cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reforming Immigration Law to Allow More Foreign Student Entrepreneurs to Launch Job-Creating Ventures in the United States

This paper outlines some of the barriers that foreign student entrepreneurs face, and describes how a somewhat expanded version of bipartisan legislation along the lines of the Startup Act 2.0 (S. 3217 or the Startup Act), cosponsored by Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mark Warner (D-VA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Scott Brown (R-MA), would help to address some of these roadblocks. The Startup Act, which has also been introduced in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis, as discussed below, would create a new conditional permanent resident status opportunity for foreign students who hold master’s or doctorate degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) awarded by a U.S. institution of higher education. It would also create a conditional immigrant visa opportunity for “qualified alien entrepreneurs”: entrepreneurs who either hold an H-1B visa or have completed or will complete a graduate level degree in a STEM field, and register a business that meets certain conditions for number of employees and dollar amount of investment discussed further below (Startup Visa).
The Poetics of Travel, Postcolonial Criticism, and the Theory of the Avant-garde

The second chapter combines the methodological approaches of travel theory, postcolonial criticism, and avant-garde poetics as a way of investigating the relations between literary innovation and the cultural observation of peoples and regions traditionally associated with the Orient. After discussing the structuralist basis of methodologies employed by Said and MacCannell in their respective fields, problems of semiotics, exoticism, deconstruction, and the hybrid are reviewed in works by Culler, Bongie, Spivak, and Bhabha. Questions of globalization and the new orientalism in Appadurai, Kaplan, and Almond follow before the essay concludes with a re-consideration of theories of the Avant-garde by Poggioli, Burger, Horkheimer, and Adorno.
Epidemics Laid Low: A History of What Happened in Rich Countries, Patrice Bourdelais. The Johns Hopkins University Press (2006), 176 pages

Disease has been historically debated on the foundation of guesswork and presumption with numerous theories on what population or object was believed to be the genesis and causal factors of pestile...
An activity index for geomagnetic paleosecular variation, excursions, and reversals

Magnetic indices provide quantitative measures of space weather phenomena that are widely used by researchers in geomagnetism. We introduce an index focused on the internally generated field that can be used to evaluate long term variations or climatology of modern and paleomagnetic secular variation, including geomagnetic excursions, polarity reversals, and changes in reversal rate. The paleosecular variation index, Pi, represents instantaneous or average deviation from a geocentric axial dipole field using normalized ratios of virtual geomagnetic pole colatitude and virtual dipole moment. The activity level of the index, σPi, provides a measure of field stability through the temporal standard deviation of Pi. Pi can be calculated on a global grid from geomagnetic field models to reveal large scale geographic variations in field structure. It can be determined for individual time series, or averaged at local, regional, and global scales to detect long term changes in geomagnetic activity, identify excursions, and transitional field behavior. For recent field models Pi ranges from less than 0.05 to 0.30. Conventional definitions for geomagnetic excursions are characterized by Pi exceeding 0.5. Strong field intensities are associated with low Pi unless they are accompanied by large deviations from axial dipole field directions. σPi provides a measure of geomagnetic stability that is modulated by the level of PSV or frequency of excursional activity and reversal rate. We demonstrate uses of Pi for paleomagnetic observations and field models and show how it could be used to assess whether numerical simulations of the geodynamo exhibit Earth-like properties. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Models of antimicrobial pressure on intestinal bacteria of the treated host populations

Antimicrobial drugs are used to treat pathogenic bacterial infections in animals and humans. The by-stander enteric bacteria of the treated host's intestine can become exposed to the drug or its metabolites reaching the intestine in antimicrobially active form. We consider which processes and variables need to be accounted for to project the antimicrobial concentrations in the host's intestine. Those include: the drug's fraction (inclusive of any active metabolites) excreted in bile; the drug's fractions and intestinal segments of excretion via other mechanisms; the rates and intestinal segments of the drug's absorption and re-absorption; the rates and intestinal segments of the drug's abiotic and biotic degradation in the intestine; the digesta passage time through the intestinal segments; the rates, mechanisms, and reversibility of the drug's sorption to the digesta and enteric microbiome; and the volume of luminal contents in the intestinal segments. For certain antimicrobials, the antimicrobial activity can further depend on the aeration and chemical conditions in the intestine. Model forms that incorporate the inter-individual variation in those relevant variables can support projections of the intestinal antimicrobial concentrations in populations of treated host, such as food animals. To illustrate the proposed modeling framework, we develop two examples of treatments of bovine respiratory disease in beef steers by oral chlortetracycline and injectable third-generation cephalosporin ceftiofur. The host's diet influences the digesta passage time, volume, and digesta and microbiome composition, and may influence the antimicrobial loss due to degradation and sorption in the intestine. We consider two diet compositions in the illustrative simulations. The examples highlight the extent of current ignorance and need for empirical data on the variables influencing the selective pressures imposed by antimicrobial treatments on the host's intestinal bacteria.
Looking back on reading ahead: No evidence for lexical parafoveal-on-foveal effects

