cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diuretic initiation and the acute risk of hip fracture

Summary We found the risk of hip fracture was transiently elevated around twofold shortly after initiation of a loop or thiazide diuretic drug in a case-crossover and case–control study. No statistical association was found following the initiation of a comparator medication: ACE inhibitors. Awareness of these short-term risks may reduce hip fractures.
Sedimentology of the Middle Marker (3.4 Ga), Onverwacht Group, Transvaal, South Africa

Abstract The Middle Marker is a thin (3–6 m) sedimentary unit at the base of the Hooggenoeg Formation in the 3.4 Ga old Onverwacht Group, Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa. The original sediments consisted largely of current-deposited volcaniclastic detritus now represented by green to buff-colored silicified volcaniclastic rock and fine-grained gray chert. Black chert, possibly formed by the silicification of a non-volcaniclastic precursor, makes up a significant part of the unit. The Middle Marker is underlain and overlain by mafic and commonly pillowed volcanic flowrock. Although the original sediment has been replaced by and/or recrystallized to a microquartz, chlorite, sericite, carbonate and iron oxide mosaic under lower greenschist-grade metamorphism, sedimentary textures and structures are remarkably well preserved. Textural pseudomorphs indicate the primary volcaniclastic sediment consisted of a mixture of crystal, vitric and lithic debris. Middle Marker sediments were deposited as a prograding, cone-flanking volcaniclastic sedimentary platform in a relatively-shallow and locally current/wave-influenced subaqueous sedimentary environment. Available paleocurrent data indicate a largely bimodal, orthogonal distribution pattern which is quite similar to both ancient and modern shallow marine/shelf systems. Diagnostic evidence for tidal activity is lacking. As felsic volcanic activity waned, an extensive airfall blanket of fine-grained volcanic ash and dust was deposited in a low-energy subaqueous environment. The sedimentary cycle was terminated with a renewal of submarine mafic volcanism. Middle Marker volcaniclastic sediments accumulated in an anorogenic basin removed or isolated from the influence of continental igneous and metamorphic terranes. Although compositionally dominated by a volcanic source, Middle Marker sediments owe their final texture and sedimentary structures to subaqueous sedimentary rather than volcanogenic processes.
High-capacity wavelength demultiplexer with a large-diameter GRIN rod lens.

A high capacity (twelve-channel) fiber optic wavelength demultiplexer incorporating a large diameter GRIN rod lens and grating was developed and fully characterized. The demultiplexer operates over the 740–930-nm wavelength range with an average channel spacing of 17 nm. The insertion loss, measured and averaged over all twelve channels, was ~3 dB, and the average adjacent channel optical cross talk was 32 dB.
Economic stabilization and communal politics in Yugoslavia

Politics in the Yugoslav commune have broken down and now endanger the political system in the entire country. The previous system of interlocking and mutually reinforcing networks among the commune economic enterprises, commune party organizations and the republic governments has been shattered and no new system has taken its place. The demise of the system has weakened the authority of the republic to legitimize and implement its decisions and has reduced the capacity of the commune to respond to local political and social needs. Throughout Yugoslavia, governmental institutional ties to the citizens have been abruptly severed and this failure threatens the stability and continuity of socialist Yugoslavia.
The Argonne workstation evaluation and demonstration room

This presentation describes the environment at Argonne National Laboratory and the actions underway to provide computer users assistance in selecting electronic workstations. The focus of the presentation will be on the opening of the Workstation Evaluation and Demonstration Room, where the Computing Services Division provides users access to terminals, personal desktop computers, word processors, scientific workstations and peripheral equipment.
SERPENTS, SKELETONS, AND ANCESTORS?: THE TULA COATEPANTLI REVISITED

Since Acosta's work in the 1940s, relief carvings of serpents entwined with partially skeletonized personages on the coatepantli at Tula have frequently been identified as images of the Nahua Venus deity, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. Comparing these Toltec sculptures with this deity's iconography in Late Postclassic to Colonial period manuscripts, however, provides no support for this identification. Based on the northern Mesoamerican cultural connections of the Toltecs, the author suggests parallels between the coatepantli reliefs and the public display of ancestral and sacrificial human remains at Chalchihuites sites. Identification of the coatepantli figures as venerated ancestors from an ancestral cult is also supported by iconographic and archaeological evidence from Tula. Parallels to the coatepantli images in depictions of both living elites and ancestors juxtaposed with serpents from other Mesoamerican art traditions bolster this interpretation. On the basis of the evidence, the author hypothesizes that the skeletonized figures at Tula symbolize deceased kings and honored warriors rather than conquered foes.
The population of Latin America

