cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hospital discharge hemoglobin values and posthospitalization clinical outcomes in transfused patients undergoing noncardiac surgery

BACKGROUND Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is common in surgical patients, yet optimal transfusion targets are incompletely defined in the perioperative period. Hemoglobin levels at the time of hospital discharge may provide insight into transfusion practices, anemia management, and patient outcomes. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS This is an observational cohort study of adults receiving RBC transfusion during noncardiac surgery from 2010 to 2014. Multivariable regression was used to assess the relationships between hospital discharge hemoglobin concentrations, anemia severity (severe: <8 g/dL; moderate: 8-10 g/dL; mild/none: ≥10 g/dL), and clinical outcomes, including a primary outcome of 30-day hospital readmission and secondary outcomes of posthospitalization RBC transfusion, composite stroke or myocardial infarction, and mortality. RESULTS A total of 3129 patients were included: 165 (5%) with severe discharge anemia, 1962 (63%) moderate, and 1002 (32%) with mild/none. Five hundred ninety-two (19%) were readmitted, with the highest rates observed with severe anemia (26% vs 19% for mild/none). Readmissions were not significantly different after multivariable adjustment (overall P = .216); however, in those receiving postoperative intensive care, severe anemia was associated with increased readmission rates (hazard ratio [HR], 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-2.71; reference mild/none]. Posthospitalization RBC transfusion rates were highest with severe anemia (25% vs 10% for mild/none; adjusted HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.5-3.3; P < .001). There were no significant differences in composite stroke/myocardial infarction, or mortality. RBC transfusion volumes did not modify anemia-outcome relationships. CONCLUSION Hospital discharge hemoglobin values for transfused surgical patients were not associated with hospital readmission rates except for those receiving postoperative intensive care. Further evaluation is warranted to understand downstream consequences of postsurgical anemia.
Multiple approaches to incorporating scattering states in non-degenerate perturbation theory

The second-order perturbative Stark effect on the ground state of hydrogen is a typical example presented in many standard texts on quantum mechanics. Some texts miss the fact that the scattering states are significant contributors to the perturbative energy correction. The inclusion of scattering states has wider applicability than to just the Stark effect. An explicit calculation involving a finite-square well with a perturbation is used to illustrate the importance of including scattering states into the calculation. The second-order correction to the ground-state energy is obtained in three distinct ways. The first involves altering the problem by imposing additional boundary conditions at large distances to make the positive-energy spectrum discrete. The second makes use of the continuum scattering states directly. The third bypasses the use of scattering states by solving a differential equation for the first-order correction to the wave function.
Cerebral Microdialysis as a Tool for Assessing the Delivery of Chemotherapy in Brain Tumor Patients

The development of curative treatment for glioblastoma has been extremely challenging. Chemotherapeutic agents that have seemed promising have failed in clinical trials. Drugs that can successfully target cancer cells within the brain must first traverse the brain interstitial fluid. Cerebral microdialysis (CMD) is an invasive technique in which interstitial fluid can be directly sampled. CMD has primarily been used clinically in the setting of head trauma and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Our goal was to review the techniques, principles, and new data pertaining to CMD to highlight its use in neuro-oncology. We conducted a literature search using the PubMed database and selected studies in which the investigators had used CMD in either animal brain tumor models or clinical trials. The references were reviewed for additional information. Studies of CMD have shown its importance as a neurosurgical technique. CMD allows for the collection of pharmacokinetic data on drug penetrance across the blood–brain barrier and metabolic data to characterize the response to chemotherapy. Although no complications have been reported, the current CMD technique (as with any procedure) has risks and limitations, which we have described in the present report. Animal CMD experiments have been used to exclude central nervous system drug candidates from progressing to clinical trials. At present, patients undergoing CMD have been monitored in the intensive care unit, owing to the requisite tethering to the apparatus. This can be expected to change soon because of advances in microminiaturization. CMD is an extremely valuable, yet underused, technique. Future CMD applications will have central importance in assessing drug delivery to tumor cells in vivo, allowing a pathway to successful therapy for malignant brain tumors.
Effect of Line-Tower Coupling on E1 Pulse Excitation of an Electrical Transmission Line

