cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genetic assessment of Staphylococcus aureus in an underreported locality: Ambulatory care clinic.

Abstract Background Staphylococcus aureus has strong association with anthropogenic environments. This association has not been well supported by use of genetic tools. The aim of this study was to phylogenetically relate numerous isolates from three environments — NCBI samples from hospitals, a community, and a previously unexplored healthcare environment: an ambulatory care clinic (ACC). Methods This study incorporated hospital samples from NCBI, a community database from the University of Central Florida (UCF), and newly added samples taken from employees of an ambulatory care clinic located at UCF. Samples were collected from nasal swabs of employees, and positive samples were cultured, extracted, and sequenced at seven MLST loci and one virulence locus (spa). MLST sequences were used in eBURST and TCS population structure analyses and all sequences were incorporated into a phylogenetic reconstruction of relationships. Results A total of 185 samples were incorporated in this study (15 NCBI sequences from hospital infections, 29 from the ACC, and 141 from the community). In both phylogenetic and population genetics analyses, samples proved to be panmixic, with samples not segregating monophyletically based on sample origin. Conclusion Samples isolated from ambulatory care clinics are not significantly differentiated from either community or hospital samples at the representative loci chosen. These results strengthen previous conclusions that S. aureus may exhibit high genetic similarity across anthropogenic environments.
Use of Fed-Batch Operation to Improve Secondary Metabolite Production

Increases in secondary metabolite biosynthesis are traditionally obtained by empirical strategies. However, the extent of these methods is limited due to the lack of knowledge as to why these strategies are successful. By combining traditional engineering strategies with knowledge of the intracellular environment, rational strategies can be developed to overcome specific biosynthetic rate limitations and to increase titers.
Bacterial fermantation of nicotinic acid. II. Anaerobic reversible hydroxylation of nicotinic acid to 6-hydroxynicotinic acid.

Although the over-all reaction requires no external energy source, the nature of the end products indicates that at least two oxidation-reduction steps occur during the reaction. It was of interest, therefore, to test the effect of an oxidizing agent on the fermentation of NA. One may in this manner force the accumulation of a more oxidized compound which may be an intermediate in the fermentation or may be derived from an intermediate. The oxidation of NA by methylene blue to 6-hydroxynicotinic acid (HNA), catalyzed by a nicotinic acid-fermenting organism, is the subject of this report.
Nondestructive detection of the T1 phase in AlLi alloys

Aluminium-lithium alloys have attracted the interest of aerospace industries for some time now since the use of such alloys reduces the weight of an airframe by roughly ten percent. The production of these alloys, however, requires precise thermal and/or thermomechanical treatments to insure required material properties. Recently, a strong research interest has developed in the use of sensors for monitoring the state of the material during processing and in-service. On Al 2219, combined eddy current (as a measure of electrical conductivity) and hardness measurements were found to be particularly sensitive to the changes occurring during the aging of such alloys. The electrical conductivity, in general, increases with aging. The explanation for this is that the alloying additions in solid solution are very effective in scattering the conduction electrons. As precipitation occurs the resistivity per solute atom decreases, which in turn increases the conductivity. On the other hand, the hardness increases due to precipitation hardening, at least up to peak hardness conditions. Loss of coherency with the matrix and growth of particles reverse the latter trend. In the authors' efforts to characterize the thermal history and the mechanical properties of Al-Li alloy 2090 by NDE techniques, they have noted a strongmore » deviation from the general rule that the conductivity increases with aging. This deviation occurs on samples aged at 200/sup 0/C for extended periods. Noteworthy is the fact that Al 2219 does not show such a conductivity anomaly with aging. In an attempt to understand this phenomenon, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to determine the morphology and crystal structures of the phases present in appropriate samples.« less
Fixed-Redundancy Error Control Schemes

Channel coding is implemented in a variety of ways in a digital communication system. A simple approach, known as automatic-repeat-request (ARQ), is to perform error detection at the receiver, and request retransmission of the packet if errors are detected [35, 36, 63, 286]. Conventional ARQ schemes require a feedback channel to send acknowledgements (positive or negative). Under good channel conditions, the throughput of ARQ schemes is very high, limited only by the rate of the error-detecting code. However, as the channel noise increases, the throughput degrades rapidly as a result of an increase in retransmission frequency. In the absence of a feedback channel, error control has to rely on forward error correction (FEC) alone. Various convolutional coding and decoding techniques discussed in this book so far are FEC schemes. FEC schemes offer a constant throughput, equal to the coding rate, but their reliability degrades as the channel noise increases.
Kleptocracy and tax evasion under resource abundance