Las naciones de America Latina difieren coneiderablemente en su situacion demoqrafica. Este trabajo pretende suministrar una vision de conjunto del alcance de esta variacion. En terminos de densidad, distribucion urbano-rural, composici⤵ de la poblacion, participacion de la fuerza de trabajo, tasas de natalidad, tasas de mortalidad, y tendencias de la migracion existe amplia variacion y este articulo proporciona un resumen de la informacion o mejores estimaciones disponibles. En todas las naciones de America Latina hay un gran oleaje de urbanizacion y migracion del area rural a la urbana. Aun cuando los niveles de fecundidad son mas bajos en las naciones de la zona templada que en las naciones de la zona tropical, el crecimiento es moderadamente raspido o rapido en casi todas partes. Hay poca evidencia de una tendencia importante hacia la reduccion de la fecundidad en las naciones de alta fecundidad. Mientras tanto, la reduccion en la mortalidad continua a un paso rapido. Esto crea la perspectiva de un crecimiento demografico rapido y sostenido para el futuro inmediato.
Optimized Design and Predicted Performance of a Deep Ocean 50m Piston Coring System

Calculational techniques are described which were developed or adapted for the purpose of analyzing the mechanical response of a proposed piston coring system capable of recovering high quality 50 m long cores. The analysis includes the effects of barrel geometry on the mass required to penetrate 50 m of an assumed sediment, the effects of non-vertical entry and pullout on the stresses within the barrel, and the effects of steel cable or parachute piston restraints on the resulting core sample distortion. The results show that a wall thickness of 50 mm in the upper section is necessary to survive an entry of up to 1.5\deg from vertical or a recovery angle of up to 5\deg . They also show that a mass of 15,400 kg and a pullout force of 330 kN are required. It is shown that active piston control is necessary to eliminate piston motion during penetration.
Eight Centuries of North Atlantic Ocean Atmosphere Variability

Climate in the tropical North Atlantic is controlled largely by variations in the strength of the trade winds, the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and sea surface temperatures. A high-resolution study of Caribbean sediments provides a subdecadally resolved record of tropical upwelling and trade wind variability spanning the past 825 years. These results confirm the importance of a decadal (12- to 13-year) mode of Atlantic variability believed to be driven by coupled tropical ocean-atmosphere dynamics. Although a well-defined interdecadal mode of variability does not appear to be characteristic of the tropical Atlantic, there is evidence that century-scale variability is substantial. The tropical Atlantic may also have been involved in a major shift in Northern Hemisphere climate variability that took place about 700 years ago.
Recurrent Primary Synovial Sarcoma of the Chest Wall

We present a case of recurrent primary synovial sarcoma of the chest wall in a 55-year-old man. Imaging at the time of recurrence revealed extensive involvement of the left pleural cavity by the tumor. The patient developed severe congestive heart failure with restrictive/constrictive physiology and subsequently died in the hospital 5 months after initial presentation. At autopsy, the tumor encased the entire left lung in a rind-like fashion and diffusely involved the pericardium. Recurrent synovial sarcoma was confirmed by histological examination. Synovial sarcoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chest masses, especially in young or middle-aged adults.
An econometric model of a retail firm

Existing models of retail resource allocation generally specify response functions in a somewhat ad hoc manner. These are not usually derived from an explicit model of consumer maximization, and they generally do not explicitly consider the supply side of the market. This paper shows how the model of Ehrlich and Fisher (1982) can be used to provide insights into the proper specification of these functions. We illustrate the application of this model on data from a retail chain; our application extends work in Ratchford and Stoops (1988) to the demand side of the market. Potential areas of application of the model are to understanding the demand for labor and advertising services by consumers, and to the measurement of retail productivity.
A hurricane evacuation management decision support system (EMDSS)

This article describes the challenges confronting local authorities who must decide if and when to initiate evacuations from tropical cyclones. This problem can be decomposed into the behavior of the hurricane that is relevant to evacuation and the behavior of evacuees that is relevant to the hurricane. The uncertain behavior of these two systems can be modeled in an evacuation management decision support system (EMDSS). The hurricane EMDSS described here displays information about the minimum, most, and maximum probable evacuation time estimates (ETEs) in comparison to the earliest, most, and latest probable estimated times of arrival (ETAs) for storm conditions. In addition, EMDSS calculates the cost of false positive (the economic cost of an evacuation) and false negative (lives lost in a late evacuation) decision errors. EMDSS is being used in experiments to assess different information displays, team compositions, community characteristics, and hurricane scenarios. In addition, it will be used in training and actual hurricane operations. Finally, definition of the program’s requirements has identified further research needed to build a better empirical base for its input data.
Characterization of the ototoxicity of difluoromethylornithine and its enantiomers.

Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) is an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the essential enzyme in mammalian polyamine biosynthesis (Pasic et al., 1997, Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 123[12], 1281‐1286). This cancer chemotherapeutic agent has significant ototoxic potential. Because the DFMO enantiomers differ in their ability to block ODC, the present study was designed to compare the ototoxic potential of each enantiomer with the racemic form of this drug for the rat and guinea pig. Determining differential ototoxicity of the enantiomers is one preliminary step in determining the optimal form of DFMO to use in human cancer chemotherapy. Daily intubation with D,LDFMO does not produce any auditory dysfunction in rats with doses between 200 mg/kg/day and 1.2 g/kg/day for up to 8 weeks, despite the fact that doses of 800 and 1200 mg/kg/day depressed body weight gain. In contrast to the data observed in rats, substantial ototoxicity was observed when guinea pigs were injected ip with doses of D,L-DFMO between 500 mg/kg/day and 1 g/kg/day. D,L-DFMO produced loss of compound action potential sensitivity, but not of cochlear microphonic amplitude. This finding correlated with histological data revealing loss of both outer and inner hair cells in the cochlea with inner more affected than outer hair cells, particularly in the basal turn. Higher exposure doses (2‐3 g/kg/day) resulted in significant general toxicity including impaired growth and some mortality. When the enantiomers were evaluated in the guinea pig, it was found that 1 g/kg/day D-DFMO did not produce any significant hearing impairment, whereas 1 g/kg/day of the L-enantiomer of DFMO generated a threshold shift that surpassed that of 1 g/kg/day of the D,L-DFMO treatment.
Sorcin Associates with the Pore-forming Subunit of Voltage-dependent L-type Ca2+ Channels

Intracellular Ca2+release in muscle is governed by functional communication between the voltage-dependent L-type Ca2+ channel and the intracellular Ca2+ release channel by processes that are incompletely understood. We previously showed that sorcin binds to cardiac Ca2+ release channel/ryanodine receptors and decreases channel open probability in planar lipid bilayers. In addition, we showed that sorcin antibody immunoprecipitates ryanodine receptors from metabolically labeled cardiac myocytes along with a second protein having a molecular weight similar to that of the α1 subunit of cardiac L-type Ca2+ channels. We now demonstrate that sorcin biochemically associates with cardiac and skeletal muscle L-type Ca2+ channels specifically within the cytoplasmically oriented C-terminal region of the α1 subunits, providing evidence that the second protein recovered by sorcin antibody from cardiac myocytes was the 240-kDa L-type Ca2+ channel α1 subunit. Anti-sorcin antibody immunoprecipitated full-length α1 subunits from cardiac myocytes, C2C12 myotubes, and transfected non-muscle cells expressing α1 subunits. In contrast, the anti-sorcin antibody did not immunoprecipitate C-terminal truncated forms of α1 subunits that were detected in myotubes. Recombinant sorcin bound to cardiac and skeletal HIS6-tagged α1 C termini immobilized on Ni2+ resin. Additionally, anti-sorcin antibody immunoprecipitated C-terminal fragments of the cardiac α1 subunit exogenously expressed in mammalian cells. The results identified a putative sorcin binding domain within the C terminus of the α1 subunit. These observations, along with the demonstration that sorcin accumulated substantially during physiological maturation of the excitation-contraction coupling apparatus in developing postnatal rat heart and differentiating C2C12 muscle cells, suggest that sorcin may mediate interchannel communication during excitation-contraction coupling in heart and skeletal muscle.
Some Observations on the Wetting of Al2O3, by Aluminum

The contact angle of liquid aluminum with recrystallized alumina and with sapphire, respectively, was measured using the sessile-drop technique, The variation in contact angle with time was determined at temperatures of the order of 1200°C. in vacuo at 10-4 mm. Hg. A significant difference in spreading behavior was observed for aluminum on the respective aluminas. In the case of aluminum on recrystallized Al2O3 the contact angle attained a steady value, whereas on sapphire the drop was observed to spread and contract repeatedly. The contact angle assumed after each contraction was essentially constant. The observations are discussed and an explanation is proposed for the effect in terms of changes in the interfacial geometry between liquid aluminum and the alumina due to dissolution.
The honeynet arms race

In july 2003, the Honeynet Project released version 2 of its data-capture tool, Sebek. Several days later, the self-described blackhat group that calls itself the Phrack High Council released a counterfeit issue of the online hacker periodical Phrack Magazine. The issue included an article titled "Local Honeypot Identification" that criticized Sebek's effectiveness and that of honeynets in general. Although the means of distributing the fake issue were irregular and the article was littered with puerile humor and gratuitous inflammatory remarks, it did raise several significant issues worthy of discussion. This month's installment of the Honeynet Files describes Sebek and makes the case that despite the fake Phrack issue's claims, both Sebek and honeynets are useful to network security engineers and researchers.
Modelling the cost implications of using carboxymethylcellulose dressing compared with gauze in the management of surgical wounds healing by secondary intention in the US and UK.

ABSTRACTObjective: To estimate the costs of using carboxymethylcellulose dressing (CMCD; Aquacel Hydrofiber) compared to gauze in managing surgical wounds healing by secondary intention in the US and UK.Study Design: This was a modelling study performed from the perspective of payers (i.e. the hospital and community sector in the US and the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK).Methods: Clinical outcomes attributable to managing surgical wounds healing by secondary intention with gauze were obtained from the published literature in the English language. There were no published studies on wounds healing by secondary intention with CMCD. Hence, the analysis conservatively assumed that wound healing rates associated with gauze would be the same for CMCD. These data were combined with resource utilisation estimates derived from a panel of clinicians enabling us to perform decision modelling. The models were used to determine the expected direct healthcare costs eight weeks after the surgical wounds were dr...
Exploring the Educational Involvement of Parents of English Learners.