In a transmission line, we evaluate the coupling between a line and a tower above ground when the excitation is an El high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP). Our model focuses on capturing correctly the effect of the coupling on the peak of the HEMP induced current that propagates along the line. This assessment is necessary to accurately estimate the effect of the excitation on the systems and components of the power grid. This analysis is a step towards a quantitative evaluation of HEMP excitation on the power grid.
Microprocessor Controlled Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis (KAFO) vs Stance Control vs Locked KAFO: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the potential of a microprocessor swing and stance controlled knee-ankle-foot orthosis (MPO) to improve balance, functional mobility, and quality of life in individuals with lower-extremity impairments as compared to a stance-control-orthosis (SCO) and conventional knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO) over a use-period of a month. Design Randomized crossover study. Setting Ambulatory research laboratory and home and community for community-dwelling adults. Participants Persons (N=18) who actively used a unilateral KAFO or SCO for impairments due to neurologic or neuromuscular disease, orthopedic disease, or trauma. Intervention Participants were trained to acclimate and use SCO and MPO. Main Outcome Measures The 6-minute walk test (6MWT), 10-m walk test, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), functional gait assessment (FGA), hill assessment index, stair assessment index (SAI), Five Times Sit to Stand Test, crosswalk test, Modified Falls Efficacy Scale, Orthotic and Prosthetic User’s Survey (OPUS), and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHQOL)–BREF Scale. Results Significant changes were observed in participants’ self-selected gait speed (P=.023), BBS (P=.01), FGA (P=.002), and SAI (P Conclusions The MPO may contribute to improved quality of life and health status of persons with lower-extremity impairments by providing the ability to have better walking speed, endurance, and functional balance.
Magnetic confinement of effectively unmagnetized plasma particles

A purely magnetic applied field may provide plasma confinement under conditions where the bulk of the plasma is effectively free of the applied magnetic field. The applied magnetic field surrounds the bulk of the plasma, and plasma particles that are incident on the applied magnetic field can be reflected back into the effectively unmagnetized region of plasma. The concept belongs to a class of magnetic plasma confinement approaches studied long ago, for which some experimental results indicated that classical (collision-based) cross-magnetic-field transport may occur. However, multiple magnetic coils are required to be immersed within the confined plasma, and rapid plasma loss may occur if material structures are present, which pass through the plasma (e.g., to hold the immersed coils in place). In the work reported, the concept is studied in combination with magnetic plasma expulsion [R. E. Phillips and C. A. Ordonez, Phys. Plasmas 25, 012508 (2018)], which would be employed to keep plasma away from material structures that pass through the plasma. A planar model is used for the study. A classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulation is carried out on particles that are independently incident on the applied magnetic field. With monoenergetic incident particles, the results indicate that the applied magnetic field can reflect all independently incident particles in certain regions of parameter space. Prospects for achieving three-dimensional magnetic confinement of an effectively unmagnetized plasma with a Maxwellian velocity distribution are discussed.
Multicenter Simulation Boot Camp for Senior Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellows Increases Confidence and Job Preparedness Through High Acuity-Low Frequency Simulation Scenarios

Background: The current clinical environment coupled with other fellowship commitments limits the exposure of neonatal perinatal medicine (NPM) fellows to high acuity cases, high-risk procedures and difficult conversations, which they will encounter at some point in their career. There is growing popularity of pre- fellowship simulation “Boot Camps” focusing on basic resuscitation skills and common neonatal cases. There is a need for senior fellow simulation boot camp that focus on; high acuity- low frequency scenarios, high risk procedures and difficult conversations. Objective: Create an innovative advanced simulation based educational experience for 2nd …
A Search and Filter Strategy for Identifying Differentially Co-Expressed Analyte Modules

Biological pathways underlying complex traits of interest are comprised of numerous analytes working in concert to produce the phenotype. Correlation network analysis (CNA) is widely used to identify these sets of co-expressed analytes (referred to as ‘modules’). A fundamental task in CNA is cluster identification. However, the objective of a clustering algorithm is to find an optimal partition of the data, while the goal of CNA is typically to find individual clusters of interest. Simply put, network clustering does not optimize for module identification. To address these issues we reframe CNA for module identification as a search problem and propose a novel, yet simple, method to identify group associated modules. Our method has two main innovations: Generalized Iterative Cluster Search for finding cancidate clusters, and similarity hyper-network sampling for reducing the search results to a set of best clusters for module significance testing. We then demonstrate the power of this method by applying it to lung tissue transcriptomics from a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) case-control study, finding hundreds of modules with statistically significant group association.
‘Every nation who dwells in the land’: Latter-day Saint Internationalisation, sacralising spaces, and the Hill Cumorah Pageant

In 2018, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the end of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, a seemingly minor policy decision which, I argue, reflects major changes in how a faith which...
Scenarios of future Indian electricity demand accounting for space cooling and electric vehicle adoption.

