to bubonic plague and could be misused as a biological weapon. As its protein tyrosine phosphatase YopH has already been demonstrated as a potential drug target, we have developed two series of forty salicylic acid derivatives and found sixteen to have micromolar inhibitory activity. We designed these ligands to have two chemical moieties connected by a flexible hydrocarbon linker to target two pockets in the active site of the protein to achieve binding affinity and selectivity. One moiety possessed the salicylic acid core intending to target the phosphotyrosine-binding pocket. The other moiety contained different chemical fragments meant to target a nearby secondary pocket. The two series of compounds differed by having hydrocarbon linkers with different lengths. Before experimental co-crystal structures are available, we have performed molecular docking to predict how these compounds might bind to the protein and to generate structural models for performing binding affinity calculation to aid future optimization of these series of compounds.
Impure Sets Are Not Located: A Fregean Argument

It is sometimes suggested that impure sets are spatially co-located with their members (and hence are located in space). Sets, however, are in important respects like numbers. In particular, sets are connected to concepts in much the same manner as numbers are connected to concepts—in both cases, they are fundamentally abstracts of (or corresponding to) concepts. This parallel between the structure of sets and the structure of numbers suggests that the metaphysics of sets and the metaphysics of numbers should parallel each other in relevant ways. This entails, in turn, that impure sets are not co-located with their members (nor are they located in space).
Effects of therapeutic and abusive doses of methylphenidate on neurogenesis and neuronal survival rates in murine brain (1145.4)

Methylphenidate (MPH) is a psychostimulant that blocks reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine via their transporters. Currently, MPH is used for the treatment of narcolepsy and is the most common ...
Estimating 3-D motion parameters and object surface structures from the image motion of conic arcs, I: Theoretical basis

This paper discusses a technique for estimation of 3-D motion parameters and object surface orientation of a rigid moving object from the correspondence of a conic arc segment in several perspective views; the correspondences of the intermediate points on the conic arcs are not known a priori. The paper focusses on a theorem and a corollary regarding the validity of simultaneously representing a pair of corresponding conic arc segments, one before and the other after the motion, using rational quadratic parameterization scheme with each corresponding pair of points on the two conic arcs characterized by the same running parameter. This theorem is essential to the proof of uniqueness and the derivation of solutions for the 3-D motion parameters and object surface orientation; these topices are covered in a later paper[15].
Absence, Lateness, Turnover, and Retirement: Narrow and Broad Understandings of Withdrawal and Behavioral Engagement

We review research on withdrawal behaviors such as lateness, absence, off-task behavior, and turnover, covering both classic and recent theories and findings. We clarify definitions and discuss the patterning of these behaviors over time, in addition to reviewing the attitudinal, demographic, social, and dispositional predictors of withdrawal. Evidence is summarized on the continuing debate about studying the behaviors in isolation versus as composites, lending emphasis to a more integrative behavioral engagement construct (Harrison, Newman, & Roth, 2006), and connecting it to other constructs and topics in applied psychology. We attribute the recent apparent decline in withdrawal research to its operational overlap with counterproductive work behavior. Throughout, we offer suggestions and speculation about withdrawal and engagement under conditions of distributed or virtual work, and recommend future research on social network effects (contagion, embeddedness) and the potentially positive outcomes of withdrawal behavior. Keywords: turnover; absenteeism; behavioral engagement; time; social networks
Change in visual acuity is well correlated with change in image-quality metrics for both normal and keratoconic wavefront errors

We determined the degree to which change in visual acuity (VA) correlates with change in optical quality using image-quality (IQ) metrics for both normal and keratoconic wavefront errors (WFEs). VA was recorded for five normal subjects reading simulated, logMAR acuity charts generated from the scaled WFEs of 15 normal and seven keratoconic eyes. We examined the correlations over a large range of acuity loss (up to 11 lines) and a smaller, more clinically relevant range (up to four lines). Nine IQ metrics were well correlated for both ranges. Over the smaller range of primary interest, eight were also accurate and precise in estimating the variations in logMAR acuity in both normal and keratoconic WFEs. The accuracy for these eight best metrics in estimating the mean change in logMAR acuity ranged between ±0.0065 to ±0.017 logMAR (all less than one letter), and the precision ranged between ±0.10 to ±0.14 logMAR (all less than seven letters).
An improved high-performance logic gate using series diode and resistor loads for ECL/CML applications