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the relationships among a range of specific barriers and facilitators of parent involvement and a variety of types of school involvement within a diverse group of immigrant parents of English Learners (ELs) in four elementary school districts. In-home types of educational involvement such as monitoring homework and asking children about their school day were the most commonly reported behaviors, and utilizing community resources was found to be the least common type of parental involvement. Involvement type was predicted by parental demographic factors such as comfort with English language, educational background, and ethnicity, as well as perceptions of barriers and overall school climate. The findings of this study have implications for the design and implementation of interventions (e.g., parent programs, school policy changes) aimed at increasing the parental involvement of EL children.
Nanobelt Structure in Perovskite–Spinel Composite Thin Films

We report a nanobelt structure along the 〈110〉 direction in perovskite–spinel (BiFeO3–CoFe2O4 or BFO–CFO) composite epitaxial thin films deposited on SrTiO3 (STO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The results reveal the nucleation and growth mechanism of a nanostructure: first nucleation of perovskite phase regions on STO, followed by segregation of spinel out of the perovskite phase, and finally by evolution of spinel nanobelts that are elongated along the 〈110〉. The reason for control of the nanostructure evolution is a ledge growth mechanism of spinel along the 〈110〉 direction.
Tesla-Based Blood Pump and Its Applications.

A continuous flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) that the Penn State University has developed utilizes Tesla turbomachinery technology. Tesla pumping technology patented by Nikola Tesla in the early 20th century has multiple intriguing characteristics such as simpler manufacturing process, reduced turbulent-related stress, less cavitation due to viscous flow distribution over larger surface areas, and less hemolysis by smooth transition of fluid energy. We successfully tested the 1st version of the Penn State Tesla LVAD [1, 2]. We recently tested the 2nd version of the Tesla pump; to make the pump usable in a wide range of patients, the size of the pump was significantly reduced while trying to avoid any degradation of hemodynamic and hemolytic characteristics.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
NRA and ERDA investigation of helium retention in SiC as a function of irradiation and annealing

Abstract Silicon carbide has been proposed for coating applications in advanced reactor designs, so studies of its behavior in the presence of ion irradiation and fission products are of interest. We investigated the retention of He in single crystal 6H SiC as a function of irradiation fluence and annealing temperature using both nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ToF ERDA). Ions of 3He+ were implanted at 40 keV in SiC to a depth of ∼200 nm at room temperature. NRA was performed using 1.0 MeV D+ and the 3He(D,α)1H reaction. No change in the He profile was seen for irradiation fluence up to 6.8 × 1017 D+/cm2 at room temperature. Isochronal annealing of the SiC between 300 and 1200 K also showed no significant helium loss. Subsequently, a sample was irradiated with D+ at 900 K and again at 1100 K. No loss of 3He associated with irradiation was seen for a fluence up to 5 × 1017 D+/cm2. Annealing the sample above 1200 K resulted in thermally activated loss of He. ToF ERDA measurements were performed using 44 MeV 127I10+ for both irradiation and analysis. Depth profiles of the He distribution showed no significant change under I bombardment with an ion fluence up to ∼1014/cm2 at room temperature. NRA was performed on the implanted sample subjected to ERDA. The 3He profiles for regions subjected to I irradiation were similar in shape to those with no I irradiation.
Factors affecting sediment delivery rates in the red hills physiographic area

Twenty-five records of watershed sediment delivery rates and factors affecting sediment-delivery rates are analyzed. Relief and maximum length of watershed expressed as relief-length ratio (R/L) in a simple curvilinear correlation or as individual variables in a multiple curvilinear correlation are found to offer a much closer correlation with sedimentdelivery rates than size of sediment contributing area or several other factors tested. The basic trend of thought in this study is that rates of sediment yield of watersheds are immediately comparable only if their gross erosion rates per unit of area are the same. Otherwise, it is their delivery rates t h a t must be compared, and once causal factors of the sedimentdelivery rate have been evaluated for a soil and climatic region, it is possible to predict sediment yields closely from gross erosion data and the delivery rate characteristics of individual watersheds within that region.
Significant crustal thinning beneath the Baikal rift zone: New constraints from receiver function analysis

