cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Marketing's new paradigms: What's really happening out there

Marketing has been defined by some as the art of getting and keeping customers. Much of marketing has been cast around the “getting” problem. We have neglected the “keeping” problem. Keeping requires some thought; it goes beyond what the customer service department does. It gets into how to satisfy the customer, how to get the customer to be a frequent buyer, and how to form links with customers that create exit barriers that make it more expensive to switch than stay. These things must be thought through because the first defense of any company is to keep its customers. Defection is the worst thing that can happen.
Complex demoeconomics dynamics.

We show how various kinds of qualitative long run demoeconomic behavior depend on household preferences, productivity and the cost of childrearing. In particular, a dominant trend in growth can be interspersed with periods of fluctuation as slowly moving changes in productivity, preference and child care costs push nonlinearities past crucial bifurcation points. Moreover, nonperiodic, essentially unpredictable demoeconomic behavior is robust, thus suggesting a possible explanation for persistent and substantial errors in population forecasts.[/p]
ACP Journal Club. Review: Insufficient evidence exists about which drugs are associated with delirium; benzodiazepines may increase risk.

Source Citation Clegg A, Young JB. Which medications to avoid in people at risk of delirium: a systematic review. Age Ageing. 2011;40:23-9. 21068014
Modeling the Biomechanics of Swine Mastication – An Inverse Dynamics Approach

A novel reconstructive alternative for patients with severe facial structural deformity is Le Fort-based, face-jaw-teeth transplantation (FJTT). To date, however, only ten surgeries have included underlying skeletal and jaw-teeth components, all yielding sub-optimal results and a need for a subsequent revision surgery, due to size mismatch and lack of precise planning. Numerous studies have proven swine to be appropriate candidates for translational studies including pre-operative planning of transplantation. An important aspect of planning FJTT is determining the optimal muscle attachment sites on the recipient’s jaw, which requires a clear understanding of mastication and bite mechanics in relation to the new donated upper and/or lower jaw. A segmented CT scan coupled with data taken from literature defined a biomechanical model of mandible and jaw muscles of a swine. The model was driven using tracked motion and external force data of one cycle of chewing published earlier, and predicted the muscle activation patterns as well as temporomandibular joint (TMJ) reaction forces and condylar motions. Two methods, polynomial and min/max optimization, were used for solving the muscle recruitment problem. Similar performances were observed between the two methods. On average, there was a mean absolute error (MAE) of <0.08 between the predicted and measured activation levels of all muscles, and an MAE of <7N for TMJ reaction forces. Simulated activations qualitatively followed the same patterns as the reference data and there was very good agreement for simulated TMJ forces. The polynomial optimization produced a smoother output, suggesting that it is more suitable for studying such motions. Average MAE for condylar motion was 1.2mm, which reduced to 0.37mm when the input incisor motion was scaled to reflect the possible size mismatch between the current and original swine models. Results support the hypothesis that the model can be used for planning of facial transplantation.
The Actresses' Franchise League and the Campaign for Women's Suffrage 1908–1914

In the great suffrage campaign waged in the decade preceding the First World War, women established a multitude of organizations in order to exert collective pressure upon a reluctant House of Commons. Some, such as the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), which was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst, favored confrontational tactics and resorted to occasional violence against property, as a means of attracting notice to the cause. Others, most notably the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) over which Mrs Millicent Fawcett presided, defined themselves as ‘constitutional’ and utilized the classic methods of persuasion and lobbying, in preference to the more dramatic tactics of their ‘militant’ sisters. Between the extremes of the WSPU and the NUWSS were numerous organizations composed of women activists of varying backgrounds, occupations, and views, sharing nonetheless a common dedication to the principle of female enfranchisement and caught up in the excitement and pageantry of a campaign which at times appeared almost religious in tone and character.
Improving the localization accuracy of targets by using their spatial-temporal relationships in wireless sensor networks

Due to the low cost and capabilities of sensors, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are promising for military and civilian surveillance of people and vehicles. One important aspect of surveillance is target localization. A location can be estimated by collecting and analyzing sensing data on signal strength, time of arrival, time difference of arrival, or angle of arrival. However, this data is subject to measurement noise and is sensitive to environmental conditions, so its location estimates can be inaccurate. In this paper, we add a novel process to further improve the localization accuracy after the initial location estimates are obtained from some existing algorithm. Our idea is to exploit the consistency of the spatial-temporal relationships of the targets we track. Spatial relationships are the relative target locations in a group and temporal relationships are the locations of a target at different times. We first develop algorithms that improve location estimates using spatial and temporal relationships of targets separately, and then together. We prove mathematically that our methods improve the localization accuracy. Furthermore, we relax the condition that targets should strictly keep their relative positions in the group and also show that perfect time synchronization is not required. Simulations were also conducted to test the algorithms. They used initial target location estimates from existing signal-strength and time-of-arrival algorithms and implemented our own algorithms. The results confirmed improved localization accuracy, especially in the combined algorithms. Since our algorithms use the features of targets and not the underlying WSNs, they can be built on any localization algorithm whose results are not satisfactory.
Arab Revolutions and the Study of Middle Eastern Societies