Evidence has shown that petroleum wealth is associated with less transparency and at the same time less tax collection. In this paper, we find that the two issues are linked through the citizens’ tax evasion behavior. We develop a model to explain this link and conduct extensive empirical tests of its validity. The explanation is that officials tradeoff greater transparency to improve tax compliance against less transparency to increase gains from corruption. Oil windfalls diminish tax revenue needs, causing officials to optimize on less transparency. Seeing this, citizens optimize on a lower level of tax compliance. At equilibrium, both decline with a positive oil shock. We also study the alternative channel in which tax compliance responds to enforcement. Transparency is found to be the more robust channel. Ignoring citizens’ strategic behavior would lead to predicting suboptimal investment in state capacity for tax enforcement. Using giant oil discoveries data combined with oil price data, we develop a dynamic composite instrument and estimate the model with a dynamic panel system generalized method of moments. We find robust support for our explanation and the model's deep structure for 130+ countries and the 1980–2010 period.
Sensing policy: engaging affected communities at the intersections of environmental justice and decolonial futures

Pushing back against an extractive approach to research to center relationships, this paper draws from ethnographic sensibilities and community vignettes to discuss what academic-activists and poli...
Agriculture Supported Communities: Connecting Low-income Communities with Small-scale Vegetable and Fruit Producing Farms (P04-128-19)

Barriers regarding affordability of and access to fresh vegetables and fruit pose low-income families at increased risk of diet-related diseases. Small farms can play a key role in providing local communities with fresh produce, through farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and other direct marketing strategies. Nevertheless, these farms face specific challenges related to payment terms and conditions and delivery when aiming to connect with low-income communities. Rodale Institute's Agriculture Supported Communities (ASC) program aims to connect small-scale fruit and vegetable farms with low-income communities. This farm-share program sells weekly food boxes with organic fruits and vegetables in cities with major food insecurity problems in Pennsylvania (Allentown and Reading). ASC allows members to pay week-to-week, rather than upfront as in a traditional CSA. ASC shareholders can use federal SNAP dollars to pay for discounted shares or apply for subsidized shares. ASC pick-up sites are located in the targeted communities. Our objective is to evaluate the ASC program and its ability to reach the intended low-income communities. In 2016 and 2017, surveys were distributed among ASC shareholders to collect socio-economic data and program satisfaction. In addition, we evaluated how many participants used SNAP to pay for the shares. ASC had 150 shareholders in 2016 and 151 in 2017. In 2016, 89 shareholders (59%) were living in low-income areas in Allentown or Reading, in 2017 this was 76 (50%). In 2016, 43% of the shareholders reported an income < 50k$, in 2017 this was 25%. In 2016, 11 members (7%) paid with SNAP, in 2017 15 members (10%). ASC reached low-income community members; however, the program also reached a population at the other end of the economic spectrum. This poses challenges for the farmer regarding production and distribution. The farmers within ASC are using these data to optimize production and methods of delivery to meet the needs of low-income communities. In a future project, we hope to evaluate the effect of ASC membership on dietary intake and other health indicators, and measure the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the model. For a list of funders see rodaleinstitute.org/asc.
Health behaviours and beliefs in individuals with familial pancreatic cancer.

Individuals at high risk for pancreatic cancer are recommended surveillance and healthy lifestyle behaviours and patient experience with recommendations are understudied. To describe engagement and experience with surveillance, tobacco and alcohol use, health beliefs and motivation (Champion Health Belief Measure) and the relationship with personal, psychosocial (Impact of Event Scale), and familial characteristics. Interest in integrative therapies (complementary therapies) are described. A multi-site cross-sectional survey including individuals at high risk for pancreatic cancer with no diagnosis of pancreatic cancer who have been evaluated at a comprehensive cancer center. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon rank sum test and Fisher’s exact test were used to assess univariate associations. Of the 132 respondents (72% response rate), 92 (70%) reported undergoing surveillance which was associated with older age (p = 0.001). Of which, 36% and 51% report that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), respectively, were uncomfortable; 22% and 30% dread the next MRI or EUS, respectively. Of those who reported alcohol consumption (n = 88); 15% consumed 1 or more drinks daily and no alcohol consumption was associated with higher Impact of Event scale scores (p = 0.024). A total of six participants were currently smoking every day or some days. Participants reported high motivation to engage in heathy behaviours and 92% were interested in integrative therapies. In these select participants, most were engaging in pancreatic cancer surveillance, alcohol intake was moderate, and tobacco intake was minimal. Modifiable factors, such as experience and comfort with surveillance could be addressed. The sample is motivated to engage in behavioural health intervention.
Post-9/11 Service Era Veterans: Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use.

Using structural equation modeling, this study considers variations of intimate partner violence (IPV) among military families from the point of the perpetrator to test previously established empir...
Factors Influencing Supervisee Perceptions of Critical Feedback Validity.