[1] Thinning of the crust of more than 10 km is a major feature of typical continental rifts such as the East African (EAR) and Rio Grande (RGR) rifts. However, numerous previous studies across the Baikal rift zone (BRZ), which has similar surface expressions and tectonic history, and more active seismicity relative to EAR and RGR, have resulted in contradicting amount of thinning, ranging from almost none to more than 10 km. We measure crustal thickness by stacking teleseismic receiver functions beneath 51 sites on the southern and central parts of the BRZ and adjacent Siberian Platform and Sayan-Baikal-Mongolian Foldbelt. Our measurements reveal that beneath the southern part of the Platform, the average crustal thickness is about 38 km, which is about 7 km thinner than that beneath the Foldbelt and the un-rifted part of the BRZ. The thinnest crust, 35 km, is found beneath the central part of the rift, and represents a significant thinning of about 10 km relative to the un-rifted parts of the BRZ. INDEX TERMS: 7200 Seismology; 7203 Seismology: Body wave propagation; 7205 Seismology: Continental crust (1242). Citation: Gao, S. S., K. H. Liu, and C. Chen (2004), Significant crustal thinning beneath the Baikal rift zone: New constraints from receiver function analysis, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L20610, doi:10.1029/2004GL020813.
Risk factor modification in intermittent claudication: effect on life expectancy and walking capacity

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is among the common manifestations of systemic atherosclerosis. In the U.S.A. it is estimated that this disorder affects 8–10 million adults, with resultant increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Thus, 50% of patients with PAD will have a fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular event within 5 years. The initial treatment goal in patients with PAD is to identify their risk factors for atherosclerosis and then to initiate risk factor modification. These patients should all be placed on antiplatelet therapy as well. However, these interventions typically do not result in an immediate change in the symptoms of PAD, mainly intermittent claudication, and additional interventions are necessary to treat this disabling symptom. These include a formal exercise programme; with regard to pharmacological therapies cilostizol is available in the U.S.A., and several medications that are effective including propionyl-l- carnitine are available in Europe.
A New Remodeling Technique for Power System Dynamic Analysis

Power system dynamics are typically described by differential algebraic equations (DAE) equations. Singular perturbation technique can be used to approximate DAE systems by ODE systems. Note that for singular perturbation techniques to preserve bifurcation properties of the original DAE system, the fast dynamics is required to converge to the algebraic constraints. This requirement, so far, has not been seriously considered. With this requirement in mind, a new remodeling technique named PTE is proposed in this paper. This new approach has the advantage that direct integration can be applied to analyze the system dynamics while maintaining the essential bifurcation properties of original systems. Also, a simple and feasible criterion was proposed here to gauge the accuracy of remodeled ODE system, which can help us select proper perturbation parameters for numerical simulation. Our numerical tests demonstrate the feasibility of our new approach
Iron Pill–Induced Gastritis

Iron-deficiency anemia is a prevalent condition treated with iron supplementation. Iron pill–induced gastritis is an under-recognized, albeit serious potential complication of iron pill ingestion. This entity must be identified by healthcare providers who prescribe iron. We present a case of a 59-year-old male with iron deficiency anemia on ferrous sulfate tablets who underwent an upper endoscopy, during which a single superficial gastric ulceration in the body was noted. Biopsies revealed heavy iron deposition confirming the ulceration was a consequence of the iron tablets. Iron pill–induced gastritis causes corrosive mucosal injury similar to that caused by chemical burns.
piPipes: a set of pipelines for piRNA and transposon analysis via small RNA-seq, RNA-seq, degradome- and CAGE-seq, ChIP-seq and genomic DNA sequencing

Motivation: PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), 23–36 nt small silencing RNAs, repress transposon expression in the metazoan germ line, thereby protecting the genome. Although high-throughput sequencing has made it possible to examine the genome and transcriptome at unprecedented resolution, extracting useful information from gigabytes of sequencing data still requires substantial computational skills. Additionally, researchers may analyze and interpret the same data differently, generating results that are difficult to reconcile. To address these issues, we developed a coordinated set of pipelines, ‘piPipes’, to analyze piRNA and transposon-derived RNAs from a variety of high-throughput sequencing libraries, including small RNA, RNA, degradome or 7-methyl guanosine cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE), chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and genomic DNA-seq. piPipes can also produce figures and tables suitable for publication. By facilitating data analysis, piPipes provides an opportunity to standardize computational methods in the piRNA field. Supplementary information: Supplementary information, including flowcharts and example figures for each pipeline, are available at Bioinformatics online. Availability and implementation: piPipes is implemented in Bash, C++, Python, Perl and R. piPipes is free, open-source software distributed under the GPLv3 license and is available at http://bowhan.github.io/piPipes/. Contact: ude.demssamu@eromaZ.pillihP or ude.demssamu@gneW.gnipihZ Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Leïla Bekhti, Rachida Brakni, and the new place of Maghrebi-French actresses in French cinema

In France today, some of the most recognizable actors in cinema are of Maghrebi (North African) descent. Actors such as Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, and Samy Naceri began building their careers in the 1990s and have since been cast in a variety of roles and participated in films that have achieved mainstream success. Only much more recently, however, have Maghrebi-French actresses gained access to equally diverse roles and started to enjoy some visibility in the French film industry. What factors have contributed to this disparity? In seeking to answer this question, the present article will begin by tracing the careers and film roles of Maghrebi-French actresses in the 1980s and 1990s, actresses who failed to achieve significant visibility and were often relegated to stereotyped roles that focused on the characters’ ethnic origins. Then, it will take as case studies the careers of two contemporary actresses, Rachida Brakni and Leila Bekhti, which began in the early to mid-2000s and, I will...
Average Conditional Volatility: A Measure Of Systemic Risk For Commercial Banks

