cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cost-Effectiveness of Histamine2 Receptor Antagonists Versus Proton Pump Inhibitors for Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in Critically Ill Patients.

tudy Objective To determine the cost-effectiveness of stress ulcer prophylaxis with histamine2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) versus proton pump inhibitors (PPI) in critically ill and mechanically ventilated adults. Design A decision analytic model estimating the costs and effectiveness of stress ulcer prophylaxis (with H2RAs and PPIs) from a health care institutional perspective. Patients Adult, mixed intensive care unit (ICU) population who received an H2RA or PPI for up to 9 days. Measurements and Main Results Effectiveness measures were mortality during the ICU stay and complication rate. Costs (2015 U.S. dollars) were combined to include medication regimens and untoward events associated with stress ulcer prophylaxis (pneumonia, Clostridium difficile infection, and stress-related mucosal bleeding). Costs and probabilities for complications and mortality from complications came from randomized controlled trials and observational studies. A base case scenario was developed with pooled data from an observational study and meta-analysis. Scenarios based on observational and meta-analysis data alone were evaluated. Outcomes were expected and incremental costs, mortalities, and complication rates. Univariate sensitivity analyses evaluated for determinants of incremental cost, mortality, and complication rates. Monte Carlo simulations evaluated second-order uncertainty. In the base case scenario, the costs, complication rates, and mortality rates were $9,039, 17.6%, and 2.50%, respectively, for H2RAs and $11,249, 22.0%, and 3.34%, respectively, for PPIs, indicating that H2RAs dominated PPIs. The observational study–based model provided similar results; however, in the meta-analysis–based model, H2RAs had a cost of $8,364 and mortality rate of 3.2% compared with $7,676 and 2.0%, respectively, for PPIs. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per death averted, H2RA therapy was superior or preferred 70.3% in the base case and 97.0% in the observational study–based scenario. PPI therapy was preferred 87.2% in the meta-analysis–based scenario. Conclusion Providing stress ulcer prophylaxis with H2RA therapy may reduce costs, increase survival, and avoid complications compared with PPI therapy. This finding is highly sensitive to the pneumonia and stress-related mucosal bleeding rates and whether observational data are used to inform the model. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The effect of abstract versus concrete framing on judgments of biological and psychological bases of behavior

Human behavior is frequently described both in abstract, general terms and in concrete, specific terms. We asked whether these two ways of framing equivalent behaviors shift the inferences people make about the biological and psychological bases of those behaviors. In five experiments, we manipulated whether behaviors are presented concretely (i.e. with reference to a specific person, instantiated in the particular context of that person’s life) or abstractly (i.e. with reference to a category of people or behaviors across generalized contexts). People judged concretely framed behaviors to be less biologically based and, on some dimensions, more psychologically based than the same behaviors framed in the abstract. These findings held true for both mental disorders (Experiments 1 and 2) and everyday behaviors (Experiments 4 and 5), and yielded downstream consequences for the perceived efficacy of disorder treatments (Experiment 3). Implications for science educators, students of science, and members of the lay public are discussed.
A Case for the Constitutionality of School Choice

School-choice programs involve the capacity of parents to select among public, private non-sectarian, and religious schools for education of their children, without being greatly penalized financially. To opponents of school choice, such a policy violates the First Amendment prohibition of government establishment of a religion. This essay reviews major U.S. Supreme Court (and some state supreme court) cases on public education as impacted by the doctrine of separation of church and state. The author concludes that effective school choice programs can be designed that are compatible with the major court precedents. Key considerations include the intent of the program, its practical effects, who holds the choice, the degree of governmental â€œentanglementâ€ with religion, and religious freedom.
Composite Microposts with High Dry Adhesion Strength

Interfaces with enhanced and tunable adhesion have applications in a broad range of fields, including microtransfer printing of semiconductors, grippers on robots, and component handling in manufacturing. Here, a composite post structure with a stiff core and a compliant shell is used to achieve an enhanced adhesion under normal loading. Loading the composite structure in shear significantly reduces the effective adhesion strength, thus providing tunability. The composite posts can be used as stamps in microtransfer printing processes or as building blocks of large-area tunable surfaces composed of arrays of posts. Experimental measurements on composite posts with diameters of 200 μm show a peak adhesion strength of 1.5 MPa, a 9 times enhancement in adhesion relative to a homogeneous post under normal loading, and also that the adhesion can be reduced by nearly a factor of 7 through the application of shear. The adhesion behavior of these composite structures was also examined using finite element analysi...
Generic and Domain-Specific Model Refactoring Using a Model Transformation Engine

Refactoring is an essential approach toward improving the internal structure of a software system while preserving its external behavior. Traditional refactoring techniques have focused on the implementation stage, with source code as the primary artifact of the refactoring process. However, a recent trend is to apply the concepts of refactoring to higher levels of abstraction. Consequently, model refactoring is emerging as a desirable means to improve design models using behavior-preserving transformations.
The Autism Prism: A Domain Analysis Paper Examining Neurodiversity

