cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between Patient Satisfaction With Hospitalization and Outcomes Up to 6 Months Post-Discharge in Cardiac Patients:

Little is known about the relationship between patient satisfaction with inpatient care and post-discharge outcomes. This study examined inpatient hospital satisfaction after a cardiac event and outcomes through 6 months post-discharge. We examined 327 cardiac patients from the Bridging the Discharge Gap Effectively database who completed a patient satisfaction survey about their hospital admission and had post-discharge outcomes data. Higher patient satisfaction with the discharge process correlated with fewer readmissions at 90 days post-discharge. Higher patient satisfaction with hospital staff management of personal issues correlated with fewer emergency department visits at 6 months post-discharge. Higher patient satisfaction with overall assessment of care and hospitalization correlated with lower mortality rate at 6 months post-discharge. Being nonwhite correlated with lower nursing care satisfaction. Associations between cardiac patient satisfaction and outcomes exist. In this population, higher patient satisfaction correlated with better outcomes. Patient satisfaction data may be able to inform areas for health system improvement.
Abstract S09-04: Unemployment and cancer screening: Baseline estimates to inform health care provision in the context of COVID-19 economic distress

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate has sharply risen from 3.5% in February 2020 to 13.3% in May 2020, a level not seen since the Great Depression. There are an estimated 21.0 million unemployed adults in the United States. Employers are the most common source of health insurance among working-aged adults and their families. Thus, job loss may lead to loss of insurance and reduce access to cancer screening, which can detect cancer at earlier, more treatable stages, and reduce cancer mortality. In this study, we examined sequential associations between unemployment, health insurance, and cancer screening to inform COVID’s potential longer-lasting impacts on early cancer detection. Methods: Up-to-date (UTD) and recent (past-year) breast (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening prevalence were computed among respondents aged 50-64 years in 2000-2018 National Health Interview Survey data. Respondents were grouped as unemployed (not working but looking BC n=852; CRC n=1,747) and employed (currently working BC n=19,013; CRC n= 36,566). A series of logistic regression models with predicted marginal probabilities were used to estimate unemployed vs. employed unadjusted (PR) and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and corresponding 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). Results: Unemployed adults were four times as likely to be uninsured as employed adults (41.4% v 10.0%, p-value Conclusion: Unemployment was adversely associated with guideline-recommended and potentially life-saving breast and colorectal cancer screening. Compared to the employed, the unemployed disproportionately lacked health insurance, which accounted for their lower cancer screening utilization. Expanding and ensuring health insurance coverage after job loss may mitigate COVID-19’s economic impacts on cancer screening. Citation Format: Stacey A. Fedewa, K. Robin Yabroff, Zhiyuan Zheng, Priti Bandi, Ann Goding Sauer, Robert A. Smith, Nigar Nargis, Jeffrey Drope, Ahmedin Jemal. Unemployment and cancer screening: Baseline estimates to inform health care provision in the context of COVID-19 economic distress [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer; 2020 Jul 20-22. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(18_Suppl):Abstract nr S09-04.
Communication Skills: Use of the Interprofessional Communication Curriculum to Address Physical Aspects of Care.

Background The literature has emphasized the importance of effective communication regarding psychosocial needs; however, other aspects of patient care, including attention to physical needs, are equally important. Objectives The aims of this article are to (a) describe an Interprofessional Communication Curriculum (ICC) in oncology, (b) detail the curriculum content specifically focused on physical aspects of care, and (c) illustrate the importance of interprofessional care in oncology. Methods The ICC is organized by the 8 domains of the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care and centers on communication skills needed in oncology clinical practice. Findings Based on initial pilot data, oncology clinicians indicate a high level of satisfaction with the ICC. Additional future training courses supported by the National Cancer Institute will prepare oncology teams to enhance communication with patients and families.
Transfer Learning and Textual Analysis of Accounting Disclosures: Applying Big Data Methods to Small(er) Data Sets

We introduce and apply machine transfer learning methods to analyze accounting disclosures. We use the examples of the new BERT language model and sentiment analysis of quarterly earnings disclosures to demonstrate the key transfer learning concepts of: (i) pre-training on generic “Big Data”, (ii) fine-tuning on small accounting data-sets, and (iii) using a language model that captures context rather than stand-alone words. Overall, we show that this new approach is easy to implement, uses widely-available and low-cost computing resources, and has superior performance relative to existing textual analysis tools in accounting. We conclude with suggestions for opportunities to apply transfer learning to address important accounting research questions.
Effects of dim artificial light at night on locomotor activity, cardiovascular physiology, and circadian clock genes in a diurnal songbird

