cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fuel conditioning facility inert gas filled reprocessing hot cell leak rate measurement

Abstract The Idaho National Laboratory Fuel Conditioning Facility conducts treatment of U.S. Department of Energy owned metallic fast reactor spent fuel using pyro-processing. Certain steps in pyro-processing generate pyrophoric metal laden with radioactive material. Therefore, the process is conducted within an inert atmosphere to prevent ignition. The Fuel Conditioning Facility uses a 60,000 ft3 (1700 m3) shielded hot cell environment with a purified argon gas atmosphere. Significant leakage of air into the hot cell can raise the oxygen concentration to the point where exposed pyrophoric metal will burn, which can subsequently result in release of radioactive material through the air in-leakage point. Additionally, limited air in-leakage can cause exposed metal to oxidize, rendering it unfit for pyro-processing. To ensure hot cell confinement boundary integrity, the Fuel Conditioning Facility executes periodic surveillance of the confinement boundary leak rate. This paper describes the leak rate surveillance techniques associated with this large inert-gas-filled hot cell. Two methods have been developed to determine the cell leak rate. One method uses the cell atmosphere oxygen concentration change over time. The other method uses the cell pressure and temperature change over time. The oxygen rate increase method is a very accurate method of determining the air leak rate during many types of operating conditions. However, the data observation period must be sufficiently long to obtain an accurate value. The pressure-temperature method is not as time consuming but is significantly less accurate than the oxygen concentration method. The cell leak rate is extremely small, less than 0.01 cfm, given the very large cell size. The oxygen concentration method is accurate to approximately ±0.002 cfm. The pressure-temperature method is accurate to about ±1 cfm. The pressure-temperature leak rate method can be used as a confirmation of the oxygen method results or as a backup if the oxygen monitors are not working.
Orderly recruitment of thermoeffectors in resting humans

The recruitment of thermoeffectors, including thermoregulatory behavior, relative to changes in body temperature has not been quantified in humans. We tested the hypothesis that changes in skin blo...
An imbalanced airway microbiota correlates with greater peak flow decline in virus-induced asthma exacerbations

Background: Asthma exacerbations are frequently associated with respiratory viruses. The role of bacteria is unclear yet antibiotics are often prescribed. We examined the airway microbiota during a naturally-occurring cold (NC) and experimental rhinovirus (RV) infection. Methods: Two independent studies were performed. 46 asthmatic subjects experienced natural colds. Sputum samples were taken before and during cold. A further 11 asthmatic and 12 healthy subjects were experimentally infected with RV-16. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was obtained at baseline and post-infection. Sputum and BAL samples underwent 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: In both studies, increased Neisseria sp. relative abundance following cold/ RV-16 infection was significantly associated with greater peak flow (PEF) decline (NC: R 2 = 0.16, p 2 = 0.41, p Prevotella spp. relative abundance correlated with lower PEF decline (NC: R 2 = 0.14, p 2 = 0.56, p Conclusion: A microbiota dominated by Neisseria sp. was associated with greater PEF decline in both natural cold and experimental RV-16 infection, whilst ‘commensals’ dominated ( Prevotella spp.) community correlated with better outcomes. Further work is needed to evaluate if the microbiota actively contributes to increased airway inflammation.
Normal, ICAR and photomediated butadiene-ATRP with iron complexes

The ligand (L) and halide effects of a series of iron complexes (FeX2 or FeX3, X = Cl, Br)/L supported by carbon (Cp2Fe2(I)(CO)4 > Cp2Fe > Fe(CO)5 > (Ph2PCp)2Fe), nitrogen (phthalocyanine ≫ bpy ≥ MeO-bpy ≫ PMDETA > phen), halide (FeXmY4−m/Bu4N, X, Y = Cl ≫ Br > I), oxygen (12-crown-4 ≫ 15-crown-5 ≥ dibenzo-18-crown-6) and phosphorous (P[Ph(2,4,6-OMe)3]3 > P(t-Bu)3 ≫ P(n-Bu)3, PPh3, P[Ph(4-CF3)]3, P(C6F5)3) ligands, as well as ligand-free FeX3, were evaluated in the normal, ICAR, and photo-ATRP of butadiene (BD) initiated from bromoesters, α,α-dichloro-p-xylene, or FeX3 in toluene at 110 °C. Good polymerization control was observed in many cases, and two clear trends i.e. P[Ph(OMe)3]3 ≫ Bu4NX > crown ethers > amines > C-ligands and FeCl2, FeCl3 ≫ FeBr2, FeBr3 occur consistently across all polymerizations. These effects correlate with the higher stability of the allyl PBD-Cl vs. PBD-Br chain ends and with FeCl3 likely being a better deactivator than FeBr3. Conversely, while basic enough to reduce FeX3, P[Ph(2,4,6-OMe)3]3 is not nucleophilic enough to quaternize PBD-X in the apolar toluene and successfully enables a faster activation/deactivation equilibrium than all other ligands. As such, e.g. N-ATRP with [BD]/[R–Br]/[FeCl3]/P[Ph(2,4,6-OMe)3]3 = 100/1/2/3 affords a linear Mnvs. conversion profile with PDI as low as 1.15–1.2 and a halide chain end functionality (CEF) = 0.65 at up to 50% conversion. While controlled polymerizations occur in photo-ATRP even without ligand and initiator, photoirradiation of catalytic N-ATRP with BD/R–Br/FeCl3/P[Ph(2,4,6-OMe)3]3 = 100/1/0.05/0.15 significantly improves the rate (×10 vs. dark), conversion (up to 70%) and X-CEF (0.9) via the additional initiation afforded by FeX3 photolysis, albeit with a slight PDI increase to ∼1.4. Thus, Fe-mediated BD-ATRP is achievable, and the rational selection of the polymerization variables enables minimization of side reactions and the successful synthesis of well-defined PBD with a wide range of molecular weights, narrow PDI and reasonably high X-CEF, suitable for the preparation of e.g. block copolymers.
Model Selection for Causal Theories