The speed, spread, and democratic thrust of Arab revolutionary uprisings conjure up the revolutionary waves of 1848 and 1989 in Europe. Spearheaded by educated youth, the Arab uprisings have been brought to fruition by the masses of ordinary people (men, women, Muslims, and non-Muslims) who have mobilized at an astonishing scale against authoritarian regimes in pursuit of social justice, democratic governance, and dignity. If this broad observation is valid, then these social earthquakes are likely to unsettle some of the most enduring perspectives on the region. To begin with, they should undermine “Middle East exceptionalism,” with its culturalist focus informed by assumptions of “stagnant culture,” “fatalist Muslims,” and “unchangeable polity.” In political science, students of “regime stability” and the “authoritarian resiliency” of Arab states may have to reevaluate their conceptual premises. The analytical relevance of the concept of “rentier state” as the political basis of authoritarian stability might likewise need serious reformulation. The blatant cash handouts by some Arab Gulf states to “buy opposition” during the wave of protests in February and March 2011 do not seem to have worked.
Satellite-derived indices of stream discharge in Taylor Valley, Antarctica

Temperature indices from NOAA–AVHRR data were developed to predict diurnal and seasonal streamflow in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Masks of the primary land-cover types (snow, glacier ice, lake ice, and soils) were created from Landsat TM data using binary threshold methods. The masks were then scaled to AVHRR resolution using modal selection of pixels and applied to both diurnal and seasonal time series of AVHRR temperature data from the 1994–95 austral summer season. A temperature area index (TAI) was calculated for different land-cover types, as well as for the entire watershed. The TAI was defined as the number of pixels at or above a specified temperature. Diurnal discharge was well characterized by a linear relationship of streamflow to the TAI using a temperature threshold of 259 K from all land class pixels for lower Taylor Valley. Neither index successfully predicted seasonal discharge, most likely due to the mismatch of time scales between the satellite and streamflow data. The TAI has great potential for predicting diurnal streamflow in both Taylor Valley and other remote areas within the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Neonatal stress alters adult breathing

The epigenetic effect of deprivation and stress on brain development is one of the most enduring topics in neurobiology and one that arguably has had the most far reaching influences on modern societies. Persistent deficits in perception, cognition, and social development are attributed to maternal separation and/or environmental deprivation of human infants. Given the retrospective nature of these human studies, the animal experiments they have inspired are particularly significant insofar as objective changes in physiology, neuronal structure and brain size follow manipulations of the perinatal sensory environment.
A Comparison of the Male Customers of Female Street Prostitutes With National Samples of Men

Previous research on customers of prostitutes has relied on small samples and qualitative interviews. Conceptions of customers have tended toward either the “every man” perspective, which implies customers are no different than other men, or the “peculiar man” perspective, which implies customers are characterized by stark differences or psychological inadequacies. This study compares a large sample of men(N = 1672)arrested for trying to hire street prostitutes with nationally representative samples of men. Customers were less likely to be married, less likely to be happily married if married, and more likely to report being unhappy in general than men in the national samples. Customers also expressed greater sexual liberalism and reported thinking about sex, masturbating, and participating in other aspects of the sex industry more frequently than men in general. Most differences were small, indicating customers as a category differ from other men in degree rather than quality.
Effects of crustal heterogeneity on the morphology of chasmata, Venus