Autism is a complex neurological phenomenon that affects our society on individual, community, and cultural levels. There is an ongoing dialog between the medical, scientific and autism communities that critiques and molds the meaning of autism. The prevailing social model perspective, the neurodiversity paradigm, views autism as a natural variation in human neurology. Towards the goal of crystallizing the various facets of autism, this paper conducts a domain analysis of neurodiversity. Through this analysis, we explore the dynamics between diagnosis, identity, power, and inclusion.
Temporary Teachers: Gender and Diaspora in Postcolonial West Africa

As Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria became independent from the United Kingdom, people of African descent relocated from North America and the Caribbean to take up posts in the new countries as teachers. Those who had arrived in the fifties were Education Officers hired by the British Colonial Office. In the sixties, however, most of the teachers were hired through the newly independent West African governments or international religious organizations. This change involved new hiring procedures and criteria for positions. Men had dominated posts as Education Officers during the colonial regime. Women of African descent were soon hired in greater numbers, but their positions often lacked formal contracts and they were paid less than similarly qualified men. I argue that they were seen as temporary teachers, not necessarily due to their gender, but because of their foreign status. Even those who married African men were seen as substitute teachers. On the other hand, African American and Caribbean men were usually given contracts for one year or more. This paper examines the postcolonial education system in West Africa to demonstrate that diasporic belonging in the region was informed by gender, as seen through employment and marital status.
Models of primary runaway electron distribution in the runaway vortex regime

A number of recent numerical calculations have shown the formation of a bump in runaway electron (RE) energy distribution by taking into account the synchrontron radiational damping force due to RE's gyromotions. Here, we present a detailed examination on how the bump location changes at different pitch-angles and the characteristics of the RE pitch-angle distribution. Although REs moving along the magnetic field are preferably accelerated and then populate the phase-space of larger pitch-angle mainly through diffusions, an off-axis (i.e., at finite pitch) peak can still form due to the presence of a runaway vortex that accumulates REs at a finite pitch-angle. A simplified Fokker–Planck model and its semi-analytical solutions based on local expansions around the O point are used to illustrate the characteristics of RE distribution around the O point of the runaway vortex in phase-space. The calculated energy location of the O point together with the local energy and pitch-angle distributions agree with th...
Predictors of Health-related Quality of Life in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients Compared With Healthy Individuals.

BACKGROUND Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) reduces health-related quality of life (HRQOL). It is unclear how having IBS modifies the impact of gastrointestinal (GI), psychosocial, and somatic symptom variables on HRQOL compared with healthy controls (HCs). AIMS (1) Determine psychosocial, somatic, and physical status variables most predictive of HRQOL in IBS and HCs and (2) determine if IBS status modifies relationships between predictive factors and HRQOL. METHODS IBS patients and HCs completed validated questionnaires measuring GI symptoms, psychosocial/somatic variables, and physical [physical component score (PCS)] and mental [mental component score (MCS)] HRQOL via the Short-Form-36. Associations between these variables and HRQOL were evaluated with multiple linear regressions. Variables were standardized to determine the strongest predictors of HRQOL. Statistical significance level was 0.01. RESULTS Mean HRQOL was higher in 417 HCs versus 290 IBS subjects (PCS: 55.6 vs. 48.6, P<0.001; MCS: 53.7 vs. 44.8, P<0.001). The GI symptom measures were negatively associated with PCS in IBS, but only usual severity was associated with MCS (P<0.01). In all subjects, psychosocial and somatic measures were associated with MCS and not PCS excluding GI symptom anxiety, which correlated with both (P<0.01). The strongest predictor of MCS was perceived stress in IBS and depression symptoms in HCs. GI symptom anxiety was the strongest predictor of PCS in both. Greater perceived stress and somatic symptom severity and less mindfulness was linked to larger reductions in HRQOL for IBS compared with HCs (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS GI symptom severity and anxiety correlate with PCS, whereas psychosocial/somatic measures parallel MCS. However, HRQOL is comparable in IBS and HCs when perceived stress, somatic symptom severity, and mindfulness are at optimal levels. These findings may have important implications in the management of IBS.
ON FINITE COMPLEX LINEAR GROUPS OF DEGREE (q-1)/2

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the proof of a conjecture stating that if G satisfies a hypothesis as per which the centralizer of every nonidentity element of P is the centralize C of P and has a faithful complex representation of degree d = (q – l)/2, then either P ⊲ G or G/Z ≅ PSL(2,q) . This conjecture was proved in 1942 by Brauer in the case that P has prime order. The chapter presents the confirmation of the conjecture under certain quite restrictive conditions. If E denotes a complement of P in N, then it can be proved that CG(E) is abelian, has the same exponent as E, and E is a direct factor of CG (E).
The Cone Theorem and Minimal Models