One of the most central problems in scientific research is the search for explanations to some aspect of nature. This often involves a cycle of data gathering, theorizing, and experimentation. In many scientific fields, including medicine, data comes in the form of statistical distribution information, representing the value of different features for a sample in a population. One of the tasks in research is to discover some structure in that data. In particular, one is interested in finding something about the causal processes explaining the statistical data, in the form of a theory or a model of the aspect of nature under study. Such causal model can then be used as a basis for explanation and experimentation.
Relational Exchange Theory and IS Outsourcing: Developing a Scale to Measure Relationship Factors

Outsourcing as a means of meeting organizational IS needs is now a commonly accepted and growing practice. Early research into the outsourcing phenomenon focused on why organizations outsourced (determinants of outsourcing, advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing) and how organizations outsourced (what functions to outsource, how to evaluate the vendor, how to structure the contract). Recently, an emerging stream of research has focused on the relationship between the vendor and the customer. Ascertaining the elements of that relationship would contribute to an enhanced understanding of the relationship and the role it plays in the ultimate success or failure of the outsourcing arrangement. Accordingly, this paper uses Relational Exchange Theory to furnish a conceptual basis for identifying the individual constructs that comprise a relationship. It then proceeds to develop a set of items to measure those constructs. Structured equation modeling is utilized to test the items, using survey data collected from a number of U.S. outsourcing customers.
Machine Learning-Based Anomaly Detection for Load Forecasting Under Cyberattacks

Accurate load forecasting can create both economic and reliability benefits for power system operators. However, the cyberattack on load forecasting may mislead operators to make unsuitable operational decisions for the electricity delivery. To effectively and accurately detect these cyberattacks, this paper develops a machine learning-based anomaly detection (MLAD) methodology. First, load forecasts provided by neural networks are used to reconstruct the benchmark and scaling data by using the ${k}$ -means clustering. Second, the cyberattack template is estimated by the naive Bayes classification based on the cumulative distribution function and statistical features of the scaling data. Finally, the dynamic programming is utilized to calculate both the occurrence and parameter of one cyberattack on load forecasting data. A widely used symbolic aggregation approximation method is compared with the developed MLAD method. Numerical simulations on the publicly load data show that the MLAD method can effectively detect cyberattacks for load forecasting data with relatively high accuracy. Also, the robustness of MLAD is verified by thousands of attack scenarios based on Monte Carlo simulation.
Robust Trajectory Execution for Multi-Robot Teams Using Distributed Real-time Replanning

Robust trajectory execution is an extension of cooperative collision avoidance that takes pre-planned trajectories directly into account. We propose an algorithm for robust trajectory execution that compensates for a variety of dynamic changes, including newly appearing obstacles, robots breaking down, imperfect motion execution, and external disturbances. Robots do not communicate with each other and only sense other robots’ positions and the obstacles around them. At the high-level we use a hybrid planning strategy employing both discrete planning and trajectory optimization with a dynamic receding horizon approach. The discrete planner helps to avoid local minima, adjusts the planning horizon, and provides good initial guesses for the optimization stage. Trajectory optimization uses a quadratic programming formulation, where all safety-critical parts are formulated as hard constraints. At the low-level, we use buffered Voronoi cells as a multi-robot collision avoidance strategy. Compared to ORCA, our approach supports higher-order dynamic limits and avoids deadlocks better. We demonstrate our approach in simulation and on physical robots, showing that it can operate in real time.
Near-Infrared Hybrid Rhodol Dyes with Spiropyran Switches for Sensitive Ratiometric Sensing of pH Changes in Mitochondria and Drosophila melanogaster First-Instar Larvae.

