cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory: A conceptual framework and measure of intercultural conflict resolution approaches

Abstract Grounded in the pragmatics of human communication perspective, the current study examined how disagreements and emotion function across cultural context in resolving conflict. Specifically, the research effort developed the Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) inventory, a 36-item measure of intercultural conflict resolution style based on two core dimensions: Direct vs. indirect approaches to dealing with disagreements and emotionally expressive vs. emotionally restrained patterns for dealing with the affective dimension of conflict interaction. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) found the proposed two-factor model was a good fit to the data. Analysis of the CFA findings identified a final set of 18 direct/indirect items and 18 emotional expressiveness/restraint items. The direct/indirect scale obtained a coefficient alpha of .73 and the emotional expressiveness/restraint scale achieved .85 reliability. Validity testing of the scales found no significant effects by gender, education or previous intercultural living experience. A theoretical framework for understanding differences in conflict resolution styles grounded in the development of this inventory, a practical, four-quadrant intercultural conflict resolution style model is proposed based on high/low levels of directness and high/low levels of emotional expressiveness: (1) discussion style (direct & emotionally restrained), (2) engagement style (direct & emotionally expressive), (3) accommodation style (indirect & emotionally restrained) and (4) dynamic style (indirect and emotionally expressive).
Generating Realistic COVID-19 x-rays with a Mean Teacher + Transfer Learning GAN

COVID-19 is a novel infectious disease responsible for over 1.2 million deaths worldwide as of November 2020. The need for rapid testing is a high priority and alternative testing strategies including x-ray image classification are a promising area of research. However, at present, public datasets for COVID-19 x-ray images have low data volumes, making it challenging to develop accurate image classifiers. Several recent papers have made use of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in order to increase the training data volumes. But realistic synthetic COVID-19 x-rays remain challenging to generate. We present a novel Mean Teacher + Transfer GAN (MTT-GAN) that generates COVID-19 chest x-ray images of high quality. In order to create a more accurate GAN, we employ transfer learning from the Kaggle pneumonia x-ray dataset, a highly relevant data source orders of magnitude larger than public COVID-19 datasets. Furthermore, we employ the Mean Teacher algorithm as a constraint to improve stability of training. Our qualitative analysis shows that the MTT-GAN generates x-ray images that are greatly superior to a baseline GAN and visually comparable to real x-rays. Although board-certified radiologists can distinguish MTT-GAN fakes from real COVID-19 x-rays, quantitative analysis shows that MTT-GAN greatly improves the accuracy of both a binary COVID-19 classifier as well as a multi-class pneumonia classifier as compared to a baseline GAN. Our classification accuracy is favorable as compared to recently reported results in the literature for similar binary and multi-class COVID-19 screening tasks.
The berry health tool chest - an evidence map and interactive resource.

Berry consumption is linked to diverse health benefits, but numerous questions remain regarding mechanism of action, dose efficacy, and optimal duration and frequency of intake. Addressing these outstanding questions requires an organized assessment of current research, to inform future study designs and fill critical knowledge gaps. Tools that organize such information will also facilitate consumer messaging, targeted nutritional health initiatives, and dietary intake guidelines. This review aimed to describe the development and utility of the "Berry Health Tool Chest," an evidence map summarizing trial design features of studies characterizing the impact of berry consumption upon human health biomarkers. A systematic search strategy identified relevant high-quality human feeding studies, whose study design parameters were collected and compiled into an evidence map that is freely available as an interactive online interface enabling tabulated data to be interrogated, filtered, and exported. Of the 231 included studies, approximately 70% were of less than 3 months' duration and/or fewer than 50 participants, illustrating research gaps that could potentially inform the design of future studies.
A 10-step procedure for distal hypospadias repair with 50% resident involvement is safe and effective

Abstract Background Pediatric urological surgeons have long recognized hypospadias repair to be technically challenging. Resident involvement during hypospadias repair is reportedly limited due to this perceived difficulty. Objective To 1) describe a consistent 10-step streamlined surgical technique where senior urology residents perform half of a distal hypospadias repair 2) report outcomes of these procedures 3) review current literature regarding resident involvement in hypospadias repair. Subjects and methods A retrospective analysis was performed for 147 patients who underwent distal hypospadias repair between July 2008 and July 2019 at an academic tertiary center children's hospital. Hypospadias repairs were included for one-stage procedures with a mid-penile or distal meatal location. A systematic literature review was conducted to search for articles regarding resident experiences in hypospadias repair and used for comparing outcomes. Surgical procedure and measurements The surgery was performed with a variation of the TIP technique, which was divided into 10-steps with equal resident and attending participation. Complications were significant if they required additional surgical intervention. Results Average patient age was 19.5 months with an average follow-up of 18.4 months. Overall, nine patients (6.1%) developed complications that required surgical reintervention. Urethrocutaneous fistula occurred in 5 (3.4%). Meatal stenosis developed in 3 (2.0%). One patient developed a skin tag (0.7%). These were comparable to rates found in the literature review. Suggested methods for improving surgical training and repair outcomes, per the literature review, include attendings reviewing their own outcomes, determining key consistent streamlined surgical steps to teach, concentrated experience of caseloads for residents, and strict guided supervision through the entire procedure. Conclusion Our results with streamlined and consistent surgical steps and 50% resident involvement demonstrate that it is feasible to incorporate residents into this highly-technical procedure, which helps to build the foundation of microsurgical skills for urology residents without compromising the outcomes or duration of surgery in this special population.
Safety of Valganciclovir 450 mg 3 Times Weekly for Cytomegalovirus Prophylaxis in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Requiring Hemodialysis.