[1] The Ix-Chel, Kuanja, and Vir-ava Chasmata (IKVC) are a 7000-km-long collection of discontinuous topographic troughs and deformation suites. Collectively, they account for approximately 12.5% of the ∼55,000 linear km of chasmata on Venus; however, morphologically the IKVC differs significantly from the majority (75%) of Venusian chasmata because it lacks corona features. Coronae represent notable volumes of material both erupted onto the surface and intruded into the crust. Together with chasmata, coronae may also be important indicators of Venus's interior convective processes as well as significant contributors to Venus's heat loss. Although IKVC lacks coronae, detailed geologic and structural mapping along its length highlights previously unrecognized structural and volcanic relationships indicative of local uplift, collapse, and volcanism we call pseudocoronae. In light of this mapping, previous corona formation models (theoretical and numerical) are evaluated, and an amended hypothesis (diapir stagnation) is presented for pseudocorona formation. The diapir stagnation model proposes that variations of the crustal thickness perturb corona formation and thus affect their resultant surface morphology. Chasmata are accompanied by corona development when forming in regions of relatively thin, or normal (plains-type), crust (<20 km) but lack corona features when influenced by crustal heterogeneities (mechanical and chemical) at depth associated with thick crustal plateau roots (35–80 km (e.g., Ovda, Thetis, and Phoebe Regios)). Beneath crustal plateaus, diapiric rise is inhibited by (1) the presence of a low-density crustal keel that creates a deep-seated density trap and (2) a composition-dependent mechanically weak crust-mantle boundary layer. Diapir stagnation can be characterized or accompanied by minimal broad doming of the surface, formation of radial and concentric extension structures, lateral dike propagation, and collapse, all of which may be accompanied by limited volume surface eruptions of the lowest density melt phases. Through time, the crust-mantle boundary layer may repeatedly lift and subside through conductive heating and viscous flow, which may allow more voluminous melt migration and eruption; however, true coronae fail to develop.
Emerging human papillomavirus vaccines

Introduction: Identification of human papillomavirus (HPV) as the etiologic factor of cervical, anogenital, and a subset of head and neck cancers has stimulated the development of preventive and therapeutic HPV vaccines to control HPV-associated malignancies. Excitement has been generated by the commercialization of two preventive L1-based vaccines, which use HPV virus-like particles (VLPs) to generate capsid-specific neutralizing antibodies. However, factors such as high cost and requirement for cold chain have prevented widespread implementation where they are needed most. Areas covered: Next generation preventive HPV vaccine candidates have focused on cost-effective stable alternatives and generating broader protection via targeting multivalent L1 VLPs, L2 capsid protein, and chimeric L1/L2 VLPs. Therapeutic HPV vaccine candidates have focused on enhancing T cell-mediated killing of HPV-transformed tumor cells, which constitutively express HPV-encoded proteins, E6 and E7. Several therapeutic HPV vaccin...
Dynamic Illusory Size-Contrast: A relative-size illusion modulated by stimulus motion and eye movements

We present a novel size-contrast illusion that depends on the dynamic nature of the stimulus. In the dynamic illusory size-contrast (DISC) effect, the viewer perceives the size of a target bar to be shrinking when it is surrounded by an expanding box and when there are additional dynamic cues such as eye movements, changes in retinal eccentricity of the bar, or changes in the spatial position of the bar. Importantly, the expanding box was necessary but not sufficient to obtain an illusory percept, distinguishing the DISC effect from other size-contrast illusions. We propose that the visual system is weighting the different sources of information that contribute to size perception based on the level of uncertainty in the retinal image size of the object. Whereas the growing box normally has a weak influence on the perceived size of the target bar, this influence is enhanced when other dynamic changes in the environment (e.g., eye movements, changes in retinal eccentricity, and target motion) lead to uncertainty in the retinal size of the target bar. Given the compelling nature of the DISC effect and the inherently dynamic nature of our environment, these factors are likely to play an important role in everyday size judgments.
Optical Microphone Structures Fabricated for Broad Bandwidth and Low Noise

A micromachined optical microphone structure using a grating based interferometer has been presented previously and is undergoing continued development (JASA, vol. 118, pp 3000-3009, November 2005). Two advantages of the approach that have been highlighted in prior work are high displacement resolving capability of the microphone diaphragm vibration (2 pm rms over the audio bandwidth) and a flexible mechanical design space for achieving broad bandwidth and low thermal noise designs. Here, we summarize a variety of structures we are fabricating using Sandia National Laboratories silicon-based microfabrication technology to explore this versatile design space. These structures are being packaged to resemble instrumentation-type microphones with approximately 1 cm2 form factor in order to facilitate rigorous acoustic evaluation in the Micromachined Sensors and Transducers Laboratory (MiST) and anechoic test facilities at Georgia Tech.
Binary chemical detector using time-wavelength spectroscopy

A sensing technique, based on time-wavelength spectroscopy and digital signal processing, is demonstrated through the binary detection of carbon monoxide. The system utilizes a linearly chirped broadband pulse to sense chemical and biochemical spectra. The main advantages of this method are the absence of an optical spectrometer and possibility of real-time spectral analysis.
No evidence of food limitation during the breeding season of a freshwater marsh-nesting tern