An improved high-performance logic gate comprised of a series collector-base shorted n-p-n transistor diode and resistor as the load element for emitter-coupled logic/current-mode logic (ECL/CML) applications is presented. This load element has been shown to provide up to a 50% performance improvement in ring-oscillator gate delay. A comparison between typical load elements was conducted to demonstrate the effect of the active load. The physical mechanism that accounts for the performance improvement is identified as the inductivelike impedance characteristic of the active load. Analytical results and computer simulation are given to support the mode. Measured data are in excellent agreement with the computer simulation. In addition, this load element is found to be comparable with typical ECL/CML applications. >
Giant dipole resonances in hot rotating nuclei: Overview and recent advances

Abstract The giant dipole resonance (GDR) built on highly excited states is an important experimental tool in understanding the properties of hot nuclei. A new generation of experiments allows a more detailed study of the dependence of the GDR on temperature and spin. We review the macroscopic theory of the GDR at finite temperature, which is based on a mean-field theory and an exact treatment of thermal shape fluctuations. The systematics of the GDR width as a function of temperature, spin and mass is discussed and compared with experimental data.
Rule Learning by Seven-Month-Old Infants

A fundamental task of language acquisition is to extract abstract algebraic rules. Three experiments show that 7-month-old infants attend longer to sentences with unfamiliar structures than to sentences with familiar structures. The design of the artificial language task used in these experiments ensured that this discrimination could not be performed by counting, by a system that is sensitive only to transitional probabilities, or by a popular class of simple neural network models. Instead, these results suggest that infants can represent, extract, and generalize abstract algebraic rules.
Therapeutic Potential of the Inhibition of the Retinoic Acid Hydroxylases CYP26A1 and CYP26B1 by Xenobiotics

Retinoic acid (RA), the active metabolite of vitamin A, is an important endogenous signaling molecule regulating cell cycle and maintenance of epithelia. RA isomers are also used as drugs to treat various cancers and dermatological diseases. However, the therapeutic uses of RA isomers are limited due to side effects such as teratogenicity and resistance to treatment emerging mainly from autoinduction of RA metabolism. To improve the therapeutic usefulness of retinoids, RA metabolism blocking agents (RAMBAs) have been developed. These inhibitors generally target the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes because RA clearance is predominantly mediated by P450s. Since the initial identification of inhibitors of RA metabolism, CYP26 enzymes have been characterized as the main enzymes responsible for RA clearance. This makes CYP26 enzymes an attractive target for the development of novel therapeutics for cancer and dermatological conditions. The basic principle of development of CYP26 inhibitors is that endogenous RA concentrations will be increased in the presence of a CYP26 inhibitor, thus, potentiating the activity of endogenous RA in a cell-type specific manner. This will reduce side effects compared to administration of RA and allow for more targeted therapy. In clinical trials, inhibitors of RA metabolism have been effective in treatment of psoriasis and other dermatological conditions as well as in some cancers. However, no CYP26 inhibitor has yet been approved for clinical use. This review summarizes the history of development of RAMBAs, the clinical and preclinical studies with the various structural series and the available knowledge of structure activity relationships of CYP26 inhibitors.
The Impact of Health Care Reform on Capital Acquisition for Hospitals

In this paper, the response of the market for hospital stocks to the episode of the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) legislation and its resulting impact on the ability of hospitals to generate capital for expansion and growth are addressed. The response to PPS legislation is evaluated by examining stock returns of publicly traded hospital companies using both traditional event study analysis and intervention analysis. The paper focuses on the effect of PPS over time and uses qualitative data to support the empirical evidence. Before and after its passage, the market reacted negatively to PPS legislation. This result supports qualitative evidence showing that hospitals' capital positions were impaired. When profit margins fell, bond ratings went down, while borrowing costs increased; the rate of hospital bond defaults went up and capital improvements were delayed.
Lamb Modes for an Isotropic Incompressible Plate

Lamb modes for an incompressible isotropic plate behave in a manner different from those for a compressible plate. The plateau region disappears and anomalous behavior of modes does not exist.
Conformity on a visual task as a function of personal novelty on attitudinal dimensions and being reminded of the object status of self