Background Valganciclovir is the most commonly used antiviral for cytomegalovirus (CMV) prophylaxis in solid organ transplant recipients. However, there are limited clinical outcomes-supported data available to guide valganciclovir dosing in patients on hemodialysis (HD). This study aimed to assess the safety of our institution's current dosing strategy of valganciclovir 450 mg 3 times weekly post-HD. Methods This was a single-center retrospective review of all adult nonkidney transplant recipients between May 2016 and June 2018. Patients with end-stage renal disease requiring HD for >28 days posttransplant receiving valganciclovir 450 mg 3 times weekly post-HD were matched with non-HD patients receiving valganciclovir prophylaxis dosed per renal function. The primary endpoints were incidence of leukopenia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia while on valganciclovir prophylaxis. Results A total of 465 nonkidney transplants were performed during the study period, with 37 patients included in the HD group who were matched to 111 control patients in the non-HD group. Liver transplant recipients comprised 84% and 72% of each group, with none being CMV D+/R-. The rates of leukopenia (51.4% vs 51.4%, P = 1.00), severe neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count <500 cells/µL, 15.8% vs 14.0%, P = .85), and thrombocytopenia (24.3% vs 20.7%, P = .64) were similar in both HD and non-HD groups. There were no cases of CMV infection while on valganciclovir prophylaxis in either group. Conclusions Valganciclovir 450 mg 3 times weekly was found to have similar rates of leukopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and CMV infection in comparison to valganciclovir dosed per renal function in non-HD transplant recipients.
Coherent Gene Assemblies: Example, Yeast Cell Division Cycle, CDC

Abstract A fresh approach to the dynamics of gene assemblies is presented. Central to the exposition are the concepts of: high value genes; correlated activity; and the orderly unfolding of gene dynamics; and especially dynamic mode decomposition, DMD, a remarkable new tool for dissecting dynamics. This program is carried out, in detail, for the Orlando et al yeast database (Orlando et al. 2008). It is shown that the yeast cell division cycle, CDC, requires no more than a six dimensional space, formed by three complex temporal modal pairs, each associated with characteristic aspects of the cell cycle: (1) A mother cell cohort that follows a fast clock; (2) A daughter cell cohort that follows a slower clock; (3) inherent gene expression, unrelated to the CDC. A derived set of sixty high-value genes serves as a model for the correlated unfolding of gene activity. Confirmation of our results comes from an independent database, and other considerations. The present analysis, leads naturally, to a Fourier description, for the sparsely sampled data. From this, resolved peak times of gene expression are obtained. This in turn leads to prediction of precise times of expression in the unfolding of the CDC genes. The activation of each gene appears as uncoupled dynamics from the mother and daughter cohorts, of different durations. These deliberations lead to detailed estimates of the fraction of mother and daughter cells, specific estimates of their maturation periods, and specific estimates of the number of genes in these cells. An algorithmic framework for yeast modeling is proposed, and based on the new analyses, a range of theoretical ideas and new experiments are suggested. A Supplement contains additional material and other perspectives.
Time Served in Prison, in-Prison Experiences, and Perceptions of Procedural Justice

The coercive nature of prisons is a longstanding topic of academic inquiry. Although correctional staff help incarcerated individuals adjust to prison by enforcing prison rules and providing guidan...
Exercise maintains blood-brain barrier integrity during early stages of brain metastasis formation.

Abstract Tumor cell extravasation into the brain requires passage through the blood–brain barrier, which is a highly protected microvascular environment fortified with tight junction (TJ) proteins. TJ integrity can be regulated under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. There is evidence that exercise can modulate oxidation status within the brain microvasculature and protect against tumor cell extravasation and metastasis formation. In order to study these events, mature male mice were given access to voluntary exercise on a running wheel (exercise) or access to a locked wheel (sedentary) for five weeks. The average running distance was 9.0 ± 0.2 km/day. Highly metastatic tumor cells (murine Lewis lung carcinoma) were then infused into the brain microvasculature through the internal carotid artery. Analyses were performed at early stage (48 h) and late stage (3 weeks) post tumor cell infusion. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed fewer isolated tumor cells extravasating into the brain at both 48 h and 3 weeks post surgery in exercised mice. Occludin protein levels were reduced in the sedentary tumor group, but maintained in the exercised tumor group at 48 h post tumor cell infusion. These results indicate that voluntary exercise may participate in modulating blood–brain barrier integrity thereby protecting the brain during metastatic progression.
Possession as the Origin of Property