Abstract Current models of eye movement control during reading make different predictions regarding the possibility of parafoveal-on-foveal effects – i.e. whether the lexical properties of upcoming, parafoveal words can affect reading time. To date, there have been contradictory findings from correlational corpus analyses and carefully controlled experimental studies regarding the existence of these effects. To address this controversy, we conducted four experimental studies (total N = 244) investigating the effects of parafoveal word frequency during natural reading. These experiments showed no evidence for parafoveal-on-foveal effects in an environment that should have been highly conducive to parallel lexical processing. In addition, a Bayes Factor meta-analysis of the prior experimental literature also provided clear support for the null hypothesis. These findings confirm the predictions of serial attention models such as E-Z Reader, and call into question the findings of previous correlational corpus studies.
Abstention from drug use and delinquency increasing among youth in the United States, 2002-2014

ABSTRACTBackground: Trends in abstaining from substance use and delinquency among adolescent's ages 12–17 in the United States was examined. Methods: Data was derived from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) involving non-Hispanic white, African American, and Hispanic respondents (n = 98,620) and spanning the years 2002–2014. Logistic regression was used to examine significance of trend year and correlates of low-risk and high-risk behavioral groups relative to abstaining. Results: Overall, the prevalence of abstaining was 47.56% between 2002 and 2014. Prevalence increased significantly among all adolescents from 44.85% in 2002 to 53.58% in 2014. Relative to abstainers nonabstaining youth were more likely to be male, and report lower household income, poorer grades, depression, and lower levels of parental affirmation and control. Conclusions: Findings indicate that there is a corresponding increase in abstaining mirroring the recent decreases found in adolescent drug use found in national ...
Characterization and Superconducting Properties of High Tc Oxide Wire

Y-Ba-Cu oxide wires have been fabricated by a powder metallurgical technique. A metal tube and a compacted powder of precursors of Y-Ba-Cu oxides were cold-worked. The components was well-mixed Y2BaCu05, BaCu02 and Cu0 powders. Cold-worked wire was heat-treated after removing the metal sheath. Crystal structure of the oxides turned to orthorhombic Y1Ba2Cu307-y after short heat-treatment at 950°C. Critical temperature and critical current density are reported and discussed.
Theoretical Issues in the Development of Social Justice

Interest in the origins and development of social justice principles would appear to be an obvious starting point for the construction of theoretical perspectives on social justice. Everyday observation confirms that children in various cultures demonstrate sharing, assistance, and equity—in short, perceptions of fairness in their relationships with others. Indeed, some of the earliest psychological theories on moral judgment (Piaget, 1932/1965) as well as early research studies on the knowledge of justice norms (Hartshorne & May, 1929) were based on the behavior of children. However, this promising beginning was not followed up in any systematic way; only within the past dozen years or so has there been intensified and expanded investigation into the ways in which children judge and react to each other’s fate, develop and refine their notions of various forms of justice, and behave in ways that demonstrate a commitment to deserving in their relationships with others.
Invasive Cancer Incidence and Survival — United States, 2013

Although cancer represents many heterogeneous diseases, some cancer types share common risk factors. For example, conclusive evidence links cancer at multiple sites with tobacco use, alcohol use, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, excess body weight, and physical inactivity (1,2). To monitor changes in cancer incidence and assess progress toward achieving Healthy People 2020 objectives,* CDC analyzed data from the U.S. Cancer Statistics (USCS) data set for 2013, the most recent year for which incidence and survival data are available. In 2013, a total of 1,559,130 invasive cancers were reported to cancer registries in the United States (excluding Nevada), for an annual age-adjusted incidence rate of 439 cases per 100,000 persons. Cancer incidence rates were higher among males (479) than females (413), highest among blacks (444), and ranged by state from 364 (New Mexico) to 512 (Kentucky) per 100,000 persons (359 in Puerto Rico). The proportion of persons with cancer who survived ≥5 years after diagnosis was 67%. This proportion was the same for males and females (67%), but lower among blacks (62%) than among whites (67%). Cancer surveillance data are key to cancer epidemiologic and clinical outcomes research, program planning and monitoring, resource allocation, and state and federal appropriations accountability.
State Responses to the Opioid Crisis

This paper focuses on the most common state policy responses to the opioid crisis, dividing them into six broad categories. Within each category we highlight the rationale behind the group of policies within it, discuss the details and support for individual policies, and explore the research base behind them. The objective is to better understand the most prevalent state responses to the opioid crisis.
Perioperative outcomes of bariatric surgery in the setting of chronic steroid use: an MBSAQIP database analysis.