The most important application of the bend-and-break techniques of [Mori79] is his proof of the Cone Theorem and the applications to minimal models of smooth varieties. Later development of this theory strayed far from the methods considered in this book. The cohomological methods of Kawamata— Reid—Shokurov are described in detail in [CKM88]. Minimal models are not fully covered in any monograph,1 since the proof of the crucial flip theorem [Mori88] is rather long and complicated. The ideas of the Cone Theorem and of Mori’s Program (or Minimal Model Program) are very simple, powerful and influential. The aim of this short chapter is to illustrate these in rather special cases where the technical details do not overwhelm them.
Cross-Referencing in FIELD

One of the basic tools needed in a comprehensive programming environment is a good cross-referencer to provide detailed information about a program. A cross-referencer can be used as the basis for program visualization, as a service for other tools, or as a database of program information for the user. In FIELD, cross-reference information is the basis for both the call graph display and the class browser, supports editor commands that go to a selected function or to the declaration of a selected name, and answers user queries about the application.
Lifestyle Migration and the Marketization of Countries in Latin America

This chapter investigates lifestyle migration, in particular retirees from the US and Canada, moving south. In trying to expand the understanding of the various processes working together to shape policies in interaction with transnational migration, it explores how receiving states marketize themselves and their localities as attractive locations. Country marketization, the authors argue, is a dynamic process, a co-production involving state and local governments, real estate professionals, transnational businesses and lifestyle-oriented entrepreneurs. The empirical study focuses on the four countries with the largest recorded percentage of lifestyle migrants, particularly retirees: Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador. In a comparative analysis, the authors examine online media focused on the promotion of lifestyle migration, paying attention to how each of the four countries is marketed, how similar or different their marketing approaches are, and whether they play off each other in order to highlight some comparative advantage. They also explore the central state and municipal policy strategies of the four countries, focusing on the policies they enact to attract and maintain lifestyle migrants.
Pediatric Free-floating Anterior Chamber Cyst of the Iris Pigment Epithelium

Iris pigment epithelial (IPE) cysts are a subset of iris cysts that arise from the IPE. They are spontaneously erupting epithelial-lined cavities that are found in various anatomic locations of the iris, including the iris pupillary margin, midzone, periphery, and free floating in the vitreous or anterior chamber. We report the case of an asymptomatic 13-year-old boy with an incidental finding of a dislodged anterior chamber cyst diagnosed on routine examination. Modern multimodal image analysis of the cyst including anterior segment optical coherence tomography and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) was utilized to characterize the microstructural anatomy of the lesion. The patient was managed conservatively without complications. Cysts of the IPE typically do not affect vision or ocular health and can be monitored and observed after ascertaining no associated malignancy. Initial diagnostic investigation can include UBM and anterior segment optical coherence tomography. Intervention should be reserved only for cases where the cyst growth leads to obstruction of the visual axis and/or other secondary complications.
Feasibility of endobronchial ultrasound fine-needle aspiration for massively parallel next-generation sequencing in cancer patients.

8535Background: Next generation sequencing (NGS) is an important emerging tool in precision oncology, allowing identification of a growing number of clinically validated and investigational therape...
Male rape and sexual crimes in International Criminal Law jurisprudence: a critical appraisal

El presente trabajo ha intentado analizar crimenes sexuales y especialmente el crimen de violacion masculina. La jurisprudencia internacional de los Tribunales penales internacionales y la Corte Penal Internacional ha tratado de calificar la violacion como un crimen de genocidio en forma de graves lesiones fisicas y corporales, aunque no necesariamente permanente (letra. B) art. 6 del Estatuto de Roma; o como un crimen contra la humanidad cuando existen elementos de contexto y, sobre todo, elementos materiales que surgen de las definiciones dadas por los Tribunales especiales y los elementos de los crimenes; o incluso como un crimen de guerra en caso de que se implemente como parte de un plan o diseno politico, o como parte de una serie de crimenes similares cometidos a gran escala. Debido a la falta de tratamiento de un delito “particular” y dificil de probar o testificar ante un tribunal internacional. La indicacion del nivel de gravedad del delito es necesaria para la relevancia de la violencia sexual y la violacion como crimenes de lesa humanidad que veremos en los proximos anos desde el panorama del derecho penal.
Privacy preservation in continuous-time average consensus algorithm via deterministic additive obfuscation signals

Author(s): Rezazadeh, Navid; Kia, Solmaz S | Abstract: This paper considers the problem of privacy preservation against passive internal and external malicious agents in the continuous-time Laplacian average consensus algorithm over strongly connected and weight-balanced digraphs. For this problem, we evaluate the effectiveness of use of additive perturbation signals as a privacy preservation measure against malicious agents that know the graph topology. Our results include (a) identifying the necessary and sufficient conditions on admissible additive perturbation signals that do not perturb the convergence point of the algorithm from the average of initial values of the agents; (b) obtaining the necessary and sufficient condition on the knowledge set of a malicious agent that enables it to identify the initial value of another agent; (c) designing observers that internal and external malicious agents can use to identify the initial conditions of another agent when their knowledge set on that agent enables them to do so. We demonstrate our results through a numerical example.
Ixodes scapularis salivary gland microRNAs are differentially expressed during Powassan virus transmission.