How do things come to be owned? This is a fundamental puzzle for anyone who thinks about property. One buys things from other owners, to be sure, but how did the other owners get those things? Any chain of ownership or title must have a first link. Someone had to do something to anchor that link. The law tells us what steps we must follow to obtain ownership of things, but we need a theory that tells us why these steps should do the job. John Locke's view, once described as "the standard bourgeois theory,"' is probably the one most familiar to American students. Locke argued that an original owner is one who mixes his or her labor with a thing and, by commingling that labor with the thing, establishes ownership of it.2 This labor theory is appealing because it appears to rest on "desert,"3 but it has some problems. First, without a prior theory of ownership, it is not self-evident that one owns even the labor that is mixed with something else.4 Second, even if one does own the labor that one performs, the labor theory provides no guidance in determining the scope of the right that
Review of Research Handbook on the Protection of Intellectual Property Under WTO Rules & Research Handbook on the Interpretation and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Under WTO Rules

These Research Handbooks discuss the TRIPS Agreement and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the World Trade Organization. These books will be useful sources for advanced scholars of international trade and intellectual property law.
How Different are the Core Cases for and Against Judicial Review

Recently Jeremy Waldron offered the "core of the case against judicial review." Richard Fallon responded with the "core of an uneasy case for judicial review." The core case for judicial review rested on a number of important conditions, and the core case against it incorporated a number of important qualifications. The two cases are quite similar once we take the conditions and qualifications into account. Imagine the conditions lying at the periphery of the core case against judicial review, and the qualifications lying at the periphery of the core case for it, and then convert the peripheries into the core. We will then see that the conditioned core case against judicial review is nearly identical to the qualified core case for it. This Essay focuses on Professor Fallon's case. At its heart that case rests on the proposition that "[l]egislative action is more likely to violate fundamental rights than legislative inaction."Put another way: Fewer statutes are better than more statutes. I call this the libertarian presupposition in Professor Fallon's case. As a presupposition it can be overcome, and the qualifications Professor Fallon places on his argument describe the circumstances under which it is. Yet, taking those qualifications into account reduces the scope of judicial review to one largely compatible with Professor Waldron's conditioned case against judicial review. Differences between the cases are reduced even further by Professor Fallon's tentative conclusion that weak-form judicial review is probably preferable to the strong form characteristic of U.S. judicial review. Part II of this Essay outlines the two core cases. Part III examines the libertarian presupposition, raising questions about its implication that private violations of fundamental rights are less serious or pervasive than violations of fundamental rights pursuant to legislation. Part IV discusses an issue that Professor Fallon generally sets to one side: Professor Waldron's argument that an important part of the core case against judicial review is the existence of reasonable disagreement about the proper specification of fundamental rights. I argue that, while Professor Fallon provides a plausible psychological account of why the existence of such disagreement is unlikely to do much work in persuading people to accept the core case against judicial review, that psychological account offers a path toward understanding the different dispositions that lead Professors Waldron and Fallon to characterize their quite similar positions in the more dramatic "against-for" manner. Part V summarizes the similarities in the two core cases.
Intrinsically switchable ferroelectric BAW resonators and filters

In this paper, intrinsically switchable radio frequency (RF) resonators and bandpass filters using ferroelectric thin film technology are presented. Ferroelectrics materials exhibit electrostriction and dc electric field induced piezoelectricity. This paper discusses the design and fabrication of intrinsically switchable film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs), FBAR filters, and contour mode resonators by employing the dc electric field induced piezoelectricity of the ferroelectric Ba x Sr (1−x) TiO 3 . Such resonators and filters have the ability to decrease the complexity, power consumption, and cost of frequency agile radios while improving their performance and reliability.
A comparison of RC op amp and RC current conveyor filters

Using a general procedure for designing C current conveyor networks having a specified voltage transfer function, an example is considered in which the current conveyors are implemented using the AD844. A comparison is made between filters implemented using op amps and filters implemented using current conveyors. It is found that filters containing nonideal current conveyors and filters containing nonideal op amps preform similarly. >
Efficiently Learning Random Fields for Stereo Vision with Sparse Message Passing