Abstract Background Chronic steroids are a treatment option for many chronic diseases but predispose patients to both weight gain and surgical complications. They therefore represent a unique interface between obesity, chronic disease, and surgical risk. As the benefits of bariatric surgery for controlling metabolic disease become more apparent, patients with chronic illnesses on corticosteroids are increasingly being referred for surgery despite an unclear safety profile. The Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program database represents the largest bariatric-specific clinical data set for comparing outcomes in this complex patient population. Objective To compare perioperative outcomes following bariatric surgery in the setting of chronic steroid/immunosuppression. Setting University Hospital, United States. Methods Using the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program MBSAQIP database, we identified patients on chronic corticosteroids who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy or laparoscopic gastric bypass in 2015 or 2016. Unmatched as well as propensity-score and case-controlled matched cohort analyses were performed of patients on corticosteroid therapy compared with those without. Results Of the 302,140 patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy or laparoscopic gastric bypass in 2015–2016, a total of 4947 (1.63%) were on chronic steroids/immunosuppressive drugs. Patients using steroids were older with significantly higher rates of co-morbid conditions. Hospital length of stay, intensive care unit admission, reoperation, readmission, bleeding, leak, and infectious complications were significantly higher in steroid users; however, in a propensity and case-control matched analysis of 8710 patients and 6598 patients, respectively, steroids were not found to be independent risk factors for poorer outcomes except for an increased rate of leak. Conclusions Generally, steroid use does not independently predict poorer outcomes among bariatric surgery patients except for an increased leak rate. With appropriate patient selection based on associated co-morbid factors, primary bariatric surgery is safe in patients using corticosteroids, with an acceptable 30-day postoperative risk profile.
DONALD TRUMP: MORBID SYMPTOM OF THE INTERREGNUM TRUMP AS TROPE

The election of Donald Trump raises a number of questions about how and why he was supported by the voters to gain electoral college victory. His election was not due to economic hardships but rather due to his unique ability to mobilize three primary constituents of the republican party: its billionaire elites, evangelical Christians and racist white nationalists. His appeal rested upon the authoritarianism of these constituencies, as well as fears of the loss of privileged Identities based on race, religion and/ or gender, disdain toward immigrants, fearing the “decline” of the nation and ressentiment toward corrupt elites.
Long-Term Absolute Risk for Cardiovascular Disease Stratified by Fasting Glucose Level

OBJECTIVE To estimate the long-term absolute risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) according to fasting glucose (FG) levels below the threshold of diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We pooled data from seven observational cohorts of U.S. black and white men and women followed from 1960 to 2015. We categorized FG as follows: RESULTS Our sample included 19,630 individuals (6,197 blacks and 11,015 women) without a prior CVD event. Risk for CVD through 85 years of age ranged from 15.3% ( CONCLUSIONS Middle-age individuals with diabetes have high long-term absolute risk for CVD. These data strongly support the importance of blood glucose monitoring in midlife for CVD prevention.
Long‐term evidence for fire as an ecohydrologic threshold‐reversal mechanism on woodland‐encroached sagebrush shrublands

Encroachment of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) shrublands by pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) conifers (woodland encroachment) induces a shift from biotic‐controlled resource retention to abiotic‐driven loss of soil resources. This shift is driven by a coarsening of the vegetation structure with increasing dominance of site resources by trees. Competition between the encroaching trees and understory vegetation for limited soil and water resources facilitates extensive bare intercanopy area between trees and concomitant increases in run‐off and erosion that, over time, propagate persistence of the shrubland‐to‐woodland conversion. We evaluated whether tree removal by burning can decrease late‐succession woodland ecohydrologic resilience by increasing vegetation and ground cover over a 9‐year period after fire and whether the soil erosion feedback on late‐succession woodlands is reversible by burning. To address these questions, we employed a suite of vegetation and soil measurements and rainfall simulation and concentrated overland flow experiments across multiple plot scales on unburned and burned areas at two sagebrush sites in the later stages of woodland succession. Prior to burning, tree cover was approximately 28% at the sites, and more than 70% of the area at the sites was intercanopy with depauperate understory vegetation and extensive bare ground (52–60% bare soil and rock). Burning initially increased bare ground across fine (<1 m2) to patch (tens of metres) scales, resulting in enhanced sediment availability at the fine scale, sustained high run‐off and erosion within degraded intercanopies, amplified run‐off and erosion from tree canopy areas, and amplified sediment delivery across fine to patch scales. However, fire‐induced increases in grass cover over nine growing seasons improved infiltration, limited run‐off and sediment delivery from the fine scale, and reduced intercanopy run‐off and erosion at the patch scale. These changes reflect a switch in vegetation structure, triggered by burning and subsequent vegetation re‐establishment, and a shift to biotic control on run‐off and erosion across spatial scales. The responses and persistence over the 9‐year period postfire at the two sites demonstrate that fire can decrease woodland ecohydrologic resilience by altering plant community physiognomy and thereby can reverse the soil erosion feedback on sagebrush shrublands in the later stages of woodland encroachment.
Patient with a PRKAG2 mutation who developed Immunoglobulin A nephropathy: a case report.