Artificial light is transforming the nighttime environment and quickly becoming one of the most pervasive pollutants on earth. Across taxa, light entrains endogenous circadian clocks that function to synchronize behavioral and physiological rhythms with natural photoperiod. Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts these photoperiodic cues and has consequences for humans and wildlife including sleep disruption, physiological stress and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms underlying organismal responses to dim ALAN, resembling light pollution, remain elusive. Light pollution exists in the environment at lower levels (<5 lux) than tested in many laboratory studies that link ALAN to circadian rhythm disruption. Few studies have linked dim ALAN to both the upstream regulators of circadian rhythms and downstream behavioral and physiological consequences. We exposed zebra finches (Taeniopygia gutatta) to dim ALAN (1.5 lux) and measured circadian expression of five pacemaker genes in central and peripheral tissues, plasma melatonin, locomotor activity, and biomarkers of cardiovascular health. ALAN caused an increase in nighttime activity and, for males, cardiac hypertrophy. Moreover, downstream effects were detectable after just short duration exposure (10 days) and at dim levels that mimic the intensity of environmental light pollution. However, ALAN did not affect circulating melatonin nor oscillations of circadian gene expression in the central clock (brain) or liver. These findings suggest that dim ALAN can alter behavior and physiology without strong shifts in the rhythmic expression of molecular circadian pacemakers. Approaches that focus on ecologically-relevant ALAN and link complex biological pathways are necessary to understand the mechanisms underlying vertebrate responses to light pollution.
The Lack of Contribution of 7-Hydroxymitragynine to the Antinociceptive Effects of Mitragynine in Mice: A Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Study.

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), a Southeast Asian tree, has been used for centuries in pain relief and mitigation of opium withdrawal symptoms. Mitragynine, the major kratom alkaloid, is being investigated for its potential to provide analgesia without the deleterious effects associated with typical opioids. Concerns have been raised regarding the active metabolite of mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, which has higher affinity and efficacy at µ-opioid receptors than mitragynine. Here we investigated the hotplate antinociception, pharmacokinetics, and tissue distribution of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine at equianalgesic oral doses in male and female C57BL/6 mice to determine the extent to which 7-hydroxymitragynine metabolized from mitragynine accounts for the antinociceptive effects of mitragynine and investigate any sex differences. The mechanism of action was examined by performing studies with the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone. A population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model was developed to predict the behavioral effects after administration of various doses of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. When administered alone, 7-hydroxymitragynine was 2.8-fold more potent than mitragynine to produce antinociception. At equivalent effective doses of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, there was a marked difference in the maximum brain concentration of 7-hydroxymitragynine achieved, i.e, 11-fold lower as a metabolite of mitragynine. The brain concentration of 7-hydroxymitragynine observed 4 hr post administration, producing an analgesic effect < 10%, was still 1.5-fold higher than the maximum concentration of 7-hydroxymitragynine as a metabolite of mitragynine. These results provide strong evidence that 7-hydroxymitragynine has a negligible role in the antinociceptive effects of mitragynine in mice. Significance Statement Mitragynine is being investigated for its potential to aid in pain relief and opioid use disorder, but the active metabolite of mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, has been shown to have abuse potential and has been implicated in the opioid-like analgesic effect after mitragynine administration. The present results suggest a lack of involvement of 7-hydroxymitragyine to the antinociceptive effects of mitragynine in mice.
Tracheal Aspiration and Its Clinical Correlates in the Diagnosis of Congenital Pneumonia

Tracheal aspirates were obtained from 320 newborns with respiratory distress and one or more perinatal risk factors for infection. Samples were obtained before 8 hours of age, either by direct aspiration or immediately following intubation. Twenty-five infants had bacteria present in the aspirate smear. In each case a pure culture of the organism suspected by smear morphology was grown. The same organism was isolated from blood in 14 of the 25 newborns suspected of having pneumonia. The remaining 11 infants had clinical courses, depressed mature neutrophil counts, and elevated band to total neutrophil ratios consistent with bacterial infection. Twenty-five infants without bacteria in the tracheal aspirate smear were randomly selected as a comparison group. Three of these infants had positive blood cultures, and one of the three also grew the same organism from the tracheal aspirate. The chest radiograph was abnormal in all infants but did not discriminate patients with or without pneumonia. We conclude that examination of the tracheal aspirate obtained within the first 8 hours of age is helpful in the early diagnosis of congenital pneumonia.
All of a Piece Throughout: The Four Ages of U.S. International Taxation