As richer models for stereo vision are constructed, there is a growing interest in learning model parameters. To estimate parameters in Markov Random Field (MRF) based stereo formulations, one usually needs to perform approximate probabilistic inference. Message passing algorithms based on variational methods and belief propagation are widely used for approximate inference in MRFs. Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) are discriminative versions of traditional MRFs and have recently been applied to the problem of stereo vision. However, CRF parameter training typically requires expensive inference steps for each iteration of optimization. Inference is particularly slow when there are many discrete disparity levels, due to high state space cardinality. We present a novel CRF for stereo matching with an explicit occlusion model and propose sparse message passing to dramatically accelerate the approximate inference needed for parameter optimization. We show that sparse variational message passing iteratively minimizes the KL divergence between the approximation and model distributions by optimizing a lower bound on the partition function. Our experimental results show reductions in inference time of one order of magnitude with no loss in approximation quality. Learning using sparse variational message passing improves results over prior work using graph cuts.
On some upper bounds for spin velocity and instability of gapless state of 1-d Heisenberg chains

We derive upper bounds for spin velocity in half-integer-spin Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains. We relate these upper bounds to the instability of the gapless state, which is observed in frustrated systems.
Research Training, Institutional Support, and Self-Efficacy: Their Impact on Research Activity of Social Workers

While the expectations for social work practitioners to do research have increased, their involvement is still limited. We know little about what factors influence involvement in research. The present study proposes a theoretical model that hypothesizes research training and institutional support for research as the exogenous variables, research self-efficacy as an intervening variable, and research activity as the endogenous variable. The study tests the model using data collected from a random sample of social workers. To a large degree the data support the model. Research self-efficacy has a significant effect on research activity. It is also an important mediating variable for the effect of institutional support on research activity. Although institutional support for research has no direct effect, it has an indirect effect via self-efficacy on research activity. However, research training has no effect on research activity and self-efficacy in research. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Ischemia-related changes in circulating stem and progenitor cells and associated clinical characteristics in peripheral artery disease

The extent and clinical significance of stem and progenitor cell (SPC) increases in response to lower-extremity ischemia in people with peripheral artery disease (PAD) are unclear. We compared changes in SPC levels immediately following a treadmill exercise test between individuals with and without PAD. Among participants with PAD, we determined whether more severe PAD was associated with greater increases in SPCs following treadmill exercise-induced lower-extremity ischemia. We measured SPC levels in 25 participants with PAD and 20 without PAD before and immediately after a treadmill exercise test. Participants with PAD, compared to participants without PAD, had greater increases in CD34(+)CD45(dim) (+0.08±0.03 vs -0.06±0.04, p=0.008), CD34(+)CD45(dim)CD133(+) (+0.08±0.05 vs -0.08±0.04, p=0.014), CD34(+)CD45(dim)CD31(+) (+0.10±0.03 vs -0.07±0.04, p=0.002), and CD34(+)CD45(dim)ALDH(+) SPCs (+0.18±0.07 vs -0.05±0.08, p=0.054) measured as a percentage of all white blood cells. Among participants with PAD, those with any increases in the percent of SPCs immediately after the treadmill exercise test compared to those with no change or a decrease in SPCs had lower baseline ankle-brachial index values (0.65±0.17 vs 0.90±0.19, p=0.004) and shorter treadmill times to onset of ischemic leg symptoms (2.17±1.54 vs 5.25±3.72 minutes, p=0.012). In conclusion, treadmill exercise-induced lower-extremity ischemia is associated with acute increases in circulating SPCs among people with PAD. More severe PAD is associated with a higher prevalence of SPC increases in response to lower-extremity ischemia. Further prospective study is needed to establish the prognostic significance of ischemia-related increases in SPCs among patients with PAD.
Antiproliferative triterpenoid saponins of Dodonaea viscosa from the Madagascar dry forest.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of an EtOH extract obtained from the roots of the Madagascan plant Dodonaea viscosa led to the isolation of two new antiproliferative oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins, dodoneasides A and B (1 and 2). The structures of these two new compounds were elucidated using 1D and 2D NMR experiments and mass spectrometry. Compounds 1 and 2 showed antiproliferative activity against the A2780 human ovarian cancer cell line with IC50 values of 0.79 and 0.70 μM, respectively.
Ultrasonic structural health monitoring: Strategies, issues and progress

Several different strategies are being considered for ultrasonic structural health monitoring systems using a variety of approaches. Guided wave techniques for interrogating large plate-like structures have probably generated the most interest; these methods have the potential of monitoring large areas with a low sensor density while remaining sensitive to defects. The acousto-ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation method has motivated the use of long-time, reverberating waves which “fill” a structure and hence monitor large areas. Local methods based upon several different wave modes have been considered for monitoring known “hot spots” such as fastener holes and critical bonds. Presented here are examples of these three strategies where the purpose is to both show progress which has been made and illustrate key issues, mainly in the context of aerospace applications. The progress and problems thus far show both the promise of ultrasonic structural health monitoring and the significant challenges in moving from the laboratory to deployed systems.
Regulatory Considerations for Antiretroviral Prophylaxis to Prevent HIV Acquisition