Background PRKAG2 syndrome (PS) is a rare, early-onset autosomal dominant inherited disease caused by mutations in PRKAG2, the gene encoding the regulatory γ2 subunit of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase. PRKAG2 syndrome is associated with many cardiac manifestations, including pre-excitation, arrhythmias, left ventricular hypertrophy, and chronotropic incompetence frequently leading to early pacemaker placement. A meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in subjects with chronic kidney disease (CKD) identified a susceptibility locus in an intron of PRKAG2, which has been replicated in other studies. However, CKD has not been reported in patients with PS or mutations in PRKAG2. Case summary We report a case of a woman diagnosed at age 27 with PS when she presented with atrial fibrillation and pre-excitation on electrocardiogram. By age 35, she had developed mild renal insufficiency and a biopsy demonstrated IgA nephropathy (IGAN). Discussion This is the first reported case of IGAN in a patient with PS. We discuss both PS and IGAN and the potential mechanisms by which they could be related.
Chemical Rescue of Site-Modified Ligands to the Iron-Sulfur Clusters of Psac In Photosystem I

The PsaC subunit of Photosystem I (PS I) is an 8.6 kDa protein which contains binding sites for two [4Fe-4S] clusters. To investigate structure-function relationships in PsaC we changed cysteine 14, which ligates FB, to glycine [1]. After cluster reconstitution unbound PsaC showed an EPR spectrum consistent with the presence of two [4Fe-4S] clusters, one S = 1/2 and the other S = 3/2. We proposed that 2-mercaptoethanol, a reagent used in the reconstitution protocol, serves as an external rescue ligand in the absence of a biological ligand to the fourth iron [1]. Instead of the expected formation of a [3Fe-4S] cluster in the glycine mutants, chemical rescue allows for the formation of a [4Fe-4S] cluster. The present work is aimed at obtaining direct evidence to support the chemical rescue hypothesis. We reconstituted the C14G/C34S mutant of PsaC with 4-fluorothiophenol or 2,2,2-tlifluoroethanethiol as the external thiolate ligand. Successful insertion of [4Fe-4S] clusters was confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Flourine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance (19F NMR) spectroscopy showed paramagnetically shifted resonances that were attributed to cluster-bound ligand.
Oral Diseases Associated with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the United States

The US prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is 30.6% and increasing. NAFLD shares some risk factors with periodontitis and dental caries. We explored the association between NAFLD and several oral conditions among US adults, using data from the cross-sectional, nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1988 to 1994. NAFLD was assessed with ultrasonography (USON), the screening gold standard not available in the more recent NHANES, and the noninvasive Fibrosis Score (FS), Fatty Liver Index (FLI), and US Fatty Liver Index (US-FLI) as other screening alternatives. There were 5,421 eligible dentate adults aged 21 to 74 y with complete relevant data, with transferrin levels ≤50%, without hepatitis B or C, who were not heavy drinkers. Multivariable models were developed to examine the independent effects of moderate-severe periodontitis, untreated dental caries, caries experience, and tooth loss (<20 teeth) on NAFLD while controlling for clinical, biological, and sociodemographic factors. Weighted estimates for odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were calculated with logistic regression. Between 17% and 24% of adults had NAFLD depending on the classification criteria. In adjusted models, as compared with those with better oral health, adults with <20 teeth were more likely to have NAFLD depending on the measure (USON: OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.11 to 2.02; FS: OR = 4.36, 95% CI = 3.47 to 5.49; FLI: OR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.52 to 2.59; US-FLI: OR = 2.32, 95% CI = 1.79 to 3.01). People with moderate-severe periodontitis were more likely to have NAFLD (USON: OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.06 to 2.24; FS: OR = 3.10, 95% CI = 2.31 to 4.17; FLI: OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.28; US-FLI: OR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.64 to 2.98). People with any untreated caries were more likely to have NAFLD (USON: OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.20 to 1.90; FLI: OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.33 to 2.44). NAFLD was associated with tooth loss, periodontitis, and, for some NAFLD measures, untreated dental caries but not overall caries experience after controlling for several key sociodemographic and behavioral factors. Results suggest that further evaluation is needed to better understand this health-oral health interrelationship and potential opportunities for medical-dental integration.
Selective Harmonic Current Rejection for Virtual Oscillator Controlled Grid-Forming Voltage Source Converters

Virtual oscillator control (VOC) is a nonlinear grid-forming controller that simultaneously achieves the functionality of output voltage control and primary control layers in a power electronics interfaced distributed generation (DG) unit. Unlike conventional phasor-based primary control methods such as the droop control and virtual synchronous machine control, VOC is a time-domain controller that can guarantee almost global asymptotic synchronization. However, the high-frequency dynamics has largely been ignored in the analysis of VOC in prior art; as a result, VOC-based DGs fail to suppress harmonic current in the presence of harmonic distortion in the network-side voltage. In this work, we demonstrate that frequency-domain method can be used for oscillator-based converters in the high-frequency range, specifically, for harmonic mitigation in the converter output current. We propose a virtual impedance-based selective harmonic current suppression method, and demonstrate that it is better to use the network-side current feedback rather than that of the converter-side current for VOC implementation with virtual impedance control. Established harmonic rejection strategies for grid-following and conventional grid-forming converters are compared with the proposed method for VOC. Through impedance-based analysis, we demonstrate that the proposed method augments the passivity range of the converter terminal response with a much simpler implementation. The proposed harmonic suppression strategy is validated through hardware experiments using a single-phase inverter prototype.
A community-based model of HIV care for men who have sex with men and transgender women in Chicago.