India is expected to witness rapid growth in electricity use over the next two decades. Here, we introduce a custom regression model to project electricity consumption in India over the coming decades, which includes a bottom-up estimate of electricity consumption for two major growth drivers, air conditioning, and vehicle electrification. The model projections are available at a customizable level of spatial aggregation at an hourly temporal resolution, which makes them useful as inputs to long-term electricity infrastructure planning studies. The approach is used to develop electricity consumption data sets spanning various technology adoption and growth scenarios up to the year 2050 in five-year increments. The aim of the data is to provide a range of scenarios for India’s demand growth given new technology adoption. With long-term hourly demand projections serving as an essential input for electricity infrastructure modeling, this data publication enables further work on energy efficiency, generation, and transmission expansion planning for a fast-growing and increasingly important region from a global climate mitigation perspective. Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13742602
Functionalized polyanhydride nanoparticles for improved treatment of mitochondrial dysfunction

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting a large proportion of older adults. Exposure to pesticides like rotenone is a leading cause for PD. To reduce disease progression and prolong life expectancy, it is important to target disease mechanisms that contribute to dopaminergic neuronal atrophy, including mitochondrial dysfunction. Achieving targeted mitochondrial delivery is difficult for many therapeutics by themselves, necessitating higher therapeutic doses that could lead to toxicity. To minimize this adverse effect, targeted nano-carriers such as polyanhydride nanoparticles (NPs) can protect therapeutics from degradation and provide sustained release, enabling fewer administrations and lower therapeutic dose. This work expands upon the use of the polyanhydride NP platform for targeted drug delivery by functionalizing the polymer with a derivative of triphenylphosphonium called (3-carboxypropyl) triphenylphosphonium (CPTP) using a novel method that enables longer CPTP persistence on the NPs. The extent to which neurons internalized both nonfunctionalized and functionalized NPs was tested. Next, the efficacy of these nanoformulations in treating rotenone-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in the same cell line was evaluated using a novel neuroprotective drug, mito-metformin. CPTP functionalization significantly improved NP internalization by neuronal cells. This was correlated with significant protection by CPTP-functionalized, mito-metformin encapsulated NPs against rotenone-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. However, nonfunctionalized, mito-metformin encapsulated NPs and soluble mito-metformin administered at the same dose did not significantly protect cells from rotenone-induced toxicity. These results indicate that the targeted NP platform can provide enhanced dose-sparing and potentially reduce the occurrence of systemic side-effects for PD therapeutics.
Longitudinal Measurement Invariance of the PHQ-9 and GAD-7:

Intraindividual change over time is commonly used to estimate treatment effectiveness. However, patients may not respond similarly to a scale after treatment, rendering pre-post change an unreliable metric. The current objective was to investigate longitudinal measurement invariance of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 among 4,323 patients completing a partial hospital program. We used confirmatory factor analysis to determine (1) factor structure at pretreatment and posttreatment and (2) longitudinal invariance, accounting for dependent observations, using both classical and approximate measurement invariance approaches. Results indicated a two-factor solution for both scales. Longitudinal invariance was not established for either scale, thus, using raw score differences from the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 for measuring symptom change over time may be problematic. The most longitudinally consistent items captured somatic as opposed to affective/cognitive symptoms. We discuss the potential use of these measures for diagnostic screening and between-group comparisons and suggest alternative ways to monitor client progress over time. Limitations included a majority White sample and uniqueness of a partial hospital setting.
The Eosinophil Response to Toxoids and its Inhibition by Antitoxin

Intraperitoneal injections of specific toxoid induce a prolonged eosinophilia in the peritoneal exudate of BDF 1 mice previously immunized with tetanus toxoid combined with an adjuvant of pertussis vaccine. An injection of diphtheria toxoid into tetanus-primed mice induces a transient local eosinophilia which peaks at 24 hours. A challenging injection of tetanus toxoid produced a greater 24 hour eosinophil response and, in addition, a persisting accumulation of eosinophils peaking at 3 days and still evident at days 5 and 7. Injections of heterologous antitetanus globulins or isologous immune serum did not affect the transient eosinophilia, but did suppress the accumulation of eosinophils during the second or prolonged phase of the response to challenge. Since humoral antibody prevented the antigen from inititating the eosinophil response in animals primed to respond to a challenging injection, it was concluded that antigen-antibody reactions per se could not be responsible for the prolonged phase of the eosinophil response. It was suggested that antibody may block the antigen from complexing with sensitized cells, thereby preventing the release of eosinophilotactic factors.
Assessment for the Stronger, Healthier Psychological Bond in Child-Custody Evaluations

Abstract Evaluators conducting assessments in the context of child-custody disputes often speak about the psychological bonding between each of the parents and the child(ren). An attempt is usually made to assess for the strength of such bonding and compare one parent with the other. Most would agree that this is an important element in such evaluations, so much so that the failure to give it consideration weakens considerably the value of the assessment. The term psychological bond, however, is loosely defined or not defined at all and objective criteria for its assessment are usually not provided. Evaluators will commonly make such statements as: “The child is more bonded with the mother than the father” and “The child's bonding with the father is significantly impaired.”
Asthma Management During Pregnancy