This paper divides up the history of U.S. international taxation into four periods, on the basis of what was the basic theoretical principle underlying the major legislative enactments made in each period. The first period lasted from the adoption of the Foreign Tax Credit in 1918 to the end of the Eisenhower administration, and was dominated by the concept of the right to tax as flowing from benefits conferred by the taxing state. The second period lasted from 1960 until the end of the Carter administration and was dominated by the concept of capital export neutrality and an emphasis on residence-based taxation. The third period lasted from 1981 until 1997, and was driven by the need to preserve the competitiveness of the U.S. economy in an increasingly globalized marketplace, resulting in an emphasis on source-based taxation, albeit with significant exceptions. The last period began with the decision to cooperate with the OECD's harmful tax competition project in 1998, and is marked by a continuous attempt to coordinate residence and source taxation to prevent both double taxation and double non-taxation. Three general observations can be made on this evolution: 1. In some ways, surprisingly little has changed in the course of the last hundred years: U.S. international taxation is still dominated by the need to balance the desire to prevent both double taxation and complete tax avoidance with sustaining the competitive position of U.S. businesses. 2. Although it is possible to detect some measure of cyclicality, in that the emphasis shifts from source to residence to source and back to residence again, the underlying balance does not shift very significantly, and the various theories advanced appear more as convenient support for pre-existing policy preferences than the real reason for policy changes. 3. On the basis of the history, it seems unlikely that the U.S. will in the near future make a clean break with the past either by abandoning all source-based taxation of foreigners or all residence-based taxation of U.S. persons.
A critical computer literacy course

What we consider computer literacy is changing as the Internet, accessible through high speed and wireless connections, becomes pervasive. We might choose to teach advanced or new applications in a manner similar to what has been popular since the advent of personal computers last changed the nature of computer literacy, or we can consider a different approach. This latter approach incorporates the way the Internet is changing how we access information and how we communicate. In this paper we describe three years of experience developing a critical computer literacy course based on this new approach. We discuss how the course has developed, as well as its objectives, textbooks, and instructor support. Three course instructors detail their experience teaching the course. Preliminary results of formal student evaluations are also included.
A Story Telling of Tragedy

Abstract This paper describes the experience of mitigation experts in first degree murder cases in the penalty phase of the trial. The first author, who is a sociologist, has worked in capital murder cases since 1988, as a mitigation expert in over 200 such cases. The second author assists in the mitigation process by analyzing mental health and educational records. The focus of the paper is a discussion of a specific case in which the defendant committed suicide before the case went to trial.
Autoradiographic analysis of cell proliferation kinetics in human genital tissues. I. Normal cervix and vagina.

Abstract The human cervical and vaginal cell generation cycle (T c ) and its component parts (T g 1 , T s , T g 2 , T m ) have been defined in normal tissues using in vivo autoradiographic techniques. The most active proliferative compartment is composed of the first and second parabasal layers and accounts for about 90 per cent of reproductive capacity. The single basal layer probably exists primarily as a reserve cell compartment for the parabasal compartment and can be activated by an appropriate stimulus, such as exogenous estrogen stimulation. For example, T c is about 3 days for the parabasal cell and 30 days for the basal cell in normal ovulatory and postmenopausal women; estrogen stimulation can accelerate T c to 1.7 and 11 days, respectively, which is apparently due to shortening of T g 1 . Initial studies indicate marked acceleration of T c in squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. Clinically, knowledge of normal and abnormal cell proliferation kinetics should provide insight into selective chemotherapeutic programs and dose-time relationships.
Optically addressed deformable mirror for low-light applications

A microelectromechanical deformable mirror device that is optically addressed and designed to actuate at extremely low-light levels for wavefront error correction is fabricated and theoretically described. The device consists of an optically transparent substrate, a photoconductive detector, a thin-film resistor, and insulating posts that support a mirror. The mirror is suspended over the detector by the insulating posts and is deformed when the detector is illuminated through the substrate. The actuation of the device is theoretically modeled as a capacitor in series with a photoconductor under an external dc bias. Under an external 6.3 V dc bias and when back-illuminated with 501 μW∕cm2 light at 539 nm, a total mirror deformation of 474.3 nm was obtained and substantiated by numerical modeling. This represents the highest actuation sensitivity to date that results in mirror deflection values in hundreds of nanometers.
Palbociclib A Novel Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor for Hormone Receptor–Positive Advanced Breast Cancer

Objective: To review palbociclib, a novel small-molecule inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6, and its current place in therapy for the treatment of hormone receptor (HMR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2)-negative advanced breast cancer. Study Selection and Data Abstraction: Four phase I trials, 2 phase II trials, and 1 phase III trial were identified from May 2004 to May 2015 using PubMed, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) abstracts, and European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) abstracts. Data Synthesis: In the first-line setting, the phase II PALbociclib: Ongoing trials in the Management of breast cAncer (PALOMA)-1 trial randomized patients to receive letrozole alone or letrozole plus palbociclib 125 mg daily for 3 weeks, followed by 1 week off, as initial therapy for advanced breast cancer. The investigator-assessed median progression-free survival (PFS) was 20. 2 months for the combination versus 10.2 months for letrozole alone (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.488...
Time Spectral Method for Periodic and Quasi-Periodic Unsteady Computations on Unstructured Meshes