Socioeconomically disadvantaged men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) share a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic. Providing care in the community may help improve ret...
Pliocene expansion of C 4 vegetation in the Core Monsoon Zone on the Indian Peninsula

Abstract. The expansion of C4 vegetation during the Neogene was one of the largest reorganizations of Earth's terrestrial biome. Once thought to be globally synchronous in the late Miocene, site-specific studies have revealed differences in the timing of the expansion and suggest that local conditions play a substantial role. Here, we examine the expansion of C4 vegetation on the Indian Peninsula since the late Miocene by constructing a ~ 6 million year paleorecord with marine sediment from the Bay of Bengal at Site U1445 drilled during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 353. Analyses of element concentrations indicate the marine sediment originates from the Mahanadi River in the Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ) of the Indian Peninsula. Hydrogen isotopes of the fatty acids of leaf waxes reveal an overall decrease in the CMZ precipitation since the late Miocene. Carbon isotopes of the leaf wax fatty acids suggest C4 vegetation on the Indian Peninsula existed before the end of the Miocene, but expanded to even higher abundances during the mid-Pliocene to mid-Pleistocene (3.5 to 1.5 Ma). Similar to the CMZ on the Indian Peninsula, a Pliocene expansion or re-expansion has previously been observed in northwest Australia and in East Africa, suggesting that these tropical ecosystems surrounding the Indian Ocean remained highly sensitive to changes in climate after the initial spread of C4 plants in late Miocene.
Industrial Emissions and Asthma Prevalence

The pathogenesis of asthma is multifactorial and not completely understood; however, it is considered a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the airways and has a clinical development of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and cough. The prevalence of asthma has increased drastically during the past few decades. Urban air pollution from industrial emissions has been implicated as one of the major factors responsible for this increase. The objective of this paper was to analyze the impact of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon dioxide (CO2) on the overall prevalence of asthma for adults and children. The statistical analysis was conducted using SAS statistical software to determine multiple comparison tests for asthma prevalence among years, ages, ethnicities, and gender, and emissions of SO2, NOx, and CO2 among regions and years. Moreover, SAS was utilized to estimate fully parametric regression models for emission density on total asthma prevalence, child asthma, and adult asthma. In our investigation of asthma prevalence, blacks, females, and children were found to have the highest incidence of asthma. Industrial emissions of SO2, NOx, and CO2 were analyzed, and CO2 had the largest emissions, followed by SO2, and lastly NOx. NOx had the highest correlation with asthma prevalence in child and adult asthma; however, when the influence of SO2, NOx, and CO2 on the overall asthma rate was investigated, CO2 showed the highest correlation. Furthermore, children exposed to SO2, NOx, and CO2 were found to have an increased risk of asthma when compared to adults. This adds to evidence that outdoor air pollution is associated with asthma and that more needs to be done to decrease industrial air pollution.
Solution and Nujol Matrix Photochemistry of (η5-C5H5)2Os2(CO)4 and Nujol Matrix Photochemistry of (η5-C5H4CH3)2Ru2(CO)4 and (η5-C5H5)M(CO)2H, Where M = Ru and Os

Lowering the temperature of a Nujol solution of (η5-C5H4CH3)2Ru2(CO)4 containing bands of the trans- and cis-bridging and trans-nonbridging isomers from room temperature to ca. 90 K results in comp...
Association Between Surgical Technical Skill and Long-term Survival for Colon Cancer

This cohort study examines the association between surgical technical skill and overall survival following colectomy for colon cancer.
Special considerations in paediatric intensive care

Abstract Paediatric intensive care units (PICU) provide care to the most critically ill or injured children. Children are admitted to PICU with a wide variety of illnesses, injuries and following a range of surgical procedures. High staff-to-patient ratios are required both because of the potentially rapid evolution of critical illness in children, as well as the complexity of the supportive therapies offered. Definitive evidence for specific paediatric therapies is often limited with extrapolation taken from adult experience, but there are increasing international collaborative efforts that have produced consensus treatment guidelines that serve to promote the use of best practice therapies. This article reviews therapies and techniques that define care in the PICU and in particular outline principles of management of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), septic shock and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Neonatal and cardiac intensive care medicine topics are outside the scope of this article.
Using nutrient transport data to characterize and identify the presence of surface inlets in regions with subsurface drainage.