ABSTRACT Food availability is considered an important limiting factor in the breeding performance of marine birds, which exhibit restraint in reproductive life-history characteristics (e.g., delayed maturation, small clutch size, slow growth). Less well understood, however, is the extent to which taxonomic analogue species that breed in freshwater habitats are similarly regulated by food availability. Marsh-nesting Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri) were studied from 2004 to 2008 at Horicon Marsh, a freshwater colony site in Wisconsin, USA, where reproductive success has been chronically poor. The adequacy of the food base to support a breeding colony of terns was evaluated (1) indirectly, through measures of breeding performance correlated with food availability during the egg-laying and incubation stages; and (2) directly, through a supplemental feeding experiment, conducted in 2004 and 2006, to determine whether nestling growth was limited by food availability. Clutch size, egg size, and adult body cond...
Gamma Interferon Modulates Myogenesis through the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Transactivator, CIITA

Gamma interferon (IFN-γ) is an inflammatory cytokine that has complex effects on myogenesis. Here, we show that the IFN-γ-induced inhibition of myogenesis is mediated by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II transactivator, CIITA, which binds to myogenin and inhibits its activity. In IFN-γ-treated myoblasts, the inhibition of muscle-specific genes includes the expression of myogenin itself, while in myotubes, myogenin expression is unaffected. Thus, CIITA appears to act by both repressing the expression and inhibiting the activity of myogenin at different stages of myogenesis. Stimulation by IFN-γ in skeletal muscle cells induces CIITA expression as well as MHC class II gene expression. The IFN-γ-mediated repression is reversible, with myogenesis proceeding normally upon removal of IFN-γ. Through overexpression studies, we confirm that the expression of CIITA, independent of IFN-γ, is sufficient to inhibit myogenesis. Through knockdown studies, we also demonstrate that CIITA is necessary for the IFN-γ-mediated inhibition of myogenesis. Finally, we show that CIITA, which lacks DNA binding activity, is recruited to muscle-specific promoters coincident with reductions in RNA polymerase II recruitment. Thus, this work reveals how IFN-γ modulates myogenesis and demonstrates a key role for CIITA in this process.
Globalization, Domestic Politics, and Social Spending in Latin America: A Time-Series Cross-Section Analysis, 1973-97

This study examines the effects of globalization, democratization, and partisanship on social spending in fourteen Latin American countries from 1973 to 1997, using a pooled time-series error-correction model. The authors examine three sets of issues. First, following debates in the literature on OECD countries, they want to know whether social spending has been encouraged or constrained by integration into global markets. Within this context, they examine the extent to which such outcomes might be influenced by two additional sets of domestic political and institutional factors discussed in work on developed countries: the electoral pressures of democratic institutions and whether or not popularly based governments are in power.The authors show that trade integration has a consistently negative effect on aggregate social spending and that this is compounded by openness to capital markets. This is the strongest and most robust finding in the study. Neither democratic nor popularly based governments consistently affect overall social spending. The authors then disaggregate spending into social security transfers and expenditures on health and education. They find that popularly based governments tend to protect social security transfers, which tend toflowdisproportionately to their unionized constituencies; but they have a negative impact on health and education spending. Conversely, a shift to democracy leads to increases in health and education spending, which reaches a larger segment of the population. The authors conclude by emphasizing the contrasting political log-ics of the different types of social spending.
An algorithm to partition DFT data into sections of constant variance

In the most common nonparametric method for detection of narrowband signals in underwater acoustic data, the time series are processed using overlapped and windowed discrete Fourier transforms (DFT's), and normalized with a noise mean estimator to obtain a display of frequency versus time for evaluation by the sonar operator. When the acoustic signals of interest are overresolved by the DFT, the usual normalization can degrade the detectability of these signals when the window size is not properly matched to the signal bandwidth. A novel algorithm is presented that uses the integrated DFT output to estimate the variance across all bins of the DFT. The algorithm can provide input for the autonomous identification of both broadband features of interest, like Lloyd's mirror, and overresolved narrowband features useful in target classification. It makes use of the maximum likelihood (ML) estimate of the partitioning of the DFT output vector into segments with constant variance. This approach is optimal when the number of partitions of the DFT data is known a priori. The combined maximum likelihood estimation of both the number of partitions and the partitions themselves results in as many partitions as there are data points. To avoid this, the idea of minimum description length is used to obtain a joint estimate of the number of partitions, the partition bins, and the variance within each partition. An efficient implementation of the algorithm is presented using dynamic programming. Some examples of the processing of underwater acoustic data are included.
Loci nominally associated with autism from genome-wide analysis show enrichment of brain expression quantitative trait loci but not lymphoblastoid cell line expression quantitative trait loci