Abstract An experiment was conducted to test the proposition that a person's level of conformity on a visual task was related to his level of personal novelty on attitudinal dimensions and being reminded that he was an object in the world. Subjects were led to believe that either 95, 50, or 5% of a population of 10,000 held the same position as they did on 10 important attitudinal dimensions. Subjects were then asked to participate in an experiment on visual perception. In this portion of the study, subjects were led to believe that two other subjects consistently disagreed with their estimates and were either shown or not shown their live image on a television monitor. The results of the experiment indicated a positive relationship between novelty on the attitudinal dimensions and both frequency and intensity of conformity on the visual task. As novelty increased, conformity increased. In addition, subjects shown their image on a television monitor during the conformity trials conformed to the bogus others to a greater extent than subjects not shown their image on a television monitor.
Evaluation of Resilient Modulus Test Protocols for New Mexico Subgrade Soil

Resilient modulus (MR) is a laboratory determined parameter of pavement subgrade soil which is an important design input for the Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). There are two accepted laboratory testing protocols for determining MR, namely AASHTO T307 and NCHRP 1-28A. AASHTO method is more popular because of its simplicity in positioning the load and deformation transducers. This study is undertaken to examine the available test protocols for New Mexico subgrade soil by varying the location of deformation transducers and effects of sample size. AASHTO A-6 subgrade soils have been collected from the state of New Mexico, USA. Specimens of 2.8 inch and 4 inch diameters are reconstituted using modified proctor compaction.Resilient modulus values aredetermined using external and internal deformation techniques. Comparative analyses are performed and amount of extraneous large deformation (lower MR) measured by the AASHTO recommended external deformation transducers is measured.In addition, appropriate internal deformation measurement methods are recommended to obtain most consistent MR values. 2.8 inch and 4 inch diameter sample generate almost similar MR values.
Spontaneous bioelectric activity of cultured cerebellar Purkinje cells during exposure to agents which prevent synaptic transmission.

Abstract Analysis of the spontaneous activity recorded extracellularly from cultured Purkinje cells in Hanks balanced salt solution at 37°C reveals an average spike frequency of 17 ± 5spikes/sec and usually irregular interspike interval histograms. Increasing the concentration of Mg 2+ from 0.9 to 8 mmoles/liter leads to a significant regularization of firing of about half of the tested Purkinje cells, whereas the others stopped bioelectric activity. Pentobarbital (20 μg/ml) had the same effect, but addition of D -tubocurarine (10 μg/ml) or atropine (10 μg/ml) had no detectable effect on the rate and temporal distribution of the spontaneous activity. Neurons in peripheral areas of cultures fire regularly in solutions of normal as well as high concentrations of Mg 2+ .
Parameter distribution of small periodic librations about the equilateral points of the elliptic restricted problem

As previously shown (Rabe, 1970), two classes of small periodic librations exist, in the plane, elliptic restricted problem, for an infinite sequence of easily specified oscillation frequenciesZ j . The present paper considers the dependence ofZ on the eccentricitye of the primary motion, in addition to its dependence on the mass parameter κ, and determines the resulting relations between κ ande, for any given periodic frequencyZ j . These relationships are obtained from the conditionD (Z j ,κ, e)=0, where the basic determinantD has been expanded up to terms of orderZ 20, κ5, ande 4.
A 1.5V, 300nA, 7th-order bandpass filter for sensing intra-cardiac signals in implantable biomedical devices

Sensing filter for cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator mixed-signal integrated circuits is the only part of the system which is on continuously and is monitoring the heart activities. Thus, a low current consumption is a very critical attribute for this circuit. This paper presents a 7th-order customized bandpass filter that can operate using a single implantable lithium-iodine battery at the end of its life, which is 1.5V. The filter is capable of conditioning human heart activity signals from 50muV to 10mV. It operates with 1 kHz sampling frequency consuming less than 0.5muW. The filter is designed in a very typical 0.5mum, double-poly capacitor, N-well CMOS process with 0.7V-0.8V threshold voltages
Numerical Modeling of Micromechanical Devices Using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method

A direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) investigation of flows related to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is detailed. This effort is intended to provide tools to facilitate the design and optimization of micro-devices as well as to probe the effects of rarefaction, especially in regimes not amenable to other means of analysis. The code written for this purpose employs an unstructured grid, a trajectory-tracing particle movement scheme, and an infinite channel boundary formulation. Its results for slip-flow and transition regime micro-channels and a micro-nozzle are presented to demonstrate its capabilities.
Renewing social work practice through a postmodern perspective

Summary. Postmodernism is one of the most recent significant developments within the social sciences. This paper reviews the movement toward a postmodern perspective beginning in the late 19th century in the field of sociology. The evolution toward a postmodern perspective in the social sciences has important implications for the profession of social work. The authors suggest that the postmodern perspective has the potential to renew the profession of social work.
Intrafollicular cumulus cell transformations associated with oocyte maturation following gonadotrophic hormone stimulation of adult mice.