Poster Presentation Background Asthma is one of the leading chronic medical problems exacerbated during pregnancy, and this condition affects approximately 3% to 8% of the pregnant population. The health care team needs to be educated on factors that may trigger an exacerbation of asthma in pregnancy, appropriate management, treatment techniques to share with their patients, and the complications that an exacerbation of maternal asthma may pass on to the newborn. The goal for all asthmatic patients is to remain asymptomatic during pregnancy to assist in improving maternal and newborn outcomes. Case A 30‐year‐old, G4P1 woman at 27 weeks gestation was transported by air to our large Level‐III Mid Atlantic trauma center from a satellite medical emergency department with status asthmaticus for further management. Presenting with possible influenza virus, her history included asthma, positive cigarette use, and a recent respiratory infection. Her respiratory status worsened upon arrival, and she exhibited severe hypoxemia and required intubation. Deterioration in maternal and newborn status prompted obstetricians to make the decision to deliver the infant via cesarean to improve the outcomes for mother and newborn. Unfortunately, the mother did not survive the recovery phase. This event indicated a need for the health care team to refresh their knowledge on current triggers, treatment and management techniques, and the neonatal complications related to exacerbation of asthma during pregnancy. Conclusion Asthma is a chronic medical condition that complicates pregnancy. Roughly one third of the symptoms of pregnant women improve, one third remain the same, and one third worsen. Health care providers need to diligently monitor their patients for signs and symptoms of exacerbation. Management strategies should focus on identifying risk factors, educating the patient and the health care team, and improving communication skills to guarantee successful outcomes for mother and fetus.
Human Resource Information Systems

Human resource information systems (HRIS) are systematic procedures for collecting, storing, maintaining, retrieving, and validating data needed by an organization about its human resources, personnel activities, and organization unit characteristics (Milkovich and Boudreau, 1993). Keywords: human resource
Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram and Forms of Rebellion in the 21st Century in the Vacuum of Ottoman Soviet 'Collapse'

Today around the world, from the uprisings in India by traditional peoples against the Vedanta mining & development schemes (Anon, 2014), in Panama the Ngobe-Bugle Indian tribe, to the massacre in the Amazonas Province of Peru, Native people are striving to protect their lands from resource extraction and environmental pollution (Letourneau, 2014). No ideology unites them, no international organization can protect them from armies and corporate militias and death squads. National governments call those who resist “terrorists” and so class any actions of self-defense. We have entered an era of global conflict between traditional peoples and corporations where one way of life is being exterminated. While it is in general a continuation of the assault of western colonialism, today’s indigenous rebels instead of being considered devil worshipers are now seen as minions of terror. At the same time international confrontations and competition for resources are escalating. The defeat of the USSR is often described as a “collapse” of authority and transition to a new civil entity, Russia, but like the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, it has resulted in a dismemberment of the Soviet Empire. Where the Middle East remains unstable 100 years after the Ottoman defeat, the Russian periphery has become unstable in both independence movements along its southern borders as well as those flanking Europe. The demise of both empires threatens the stability of the world today.
Better Voting Methods Through Technology: The Refinement-Manageability Trade-Off in the Single Transferable Vote

The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is an attractive way of achieving representation that is proportional in terms of whatever characteristics of candidates voters value. Increasingly sophisticated methods of implementing STV have been advanced to overcome identified limitations of earlier methods. But every refinement comes at a cost of increased difficulty of understanding the vote-counting algorithm and increased cost of undertaking the count. This paper uses votes from actual elections to provide evidence about the frequency with which the choice of a particular STV method affects the outcome, and about the type of difference that different methods make. The most sophisticated STV method is CPO-STV, the comparison of pairs of outcomes by STV. This method avoids sequential exclusions and therefore overcomes the limitations of previous methods, that a paucity of votes in the early stages of a count can lead to the exclusion of a candidate who is the consensus choice of voters whose preferred candidates will be excluded at later stages of the count.
Acute and Delayed Benefits of β-Blockers During Coronary Intervention True, True and Unrelated

The early outcomes after coronary intervention have improved remarkably, particularly in the stent era. Patients previously at risk for acute closure and possibly urgent bypass surgery now go home the next day. The risk of bypass surgery is likewise markedly reduced. Nonetheless, subgroups of patients remain at increased risk for adverse outcomes, both short-term and over subsequent follow-up. Predictors of adverse outcome include slow or no reflow, side branch occlusion, diffuse multivessel disease, and preprocedure thrombotic or unstable lesions, as determined by angiography and clinical history. Furthermore, the risk of embolic complications seems to increase with the use of nonballoon devices.1 Importantly, the risk of short-term and late adverse outcomes seems partially related to the presence and extent of the release of creatine kinase (CK)-MB2 or other markers3 after the intervention. However, many of the patients at increased risk on the basis of CK-MB release were previously defined as successes because of the lack of a recognized, acute, in-laboratory event with no electrocardiographic changes. Although initially controversial, the importance of CK-MB release in terms of short-term and late outcome is now convincing.4 5 6 7 8 Overall, there seems to be an up to 30% risk of increased CK-MB release after a “successful” coronary intervention,2 particularly in complex interventional procedures, often involving nonballoon devices.9 Coincident with the data regarding CK-MB release, the use of IIb/IIIa platelet antagonists …
Charmonium-the 1P1 state