Successful tick feeding is facilitated by an assortment of pharmacologically-active factors in tick saliva that create an immunologically privileged micro-environment in the host’s skin. Through a process known as saliva-assisted transmission, bioactive tick salivary factors modulate the host environment, promoting transmission and establishment of a tick-borne pathogen. This phenomenon was previously demonstrated for Powassan virus (POWV), a North American tick-borne flavivirus that is the causative agent of a severe neuroinvasive disease in humans. Here, we sought to characterize the Ixodes scapularis salivary gland microRNAs (miRNAs) expressed during the earliest period of POWV transmission to a mammalian host. POWV-infected and uninfected I. scapularis females were fed on naive mice for 1, 3, and 6 hours, and Illumina next generation sequencing was used to characterize the salivary gland miRNA expression profiles of POWV-infected versus uninfected ticks. 379 salivary miRNAs were detected, of which 338 are reported here as putative novel I. scapularis miRNAs. 35 salivary gland miRNAs were significantly up-regulated and 17 miRNAs were significantly down-regulated in response to POWV infection. To investigate the potential role of salivary gland miRNAs in POWV replication in-vitro, we transfected miRNA inhibitors into VeroE6 cells to profile temporal POWV replication in mammalian cells. Together, the small RNA sequencing data and the in vitro miRNA inhibition assay suggest that the differentially expressed tick salivary miRNAs could act in regulating POWV replication in host tissues.
Individual Components of Three Inequality Measures for Analyzing Shapes of Inequality

In common sociological research, income inequality is measured only at the aggregate level. The main purpose of this article is to demonstrate that there is more than meets the eye when inequality ...
Academic librarians serving diverse populations of multilingual students: Tips to support success

In today’s political and social climate in the United States, news stories focusing on language-related conflicts are becoming increasingly common. For example, two Montana women filed a lawsuit earlier this year against U.S. Customs and Border Protection for being detained after they were overheard speaking Spanish in a local convenience store.
Utility of local anesthesia for open carpal tunnel release in patients with psychiatric diagnoses.

Abstract Purpose Carpal tunnel release, one of the most commonly performed procedures in Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, is often performed under local anesthesia alone. In this patient population, there is an increased prevalence of psychiatric disorders. Our hypothesis is that there is no difference in operating time, request for sedation, or complications in the veteran population with or without a recognized psychiatric history. Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed at a VA medical center from January 2013 to January 2017 by the senior surgeon (E.S.L). Patients were divided into two groups: patients with no known psychiatric history (n = =33) and patients with an active psychiatric diagnosis (n = =25), including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, substance abuse, or panic disorder. Primary endpoints included operation time, time in operating room, request for sedation, and complication rates. Results Fifty-nine percent of patients successfully underwent wide-awake hand surgery, while 41% requested sedation. Patients with no known psychiatric history had a 45.5% rate of requesting sedation compared to 36% in those with a psychiatric diagnosis. No patients converted from wide-awake surgery to sedation. There was no statistically significant difference in operation time, time in the operating room, need for sedation, or complication rate between all groups. Conclusions Wide-awake hand surgery is an excellent technique that can be safely used in patients with a history of psychiatric illness. Without the need for monitored anesthesia care, the cost for carpal tunnel releases done in military medical centers could decrease dramatically. Type of Study Prognostic Level of Evidence Level II
Biological challenges of phage therapy and proposed solutions: a literature review

Introduction: In light of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, phage (bacteriophage) therapy has been recognized as a potential alternative or addition to antibiotics in Western medicine for use in humans.Areas covered: This review assessed the scientific literature on phage therapy published between 1 January 2007 and 21 October 2019, with a focus on the successes and challenges of this prospective therapeutic.Expert opinion: Efficacy has been shown in animal models and experimental findings suggest promise for the safety of human phagotherapy. Significant challenges remain to be addressed prior to the standardization of phage therapy in the West, including the development of phage-resistant bacteria; the pharmacokinetic complexities of phage; and any potential human immune response incited by phagotherapy.
28 – Offshore Piling

Publisher Summary Offshore piles require large unsupported lengths, horizontal forces due to waves differences in subsurface soils driving methodology. Almost all the offshore structures are constructed in continental crust. Continental crust was part of the land in the past. Land features such as canyons, eroded rocks, and land animal fossils could be seen in the continental crust. Deep-sea bed, however, had never been part of the land. Continental crust extends to hundreds of miles off Siberia while it stops a few hundred feet from the southern tip of South America. Extension of the continental crust varies from location to location. The chapter describes various soil types in continental crust.
Revealing Opinions for COVID-19 Questions Using a Context Retriever, Opinion Aggregator, and Question-Answering Model: Model Development Study.