Surface inlets route ponded surface water into subsurface drainage networks and are prevalent throughout North America. Despite serving as a nutrient loss pathway, contributing to downstream water quality degradation, surface inlets are thought to be underreported in drainage studies within the literature. Previous studies have demonstrated the footprint that surface inlets have on nutrient transport and drainage effluent but are site specific and focused on individual events. Moreover, although their ubiquitous presence is assumed, no regional surface inlet database exists. To this end, a structured review was undertaken with two goals. First, the MANAGE Drain Load database, consisting of nearly 1,500 site-years of drainage and nutrient data, was analyzed to determine distinctions between areas with and without surface inlets. The median annual total phosphorus (TP) load was greater at site-years with surface inlets (0.40 kg ha-1 ) than site-years without (0.21 kg ha-1 ). The opposite emerged for dissolved nitrogen (DN) loads as site-years with surface inlet had a smaller median annual load (3.3 kg ha-1 ) than site-years without (23.0 kg ha-1 ). This relationship is attributed to immobile TP being transported primarily through overland flow and routed to subsurface drains via surface inlets and to relatively more mobile DN being subsurface driven, bypassed in settings with surface inlets. No statistical differences were found in annual drainage or ratios of particulate P to TP between site-years with and without surface inlets. Second, a logistic regression model was developed that predicts the presence of surface inlets within MANAGE. Eighteen percent of site-years and 21% of sites were predicted to have surface inlets.
Boosting Health Services Research

Arguments for boosting health services research at an agency separate from the National Institutes of Health.
Influence of structural relaxation on the fatigue behavior of a Zr41.25Ti13.75Ni10Cu12.5Be22.5 bulk amorphous alloy

Abstract The cyclic fatigue behavior of two as-cast amorphous Zr41.25Ti13.75Ni10Cu12.5Be22.5 alloys was examined. Although both had identical compositions, the fatigue endurance strength (107 cycles) was higher for the alloy with less free volume, as determined by differential scanning calorimetry experiments. Such differences are believed to result from the processing cooling rates.
The road to Sicily: Lucilius to Seneca

One of Horace's best-known allegations in 'Epistles' 1 is that where in the world you are is neither here nor there, as long as you have peace of mind (animus aequus): caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt. strenua nos exercet inertia; nauibus atque quadrigis petimus bene uiuere. quod petis, hic est, est Vlubris, animus si te non deficit aequus. (Hor. Ep. 1.11.27-30) Cross the sea, and you change your climate, not your mental state. Restless idleness drives us on. In ships and chariots we seek the good life. What you seek is here, it's even at Ulubrae - if your mind is only at peace with itself. This turns out to be one of the book's hugest lies. It makes all the difference how Horace and his correspondents are placed when he is writing to them: Rome is different from backwater Ulubrae, Baiae from Brundisium. In 'Morals and Villas in Seneca's Letters', John Henderson has attached similar importance to named locations in calibrating metaphorical distance between Seneca and the correspondent of his 'Epistles', Lucilius. This paper aims to close a gap of two centuries between two of the most disparate figures in Latin literature: the same Seneca, that knotted-up recluse, and another Lucilius, the laughing cavalier satirist. The link: a journey made from Rome to Sicily, or, more precisely, the uses of the road to Sicily in epistolary-philosophical discourse (by way of Horace's 'Satires' and 'Epistles'). Lucilius' 'Iter Siculum' and Seneca's mental journeys to Sicily in the 'Epistulae Morales' are related stages, I will argue, in the philosophical applications of travel writing.
Studies on the salivary gland of Drosophila: II. Changes in nuclear and nucleolar volumes and their possible significance

Abstract An analysis of the nuclear and nucleolar volumes suggests: 1) There is a close correlation between cytoplasmic basophilia and nucleolar size, 2) the nucleolus and the RNA system is directly concerned with secretion and 3) there appears to be an equally direct connection between nuclear size and the degree of chromosome polyteny.
Uniqueness and Energy Integrals

We shall extend the method of energy integrals to more general second-order (hyperbolic) operators. This “energy” method is a basic technique in the modern theory of partial differential operators, and in the course of our development, we shall establish some interesting and important classical inequalities.
Inductive Databases and Knowledge Scouts