Near-infrared hybrid rhodol dyes (probes A and B) for sensitive ratiometric visualization of pH changes were prepared by incorporating hemicyanine dyes into traditional rhodol dyes. This approach w...
Hemodynamic Responses Are Abnormal in Isolated Cervical Dystonia

Neuroimaging studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures brain activity by detecting the changes in blood oxygenation levels, are advancing our understanding of the pathophysiology of dystonia. Neurobiological disturbances in dystonia, however, may affect neurovascular coupling and impact the interpretability of fMRI studies. We evaluated here whether the hemodynamic response patterns during a behaviorally matched motor task are altered in isolated cervical dystonia (CD). Twenty-five CD patients and 25 healthy controls (HCs) underwent fMRI scanning during a paced finger tapping task (nondystonic task in patients). Imaging data were analyzed using a constrained principal component analysis-a statistical method that combines regression analysis and principal component analysis and enables the extraction of task-related functional networks and determination of the spatial and temporal hemodynamic response patterns associated with the task performance. Data from three patients and two controls were removed due to excessive movement. No significant differences in demographics or motor performance were observed. Three task-associated functional brain networks were identified. During task performance, reduced hemodynamic responses were seen in a sensorimotor network and in a network that included key nodes of the default mode, executive control and visual networks. During rest, reductions in hemodynamic responses were seen in the cognitive/visual network. Lower hemodynamic responses within the primary sensorimotor network in patients were correlated with the increased dystonia severity. Pathophysiological disturbances in isolated CD, such as alterations in inhibitory signaling and dopaminergic neurotransmission, may impact neurovascular coupling. Not accounting for hemodynamic response differences in fMRI studies of dystonia could lead to inaccurate results and interpretations.
Probing the function of long noncoding RNAs in the nucleus

The nucleus is a highly organized and dynamic environment where regulation and coordination of processes such as gene expression and DNA replication are paramount. In recent years, noncoding RNAs have emerged as key participants in the regulation of nuclear processes. There are a multitude of functional roles for long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), mediated through their ability to act as molecular scaffolds bridging interactions with proteins, chromatin, and other RNA molecules within the nuclear environment. In this review, we discuss the diversity of techniques that have been developed to probe the function of nuclear lncRNAs, along with the ways in which those techniques have revealed insights into their mechanisms of action. Foundational observations into lncRNA function have been gleaned from molecular cytology-based, single-cell approaches to illuminate both the localization and abundance of lncRNAs in addition to their potential binding partners. Biochemical, extraction-based approaches have revealed the molecular contacts between lncRNAs and other molecules within the nuclear environment and how those interactions may contribute to nuclear organization and regulation. Using examples of well-studied nuclear lncRNAs, we demonstrate that the emerging functions of individual lncRNAs have been most clearly deduced from combined cytology and biochemical approaches tailored to study specific lncRNAs. As more functional nuclear lncRNAs continue to emerge, the development of additional technologies to study their interactions and mechanisms of action promise to continually expand our understanding of nuclear organization, chromosome architecture, genome regulation, and disease states.
Three good things or three good financial things? Applying a positive psychology intervention to the personal finance domain

This study investigates the effectiveness of the Three Good Things positive psychology intervention within the personal finance domain. A randomized control-group pretest posttest experimental surv...
Rapid Viscoelastic Deformation Slows Marine Ice Sheet Instability at Pine Island Glacier

Author(s): Kachuck, SB; Martin, DF; Bassis, JN; Price, SF | Abstract: The ice sheets of the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) are vulnerable to the marine ice sheet instability (MISI), which could cause irreversible collapse and raise sea levels by over a meter. The uncertain timing and scale of this collapse depend on the complex interaction between ice, ocean, and bedrock dynamics. The mantle beneath the ASE is likely less viscous (∼1018 Pa s) than the Earth's average mantle (∼1021 Pa s). Here we show that an effective equilibrium between Pine Island Glacier's retreat and the response of a weak viscoelastic mantle can reduce ice mass lost by almost 30% over 150 years. Other components of solid Earth response—purely elastic deformations and geoid perturbations—provide less stability than the viscoelastic response alone. Uncertainties in mantle rheology, topography, and basal melt affect how much stability we expect, if any. Our study indicates the importance of considering viscoelastic uplift during the rapid retreat associated with MISI.
Surgical resection improves overall survival of patients with small bowel leiomyosarcoma

Small bowel leiomyosarcoma (SB LMS) is a rare disease with few studies characterizing its outcomes. This study aims to evaluate surgical outcomes for patients with SB LMS. The National Cancer Database was queried from 2004 to 2016 to identify patients with SB LMS who underwent surgical resection. The primary outcome was overall survival. A total of 288 patients with SB LMS who had undergone surgical resection were identified. The median age was 63, and the majority of patients were female (56%), White (82%), and had a Charlson comorbidity score of zero (76%). Eighty-one percent of patients had negative margins following surgical resection. Fourteen percent of patients had metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. Nineteen percent of patients received chemotherapy and 3% of patients received radiation. One-year overall survival was 77% (95% CI: 72–82%) and 5-year overall survival was 43% (95% CI: 36–49%). Higher grade (HR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.10–3.55, p = 0.02) and metastatic disease at diagnosis (HR: 2.57, 95% CI: 1.45–4.55, p = 0.001) were independently associated with higher risk of death. SB LMS is a rare disease entity, with treatment centering on complete surgical resection. Our results demonstrate that overall survival is higher than previously thought. Timely diagnosis to allow for complete surgical resection is key, and investigation into the possible role of chemotherapy or radiation therapy is needed.
Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons in the United States