Effects of gonadotrophic hormones on the intrafollicular morphological transformation of cumulus cells were examined in adult mice. Formation of transformed cumulus masses was examined during both the pre- and post-ovulatory course of gonadotrophic (PMS or PMS + HCG) induction of follicular synchronization and ovulation. Within nine hours of PMS injection and prior to ovulation, transformed cumulus cell masses were present within ovaries. Injection of HCG within 48 hours of the PMS injection stimulated the formation of additional and increased numbers of pre-ovulatory transformed cumulus cell masses. Ovulation occurred within 24 hours of both the PMS injection and the HCG injection when given to animals previously stimulated with PMS. Oocytes isolated from transformed cumulus cell masses following PMS or HCG injection had invariably undergone meiotic maturation. Transformed cumulus masses were also recovered from ovaries following induced ovulation; however, their numbers were decreased. Follicles stimulated by PMS remained sensitive to HCG (underwent ovulation) for approximately four days following a single injection of PMS. Results indicate that identifiable morphological and physiological changes in cumulus cells precede ovulation and are strongly correlated with the induction of the meiotic maturation process in the enclosed oocytes. The presence of mature oocytes in transformed cumulus masses following ovulation furthermore indicates that asynchrony of the oocyte maturation and ovulatory events are induced by the gonadotrophic hormones. Intrafollicular cumulus cell transformations are discussed in relation to dissociation of the somatic and germ cells, the mechanisms of meiotic induction and the process of atresia. Results suggest that the simple morphological changes described provide a quantitative and selective indicator of gonadotrophic action within the ovary.
Breast cancer detection centers and case-control studies of the efficacy of screening.

Abstract Case-control studies of screening efficacy have been proposed as a cost- and timeefficient alternative to randomized controlled trials. Possible source populations for such retrospective studies of breast cancer screening are considered, including women from (i) pre-existing randomized trials, (ii) non-experimental population-based studies and (iii) detection centers. On practical grounds women attending detection centers are seen to comprise the most readily accessible source of adequate numbers of cases and controls. Potential biases are addressed, involving incomplete case ascertainment, self-selection, and different screening recommendations. Data from the Guttman Breast Diagnostic Institute are used for illustration.
Molecular structural formulas as one-electron density and hamiltonian operators : The VIF method extended

The valency interaction formula (VIF) method is given a broader and more general interpretation in which these simple molecular structural formulas implicitly include all overlaps between valence atomic orbitals even for interactions not drawn in the VIF picture. This applies for VIF pictures as one-electron Hamiltonian operators as well as VIF pictures as one-electron density operators that constitute a new implementation of the VIF method simpler in its application and more accurate in its results than previous approaches. A procedure for estimating elements of the effective charge density-bond order matrix, P uv , from electron configurations in atoms is presented, and it is shown how these lead to loop and line constants in the VIF picture. From these structural formulas, one finds the number of singly, doubly, and unoccupied molecular orbitals, as well as the number of molecular orbitals with energy lower, equal, and higher than -½/E h , the negative of the hydrogen atom's ionization energy. The VIF results for water are in qualitative agreement with MP2/ 6311++G3df3pd, MO energy levels where the simple VIF for water presented in the earlier literature does not agree with computed energy levels. The method presented here gives the simplest accurate VIF pictures for hydrocarbons. It is shown how VIF can be used to predict thermal barriers to chemical reactions. Insertion of singlet carbene into H 2 is given as an example. VIF pictures as one-electron density operators describe the ground-state multiplicities of B 2 , N 2 , and O 2 molecules and as one-electron Hamiltonian operators give the correct electronegativity trend across period two. Previous implementations of VIF do not indicate singly occupied molecular orbitals directly from the pictorial VIF rules for these examples. The direct comparison between structural formulas that represent electron density and those that represent energy is supported by comparison of a simple electronegativity scale, Χ D = N/n 2 , with well-known electronegativity scales of Pauling, Mulliken, and Allen. This scale comes from the method used to calculate P μμ for sp 3 hybridized period-two elements and is comparable to electronegativity because it has the same form as (1/r) for hydrogenic orbitals. It therefore provides a physical basis for the representation of one electron density and Hamiltonian operators by the same VIF picture.