For flows with strong periodic content, time-spectral methods can be used to obtain time-accurate solutions at substantially reduced cost compared to traditional time-implicit meth- ods which operate directly in the time domain. However, these methods are only applicable in the presence of fully periodic flows, which represents a severe restriction for many aerospace en- gineering problems. This paper presents an extension of the time-spectral approach for problems that include a slow transient in addition to strong periodic behavior, suitable for applications such as transient turbofan simulation or maneuvering rotorcraft calculations. The formulation is based on a collocation method which makes use of a combination of spectral and polynomial basis func- tions and results in the requirement of solving coupled time instances within a period, similar to the time spectral approach, although multiple successive periods must be solved to capture the transient behavior. The implementation allows for two levels of parallelism, one in the spatial dimension, and an- other in the time-spectral dimension, and is implemented in a modular fashion which minimizes the modifications required to an existing steady-state solver. For dynamically deforming mesh cases, a formulation which preserves discrete conservation as determined by the Geometric Con- servation Law is derived and implemented. A fully implicit approach which takes into account the coupling between the various time instances is implemented and shown to preserve the baseline steady-state multigrid convergence rate as the number of time instances is increased. Accuracy and efficiency are demonstrated for periodic and non-periodic problems by comparing the performance of the method with a traditional time-stepping approach using a simple two-dimensional pitching airfoil problem, a three-dimensional pitching wing problem, and a more realistic transitioning rotor problem.
The impact of 2011 ACGME duty hour restrictions on internal medicine resident workload and education

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) implemented work hour restrictions for physicians in training in 2003 that were revised July 1, 2011. Current published data are insufficient to assess whether such work hour restrictions will have long-term impact on residents’ education. We searched computer-generated reports of hospital in-patient census, continuity clinic census, in-training exam scores and first-year resident attendance at educational conferences for the academic years 2010–2011 (August 1, 2010—May 31, 2011) and 2011–2013 (August 1, 2011—May 31, 2013). During the first year of the study period, the residents’ inpatient internal medicine services admitted 1,754 patients; during this same period for academic years 2011–2012 and 2012–2013, the teaching services admitted 1,539 and 1,428 patients respectively, yielding a decrease of 16.4 %. Monthly, these services cared for a mean of 27.1 (27.1/175.4 [15.4 %]) fewer patients and 9.7 (9.7/34.4 [28.2 %]) fewer patients per intern than in the previous year. No statistical difference was observed regarding continuity clinic attendance and in-training exam scores. Residents in the years following work hours restrictions attended more educational conferences. Implementation of 2011 ACGME work hour regulations resulted in fewer patients seen by first-year residents in hospital, but did not affect in-training exam scores. Whether these findings will translate into differences in patient outcomes, and quality of care remains to be seen.
Failure of surgery in preexcitation. Correlation with pathologic findings.

A 37-year-old man with mitral stenosis and recurrent drug-resistant paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, and preexcitation, underwent two surgical attempts to ablate an anomalous pathway (AP). Electrophysiologic study demonstrated a left posterior AP with a short antegrade refractory period. Epicardial mapping at the time of mitral valve replacement (left lateral thoracotomy) suggested a posterior right AP. Mitral valve replacement and incision of the left atrial wall failed to cure preexcitation. Epicardial ping at a second operation (median sternotomy) demonstrated a subepicardial left posterior AP. Right atrial and atrial septal incisions failed to cure preexcitation. Serial section of the atrioventricular rings and conduction system demonstrated an intact left posterior anomalous atrioventricular muscle bundle with surgical incision placed above the plane of the mitral anulas.
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF STRESS AND STRAIN FIELDS IN A DUCTILE MATRIX SURROUNDING AN ELASTIC INCLUSION

A method for measuring stress and strain distributions within a ductile material deforming by dislocational slip is developed. The method exploits the transparency and room-temperature ductility of silver chloride, and combines the techniques of photoelasticity and marker tracking. This method is used to investigate the deformation of an elasto-plastic ductile matrix surrounding an isolated stiff fiber, the grain size of the material being slightly smaller than the fiber length. The data are compared to predictions of finite element calculations which take the matrix to be an isotropic elasto-plastic von Mises continuum. It is found that this model does not fully capture all of the features of the experimental data. Data suggest that the cause for observed discrepancies is the strong influence exerted by grain boundaries and grain orientation on the distribution of stress and strain within the matrix. A comparison is also made between the data and predictions of the Eshelby equivalent inclusion calculation, to show that a far higher level of discrepancy results than with the finite element calculations; this is caused by the fact that the Eshelby equivalent inclusion calculation is essentially elastic and thus allows significant stress concentrations.
Structure and composition of LB films of cadmium stearate by FTIR spectroscopy and XPS