Background: COVID-19 has challenged global public health because it is highly contagious and can be lethal. Numerous ongoing and recently published studies about the disease have emerged. However, the research regarding COVID-19 is largely ongoing and inconclusive. Objective: A potential way to accelerate COVID-19 research is to use existing information gleaned from research into other viruses that belong to the coronavirus family. Our objective is to develop a natural language processing method for answering factoid questions related to COVID-19 using published articles as knowledge sources. Methods: Given a question, first, a BM25-based context retriever model is implemented to select the most relevant passages from previously published articles. Second, for each selected context passage, an answer is obtained using a pretrained bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) question-answering model. Third, an opinion aggregator, which is a combination of a biterm topic model and k-means clustering, is applied to the task of aggregating all answers into several opinions. Results: We applied the proposed pipeline to extract answers, opinions, and the most frequent words related to six questions from the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge. By showing the longitudinal distributions of the opinions, we uncovered the trends of opinions and popular words in the articles published in the five time periods assessed: before 1990, 1990-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2018, and since 2019. The changes in opinions and popular words agree with several distinct characteristics and challenges of COVID-19, including a higher risk for senior people and people with pre-existing medical conditions; high contagion and rapid transmission; and a more urgent need for screening and testing. The opinions and popular words also provide additional insights for the COVID-19–related questions. Conclusions: Compared with other methods of literature retrieval and answer generation, opinion aggregation using our method leads to more interpretable, robust, and comprehensive question-specific literature reviews. The results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method in answering COVID-19–related questions with main opinions and capturing the trends of research about COVID-19 and other relevant strains of coronavirus in recent years.
Spatial scale in prescribed fire regimes: an understudied aspect in conservation with examples from the southeastern United States

The idea that not all fire regimes are created equal is a central theme in fire research and conservation. Fire frequency (i.e., temporal scale) is likely the most studied fire regime attribute as it relates to conservation of fire-adapted ecosystems. Generally, research converges on fire frequency as the primary filter in plant community assembly and structure, which is often critical to conservation goals. Thus, conservation success is commonly linked to fire frequency in fire regimes. The spatial scale of fire may also be vital to conservation outcomes, but this attribute is underrepresented in the primary literature. In our global, contemporary literature search, we found 37 published syntheses concerning the effects of prescribed fire in conservation over the last decade. In those syntheses, only 16% included studies that reported data-based inferences related to the spatial scale of the fire, whereas 73% included discussion of empirical studies on the temporal scale. Only one of the syntheses discussed studies that explicitly tested the effects of spatial extent, and none of those studies were experiments manipulating spatial scale. Further, understanding spatial-scale-dependent patterns may be relevant because two databases of fire-occurrence data from the United States indicated that spatial scale among lightning-ignited and prescribed fires may have been mismatched over the past few decades. Based on a rich ecological literature base that demonstrates pervasive scale-dependent effects in ecology, spatial-scale-dependent relationships among prescribed fire regimes and conservation outcomes are likely. Using examples from the southeastern United States, we explored the potential for scale-dependent ecological effects of fire. In particular, we highlighted the potential for spatial scale to (a) influence wildlife populations by manipulating the dispersion of habitat components, and (b) modulate plant community assembly and structure by affecting seed dispersal mechanics and spatial patterns in herbivory. Because spatial-scale-dependent outcomes are understudied but likely occurring, we encourage researchers to address the ecological effects of spatial scale in prescribed-fire regimes using comparative and manipulative approaches.
Why Are Dying Individuals Stigmatized and Socially Avoided? Psychological Explanations

Extant research on the topic of death and dying in modern society frequently includes the observation that death is now rendered invisible, and dying individuals are stigmatized and socially avoide...
Collaborating Across Curriculum

In Collaborating Across Curriculum, Prof. Garretson outlines how to teach legal methodology with a combination of curriculums. Throughout the article, she provides specific examples of how she combines her contracts course curriculum with lessons taught in legal writing. In the first part of the article, Prof. Garretson emphasizes the importance of using writing to teach legal doctrine. In particular, Prof. Garretson explains that the mere practice of legal writing does not automatically produce legal analysis. Rather, law students should be encouraged to first focus on how to write properly, and using that basis should then be encouraged to hone their analytical skill-set. In the second part of the article, Prof. Garretson provides specific examples from her contracts course where she worked with legal writing Professor Zech Thelen to provide students with a background in proper writing before focusing on legal writing in particular. Emphasis on coherence within writing should be followed by examples of the structure of legal writing in order to provide students with a basis upon which they can understand and read legal doctrine. Prof. Garretson then discusses the teaching process, including the importance of peer review. She gives concrete examples for students to examine proper writing and analytic techniques which she advances over generic grading rubrics. Lastly, she discusses the benefits of the curriculum collaboration. Collaboration encourages further cooperation between students, and later practitioners, in addition to encouraging the holistic view among all faculty regarding the teaching of law. This, ultimately, provides a more enriching learning environment, in addition to creating legal practitioners that are willing to collaborate with other professionals.
2‐Acetoxyisobutyryl Chloride