The authors investigated supervisees’ (N = 93) memories of critical feedback and validity ratings of that feedback. Supervisees most often recalled critical feedback about their counseling performance skills. Attachment avoidance, the supervisory relationship, and critical feedback of counseling skills and professional behaviors were significantly related to perceived feedback validity.
Global Diversification Discount and Its Discontents: Self-selection Makes a World of Difference

The documented discount on globally diversified firms is often cited, but a correlation is not per se evidence that global diversification destroys firm value. Firms choose to globally diversify ba...
Blockchain consensus unraveled: virtues and limitations

Since the introduction of Bitcoin---the first wide-spread application driven by blockchains---the interest of the public and private sector in blockchains has skyrocketed. At the core of this interest are the ways in which blockchains can be used to improve data management, e.g., by enabling federated data management via decentralization, resilience against failure and malicious actors via replication and consensus, and strong data provenance via a secured immutable ledger. In practice, high-performance blockchains for data management are usually built in permissioned environments in which the participants are vetted and can be identified. In this setting, blockchains are typically powered by Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus protocols. These consensus protocols are used to provide full replication among all honest blockchain participants by enforcing an unique order of processing incoming requests among the participants. In this tutorial, we take an in-depth look at Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus. First, we take a look at the theory behind replicated computing and consensus. Then, we delve into how common consensus protocols operate. Finally, we take a look at current developments and briefly look at our vision moving forward.
Rorty, Richard (b. 1931)

Richard Rorty (b. 1931) is known as a pragmatist, a social commentator, and a public intellectual. Representative of Rorty's mature work is his book Philosophy and the mirror of nature. A critique of epistemology is contained in its earlier parts, of the notion inherited from the past that it is a combined development of the ideas of mind, knowledge, and of earlier philosophy itself. This critique leads in later work to the characteristic doctrine of epistemological behaviorism, by which Rorty maintains that knowledge is constrained only by conversational constraints. It is significant to note that most of Rorty's work is achieved in conversation with linguistic and analytic philosophers such as Wittgenstein, Quine, Sellars, Davidson, and Putnam.
Introduction: Simulation, Experimentation, and Artificial Intelligence

This chapter demonstrates the usefulness of studying the same topic (e.g mediation) using multiple methods.
Against NGOs?: Common Sense in Civil Society, Management and Development

Through a series of interpretative histories, this book presents a critical history of management studies and development studies and shows the ways their twinned theories situated technocrats as necessary arbiters in regimes of accumulation. It concludes with a discussion of alternative approaches to theorizing management and development studies and their implications for productive forms of politics relevant to our contemporary moment. The book argues that the disciplines of management studies and development studies emerged as common‐sense explanations for how the needs of both capital and society could be balanced through the intervention of trained experts. Against NGOs fills a gap within the literature of management and development studies through a discussion of their historical interconnections and shared themes. It discusses and draws connections between these disciplines through chapters that show how theories of management and development were shaped by their historical period, and responded to pressures and demands of that particular moment.
A Study on the Determination of Some Physical and Physiological Properties of Seeds of Two Different Jute Varieties (Corchorus capsularis L. and Corchorus olitorius L.)

In recent years, the production of natural and recyclable, environmentally friendly products has come to the fore rather than textile and textile products produced from petroleum resources. One of the materials used in the production of these products is the Jute plant. This study was carried out in a laboratory environment under controlled conditions between 2019 and 2020. In the study, some physical (shape-size, surface area, average arithmetic-geometric diameter, sphericity, thousand grain weight) and physiological properties (germination percentage and time, average shoot-root lengths) of seeds belonging to two different varieties of Jute plant (Corchorus capsularis L. and Corchorus olitorius L.) were determined. According to the data obtained; It has been determined that C. capsularis variety has a short and oval structure, while C. olitorius variety has a medium and oval structure. Furthermore, the germination rate was determined as 74.5% in C. capsularis seeds and 63.5% in C. olitorius seeds.
Characterization and outcomes of virtual visit during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose : Telehealth has a variety of proposed uses in ophthalmology and has become a valuable asset to health care in the COVID-19 pandemic. This retrospective, observational study characterizes the use of virtual visits and compares the outcomes of these visits to in-person visits during the pandemic period at a large academic institution. Methods : 2,943 virtual and 56,174 in-person visits occurring at Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, were identified. A random sample of 3,000 in-person visits was selected for comparison. Canceled, incomplete and duplicated visits, as well as visits for patients aged less than 18 years old were excluded. Pearson's chi-square test of independence and test of proportions were used to assess relationships between categorical variables. Results : 2,266 virtual visits and 2,590 in-person visits were included. The visits distribution across ophthalmology specialties is summarized in table 1. 72.3% of the virtual visits resulted in a planned follow-up compared to 70.3% following an in-person visit (p=0.121). 15.9% of virtual patients were discharged compared to 10.8% of in-person patients (p<0.001). 5.6% of virtual patients were referred to a primary care doctor or different ophthalmology subspecialty compared to 6.9% in-person patients (p=0.081). 6.0% of the patients had an outpatient surgery scheduled after a virtual visit compared to 4.8% inperson patients (p=0.08). 0.2% of the virtual patients had a clinic procedure scheduled compared to 7.2% in-person patients (p<0.001). Loss to follow-up occurred due to cancelations (4.6% and 3.5% in the virtual and in-person visits, respectively, p=0.11), no shows (2.8% and 2.1%, p=0.2) and no schedule (10.4% and 2.3%, p<0.001). 84.6% of the completed follow-up visits after virtual visits were in-person and 15.4% were virtual, in comparison to 97.4% and 2.6% after an in-person encounter (p<0.001). Conclusions : The similar number of follow-up, referral and outpatient surgery outcomes across virtual and in-person visits suggests that teleophthalmology is a viable alternative for patient care. Virtual follow-ups occurred more often after a virtual visit. Discharges and unscheduled follow-up visits were also more prevalent in the virtual setting, implying a higher risk of care discontinuation in this group. Further research into the applications of telehealth for ophthalmology may be beneficial.
On $$\varGamma $$ Γ -Convergence of a Variational Model for Lithium-Ion Batteries