We propose using the cross-sectional (daily) average conditional volatility of commercial bank stock returns as a measure of systemic risk for the U.S. banking industry. The performance of this measure is tested using data from the 2008 pre-crisis period. The measure is shown to incorporate individual bank risk as well as the cumulative riskiness of a cross-section of banks. Cross-sectional regressions indicate that individual bank’s probability of default is unrelated to the bank’s conditional volatility during times of low, industry wide risk (as measured by average conditional volatility). However, the bank’s conditional volatility significantly affects its probability of default when the industry is experiencing a high level risk. Regardless of the industry level risk, a bank’s probability of default has a significant negative relation with its capital adequacy (as measured by the proportion of equity capital). Additionally, at an aggregate level, Granger causality tests indicate that the conditional volatility of ‘big’ banks causes the riskiness of medium and small banks to increase.
The Nature of Sales in Online Markets: Asymmetric Consumer Information or Benefits to Bulk Shopping?

Price dispersion - firms charging different prices for the same product - is widely observed in both online and traditional offline markets. While most price dispersion is explained by stylized clearinghouse models such as Varian (1980), these models do not explain why prices in offline markets are lower on weekends than during the work week, and before Christmas than after Christmas. We argue that price dispersion online is fully explained by clearinghouse models. First, because search and travel costs are lower online, these anomalous pricing patterns disappear. Second, prices charged by firms, price dispersion, the number of firms posting prices, and the minimum price in the online markets for several products vary in ways that are all consistent with the predictions of clearinghouse models.
Conversation that Matters

Siebren Miedema has joined with others in making conversation a centre for educational research and practice. Genc, ter Avest, Miedema, and Westerman (2012) utilize a research method of ‘conversational analysis’ in their recent article ‘A conversational Analysis of Developments in Religious Education in Europe and Turkey’. They explore education in Europe and Turkey by engaging with one another from the distinct perspectives of their European and Turkish ‘tinted lenses’.
Is waiting bad for subjective health

The present study examined the possibility that waiting is bad for one's subjective health. Specifically, we examined longitudinal trends in the self-reported health, self-reported sleep disruption, distress, and emotion regulation strategies of law school graduates waiting for their bar exam results. Multilevel analyses suggest that waiting was particularly detrimental to participants' self-reported health and sleep disruption at the beginning and end of the waiting period. Moreover, distress and most emotion regulation efforts were associated with poorer subjective health on average, and personal increases in distress and emotion regulation were largely associated with personal increases in poor self-reported health and sleep disruption. Our results suggest that waiting periods can take a toll on subjective health and that individual and temporal variations in distress and emotion regulation efforts are associated with these health trajectories.
Effects of Glass Fabric and Laminate Constructions on the Fatigue of Resin Infused Blade Materials

New tensile fatigue test results are presented for infusion molded laminates, providing a comparison of several commercial E-glass reinforcing fabrics with epoxy resins over a range of fiber contents. Significant improvements in tensile fatigue resistance are demonstrated for some of the laminates relative to baseline materials, apparently depending on fabric architecture and stitching details. All stitched fabric laminates show a transition to lower fatigue resistance as the fiber content is increased, with the transition occurring at higher fiber content for the more fatigue resistant fabrics. The best fabric tested approached the performance of uniformly dispersed fiber prepreg molded laminates of similar construction. Differences in fatigue resistance appear to derive from the distortion and packing of fabric strands associated with increasing mold pressures, as demonstrated by finite element modeling and molding experiments at increasing pressures.
Bacteriostatic Action of Sulfonamide-Penicillin and Urea-Penicillin Mixtures in vitro,:

SummaryIn vitro, sulfonamide-penicillin and urea-penicillin mixtures have been shown to produce greater bacteriostasis than penicillin alone with the Staphylococcus aureus and hemolytic streptococcus. This increased inhibition represents the additive effects of the separate bacteriostatic agents; there is no actual potentiation of penicillin action.
Dilemma and Countermeasures of Green Marketing in Chinese Enterprises

Firstly,the article commends that Chinese enterprises have made progress in applying green marketing in three aspects,from marketing concepts,technological level to marketing countermeasures.And further more,it reveals the inner and outer obstacle components which prevent enterprises from developing green marketing healthily and orderly,such as imperfection of marketing concept,disorder of green market,etc.Finally,it puts forward some countermeasures based on tracing to the source of these problems
A Neural Network Approach to 3D Printed Surrogate Systems