Abstract Transmission (T) and IR reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) were used to probe the structure of LB multilayers of cadmium stearate before and after exposure in an XPS experiment. Angle-resolved (30–60°) XPS and detailed modeling of the film structure were used to determine the composition and microstructure of one- and two-layer films. Detailed FTIR analysis showed that the original multilayer film was orthorhombic and highly oriented, as observed previously. Even though the samples were cooled, X-ray exposure at small times (15–60 min) and at lower power than usual in XPS experiments still resulted in substantial decarboxylation and hydrocarbon loss in both multilayers (67 layers for the T-IR and 9 layers for the IRRAS) and thin films (one or two monolayers). In addition, FTIR of the multilayers showed substantial disordering and chain reorientation after XPS. One hour of exposure caused a loss of about 60% of the carboxylate and 40% of the aliphatic carbon as detected by IR microscopy, which also probed the spatial distribution of the losses. For the thinnest films, XPS also revealed significant film damage, particularly the loss of carboxyl. Even with some loss of material, however, XPS showed that (i) the electron mean-free paths were similar to those in bulk materials and (ii) the spatial distributions of carbon and cadmium in these films were consistent with the film orientation expected from the film deposition pattern, i.e. cadmium at the substrate surface for the single layer and in the center of the two-layer film. This analysis shows that LB films are fragile in the XPS environment and caution must be used in interpreting their spectra.
Predictors of outcome for short-term medically supervised opioid withdrawal during a randomized, multicenter trial of buprenorphine-naloxone and clonidine in the NIDA clinical trials network drug and alcohol dependence

Few studies in community settings have evaluated predictors, mediators, and moderators of treatment success for medically supervised opioid withdrawal treatment. This report presents new findings about these factors from a study of 344 opioid-dependent men and women prospectively randomized to either buprenorphine-naloxone or clonidine in an open-label 13-day medically supervised withdrawal study. Subjects were either inpatient or outpatient in community treatment settings; however not randomized by treatment setting. Medication type (buprenorphine-naloxone versus clonidine) was the single best predictor of treatment retention and treatment success, regardless of treatment setting. Compared to the outpatient setting, the inpatient setting was associated with higher abstinence rates but similar retention rates when adjusting for medication type. Early opioid withdrawal severity mediated the relationship between medication type and treatment outcome with buprenorphine-naloxone being superior to clonidine at relieving early withdrawal symptoms. Inpatient subjects on clonidine with lower withdrawal scores at baseline did better than those with higher withdrawal scores; inpatient subjects receiving buprenorphine-naloxone did better with higher withdrawal scores at baseline than those with lower withdrawal scores. No relationship was found between treatment outcome and age, gender, race, education, employment, marital status, legal problems, baseline depression, or length/severity of drug use. Tobacco use was associated with worse opioid treatment outcomes. Severe baseline anxiety symptoms doubled treatment success. Medication type (buprenorphine-naloxone) was the most important predictor of positive outcome; however the paper also considers other clinical and policy implications of other results, including that inpatient setting predicted better outcomes and moderated medication outcomes.
The aqueous geochemistry of the rare earth elements

Abstract The concentration quotients for the following reactions with acetate have been measured at temperatures from 25°C to 225°C, at saturated water vapor pressure, and in 0.1 molal NaCl medium, using a potentiometric method: Nd 3+ + Ac − = NdAc 2+ Nd 3+ +2 Ac − = NdAc 2 + The concentration quotients for both of these reactions increase strongly with increasing temperature. The values of these constants obtained at 25°C are in good agreement with those reported in the literature for both NaCl and NaClO4 media, indicating that complexation of Nd3+ by chloride is weak at room temperature. The concentration quotients were corrected for complexation by chloride using experimentally determined stability constants from the literature; these calculations confirmed the lack of a significant effect due to chloride complexation at 25°C, but showed that the effect becomes more important with increasing temperature. Extrapolation of the chloride-corrected concentration quotients to zero ionic strength using an extended Debye–Huckel expression yielded values of the stability constants for the first and second complexation steps that are significantly higher than theoretical estimates reported in the literature. Our data show that Nd-acetate complexes are considerably more stable than Nd-chloride complexes, but that the stability constants for both systems exhibit very similar temperature dependences. In sedimentary basinal brines REE (rare earth elements)-acetate complexes may predominate over REE-chloride complexes, even where chloride is present in greater concentrations than acetate. However, oxalate, fluoride, or carbonate complexes could be more important than either acetate or chloride if the concentrations of the former ligands are relatively high.
Assessment of tolerance to barbital by means of drug discrimination procedures.