Abstract Based on a model which gives agreement with the observed hyperfine and fine splitting of the charmonium states, we predict the mass of 1 p 1 to be 3372 MeV, substantially lower than any previous predicted values. We have also estimated branching ratios and decay rates for the production of this state via channels which become accessible because of its low mass.
Political patronage in law enforcement: Civil liability against police supervisors for violating their subordinates' first amendment rights

Abstract Although patronage, the practice of hiring political friends and firing political enemies, is ingrained in law enforcement, it conflicts with First Amendment guarantees to hold political opinions and to affiliate with political organizations. As a result, lawsuits occur when law enforcement supervisors alter the conditions of their subordinates' employment for holding disfavored political beliefs or belonging to a disliked political party. This article explores the issue of Section 1983 civil liability against law enforcement supervisors for engaging in decisions about political patronage employment. Precedent from the United States Supreme Court guides the analysis of cases decided by the United States District Courts and the United States Courts of Appeals. The article concludes that patronage practices continue to place law enforcement supervisors at risk of civil liability for violating their subordinates' First Amendment rights.
A tutorial for applying DMOC to solve optimization control problems

This paper presents a detailed procedure to apply newly-proposed DMOC (Discrete Mechanics and Optimal Control) methodology to solve optimal control problems. DMOC is based on a direct discretization of Lagrange-d'Alembert principle for a system. First, this tutorial explains the principle of DMOC, and how to formulate the problem in DMOC. Next the steps are shown about how to install and configure nonlinear programming solver IPOPT, and how to use the modeling language AMPL. In particular, the user-defined function is involved with AMPL to solve a more complicated problem. Furthermore, a glider example is provided in this tutorial to solve optimal control problem with the user-defined 2D time-varying B-spline ocean current model. The ocean current original data was collected by HF-Radar stations located around Monterey Bay, CA in August 2000. Practically, this tutorial is shown how to use DMOC to solve optimal control problems with IPOPT and AMPL as the components. The possible users are robotic researchers, control system engineers, operations management researchers, and so on.
Effect of selective and non-selective opioids on body temperature in warm- and cold-acclimated rats

Abstract (1) Exposure to ambient temperatures outside the thermoneutral zone modifies energy balance in mammals. (2) This study examined the response of acclimated animals to the administration of non-selective and mu-selective opioid agonists and antagonists on body temperature (Tb). (3) Saline had no effect on Tb. (4) In cold-acclimated animals, naloxone alone decreased Tb while morphine produced a biphasic response. (5) In both warm- and cold-acclimated animals, PL-017 induced hyperthermia. (6) CTAP, had no effect alone and blocked PL-017-induced hyperthermia in both groups of animals. (7) The data shows that acclimation modifies the response of the animals to administration of opioid agonists and antagonists.
A model for the electronic structure of chromium and α-manganese

Abstract An alternative model for the origin of spin density waves in chromium is presented in terms of a mixture of two electronic structures, one a normal anti-ferromagnetic and the other non-magnetic. The Invar effect in chromium and chromium-rich alloys and the rapid change in electronic structure with Mn, Re and V additions follows from this model. In α-Mn there exists essentially three crystallo-graphic sites each with a different atomic volume and magnetic moment. The Invar effect and the pressure dependence of the Neel temperature follows from this model.
Forest and agricultural resources of Dahomey, West Africa

Dahomey gained its autonomy in 1960. The abrupt changeover from the status of a colony to that of an independent nation naturally created problems and difficulties, affecting, in particular, the country's agricultural pattemn. Dahomey's revenue has always been based almost entirely on the export of agricultural crops, especially palm kernels and palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), peanuts, and karite or shea-nuts (Butyrospermum parkii Kotschy). During the past 8 years the total volume of imported foodstuffs, chiefly rice and cane sugar, has exceeded the value of exports, fluctuating each year between $10 and 20 millions (U.S.). To counteract this unfavorable trade balance, the immediate need of this developing country is the expansion of industrial or cash crops for export. Dahomey's current five-year plan, which started in 1966, gives high priority to the development of plantings of oil palm, cotton and peanut, rice and sugar production, the continuation of forestry and livestock development, and an increased production of food crops for domestic needs. Other projects being developed, or under consideration, are agriculture extension and education, animal husbandry, rinderpest eradication, promotion of the use of fertilizers and pesticides, improvement of agricultural cooperatives, and the establishment of pilot villages. In response to Dahomey's request for assistance in evaluating and developing its agricultural program, the United States Agency for International Development (AID) approached the International Agricultural Development Service (IADS) of the Department of Agriculture to make a survey of the country's agricultural sector. The team of five specialists, including the author,
Blurring boundaries, distant companions: non-kin female caregivers for children in colonial India (nineteenth and twentieth centuries)