[40635-66-3] C6H9O3Cl (MW 164.592) InChI = 1S/C6H9ClO3/c1-4(8)10-6(2,3)5(7)9/h1-3H3 InChIKey = RBTCRFLJLUNCLL-UHFFFAOYSA-N (useful for converting cis-diols to trans-chloroacetates1 followed by epoxide formation2) Alternate Name: Moffatt reagent. Physical Data: bp 55–56 °C/6 mmHg; d 2.236 g cm−3. Form Supplied in: liquid of 95% purity commercially available. Preparative Methods: can be prepared by the acylation of 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid (Acetyl Chloride, Acetic Acid) followed by reaction with Thionyl Chloride.1, 3 Handling, Storage, and Precautions: corrosive and a lachrymator and should be handled accordingly.
Superficial Spreading Pattern of Melanoma

Superfi cial spreading melanoma was a term fi rst used by Wallace Clark, Jr., to describe melanoma in a superfi cial, horizontal growth pattern, either in situ or initially invasive (Ruiter et al. 2003). The involvement of epidermis is prominent and histologically the lesional silhouette is vaguely rectangular. This form of melanoma, like others was subdivided in “radial” and “vertical” growth phases. “Radial growth phase” encompasses melanoma in situ and early invasive superfi cial spreading melanoma. Small nests and single cells in the papillary dermis (and no mitoses) characterize this invasive radial growth phase. On the other hand, large nests (larger than those at the junction), micronodules, and mitoses are typical of the “vertical growth phase.”
A Review of “MARKETING YOUR LIBRARY’S ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: A HOW-TO-DO-IT MANUAL.”

Any librarian who works with electronic resources can make use of Marketing Your Library's Electronic Resources: A How-To-Do-It Manual to help reach his or her institution's various communities and...
Ultimate Energy Densities for Electromagnetic Pulses

The ultimate electric and magnetic energy densities that can be attained by bandlimited electromagnetic pulses in free space are calculated using an ab initio quantized treatment, and the quantum states of electromagnetic fields that achieve the ultimate energy densities are derived. The ultimate energy densities also provide an experimentally accessible metric for the degree of localization of polychromatic photons.
Visual terrain matching for a Mars rover

A method of matching unequally spaced height maps is described. This method would be useful in a Mars rover which tries to refine the estimate of its position by matching the data from its stereo vision system or laser rangefinder to data obtained from a camera orbiting Mars. The refined position can be used to merge the two sets of data with proper registration. The method is designed to make full use of the information contained in the data, including accuracy estimates in the form of covariance matrices and reliability estimates in the form of probabilities. Means of extracting this information from stereo vision are discussed. The terrain matching process uses a coarse-to-fine strategy, and it includes automatic editing to remove points with excessive disagreement. An example using real data from an experimental vehicle is presented. >
Convexity of structure preserving energy functions in power transmission: Novel results and applications

It is well-known in the power systems literature that the behavior of the transmission power system (under certain simplifying assumptions) can be used to study the post-fault dynamics of a power system and provide principled estimates on dynamic stability margins. In this paper, we study a special feature of the energy function that has previously received little attention: convexity. We prove that the energy function for structure preserving models of power systems is convex under certain reasonable conditions on phases and voltages. Beyond stability analysis, these convexity results have a number of applications, noticeably, building a provably convergent PF solver, which we discuss in detail in this paper. We also outline potential applications to reformulating Optimum Power Flow (OPF), Model Predictive Control (MPC) and identifying the most probable failure (instanton) as convex optimization problems.
Mathematical treatment of autonomic oscillations.

To the Editor: Montano et al1 measured RR interval and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) autoregressive spectral power before and after small- and large-dose atropine and drew inferences regarding human central autonomic mechanisms. I have several questions for the authors, as well as comments. Your finding that low-dose atropine does not alter low-frequency RR-interval spectral power (Table 2) is at variance with results published by Ikuta …
Serum glucose: effects on tumor and normal tissue accumulation of 2-[F-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose in rodents with mammary carcinoma.