This study was designed to determine the relative development of tolerance to the discriminative-stimulus and hypnotic properties of barbital. By selectively reinforcing lever presses only in the presence of one of the drug states, rats were trained in a Skinner Box to discriminate the effect of sodium barbital (80 mg/kg) injection from that of saline injection. After the rats were well trained, the administration of daily hypnotic doses of barbital (240 mg/kg) for 8 days produced marked tolerance to the hypnotic effect of the barbiturate in all animals. The ability of the 80 mg/kg dose to serve as a discriminative stimulus was not impaired in animals which had been trained with the drug as the condition during which bar presses had been reinforced (S D condition). Animals for which bar presses had gone unrewarded under barbital (S δ condition) displayed a tendency to develop tolerance to the stimulus properties of barbital. These findings are interpreted in the light of dose-effect studies, and it is suggested that the acquired polarity of the drug condition determined by its assignment as S D or S δ may influence the discriminability of the drug in future exposures.
Echinacea increases arginase activity and has anti-inflammatory properties in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, indicative of alternative macrophage activation

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance The genus Echinacea is a popular herbal immunomodulator. Recent reports indicate that Echinacea products inhibit nitric oxide (NO) production in activated macrophages. Aim of the study In the present study we determined the inhibitory effects of alcohol extracts and individual fractions of alcohol extracts of Echinacea on NO production, and explored the mechanism underlying the pharmacological anti-inflammatory activity. Materials and methods Alcohol extracts of three medicinal Echinacea species, Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida and Echinacea purpurea, were prepared using Soxhlet apparatus and fractionated using HPLC. NO production by LPS activated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells was measured using a Griess reagent and iNOS detected using immunoblotting. In addition, effects on arginase activity were measured in RAW 264.7 cells stimulated with 8-bromo-cAMP +/− LPS. Results Alcohol extracts of all three Echinacea species significantly inhibited NO production by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated the RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line; among them Echinacea pallida was the most active. The Echinacea-mediated decrease in NO production was unlikely due to a direct scavenging of NO because the extracts did not directly inhibit NO released from an NO donor, sodium nitroprusside. An immunoblotting assay demonstrated that the extract of Echinacea pallida inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein expression in LPS-treated macrophages. The enzymes iNOS and arginase metabolize a common substrate, l -arginine, but produce distinct biological effects. While iNOS is involved in inflammatory response and host defense, arginase participates actively in anti-inflammatory activation. Arginase activity of RAW 264.7 cells stimulated with 8-bromo-cAMP was significantly increased by alcohol extracts of all three Echinacea species. The polar fraction containing caffeic acid derivatives enhanced arginase activity, while the lipophilic fraction containing alkamides exhibited a potential of inhibiting NO production and iNOS expression. Conclusions These results suggest that the anti-inflammatory activity of Echinacea might be due to multiple active metabolites, which work together to switch macrophage activation from classical activation towards alternative activation.
Brief Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy Following a Child's Coming Out: A Case Report

Abstract Few interventions have been proposed for the treatment of families following a child's disclosure of nonheterosexuality. To address this gap in the literature, the current paper outlines a brief cognitive behavioral family treatment (CBFT) for families negotiating the coming-out process and illustrates this approach with a case example. Parents' attributions, beliefs, and expectations are explored and challenged. The family is exposed to increasingly salient topics and directed to increase the frequency of positive family experiences. Lastly, the family is taught specific listening and problem-solving skills to bolster adaptive family communication. This paper is among the first to apply an empirically supported therapeutic framework to support family adjustment following a child's disclosure of sexual orientation. The potential usefulness and limitations of this CBFT application are discussed.
Novel Si-based CMOS Optoelectronic Switching Device Operating in the Near Infrared

A novel, high performance optoelectronic switch is introduced. The device is a Si-MOSFET with Ge gate that can be fabricated at the nanoscale with very low capacitance. Current gain of up to 1000times is demonstrated.
Laboratory evaluation of tensile strength and energy absorbing properties of cement mortar reinforced with micro- and meso-sized carbon fibers

Abstract In this present research the potential use of micro-fibers as concrete reinforcement was investigated by blending micro- and meso-length carbon fibers into Portland cement mortar and comparing the performance of these mortars through indirect tension tests, specific gravity analysis, and flow tests. The micro-fiber reinforced mortars were observed to have greater tensile strengths than the unreinforced mixture while maintaining a lower air-to-cement ratio than the meso-fiber reinforced mixtures. In addition, micro-fibers proved to be of less detriment to the workability of the mortar than the meso-fibers.
Rate changes in the speech of stutterers after therapy

Abstract The fluent speaking rate of nine adult male stutterers was compared before and after stuttering intervention. The subjects, ranging in age from 18 to 37 yr (mean, 25 yr, 3 mo), exhibited mild to severe stuttering prior to treatment. The only rate reduction strategy taught to subjects during intervention was to slow the first phoneme or syllable of sentences spoken. In addition, however, subjects significantly reduced their overall rate as determined by measurements made of their fluent speech at the middle of sentences, as well as overall sentence durations (excepting the first word of utterances). The data from this investigation are interpreted relative to the facilitation/simplification hypothesis.
Mozzarella Cheese: Impact of Milling pH on Chemical Composition and Proteolysis