This paper examines the history of child‐care by non‐kin, “non‐family” members and their representations in colonial India. It focuses primarily on Bengal and relies on several genres of literary documents. Bengal harboured the seat of the British imperial capital in the city of Calcutta until 1911 and its culture was shaped in unique ways compared with other Indian cities. Based on a reading of select literary documents such as European advice manuals and Bengali personal narratives, the paper argues that the relationship between caregivers and children in colonial households attests to the building of new ties and deep ambiguous, multi‐dimensional relationships with non‐kin members thereby revealing the plasticity of Indian families where sociocultural boundaries were blurred and intimate relationships forged. Beginning with the literary representation of a wet‐nurse in Mahasweta Devi's short story Breast‐Giver, the paper delves into the world of European and Indian accounts to recuperate the history of...
Interplay between exchange bias and uniaxial anisotropy in a ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic exchange-coupled system

The effect of the relative orientation and magnitudes of the exchange bias and the uniaxial shape anisotropy has been systematically investigated in nanometer-sized lines of ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{80}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{20}∕\mathrm{FeMn}$ bilayers using the magneto-optic Kerr effect for different orientations of the applied magnetic field. The measurements exhibit peculiar magnetic behavior when the exchange bias, the uniaxial anisotropy, and the applied magnetic field are not collinear. When the applied magnetic field is perpendicular to the exchange bias, the magnitude and the orientation of the uniaxial anisotropy determine the magnitude and sign of the loop shift. Furthermore, when the exchange bias and the uniaxial anisotropy are parallel, the shift of the hysteresis loop changes nonmonotonically with the orientation of the applied magnetic field and exhibits a maximum loop shift that exceeds the value that would be expected from the interface coupling alone. A simple modified coherent rotation model provides a good description of the behavior of the hysteresis loops in these patterned exchange bias systems. These results show clearly that, in addition to the loop shift, it is necessary to characterize all other magnetic anisotropies in order to extract meaningful conclusions about the interfacial coupling.
Connecting Children to the Land: Place-Based Education in the Muddy Creek Watershed, Oregon

Abstract This article describes a project in which landowners and managers in a rural watershed near Corvallis, Oregon, taught local middle school children about their watershed through site visits and landowner interviews. The place-based curriculum gave students the opportunity to learn about local geography and farm and forest enterprises. Students reported a sense of accomplishment in the success of related class projects (planting rare native plants and designing a riparian buffer). Here are described project methods, successes, challenges, and learning outcomes, along with suggestions for improving the curriculum, with the idea that it might be fruitfully replicated in other geographic contexts.
The patient with recurrent aphthous ulcers and the patient with recurrent herpes labialis: a study of two population samples

Persons who suffer recurrent canker sores and fever blisters seem to have a common response mechanism to both syndromes. Although similarities may be only characteristics common to both diseases, there is more than a superficial similarity between persons who suffer from recurrent canker sores and persons who suffer from recurrent fever blisters.
Cumulant methods for analysing independence of r-way contingency tables and goodness-of-fit frequency data

Cumulant methods for analysisng the independence of r-way contingency tables and goodness-of-fit frequency data are presented. These methods are based on the exact first three cumulants of both the classical Pearson chi-squared statistic and a recent advantageous modification of this statistic. These approximate methods provide major distributional improvements over existing asymptotic methods
Sustained attention following mild closed-head injury.

The sustained-attention performance of patients with mild closed-head injury (CHI) was examined within one month of injury using a high-event rate, digit-discrimination vigilance task with two levels of stimulus degradation (undegraded, highly degraded). Under undegraded stimulus conditions, vigilance performance for mild CHI subjects, uninjured case-matched control subjects, and college students was highly accurate and remained so across the entire task period. When stimuli were presented in degraded fashion, however, all three groups showed a similar decline over time (i.e., vigilance decrement) in hit rates and d' scores. Although mild CHI did not lead to a greater rate of deterioration in vigilance performance in the degraded stimulus condition, it did produce lower overall levels of sensitivity (d') in target detection. These results suggest that, during the first month after mild CHI, vigilance performance is unimpaired under normal task conditions, but may fall short under task conditions that require sustained effortful processing. These findings join a growing body of evidence showing that mild CHI can lead to measurable deficits in cognitive functioning.
Aging and the visual perception of exocentric distance