Every day in jails and prisons across the United States, large numbers of young people under age 18 are held in solitary confinement. They spend 22 or more hours each day physically and socially isolated in a small cell, often for weeks or even months on end. Adolescents in solitary confinement are routinely denied access to needed treatment, services, and programming. The practice is serious and widespread.The solitary confinement of adults can cause severe pain and suffering and can violate international human rights and US constitutional law. But the potential damage to young people, who do not have the maturity of an adult and are at a particularly vulnerable stage of life, is much greater. Yet, solitary confinement of young people is not necessary; there are alternative ways to address the problems that officials cite as justifications for using solitary confinement.Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union call on US federal and state governments to prohibit the solitary confinement of young people under age 18; prohibit the housing of adolescents with adults or in adult jails and prisons; strictly limit and regulate all forms of segregation and isolation; and monitor and report on the segregation and isolation of young people, whenever they are deprived of their liberty.
Repurposing chloramphenicol acetyltransferase for a robust and efficient designer ester biosynthesis platform

Robust and efficient enzymes are essential modules for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology strategies across biological systems to engineer whole-cell biocatalysts. By condensing an acyl-CoA and an alcohol, alcohol acyltransferases (AATs) can serve as an interchangeable metabolic module for microbial biosynthesis of a diverse class of ester molecules with broad applications as flavors, fragrances, solvents, and drop-in biofuels. However, the current lack of robust and efficient AATs significantly limits their compatibility with heterologous precursor pathways and microbial hosts. Through bioprospecting and rational protein engineering, we identified and repurposed chloramphenicol acetyltransferases (CATs) from mesophilic prokaryotes to function as robust and efficient AATs compatible with at least 21 alcohol and 8 acyl-CoA substrates for microbial biosynthesis of linear, branched, saturated, unsaturated and/or aromatic esters. By plugging the best engineered CAT (CATec3 Y20F) into the gram-negative mesophilic bacterium Escherichia coli, we demonstrated that the recombinant strain could effectively convert various alcohols into desirable esters, for instance, achieving a titer of 13.9 g/L isoamyl acetate with 95% conversion by fed-batch fermentation. The recombinant E. coli was also capable of simulating the ester profile of roses with high conversion (> 97%) and titer (> 1 g/L) from fermentable sugars at 37{degrees}C. Likewise, a recombinant gram-positive, cellulolytic, thermophilic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum harboring CATec3 Y20F could produce many of these esters from recalcitrant cellulosic biomass at elevated temperatures (>50{degrees}C) due to the engineered enzymes remarkable thermostability. Overall, the engineered CATs can serve as a robust and efficient platform for designer ester biosynthesis from renewable and sustainable feedstocks.
Cosmological Parameter Extraction from the First Season of Observations with the Degree Angular Scale Interferometer

The Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (DASI) has measured the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy over the range of spherical harmonic multipoles 100 0.45 and 0.0 ≤ τc ≤ 0.4, we find that the total density of the universe Ωtot = 1.04 ± 0.06 and the spectral index of the initial scalar fluctuations ns = 1.01 in accordance with the predictions of inflationary theory. In addition, we find that the physical density of baryons Ωbh2 = 0.022, and the physical density of cold dark matter Ωcdmh2 = 0.14 ± 0.04. This value of Ωbh2 is consistent with that derived from measurements of the primeval deuterium abundance combined with big bang nucleosynthesis theory. Using the result of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Key Project, h = 0.72 ± 0.08, we find that Ωtot = 1.00 ± 0.04, the matter density Ωm = 0.40 ± 0.15, and the vacuum energy density ΩΛ = 0.60 ± 0.15. (All 68% confidence limits.)
Recent Trends in Faculty Promotion in U.S. Medical Schools: Implications for Recruitment, Retention, and Diversity and Inclusion

PURPOSE Faculty promotion is important for retention and has implications for diversity. This study provides an update on recent trends in faculty promotion in U.S. medical schools. METHOD Using data from the Association of American Medical Colleges Faculty Roster, the authors examined trends in faculty promotion over 10 years. Promotion status for full-time assistant and full-time associate professors who started between 2000 and 2009 inclusive was followed from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2019. The authors used bivariate analyses to assess associations and promotion rates by sex, race/ethnicity, department, tenure status, and degree type. RESULTS The promotion rate for assistant professors was 44.3% (2,330/5,263) in basic science departments, 37.1% (17,232/46,473) in clinical science departments, and 33.6% (131/390) in other departments. Among clinical departments, family medicine had the lowest rate of promoting assistant professors (24.4%; 484/1,982) and otolaryngology the highest rate (51.2%; 282/551). Faculty members who were male (38.9%; 11,687/30,017), White (40.0%; 12,635/31,596), tenured (58.7%; 98/167) or tenure-eligible (55.6%; 6,653/11,976), and holding MDs/PhDs (48.7%; 1,968/4,038) had higher promotion rates than, respectively, faculty who were female (36.3%; 7,975/21,998), minorities underrepresented in medicine (URM; 31.0%; 1,716/5,539), nontenured (32.5%; 12,174/37,433), and holding other/unknown degrees (20.6%; 195/948; all P < .001). These differences were less pronounced among associate professors; however, URM and nontenured faculty continued to have lower promotion rates compared with White, Asian, or tenured faculty at the associate professor level. CONCLUSIONS Promotion rates varied not only by faculty rank but also by faculty sex, race/ethnicity, department, tenure status, and degree type. The differences were more pronounced for assistant professors than associate professors. URM faculty members, particularly assistant professors, were promoted at lower rates than their White and Asian peers. More research to understand the drivers of disparities in faculty promotion seems warranted.
Cross-sectional study of correlates and prevalence of functional and high-risk multimorbidity in an academic HIV practice in New York City.