The development of very large databases and the world wide web has created extraordinary opportunities for monitoring, analyzing and predicting global economical, ecological, demographic, political, and other processes in the world. Our current technologies are, however, insufficient for these tasks, and we drowning in the deluge of data that are being collected world-wide. New methods and integrated tools are needed that can generate goal-oriented knowledge and predictive hypotheses from massive and multi-media data, stored in large distributed databases, warehouses, and the world wide web. These methods and tools must be able to cope not only with huge data volumes in various forms, but also with data inconsistency, missing values, noise, and/or possibly weak data relevance to any given task. The development of effective methods and systems for knowledge mining in large multimedia datas emerges as a central challenge on the research agenda for the 21st century. This talk will briefly discuss a novel project toward the above goals, which is conducted in the GMU Machine Learning and Inference Laboratory. The project concerns the development of what we call inductive databases and knowledge scouts. An inductive database extends a conventional database by integrating in it inductive inference capabilities (possibly also other types of uncertain reasoning). These capabilities allow a database to answer queries that require synthesizing plausible knowledge and make hypothetical predictions. One of the important design conditions for an inductive database is that the hypothesized knowledge satisfy the "postulate of comprehensiblity," that is, is in the form easy to understand and interpret by people. This can be achieved employing an appropriate representation langauge (for example, attributional calculus), and implementing a form of reasoning which we call "natural induction." An inductive database supports the implementation of knowledge scouts, which are personal intelligent agents that "live" in the database, and automatically search for knowledge of interest to a particular user or group of users. Presented concepts will be illustrated by initial results on searching for patterns that relate lifestyles with diseases in a large database from the American Cancer Society. At the end of the talk, we will demonstrate a system illustrating principles of natural induction.
Towards a Compositional Approach to the Design and Verification of Distributed Systems

We are investigating a component-based approach for formal design of distributed systems. In this paper, we introduce the framework we use for specification, composition and communication and we apply it to an example that highlights the different aspects of a compositional design, including top-down and bottom-up phases, proofs of composition, refinement proofs, proofs of program texts, and component reuse.
Monte Carlo Variance Reduction Using Nested Dxtran Spheres

AbstractDxtran is a deterministic transport method typically used for increasing the sampling in a spherical region that would otherwise not be adequately sampled because the probability of scattering toward the region is often very small. Essentially, the dxtran method splits the particle into two pieces at each source or collision point: a piece that arrives (without further collisions) at the dxtran sphere and a piece that does not. One difficulty with the dxtran method is that it can introduce a large weight fluctuation between particles colliding just before the sphere and particles colliding after crossing the sphere. New work shows that it is possible to mitigate this difficulty by extending the dxtran sphere concept to a set of nested dxtran spheres. Each dxtran sphere then shields its interior from particles whose weights are too large so that weights are more commensurate with their locations. Shielding against the large weights not only increases the efficiency of the calculation but the reliab...
Identification of an arene oxide metabolite of 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy

Tritiated 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (3H-TCB) was incubated with phenobarbital(PB)-induced rat liver microsomes in the presence of an epoxide hydrase inhibitor and a brominated analog (BrAO) of the expected metabolic intermediate, 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl-3,4-oxide (TCBAO). A putative arene oxide intermediate (3H-AO), which was radiolabeled, was separated from 3H-TCB and BrAO by column chromatography, high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and was analyzed for TCBAO by methods that were independent of radiometric techniques. The retention times (Rt's) of TCBAO and 3H-AO on two gas chromatography (GC) columns were the same, both before and after acid catalyzed rearrangement. 3H-AO was further characterized by rearrangement to a mixture of 3- and 4-hydroxy-TCB that was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The rate of TCB metabolism and the production of 3H-AO by liver microsomes from a PB-induced, adult male rhesus monkey was less than that observed with rat microsomes. The 3H-AO from the monkey was also characterized as TCBAO by rearrangement to the characteristic TCB phenols that were analyzed by GC-MS using selective ion monitoring. This study is the first in which an arene oxide of a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) was actually isolated as a mammalian metabolite and subjected to direct chemical analysis. it is an obligatory intermediate in TCB oxidation. Direct hydroxylation, i.e. insertion of singlet oxygen (or the equivalent), as delineated by Tomaszewski et al. [29] may exist as an alternative to the addition of oxygen across the aromatic bond at the 3,4 position of TCB. Oxidative metabolism of biphenyl [30] and certain hexachlorobiphenyls [3, 4] appears to proceed both via arene oxide intermediates and by direct hydroxylation. Both mechanisms of aromatic hydroxylation, perhaps catalyzed by distinct P-450 cytochromes, may be involved in the production of the various TCB metabolites.
Contact call diversity in wild orange-fronted parakeet pairs, Aratinga canicularis

Contact calls are used to maintain cohesion and coordinate movements in social animals. The amount and type of identity information provided by contact calls are linked to social organization. Socially stable species often converge on shared group-specific contact calls. In socially fluid species, contact calls tend to be individually distinctive; evidence indicates that such calls are important for mediating individual-specific interactions. Dolphins, for example, will mimic the individually distinctive contact calls of other individuals while socializing. We examined contact calls in another fission–fusion species, the orange-fronted parakeet. Free-living and temporarily captive nonbreeding pairs as well as free-living breeding pairs were recorded. In all contexts, pairs produced multiple (up to nine) discrete contact call types, but like dolphins, typically favoured one to two individually specific variants per bird. The number of dominant variants produced and their evenness of use varied with context. Captive pairs produced the fewest dominants, using them with high evenness. Free-living nonbreeding pairs produced more dominants, and showed similarly high evenness. Breeding pairs varied widely in the number of dominants produced and their evenness of use, showing both the highest and lowest values of each. Latent acoustic measures revealed greater structural variation within and among dominants for free-living compared to captive pairs, presumably reflecting the increased opportunity for social interaction available in the wild. Across contexts, calls could be accurately assigned to pair using acoustic measures; however, within-pair call clustering was not greater than that between pairs. Pairs' calls were distinctive, but in a way that preserved individual variation.
The modern version of a professional chastity belt