Antiretrovirals (ARVs) decrease the infectiousness of treated HIV-infected persons and can reduce the acquisition of HIV infection when taken by uninfected persons. Coformulated emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (FTC/TDF) is approved in the United States for the preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) indication, changing the regulatory landscape for new prophylactic agents. We describe the challenge of conducting rigorous clinical end-point trials for prophylactic agents and point to alternatives that leverage new information about correlates of HIV risk and protection.
Low Interfacial Tensions Involving Mixtures of Surfactants

The interfacial tension of surfactant mixtures with hydrocarbons obeys a simple scaling rule. Many apparently inert surfactants give low tensions when in mixtures, and the scaling rule still applies to these mixtures. The influence of surfactant structure and molecular weight on low tension behavior is examined, and the application of these results to the optimization of surfactant flooding systems is discussed.
Size and charge heterogeneity of rat tissue ferritins

Abstract Ferritins purified from horse spleen and from rat liver, kidney, heart and hepatoma were analyzed by quantitative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. From the migration characteristics of these ferritins at several gel concentrations, Ferguson plots were constructed and the molecular sizes and charges (apparent valences) together with their statistical variability were obtained by applying Rodbard computer programs to the data. Finally, ellipses were drawn describing the 95 per cent confidence limits of these data for size and charge and were used to identify those ferritins that differed in size and/or charge. By these criteria, many of the tissue ferritins were differentiated from one another in terms of their molecular size and/or charge. Among the various tissue ferritin monomers, the molecular sizes were essentially similar (420 000–490 000) except for the two heart ferritins which were larger (530 000 and 626 000, respectively). However, the estimated charges on rat liver, kidney and hepatoma monomers (30–38 net protons per molecule) differed from that of spleen monomer (51 net protons per molecule) while the larger rat heart ferritin also had a greater charge (83 net protons) than the smaller (40 net protons). Apoferritins prepared chemically by removal of iron from the holoferritins had migration properties indistinguishable from the parent holoferritins. The migration properties of minor (dimeric) ferritin bands on the gels were compared with those of the monomer bands. The molecular sizes of the minor bands were larger than those of the major bands, and were not inconsistent with a doubling in size. However, charge differences varied, being either similar for major and minor forms (spleen ferritin), approximately twice for the minor form (rat hepatoma ferritin) or five times greater for the minor form (rat liver ferritin). These differences in behavior were confirmed by using minimally sieving gels, on which the major bands of horse spleen ferritin failed to separate whereas those of rat liver ferritin were readily separable. It is concluded that dimers of ferritins from different tissues may associate in different ways.
Differential Effects of Rail Deregulation on US Grain Producers

The efficiency benefits of US rail industry deregulation have been widely documented. This research provides new insight regarding the accrual of benefits within the US grain industry. A study of rail grain rates from 1980 to 2000 finds railroads decreased rates for all grain shippers. The greatest gain in benefits was to producers in the most competitive market environments. Regions and products with less competitive transportation markets will become increasingly disadvantaged if the trend continues. Rail rates are a key determinant in grain market viability and producer profitability in these rail dominated markets.
Some ideas about the mechanism causing two-phase critical flow

While the theory concerning critical discharges of single-phase flow, in particular of gases, is well known, the direct opposite is true for two-phase mixtures. The question still remains to be answered whether critical flow occurs for two-phase flow with the same implications that it carries for single-phase flow. A theoretical analysis, which is supported by experimental data, is presented in this paper and indicates that the implications for single-phase and two-phase critical flow differ significantly. While single-phase flow is restricted by so-called sonic choking, the extra freedom available in a two-phase flow system, the slip ratio, restricts the maximum flow in the latter. Furthermore, two-phase critical flow is achieved when the slip ratio takes on a value such that the rate of momentum gain by convection per unit volume becomes identical in each fluid phase.
Using the area under the curve to reduce measurement error in predicting young adult blood pressure from childhood measures

Tracking correlations of blood pressure, particularly childhood measures, may be attenuated by within-person variability. Combining multiple measurements can reduce this error substantially. The area under the curve (AUC) computed from longitudinal growth curve models can be used to improve the prediction of young adult blood pressure from childhood measures. Quadratic random-effects models over unequally spaced repeated measures were used to compute the area under the curve separately within the age periods 5-14 and 20-34 years in the Bogalusa Heart Study. This method adjusts for the uneven age distribution and captures the underlying or average blood pressure, leading to improved estimates of correlation and risk prediction. Tracking correlations were computed by race and gender, and were approximately 0.6 for systolic, 0.5-0.6 for K4 diastolic, and 0.4-0.6 for K5 diastolic blood pressure. The AUC can also be used to regress young adult blood pressure on childhood blood pressure and childhood and young adult body mass index (BMI). In these data, while childhood blood pressure and young adult BMI were generally directly predictive of young adult blood pressure, childhood BMI was negatively correlated with young adult blood pressure when childhood blood pressure was in the model. In addition, racial differences in young adult blood pressure were reduced, but not eliminated, after controlling for childhood blood pressure, childhood BMI, and young adult BMI, suggesting that other genetic or lifestyle factors contribute to this difference.
Iconic storage: the role of rods