Autism spectrum disorder is a severe early onset neurodevelopmental disorder with high heritability but significant heterogeneity. Traditional genome-wide approaches to test for an association of common variants with autism susceptibility risk have met with limited success. However, novel methods to identify moderate risk alleles in attainable sample sizes are now gaining momentum. In this study, we utilized publically available genome-wide association study data from the Autism Genome Project and annotated the results (P <0.001) for expression quantitative trait loci present in the parietal lobe (GSE35977), cerebellum (GSE35974) and lymphoblastoid cell lines (GSE7761). We then performed a test of enrichment by comparing these results to simulated data conditioned on minor allele frequency to generate an empirical P-value indicating statistically significant enrichment of expression quantitative trait loci in top results from the autism genome-wide association study. Our findings show a global enrichment of brain expression quantitative trait loci, but not lymphoblastoid cell line expression quantitative trait loci, among top single nucleotide polymorphisms from an autism genome-wide association study. Additionally, the data implicates individual genes SLC25A12, PANX1 and PANX2 as well as pathways previously implicated in autism. These findings provide supportive rationale for the use of annotation-based approaches to genome-wide association studies.
Glucose is an ineffective substrate for preservation of machine perfused donor hearts.

Background Machine perfusion with oxygenated preservation solution can support donor heart metabolism but the preservation solution should contain an oxidizable substrate to improve cellular energetics. We hypothesized that myocardial metabolism can be influenced by exogenous substrates in the preservation solution. Methods Eight groups of isolated rat hearts ( n = 4/group) were perfused with University of Wisconsin Machine Perfusion Solution containing carbon 13 ( 13 C) labeled glucose (2.5 mM, 5 mM, 10 mM, or 20 mM) or pyruvate (5 mM, 10 mM, 20 mM, or 40 mM). Hearts were perfused at 0.5 mL/min for 6 h at 8°C, and myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO 2 ) was measured. At end-perfusion, magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed on ventricular extracts to determine the contribution of exogenous, labeled substrate to glycolysis and oxidative metabolism by 13 C incorporation into metabolic intermediates. Results MVO 2 and perfusion conditions did not differ amongst groups. Exogenous glucose was metabolized by anaerobic glycolysis and contributed little to oxidative metabolism as measured by 13 C incorporation into metabolic intermediates. Pyruvate led to greater lactate enrichment via the lactate dehydrogenase reaction. Enrichment of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates was also greater in all pyruvate groups compared with glucose-containing groups ( P P Conclusions The preservation solution substrate composition influences myocardial substrate metabolism during machine perfusion preservation of donor hearts. Exogenous glucose is a minor substrate in machine perfused myocardium, is primarily metabolized by glycolysis and does not contribute appreciably to oxidative metabolism. Pyruvate appears more effective in supporting myocardial metabolism. Further experiments examining the influences of substrate modifications on reperfusion function are warranted.
Multipolar Electrocoagulation (MPEC): An Early, Widely Available Technique

Multipolar electrocoagulation (MPEC) ablation is a simple-to-use, familiar, widely available, inexpensive, and safe option for the endoscopic treatment of Barrett’s epithelium. While its use has primarily been tested in non-dysplastic Barrett’s epithelium, it may also be of value in non-nodular low-grade and high-grade dysplasia. It can achieve endoscopic and histologic ablation in at least 70–80% of the treated patients, with successful ablation typically achieved within three to four ablation procedures. Head-to-head comparisons with other thermal ablative techniques such as APC show the two techniques to be similar, although a non-statistically significant trend to improved efficacy was seen favoring MPEC. Successful acid suppression appears to be helpful in achieving effective ablation with this technique. Future studies comparing this technique with alternative ablation modalities, assessing its durability and the need for continued surveillance in successfully ablated patients, and evaluating whether ablation reduces the risk of subsequently developing adenocarcinoma are needed. Given these uncertainties, its use at present may best be limited to ablating residual short/limited areas of non-nodular Barrett’s esophagus with high-grade dysplasia or early cancer.
Reaching cognitive consensus with improvisational agents

A common approach to interactive narrative involves imbuing the computer with all of the potential story preauthored story experiences (e.g. as beats, plot points, planning operators, etc.). This has resulted in an accepted paradigm where stories are not created by or with the user; rather, the user is given piecemeal access to the story from the gatekeeper of story knowledge: the computer (e.g. as an AI drama manager). This article describes a formal process that provides for the equal co-creation of story-rich experiences, where neither the user nor computer is in a privileged position in an interactive narrative. It describes a new formal approach that acts as a first step for the realtime co-creation of narrative in games that rely on the negotiated shared mental model between a human actor and an AI improv agent.
III-Nitride Double-Heterojunction Solar Cells With High In-Content InGaN Absorbing Layers: Comparison of Large-Area and Small-Area Devices