The geometry of a Stradivarius violin was recently replicated through additive manufacturing, but nevertheless failed to produce a tone of professional quality. Due to the material limits of additive manufacturing, it is clear that purely geometric replicas are unlikely to create violins of comparable sound. We propose a “surrogate” system approach, which tailors some combination of a structure’s material and geometric properties to mimic the performance of a target system. Finite element (FE) methods can approximate the vibrational performance of a violin or similar structure with high precision, given its specific physical properties and geometry. Surrogate systems, however, require the solution of the inverse problem. This can be achieved through artificial neural networks (ANN), a powerful tool for non-linear function estimation. As a stepping-stone to the violin problem, we first developed a surrogate method for simple beam structures. A neural network was trained on 7500 randomized beams to predict a thickness profile for a set of desired mode shapes and frequencies. Numerical simulation shows surrogates with good performance (<8 % modal error, <18 % frequency error) for target structures with a similar degree of thickness variation to that used in training the neural network. Performance improves dramatically (<2 % modal error, <7 % frequency error) for slightly less complex target structures.
Ketamine and Suicide Risk

Suicide is a psychiatric emergency, and there are limited pharmacological options to treat acute risk. Recent findings that intravenous ketamine is associated with reductions in suicidal thoughts have fueled interest in ketamine as an antisuicidal agent. The initial data on ketamine and suicide are promising but have not reached the level and rigor of the ketamine and depression literature (which itself is not conclusive). Existing evidence suggests ketamine has a beneficial effect on suicidal thoughts, but additional randomized trials are needed to substantiate this pattern, particularly among samples selected for high suicide risk. Future directions for the field include potential mechanisms or biomarkers of response, clinical correlates, and the relationship of ketamine to suicidal behaviors such as suicide attempts and death by suicide.
Automated solution for preventing design rules violations at abutment stage for standard cells synthesis flow

In this paper, we describe a way to build and explore auxiliary boundary constraints used to layout standard cells. It is required to build an electronic component of VLSI chip, a standard cell, given a set of constraints: geometrical design rules and additional electrical requirements. During layout of standard cells, additional constraints are formulated to avoid possible violations at cell boundaries when cells are abutted in a horizontal row. Current work proposes a flow to compute such auxiliary rules.
Effect of macronutrients and fiber on postprandial glycemic responses and meal glycemic index and glycemic load value determinations

Background: The potential confounding effect of different amounts and proportions of macronutrients across eating patterns on meal or dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) value determinations has remained partially unaddressed.Objective: The study aimed to determine the effects of different amounts of macronutrients and fiber on measured meal GI and GL values.Design: Four studies were conducted during which participants [n = 20-22; women: 50%; age: 50-80 y; body mass index (in kg/m2): 25-30)] received food challenges containing different amounts of the variable nutrient in a random order. Added to the standard 50 g available carbohydrate from white bread was 12.5, 25, or 50 g carbohydrate; 12.5, 25, or 50 g protein; and 5.6, 11.1, or 22.2 g fat from rice cereal, tuna, and unsalted butter, respectively, and 4.8 or 9.6 g fiber from oat cereal. Arterialized venous blood was sampled for 2 h, and measured meal GI and GL and insulin index (II) values were calculated by using the incremental area under the curve (AUCi) method.Results: Adding carbohydrate to the standard white-bread challenge increased glucose AUCi (P < 0.0001), measured meal GI (P = 0.0066), and mean GL (P < 0.0001). Adding protein (50 g only) decreased glucose AUCi (P = 0.0026), measured meal GI (P = 0.0139), and meal GL (P = 0.0140). Adding fat or fiber had no significant effect on these variables. Adding carbohydrate (50 g), protein (50 g), and fat (11.1 g) increased the insulin AUCi or II; fiber had no effect.Conclusions: These data indicate that uncertainty in the determination of meal GI and GL values is introduced when carbohydrate-containing foods are consumed concurrently with protein (equal amount of carbohydrate challenge) but not with carbohydrate-, fat-, or fiber-containing foods. Future studies are needed to evaluate whether this uncertainty also influences the prediction of average dietary GI and GL values for eating patterns. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01023646.
Application of Stabilizing H 2 Predictive Control to Boilers

Abstract This paper proposes a strategy for boiler control utilizing a predictive. polynomial, multivariable H 2 minimization. This method retains many of the beneficial properties of other similar schemes. such as stability propeties similar to LQ control. while directly taking into account the a priori known future reference sequence. The paper presents the full revised version of the multi-input multi-output (MIMO) H 2 predictive control law. as well as the boiler model. The application of the algorithm to the boiler model is currently being developed.
Beyond kant versus hegel: An alternative strategy for grounding the normativity of critique

Much work in contemporary critical theory turns on the question of how to ground the normativity of critique. Many critical theorists have followed Jurgen Habermas’s lead and assumed that the available strategies for grounding critique are either Kantian or Hegelian or some combination of the two. In this paper, drawing inspiration from Nancy Fraser’s early conception of “social criticism without philosophy,” Allen develops an alternative approach to the normativity question, one that can take critical theory beyond Kant versus Hegel.
A room-temperature liquid metal-based self-healing anode for lithium-ion batteries with an ultra-long cycle life