So, a new patient came in, an attractive, 35-yearold woman, whose chief complaint was that she has been referred by her general dentist for preprosthetic implant-site space reopening and development in the lower left posterior quadrant. It’s no big deal, simple really, but at the end of the initial screening and before we got into the detailed clinical examination, right after the medical history and review of systems, the patient said, “so, are you going to hit on me now, too?” I said “excuse me?” and patted myself on the back for always requiring an assistant to be present when I am treating a female patient. She retorted, “well, the last orthodontist I went to see wanted to, um, get together for a drink and whatever, and let’s just say that at the present time my dance card is full. On top of that, once I told him I really wasn’t interested, he kept persisting, making discreetly veiled comments laced with innuendo and double entendres, all of which made me feel uncomfortable. I tried to end his come-on by saying that I didn’t think I could afford the fee, although I certainly can, but he said he was sure something could be worked out.” I stopped her right there, telling her that she had nothing to worry about from me and that “even though I am on a diet, I still like to peruse the menu now and then, but I have no interest in anything other than my usual fare.” She smiled at my quick-witted banter, and we moved on to more important things such as her orthodontic requirements. This verbal intercourse started me thinking about a law, recently passed in Florida, that defines this type of dialogue as sexual misconduct for which, if one is found guilty, one stands a good chance of losing one’s license. Florida Statutes, Section 456.063, defines sexual misconduct by a health-care practitioner:
Rapid Melt Growth of Germanium Tunnel Junctions

A rapid melt growth process for forming interband n + p+ Esaki tunnel junctions on Ge is shown. The process uses a phosphorus spin-on diffusant and rapid thermal annealing to form the n+ side of the junction, while for the p+ side, a deposited aluminum film serves both as an acceptor dopant source and a melt for epitaxial regrowth of p + Ge. The current density in these junctions depends strongly on the peak temperature of the Al-Ge melt and ranges between a few μA/μm 2 to over 1 mA/μm 2 . The use of a silicon nitride microcrucible improves the surface morphology by confining the melt. Record forward peak current density of 1.2 mA/μm 2 and reverse interband tunnel current density of 3.8 mA/μm 2 is achieved at a peak temperature of approximately 600°C.
The transient behavior of diffraction of plane pulse by a circular cylinder

Abstract The large-time transient behavior of diffraction of a plane pulse by a circular cylinder is investigated for three different boundary conditions. In each case the behavior is found to be quite different from others. The solutions are expressed in integral forms by Laplace Transforms. The integrals are then evaluated asymptotically for large time or small transform variable. Special attention has been paid to show that the otal field vanishes in the region ahead of the incoming shock front.
Model hard-sphere dispersions: statistical mechanical theory, simulations, and experiments

The rheological, diffusive and structural behavior of concentrated monodisperse Brownian hard-sphere dispersions in and out of equilibrium are of increasing interest. Experiment and Stokesian Dynamics simulation generally agree for all shear rates, while theoretical scaling arguments for hydrodynamic interactions in concentrated suspensions give encouraging predictions. Both experiment and simulation call into question whether particles behave as perfect hard spheres.
Application of orientation imaging microscopy to study phase transformations in steels

Abstract In this investigation, the methodology, advantages, and limitations of using Orientation Imaging Microscopy (OIM) to study microstructures in multiphase steels are examined. In particular, proeutectoid ferrite precipitation has been investigated in a hypoeutectoid steel (Fe–0.12%C–3%Ni), while the proeutectoid cementite transformation has been studied in a hypereutectoid steel (Fe–1.3%C–13%Mn). By utilizing misorientation maps and inverse pole figure maps to determine the orientation differences between individual crystals, the internal morphology of the solid-state precipitates has been determined. What appear by other types of imaging to be monolithic single crystals are shown to be aggregates of finer crystals with misorientations between them. The relative quality of the Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) patterns has been correlated to specific phases and to interphase and grain boundaries using pattern quality maps (also referred to as image quality maps). These techniques have been adapted for quantitative identification of different microconstituents, including volume fraction measurements. By making comparisons among optical micrographs, conventional SEM micrographs, pattern quality maps, inverse pole figure maps, and misorientation maps, the advantages and limitations of different types of OIM mapping for studying different aspects of phase transformations in steels are elucidated.