A singularly perturbed phase field model used to model lithium-ion batteries including chemical and elastic effects is considered. The underlying energy is given by $$\begin{aligned} I_\varepsilon [u,c ] := \int _{\varOmega }\left( \frac{1}{\varepsilon }f(c)+\varepsilon \Vert \nabla c\Vert ^2+\frac{1}{\varepsilon }{\mathbb {C}}(e(u)-ce_0):(e(u)-ce_0)\right) \, \mathrm{d}x, \end{aligned}$$ where f is a double well potential, $${\mathbb {C}}$$ is a symmetric positive definite fourth order tensor, c is the normalized lithium-ion density, and u is the material displacement. The integrand contains elements close to those in energy functionals arising in both the theory of fluid-fluid and solid-solid phase transitions. For a strictly star-shaped, Lipschitz domain $$\varOmega \subset {\mathbb {R}}^2,$$ it is proven that $$\varGamma - \lim _{\varepsilon \rightarrow 0} I_\varepsilon = I_0,$$ where $$I_0$$ is finite only for pairs (u, c) such that $$f(c) = 0$$ and the symmetrized gradient $$e(u) = ce_0$$ almost everywhere. Furthermore, $$I_0$$ is characterized as the integral of an anisotropic interfacial energy density over sharp interfaces given by the jumpset of c.
Using Big Data To Make Big Decisions

Every country has a unique profile of social, political, economic, and regulatory factors that comprise its investment climate. While country-specific data and analytics are widely available, many multinational companies do not use them to decide where to put their investment. This article explains how this data can be used to make strategic decisions in cross-border transactions.
A Non-Enumerability Theorem for Infinite Classes of Finite Structures*

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a nonenumerability theorem for infinite classes of finite structures. Let Ԅ be a fixed, finitely axiomatized class of algebras with finitely many operations each of finite arity; for example, let Ԅ = the class of all groups. The chapter proves a lemma that states that an isomorphism problem is solvable uniformly for finite members of Ԅ in the sense that there exists a uniform effective decision procedure—that is, a partial recursive junction—for determining from any pair 〈g(P 1 ), g(P 2 )〉 such that P 1 and P 2 both belong to ԅ u * whether or not P 1 and P 2 present isomorphic structures.
Tributo en la propiedad inmobiliaria en Argentina: Radiografía de un federalismo fiscal inconcluso

Este trabajo se propone contribuir a la comprension de la estructura de la imposicion sobre la propiedad inmobiliaria en la Argentina desde la perspectiva del federalismo fiscal. En primer lugar, se analiza la configuracion legal del sistema tributario argentino a partir de las competencias normativas sobre la propiedad inmobiliaria de las tres jurisdicciones de la federacion (nacion, provincias y municipios) surgidas de un largo proceso de distribucion del poder tributario, aun inconcluso. En segundo lugar, se analiza el ejercicio de estas competencias normativas en la actualidad, la heterogeneidad de tributos aplicados, asi como la captacion de recursos en esta materia entre 1997 y 2007. Finalmente se discuten de manera preliminar algunos interrogantes sobre el reparto de la soberania tributaria sobre la propiedad inmobiliaria entre las tres jurisdicciones y la posibilidad de fortalecer un impuesto inmobiliario municipal como fuente genuina de recursos locales.
The Determinants of Liquidity in the Corporate Bond Markets: An Application of Latent Liquidity

We present a new measure of liquidity known as â¬Slatent liquidityâ¬? and apply it to a unique corporate bond database to discern the characteristics of bonds that lead to higher liquidity. Unlike conventional measures of liquidity, such as trading volume and bid-ask spreads, our measure of liquidity does not use transactional information; instead, it uses information about the ownership of securities to measure the accessibility of a security by a securities dealer. Therefore, our measure has the important advantage of being able to assess liquidity for markets with extremely low trading activity, where transactions data are insufficient to compute traditional measures of liquidity, but where liquidity is still an important issue. We relate our proposed latent liquidity measure to bond characteristics such as amount outstanding, credit quality, maturity, age, optionality and industry segment. In the liquid segments of the market, where trade-based measures of liquidity are available, our proposed measure exhibits similar relationships to bond characteristics as the trade-based measures. However, latent liquidity exhibits greater consistency in terms of its relationships with bond characteristics, over time. In addition, in the illiquid segment of the market, the relationships of our measure to bond characteristics are also similar to what we observe in the liquid segment. This leads us to believe that our measure is a viable measure of liquidity, when trade-based measures are unavailable
Applications of the Correlation Length: Scale Effects on Flow