The hypothesis that rods mediate iconic storage was tested by presenting letters of one color against a field of another. The colors were chosen to be discriminable only by the cones, only by the rods, or both. Under dark adaptation, the rods had little if any effect on partial-report advantage; however, they were important in determining the phenomenal persistence of the stimulus. Under light adaptation, the rods played no apparent role in either type of persistence.
Spliced capillaries for use in capillary electrophoresis with conductivity detection

Presently, commercial capillaries for use in capillary electrophoresis (CE) with conductivity detection have a permanently mounted sensor which forms part of the conductivity cell. Ability to splice different capillaries to the sensor would allow versatility in choice of capillary dimensions and bonded columns as well as simply replacing old capillaries. Various capillaries can be easily joined to the sensor using a zero dead volume stainless steel union and ferrule. The performance of a 60 cm×50 μm spliced capillary is compared to that of an original commercial capillary of the same dimensions through electropherograms of a mixture of anionic surfactants taken with a NaF buffer. The plate count (N) and resolution (R s ) of the spliced capillary averaged 93% and 82% of those for the unspliced capillary. The reproducibility of the peak height and peak mobility of the surfactants for the spliced capillary are generally 1-3% R.S.D. and <1% R.S.D., respectively. Characterization with respect to N and R s of capillaries with different diameter and lengths for CE of anionic surfactants with conductivity detection is also investigated. An amine bonded capillary permitted the separation of anions or cations using the same electrolyte but just switching the polarity of the applied voltage.
Palæonictis in the American Lower Eocene

PALAEONTOLOGISTS will welcome Dr. T. L. Wortman's discovery of a nearly complete skull of Palaeonictis in the Wahsatch Lower Eocene of Wyoming. The only specimens of this form known hitherto are the two fragmentary lower jaws from the Suessonian lignites of France upon which De Blainville founded the genus in 1841. This specimen includes the facial region of the skull and the complete lower jaws in fine preservation. We owe it to the expert skill of Dr. Wortman, for the fossil was found completely dissociated; he carried several sacks of the debris surrounding the fragments fifteen miles to the nearest river, and by careful washing recovered all the teeth.
N-Nitrosodimethylamine in beer

Abstract Commercially-available bottled and canned beer was analysed for volatile nitrosamines using a chemiluminescence detector. N -Nitrosodimethylamine, the only volatile nitrosamine found, was detected in 23 of 25 samples analysed. The range of levels was 0–14 ppb (μg/kg) while the mean was 5·9 ppb. The identity of N -nitrosodimethylamine was confirmed by mass spectrometry.
Commentary on Self-Esteem as an Interpersonal Monitor: The Sociometer Hypothesis (1995)

(2003). Commentary on Self-Esteem as an Interpersonal Monitor: The Sociometer Hypothesis (1995) Psychological Inquiry: Vol. 14, No. 3-4, pp. 270-274.
Cycles in the two-sex problem: an investigation of a nonlinear demographic model.

A fundamental shortcoming of classic stable population theory is its failure to handle populations differentiated by sex. The classic theory is linear while the two‐sex problem is inherently nonlinear. Previous two‐sex investigations have focused on equilibrium conditions rather than dynamics, and ignored competition between age groups for marriage partners. This study makes a start at analyzing dynamics and models that incorporate competition, which can play an important role in any realistic marriage model and can turn a model with a stable equilibrium sex ratio into one with a cycling equilibrium. As competition for mates increases is the cycle period stable or does it respond more sensitively? Over a wide range of demographic parameters the period at bifurcation is a good predictor of the cycle period for higher levels of competition; however, other cycle characteristics are insufficiently predicted by linear methods and nonlinear methods are needed to complete the picture.
How Might the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 Affect the Financial Viability of Rural Pharmacies? An Analysis of Preimplementation Prescription Volume and Payment Sources in Rural and Urban Areas

ABSTRACT: Context: Passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) has created interest in how the legislation will affect access to prescription drugs among rural beneficiaries. Policy attention has focused to a much lesser degree on the implications of the MMA for the financial viability of rural pharmacies. Purpose: This article presents descriptive information on mail-order prescriptions, volume, and payer type of retail prescriptions in rural vs urban areas. Together, these data provide a baseline for evaluating how implementation of the MMA may affect the financial viability of rural independent pharmacies. Methods: Projections of prescriptions dispensed from retail and mail-order pharmacies in 2002 for the total US and a sample of 17 states were obtained from IMS Health. Findings: The volume of mail-order prescriptions is small. Rural providers prescribed fewer retail and mail-order prescriptions per person, but more units per person. Rural areas have a higher percentage of prescriptions paid for by cash (18% vs 13%) and Medicaid (16% vs 10%) and a lower percentage of third-party payers than urban areas. Significant variation in volume and payer type exists between states. Conclusions: Rural, independent pharmacies may be negatively affected by MMA implementation as business shifts from cash to third-party reimbursement. The high degree of variation between states also has potentially important implications for the implementation of Prescription Drug Plan regions under MMA.
Mining named entity transliteration equivalents from comparable corpora