The positron-emitter-labeled glucose analogue 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) accumulates into many cancers after intravenous injection, but the effect of serum glucose levels on FDG uptake in the tumor has not been extensively studied. In vitro, elevated media glucose levels markedly diminished FDG and FDG 6-phosphate uptake and retention in human adenocarcinoma cells, while insulin had no effect. Mammary cancers were established subcutaneously in 12 rats. Six control rats with mammary tumors were fasted overnight. Hyperglycemia was established in six rats by means of continuous glucose infusion (glucose clamp). All animals were then intravenously administered 50 microCi of FDG. Serum glucose levels were 87 mg/dL (4.83 mmol/L) in the control animals and more than 900 mg/dL (49.9 mmol/L) in the hyperglycemic animals. One hour after injection of FDG, mean F-18 uptake in the tumor, brain, small bowel, and ovaries was 2.7-9.7 times lower in the hyperglycemic animals (P less than .02). Mean F-1...
VERTICAL PHYTOPLANKTON DISTRIBUTIONS: PATTERNS AND ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS

I apply the basic equations of fluid dynamics to reaction—diffusion—advection models describing vertical distribution patterns of marine plankton. The biological dynamics in these models are growth, death/birth, grazing and interaction. Further, oceanographic phenomena such as shading and shear dispersion are considered. Models for critical patch size and for vertical distribution profiles and analytical solutions are developed.
Optimizing water-mist injection characteristics for suppression of coflow diffusion flames

Numerical simulations have been performed to optimize various water-mist injection characteristics for flame suppression. A two-continuum formulation is used in which the gas phase and the water mist are both described by equations of the eulerian form. The effects of droplet diameter, mist injection angle (throw angle), mist density, and velocity on water-mist entrainment into the flame and flame suppression are quantified. Droplet sectional trajectories and density contours are used to identify the regions of the flame where the droplets evaporate and absorb energy. Numerical results are presented for symmetric and asymmetric spray pattern geometries resulting from base injection and side injection nozzle orientation. Results indicate that smaller droplet diameters produce optimum suppression under base injection configuration, while larger droplet diameters are needed for optimum suppression for the side injection configuration. For all cases, the model is used to determine the water mist required for different levels of suppression, and this is reported in terms of the ratio of the water-mist supply rate to the fuel flow rate.
Natural Disasters with Un-Natural Effects: Why?

While all regions are exposed to natural hazards, most disasters (such as droughts, earthquakes, extreme temperatures, floods, slides, storms, volcanoes and wildfires) tend to occur in developing regions. Underdeveloped countries and poor people concentrate the un-natural impact of natural hazards, deepening the existent inequalities within and across countries. The paper analyzes the empirical evidence on the incidence of disasters and maps worldwide disaster risks, to then assess the factors as to why disaster risk concentrates on certain people, areas and countries. It uses a conceptual framework on the links among risk, vulnerability, and impacts to understand the multi-dimensionality of disaster effects and the increasing challenges that countries have to overcome in the face of climate change.
RESEARCH ON TEACHING RECREATION SKILLS TO ADULTS LABELED MENTALLY RETARDED

ABSTRACT Recreation professionals, social workers, and sheltered workshop personnel recognize the need for effective leisure education programs with handicapped individuals. Unfortunately, individuals labeled as mentally retarded do not always display the appropriate level or knowledge of recreation skills necessary for independent participation. This research study is intended to report information comparing different teaching methods for introducing a new leisure activity to adults labeled as mentally retarded. It was hypothesized that: 1) All of the participants will demonstrate positive changes in their skill level following practice or exposure to a teaching method with practice; and 2) The group receiving the part method of instruction with scheduled practice will significantly improve their skilled ability for completing the objective of the game. The results supported both of the hypotheses. Sensitivity to intervention, distinguishing methods of intervention, the reduction of task difficulty, and ...
Immobilized Particle Arrays: Coalescence of Planar- and Suspension-Array Technologies

Combining positive attributes of planar arrays and suspension arrays, immobilized particle arrays offer a new format in which immobilized submicrometer particles are arrayed on hydrogel-coated slides, providing 100+ assay replicates within each spot. This research describes how to prepare immobilized protein arrays and how to assay the binding of labeled target molecules to the arrayed capture probes. The assay system exhibits an intrinsic dynamic range of two to three decades, with coefficients of variation from 5 to 10%. For antibody−antigen binding, target capture appears to be reaction rate limited. For labeled antibody binding to antigen on the immobilized particles, the detection limit is ∼0.5 ng/mL. When antibodies on the immobilized particles exhibit multivalent binding of target molecules, the detection limit is ∼0.01 ng/mL. For protein arrays, potential advantages of this format are improved coating of the capture reagent, an increased number of options for protein presentation, reduced mass tra...
Measuring Great Jobs and Great Lives: The Gallup-Purdue Index

A new approach to computing the true value of a college degree includes career and personal success after graduation.
A recursive Kohn variational algorithm for the Green's operator: application to the T-matrix