The usefulness of the identification of the correlation length from percolation theory with the length scale that defines a representative elementary volume is shown. This identification makes it possible to demonstrate that the apparent scale effect of the hydraulic conductivity in anisotropic media can more easily be interpreted as a “shape” effect. Applying a concept from stochastic subsurface hydrology to transform an anisotropic medium to an isotropic one by a suitable rescaling of axes, leads to an identical rescaling of experimental volumes, taking a cube to an elongated rectangular prism. Flow in a narrow prism can be one-dimensional. Increasing all dimensions of the prism equally leads to a dimensional cross-over in the flow to three dimensions. The much smaller critical volume fraction for percolation in three dimensions than in one leads to a much larger hydraulic conductivity. The analytical solution obtained is shown to describe experimental results closely.
Factors influencing outcomes after delegation to unlicensed assistive personnel.

The authors discuss a national survey of licensed nurses that describes factors associated with patient outcomes when nursing activities are delegated to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). Licensed nurses' overall experience and UAP's experience in the current work setting were associated with mo
Parallel diffusion of moisture in paper. Part 1: Steady-state conditions

A theoretical model describing the steady-state transport of moisture in the thickness direction of a stack of paperboard sheets placed in a diffusion cup that accounts for the parallel diffusion of water vapor in the pore space and of bound water in the fiber phase is presented. The predictions of the model compare favorably with experimental measurements of the moisture transmission rate through a bleached kraft paperboard stack, average moisture content of the stack, relative humidity profile in the stack, and average moisture content of the individual sheets of the stack under steady-state conditions.
Vibrational frequencies and structural determinations of divinyl sulfoxide.

Abstract We present a detailed analysis of the structure and infrared spectra of divinyl sulfoxide. The vibrational frequencies of the divinyl sulfoxide molecule were analyzed using standard quantum chemical techniques. Frequencies were calculated at the MP2 and DFT levels of theory using the standard 6-311G* basis set. The molecule exists normally in a C s configuration. High-energy forms of divinyl sulfoxide with C S and C 1 symmetries also exist.
Underfill Filler Settling Effect on the Die Backside Interfacial Stresses of Flip Chip Packages

Underfill is usually modeled as an isotropic medium containing uniformly distributed filler particles. However, filler particles tend to settle (or segregate) and thus alter the mechanical response of the flip chip die attachment package. The integrity of such flip chip attachment is different from that with an ideal, isotropic underfill with very uniform distribution of filler. We analyzed the thermomechanical implications of filler settling to the stresses along the die/underfill interface by considering different profiles for the local concentration of filler and calculating their effective material properties by employing the Mori-Tanaka method. As the worst-case scenario, direct silicon die attach with solder bumps was assumed to analyze the interfacial stresses, which were predicted in trend by a simplified multilayered stack model and calculated in detail by finite element simulation. The filler settling has a localized but strong influence on the interfacial peeling stress near the edge of the die. The extent of this influence is determined by the profile of filler settling: (1) if the filler is assumed to settle in the form of a bilayer, then the peeling stress near the die's edge increases and it is directly proportional to the average volume fraction of the filler; (2) if the filler is assumed to settle gradually, then the magnitude of the peeling stress near the edge of the die becomes smaller as the local filler volume fraction near the die interface increases. The filler settling has no significant effect on the other components of the interfacial stresses. The edge fillet of underfill in pure resin can locally reverse the direction of the interfacial peeling stress and increase the interfacial shearing stress near the die's edge.
Real-space treatment of spin-Peierls transitions: Gap equation and magnetic crossover of the linear Heisenberg antiferromagnet

Abstract The spin-Peierls transition at T SP of s = 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains with linear spin–phonon (sp–ph) coupling is modeled by exact solution up to N = 18 spins. Spin correlation alters the relation between T SP and the singlet–triplet gap, E ST , from the free-fermion or mean-field (MF) result by 30%. Direct solution accounts for the transition, spin susceptibility and magnetization of a well-characterized chain of tetrathiafulvalene cation radicals. Strong sp–ph coupling is required for size convergence. Exact analysis conserves total spin, S , while only S z is conserved in approximate treatments of spinless fermions in infinite chains.
Non-equilibrium properties of hadronic mixtures

Abstract The equilibration of hot hadronic matter is studied in the framework of relativistic kinetic theory. Various non-equilibrium properties of a mixture comprised of pions, kaons and nucleons are calculated in the dilute limit for small deviations from local thermal equilibrium. Interactions between these constituents are specified through the empirical phase shifts. The properties calculated include the relaxation/collision times, momentum and energy persistence ratios in elastic collisions, and transport properties such as the viscosity, the thermal conductivity, and the diffusion and thermal diffusion coefficients. The Chapman-Enskog formalism is extended to extract relaxation times associated with shear and heat flows, and drag and diffusion flows in a mixture. The equilibrium number concentration of the constituents is chosen to mimic those expected in the mid-rapidity interval of CERN and RHIC experiments. In this case, kaons and nucleons are found to equilibrate significantly more slowly than pions. These results shed new light on the influence of collective flow effects on the transverse momentum distributions of kaons and nucleons versus those of pions in ultra-relativistic nuclear collisions.
A comparison of the moral reasoning of physicians and clinical medical ethicists.