OBJECTIVES People with HIV have high levels of multimorbidity, but studies often focus on high-risk comorbidities such as hypertension or coronary artery disease. We examined both high-risk and functional comorbidities in an ethnically diverse clinic population to compare the prevalence of comorbidities and different patterns of multimorbidity. DESIGN Retrospective cross-sectional study. SETTING University-based primary care HIV clinic with two locations in New York City. PARTICIPANTS Patients who had been seen by a physician at least once between 1 June 2016 and 31 May 2017. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES Data regarding demographics, diagnoses and lab values were downloaded in a one-time data import from the electronic medical record. Comorbidities were classified as high-risk (with major impact on mortality) or functional (with major impact on function), and multimorbidity was determined for both classes in the total sample of 2751. Factors associated with high-risk and functional multimorbidity were determined first through bivariate analysis and then through multivariable median regression in 2013 patients with complete data. RESULTS Median age was 52 years (IQR 43-59). Cisgendered women comprised 24.6% of the sample, and 31.7% were African-American. Both functional and high-risk comorbidities were common and risk increased with age. Among those 75 and older, median number of both functional and high-risk comorbidities was 3 (IQR 2-4). High-risk comorbidities were associated with age (p<0.001), more years with an HIV diagnosis (p<0.001) and being an African-American (p<0.001). Associated with a higher number of functional comorbidities were age (p<0.001), being a cisgender female (p<0.001), being Hispanic (p=0.01) and more years with an HIV diagnosis (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Comorbidities with functional impact increase with age in parallel to those with a more direct impact on mortality and should be assessed and monitored, especially as the population with HIV ages.
Building Prediction Models for 30-Day Readmissions Among ICU Patients Using Both Structured and Unstructured Data in Electronic Health Records

Abstract ICU readmissions are associated with poor outcomes for patients and poor performance of hospitals. Patients who are readmitted have an increased risk of in-hospital deaths; hospitals with a higher readmission rate have a reduced profitability, due to an increase in cost and reduced payments from Medicare and Medicaid programs. Predicting a patient’s likelihood of being readmitted to the ICU can help reduce early discharges, the risk of in-hospital deaths, and help increase profitability. In this study, we built and evaluated multiple machine learning models to predict 30-day readmission rates of ICU patients in the MIMIC-III database. We used both the structured data including demographics, laboratory tests, comorbidities, and unstructured discharge summaries as the predictors and evaluated different combinations of features. The best performing model in this study Logistic Regression achieved an AUROC of 75.7%. This study shows the potential of leveraging machine learning and deep learning for predicting ICU readmissions.
Portable, but not mobile: a study of wireless laptops in the home

We report a qualitative study of the use of physical space and wireless laptops by ten United States households. Although wireless laptops purportedly offer the opportunity and affordances to go "anywhere in the home," laptops were generally used in a small set of particular places rather than moving fluidly through the home: wireless laptops were portable, but not mobile per se We present factors that influence laptop movement in the home. We also present a model of people's use of space in the home, identifying a small set of favored places of long-term use and a larger set of kinetic places used for specific tasks. We discuss how the factors we have identified generally promote use of laptops in favored places and generally discourage use of laptops in kinetic places. We discuss how our findings are relevant to the design of technologies for the home.
"How We Die" in New Mexico: A Judicial Prescription Without Relief

By some accounts, New Mexico Judge Nan Nash fashioned a landmark ruling in a civil dispute pitting two doctors and a cancer patient against the state. At issue, a statute making it unlawful to “deliberately aid[] another in the taking of his own life.” Plaintiffs in Morris v. King (2014) contended that for a “mentally-competent, terminally-ill individual” who sought a peaceful death over a painful life, a doctor prescribing lethal drugs for this purpose could not be prosecuted since physician aid in dying was not assisted suicide. While plaintiffs’ statutory claim was rejected, Judge Nash did hold that the statute as applied to physician aid in dying violated state constitutional guarantees safeguarding inalienable rights to “liberty, safety and happiness.” I argue that the interpretive path Judge Nash designed to justify her ruling is littered at critical junctures with strangely settled issues. For this reason, her judicial prescription legalizing this end-of-life choice wants the persuasive foundation that such a landmark holding deserves.
The Emergent Logic of Health Law