This paper investigates the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth, material characterization, and performance testing of indium gallium nitride (InGaN)/GaN double-heterojunction solar cells. Structures with varying thicknesses and compositions of the InGaN absorbing layer are studied. The N-rich MBE growth at low temperatures enables the growth of thick 10% and 20% InGaN films with minimal strain relaxation and defect generation. The characteristics of both large- and small-area devices are compared. While leakage current and high ideality factors associated with the double-heterojunction structure remain issues as detected by I–V and concentration effect measurements, the double-heterojunction cell with a record-high In content of 22% shows a promising photovoltaic response.
Targeted axonal import (TAxI) peptide delivers functional proteins into spinal cord motor neurons after peripheral administration

A significant unmet need in treating neurodegenerative disease is effective methods for delivery of biologic drugs, such as peptides, proteins, or nucleic acids into the central nervous system (CNS). To date, there are no operative technologies for the delivery of macromolecular drugs to the CNS via peripheral administration routes. Using an in vivo phage-display screen, we identify a peptide, targeted axonal import (TAxI), that enriched recombinant bacteriophage accumulation and delivered protein cargo into spinal cord motor neurons after intramuscular injection. In animals with transected peripheral nerve roots, TAxI delivery into motor neurons after peripheral administration was inhibited, suggesting a retrograde axonal transport mechanism for delivery into the CNS. Notably, TAxI-Cre recombinase fusion proteins induced selective recombination and tdTomato-reporter expression in motor neurons after intramuscular injections. Furthermore, TAxI peptide was shown to label motor neurons in the human tissue. The demonstration of a nonviral-mediated delivery of functional proteins into the spinal cord establishes the clinical potential of this technology for minimally invasive administration of CNS-targeted therapeutics.
Seventy-two-hour antibiotic retrieval from the ED: a randomized controlled trial of discharge instructional modality.

Abstract Background Limited health literacy is a risk factor for poor outcomes in numerous health care settings. Little is known about the impact of instructional modality and health literacy on adherence to emergency department (ED) discharge instructions. Purpose To examine the impact of instructional modality on 72-hour antibiotic retrieval among ED patients prescribed outpatient antibiotics for infections. Methods English-speaking ED patients diagnosed as having acute infections and prescribed outpatient antibiotics were randomized to standard discharge instructions, standard instructions plus text-messaged instructions, or standard instructions plus voicemailed instructions targeting ED prescriptions. Health literacy was determined by validated instrument. Seventy-two-hour antibiotic retrieval, 30-day report of prescription completion, and discharge instructional modality preference were assessed. Results Nearly one-quarter of the 2521 participants demonstrated low health literacy. Low health literacy predicted decreased 72-hour antibiotic retrieval ( χ 2 = 9.56, P =.008). No significant association with antibiotic retrieval was noted across the 3 treatment groups ( χ 2 = 5.112, P =.078). However, patients randomized to the text message group retrieved antibiotic prescriptions within 72 hours more frequently than did those randomized to the voicemail treatment group ( χ 2 = 4.345, P =.037), and patients with low health literacy randomized to voicemailed instructions retrieved their antibiotic prescriptions less frequently than did those randomized to standard of care instructions ( χ 2 = 5.526, P =.019). Reported instructional modality preferences were inconsistent with the primary findings of the study. Conclusions Discharge instructional modality impacts antibiotic retrieval in patients with low health literacy. Preference for discharge instructional modality varies by degree of health literacy, but does not predict which modality will optimize 72-hour antibiotic retrieval.
Mobilizing Land: Explaining the Escalation and Non-Escalation of Violence in Kenya

Recent studies have asked why elites resort to violence during elections. What many studies overlook is the process and dynamics of violent mobilization: How do politicians convince or coerce followers to fight? In environments where access to land is highly contentious and politicized, this paper suggests that group-level land narratives can provide political elites with a powerful tool to organize electoral violence. The paper draws on evidence collected from the Rift Valley and Coast regions of Kenya. It argues that despite similarities between the two regions, politicians have been able to use land as a source of violence in the Rift Valley because leaders can frame elections as a threat to land security or an opportunity to gain land. Yet in much of the Coast Region, land narratives are less effective tools of mobilization because citizens do not believe that elections signal a credible threat to land security or window of opportunity to re-claim or strengthen land rights. The paper identifies four factors that help explain why politicians are able to link land threat and opportunity with the electoral process in one regional context but not another.
Commentary on: Lessons Learned After 15 Years of Circumferential Bodylift Surgery.