BACKGROUND Because of the increasing controversy over who should provide ethics consultations, this study investigated differences in the moral reasoning and moral orientations of physicians and clinical ethicists. METHOD From 1987 through 1990, extensive interviews were conducted with 39 physicians and 50 clinical medical ethicists (26 philosophers and 24 theologians) who were at 32 medical centers in 14 states from all sections of the United States. The interviews were used to gather selected demographic characteristics (age, gender, and profession--physician or ethicist) for the 89 individuals as well as to determine their scores for moral reasoning and moral orientation. Polyserial correlations and multivariant analyses were then performed between the demographic characteristics and the data on moral reasoning and moral orientation. RESULTS The physicians consistently scored lower than the clinical ethicists in their moral reasoning skills in terms of both moral stage score (p < .01) and weighted average score (p < .01). However, the physicians were found not to be significantly different (p < .05) from the clinical ethicists in their moral orientations toward justice or care in terms of recognition, predominance, or alignment. No significant relationship was found between age and moral orientation. A significant relationship was found between age and stage of moral reasoning, with the older individuals scoring higher. No significant relationship was found between gender and stage of moral reasoning. A significant relationship was found between gender and moral orientation: the women were more likely to recognize elements of care in moral dilemmas and the men more likely to recognize elements of justice. CONCLUSION This study provides initial evidence that clinical medical ethicists, whether philosophers or theologians, may be better skilled than physicians to do ethicists consultations. To the extent that higher levels of moral reasoning correlate with superior skills in performing clinical ethics consultations, this study shows the value of bringing philosophers and theologians into the clinical setting.
Investigation of the one-flask synthesis of porphyrins bearing meso-linked straps of variable length, rigidity, and redox activity

Abstract The reactions of 18 dialdehydes have been examined in the two-step one-flask room temperature porphyrin synthesis. Efficient alkylation methods were established for the reaction of diols and diacids with m -bromomethylbenzaldehyde. Dialdehydes linked at the o,o′-or m,m′-positions were converted to strapped porphyrins in yields up to 25%, while the one p,p′-linked dialdehyde that was examined failed to give porphyrin. The resulting porphyrins bear straps joining adjacent meso -positions rather than across the face of the porphyrin. Dialdehydes incorporating rigid groups provided improved yields in some but not all cases. The yield of strapped porphyrin exhibited a maximum at 10 −2 M reactant concentrations. The o,o′-strapped porphyrins exist as atropisomers that are sufficiently stable to interconversion at room temperature to be separable chromatographically. No atropisomers of m,m′-strapped porphyrins could be separated, though some could be observed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. For two different m,m′-strapped porphyrins, the ΔG ‡ values for interconversion of the atropisomers were found to be 66 and 68 kJ/mol. The outer rings in these strapped porphyrins range in size from 14 to 24 atoms. Five porphyrins with bridging redox-active groups (ferrocene or anthraquinone) have been prepared in one-flask reactions, including a porphyrin bearing one ferrocene and one anthraquinone in straps across adjacent meta-substituted phenyl sites.
Hemangioendothelial sarcoma of liver from chronic arsenic intoxication by fowler's solution

In this case report treatment of psoriasis with Fowler's solution (potassium arsenite; 17 years) led to hemangioendothelial sarcoma of the liver 7 years after discontinuation of the drug. Fowler's solution is a carcinogen and, as seen from a review of the literature, hemangioendothelial sarcoma of the liver is not an uncommon manifestation of chronic arsenic exposure.
A high performance low magnetic field internal electrospray ionization-fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer

A new in-magnetic field electrospray ionization (ESI) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer has been constructed and evaluated. This system is characterized by the use of multiple concentric cryopanels to achieve ultrahigh vacuum in the ion cyclotron resonance cell region, a probe-mounted internal ESI source, and a novel in-field shutter. Initial experiments demonstrate high resolution mass measurement capability at a field strength of 1 T. Mass resolution of 700,000 has been obtained for the 3+ charge state of Met-Lys-bradykinin (at m/z 440) generated by electrospray ionization. When electron impact ionization was employed, resolution in excess of 9,200,000 was achieved for nitrogen molecular ions (N 2 (+) ). Isotopic resolution for molecular ions of bovine ubiquitin (MW=8565 µ) also was achieved by using small ion populations.
Regulation of mouse hepatic ATP-citrate lyase activity by dietary fat evidence for the presence of inactive enzyme