The American health care system is on a glide path toward ruin. Health spending has become the fiscal equivalent of global warming, and the number of uninsured Americans is approaching fifty million. Can law help to divert our country from this path? There are reasons for deep skepticism. Law governs the provision and financing of medical care in fragmented and incoherent fashion. Commentators from diverse perspectives bemoan this chaos, casting it as an obstacle to change. I contend in this Article that pessimism about health law’s prospects is unjustified, but that a new understanding of health law’s disarray is urgently needed to guide reform. My core proposition is that the law of health care provision is best understood as an emergent system. Its contradictions and dysfunctions cannot be repaired by some master design. No one actor has a grand overview - or the power to impose a unifying vision. Countless market players, public planners, and legal and regulatory decisionmakers interact in oft-chaotic ways, clashing with, reinforcing, and adjusting to each other. Out of these interactions, a larger scheme emerges - one that incorporates the health sphere’s competing interests and values. Change in this system, for worse and for better, arises from the interplay between its myriad actors. By quitting the quest for a single, master design, we can better focus our efforts on possibilities for legal and policy change. We can and should continuously survey the landscape of stakeholders and expectations with an eye toward potential launching points for evolutionary processes - processes that leverage current institutions and incentives. What we cannot do is plan or predict these evolutionary pathways in precise detail; the complexity of interactions among market and government actors precludes fine-grained foresight of this sort. But we can determine the general direction of needed change, identify seemingly intractable obstacles, and envision ways to diminish or finesse them over time. Dysfunctional legal doctrines, interest group expectations, consumers’ anxieties, and embedded institutional and cultural barriers can all be dealt with in this way, in iterative fashion. This Article sets out a strategy for doing so. To illustrate this strategy, I suggest emergent approaches to the most urgent challenges in health care policy and law - the crises of access, value, and cost.
Actin Dynamics in Platelets

The human blood platelet circulates in the blood as a non-adherent disk. Upon receiving signals of blood vessel damage, the platelet reorganizes its actin cytoskeleton which transforms it into a spiky dynamic adherent glue. This transformation involves a temporal sequence of four morphologically distinct steps which is reproducible in vitro. The actin dynamics underlying these shape changes depend on a large number of actin-binding proteins. Maintenance of the discoid shape requires actin-binding proteins that inhibit these reorganizations, whereas transformation involves other proteins, some to disassemble old filaments and others to polymerize new ones. F-Actin-affinity chromatography identified a large set of actin-binding proteins including VASP, Arp2 and 2E4/kaptin. Recent discoveries show that VASP inhibits filament disassembly and Arp2/3 is required to polymerize new filaments. Morphological analysis of the distribution of these actin-binding proteins in spread platelets together with biochemical measurements of their interactions with actin lead to a model of interactions with actin that mediate shape change.
Do Wilson fermions induce an adjoint gauge action

Expansions of the Wilson determinant in lattice QCD with quarks produce gauge action terms which shift the coupling constant of the fundamental representation plaquette action and induce an adjoint representation plaquette action. We study the magnitude of these induced couplings with two flavors of Wilson fermions. We utilize a microcanonical demon method, which allows us to measure the induced couplings directly from gauge configurations generated by full fermionic simulations.
East-west asymmetry in coronal mass ejection geoeffectiveness

[1] This paper extends the domain of applicability of the Gosling-McComas space weather forecast rule that applies to the postshock sheaths of fast coronal mass ejections at Earth (ICMEs). The rule is based on the draping of the sheath magnetic field around the ICME body. The original treatment considered only the radial-from-the-Sun component of the preshock interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), which implied that the domain of applicability of the rule was the entire sheath region ahead of the leading face of the ICME. We show here that because of the generally prevailing Parker spiral orientation of the IMF, the domain of applicability of the rule is instead generally strongly shifted to the east side of the ICME sheath. We suggest that the eastward shift of the domain of applicability of the rule accounts for an observed greater geoeffectiveness of west hemisphere CMEs compared with east hemisphere CMEs. The approach used here to demonstrate the eastward shift of the region of potential ICME sheath geoeffectiveness, and thus to increase the accuracy of the forecast rule, is to present intensity contours of the geoeffective draping component of the IMF as computed by global MHD simulations. Since the shift depends only on a spiral magnetic field and a blunt object to drape it around, we demonstrate the generality of the principle on which the rule is based by treating both the case of the ICME and the case of Earth's magnetosphere.
Orbital stability zones about asteroids: II. The destabilizing effects of eccentric orbits and of solar radiation