Abstract The ability of 18 younger and older adults to visually perceive exocentric distances was evaluated. The observers judged the extent of fronto-parallel and in-depth spatial intervals at a variety of viewing distances from 50 cm to 164.3 cm. Most of the observers perceived in-depth intervals to be significantly smaller than fronto-parallel intervals, a finding that is consistent with previous studies. While none of the individual observers’ judgments of exocentric distance were accurate, the judgments of the older observers were significantly more accurate than those of the younger observers. The precision of the observers’ judgments across repeated trials, however, was not affected by age. The results demonstrate that increases in age can produce significant improvements in the visual ability to perceive the magnitude of exocentric distances.
Bookbuilding vs. Fixed Price: An Analysis of Competing Strategies for Marketing IPOs

We compare two mechanisms for selling IPOs, the fixed price method and American book-building, when investors have correlated information and can observe each other's subscription decisions. In this environment, the fixed price method is a strategy that can create cascading demand. Alternatively, an underwriter building a book aggregates investor information into the offer price. We find that bookbuilding generates higher expected proceeds but exposes the issuer to greater uncertainty, and that it provides the option to sell additional shares that are not underpriced on the margin.
Global Stringy Orbifold Cohomology, K-Theory and de Rham Theory

There are two approaches to constructing stringy multiplications for global quotients. The first one is given by first pulling back and then pushing forward. The second one is given by first pushing forward and then pulling back. The first approach has been used to define a global stringy extension of the functors K0 and Ktop by Jarvis–Kaufmann–Kimura, A* by Abramovich–Graber–Vistoli, and H* by Chen–Ruan and Fantechi–Gottsche. The second approach has been applied by the author in the case of cyclic twisted sector and in particular for singularities with symmetries and for symmetric products. The second type of construction has also been discussed in the de Rham setting for Abelian quotients by Chen–Hu. We give a rigorous formulation of de Rham theory for any global quotient from both points of view. We also show that the pull–push formalism has a solution by the push–pull equations in the setting case of cyclic twisted sectors. In the general, not necessarily cyclic case, we introduce ring extensions and treat all the stringy extension of the functors mentioned above also from the second point of view. A first extension provides formal sections and a second extension fractional Euler classes. The formal sections allow us to give a pull–push solution while fractional Euler classes give a trivialization of the co-cycles of the pull–push formalism. The main tool is the formula for the obstruction bundle of Jarvis–Kaufmann–Kimura. This trivialization can be interpreted as defining the physics notion of twist fields. We end with an outlook on applications to singularities with symmetries aka. orbifold Landau–Ginzburg models.
Renal arteriovenous aneurysm in a 4-year-old patient

We report a case of a symptomatic renal arteriovenous aneurysm in a 4-year-old pediatric patient. We were able to diagnose the lesion by means of a Doppler renal sonogram with color duplex interrogation. The diagnosis was confirmed by digital subtraction angiography. On the basis of the angiographic findings, the aneurysm was resected, and the renal arteriovenous fistula was repaired.
Health care reform in the US: an analysis of implementation of the Affordable Care Act in California

Background The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in 2010. In the past four years, federal and state governments have made changes to existing programs, created new ones, and attempted to foster innovation in the health care system. We provide an update on implementation of the ACA in California, specifically focused on the expansion of Medi-Cal for low-income populations and the creation of California’s marketplace to purchase insurance coverage.
Phase I Trial Using a Time-to-Event Continual Reassessment Strategy for Dose Escalation of Cisplatin Combined With Gemcitabine and Radiation Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer

Purpose The primary objective of this study was to determine the maximum-tolerated dose of cisplatin that could be added to full-dose gemcitabine and radiation therapy (RT) in patients with pancreatic cancer. Patients and Methods Nineteen patients were treated. Gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 was administered over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. Cisplatin followed gemcitabine on days 1 and 15. The initial dose level of cisplatin was 30 mg/m2, escalated to a targeted dose of 50 mg/m2 using Time-to-Event Continual Reassessment Method. RT was initiated on cycle 1, day 1, in 2.4 Gy fractions to a total dose of 36 Gy. A second cycle of chemotherapy was planned following a 1-week rest. Results Four of eight patients experienced acute dose limiting toxicity at the 50 mg/m2 cisplatin dose level. Patients treated at 30 and 40 mg/m2 cisplatin dose level tolerated therapy without dose-limiting toxicity. Median survival was 10.7 months (95% CI, 5.4 to 18.2) for all patients, and 12.9 months (95% CI, 7.4 to...
γ-Fe2O3 and the passivity of iron

Abstract In the past few years a large amount of evidence has been obtained indicating that passivity in the system Fe-O-H 2 O at room temperature is associated with the presence of a thin protective film having a modified form of the spinel structure of magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ). It seems to have been fairly well established that this protective film comprises two layers, namely a conductive film, usually specified as Fe 3 O 4 , in direct contact with the unoxidized metal, covered in turn by an electrically insulating film of what has been called “γ-Fe 2 O 3 .” This γ-Fe 2 O 3 has been visualized as a spinel structure containing vacancies. In this study, the authors have brought together and correlated a substantial mass of existing data. The results of the study led to the conclusion that such protective films cannot be merely spinel structures containing vacancies but are modifications of the Fe 3 O 4 structure in which protons are substituted for some of the ferrous iron and that γ-Fe 2 O 3 is the end result of such a substitution when all ferrous ion has disappeared.
Refractory post-pancreatitis thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: response to rituximab.