The induction of ATP-citrate lyase activity in mouse liver dietary carbohydrate (glucose) in markedly reduced by including in the diet a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Within 72 h after changing from a standard mouse chow diet to a high carbohydrate diet containing 15% (W/W) of hydrogenated cottonseed oil (as a source of saturated fatty acids), the activity of mouse liver ATP-citrate lyase per milligram cytosolic protein was approx. 3-fold higher than that from mice fed a similar diet containing 15% (W/W) of corn oil. The rate of synthesis of ATP-citrate lyase relative to that for total protein and the rate of degradation of the enzyme were similar for both dietary groups. Elevated levels of enzyme activity in the hydrogenated cottonseed oil-fed livers were not accompanied by a similar increase in the amount of enzyme protein., To explain such findings, we propose that the activity of hepatic ATP-citrate lyase is regulated by dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids through a mechanism involving the conversion of a catalytically active form of the enzyme to a catalytically inactive form. A reversal of this conversion (inactive-active) is evident within 72 h of removing the mice from the corn oil diet and placing them on the hydrogenated cottonseed oil diet. Furthermore, the conversion appears to be independent of the in vivo rate of synthesis of the enzyme.
Second-harmonic generation in gases and liquids in the presence of a magnetic field

Abstract The theory of second-harmonic and sum-frequency generation in a system of randomly-oriented and non-interacting molecules in the presence of a homogeneous magnetic field is given. Only singlet-singlet contributions to the transition probability were considered; the rotations were supposed to be non-quantized and the vector potential of the radiation field was considered constant over the molecular dimensions. Under these conditions, second-harmonic and sum-frequency generation are both allowed effects for molecules that have neither a center of symmetry nor a plane of reflection. Explicit expressions for the probabilities of these effects are given and it is suggested that the effect will be detectable near resonances.
The effect of diethyl maleate treatment, fasting, and time of administration on allyl alcohol hepatotoxicity

Abstract The effect of diethyl maleate treatment, fasting, and time of administration on allyl alcohol hepatotoxicity was investigated. Allyl alcohol given to fed animals at 21.00 h resulted in a marked elevation in plasma enzymes. Fasting protected against and diethyl maleate treatment potentiated the toxicity of allyl alcohol. Administration of allyl alcohol to either fed or fasted animals at 09.00 h caused no increase in plasma enzymes. These results suggest that glutathione as well as NAD + /NADH ratios are important factors in allyl alcohol hepatotoxicity.
Autoimmune diseases and Sjogren's syndrome: an autoimmune exocrinopathy.

Autoimmune diseases include a diverse group of over 80 conditions. Sjogren's syndrome is the second most common autoimmune rheumatic disease, with an estimated prevalence in the United States of 2-4 million persons. There are prominent and consistent oral and dental findings in Sjogren's syndrome related to the autoimmune-mediated loss of normal salivary function. Additionally, nonoral clinical manifestations of Sjogren's syndrome include: dry eyes (with specific ocular surface changes termed keratoconjunctivitis sicca); other xeroses, such as dryness of the nose, throat, skin, and vagina; peripheral (and less frequently central) neuropathies; myalgias and arthralgias; thyroid disorders (particularly autoimmune thyroiditis); pulmonary disorders; renal disorders; and lymphoma. There is a significant (20- to 40-fold) increase in the incidence of malignant lymphoma, particularly in primary Sjogren's syndrome. Establishing the diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome has been difficult in the light of its nonspecific symptoms (dry eyes and mouth), disagreement on diagnostic criteria, and a lack of both sensitive and specific laboratory markers. Many serum and salivary biomarkers for Sjogren's syndrome have been proposed although, to date, none has proven to be sufficiently specific for diagnostic purposes or has been well correlated with disease activity measures. Investigators have recently begun to apply modern genomic and proteomic approaches to identify candidate biomarkers in Sjogren's syndrome. The results of these investigations promise to provide a wealth of information on candidate biomarkers and possible etiopathological mechanisms underlying this disorder. Further, this information will improve clinical outcomes by fostering the design of new rational therapeutics and assisting in the monitoring of clinical disease.
Quantitative aspects of chain extension of telechelics

Quantitative aspects of chain extension of telechelics have been studied. Molecular weight independent characteristic terms were defined and simple expressions were derived for number average extension, \(\bar E_n = \bar F_n /(2 - \bar F_n )\) , and number average degree of extension, \(\overline {DE} _n = 2/(2 - \bar F_n )\), as a function of number average functionality (¯Fn) of telechelic prepolymers. Analysis of these expressions indicate that Ēn and ¯DEn are enormously sensitive to insignificant changes in ¯Fn close to ideal ¯Fn = 2.0. Molecular weight of the extended polymer (¯Mr) has also been calculated considering ¯Fn, number average molecular weight of the prepolymer (¯Mn), and molecular weight of the extender (Me).
IRS-1: Auditing the effectiveness of mTOR inhibitors