Benefiting from fluidity and surface tension, materials in a liquid form are one of the best candidates for self-healing applications. This feature is highly desirable for improving the life cycle of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because the volume expansion/contraction during the cycles of high-capacity anodes such as Si and Sn can result in mechanical fracture and lead to inferior cycle performance. Here, we report a novel room-temperature liquid metal (LM) as the anode to improve the cycle life of LIBs. The LM anode comprises an alloy of Sn and Ga, a liquid at room temperature with inherent self-healing properties, as confirmed by the in situ and ex situ analyses. Because both Ga and Sn have high theoretical capacities (769 and 990 mA h g−1, respectively), the resulting LM anode delivers a high capacity of 775, 690, and 613 mA h g−1 at the rate of 200, 500, and 1000 mA g−1, respectively. There was no obvious decay in more than 4000 cycles with a capacity of ∼400 mA h g−1 at 4000 mA g−1, realizing the best cycle performance among all metal anodes.
Forming first impressions of children: the role of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and emotion dysregulation

Background Previous research on peer status of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has focused on already-established peer groups, rendering the specific social behaviors that influence peers' initial impressions largely unknown. Recently, theorists have argued that emotion dysregulation is a key aspect of ADHD, with empirical work finding relations between emotion dysregulation and social outcomes. Therefore, the current study focuses on the initial interactions among children varying in ADHD symptoms duringh a novel playgroup, proposing that emotion dysregulation displayed during the playgroup may serve as a possible pathway between ADHD symptoms and peers' initial negative impressions. Methods Participants were 233 elementary-age children ranging from 8 to 10 years old (M = 8.83, 70% male). Parents and teachers rated children's ADHD symptoms and related impairment; 51% of the children met criteria for an ADHD diagnosis. Then, children participated with unfamiliar peers in a three-hour playgroup that included three structured and two unstructured tasks. After the tasks, children and staff rated each child on social outcomes. Coders unaware of child's diagnostic status watched videos of the groups and rated each child's global emotion dysregulation during each task. Results Using multiple raters and methods, ADHD severity was associated with more negative peer ratings, through observed emotion dysregulation. Results were consistent for both parent and teacher ratings of ADHD severity as well as for both peer ratings of likeability and staff ratings of perceived peer likeability. Conclusions When focusing on improving peers' initial impressions of children with ADHD symptoms, emotion dysregulation may be a valuable target for intervention.
Shared Decision-Making for Nursing Practice: An Integrative Review

Background Shared decision-making has received national and international interest by providers, educators, researchers, and policy makers. The literature on shared decision-making is extensive, dealing with the individual components of shared decision-making rather than a comprehensive process. This view of shared decision-making leaves healthcare providers to wonder how to integrate shared decision-making into practice. Objective To understand shared decision-making as a comprehensive process from the perspective of the patient and provider in all healthcare settings. Methods An integrative review was conducted applying a systematic approach involving a literature search, data evaluation, and data analysis. The search included articles from PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO from 1970 through 2016. Articles included quantitative experimental and non-experimental designs, qualitative, and theoretical articles about shared decision-making between all healthcare providers and patients in all healthcare settings. Results Fifty-two papers were included in this integrative review. Three categories emerged from the synthesis: (a) communication/ relationship building; (b) working towards a shared decision; and (c) action for shared decision-making. Each major theme contained sub-themes represented in the proposed visual representation for shared decision-making. Conclusion A comprehensive understanding of shared decision-making between the nurse and the patient was identified. A visual representation offers a guide that depicts shared decision-making as a process taking place during a healthcare encounter with implications for the continuation of shared decisions over time offering patients an opportunity to return to the nurse for reconsiderations of past shared decisions.
Elastin in lung development and disease pathogenesis

Elastin is expressed in most tissues that require elastic recoil. The protein first appeared coincident with the closed circulatory system, and was critical for the evolutionary success of the vertebrate lineage. Elastin is expressed by multiple cell types in the lung, including mesothelial cells in the pleura, smooth muscle cells in airways and blood vessels, endothelial cells, and interstitial fibroblasts. This highly crosslinked protein associates with fibrillin-containing microfibrils to form the elastic fiber, which is the physiological structure that functions in the extracellular matrix. Elastic fibers can be woven into many different shapes depending on the mechanical needs of the tissue. In large pulmonary vessels, for example, elastin forms continuous sheets, or lamellae, that separate smooth muscle layers. Outside of the vasculature, elastic fibers form an extensive fiber network that originates in the central bronchi and inserts into the distal airspaces and visceral pleura. The fibrous cables form a looping system that encircle the alveolar ducts and terminal air spaces and ensures that applied force is transmitted equally to all parts of the lung. Normal lung function depends on proper secretion and assembly of elastin, and either inhibition of elastin fiber assembly or degradation of existing elastin results in lung dysfunction and disease.