Abstract A recursive version of the Kohn variational principle for the Green's operator is presented. An expression for the off-shell T-matrix is derived which is valid in the presence of a hard wall potential and which is conveniently evaluated using the recursive algorithm. The off-shell T-matrix elements for scattering systems with and without hard wall components to the potential are computed using this algorithm.
INTEGRATED PRODUCTION SCHEDULING,COORDINATION, AND CAPACITY INVESTMENT

ABSTRACT When capacity is used to produce multiple products, the production scheduling, coordination, and capacity investment decisions are interrelated. For batch processes, we analyze capacity investment in light of the inventory holding costs based on rotation cycle scheduling and shared production among multiple facilities. We optimize the sum of these inventory and capacity investment costs to determine the best type of capacity in which to invest. Finally, we show how to extend our model to incorporate process design issues.
Influence of matrix infiltration on the dispersion kinetics of carbon black agglomerates

Abstract The dispersion of carbon black agglomerates suspended in poly(dimethylsiloxane) liquids and subjected to simple shear flow has been studied. Two characteristic length scales that affect the dispersion process are identified and estimated from hydrodynamic drag coefficients measured in sedimentation experiments. One length scale, Lp, is a measure of the ease with which fluid can flow through the porous agglomerate structure and is directly related to its packing density and the morphology of the constituent particles. The second, δ, is a measure of the depth to which processing fluid has soaked into the agglomerate. Values of Lp were found to be relatively large for high structure carbon blacks and for low density agglomerates. The parameter δ varies with time of immersion in the processing fluid. Shearing experiments showed two kinetic regimes for the rate of dispersion. Analysis showed that fast dispersion occurred when Lp/δ exceeds a critical value and, conversely, relatively slow erosion occurred when Lp/δ is below a characteristic threshold value. For agglomerates having a density higher than a critical value, the kinetic regime shifts from fast to slow as the infiltration depth exceeds Lp after some shearing time. However, for agglomerates with a density lower than this value, erosion rates exceeded infiltration rates, Lp/δ remained greater than the critical ratio, and only fast erosion was observed.
EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF FACTORS CAUSING STRAINS IN TRUE HARD‐FIRE PORCELAIN FLATWARE AND A PRACTICAL MEANS FOR THEIR ELIMINATION IN PRODUCTION

A description of the manufacture of thin, true porcelain flatware is given together with experiments which were carried on to determine the factors involving the strains. It was found that, by observing definite rules in the manufacture, a high percentage of straight flatware could be produced and maintained in full production. It was concluded that the manufacture of thin porcelain dinnerware in the United States by European methods would have a doubt fid success, principally because of the expense involved in making flatware.
One-dimensional electron transport and thermopower in an individual InSb nanowire

We have measured the electrical conductance and thermopower of a single InSb nanowire in the temperature range from 5 to 340?K. Below temperature (T) 220?K, the conductance (G) shows a power-law dependence on T and the current (I)?voltage (V) curve follows a power-law dependence on V at large bias voltages. These features are the characteristics of one-dimensional Luttinger liquid (LL) transport. The thermopower (S) also shows linear temperature dependence for T below 220?K, in agreement with the theoretical prediction based on the LL model. Above 220?K, the power law and linear behaviours respectively in the G?T and S?T curves persist but with different slopes from those at low temperatures. The slope changes can be explained by a transition from a single-mode LL state to a multi-mode LL state.
Glucose infusion increases maximal duration of prolonged treadmill exercise in Standardbred horses

Summary The main purpose of this study was to describe the effect of glucose infusion on selected physiological variables and on the duration of treadmill exercise to fatigue. Six, 3–4 year old, clinically normal, Standardbred fillies were used in a randomised and balanced crossover design. The treatments were either an infusion of glucose (an initial bolus followed by an infusion rate adjusted during exercise to maintain glucose at approximately 9.0 mmol/l) or an infusion of a similar volume of normal saline. Saline was also infused during the first 30 min of recovery in both treatments. Treadmill speed and grade were 6.0 m/s and 2°. All horses underwent an exercise and dietary control period for 3 days prior to each treatment. A period of 7–10 days separated the treatments. Treadmill exercise duration was prolonged with glucose (89.8 min ± 15.4 s.e.m.) compared to saline (78.7 ± 12.4 min) (P<0.05). Plasma glucose concentrations were similar at rest and increased (P<0.05) above resting concentrations throughout exercise beginning at 15 min and 35 min for the glucose and saline trials, respectively. By 15 min of exercise, glucose concentrations were 8.72 ± 0.22 and 5.78 ± 0.28 mmol/l (P<0.05) for the glucose and the saline trials, respectively. Changes in haematocrit, plasma lactate, plasma total solids, plasma electrolytes, heart rate, core temperature, body weight and body water loss were similar for both treatments. An explanation for the glucose-induced prolongation of exercise could be the availability of additional substrate during exercise.