Named Entities (NEs) form a significant fraction of query terms in Information Retrieval (IR) systems and their retrieval has been shown to correlate highly with the IR system performance. NEs are even more important in Cross Language Information Retrieval (CLIR), as in addition to being a significant component of query terms. In the recent times, the large quantity and the perpetual availability of news corpora in many of the world’s languages simultaneously, has spurred interest in a promising alternative to NE translation or transliteration, particularly, the mining of Named Entity Transliteration Equivalents (NETEs) from such news corpora (Klementiev and Roth, 2006; Tao et al., 2006). Formally, comparable news corpora are time-aligned news stories in a pair of languages, over a reasonably long duration. NETEs mined from comparable news corpora could be valuable in many tasks such as CLIR and MT, to effectively complement the bilingual dictionaries and the machine transliteration systems. This opportunity is precisely what we address in our work. We introduce a novel method, called MINT (MIning Namedentity Transliteration equivalents), with the following innovations for effective mining of NETEs from comparable corpora: MINT relies on little linguistic resources, requiring a Named Entity Recoginizer (NER) in only one language; hence NETEs from even a resource poor language may be mined, when paired with a language where an NER is available.
Ultrasonic velocity measurements near the 250°K phase transition in BaMnF4☆

Abstract Ultrasonic velocity measurements for longitudinal and shear modes propagating parallel to the crystallographic axes of orthorhombic BaMnF4 are presented for temperatures between 200°K and 290°K. Sharp anomalies at ∼ 250°K are observed for the modes Vbc = Vcb and Vcc.
I Could Kill a Woman or Wound a Man : Melancholic Rage in the Poems of Sylvia Plath

Fury jams the gullet and spreads poison, but, as soon as I start to write, dissipates, f lows out into the figure of the letters: writing as therapy? (Journals 255)
Stabilization of superconducting phases in thallium-barium-copper oxide system by fluorine substitution [TlBa2CuO5−xFx]

Abstract Partial substitution of oxygen by fluorine in TlBa 2 CuO 5 has been achieved by heating Tl 2 O 3 , BaO 2 , BaO and CuO under one kbar external pressure using TlF as a source for fluorine. A single phase region exists for 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.5 and the X-ray powder diffraction data indicated a tetragonal structure (space group: P4/ mmm ) for all the compounds. The in-plane Cu-O distance calculated from the a -lattice parameter showed a systematic increase as x was varied from 0.1 to 0.5. This due to an increase in the formal oxidation state of copper as F 1− substitutes for O 2− in the 1201-type structure. The c -lattice parameter also showed a slight increase, as the fluorine content in the reaction mixture is increased. Superconductivity is observed for x values within the range 0.1 to 0.6 with transition temperatures in the range 35–75 K.
A mathematical model for predicting the geographic spread of new infectious agents

Abstract A mathematical model for the temporal and geographic spread of an epidemic in a network of populations is presented. The model is formulated on a continuous state space in discrete time for an infectious disease that confers immunity following infection. The model allows for a general distribution of both the latent and infectious periods. An epidemic threshold theorem is given along with methods for finding the final attack rate when a single closed population is modeled. The model is first applied to analyzing the spread of influenza in single, closed populations in England and Wales and Greater London for the years 1958–1973. Then the model is used to predict the spread of Hong Kong influenza in 1968–1969 among 52 of the world's major cities. The prediction for the whole network of cities is based on air-transport data and on the estimated parameters from the ascending limb of the reported epidemic curve in Hong Kong, the first city to experience a major influenza epidemic in 1968. Finally, extensions and future uses of a model for temporal-geographic spread of infectious agents is discussed.
Abdominal Pain Is a Frequent Symptom of Gastroparesis

Background & Aims Although the most commonly recognized symptoms of gastroparesis (GP) are nausea and vomiting, patients also report abdominal pain. We aimed to define the prevalence, severity, and quality of abdominal pain in GP and to correlate abdominal pain with gastric emptying (GE) and quality of life. Methods Patients presumed to have GP underwent 4-hour GE scintigraphy and upper endoscopy examinations and completed the following: patient assessments of gastrointestinal symptoms (Patient Assessment of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity Index), abdominal pain questionnaires (Short-Form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire), and quality-of-life questionnaires. Results The study group consisted of 68 patients (58 female; 10 male) with delayed GE (18 diabetic gastroparesis [DG] and 50 idiopathic gastroparesis [IG]). Abdominal pain was present in 90% of patients (89% DG, 90% IG) and nausea was present in 96% (100% DG, 94% IG). Abdominal pain was epigastric in 43% and umbilical in 13%. Pain occurred daily in 43% and was constant in 38%. Pain often was induced by eating (72%), was nocturnal (74%), and interfered with sleep (66%). Severity ranking of symptoms based on the Patient Assessment of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity Index was as follows: abdominal fullness (3.8 ± 0.2), bloating (3.6 ± 0.2), nausea (3.6 ± 0.2), upper abdominal discomfort (3.3 ± 0.2), upper abdominal pain (3.0 ± 0.2), and vomiting (2.2 ± 0.2). Abdominal pain severity did not correlate with GE, but had moderate correlation with quality of life. Conclusions Abdominal pain is a frequent symptom in patients with GP, comparable with nausea and vomiting. Abdominal pain correlates with impaired quality of life but not with GE.
Decisions about dialysis initiation in the elderly.