Abstract The gravitational effects of the Sun on a particle orbiting another massive body which itself moves on a circular path around the Sun have been studied extensively. Most recently, D.P. Hamilton and J. A. Burns (1991, Icarus 92, 118–131) characterized the size and shape of a stability zone around an asteroid on a circular heliocentric orbit within which material could remain bound for an extended period of time. We now consider two additional effects analytically and numerically: the asteroid's nonzero heliocentric eccentricity and solar radiation pressure. In both of these cases, our numerical integrations apply directly to a spherical asteroid, “Amphitrite”, with semimajor axis 2.55 AU, radius R A = 100 km, and density 2.38 g/cm 3 . For an asteroid on an eccentric orbit we argue, based on numerical integrations and analytical approximations, that the stability zone scales roughly as the size of the Hill sphere calculated at the asteroid's pericenter. This scaling holds for large values of eccentricity and allows results for one asteroid with a given mass, semimajor axis, and eccentricity to be used for another with different values of these parameters. We compare predictions of the scaling law to numerical integrations for an “Amphitrite” with various orbital eccentricities and find good agreement for prograde orbits and for those with orbital planes nearly normal to the asteroid's heliocentric path, but not for retrograde orbits. We apply our results to the minor planet 951 Gaspra. We also determine that solar radiation pressure is a very efficient mechanism for removing relatively small particles from the circumasteroidal zone. Radiation pressure acting on an orbiting grain can cause large oscillations in the grain's orbital eccentricity which in turn can lead to either escape from the system or impact with the asteroid. We find numerically that particles with radius 0.1 mm started on circular orbits escape from “Amphitrite” at all distances beyond 130 R A . Grains of this size started anywhere between the asteroid's surface and 130 R A are forced to crash into the minor planet; smaller grains are even more severely affected. The orbits of millimeter-sized grains are also strongly perturbed. Planar paths bound for 20 years are found to extend to only ∼40% of the critical distance found by Hamilton and Burns (1991) : orbits with inclinations near 90° are somewhat more resilient. In all cases, orbital evolution occurs on time scales comparable to the asteroid's orbital period. Particles larger than a few centimeters are only slightly affected by radiation pressure. These results can be applied to “Gaspra”, an asteroid only one-thousandth as massive as “Amphitrite”, by increasing all particle sizes by a factor of ∼10.
Robot assisted heminephrectomy for duplicated renal collecting system: technique and outcomes

Background The aim of this study was to describe experience with robotic assisted hemi-nephrectomy (RAHN) for the management of duplicated renal collecting system. Methods The authors’ institutional database was queried to identify patients who underwent RAHN from 2007 to 2013 for the management of a duplicated system. Patient demographics, indications and surgical outcomes were reviewed and analyzed. Results Five patients were identified with a duplicated system of which all had a history of pain and recurrent infection. Three patients underwent hemi-nephrectomy for a poorly functioning lower pole and two for an abnormal upper pole moiety. All operations were completed successfully using a robotic approach. There were only two minor (Clavien grade 1–2) complications. Conclusions RAHN is a viable option for the surgical treatment of an atrophic, chronically infected duplicated system. The unique features of robotic technology offer enhanced dexterity and vision facilitating the management of complex vascular and ureteral anatomy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of a television drama about environmental exposure to toxic substances.

Entertainment education (EE) is the use of a serialized drama (e.g., a soap opera) or some other entertainment format to bring about widespread, positive change in public behavior or its prerequisites, such as knowledge and attitudes. In the United States, EE often takes the form of a health-related storyline within an episode of a regularly broadcast commercial television show.1 Hollywood writers and producers have complete creative control over the content of the storyline, but they frequently consult with medical and public health experts to ensure the accuracy of the health information in their scripts.2 There is accumulating evidence that storylines resulting from these consultations can increase health knowledge, health information-seeking behavior, and conversations about health topics, as well as intentions to perform health behaviors, among mass audiences.3–8
Understanding How Family Socioeconomic Status Mediates the Maternal Intelligence–Child Cognitive Outcomes Relationship: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

In a model of moderated mediation using matched data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Children and Young Adults, I test (1) whether family socioeconomic status (SES) mediates the maternal intelligence-child cognitive outcomes relationship and (2) the extent to which this mediating impact is dependent on the level of maternal intelligence. Results reveal that the mediating impact of SES on the maternal intelligence–child cognitive outcomes relationship varies as a function of the level of maternal intelligence. The positive effect of higher SES on children's academic ability decreases as the cognitive ability of mothers increases, such that children in low IQ households benefit most from higher SES, while children in high IQ households benefit somewhat less.
Stranski-Krastanov-like growth of an Ag film on a metallic glass

Abstract We have studied the morphology of a bulk-crystalline metal, Ag, deposited on a clean surface of a metallic glass, Zr–Ni–Cu–Al. At 190–300 K, the films exhibit Stranski–Krastanov-like growth, wherein three-dimensional clusters form atop an Ag wetting layer that is 4–5 monolayers thick. Above this coverage, cluster growth competes with growth of the flatter regions. The cluster density increases with decreasing temperature, indicating that the conditions of island nucleation are far-from-equilibrium. Within a simple model where clusters nucleate whenever two mobile Ag adatoms meet, the temperature-dependence of cluster density yields an (reasonable) upper limit for the value of the Ag diffusion barrier on top of the Ag wetting layer of 0.32 eV. Overall, this prototypical study suggests that it is possible to grow films of a bulk-crystalline metal that adopts the amorphous character of a glassy metal substrate, if film thickness is sufficiently low.
Determination of association constants in cyclodextrin or vancomycin-modified micellar capillary electrophoresis