I would like to commend the authors on their article,1 which encapsulates their vast experience and imparts their wisdom to the rest of plastic surgery. I agree with much of this excellent article but I will take the opportunity of this discussion to delineate some of the areas that I vary from their philosophies as well as share with the reader some thoughts that the article has elicited. There is no consensus as to the ideal position of the scar in a circumferential bodylift; it is a matter of patient and physician preference. The authors prefer the anterior scar to be 2 cm inferior to the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS). I do not agree that this position is ideal, especially in patients that have a fairly thick panniculus, because bringing the thick panniculus across the prominence of the ASIS will further increase protrusion of the abdominal contour obliterating waist definition. In those patients, especially females, where waste definition is desired, the scar should be located slightly above the ASIS so that the thick panniculus is placed in an anatomic depression leading to better waste definition. Posteriorly, and based on the basic plastic surgery principal of placing incisions at natural junctions between units, I prefer the scar to follow the natural superior border of the buttocks. I feel that whenever the scar is placed lower than that it creates an unnatural appearance that especially becomes apparent if the patient regains significant weight. Based on the same principal the shape of the scar centrally should follow the natural shape of the buttocks, which requires a “V” depression centrally. All too often patients undergo anterior-only procedures because of the difficulty of a single surgeon performing circumferential procedures in a timely safe manner. The authors suggest breaking up the procedure in two …
Controlled Electrochemical Formation of GexSbyTez using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)

This paper describes a systematic study of the deposition of a phase change material, GexSbyTez, using electrochemical atomic layer deposition (E-ALD). Cyclic voltammetry in aqueous solutions was used to investigate the deposition of atomic layers of Ge, Sb and Te. That data was used to develop initial E-ALD cycle conditions to form the binaries: SbxTey and GexTey. Films of the ternary material GexSbyTez, were then deposited with a wide range of compositions by alternating the binary cycles in various combinations. Conformal nanofilms were formed that exhibited good crystallinity.
Geographic Differences in Ecological Processes on Coral Reefs

Although basic ecological processes are generally consistent on a local scale, there are geographic differences in geological processes, the physical environment, and dimensions of the areas involved that change the nature of coral-reef systems. The structure of reefs is affected by plate tectonics, e.g., there is a greater prevalence of atolls in the central Pacific and Indian Oceans than in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific. The vast dimensions of the Pacific Ocean produces a sharp gradient of decrease from west to east in species, generic, class, and habitat diversity across the Pacific that is not so pronounced in the smaller western Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Diseases are generally contained within distantly separated archipelagoes in the Pacific but quickly spread across the relatively small and interconnected greater Caribbean. The differences in sediment input into the oceans (2 % west coasts of continents, 82 % east coasts) and the degree to which river output affects biogeographic patterns (eastern vs western coasts of continents), show the overwhelming global influences of trade winds and the Coriolis effect on coral reefs. The relative prevalence of corals and other sessile photosymbiotic invertebrates compared to sessile heterotrophic invertebrates can be affected on a geographic scale as well as locally by the strength and dependability of nutrient input. Adult coral colonies can persevere in areas with substantial nutrient input such as upwelling, but recruitment in these areas is extraordinarily difficult in competition with algae and heterotrophic invertebrates in areas with abundant nutrients. The effects of disturbances and effects of altering the system, for example by reducing the stock of grazers, can be substantially greater in areas of high nutrient input.
Results of mitral valvuloplasty with a suture plication technique.

Between January, 1975, and October, 1978, a total of 243 patients underwent repair of the mitral valve with a suture plication technique. Mitral valve replacement (MVR) was performed in 36 cases in which significant residual regurgitation was apparent on testing the valve after repair. The hospital mortality rate was 5.7%. Five patients required MVR within I month of operation. A total of 190 patients were discharged from hospital with what was considered to be a satisfactorily functioning mitral valve. Excluding patients from overseas, detailed follow-up information is available in 80 cases. Of these 80 patients, 13 have subsequently undergone MVR. Factors favorably affecting survival and durability of repair are degenerative valve disease and age below 55 years. Clinical and echocardiographic assessment indicate that this method of repair initially produces good symptomatic improvement and a normal or nearly normal pattern of left ventricular filling. The good early results are only maintained in patients with degenerative valve disease. We therefore no longer use or recommend this technique for elderly patients with rheumatic valve disease.
Bridging the Gap between Human Rights and Peace: An Analysis of NGOs and the United Nations Human Rights Council