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the impact of milling pH on initial chemical composition and proteolytic changes in Mozzarella cheese during refrigerated storage. A new pilot-scale Mozzarella cheese-making method without brine salting was developed to produce cheese with homogeneous chemical composition within and among vats. Three milling pH (5.10, 5.25, and 5.40) were used to make three vats of cheese in 1 d. Cheese making was replicated on 3 d, on which the order of cheese making for each pH was selected so that effects of day and order of cheese making were blocks in a 3×3 Latin square design. Milling pH affected cheese pH and titratable acidity. However, the initial chemical composition (i.e., moisture, fat, and protein) and amounts of nitrogen soluble in 12% TCA and in pH 4.6 acetate buffer were unaffected by differences in milling pH. During 50 d of refrigerated storage, differences in cheese pH among treatments were unchanged, the amount of nitrogen soluble in TCA and in acetate buffer increased, the amount of residual intact α s -casein decreased, and the amount of intact β -casein remained constant. Proteolysis during refrigerated storage was unaffected by differences in milling pH.
Artificial Intelligence Search Algorithms for Dynamic Traffic Routing

The development of sound routing strategies for dynamic traffic routing is a complex task that requires the use of an automated traffic-routing decision support system (DSS). In this study, heruistic search algorithms were used to build prototype DSSs for on-line traffic routing. Specifically, two DSSs were developed for a real-world highway network: the first was developed by using simulated annealing (SA) and the second was constructed by using genetic algorithms (GAs). The use of such algorithms allows more accurate modeling of traffic dynamics than is possible by traditional analytical techniques. To evaluate and compare the performances of the developed DSSs, a test set consisting of 10 randomly generated problems was used. Results demonstrated that the DSSs are capable of yielding high-quality solutions in a reasonable amount of time. In addition, for on-line traffic routing, SA tends to perform better than GAs.
Efficient algorithms for estimating the width of nearly normal distributions

Abstract Typical physics data samples often conform to Gaussian distributions with admixtures of more slowly varying backgrounds. Under such circumstances the standard deviation is known to be a poor statistical measure of distribution width. As an alternative, the performance of Gini's mean difference is compared with the standard deviation and the mean deviation. Variants which sum over subsets of all possible pairs are shown to have statistical efficiencies comparable to the mean difference and mean deviation but do not require extensive data storage or a priori knowledge of the sample mean. These statistics are reasonable candidates for monitoring the distribution width of a real time data stream.
Long-term flux improvement by air sparging and backflushing for a membrane bioreactor, and modeling permeability decline

Abstract Fouling remains a major issue for all membrane applications. This study investigated anti-fouling applications for a side-stream membrane bioreactor (MBR) fed with glucose-based synthetic wastewater. Air sparging, backflushing and high cross flow velocity (CFV) were investigated as anti-fouling strategies. For better comparison of longer test runs, an equation to model effects of MLSS and temperature on viscosity was developed. This study showed that for backflushing with a CFV of 5.2 m/s, the permeability is about 3 times higher than for air sparging with CFV of 2 m/s. Long-term investigations of combined air sparging and backflushing compared to conventional membrane filtration at equal CFVs of 2 m/s showed 4 times higher permeability. The long-term permeability decline can be estimated by a power function of the type P= a tn whereby the factor a is related to the initial permeability and the parameter n indicates how rapidly the flux declines. In most cases it was possible to predict the long term flux decline (over a one week or 8 week period) from data for the first two days of filtration with errors of less than 10%.
Elliptic quadratic forms, focal points, and a generalized theory of oscillation

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to generalize the theory, methods, and results for oscillation of second-order normal ordinary differential equations. This purpose is obtained by use of a theory of quadratic forms on Hilbert spaces given by Hestenes and the author. In particular, the ideas of this paper may be applied to second-order abnormal problems of differential equations, higher-order control problems, integral and partial differential equations, abstract approximation problems, and to finite dimensional approximations which lead to meaningful computer algorithms. For expository purposes some examples are included. Finally we show that specific existence and comparison theorems for the second-order case may be generalized to the 2 n th-order case.
Stationary solutions for linear systems with additive noise

The eq. is considered, with (z t being a stationary process in and The existence of solutions (*) to such that (x t , z t ) is stationary is investigated. Strong and weak stationary solutions are considered. it is shown that if weak stationary solutions exist so do strong stationary solutions, the necessary and sufficient condition for existence being the a.s. Caesaro convergence as to a rendom process L(u), such that L(u) is a.s. a characteristic function.
Integrating expected coverage and local reliability for emergency medical services location problems