Abstract The estimation of association constants of chiral analytes to chiral selectors is often useful in determining the nature and extent of interactions that exist between them. These determinations also provide insight into the mechanisms that are involved in the enantiorecognition of these analytes. Simple models have been developed previously to estimate association constants of analytes binding through a 1:1 stoichiometry with a ligand. These models have also been extrapolated to explain the binding behavior of analytes in systems containing two ligands. In the present study, the binding behavior of some chiral analytes was studied in micellar capillary electrophoresis (CE) systems modified with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPBCD) or vancomycin as the chiral selectors. The pseudophase or three phase model was used as the basis for the determination of the absolute binding constants of the solutes to the selector and to the micellar phases.
Strategic Benchmarks in Earnings Announcements: The Selective Disclosure of Prior‐Period Earnings Components

This paper provides evidence that managers strategically select the prior‐period earnings amount that is used as a benchmark to evaluate current‐period earnings in quarterly earnings announcements. Managers are more likely to separately announce a prior‐period gain from the sale of property, plant, and equipment (PPE) than a loss. This strategy provides the lowest possible benchmark for evaluating current earnings, thereby allowing the manager to highlight the most favorable change in earnings. This strategic disclosure behavior is more likely to occur when it prevents a negative earnings surprise. The observed strategic disclosure decisions are consistent with a conjecture by managers that the nonrecurring nature of the prior‐period gain/loss will be forgotten unless it is separately announced. Consistent with this conjecture, there is some evidence that equity investors, one potential target of strategic reporting, use the benchmark that managers provide in earnings announcements to evaluate current ear...
Numerical Simulation of Receptivity Phenomena in Transitional Boundary-Layer Flows

A computational fluid-acoustic methodology is described and used to simulate induced and acoustic receptivity in unsteady boundary-layer flows. The methodology solves a finite compressibility form of the Navier-Stokes equations using a flux differenced, finite volume technique. Special attention is paid to nonreflective boundary conditions appropriate for unsteady, multidimensional problems including those involving viscous shear and propagating waves. The numerical experiments include tbe simulation of acoustic receptivity due to surface inhomogeneity in which the acoustic phenomena are modeled using physically appropriate wavelengths. Required steady solution accuracy, convergence acceleration techniques, boundary condition/flowfield interactions and the challenges of scale resolution vs computational cost are addressed in a series of simulations.
Mid Dermal Elastolysis: Case Report and Review of the Literature

A new case of typical mid dermal elastolysis was studied with electron microscopy. Elastic fibers were irregularly branched or lumpy, but subcomponents of these fibers were often normal. In some fibers, loose assembly of skeleton fibrils and aggregation of dense substances were observed. Phagocytosis of normal and abnormal elastic fibers by dermal macrophages was observed.
The SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligase RNF4 regulates the localization and function of the HTLV-1 oncoprotein Tax

The Really Interesting New Gene (RING) Finger Protein 4 (RNF4) represents a class of ubiquitin ligases that target Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO)–modified proteins for ubiquitin modification. To date, the regulatory function of RNF4 appears to be ubiquitin-mediated degradation of sumoylated cellular proteins. In the present study, we show that the Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) oncoprotein Tax is a substrate for RNF4 both in vivo and in vitro. We mapped the RNF4-binding site to a region adjacent to the Tax ubiquitin/SUMO modification sites K280/K284. Interestingly, RNF4 modification of Tax protein results in relocalization of the oncoprotein from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Overexpression of RNF4, but not the RNF4 RING mutant, resulted in cytoplasmic enrichment of Tax. The RNF4-induced nucleus-to-cytoplasm relocalization was associated with increased NF-κB–mediated and decreased cAMP Response Element-Binding (CREB)–mediated Tax activity. Finally, depletion of RNF4 by RNAi prevented the DNA damage–induced nuclear/cytoplasmic translocation of Tax. These results provide important new insight into STUbL-mediated pathways that regulate the subcellular localization and functional dynamics of viral oncogenes.
Determination of dextromethorphan and its metabolites in rat serum by liquid-liquid extraction and liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

Dextromethorphan is an effective and safe antitussive, but has liabilities with respect to its abuse potential at doses above the therapeutic dose. At these higher doses, people report phencyclidine-like effects from the drug. A number of animal models have suggested that dextrorphan, an active metabolite of dextromethorphan, is responsible for the abuse liability of the parent compound when dextromethorphan is taken at high doses. Full pharmacokinetic profiles in single animals have not been demonstrated in these studies due to a lack of analytical sensitivity and/or selectivity for dextromethorphan and its metabolites. We have developed a low-cost liquid chromatographic method capable of characterizing the concentration-time profile for dextromethorphan and dextrorphan for 8 h in rats following an 18 mg/kg i.p. dose of dextromethorphan. Limits of quantitation (S/N=10) in 100 microL of serum were 0.25, 0.19, 0.27, and 0.22 nmol/mL for 3-hydroxymorphinan, dextrorphan, 3-methoxymorphinan, and dextromethorphan, respectively. Inter-day precision was better than 11% across the dynamic range of the method.