Rapamycin analogs that inhibit mTOR signaling have antitumor activity against certain lymphomas, but treatment of solid tumors has been less encouraging despite inhibition of mTOR function. Two recent papers give insight into the potential use of mTOR inhibitors. O'Reilly et al. provide evidence that poor tumor response to rapamycins is the result of relieving mTOR-mediated feedback inhibition of insulin receptor substrate 1, and activation of Akt-mediated survival. In the second paper, Kaper et al. address the impact of pathway activation on hypoxia-mediated downregulation of mTOR signaling, raising the possibility that rapalogs could selectively inhibit hypoxic cells.
Optimal calculation overhead for energy efficient cloud workload prediction

Amazon recently estimated that the cost of energy for its datacenters reached 42% of the total cost of operation. Our previous research proposed an algorithm to predict how much cloud workload is expected during a future time interval. Accurate knowledge of the future workload allows the datacenter operator to place unneeded physical servers in a low-power state to save energy. If more system capacity is required, servers in a low-power state are transitioned back to an active state. In this paper, we extend our prior research by presenting a new approach to determining the frequency of calculating the prediction of the expected capacity. We present a dynamic prediction quantization method to determine the optimal number of prediction calculation intervals. These new algorithms allow us to predict future load within required Service Level Agreements while minimizing the number of times the prediction calculations must be performed. We finally test this model by simulating the stochastic time horizon and dynamic quantization algorithms and compare the results with three competing methods. We show that our model provides up to a 20% reduction in the number of calculations required while maintaining the given Service Level Agreement.
Pan-frying stability of NuSun oil, a mid-oleic sunflower oil

Pan-frying is a popular frying method at home and in many restaurants. Pan-frying stabilities of two frying oils with similar iodine values (IV)—mid-oleic sunflower oil (NuSun oil; IV=103.9) and a commercial canola oil (IV=103.4)—were compared. Each oil sample was heated as a thin film on a Teflon-coated frying pan at ∼180°C to a target end point of ≥20% polymer. High-performance size-exclusion chromatography analysis of the mid-oleic sunflower and canola oil samples indicated that the heated samples contained 20% polymer after approximately 18 and 22 min of heating, respectively. The food oil sensor values increased from zero to 19.9 for the canola sample and from zero to 19.8 for the mid-oleic sunflower sample after 24 min of heating. The apparent first-order degradation rate for the mid-oleic sunflower sample was 0.102±0.008 min−1, whereas the rate for the canola sample was 0.092±0.010 min−1. The acid value increased from approximately zero prior to heating to 1.3 for the canola sample and from zero to 1.0 for the mid-oleic sunflower sample after 24 min of heating. In addition, sensory and volatile analyses of the fried hash browns obtained from both oils indicated there were no significant differences between the two fried potato samples.
The role of the private physician in the care of the ambulatory cardiac patient.

Abstract 1. (1) The role of the private physician in the care of the ambulatory cardiac patient has been altered by advances in our knowledge of heart disease and by changes in the hierarchy of medical care for the heart patient. 2. (2) The physician who enjoys caring for the ambulatory cardiac patient has certain personality qualities, including an interest in people, patience, and understanding. 3. (3) In the rheumatic and congenital heart disease groups, there is room for improvement in both case detection and rheumatic fever prophylaxis. 4. (4) Good care of both young and adult cardiac patients requires attention to nonmedical factors and in some cases a consideration of the desirability of referral to appropriate community agencies. 5. (5) A recurring theme in all phases of care of the ambulatory cardiac patient is the need for a good explanation to the patient of all phases of his problem.
The effects of pH on a periphyton community in an acidic wetland, USA

Despite the importance of peatlands, the algal ecology of peatlands and the periphyton communities which are abundant in these habitats are relatively understudied. We performed an in situ manipulation of pH in an intermediate fen in northern lower Michigan in order to examine how hydrogen ion concentrations structure an epiphytic algal community. Levels of pH were manipulated in enclosures from the control level (pH=5) to an acid treatment (pH=4) by adding H2SO4 and a neutral treatment (pH=7) by adding NaOH. Algal communities growing on sections of Chamaedaphne calyculata (L.) Moench stems were examined after 22 days of colonization. Chlorophyll a concentration was significantly greater only in the acid treatment (∼5.5 mg m−2) relative to the control (∼3.5 mg m−2). Taxa richness was lower in the acid treatment. The algal assemblages were dominated by filamentous green algae and a filamentous taxon, Mougeotia spp., was significantly greater in the acid treatment relative to the control. Increases in Zygnemataceae and Oedogonium spp. most likely account for the higher chlorophyll a in the acid treatment. Most treatment differences were detected in the neutral treatment, including increased abundances of Closterium polystichum Nygaard, Cosmarium sp., Peridinium inconspicuum Lemmermann, and Synedra acus Kutz. Unexpectedly, there was no strong response of the desmid community. These data can be informative in the development of algal monitoring programs in peatlands when assessment of acidification is desired.