Abstract Daskin's MEXCLP model [Daskin M. A maximum expected covering location model: formulation, properties, and heuristic solution. Transportation Science 1983;17:48–70] was one of the first efforts to capture the stochastic nature of emergency medical services (EMS) location problems within a mixed-integer formulation. With their subsequent introduction of MALP, ReVelle and Hogan [The maximum availability location problem. Transportation Science 1989;23:192–200] offered two key advances, local vehicle busyness estimates and the α-reliability objective. While these constructs have influenced many subsequent EMS location models, they have been subjected to relatively little empirical analysis. To address this, we introduce the LR-MEXCLP, a hybrid model combining the local busyness estimates of MALP with the maximum coverage objective of MEXCLP. We then solve a series of problems with all three models and employ simulation to estimate aggregate service levels. We find that LR-MEXCLP leads to modest but consistent service gains over both MALP and MEXCLP. These results support the merits of local busyness estimates, but they also suggest that the α-reliability objective may be inappropriate when seeking to maximize aggregate system response capabilities. More generally, our research underscores the utility of (a) linking modeling assumptions and goals with real-world application contexts, and (b) employing simulation or other techniques to validate theoretical results.
Does female social precedence characterize captive aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis)?

Several potential measures of dyadic social dominance among captive aye-aye, housed in male-female pairs, were taken for an initial description of the social relations. Results suggest that female aye-ayes may demonstrate priority in social as well as feeding contexts, thus conforming to a social pattern that is characteristic of several other Lemuriformes but uncommon among other primates. However, the observed precedence of females was not complete or unambiguous. Intensive naturalistic study is needed to confirm these observations and to clarify the conditions under which this system has evolved among the lemuriform primates.
CASE STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A VIDEO STORY-BASED INTERVENTI­ON WITH SELF-MODELING TREATMENT PACKAGE TO REDUCE STEREOTYPICAL SPITTING BEHAVIOR IN A YOUNG GIRL WITH AUTISM

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a video story-based intervention with self-modeling to decrease spitting behavior in a female pre-school student with autism during an extended school year ser­vices program. An A-B-A-B design was used to demonstrate a functional relation between a video story-based intervention with self-modeling and decreased spitting be­havior. The results showed that spitting behavior de­crea­sed as a result of the video-based in­ter­vention package. The implications of these re­sults will be explored.
Experimental Poststall Rotary Aerodynamic Coefficients for Airplane-like Configurations

Military and civilian airplane losses caused by out-of-contro l spin motions are significant. Knowledge of rotary coefficients is necessary to understand the cause of spin entry and to devise proper recovery techniques. An exploratory wind-tunnel investigation has been conducted at Ames Research Center on simple airplane-like configurations on a rotary sting apparatus at rotation rates up to 10 rps. Rotary coefficients have been measured at unit Reynolds numbers from 2xl06nT1 to 24.6xl06nT1 and at angles of attack from 45° to 90°. Results show that the aerodynamic characteristics at steady spin rates are highly dependent on both spin rate and Reynolds number. Nomenclature A = body reference area, ird2/4 b = wing span, 0.457 m (1.5 ft) CD = body drag force per unit length/qd c'N = body normal force per unit length/qd CR = moment about spin axis/qSb, positive clockwise (viewed from rear) c'y = body side force per unit length/qd Cy = body side force/qA d = diameter of center body, 0.0762 m (0.25 ft) £ = length of nose section M = freestream Mach number Nj = tangent ogive nose, see Fig. 4 q = freestream dynamic pressure Rd = Reynolds number based on d S -wing reference area, 0.0491 m2 (0.5234 ft2) TI = aft body, circular cylinder tail section, see Fig. 4 T2 = T] plus tail surfaces, see Fig. 4 U = freestream velocity W = wing, see Fig. 4 xn = distances, see Fig. 9 a.f = local angle of attack, see Fig. 9 Of = angle between the freestream velocity vector and the body x axis \l/ = angle of roll about the body x axis co = angular velocity of the rotary sting Q = reduced spin rate, ub/2U
Optical System Design Considerations For Interplanetary Platforms

Considerations fundamental to the design of optical systems for interplanetary platforms are discussed with regard to the degree that they require departures from ground-based optical technology. Spectral availability, radiation and thermal cycles, microgravity, and space transportation constraints are considered, and new optical technologies are reviewed for their potential impact on the planetary missions planned for the rest of this century.
A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Auto Safety Features

(1970). A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Auto Safety Features. Applied Economics: Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 265-275.
The effect of environments on fatigue-crack propagation in an ultra-high-strength steel

The influence of various gaseous environments on the rate of fatigue crack growth at room temperature in an 0.45 percent carbon low-alloy ultra-high-strength steel tempered at 400°F and at 800°F has been investigated. The sensitivity of the rate of fatigue crack growth to moisture in this steel is found to be dependent on the fracture toughness of the material.