Acute pancreatitis is a well-recognized complication of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) [1]. Rarely, however, TTP may be triggered by acute pancreatitis and is considered one of the complications of acute pancreatitis [2–8]. Post-pancreatitis TTP generally occurs 2–3 days after the onset of pancreatitis, at a time when the pancreatitis appears to be clinically resolving and has a good outcome following conventional therapy [2]. We report a patient with post-pancreatitis TTP who was refractory to standard therapy but achieved remission following treatment with rituximab, a finding that has not been reported previously.
Sexual function in married men with Parkinson's disease compared to married men with arthritis.

We evaluated the sexual function of 41 married men with Parkinson9s disease (PD) and its relation to age, severity of PD, and depression. We used a group of 29 married men with arthritis for comparison. Total sexual functioning and categories of desire, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction did not differ significantly between patients with PD and arthritis. For both PD and arthritis, increased age, severity of illness, and depression were associated with reduced sexual function. These results suggest that sexual dysfunction is common in married men with PD, but no more so than in men with another chronic illness that does not involve the nervous system.
Liposomes and pulmonary alveolar macrophages: functional and morphologic interactions.

In vitro toxicity of liposomes and their functional and morphologic interactions with rat pulmonary alveolar macrophage (AMs) were investigated using viability (trypan blue exclusion), phagocytic and killing activity (uptake and digestion of live S. cerevisiae), surface adherence, respiratory burst (nitro-blue tetrazolium reduction), and morphometry (computerized image analysis) as indicators. Liposome stability in physiologic solutions and uptake of liposome-encapsulated carboxyfluorescein (CF) by AMs was assessed by fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. Liposomes made from saturated phospholipids and cholesterol were stable, whereas liposomes consisting of unsaturated phospholipids without cholesterol lost 30% to 40% of their content over 24 h. However, CF uptake was highest with unsaturated phospholipid preparations, whereas uptake of the three other formulations was comparable. Although liposome exposure did not affect macrophage viability, a reduction in the number of phagocytizing macrophages to...
Photosynthetic Pathway of Steppe Vegetation and the Stable Carbon Isotope Composition of Organic Matter in the Russian Chernozem

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the stable carbon isotope composition of soil organic carbon (C) under different land uses in the Russian Chernozem, one of the typical soils in grasslands. Three sites were sampled: a native grassland field (not cultivated for at least 300 years), an adjacent 50‐year continuous fallow field in the V. V. Alekhin Central Chernozem Biosphere State Reserve in the Kursk region of Russia, and a continuously cropped field in the Experimental Station of the Kursk Institute of Agronomy and Soil Erosion Control. All sampled soils were classified as Haplic Chernozem. The stable C isotope composition of organic C (δ13C values vary from −24.7‰ to −25.9‰) is determined by the C3‐type plants dominating in the region. Agricultural crops grown in the region are predominantly C3‐type with the exception of corn. Corn cropping slightly altered the stable C isotope signature of soil organic C. Presence of carbonates in the soil can interfere with the stable C isotope signature o...
The Los Angeles Riots Revisited: The Changing Face of the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Challenge for Educators

This article provides a brief history of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), including an analysis of the demographic shifts and the tensions between the African American and Korean American communities at the time of the Los Angeles riots in 1992. The article includes my own experiences teaching high school English during the uprising, and relies on some of the ideas of Critical Race Theory to stress the need for educators to hold uncomfortable discussions about race and racism in educational settings. The article further includes an examination of issues and concerns that faced the district in the years leading up to the King verdict (racial isolation, poor academic achievement in some schools, teacher frustration, and, an ultimate strike in 1989, gang violence), and provides a snapshot of current achievement levels for children in LAUSD.
The Application of Data Enhancement Techniques to the Study of Hydrocarbon Oxidation Processes

Oxidative and thermal degradation of hydrocarbon oils are complex processes. While the fundamental chain reaction mechanisms are known, the actual chemistry of a formulation involving several additives still remains a gray area. An understanding of some of the additive interactions and their degradation pathways will ultimately lead to a more scientific approach to formulation optimization for a given application. Current methodology involves laboratory oxidation tests as a screening mechanism before the more expensive mechanical tests are used for the final lubricant evaluation. This is particularly the case for automotive and gas turbine lubricants. The chemistry linking the laboratory test and the mechanical tests for a given oil formulation are rarely considered.