While the concepts of human rights and peace are increasingly linked in the study and practice of International Relations, there is great variance and inconsistency in how the concept of peace is discussed in the study and practice of human rights. We conduct an examination of the websites of human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) affiliated with the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, to explore whether and how human rights and peace are linked. Religiously-affiliated and women’s NGOs typically link these concepts, while non-Western NGOs stress peace over human rights.
Magnetoresistivity in strongly underdoped YBa2Cu3Ox single crystals

Abstract We report magnetoresistivity measurements on YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.36 single crystals in applied magnetic fields H ∥ c up to 14 T . We observe several unusual features: the out-of-plane magnetoresistivity Δρ c /ρ c is negative at high temperatures T and becomes positive for T K . The in-plane magnetoresistivity Δρ ab /ρ ab is positive and displays a maximum at T ≈ 180 K . There is a direct correlation between the sign and T-dependence of magnetoresistivities and the corresponding temperature coefficients of resistivities; i.e. Δρ c, ab ∼ d ρ c,ab / dT over the measured T range for the in-plane component and for T > 150 K for the out-of-plane component.
The complete time/temperature dependence of I-V drift in PCM devices

Phase-change memory (PCM) devices are expected to play a key role in future computing systems as both memory and computing elements. Hence, a comprehensive understanding of the change in the current/voltage (I-V) characteristics of these devices with time and temperature is of considerable importance. Here, we present a unified drift model able to predict the I-V characteristics at any instance in time and at any temperature. The model was validated on large sets of experimental data for an extensive range of time (10 orders of magnitude) and temperatures (180–400 K), different phase-change materials and a collection of 4k cells from a PCM chip.
High-capacity dense space division multiplexing transmission

Abstract In this paper, we review space division multiplexing (SDM) transmission experimental demonstrations and associated technologies. In past years, SDM achieved high capacity transmission through increased spatial multiplicity, and long-haul transmission through improved transmission performance. More recently, dense SDM (DSDM) with a large spatial multiplicity exceeding 30 was demonstrated with multicore technology. Various types of multicore and multimode SDM fibers, amplification, and spatial multi/demultiplexers have helped achieve high-capacity DSDM transmission.
Agriculture and the Nation's Business

In recent years considerable attention has been given to the problem of stabilizing the business cycle. Much is hoped from the recent progress in standardization, in a more even distribution of employment in the highly seasonal industries, such as the building, clothing, and canning industries, and in the more adequate organization of the nation's financial and credit institutions. One important element, namely agriculture, has, however, received inadequate consideration, but it will need to be taken into account before stability in general business conditions is ever accomplished. Agriculture, which supplies the raw materials to industries employing at least one-third of all factory wage earners, and upon whose income depends the welfare of many individual industries and enterprises, has of course been much discussed, but the specific ways in which agricultural production contributes to the physical volume of general business, how agricultural prices may affect business activity through their influence on industrial profits and urban living costs, and how farmers' income affects the welfare of specific industries serving the farm market, have not generally been recognized. The interrelationships between agriculture and industry are so diverse and numerous that many views---some of them misconceptions-are afloat. Agriculture is frequently given an importance in national welfare, depending on the individual viewpoint, which ranges all the way from a dominant factor to one of little influence or significance. The latter view is likely to be held by those whose interests do not bring them directly in contact with farmers, or who see in agriculture a declining element in our population as the country moves on to a greater degree of industrialization. Others, whose interests are intimately associated with the welfare of agricultural communities, are apt to think that the nation's business rises and falls with the ups and downs of the farmer. Among these are to be found country bankers, country editors, manufacturers and distributors of farm implements, machin-
Are low-performing students more likely to exit charter schools? Evidence from New York City and Denver, Colorado

Abstract A common criticism of charter schools is that they systematically remove or “counsel out” their lowest performing students. However, relatively little is currently known about whether low-performing students are in fact more likely to exit charter schools than surrounding traditional public schools. We use longitudinal student-level data from two large urban school systems that prior research has found to have effective charter school sectors–New York City and Denver, Colorado–to evaluate whether there is a differential relationship between low-performance on standardized test scores and the probability that students exit their schools by sector attended. We find no evidence of a differential relationship between prior performance and the likelihood of exiting a school by sector. Low-performing students in both cities are either equally likely or less likely to exit their schools than are student in traditional public schools.
Characterizing Quality Factor of Niobium Resonators Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Approach

The next generation of radiation detectors in high precision Cosmology, Astronomy, and particle-astrophysics experiments will rely heavily on superconducting microwave resonators and kinetic inductance devices. Understanding the physics of energy loss in these devices, in particular at low temperatures and powers, is vital. We present a comprehensive analysis framework, using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, to characterize loss due to two-level system in concert with quasi-particle dynamics in thin-film Nb resonators in the GHz range.