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), defined as kidney damage present for at least three months, is highest in older ages. The elderly population is the fastest growing segment of the population developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In the 75 years and older age group, the adjusted incidence rate and the adjusted prevalence rate of ESRD have grown by 12.2% and 44%, respectively, from 2000 to 2012. More older patients are starting dialysis, but we also know that elderly patients with advanced CKD and ESRD are more likely to have greater disability, morbidity, and worse survival compared with older patients with less advanced kidney disease. We discuss the decision to initiate renal replacement therapy (RRT) in frail elderly patients with advanced CKD and ESRD. We also highlight the importance of discussing prognosis, dialysis modalities and their alternatives, functional status, and symptoms in the unique context of each patient’s values, goals, and care preferences. Ideally, managing advanced CKD should be viewed more as an evolving conversation than a discrete decision about dialysis initiation.
Student absenteeism and the comparisons of two sampling procedures for culturable bioaerosol measurement in classrooms with and without upper room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation devices

Upper room ultraviolet germicidal irradiance (UVGI) has been shown to reduce the concentration of bioaerosols in controlled chambers. However, there is a lack of experimental results on the reduction of bioaerosol concentrations by UVGI devices in actual uncontrolled buildings. This study was carried out in an American elementary school in the Midwest. Two sampling procedures were carried out in six selected classrooms with similar dimensions that were separated into two groups: (1) UVGI exposure group and (2) non-UVGI control group. Two-stage Tisch culturable impactors were utilized to collect airborne culturable bacteria and fungi. Monthly samples were collected during unoccupied period in sampling Procedure A and during close-to-occupied periods in sampling Procedure B. Student absenteeism data were collected. Nonparametric statistical methods were applied. Neither analysis of microorganisms nor student absenteeism showed a significant difference between the UVGI exposure and non-UVGI control groups in...
Structural Origins of l(+)-Tartrate Inhibition of Human Prostatic Acid Phosphatase

Acid phosphatase activity in the blood serum is usually separated into tartrate-resistant and tartrate-refractory, which is reported as the prostatic acid phosphatase level. Human prostatic acid phosphatase crystals soaked in N-propyl-L-tartramate were used to collect x-ray diffraction data to 2.9 A resolution under cryogenic conditions. Positive difference electron density, corresponding to the inhibitor, was found. The quality of the electron density maps clearly shows the orientation of the carboxylate and N-propyl-substituted amide groups. The hydroxyl group attached to C3 forms two crucial hydrogen bonds with Arg-79 and His-257. Previous crystallographic studies compiled on the tartrate-rat prostatic acid phosphatase binary complex (Lindqvist, Y., Schneider, G., and Vihko, P. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 20744-20746) erroneously positioned D-tartrate into the active site. Modeling studies have shown that the C3 hydroxyl group on the D(-)-stereoisomer of tartrate, which does not significantly inhibit prostatic acid phosphatase, does not form strong hydrogen bonds with Arg-79 or His-257. The structure of human prostatic acid phosphatase, noncovalently bound in N-propyl-L-tartramate, is used to develop inhibitors with higher specificity and potency than L(+)-tartrate.
Ventricular assist devices: a review of psychosocial risk factors and their impact on outcomes.

Abstract Background Psychosocial contraindications for ventricular assist devices (VADs) remain particularly nebulous and are driven by institution-specific practices. Our multi-institutional, multidisciplinary workgroup conducted a review with the goal of addressing the following research question: How are preoperative psychosocial domains predictive of or associated with postoperative VAD-related outcomes? Answers to this question could contribute to the development of treatment-specific (contra) indications for patients under consideration for mechanical devices. Methods and Results We identified 5 studies that examined psychosocial factors and their relationship to postoperative VAD-related outcomes. Our results suggest that 3 psychosocial variables are possibly associated with VAD-related outcomes: depression, functional status, and self-care. Of the few studies that exist, the generalizability of findings is constrained by a lack of methodologic rigor, inconsistent terminology, and a lack of conceptual clarity. Conclusions This review should serve as a call for research. Efforts to minimize psychosocial risk before device placement can only be successful insofar as VAD programs can clearly identify who is at risk for suboptimal outcomes.